Describe some characteristics of natural speech
Natural speech is used by native speakers.
- they are naturally using idiomatic expressions
- they use language type, style, accent, pronunciation typical for their region, social class
- they make mistakes within one category (eg. nouns, verbs, adjectives)
- they acquired language in childhood so they know words intuitively
- their speech is produced fluently and spontaneously
- they use colloquialisms
- they know stories, games learnt in childhood so they can refer to them, know the context
- they know shared phraseology, culture; are aware of linguistic, textual interference
Describe some features of spoken language. what helps us to understand spoken language?
Spoken language is different from written language. Written language is more formal, less emotive, grammar rules are very important. Not only message is important but also a form of the text.
Spoken language:
- more chaotic - redundancy – a lot of unnecessary words
- the ‘sound’ of the language – accents, signs of hesitations, tone of the voice, pauses, uneven rhythm
- connected with body language – some information are given both in speech and body language – eye contact, gestures
- re- phrasing
- self correction
- depends on age – for example teenagers use slang words
WHAT CAN HELP TO UNDERSTAND SPOKEN LANGUAGE? intonation, stress, predicting, knowledge of colloquial, both speaker and listener can always ask about misunderstand part
In term of teaching spoken language we also have to remember that we use spoken language to express our ideas, opinions and feelings. We also use it to make sense of and confirm our understandings, to question and test our assumptions and to explore meaning. Children who have been learning English since birth will have developed and honed their speaking and listening skills in English through their contact with trusted adults and peers and learnt to use English to support their developing understanding of the world. They will have learnt to use spoken language to interact with others for different purposes and have begun to develop their understanding of different registers, tones and the use of expressive language. Children who have learnt another language from birth will have done all the same things but in a different language with different conventions and within a different cultural context. It is important to note that for most children they learn to listen before they learn to talk and it is therefore no surprise that opportunities to listen to a new language are also critical in learning to talk in that language
what does a native speaker know? language and communicative competence
When learners acquire a L2, the rules they know are organized into a system. This constitutes their ’competence’ Some researchers view competence as linguistic, language, while others view it as communicative. It is the core of studying English as the second language.
Communicative competence- consists of both knowledge of linguistic rules and knowledge how these rules are used to communicate meanings. This competence encapsulates giving and asking for information both in oral and written form. What is more, it requires language accuracy.
Language competence- This term is used to describe a speaker’s underlying ability to produce grammatically correct expressions. Linguistic Competence is about how well people can form words or a sentence grammatically in the correct format.
What does a native speaker know/ represent?
- modern language, which is difficult to understand for foreigners
- sophisticated language, variety of idioms, phrasal verbs
- colloquial, very natural language
- simplified structures,
- different register ex. Formal/informal
- cultural awareness
- good command of English in general- however it does not mean that L2 English teachers
should keep on comparing themselves to L1 English teachers
NATIVE SPEAKER VS. NON-NATIVE SPEAKER
Simplified structures vs. better grammar awareness, language as a ‘system’
Sophisticated vocabulary, idioms vs. more formal vocabulary
Cultural awareness vs. lack of awareness of cultural background
Natural usage vs. lack of certain natural skills
Peter Medgyes the author of Native or non- native: who’s worth more? admits that a non-native cannot aspire to acquire a native speaker's language competence. What is more, native-and non-native-speaking teachers reveal huge differences in their teaching behavior and that most of the discrepancies are language-related.
Medgyes also introduces two terms: NEST (Native English-Speaking Teacher) and Non-NEST (Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher). The lexical term nest is loaded with positive connotations and one cannot but associate it to concepts like shelter, home, family, offspring, nurture. Non-NEST evokes exactly the opposite.
However, both natives and non-natives have an equal chance to become successful teachers, but the routes used by the two groups are not the same.
What is ‘the code of conduct’ and how does it apply to classroom situation?
The code of conduct is a kind of contract between a teacher and the students, which is framed by a teacher and the students. It could include details about students behaviour during lessons, what is expected and what is not acceptable. When the code of conduct is defined it has considerable power thus the students and a teacher have responsibility for obeying it.
When students step outside the norms of behaviour, a teacher have to remind them of what they agreed on. This will be made much easier if there is a copy of the code, which a teacher can refer to. Sometimes, when students behaviour is not especially appropriate, there is a need to come up with new norms to cover this new situation.
GOOD AND BAD TEACHING requires good methodology as well as a good teacher.
When you strive and work to become a good teacher, the four core qualities are essential: knowledge, the skills to convey that knowledge, the ability to make the material you are teaching interesting and relevant, and a deep-seated respect for the student. Without these four qualities, good teaching will not exist.Good teaching requires:
1. Being a MOTIVATOR
- performing competence, confidence and personal identity
- showing clarity of thought
- having ability to interest students in the topic
- presenting care in preparation
- presenting sensitive, open-minded, flexible personality
- presenting authoritarian paternal attitude, affectionate maternal attitude, permissive fraternal attitude
- above all showing interest in a student as person
2. Being an INFORMANT
-establishing rules ( code of conduct- maintenance of discipline, health and safety,
educational process, penalties, rewards)
-presenting new ideas, planning varied lessons
-explaining everything clearly so that every student understands everything the
teacher expects or demands
3. Being a CONDUCTOR/ADVISOR
- ability to elicit things on a regular base
- initiating, setting rules ( code of conduct)
- explaining, providing guidance, remembering something that had earlier worried a student, and asking about it
- coordinating the learning process, responding to learner’s requests for help with vocabulary or grammar
- checking what learners have produced
- monitoring students progress on their way to autonomy
- giving instructions
- setting the right conditions for learning
- advising how to learn, showing many different strategies
4 Being a DIAGNOSER/CORRECTOR
-evaluating the learners errors
-showing the need to learn
-demanding, showing efficiency in execution
-however a good teacher cannot overcorrect and expect too much from the
students
- praising students
Good teaching is defined by teachers who are passionate (about what they do), caring (for the affective potential in a lesson), knowledgeable (not just about language, but also about methodology), organised (because, as one teacher commented, being disorganised takes more time – and because students recognise organisation as professionalism), flexible (you have to react to what happens in a lesson), reflective (because teaching blindly without thinking about what you are doing will never help you to be a better teacher) and curious (because once you stop learning, you may as well stop teaching).
1.Being disorganized and unprepared for the lesson- students easily identify teachers who are not sure what to do.
2.Being sarcastic, ridiculing, expecting too much.
3. Threatening students- teachers should be strict and demanding, but mustn’t threaten their students with terrible punishments.
4. Being inconsistent- in order to be respected they should be consistent.
5.Giving boring lessons- it gives students time for misbehaving and disturbing the lesson
6.Being unfair- there is nothing worse than having ‘favourites’ or picking on particular individuals. Teachers should not show their prejudices or preferences in the classroom. Teacher should exhibit the greatest possible friendliness to a student he or she doesn't like.
7. Breaking the code- both students and teachers should follow the rules. It either exists for the group or does not exist at all.
Describe the role and function of home assignment.
The first major function of home assignment is to revise acquired (gained) knowledge. Secondly, it is important to check this knowledge. Another crucial role of home assignment is to remember the material and practise it during exercises. We should also remember that homework consolidates discipline and developes skills but above all knowledge. Moreover, home assignment is used to extend students’ practice. To sum up, homework is a valid form of revision so we should treat it as a substantial part of the lesson.
Why is homework such an important element of lesson planning?
In my opinion, homework is a crucial part of lesson planning. There are two valid reasons which show us that it is true. First of all, home assignment is checked at the very beginning of the lesson. Secondly, homework should be included in lesson planning because its importance is significant (substantial).
Should we cater for individual needs and interests of the learners when planning homework?
The main question is : why do we set homework?
1. To revise material – to extend and consolidate classroom practice. – when we have 2-3 lessons per week we should set 2 pieces of homework.
2. There are some activities that take time to do it – solitary activities – reading and writing- practice it as a homework is a good choice
3. To allow students to work in their own pace – especially when we have mixed ability classes.
How to prepare a homework? We have to remember about two things:
1. validity - valid tasks in terms of aims
2. guidance – clear instructions with examples
How to motivate to do homework? Motivation comes with connection with interesting things and topics.
Conclusion:Of course different thing is reality (when we don’t have time almost for anything but realisation of syllabus) and ideal situation – when we have plenty of time ;) and lots of great ideas how to make our lessons interesting for everybody.
We should cater for individual needs and interests in terms of homework. It helps to motivate good and worse students. It is a good idea for mixed abilitly classes because both :
- good students – who get more difficult tasks- are not bored and they can demonstrate their skills and abilities,
- weaker students – who can get simpler task , which they would be able to do, so they will not discourage to English.
The main aims of setting homework will be achieved when we take under consideretion different levels of students.
What is the role of vocabulary teaching? Describe some ways of introducing it.
The need to teach language structure is obvious. Grammatical knowledge allows us to generate sentences. At the same time, though, we must have something to say, we must have meanings that we wish to express, and we need to have store of words that we can select from when we wish to express these meanings.
For many years vocabulary was seen as incidental to the main purpose of language teaching – namely the acquisition of grammatical knowledge about language. Vocabulary was necessary to give students something to hang on to when learning structures, but was frequently not a main focus for learning itself.
One of the problems of vocabulary teaching is how to select what words to teach. Somehow we have to make sense of this huge list and reduce it to manageable properties for our learners. A general principle of vocabulary selection has been that of frequency. We can decide which words we should teach on the basis of how frequently they are used by speakers of the language. Another principle that has been used in the section of vocabulary is that of coverage. A word is more useful if it covers more things than if it only has one very specific meaning (e.g. book)
Examples of vocabulary teaching:
1. Presentation
· Realia – to bring ‘realia’ to the classroom (postcard, ruler)
· Pictures - flashcards, magazines
· Mime, actions, gestures – e.g. running, smoking
· Contrast – empty/full, hot/cold
· Enumeration – clothes: socks, skirt, dress, trousers..
· Explanation
· translation
2. discovery
· adjectives – matching the words and the pictures
· parts of the body
· around the house – mind map
· ways of moving – new words are given in the text
· suffixes and prefixes – word formation
· fear – ss are given group of words that describe different kinds of fear. By using a dictionary they have to put the words in appropriate order (a little fear ……. A lot of fear
· Gibraltar – ss are told that in the passage a number of words have been blocked out by the symbol xxxxxxx. Individually they have to think of as many words as possible to replace these symbols
3. Practice
Discuss the difference between interaction and transaction in terms of spoken language. How does a speaker/listener behave in each?
(Na podstawie notatek i Harmera – szukałam też w necie i niestety nic więcej nie znalazłam na ten temat. Nie mam pojęcia co zrobić z drugą częścią tego pytania)
The purpose of discourse may be transaction or interaction. The purpose determines the interlocutors’ choice of language.
Transactional function has as its main purpose conveying information and facilitating the exchange of goods and services (e.g. booking a flight, ordering a meal, etc.); transactional language uses set formulae and is easier to teach because it is more predictable.
Interpersonal (interactional/conversational) function is about maintaining and sustaining good relations between people, its purpose is to maintain social relationships (e.g. conversation in a pub). It is less predictable and therefore more difficult to teach.
(From “How to Teach Grammar” by Scott Thornbury. Na drugą część pytania każdy musi odpowiedzieć sobie sam J)
There are two main approaches: deductive (rule-driven, explicit, overt) and ...
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