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INDICE
INTRODUCCIÓN………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 PRESENTACIÓN ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7 CONTENIDO DEL CURSO………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9 ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS CONTENIDOS ………………………………………………………………….. 11 ORGANIZACIÓN POR BLOQUE ……………………………………………………………………………….. 14 BLOQUE I.
LAS RELACIONES HUMANAS (FAMILIA, AMISTADES, PROFESORES, ETCÉTERA …
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BLOQUE II.
LA ESCUELA (COMO “TRABAJO” DE LOS ADOLESCENTES, COMO “COMUNIDAD”,
MATERIAS PREFERIDAS, ETCÉTERA)………………………………………………………………………
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BLOQUE III.
EL ESPARCIMIENTO Y LOS INTERESES (USO DEL TIEMPO, VIDA SOCIAL,
“HOBBIES”, ETCÉTERA)……………………………………………………………………………………………
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ORIENTACIONES DIDÁCTICAS GENERALES…………………………………………………………….. 20 SUGERENCIAS PARA LA EVLUACIÓN ………………………………………………………………………. 25
MATERIAL DE APOYO PARA EL MANEJO DEL CURSO. REAL LIFE AND CLASSROOM LISTENING…………………………………………………………………. 27 DIFFERENT TYPES OF UNDERSTANDING……………………………………………………………….. 27 ESTABLISHING LEARNERS´ PRIORITIES………………………………………………………………… 27 ANALYZING DIFFERENT LISTENING SITUATIONS………………………………………………….. 28 INTERACTIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL SPEECH……………………………………………………. 30 DIFFERENT TYPES OF LISTENING MATERIALS. …………………………………………………….. 31 LISTENNING FOR ORAL PRODUCTION OR OF COMPREHENSION………………………… . 31 EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE LISTENING……………………………………………………………….. 32 RECORDED AND LIVE LISTENING…………………………………………………………………………… 33 AUTHENTIC AND SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED MATERIALS…………………………………….. 35 BUYING PUBLISHED MATERIAL………………………………………………………………………………. 37 ADAPTING PUBLISHED MATERIAL………………………………………………………………………….. 38 WHAT IS CONVERSATION?.......................................................................... 45 THE FUNCTIONS OF CONVERSATION…………………………………………………………………….. 45 THE UNITS OF CONVERSATION………………………………………………………………………………. 45 THE MAXIM OF QUALITY………………………………………………………………………………………… 48
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ADJACENCY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 49 TURN TAKING…………………………………………………………………………………………..……………… 50 OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS……………………………………………………….…………………………… 51 TOPICS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 52 MALE AND FEMALE DIFFERENT IN CONVERSATION. ……………………………………………… 52 SIMPLIFICATION IN INFORMAL SPEECH. ……………..……………………………………………… 52 STREES AND INTONATION…………………………………………………………..………………………… 53 GESTURE AND BODY LANGUAGE. ……………………………………………….………………………… 53 TOWARDS A CLASSROOM APPROACH…………………………………………………………………… 54 PERSUADING THE LEARNER…………………………………………………………………………………… 59 A SENSE OF PROGRESS…………………………………………………………………………………………… 60 WHAT IS PARAGRAPH? ………………………………………………………………………………..………… 61 AN OVERVIEW……………………………………………………………………….………………………………… 61 THE THREE PARTS OF PARAGRAPH. ………………………………….…………………….…………… 62 THE ASSIGNMENT FORMAT……………………………………………….………………………………..… 63 HOW TO WRITE AA TITLE. ………………………………………………………………………………….… 64 THE TOPIC SENTENCE……………………………………………………………………………………………. 64 POSITION OF TOPIC SENTENCE…………………………………………………………………………….. 65 THE TWO PARTS OF A TOPIC SENTENCE …………………………………………………………..… 66 WRITING TOPIC SENTENCE: TWO REMAINDERS. ………………………………….…………… 66 THE CONCLUDING………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 67 THE ESSAY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 69 WRITING AN ESSAY………………………………………………………………………………………………… 69 THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH………………………………………………………………………….. 69 ESSAY OUTLINING…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 73
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INTRODUCCIÓN
Al incluir los cuatro cursos de inglés en el mapa curricular de esta especialidad, y en
congruencia con los planteamientos del Plan de Estudios 1999 para la Licenciatura en
Educación Secundaria, se parte de la convicción de que, para que los futuros profesores
desarrollen las competencias didácticas necesarias para una enseñanza eficaz, deben poseer
tanto el dominio de la materia como las habilidades para enseñarla. Desde esta perspectiva,
la formación del profesor de lengua extranjera tiene particularidades en relación con otros
campos disciplinarios, pues se requiere que además de tener un conocimiento formal de la
materia (la lengua extranjera), adquiera la habilidad para emplearla como medio de
comunicación.
El domino del idioma inglés con el que los estudiantes ingresan a la escuela normal
es variable. Algunos han logrado cierto grado de competencia para expresarse con fluidez en
forma oral, otros han desarrollado más la comprensión lectora pero enfrentan dificultades
para hablar o escribir. Por estos motivos, uno de los propósitos centrales en la formación
inicial de los futuros profesores es propiciar el desarrollo y fortalecimiento de las
competencias comunicativas que requieren, no sólo para enseñar el idioma a sus alumnos,
sino además para el mejoramiento continuo de sus habilidades lingüísticas.
Para atender el propósito señalado anteriormente, como parte del conjunto de
asignaturas de especialidad que incluye el plan de estudios, cuatro cursos son específicos de
inglés y corresponden a la línea de Perfeccionamiento de la competencia comunicativa, en la
cual los estudiantes continuarán adquiriendo conocimientos sobre el idioma inglés y
accederán a niveles superiores de dominio de las habilidades lingüísticas a través de la
realización de múltiples actividades en las que escuchen, lean, hablen y escriban con
intención y en situaciones específicas. De esta manera, los aspectos lingüísticos que
usualmente se analizan de manera aislada (como la fonética, la pronunciación o el análisis
gramatical) se integran a situaciones de comunicación en las que lo que se expresa y
escucha adquiere sentido y significado.
Desde esta perspectiva, será más provechoso en la formación del futuro maestro de
inglés comprender la estructura de las oraciones (afirmativas, negativas, interrogativas) o
las regularidades e irregularidades en la conjugación de los verbos –por ejemplo– si se parte
de la reflexión sobre el uso mismo del idioma, de las características que presentan las formas
de expresión de acuerdo con los contextos en que se utilizan cotidianamente. En los cursos
que forman parte de los estudios de la especialidad, los contenidos y las actividades se
caracterizan por ser flexibles.
Esta flexibilidad radica en las variadas formas de presentar los temas o contenidos
que dan sentido a las asignaturas, en las múltiples estrategias que el maestro puede
implementar para el tratamiento de éstos en los grupos de las escuelas normales, y en el
empleo de recursos y materiales. La intención es que los estudiantes enfrenten situaciones
que les demanden el uso de las cuatro habilidades básicas (escuchar, hablar, leer y escribir),
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en el marco de tres líneas de formación específica: perfeccionamiento de la competencia
comunicativa, desarrollo de la competencia didáctica y conocimiento de los adolescentes, y
práctica educativa. Para ello es necesario que los profesores y los alumnos tengan presentes
los propósitos de la formación de la especialidad en general, así como los de cada asignatura
en el semestre que se cursa.
El trabajo con las asignaturas de la especialidad demanda prácticas en las que los
profesores son actores centrales para promover los cambios deseados en los estudiantes
normalistas, lo que incluye el constante mejoramiento de las formas de enseñanza y el
trabajo coordinado entre los profesores que imparten los distintos cursos del campo de
formación específica.
En el curso anterior los estudiantes iniciaron la práctica sistemática del inglés a
través de actividades cuyo propósito central es enfrentarlos a situaciones que demandan el
uso de las cuatro habilidades básicas (escuchar, hablar, leer y escribir).
En este semestre, a través de las asignaturas que se cursan de manera simultánea,
se intensifica el estudio y uso del inglés en relación con las tres líneas de formación
específica (perfeccionamiento de la competencia comunicativa, desarrollo de la competencia
didáctica y conocimiento de los adolescentes y práctica educativa). Por esta razón, es
indispensable el trabajo coordinado entre los profesores, de tal manera que puedan
establecerse los acuerdos necesarios para que las formas de trabajo contribuyan al logro de
los propósitos planteados en cada curso.
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CONTENIDOS DEL CURSO
El desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas debe propiciarse dentro y fuera del
aula, procurando, sobre todo, que los estudiantes utilicen materiales auténticos, como libros,
periódicos, revistas (breves extractos), audiocintas o videocintas (también breves extractos
de programas de televisión y de películas).
En caso de considerarlo indispensable –ya sea porque hay dificultades para acceder a
los recursos señalados, o porque ciertos alumnos así lo requieran– puede ser conveniente
utilizar un libro de texto apropiado (véase la bibliografía), basando la selección en el nivel de
los alumnos con menor dominio de la lengua para proporcionarles el "input" accesible que se
considera esencial para el progreso eficiente de quien aprende una lengua extranjera. En
este caso, también es importante recordar que el libro de texto será un recurso, pero no el
único, para desarrollar las actividades del curso. Los alumnos con un mayor dominio del
inglés pueden trabajar en pequeños grupos, en tareas más difíciles basadas en el mismo
material y, en ocasiones, pueden fungir como ayudantes del profesor con los otros
estudiantes (ver orientaciones didácticas).
La comprensión auditiva es una habilidad que puede favorecerse de manera muy
importante por medio del uso sistemático del inglés en el aula. Oír (y producir) muchas de
las mismas expresiones una y otra vez, clase tras clase, se asemeja bastante a la
experiencia de una persona que aprende una lengua viviendo en un país donde se habla esa
lengua. Además, es muy útil trabajar en el desarrollo de estrategias específicas empleando
materiales auténticos o, inclusive, de un libro de texto que incluya estos apoyos. Estas
estrategias deben incluir:
• La predicción del lenguaje y el contenido de un texto hablado según el contexto y las
pistas iniciales.
• La activación de ideas acerca de un tema que se sabe que se va a tratar en un texto
hablado.
• La identificación de la(s) idea(s) general(es) de un texto hablado.
• La identificación/comprensión de ideas específicas en un texto hablado.
• La "reconstrucción" de un texto hablado que no se puede escuchar o entender con
toda claridad.
La expresión oral también se puede realizar de manera sistemática por medio del uso
permanente del inglés en el aula. No hay que despreciar la repetición de expresiones
cotidianas. Es muy útil organizar sesiones en grupo, en pareja y en pequeños grupos, por
ejemplo, a través de actividades como las siguientes:
• Conversación centrada en un tema (si se trata del tema "los adolescentes", puede
hablarse sobre los pasatiempos, preferencias, modas, etcétera).
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• Entrevistas reales o simuladas.
• Transacciones simuladas (comprar boletos o mercancía, etcétera).
• Debates informales o formales.
• Pláticas preparadas o improvisadas.
En muchos casos, es conveniente tener una sesión previa o posterior para examinar
cómo se relacionan las formas y funciones del lenguaje para realizar estas y otras
actividades (esto también se trata en las sesiones basadas en los inventarios de nociones /
funciones / gramática / vocabulario –véase el apartado correspondiente–).
La comprensión de lectura se puede desarrollar empleando material auténtico -con
ejercicios / tareas elaborados por el profesor-, o bien el libro de texto. Además de la lectura
general, en la cual se suele combinar estrategias de una forma ágil, es muy útil trabajar en
el desarrollo de estrategias específicas, que deben incluir:
• La predicción del contenido de un material escrito según el contexto y las pistas
iniciales (título, ilustraciones, etcétera).
• La activación de ideas acerca de un tema que se sabe que se va a tratar en un texto
escrito.
• La identificación de la(s) idea(s) general(es) de un texto escrito ("skimming").
• La búsqueda rápida de información específica ("scanning").
• La identificación de ideas específicas en un texto hablado.
• La identificación de las ideas "entre líneas", la intención y actitud del autor, etcétera.
La expresión escrita se puede desarrollar a través de actividades como ejercicios o
tareas elaboradas por el profesor, a partir del contenido revisado en materiales auténticos, o
de ejercicios planteados en algún libro de texto. También se puede ligar con la lectura, al
analizar la estructura de un texto que se ha leído –la coherencia y cohesión del texto y su
organización en general. Ciertos tipos de texto tienen una estructura típica y esto también se
debe tratar:
• Correspondencia formal de distintos tipos (solicitudes, pedidos, respuestas
comerciales, etcétera).
• Correspondencia informal.
• Breves "artículos" y composiciones de distintos tipos (narrativo, descriptivo,
polémico, etcétera).
• Trabajos académicos más extensos (introducción a este tema únicamente).
Gran parte del trabajo para desarrollar las habilidades comunicativas se puede, y se
debe hacer, combinando las habilidades (como en la conversación o en la preparación en
grupo de un trabajo escrito). También debe extenderse fuera del aula con tareas que
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requieren la lectura de fuentes impresas o en Internet, por ejemplo. Es conveniente también
tener una biblioteca de libros de referencia, cuentos y novelas, audio cintas, videos, y animar
a los estudiantes a utilizar estos recursos para sus estudios y su esparcimiento.
El uso del idioma para tareas comunicativas y la práctica consecuente de las
habilidades comunicativas es imprescindible para el aprendizaje eficaz de una lengua
extranjera, pero la investigación y la teoría lingüísticas recientes indican claramente que se
aumenta la eficiencia del aprendizaje enormemente con algo de atención explícita hacia la
lengua misma.
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ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS CONTENIDOS
Antes de iniciar la organización de las actividades del semestre, es recomendable que
el maestro titular de la asignatura realice actividades de diagnóstico con los
estudiantes para identificar el dominio que cada uno tiene en las habilidades
lingüísticas.
Los textos y materiales que se sugieren en cada uno de los temas de esta guía son
un indicador del tipo de documentos que interesa revisar, no son los únicos que el maestro
habrá de recomendar a los estudiantes. Conviene que desde el inicio del semestre el profesor
titular de la asignatura ubique los textos y recursos existentes en la escuela o aquellos que
los estudiantes pueden consultar en el medio e incluir estos textos y materiales en su
planeación.
Para organizar y poner en marcha las actividades y proyectos diseñados para
fomentar el desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas, conviene definir ciertos temas en
torno a los cuales se pueda trabajar (como se sugirió en la Guía de Inglés I). En este caso, el
curso de Inglés II se organiza con base en un tema general, a partir del cual se derivan otros
temas que, a la vez que contribuyen al uso del idioma, ofrecen a los estudiantes
posibilidades para explorar y conocer mejor a los alumnos con quienes se desempeñarán
como futuros profesores en la escuela secundaria.
A continuación se presenta el tema general y algunos temas específicos que pueden
trabajarse, pero cada profesor podrá elegir otros que considere adecuados e interesantes
para los estudiantes, o mejor aún, podrá involucrarlos en la selección de los temas del curso.
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TEMA GENERAL: LA ADOLESCENCIA
BLOQUE 1. LAS RELACIONES HUMANAS
Tema 1. Familia
Tema 2. Amistades
Tema 3. Profesores
ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS
1. Localizar artículos de distintas revistas relacionados con la familia (tests,
historias, etc) y que saquen como brainstorm los temas más usuales entre
los jóvenes.
2. Realizar un cuadro de frecuencias para decidir cual es el tema más
comentado en las lecturas hechas, y buscar razones por la repetición del
mismo.
3. Hacer una mesa redonda en la que se desarrolle el tema de la ‘primera cita’
(First date) pidiendo a los alumnos que desarrollen distintos temas sobre la
primera cita tales como: qué ropa se debe utilizar, cuál sería la cita perfecta,
consejos para una primera cita. Describir lo que sería una cita perfecta como
conclusión de grupo.
4. Mostrar a los alumnos diferentes fotografías de personas en distintas
citaciones (un bautizo, una boda, una disco, un entierro, una graduación...) y
preguntarles que es lo que tienen en común dichas fotografías (respuesta:
relaciones humanas) analizar los diferentes tipos de relaciones humanas
dentro de las que convivimos, solicitarles que comparten y contrasten las
cualidades de cada tipo de relaciones.
5. Describir los diferentes tipos de relaciones humanas y que se necesita para
lograr cada una de estas, explicar como es que son diferentes y cual es la
importancia de cada una de ellas: sociales, religiosas, administrativas, etc.
6. Elegir un tema especifico común en los adolescentes (como anorexia,
bulimia, aborto) y que preparar un reporte para debatir sobre el, explicando
las razones del mismo.
7. Solicitar que se haga una lluvia de ideas sobre las preferencias al estudiar de
un joven y porque sería de esa manera.
8. Pedir a los alumnos que en base a la lluvia de ideas se organicen por par o
equipo y elijan uno de los tópicos para desarrollarlo y presentarlo ante el
grupo, explicando los beneficios y posibles perjuicios al estudiar de esa
manera.
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9. diseñar, en equipo un cuadro sinóptico de los pros y contras de cada estilo de
estudio para cada materia.
10. Para conocer mejor sobre amistades y familias se les pedirá que encuentren
a personas en especial y hablen de ellas (Find someone who...) que tengan
dos hermanos, que les guste bailar, etc.
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BLOQUE 2. LA ESCUELA
Tema 1. Como "trabajo" de los adolescentes
Tema 2. Como "comunidad"
Tema 3. Materias preferidas, preferencias con respecto a lo escolar.
Actividades Sugeridas
1. Pedir a los alumnos que expresen sus preferencias sobre los trabajos y si es
mejor acorde a ellos trabajar dentro de algún edificio o fuera, y si es mejor
vivir en grandes ciudades o en pequeños pueblos y que expliquen sus
razones.
2. Preguntar a los alumnos porque creen que los jóvenes hacen ciertas cosas,
sus razones para los mismo, como ir a la escuela, tomar cursos extra, comer
ciertas cosas, pedirles que expliquen porque creen que sus respuestas sean
las que se dieron.
3. Preguntar a los alumnos el porque escogieron dicha carrera y solicitar que
den sus razones.
4. Proponer una lluvia de ideas con diferentes profesiones pedirle a los alumnos
que de las profesiones anotadas analicen y seleccionen cuál es la que creen
que está creciendo más rápido y tiene más oportunidades de trabajo
(cuidando que no todos elijan la misma) dar razones para sus opiniones y
realizar un debate o una mesa de discusión sobre las distintas profesiones.
5. Solicitar, dentro de la misma lluvia de ideas que separen y categoricen las
profesiones anotadas en un diagrama o cuadro en el que se incluyan los
distintos campos de trabajo (science technology, art, bussines-comerce,
human services, agriculture and nature).
6. Localizar algún artículo sobre planeación de carrera o de orientación
profesional, analizarlo y hacer inferencias sobre el mismo, pidiendo a los
alumnos que preparen un breve resumen del mismo con preguntas de
reflexión.
7. Diseñar un debate o sala de discusión en la que se mencione si es fácil o
difícil conocer gente nueva y porque, y que es más fácil si conocer nuevas
personas o decirle adiós a los viejos amigos.
8. Clasificar trabajos que encuentren en el clasificado o en internet, y pedirle a
los alumnos que hagan una lista de las posibles razones que los inclinarían a
elegir uno u otro empleo y porque.
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9. Realizar un juego de Tic Tac Toe (el gato) se harán preguntas sobre la
comunidad o materias, el que encuentre la respuesta correcta tiene derecho
a participar y escoger el lugar donde poner el circulo o cruz.
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BLOQUE 3. EL ESPARCIMIENTO Y LOS INTERESES
Tema 1. Uso del tiempo
Tema 2. Vida social
Tema 3. "Hobbies"
ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS
1. Preguntar a los alumnos que es lo que hacen en su tiempo libre, que es lo
que más disfrutan, introducir los conceptos ‘free time’ o ‘leisure time’ y
decidir si lo que nos gusta hacer es un hobbie o no y porqué.
2. Preguntar cual es la actividad que realizan más o menos e introducir los
conceptos ‘the most’ and ‘the least’ como parte de la gramática, preguntar a
los alumnos que tipo de actividad es la que clasifican dentro de estas dos
vertientes.
3. Investigar si alguno de los compañeros ha estado en alguna opera, ballet,
obra o concierto, y que le comenten a los compañeros su experiencia, y si les
gustó o no y porque, pedir que den diferentes opiniones y puntos de vista
sobre el tema.
4. Pedir a los alumnos que improvisen una mini obra, con los materiales que
tengan a la mano y la actúen para el resto de los compañeros, preguntarles
si estarían dispuestos a pintar su cabello, cortarlo, perder o ganar peso y
usar ropas chistosas por estar en una obra y dar sus razones.
5. Leer ‘Cinderella’ para los alumnos, pedirles que destaquen los personajes
principales y el tema principal además del final de la misma. Pedirles que
cambien alguna parte o el final de la historia para hacerla más al gusto de
cada uno.
6. Preguntar que palabra existe en su idioma para ‘fairy godmother’,
preguntarles si les parece que las ‘fairy tales’ son entretenidas, aburridas o si
tienen un final predecible pedirles que escriban algún final alternativo para
las historias.
7. Realizar una ‘encuesta’ con sus compañeros acerca del tipo del lecturas que
disfrutan, el tipo de películas y sus razones para su elección.
8. Elaborar un ensayo explicando la importancia del entretenimiento en los
jóvenes y las mejores opciones para el mismo.
9. Guessing game. Se le pide a una persona pase al frente y se le da un hobbie
o pasatiempo en secreto que el tendrá que actuar en clase (mímica) para
que sus compañeros descubran lo que esta haciendo.
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10. Inventar distintos hobbies que podrían desarrollarse si hubiera el suficiente
tiempo libre, describirlos e inventarles nombre.
11. Buscar en una revista personas realizando distintos tipos de actividades que
consideremos hobbies clasificarlos como actividad, hobbie, pasatiempo, etc e
incluirse dentro de una de las categorías. Explicar el porque consideran que
eso sería o no su hobbie.
Esta forma de organización, además de favorecer el tratamiento de contenidos
relacionados con el desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas, permite el estudio y análisis
de nociones y funciones gramaticales que son indispensables para comprender mejor la
estructura del idioma inglés, y para adquirir los conocimientos básicos en torno a los cuales
se llevará a cabo su enseñanza en la escuela secundaria (estos contenidos se detallan en el
apartado siguiente).
Las actividades se pueden organizar de muchas formas, y en general implican el uso
de habilidades comunicativas integradas, por ejemplo, conversación (comprensión auditiva
con expresión oral), investigación (lectura con la toma de apuntes, discusión con
compañeros, etcétera.). Pueden incluirse entrevistas en pareja, encuestas, "retratos"
hablados o escritos de adolescentes en la familia, actividades basadas en textos hablados o
escritos, la "resolución de problemas" en grupo, entre otras. En los siguientes apartados se
dan ejemplos específicos relacionados con el tema "La adolescencia".
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ORIENTACIONES DIDÁCTICAS GENERALES
De manera análoga a Inglés I, este curso debe desarrollarse mediante el uso
permanente y sistemático de la lengua extranjera en forma oral y escrita. Es esencial
intentar involucrar a todos los estudiantes en el discurso y la interacción de la clase. La
participación de los estudiantes en las distintas actividades orales y escritas será la mejor
oportunidad para evaluar su nivel en cuanto a sus habilidades comunicativas y sus recursos
lingüísticos. Con apuntes sobre la participación oral de los estudiantes y muestras de su
trabajo escrito en las primeras clases, el maestro podrá determinar qué materiales y
actividades serán más apropiados para favorecer el progreso de los estudiantes con menos
dominio del inglés, y a la vez ofrecer oportunidades de práctica a los estudiantes más
avanzados.
Se debe recordar que se está proponiendo el nivel de PET de Cambridge o 400
puntos en TOEFL como el nivel mínimo a alcanzar al término del curso, y esto implica el Libro
3, o en algunas series 2, en caso de emplear un libro de texto publicado.
Al igual que en Inglés I, se deben planear clases integrando distintos recursos y
propósitos (desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas, atención a la lengua como sistema,
fomento de la autonomía en el aprendizaje, y concientización respecto al uso del inglés en el
aula), y no dedicar periodos prolongados a un solo objetivo, una sola actividad, un solo tipo
de material.
Con frecuencia es posible relacionar un propósito con otro, o aprovechar una
actividad para más de un propósito. Por ejemplo, después de trabajar en el desarrollo de la
comprensión de lectura o la comprensión auditiva, se puede usar el texto para descubrir y
aclarar algún aspecto de la gramática o el vocabulario del inglés; además, se puede
presentar ese enfoque en la lengua a los estudiantes como una investigación que ellos tienen
que resolver y no como una presentación del profesor que los estudiantes deben escuchar
pasivamente; de esa forma se fomenta la autonomía en el aprendizaje.
El trabajo que se propone en esta asignatura pretende atraer la atención y mantener
el interés de los estudiantes por el idioma inglés. Conviene insistir en la flexibilidad como
característica distintiva del curso. No se trata de dedicar periodos prolongados al trabajo con
un solo tipo de recursos, sino de combinar, por ejemplo, el análisis de videos con
producciones escritas o lectura oral con trabajo sobre noticias. Asimismo, en las actividades
que se propongan, el maestro de la asignatura debe evitar prácticas rutinarias para el
análisis de los materiales. La diversidad en el uso de estrategias para el trabajo en el
semestre y el fortalecimiento del carácter flexible de la asignatura son parte de los retos
didácticos que ayudarán maestro y a los estudiantes a comprender el sentido del enfoque
comunicativo
Las mejores oportunidades para el desarrollo de la comprensión auditiva y la
expresión oral se presentan en el discurso regular de la clase si éste se lleva casi siempre en
inglés, sea en grupo, en parejas o en equipos, estos últimos tipos de interacción son más
18
propicios para los estudiantes que aún no logran expresarse con confianza. La práctica de la
lengua no debe restringirse al aula o a la escuela; siempre que sea posible, es recomendable
invitar a los estudiantes a localizar y registrar las formas de comunicación en lengua
extranjera en los contextos reales, ya sea por medio de grabaciones o de los medios de
comunicación masiva. Sin embargo, también es importante organizar actividades específicas.
En relación con el tema sugerido, "La adolescencia", existen múltiples recursos cuyo empleo
propicia el desarrollo de la comprensión auditiva:
Muchas películas con personajes jóvenes están disponibles en video y se pueden
aprovechar breves escenas. La intención fundamental es fortalecer la comprensión auditiva y
la expresión oral a través de sencillas conversaciones referidas a los temas que se presentan
en los videos, la identificación de variantes del idioma, uso de palabras, frases y
conversaciones en contextos diferentes, análisis de personajes y argumentos, la estructura
de los diálogos y el mejoramiento de la pronunciación.
• Acceso a las fuentes de información. Este grupo de actividades propicia la búsqueda
de información en medios impresos y audiovisuales, el desarrollo de estrategias para
identificar las características y formas de diferentes tipos de información (noticias,
conversaciones, documentales, etcétera). Estas actividades propician el diálogo, la
opinión (verbal o escrita), la familiarización con los distintos tipos de texto, así como
su análisis con fines didácticos.
• Muchas canciones tienen temas juveniles y se pueden explotar de varias maneras.
• La mayoría de los libros de texto se orientan hacia los jóvenes y tienen audio cintas y
videos con actividades que se pueden emplear.
Por supuesto, las actividades de comprensión auditiva muchas veces pueden llevar a
actividades orales:
• Juego de roles en las mismas situaciones o situaciones parecidas.
• Intercambio de experiencias personales en situaciones parecidas.
• Discusión informal del tema.
• Debates formales del tema.
Además, se pueden usar textos de lectura o imágenes recortadas de revistas para
desencadenar actividades orales, y se puede trabajar con censos o cuestionarios: por
ejemplo, cuántos estudiantes en el grupo mantienen contacto con sus amigos de secundaria,
si tienen más amigos del sexo opuesto que del mismo sexo, etcétera.
También existen muchos recursos para desarrollar la comprensión de lectura con el
tema de "La adolescencia":
• Materiales en libros de texto orientados hacia los jóvenes.
• Artículos de revistas para jóvenes.
• La letra impresa de canciones juveniles.
19
• Extractos de libros de sicología.
Cuentos y extractos de novelas. Los propósitos fundamentales de este grupo de
actividades son la lectura en voz alta y la comprensión auditiva. A través de estas
actividades tendrán la oportunidad de aprender la pronunciación y la entonación, de revisar y
corregir sus errores y de utilizar los elementos paralingüísticos (mímica y gesticulación) para
atraer la atención de quien los escucha. Estas habilidades forman parte, además, de las
competencias didácticas que requiere desarrollar el maestro de inglés.
Las actividades para la comprensión de lectura son muchas y variadas, desde la
lectura "de ojeada" hasta la lectura "de rompecabezas" en la cual los estudiantes leen
diferentes secciones de un texto (que puede ser más largo que de costumbre ya que no
tienen que leer todo) y en grupos "arman" una idea del texto completo.
La expresión escrita también puede surgir de la práctica de otra habilidad o
relacionarse con ella, por ejemplo, la comprensión de lectura:
• Un breve resumen de un texto que se ha empleado para comprensión de lectura.
• Un párrafo adicional para un texto.
• Un punto de vista contrario al del texto.
También los libros de texto suelen presentar una variedad de tareas escritas al nivel
del estudiante.
Mucho del trabajo sobre la lengua misma puede desarrollarse a partir del trabajo
sobre las habilidades comunicativas:
• El profesor toma nota de los errores más comunes de los estudiantes en el trabajo
oral en grupo, en pareja y en equipo, y también de los errores más comunes en el
trabajo escrito. Se escriben ejemplos de enunciados con estos errores en el pizarrón
o en una hoja con copias para los estudiantes, y también se pueden incluir algunos
enunciados correctos producidos por los estudiantes, sin dar a conocer sus nombres.
Los estudiantes en parejas deciden cuáles son los errores (y, en su caso, cuáles
enunciados son correctos) y cómo corregirlos. Para los errores más significativos y
más comunes –o mejor aún, las formas o usos correctos, sin los errores– se puede
organizar una sesión de práctica.
• El profesor identifica en los textos para comprensión auditiva o de lectura formas o
usos en los inventarios de este documento que muchos estudiantes no conocen o no
conocen bien. Después del trabajo de comprensión auditiva o de lectura, dirige la
atención de los estudiantes hacia esas formas o usos, de preferencia como una tarea
de "descubrimiento": por ejemplo, les indica un ejemplo del superlativo y pide que
encuentren los otros tres ejemplos en el texto. Luego organiza una sesión de
práctica.
Para el desarrollo de la autonomía en el aprendizaje, se deben usar técnicas de
"descubrimiento guiado", como se ha sugerido anteriormente, más que "presentaciones y
20
explicaciones" del profesor. Un principio fundamental es: El profesor nunca debe hacer lo que
un estudiante podría haber hecho. Los estudiantes son capaces de:
• Auto corregirse.
• Corregir a un compañero.
• Proporcionar una palabra o una definición que no conocen algunos otros estudiantes.
• Descubrir o recordar cómo funciona un elemento gramatical.
Los estudiantes también deben darse cuenta de sus propios estilos de estudio y
aprendizaje, y de las prácticas y características de quienes tienen más éxito en la empresa
de aprender una lengua extranjera, para luego intentar adoptar otras opciones. Algunas
formas de tratar este tema se presentan en los dos libros en la sección correspondiente de la
bibliografía.
En este semestre, al igual que en el anterior, los estudiantes realizarán dos jornadas
de observación y práctica en la escuela secundaria (es recomendable revisar el
programa de la asignatura Observación y Práctica Docente II para conocer las
características de cada jornada). El maestro de Inglés II deberá incluir, de acuerdo con
las características del curso y con la planeación que diseñe, las actividades que es necesario
realizar antes de estas jornadas, las que se realizarán durante las estancias en la escuela
secundaria y el tipo de análisis que se hará de la experiencia. Conviene que algunos de los
temas que se incluyan en "Comunicación para la organización de la clase" se aborden antes
de asistir a estas jornadas para que los estudiantes puedan poner en práctica algunos de los
temas revisados y que el maestro de la asignatura cuente con los elementos suficientes para
valorar el avance de los estudiantes y con la información necesaria para identificar los
aspectos que es necesario reforzar.
21
SUGERENCIAS PARA LA EVALUACIÓN
Los productos que el estudiante genera como resultado de las actividades (textos
breves, entrevistas, grabaciones ejemplo: Parodiar un programa de radio o video
grabaciones Role play, las preguntas que se hacen, el desempeño individual en el trabajo en
equipo), pueden aprovecharse para la evaluación
La evaluación debe ser continua, y debe involucrar al estudiante como individuo. En
los textos sugeridos en la bibliografía se pueden encontrar orientaciones al respecto. Sin
embargo, un profesional debe someterse a la evaluación formal también, y se ha propuesto
para Inglés II un nivel mínimo equivalente a PET de la Universidad de Cambridge o 400
puntos en TOEFL. Presentar dicho examen también familiarizará al estudiante con las
características de un examen de "proficiency" desarrollado con base en mucha investigación
y mucha experiencia por las instituciones más prestigiadas en el mundo en el campo del
inglés como lengua extranjera.
BIBLIOGRAFIA COMPLEMENTARIA
LISTENING
REAL LIFE AND CLASSROOM LISTENING
1.1 Different types of understanding
This book is about what you can do within a language course to help students
understand spoken English better. The word ‘understand’ can have several meanings, and I
shall try to cover activities and material that help students with such aspects of
understanding as:
1. Hearing all the words a speaker says.
2. Understanding the plain sense of the information a speakers is giving.
3. Deducing the meaning of unknown words and phrases by using the context.
4. Understanding what is implied but not stated in so many words.
5. Recognizing the degree of formality with which the speaker is talking.
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1.2 DIFFERENT LISTENING SITUATIONS
1.3
The aim of teaching listening comprehension is (or should be) to help learners of English
cope with listening in real life. Figure 1 looks at some of the more common situations in
which people living in a modern environment could need to use their listening skills.
Figure 1. Situations in which listening is important
1.4 ESTABLISHING LEARNERS’ PRIORITIES.
If we look at figure 1 from the point of view of the learner, it will be clear that not every
situation shown will be equally relevant to every student. For example, someone who only
needs to handle casual social contacts with speakers of English will be more interested in
materials that involve conversational skills than in the sort of materials that could be used to
develop the skills necessary for successful listening to lectures.
Not all students will have a precise set of reasons for learning English, but in many cases
you will be able to draw up a rough list of the situations in which your students need, or
would like, to be able to listen with success. This will be very useful as a first step to deciding
what materials and exercises to choose or create.
1.5 ANALYZING DIFFERENT LISTENING SITUATIONS.
Figure 2 shows some important factors affecting the difficulty of the situations illustrated
in Figure 1. In real life, even though listening may be a major activity in a particular
situation, the listener is usually expected to perform more than one language skill
simultaneously.
Situation 3, ‘taking part in a conversation’, is an obvious case. Here, people need both to
speak and to listen. They need to plan what to say next while they are listening, and to
adjust what they say according to what other people have said. This is a very complex and
demanding process. Another example is Situation 7, ‘Listening to a talk or lecture’, which
often requires the taking of notes. This requires the listener not only the important, relevant,
information and reduce it to a form that can quickly be taken down in writing and remain
understandable later –another complex combination of skills.
1. Listening to announcements in stations, airports, etc.
2. Listening to the radio 3. Participating in a conversation face-to-face 4. Watching a film, play or TV 5. Participating in a meeting, seminar or discussion 6. Taking part in a lesson 7. Listening to a talk or lecture 8. Eavesdropping on other people’s conversations 9 P ti i ti i t l h ti
23
Non-native speakers of English will face additional problems when listening, due to their
limited experience of the language. These difficulties affecting learners of English are
summarized in figure 3.
The fact that few situations involve ‘pure’ listening by itself can also be helpful. For
example, the learner can often use visual clues to lend support to imperfect comprehension,
as can the native speaker when, for instance, he does not hear an airport announcement
perfectly and looks at the departures and arrivals board to confirm what he has heard. In
other cases, a speaker may use a word unknown to the listener whose meaning may be
made immediately clear from the physical surroundings –if the speaker points to the thing
which he is referring. For example. Very often the listener is able to ask for a clarification or
repetition if he has not understood. Often a puzzled look is enough.
24
Figure 2. Factors affecting the difficulty of listening situations.
Situation Aids Difficulties
1. station, airport
announcements
1. visual back-up, notice
boards, etc.
2. You can ask a member of
staff for help
1. no possibility of asking
speaker for clarification.
2. Distorted speech.
2. listening to the radio. Possibility of some background
knowledge, eg The News
1. no possibility of asking
speaker for clarification
2. no visual clues
3. participating in a
conversation face-to-face.
1. possibility of getting
clarification from the
speaker.
2. Visual clues –speakers’
expression, gestures, etc.
3. The context of the
situation
The need to plan your next
contribution to the
conversation while you are
listening.
4. film, play or tv. 1. visual clues –speakers’
expression, gestures, etc.
2. Context of the situation
No possibility of asking
speakers to clarify (and
unacceptable to ask other
members of audiences for too
much help!)
5. meeting or seminar. 1. background knowledge of
subject matter
2. possibility of asking for
clarification
The need to plan your
contribution while listening
6. taking part in a lesson 1. the teacher should be
trying to make himself
comprehensible
2. visual clues –black-board
work etc, provided by
teacher.
1. the possibility of being
called on to answer
unexpectedly
2. understanding the
contributions of other
students.
7. talk or lecture. 1. Probability of some
background knowledge or
1. frequently the need to take
notes, involving selecting
important information and
25
expectations
2. Visual clues –board work
etc, provided by speaker
writing, at the same time
as listening
2. interrupting for clarification
not usually encouraged.
8. eavesdropping Motivation (curiosity) You start by knowing nothing
of what the conversation is
about. You need to ‘tune in’.
9. telephone conversation Possibility of asking for
clarification.
1. no visual clues
2. distorted speech.
Figure 3. Difficulties specific to learners of English.
Difficulties specific to language learners Strategies learners should try
Text linguistically difficult: eg
(i) words in stream of speech hard for
learner to recognize
(ii) certain structures unknown to learner
(iii) certain words unknown to learner
Referring outside: eg using dictionary, asking
for an explanation, repetition, etc.
Holding doubtful sections of what is heard in
suspense and hoping that clarification will come
later.
Listener is unfamiliar with how certain types of
‘spoken text’ are presented and organized in
the foreign culture.
Mustering all pre-knowledge or expectations
before listening starts
Being alert to all the clues in the context or
situation.
In other words, real life listening not only poses problems for the learner, it also offers
safety nets and extra helping factors.
1.6 INTERACTIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL SPEECH
The word ‘conversation’ can be defined as, ‘any series of spoken exchanges among a
small group of people in which the contributions are reasonably balanced in terms of quantity
and are reasonably coherent’. However, there is clearly a difference between the main
purpose of the talk that takes place between an airline clerk and a passenger wanting flight
26
information and that between two friends exchanging greetings and enquiries about how life
is treating them.
In the first case, the main concern is with obtaining or passing on concrete information.
In the second, although the friends will of course also exchange some information, the main
concern is with maintaining friendly social contact.
When thinking about monologue, or speech by a single person, the same distinction
could be made, for example, between a boss giving his orders for the day to a group of
employees, and some recounting the events of the day to his friends, in order to amuse, or
just to fill the silence.
Gillian Brown and George Yule in Teaching the Spoken Language distinguish these two
emphases of communication. The first, the exchange of information or the use of language to
‘get things done’, is called transactional. The second, the use of language for establishing
and maintaining social contact, is called interactional.
Many teaching materials- and not only those concerned with listening comprehension-
concentrate on helping learners cope with transactional language, but it is equally important
to give them the chance to recognize and use features of interactional language. In the case
of listening comprehension, this means providing passages and activities which can help
students with such things as recognizing the speakers’ emotional attitude, or the relationship
between speakers. Not only what is said, but the way in which it is said, is important to a
correct understanding of a social situation. Students should be helped to pay attention to
such things as tone of voice, volume and speech as clues to what the speaker is thinking or
feeling as well as to the actual words used.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF LISTENING MATERIALS.
2.1 LISTENING FOR ORAL PRODUCTION OR FOR COMPREHENSION.
At this point it is important to make a distinction between the two reasons for which
students may be asked to listen to their language courses:
1 To improve their understanding of the spoken word –the subject of this book
2 To provide them with a model of the spoken language for them to imitate in oral
production.
The recorded dialogue which precedes drilling of a new structure, or of examples of a
language function, is the most familiar example of the second type of listening work. This is
not the main consideration of this book, and it is very important to bear in mind how it
differs from the passage intended for listening comprehension.
27
The important thing to remember is that students who are only exposed to materials
intended as a basis for oral imitation will not receive adequate training in listening
comprehension skills, for the following reasons:
1. The variety of language forms in teaching dialogues intended as a basis
for oral practice is usually deliberately limited so that they provide several
examples of the target structure or function to be taught.
2. The delivery of the speakers is usually kept fairly slow and careful –an
easy and suitable model for the learner to imitate.
3. The information contained in such dialogues is usually fairly and trivial and
the learners are not asked to pay much attention to it. Their main
conce3rn is with the language forms.
All this is very different from what learners have to face when they start dealing with
real situations and native speakers of the language. For this reason, materials that are
designed to give practice in listening comprehension look (and sound) very different from
most teaching dialogues.
In passages for listening comprehension work, the speakers are talking fairly quickly
and naturally and the passages contain a lot of information to which the student is asked to
pay attention. The main purpose of this type of listening is to help students improve their
understanding of the message of what is said and not to introduce new language forms for
their own sake.
2.2 EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE LISTENING.
At times a person might find himself listening to something in a relaxed way, not
concentrating on every word, but for the sheer pleasure of following the content of what is
said. An example might be the experience of listening to an interesting or amusing radio
program, which poses no particular problems of language or difficulty of concepts. At other
times the same person might find himself in a situation where he has to listen with great
attention, because he is trying to pick up and remember a series of important instructions,
as in the case of the employee listening to his boss’s orders. Alternatively, the speaker might
be using complex or unfamiliar language, as with an undergraduate listening to a lecture on
a subject new to him.
The parallels between a native speaker and a learner are not exact here, but there is
certainly a case for giving students the two different types of listening experience –those in
which the language-level is well within their present capacity, and which therefore allow
them to listen for pleasure or interest without having to make a great effort to overcome
linguistic difficulties, and those which they need to pay more attention to content and
language. The first sort of experience can last quite a long time, several minutes, as in the
case of easy stories read aloud by the teacher or heard on tape. They can also be quite
short, when, for example, they hear a short poem or joke, just for pleasure or fun. In both
28
cases they are not asked to do ‘language work’ on what they hear but have the satisfaction
of an almost complete, direct understanding of something worth hearing. This type of
listening can be called extensive listening (by analogy with extensive reading, a term widely
used in the teaching world. It is an experience which it is important to give all students to
keep their motivation and interest high, as well as giving them valuable extra contact with
English in its spoken form. Figure 34 gives some ideas for sources of material for this
purpose.
The second type of listening might be called intensive listening (again by analogy
with reading). This is perhaps the more widely-used form of listening practice in modern
classrooms. Here, the students are asked to listen to a passage with the aim of collecting
and organizing the information that it contains. The type of passage used is usually a little
different from that used for extensive listening. It contains more concrete information, which
may be quite densely packed, and often is not as easy for the students to understand on first
hearing. This is because the aim is to give the students a challenge, to allow them to develop
listening skills or knowledge of language through the efforts they make, guided by exercises
or activities related to the passage. For this reason, passages for intensive listening should
be short, not more than a few minutes long, because they should be played several times,
straight through or in sections (usually in both ways during a lesson). This is so that students
have the chance to get to grips with the contents and to have several tries at parts that at
first hearing they may find difficult. Practically, the passages need to be short in order to be
fit within the time-limits of a lesson, and also because of the effort that the students will be
expending in their attempts to make out as much as possible. Such heavy concentration on a
long passage would be extremely tiring, and would probably result in making students dislike
the experience rather than finding it challenging but rewarding.
2.3 RECORDED AND LIVE LISTENING
These days, the use of recorded tapes or cassettes for listening comprehension has
become standard. This has many advantages, but it is important to remember that students
can also benefit from listening to the teacher or to each other in live listening practice. Some
of the advantages and disadvantages of recorded and live listening practice are ser out
below:
2.3.1 RECORDED MATERIALS
1. Recorded materials allow the non-native teacher to bring the voices of native
speakers into the classroom, and allow all teachers to present a variety of voices and
accents to their students.
2. When using recorded materials, the teacher or student can stop where he wishes,
repeat short sections as often as he likes, and play the whole passage as often as
necessary.
29
3. Taped materials can be used by students working on their own, either in or outside
the classroom. A tape is a portable ‘slice’ of the English language and can be used by
the student at any time.
4. Taped materials give students the chance to hear several people talking at the same
time, in discussions or conversations.
5. Visual clues are not present when students listen to recorded materials on audio
tape. This makes them artificial to some extent. Questions like, ‘How many people
are speaking?’ Or ‘Where are they?’ would not need to be considered in real life!
However, this artificial removal of some of the normal information a listener would
have can be used by the teacher to concentrate students’ minds on the clues that
they can pick up from the language itself, and can thus have positive teaching
advantages. Tone of voice, the type of vocabulary used, as well as what the
speakers actually say, will be thrown into more prominence, and can be made the
main focus of the lesson.
6. Listening experience based on video tape offer the advantages of audio tape, and in
addition you can replay the tape to observe the use of gesture and other clues which
the learner might use in real life to help with his understanding of what people are
saying and of the relationships that exist between them.
7. Tapes and recorders used in the classroom are not always of a high quality. This can
lead to distortion, making it difficult for students to understand the passage.
2.3.2 LIVE LISTENING.
1. Live listening experiences cannot be repeated exactly. Small sections cannot be
replayed or paused in the way that recorded materials allow.
2. In compensation, they are spontaneous, and students can interact with the
speaker(s) by showing their understanding (or lack of it) through expression,
gesture, or simply by speaking, to ask for clarification or repetition.
3. Listeners have visual clues to help them. The speaker’s gestures or use of the
surrounding context can be very helpful, and many listeners find it useful to watch
the speaker’s mouth as he talks.
4. Some teachers who are not native speakers are worried that students may suffer
from not hearing a perfect model of the language, especially in activities where the
students are speaking and listening to each other. However, as mentioned above,
the principal aim of listening comprehension practice is not to provide a model for
oral production, but to strengthen the ability to understand spoken messages.
Students can benefit from practice in reacting to what they hear, from participating
in listening situations rather than just overhearing what other people are saying on
tape.
30
Looking at the different advantages that live and recorded sources of listening
experience can offer, it seems that most students will benefit from a mixed diet which allow
them to practice different strategies for coping with the spoken message.
2.4 AUTHENTIC AND SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED MATERIALS.
Most teachers want to give their students something realistic to listen to, because
they want to equip them to cope with listening in real life. This has led to a great interest in
so-called authentic material.
Authentic listening materials consist of speech recorded in real situations, often
without the speakers’ knowledge at the time, so that the students are encountering a totally
natural ‘slice of life’.
The advantages of using materials of this type for some purposes are clear, but the
teacher should also consider some possible drawbacks and limitations.
2.4.1 ADVANTAGES OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
1. The English heard is real, not the construction of a textbook writer or an actor’s
performance. This makes it both more interesting for students, and satisfying if they
are able to understand what these genuine English speakers are saying.
2. Because the speech is a sample of real English, you have the scope to do work on it
that a scripted, acted, listening passage might not permit. You could, for example,
look at the accent, tone of voice and actual expressions used, confident that you are
using good linguistic data.
2.4.2 DRAWBACKS OF AUTHENTIC MATERIALS.
1. Authentic speech is often too difficult for students at lower levels to understand
except in a very superficial way. Some teachers do not object to this a favor giving
students very simple tasks to do in relation to such passages. This enables them to
give students at all levels experience of real English without shattering their self-
confidence. However, always giving superficial or simple tasks just because the
passages are beyond the students’ current level of understanding, seems to be a
pity. They also need the experience of being asked to get more detailed information
from something they can understand more easily. This may mean using passages
which are not strictly authentic, although they should not falsify the way natural
English sounds.
2. Many authentic listening passages are rather too rambling and long to be used
conveniently in classroom teaching. Speakers in the real world take their time to say
31
what they want to. They interrupt each other outrageously. They digress. They lose
the thread of what they are saying. All this can provide excellent practice for a fairly
advanced learner in his own time, but it is rarely suitable for use with a large group
of students within time-limits of a class period. It is often more economical to use a
constructed passage in which the information is more densely packed.
The controversy about authentic texts, as opposed to texts created specially for
teaching purposes, seems to center around how much reality it is possible to bring into the
classroom, and which are the aspects of reality that should never be sacrificed or even
compromised.
My own view is that naturalness of speech should never be sacrificed, but that it is
possible to provide this in scripted or especially constructed materials as well as in authentic
materials. Authentic materials can be very valuable, but authenticity is not an absolute virtue
in the teaching world. The clearer focus and shorter length of many non-authentic materials
can make them much more suitable for many teaching purposes. Again the compromise of
giving students different types of listening seems to be the commonsense answer, with
careful choice of material according to what you want the students to be able to do with it.
HOW TO GET THE MATERIALS YOU NEED
There are three ways of obtaining suitable listening material:
1. Buying published material and using it as it stands.
2. Adapting published material.
3. Making your own material.
The advantages and disadvantages of each possibility are considered below.
BUYING PUBLISHED MATERIAL.
This is the obvious choice for most teachers and fortunately published material has
improved greatly in recent years, both in terms of the naturalness of the speech heard on
the tapes and of the usefulness of the exercises suggested.
Ideas tried and tested in the classroom find their way quickly into print.
When you are selecting materials, try to obtain a sample tape from the publisher
with selections of their materials. Listening to this, as well as reading what the catalogue or
publicity material has to say about the level, topics, type of speech and teaching approach,
will give you a better feel for the material, and allow you to see how closely the material fits
with the way you think your students should be working.
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Because there are so many factors involved when deciding to choose, or not to
choose, particular materials, many pages could be spent on this subject. Figure 4
summarizes the essential steps and factors to bear in mind.
Before you even begin to decide which material to adopt you should consider the
following points.
1. Does your school have the resources to buy listening tapes and students’ books. If
not, do you have the time to make your own materials?
2. Is there a slot in the timetable for listening to be covered, or can you make time
within your normal classes?
3. Do the materials you are considering need any special equipment or classroom
arrangements? If so, can you provide this?
ADAPTING PUBLISHED MATERIAL.
At some points in Figure 4 the decision is not to reject imperfect teaching material
but to adapt it to make it more suitable. This allows room for your own creativity without
involving the enormous investment of time, skill, and effort that is required when you create
your own material from scratch. When adapting, you can modify either the passage itself, or
the exercises.
Some students’ books still give very few exercises for each tape.
Some units for teaching begin with exercises which may be too challenging for your
students to tackle immediately. In this case, you may want to put in your own pre-listening
exercises to provide a sort of bridge.
Changing the passage involves much more work than changing the exercises, and is
best avoided except in cases such as that of a listening course which is very suitable on the
whole, but which has one or two passages that do not succeed with your students, either
because of the language used or because of the way in which the performers are speaking.
In these cases there are some measures you can take:
1. If the passage is a monologue, you may be able to start the lesson with your own
performance of it, using a slower, clearer delivery. This cou7ld be on tape or live.
Students use this easier version to help them cope with the taped passage more
confidently. The students should wait to do exercises on the original passage.
2. If the passage involves more than one speaker you will, of course, have to record
your own version if you wish to provide an easier ‘bridge’. If this comes out well and
33
sounds natural, you could decide to use your version instead of that provided by the
publisher.
Figure 4. Deciding to adopt, adapt or reject material.
Making your own material.
This means that you provide both listening passage and exercise material. I use the
word ‘provide’ deliberately, because you do not always have to make your own tapes. You
could also find ready-made things for students to listen to, by using radio and TV broadcasts,
or using commercial recordings of songs, poems, and plays –things that were not originally
intended for language teaching, but whose potential you have spotted. These provide
Are the types of text relevant to your students’
Are the topics of any relevance or interest to your
Listen to the tapes and asses difficulty for your
Too difficult as it stands
Challenging Easily comprehended
Can you make a bridging version?
Look at the exercises offered. Do they aim to develop the skills your students need?
Can you supplement the exercises
Too easy to challenge
Can the passage be used as extended listening
Yes
yes
no
no
No
Reject
Reject
Yes
Reject
No
Reject
No
No
Yes
Reject
ADOPT THE MATERIAL
yes
Yes
34
another type of authentic listening material, since they are real examples of the sort of thing
the native speakers listen to.
USING READY-MADE MATERIAL.
Copyright law is strict, and schools and individuals violating it are liable to
prosecution. This said, here are some points to remember when gathering materials from
ready-made sources.
1. Whole radio programs and talks are usually too long to use for listening in class,
although they can often be used for self-access listening. To get a suitable extract for
class use, you will have to record the whole program and then select a part of it that
can stand alone. This is often less easy than it sounds, since speakers tend to make
forward and backward references to other parts of the program, making it difficult to
find a section which works well independently.
2. You will need to make a transcript of your extract, for your own reference as you
device exercises to fit it, but also, some cases, for your students to use. It takes a
very long time to make an absolutely accurate transcript, particularly when you are
dealing with spontaneous speech. From twelve to twenty times the running length of
your taped extract is the normal estimate of the time it takes a skilled transcriber.
Some conventions for indicating pauses, hesitation, stammers, laughs and other
features of the way the speaker is talking are given in Figure 5. they are intended to
be practically useful for students rather than to represent the complete descriptive
apparatus used by a linguist.
3. When you are writing exercises, it is usually much more difficult to deal with
someone else’s words than with a passage you have planned or created yourself.
However, choosing types of listening which occur frequently and have a consistent
structure will give you the chance to apply the solutions you find more than once.
35
Figure 5. Conventions used in transcribing speech for teaching purposes.
In fa- unfinished word
And then… he Short pause between the words
(er) any hesitation noise
(really?) an interruption by another speaker
A I don’t think I Underlining indicated that 2 speakers are talking at the
B Well you need to be careful same time
(cough) (laugh) The speaker laughs, coughs, etc.
Example
a. Yes, yes, you’ve pro- probably… probably eaten it many a time. You know,
they (er) used to put it (er) in meals for schoolchildren. (Really?) Yes (laugh)
That’s why school meals were so unpopular perhaps
b. That’s probably why I didn’t like them much then (laugh)
Recording your own material –scripted, semi-scripted and unscripted.
In spite of the attractions of authentic materials, texts which have been scripted or
pre-planned do have a use in the classroom. You can make sure that the information you
want is included, and you can plan your exercises and your listening passage together, so
that they ‘fit’ with authentic materials you have to accept what the speakers happen to say
and the way they say it.
Three types of constructed listening passage will be considered: tightly-scripted,
semi-scripted and unscripted.
1. Tightly-scripted. In this format, the speakers read aloud or act out the words you
have written down. Here you have absolute control over what is said, but the major
pitfall is producing something that does not sound natural.
Before you record, you should have your script ‘vetted’ for naturalness by a
native speaker, if possible. Even then, you have the problem of getting a natural
performance from your actors. Again it is better if you can check your results with a
native speaker and preferably not use the tape if it is in any way doubtful in this
respect.
Some types of scripted passage present fewer problems of natural delivery
than others. The mock radio talk, for example, often succeeds very well, since most
real radio talks are read aloud from scripts. If you want to represent two people
having a spontaneous row, however, it is probably easier to get a convincing
36
performance not by scripting every word, but by allowing your performers the scope
that semi-scripted passages provide.
2. Semi-scripted. This is probably the ideal compromise for most teachers who want to
plan some of what is to go into their tapes, but who also want spontaneity and
naturalness from their speakers. In this technique, performers are given an outline of
what to say rather than a precise script.
This outline can take several forms: notes, or, with skilled performers, just a chart or
a diagram containing all the information that you want them to include. Figures 6 and 7
illustrate some of the possibilities. It is best to use native speakers for the type of recording,
and the same advice about having the resulting tape vetted by a native speaker applies.
Speakers working from a semi-scripted outline will produce most of the
features of spontaneous speech –hesitation noises, backtracking, repetitions, false
starts, etc. this will give students ample opportunity to come to grips with these
aspects of spoken English, even though semi-scripted recordings are not authentic.
3. Unscripted. Once your actors have worked for a time from a script or semi-scripted
outline, you might ask them to record the same passage once more, but this time
from memory, with no script at all in front of them. This often produces a very good
final product with added spontaneity.
37
Figure 6. Example of a fairly tight semi-scripted outline.
Mrs. Adams saves money
Script outline for both speakers
Mrs. Jones greet Mrs. Adams with surprise
Mrs. Adams return greeting and explain that you are in town just for the sales. Say you and
husband needed such a lot of things that you thought you’d wait until the January sales.
Mrs. Jones ask what they wanted
Mrs. Adams a new lamp for the sitting room, the old one got broken
Mrs. Jones show interest…
Figure 7. Very loose script outline for experienced performers.
An anthropologist looks at the High Street
Script outline for interviewer
1. Start by introducing the anthropologist to the listeners –Dr. Edward Heart of
Cambridge University. Say he is the leader of a government project to investigate
behavior of public in crowded areas. Ask him what the purpose of the research is
(push him, surely it is going to cost a lot of money- for what result?)
2. When he answers continue to push him –it’s costing one million pounds.
3. Let him defend himself, but try to close the interview within 2 ½ minutes of the start.
Script outline for Dr. Heart
1. Wait to be introduced and for the first question.
2. Facts about your project are:
- Increased in public places connected with design of buildings. It is necessary
to observe people moving around in a scientific way, similar to observing
moneys.
- As a result of project, architects can design best space for human being. 25
researchers on project; 50 secret video cameras; 5 years to complete.
If the interviewer pushes you, react indignantly.
38
With people with whom you work easily, you may be able to start with no script or
outline, simply discussing what is required and then recording directly.
Another way of guiding the content of a recording without scripting is to ask your
performers a single question as a ‘starter’ and to record the spontaneous answers. There is
often no need to include your question on the final tape. Several different people’s answers
to a question such as: “Can you describe your route to work?” or “Tell me about any food
that you absolutely hate” can form the basis of exercises in which students compare and
discuss what the speakers say.
To create materials for more advanced students, you could interview people you
know have something interesting to say –visitors to the school, or friends who have
interesting jobs or who have been somewhere exotic. The results can sound just as authentic
as any radio interview of the same type, with he advantage that you can control the length
and discuss some of the content in advance with your interviewee.
LIVE PERFORMANCES.
BY THE TEACHER.
This possibility is often neglected in current teaching. A part from the possibility of
reading a story in episodes for a few minutes each lesson to provide extensive listening
practice, you can tell them a story or a joke spontaneously. You could also bring in visitors to
the school and ask them to tell your class something about themselves, or about their
travels or work.
You can provide intensive listening by speaking from notes or from a full script, or
simply by giving spontaneous instructions on how to do something. A good example of this is
the well-known communication exercise known as describe and draw. In this, one person (in
this version the teacher) has a simple picture which nobody else can see. He tells the rest of
the group what it looks like, giving them instructions on how to draw a picture of their own
which looks as much as possible like the original. Exercises in which students follow a route
on a map according to instructions are also suitable for live performances by the teacher,
who gives the instructions.
Of course, in live listening, the students will not be able to ask for an exact ‘replay’ of
what you say, but in recompense they have the important advantage of being able to
practice, in this ‘face-to-face’ listening all the strategies that are useful in real-life listening.
Amongst these, asking for a repetition or clarification is very important, so make sure that
he students know that they are supposed to interrupt you when they are not sure of
something.
39
BY THE STUDENTS.
The possibility of students listening to each other should not be neglected. Some
teachers are worried about this, since they are afraid of students picking up each other’s bad
habits, but there are two arguments against this view:
1. English is now an international language, used as lingua franca between people who
do not speak it as a native language. It is thus not the perfect native speaker a
model that your students are likely to hear all the time in the real world.
2. It is not the purpose of listening comprehension practice to provide a model for
students to copy in their speech. This can be done in other parts of the language
course. There is more to be gained by giving learners the chance to practice
interacting with another person, while trying to understand what he is saying, than
there is to be lost from them not always being exposed to ‘good’ English speech.
SPEAKING
INTRODUCTION
Foreign language teachers often tend to assume that conversation in the language
classroom involves nothing more than putting into practice the grammar and vocabulary
skills taught elsewhere in the course.. so the ‘conversation class’ may turn out to include
everything from mechanical drills to task-based problem-solving activities. It is true that
both these types of activity may, to some extent at least, help students develop the skill of
taking part in conversation. But, if we want to teach conversation well, we need to know
something about what native speakers do when they have conversations. This information
can help us to develop appropriate materials and techniques for teaching purposes. In this
section therefore, we shall be looking at the characteristics of naïve-speaker conversation in
order to provide a rationale for the practical exercises which follow in the remainder of the
book.
WHAT IS CONVERSATION?
People sometimes use the term ‘conversation’ to mean any spoken encounter or
interaction. In this book, however, ‘conversation refers to a time when two or more people
have the right to talk or listen without having to follow a fixed schedule, such as an agenda.
In conversation everyone can have something to say and anyone can speak at any time. In
everyday life we sometimes refer to conversation as ‘chat’ and the focus of the book is on
this type of spoken interaction, rather than on more formal, planned occasions for speaking,
such as meetings.
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THE FUNCTIONS OF CONVERSATION
The purposes of conversation include the exchange of information; the creation and
maintenance of social relationships such as friendship; the negotiation of status and social
roles, as well as deciding on and carrying out joint actions. Conversation therefore has many
functions, although its primary purpose in our own language is probably social.
THE UNITS OF CONVERSATION.
The basic unit of conversation is an exchange. An exchange consists of two moves
(an initiating move and a response). Each move can also be called a turn, a turn can be
taken without using words, e.g. by a nod of the head. So for this dialogue the move and
exchange structure can be illustrated in the following way:
A Jane.
B Yes?
A Could I borrow your bike, please?
B Sure, it’s in the garage.
A Thanks very much.
Exchange 1 Exchange 2
Exchange 3
Figure 1. an illustration of move and exchange structure.
We can give a function to each move, e.g. request, acknowledge. This may not be
easy, and to do so we need to take account of factors such as who the speakers are, where
and when the conversation occurs, as well as the position of the move in the stream of
speech.
Turn 1 (solicit: call)
‘Jane’
Turn 2 (Give: available)
‘Yes?’
Turn 3 (solicit: request) ‘Could I borrow
your bike, please?’
Turn 4 (give: comply)
‘Sure, it’s in the garage’
Turn 5 (acknowledge:
thank) ‘Thanks, very much’
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Notice that an exchange, or a series of exchanges, are not necessarily the same
thing as a conversation. The following is an example of an exchange:
A Hi!
B Hi!
The second example contains two exchanges, but it is not a conversation because
the two speakers want to finish their business as quickly as possible:
A How much are the oranges?
B Eighteen pence each, madam.
A I’ll have two, please.
B That’s thirty-six pence!
Conversation is open-ended and has the potential to develop any way. It is possible
that the second example could contain a conversation if the speakers decided to talk about
the price of oranges. They may do this in order to get a discount, or to develop a social
relationship, and the potential is always there in real life.
Unfortunately many students never have the confidence or opportunity to go beyond
simple exchanges as the one above.
What do native speakers do in conversation?
Conversation is such a natural part of our lives that many people are not conscious of
what happens within it. However, conversation follows certain rules which can be described.
For example, when we look at normal conversation we notice that:
- usually only one person speaks at a time,
- the speakers change,
- the length of any contribution varies,
- there are techniques for allowing the other party or parties to speak,
- neither the content or the amount of what we say is specified in advance.
Conversation analysis seeks to explain how this occurs, and the aim of these sections
which follow is to make the readers sensitive to the main issues from a teaching point of
view.
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THE CO-OPERATIVE PRINCIPLE
Normal conversations proceed so smoothly because we co-operate in them. Grice (1975)
has described four maxims or principles which develop co-operative behavior. These are:
THE MAXIM OF QUALITY
Make your contribution one that is true. Specifically:
a. Do not say what you believe to be false.
b. Do not say anything for which you lack adequate evidence.
The maxim of quantity
Make your contribution just as informative as required and no more.
The maxim of relation
Make your contribution relevant and timely.
The maxim of manner
Avoid obscurity and ambiguity.
Readers will realize that these maxims are often broken and, when this happens, native
speakers work harder to get at the underlying meaning, e.g.
A How did you find the play?
B The lighting was good.
By choosing not to be as informative as required, B is probably suggesting the play is not
worth commenting on. A lot of the material written for teaching English as a foreign
language is deliberately free of such ambiguity. This means that students have problems
later in conversational situations where the maxims are not observed. Systematic listening
practice using authentic discourse may be one solution.
These maxims may also be observed differently in different cultures, so we need to tell
students if they are saying too much or too little without realizing it…
THE MAKING OF MEANING
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When we speak we make promises, give advice or praise, issue threats, etc. some
linguists refer to individual moves as speech acts. Each of the following are examples of
speech acts and we can try to allocate a specific function to each example:
- turn left at the next street. (Instruction?)
- Invest in Crescent Life (Advice?)
- Keep off the grass (Order?)
However, we need to know the context of the example to give it a function with any
certainty, and it is easy to think of situations in which the examples above might have a
different function from the one shown. In conversations the relationship between the speaker
and the listener will have an important effect on how the listener understands the particular
speech act. For example, the way in which we hear and respond to a statement such as I’ve
lost my wallet, may well depend on whether we think the person is trying to obtain money
under false pretences or not! There is no room to enter into a full discussion of discourse
analysis, but the following issues are particularly relevant to the teaching of conversation.
Most speech acts have more than one function, e.g. when we say to a waitress, the
music is rather loud, we are simultaneously reporting that we cannot hear ourselves speak,
and also complaining and asking the waitress to do something about it. Any approach that
leads students to equate one particular language from with one particular language function,
will lead to misunderstandings in conversation because an important requirement for success
is being able to interpret intended speech acts correctly. There is also a need to help
students begin to become sensitive to why a speaker chose a particular speech act, e.g. by
setting a listening task which asks students to comment on the purpose of what they hear –
is it meant.
ADJACENCY
The two moves in an exchange are related to each other through the use of adjacency
pairs. These are utterances produced by two successive speakers in which the second
utterance can be identified as being related to the first. Some examples of adjacency pairs
are:
1. A Hello! (greeting-Greeting)
B Hi!
2. A Dinner’s ready! (Call-answer)
B Coming
3. A Is this yours? (Question-answer)
B No.
In some cases we can predict the second part of a pair from the first. As in example
1, a greeting is normally followed by a greeting. In other cases there are a variety of options.
44
For example, a complaint might be followed by an apology or a justification. Teachers need
to think about ways of developing appropriate second parts to adjacency pairs from the
start. For example, many drills require students to reply to yes/no questions with ‘yes’ or
‘no’, plus a repetition of the verb. We therefore get exchanges like:
A Are these cakes fresh?
B Yes, they are
What students do not often get are opportunities to practice other options, such as:
A are these cakes fresh?
B I bought them this morning. Help yourself.
Even worse is the tendency to encourage students to produce isolated sentences
containing a target structure, e.g. if I had 10 000 dollars I’d by a car. Unless we get away
from question-answer-question-answer sequences and the production of sentences without
either stimulus or response, students will always appear to be flat and unresponsive in
conversation because a minimal answer does nothing to drive the conversation forward.
TURN TAKING
As native speakers we find it relatively easy and natural to know who is to speak,
when, and for how long. But this skill is not automatically transferred to a foreign language.
Many students have great difficulty in getting into a conversation, knowing when to give up
their turn to others, and in bringing a conversation to a close. In order for conversation to
work smoothly, all participants have to be alert to signals that a speaker is about to finish his
or her turn, and be able to come in with a contribution which fits the direction in which the
conversation is moving. We need to train students to sense when someone is about to finish.
Falling intonation is often a signal for this.
It would also be useful for students to realize that questions like, Did anyone watch
the football last night? Function as a general invitation to someone to develop a
conversation. Foreigners also sometimes lose their turn because they hesitate in order to
find the right word. Teaching our students expressions like, Wait, there’s more, or That’s not
all, as well as fillers and hesitation devices such as erm…, well…, so you can guess what
happened…,etc. will help them to keep going. Finally, it is well worth looking at ways in
which we initiate and build on what others have said such as That’s like what happened to
me… and did I tell you about when…?,so that students can make appropriate contributions.
OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS
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The devices used for opening and closing different conversations are very similar.
Many conversations start with adjacency pairs designed to attract attention, such as:
1 A Have you got a light?
B Sure.
2 A Gosh it’s hot in here today.
B I’m used to it.
Openings such as these allow further talk once the other person’s attention has been
obtained. Many foreign students use openings that make them sound too direct and
intrusive, for example, by asking a very direct question. Closing too presents a problem
when the sudden introduction of a final move like, Goodbye makes the foreigner sound rude.
Native speakers will tend to negotiate the end of a conversation so that nobody is left
talking, and you will hear expressions like:
- OK then…
- Right…
- Well, I suppose…
- Erm, I’m afraid…
- I’ve got to go now…
- I’ll let you get back to your writing.
- So I’ll see you next gook.
It is worth pointing these out. Native speakers sometimes try to cut a conversation
short by only producing a minimal response or even saying nothing at all, but neither
strategy is recommended for students of English.
TOPICS
Different cultures talk about different things in their everyday lives. Native speakers
are very aware of what they should and should not talk about with specific categories of
people in their own language, but the rules may be different in a foreign language. Both
teachers and students need to develop a sense of ‘taboo’ subjects if they are to avoid
offence.
MALE AND FEMALE DIFFERENCES IN CONVERSATION.
Current research reveals interesting sex differences in conversation among native
speakers. Women, for example, are more likely to show an interest in personal details than
men. They are also better listeners and more likely to help the person they are speaking to
46
develop a topic, by asking information questions and making encouraging remarks and
gestures. However, men are more reluctant to disclose personal information. They `refer it
when there is a purpose for the conversation and they would rather talk about outside topics,
e.g. games, hobbies, politics, cars, etc. than themselves. This may influence our choice for
topic.
SIMPLIFICATION IN INFORMAL SPEECH.
There are many foreign students who pronounce the individual sounds and words of
English beautifully but who still sound very foreign. The reason is that in English the sound
quality of a word, particularly the vowels and certain consonants, changes depending on
whether the word is said in isolation or as a part of a continuous stream of words. Some of
this is a result of a simplification of informal speech. One important reason for simplification
is that English is a stress-timed language. When we speak, all the stressed syllables in our
sentences tend to come at roughly similar intervals of time. This means that the following
sentences (taken from Broughton et al 1978), when spoken by the same speaker in normal
circumstances, would take the same amount of time to say, even though they contain
different numbers of words or syllables.
1 I bought a dog.
2 it’s a dog I bought.
3 But it’s a dog that I bought.
They are the same length when spoken because they contain the same number of
stressed syllables (dog and bought). This means that the unstressed syllables have to be
squeezed in and the vowels, which are unstressed syllables, very often become the neutral
or weak vowel, or ‘schwa’ which is represented by the symbol [�]. This is the most common
sound in spoken English and the use of weak forms of means a native speaker will tend to
say:
- it was him. /it w�z him/ not /it waz him/
- Give it to me. /giv it t� mi/ not /giv it tu: mi/
Elision, which is the ‘missing out’ of a consonant or vowel, or both, is also very. A native
speaker would tend to say:
/’f3:s’θri:/ not /’f3:st’θri:/ for ‘first three’.
For foreigners (particularly those whose native language is syllabus-timed, e.g. French),
the tendency is to give each part of a word the same value and this can have a wearying
effect on the native speaker listener, who will, as a result, be less likely to remain
sympathetic and interested. It is therefore worth pointing out weak forms from the start for
recognition and production.
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STRESS AND INTONATION
Good conversationalists use stress and intonation to keep conversation going. A fall on
words like ‘OK’ or ‘So’, often serves to show that we are about to change the subject. A rise
on ‘really’ is a way of showing interest. All of these are important signals and it is worth
pointing these out to students when they occur so that they start listening for them. A wide
voice range is also more likely to keep a listener interested than a monotone. This can be
difficult for students whose native language has a narrow voice range, and for these students
additional sensitivity training may be needed. Students also need to realize that the wrong
intonation can lead to misunderstanding. For example, researchers found that Pakistani
ladies who were serving in the canteen of Heathrow often got a hostile reaction by
pronouncing the word ‘gravy’ with falling intonation, rather than the rise which would be
polite in British English.
GESTURE AND BODY LANGUAGE.
While it is true that speakers of English do not use as much gesture as people in some
other cultures, e.g. Italians, they do use their hands to emphasize a point. The positioning of
the body also has an effect on the listener. Sitting on the edge of a seat may be seen as
being aggressive. Slumping in it as a sign of boredom, and even where we do not mean it
this may be how it comes across. In some cultures people also stand very close to those they
are talking to and many Americans report discomfort when faced with Middle-Easterners who
tend to value proximity and touch. Body language is a complicated area but it is worth
observing your students and giving them feedback on how they appear to others.
SUMMARY
Teachers need to be aware of the characteristics of native-speaker performance in
conversation if they are to teach conversation effectively. They also need to consider which
of the functions of conversation are most relevant to the students. These will vary according
to the level and needs, but most general purpose students would want to use English to:
- give and receive information,
- collaborate in doing something,
- share personal experiences and opinions with a view to building social relationships.
Students will not be able to do these things by talking about conversation, and the
stress in this book is learning by doing through activities which give students practice in a
pattern of interaction that is as close as possible to what competent native speakers do in
real life.
Finally, the key to the smooth operation of task-based fluency work is the effective
management of the materials, of the students, and of the classroom environment. The cry
from many students ‘I just want conversation lessons’, or ‘I just want to practice talking, I
48
know the grammar’, suggests that conversation lessons are somehow easier to prepare and
teach, are inferior in status to ‘the grammar lesson’, and so on. Yet many teachers will know
to their cost how often the conversation lesson just does not quite work.
TOWARDS A CLASSROOM APPROACH
INTRODUCTION
Although many students say that their main purpose in learning English is to be able
to speak it, many students will not talk readily in class, and the ‘discussion lesson’ in which
the teacher does most of the talking is still too prevalent. If you find that this is happening
consistently then you should pause and ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I make an effort to prepare students for the discussion or fluency activity?
Preparations is a vital ingredient for success. Students need to be orientated to the
topic, and an illustration like ‘let’s talk about euthanasia’ rarely works. Some simple
techniques which can be used to prepare students for a particular topic include:
- The use of audio/visual aids to arouse interest.
- A general orientation to the topic by means of a short text, questionnaire, series of
statements for discussion and modification, a video extract, etc. the only rule is that
pre-task should never be too long.
- Exercises to build up the vocabulary needed for a task. This can include matching
words to pictures, putting words from a list into different categories, learning words
from lists, etc.
2. Do students know what is expected of them?
Students may need to be orientated to the task itself so that they know what is
expected of them. For example, the instruction to ‘discuss’ a topic may be meaningless to
many students who do not come from a culture where such discussion is a normal part of the
educational process. In some cases students may need training. The general rule is to
formulate tasks in terms students can understand and make sure that the instructions are
clear. In giving instructions we should always:
- Think through instructions from the point of view of the student.
- Stage the instructions carefully and make sure the students understand each stage.
Do this by asking for a demonstration or for an answer to a question which proves
understanding. A ‘yes/no’ answer to Do you understand? Is not particularly
revealing. If the task is very complex it might be advisable to set up a rehearsal
before asking students start.
- Make sure that instructions are given clearly. Insist on silence and make sure you
can be seen. Use demonstration and gestures where possible.
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3. Have I made an effort to find out which topics will motivate students to speak?
Students are sometimes not motivated to talk because they lack involvement in the
topic. However, even where students admit interest, they may be reluctant or unwilling to
talk about it on English because they lack the linguistic resources to give a subject the
treatment it deserves. This would certainly be true of issues like ‘euthanasia’. As teachers we
should also remember that it is not always natural to enter into prolonged discussion on
controversial topics. More often than not we limit ourselves to strong opinion rather than
extended and reasoned argument. As native speakers we tend to talk about things which are
within our experience, and tasks built around the following sorts of areas usually generate a
lot of discussion when they are used with adult students:
Always check by asking students what they thought about the topic at the end
of the lesson.
4. Is there any follow-up to the discussion?
Adult students will always be reluctant to take part in a discussion if they feel it has
no educational value. In short a successful conversation program involves a lot more than a
vague commitment to talk about something. The questions we have looked at refer to
central management issues.
Classes of activity
There are four basic types of activities:
- Controlled activities to give students confidence and support.
- Awareness activities to increase sensitivity in students to what they are aiming at.
- Fluency activities to give students the practice they need to use English for
communication.
- Feedback tasks to allow students to reflect on their own performance so that they
become aware of areas in which they have to improve.
In most conversation programs we would expect a mixture of all of these activities
from the start, geared to the needs of the students. When we think about the mix, the
following considerations apply:
1. it may be necessary to introduce fluency activities gradually. Students who are used
to highly controlled patterns of interaction where it is the teacher who initiates all the
language exchanges and judges whether they are correct or not, may find that
fluency activities pose a considerable threat because they are not used to the
students gradually to freer activities as the time table (table 1) from an article in
English Language Teaching Journal indicates.
Family life Sport Change Holidays Pleasures Money Personal experiences Dreams Food Health
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Obviously students will vary in terms of their prior learning experience, so it is
always worth seeing what they are used to because they may need a period of
adjustment to the new ways of working. Remember too that we are talking about a
continuous process. Students who are used to pair and group work may need to be
introduced to project work, for instance. Having said this, if students are confident
and not threatened there is no reason why fluency-type activities should not be used
from the earliest stages.
2. It is also unlikely that any one lesson will consist entirely of one type of activity. It is
always best to aim for variety of task type.
3. Different types of activities will be used in different proportions according to the
level. For example, advanced students will need relatively few controlled activities
and the narrow focus of these tasks would be replaced by awareness tasks. For
beginners the situation is reversed and while it is always worth pointing out features
such as hesitation devices, full-blown awareness tasks would be the exception rather
than the rule, and there would tend to be a higher proportion of controlled activities.
Table 1. A ten-week plan for introducing students to and training them in the use of pair and
group work.
Week Aim Means
1 To extend responsibility for initiating
short responses to the learner.
Teacher-controlled open and adjacent
pair work on question-and-answer
exercises.
2
Consolidation plus introduction of
dialogue exchange in pairs.
Dialogue reading: learner takes one
part. Move from Teacher reading A and
learners B through open and adjacent
pairs to whole class work in closed pairs.
3 Consolidation plus introduction of
learners to the habit of choosing the
content of communication in oral
work.
Longer read dialogues, followed by the
introduction of cued dialogues.
4
Consolidation plus introduction of the
idea of working together in English.
Introduce discourse chains to prompt
recall of known dialogues; get learners
to work on comprehension exercises in
English.
5 To introduce the idea of guided role
play, as well as simple problem
solving.
Introduce role cards on the basis of
familiar material; a short period in
closed pairs; work on problems of
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grammar.
6
Consolidation plus introduction of
‘information-gap’ exercises.
Longer guided role plays; practice in
moving quickly into pair work exercises;
information gap in which half the class
sees the picture; teacher controls
questions and answers.
7 Consolidation and extension.
Information gap similar to (6), but done
in closed pairs; jigsaw reading.
8
Consolidation and extension.
Introduce free role-play activities in
pairs, then threes and fours; small group
essay preparation for the final stage of
guided composition lesson.
9 Consolidation and extension. Introduce ranking activities.
10 Consolidation and extension.
Group preparation of ideas and structure
for essay.
ACHIEVING A BALANCED PROGRAM
The amount of time available for conversation work will obviously depend on the
intensity of the program as well as its emphasis. As the amount of contact time available
varies considerably, the aim is to give general advice which will need to be interpreted
locally. If a group meets for one and a half hours a week, then it is conceivable that
conversational competence would be its sole objective. In this situation is recommended that
students get a balance of the four different types of activities mentioned in the previous
section each time they meet the teacher. Obviously the proportion of time spent on activities
will vary according to the level of the students, their prior knowledge, etc. Clearly the range
of options is infinite, and the awareness/controlled activity does not have to be related to the
fluency activity for that week. This allows for recycling and building. It would however always
be wise to point out the aim of the activities at all stages.
Students who are following a full time language program can obviously spend a lot
more time on conversational work, but the kind of mix outlined above applies just as well,
although it may be possible to spend a little more time on each activity. In their case
preparation and remedial work can and should be a part of the teaching of grammar and a
lot of the work on areas such as conversational gambits, pronunciation, rhythm, stress and
intonation, can be integrated into the wider program. On the whole the aim should be for
‘little and often’ rather than long sessions devoted entirely to one particular area.
PERSUADING THE LEARNER
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As we have said, student-resistance is a problem teachers encounter. The most likely
cause is unfamiliarity with the way in which a program is organized. The solution is to tell
them why. In our experience, appeals to common sense work far better than self-
justificatory argument or discussion, and it is important to find a way of presenting a clear
and simple rationale of the approach from the outset. This may simply be a quick outline of
the nature of the different types of activities used and their relationship to each other. It may
also be appropriate to point out the way in which the activities serve to meet the students’
objectives. In this way students will perceive that the program has purpose and direction.
Students may also need information on how to go about the activities. This
information may take the form of:
- A staged and gradual introduction for students from very traditional backgrounds.
- A demonstration or discussion of what is expected of them. Many students, for
example, may not be familiar with the role of an observer and may need to be shown
what to do.
- Advice or discussion on how to make the most of the opportunities available when
working in a student—centred context. For example, some students do not give peer
group work the same status as sessions in which the teacher is up front. They may
therefore miss opportunities to get down new words and expressions because they
feel these can only come from the teacher.
- Instructions on how to get started quickly, how to use the equipment, etc.
Some students may never have been asked to work independently of the teacher in a
classroom setting before. To help this situation some useful pre-course work could include
orientation talks by more advanced students from a similar socio-cultural background, as
well as a discussion of films or photographs of students taking part in group work, projects,
etc. Analyzing how activities were performed should also be an object of discussion in
general course feedback sessions, as this would provide useful information on how the
students perceive the course.
A SENSE OF PROGRESS
Often students do not realize just how much more confident and fluent they are
becoming. One reason may be that as they improve, the listener makes fewer concessions
and, as conversation is a two way process, students do not feel they are making progress
because they may understand less and therefore not be in a position to respond. This is
particularly true for students studying in an environment where English is spoken. A sense of
not improving may also arise because students may rarely get the opportunity to take a
leading role in conversation, and it is well worth trying to program sessions in which
advanced or upper intermediate students have to sustain a conversation with those at a
lower level, in order to give them the experience of being the driving force in a conversation.
Getting students to compare their current efforts with recordings made in the earliest stages
of the course is another way of boosting confidence.
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In many cases students will have external objectives such as the oral examinations
run by organizations such as ARELS, the RSA, and the University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate. It is therefore useful to show the extent to which students are
making progress towards their examination objective by including an element of exam
practice in the program. There are a variety of ways in which this can be set up but the
following represents a possible approach.
- Make the students fully aware of what a satisfactory performance in the examination
involves.
- An identification of areas which are critical for a good performance in the exam might
then be followed by controlled practice of exam-type tasks.
- Students should also be given practice in exam conditions. Feedback from these
tasks is particularly valuable in that it fosters self-evaluation and improvement.
There is no room to give assessment of conversation the treatment it deserves.
There may be a need to give students a grade for the work they do in conversational lessons
and, as continuous assessment is particularly suited to assessing conversational
performance, there is a need to keep good records. Whether the results are expressed in
terms of letter grades or numbers may be a matter of preference or the dictates of the
system. There is however an interest in being able to describe the student’s performance in
behavioral terms and teachers are encouraged to look at the scales developed by the British
Council, or the Fporeign Service Institute to see if the scales can be adapted to their
purposes.
WRITING
WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?
AN OVERVIEW
A paragraph is a basic unit of organization in writing in which a group of related
sentences develops one main idea. A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long
as ten sentences. The number of sentences is unimportant: however, the paragraph should
be long enough to develop the main idea clearly.
The following model contains all of the element of a good paragraph. Read it carefully
two or three times and try to analyze its structure.
Model 1: paragraph structure
Gold
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold
has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.1 Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry,
coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful
1 Corrosion: chemical damage
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forever. For example, a Macedonian2 coin remains as untarnished3 today as the day it was
minted 23 centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry
and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications. The
most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields for
protection outside the spaceship. In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty, but
also for its utility.
THE THREE PARTS OF A PARAGRAPH.
A paragraph has three major structural parts: a topic sentence, supporting
sentences, and a concluding sentence.
The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. It not only names the
topic of the paragraph, but it also limits the topic to one or two areas that can be discussed
completely in the space of a single paragraph. Te specific area is called the controlling idea.
Notice how the topic sentence of the model states both the topic and the controlling idea.
Topic (topic) (controlling idea)
Sentence Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics.
Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain the topic
sentence by giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and quotations. Some of the
supporting sentences that explain the topic sentence about gold are:
First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is
suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and
will remain beautiful forever. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today
as the day it was minted 23 centuries ago.
Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and
science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications.
The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits.
The concluding sentence signal the end of the paragraph, and leaves the reader
with important points to remember:
In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty, but also for its utility.
Two additional elements
In addition to the three structural parts of a paragraph, a good paragraph also has
the elements of unity and coherence.
Unity means that you discuss only one main idea in a paragraph. The main idea is
stated in the topic sentence, and then each and every supporting sentence develops that
2 Macedonian: from an ancient Mediterranean culture. 3 Untarnished: unchanged in color.
Supporting sentences
Concluding sentence
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idea. If, for example, you announce in your topic sentence that you are going to discuss two
important characteristics of gold, discuss only those. Do not discuss anything else such as
the price of gold, the history of gold, or gold mining.
Coherence means that your paragraph is easy to read and understand because (1)
your supporting sentences are in some kind of logical order, and (2) your ideas are
connected by the use of appropriate transition signals. For example, in the paragraph about
gold, there are two main supporting ideas: gold is beautiful, and gold is useful. Each of these
supporting ideas is discussed, one after the other, and an example is given for each one.
This is one kind of logical order. Furthermore, the relationship between the ideas is clearly
shown by using appropriate transition words and phrases such as “first of all,” “the second
important characteristic,” “for example,” and “in conclusion.”
In summary, a well-written paragraph contains five elements: a topic sentence,
supporting sentences, a concluding sentence, unity, and coherence.
The assignment format
Below are instructions and a model of one possible format for the assignments you
will prepare for this class. Your instructor may ask you to use this format, or s/he may have
other requirements.
1. Use only 8 ½ “ x 11” lined, 3-hole notebook paper.
2. Write a title in the center of the top line.
3. Write the practice number, page number and practice name in the upper left-
hand corner.
4. Write your name, the course number and date in the upper right-hand corner.
5. Leave one-inch margins on both sides of the page.
6. Indent the first line of every paragraph.4
7. Write on every other line.
8. Number your pages.
9. Write in ink.
HOW TO WRITE A TITLE.
Single paragraphs do not usually have titles. Giving your practice paragraphs titles,
however may help you to organize and limit your thoughts. For longer essays or reports,
though, the use of titles will become more necessary.
4 INDENT the first line of every paragraph. When typing, indent the first line 5 spaces. When writing by hand, indent the first line about one inch from the margin.
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A title tells the reader what the topic of the paragraph is. It is usually a word or
phrase, not a sentence. It should be brief, but not so brief that it doesn’t tell the reader what
to expect.
1. The first, last, and all important words in a title are capitalized. Prepositions and
articles are not important words. Prepositions of more than five letters however, may
be capitalized. Articles that begin the title, of course, are capitalized.
2. The title is not underlined.
3. The title is not enclosed in quotation marks, nor is it ended with a period.
THE TOPIC SENTENCE
Every good paragraph has a topic sentence, which clearly states the topic and the
controlling idea of the paragraph. It is a complete sentence. It is usually (but not always) the
first sentence in the paragraph.
A topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph. It briefly indicates what
the paragraph is going to discuss. For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful guide to
both the writer and the reader. The writer can see what information to include (and what
information to exclude). The reader can see what the paragraph is going to be about and is
therefore better prepared to understand it.
There are three important points to remember about the topic sentence:
- A topic sentence is a complete sentence; that is, it contains a subject, a verb, and
(usually) a complement.
The following are not complete sentences:
Driving on freeways.
The importance of gold.
How to register for college classes.
- A topic sentence contains both a topic and a controlling idea. It names the topic and
then limits the topic to a specific area to be discussed in the space of a single
paragraph.
The following examples show how a topic sentence states both the topic and the
controlling idea in a complete sentence:
Driving on freeways requires skill and alertness.
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics.
Registering for college classes can be a frustrating experience for new students.
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- A topic sentence gives only the main idea; therefore, it is the most general
statement in the paragraph. It does not give any specific details.
This is an example of a general statement that could serve as a topic sentence:
Good. The Arabic origin of many English words is not always obvious.
This sentence, on the other hand, is too specific to serve as a topic sentence:
Too specific. The slang expression “so long” (meaning goodbye) is probably a
corruption of the Arabic “salaam”.
Position of topic sentences
The topic sentence may be the first or last sentence in a paragraph. The topic
sentence may also be the first and last sentence of the paragraph –“sandwich-style”. A
“sandwich-style” paragraph is especially helpful to your reader if the paragraph is very long.
The second topic sentence in the “sandwich-style” paragraph also serves as a concluding
sentence.
Study the following three paragraphs. Notice the different positions for the topic
sentence in each. The topic sentences are underlined.
HURRICANES
Hurricanes, which are also called cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent
storms are often a hundred miles in diameter, and their winds can reach velocities of
seventy-five miles per hour or more. Furthermore, the strong winds and heavy rainfall that
accompany them can completely destroy a small town in a couple of hours. The energy that
is released by a hurricane in one day exceeds the total energy consumed by humankind
throughout the world in one year.
FAMOUS SCHOOL “FAILURES”
Albert Einstein, one of the world’s geniuses, failed his university entrance
examinations on his first attempt. William Faulkner, one of America’s noted writers, never
finished college because he could not pass his English courses. Sir Winston Churchill, who is
considered one of the masters of the English language, had to have special tutoring in
English during elementary school. These few examples show that failure in school does not
always predict failure in life.
SYNONYMS
Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always have the same
emotional meaning. For example, the words ‘stingy’ and ‘frugal’ both mean ‘careful with
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money.’ However, to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has a much more
positive connotation. Similarly, a person wants to be slender but not skinny, and aggressive,
but not pushy. Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called
synonyms are not really synonymous at all.
THE TWO PARTS OF A TOPIC SENTENCE.
A topic sentence has two essential parts: the topic and the controlling idea. The topic
names the subject or main idea of the paragraph. The controlling idea makes a specific
comment about the topic, which indicates what the rest of the paragraph will say about the
topic. It limits or controls the topic to a specific aspect of the topic to be discussed in the
space of a single paragraph.
WRITING TOPIC SENTENCES: TWO REMAINDERS.
ONE:
A topic sentence should be neither too general nor too specific. If it is too general,
the reader cannot tell exactly what the paragraph is going to discuss. If it is too specific, the
writer may not have anything left to write about in the rest of the paragraph.
Think of a topic sentence like the name of a particular course on a restaurant menu.
When you order food in a restaurant, you want to know more about a particular course than
just ‘meat’ or ‘soup’ or ‘salad’. You want to know generally what kind of salad is it. Potato
salad? Mixed green salad? Fruit salad? You do not necessarily want to know all of its
ingredients.
Similarly, the reader of a paragraph wants to know generally what to expect in a
paragraph; the reader does not want to learn all of the specific details in the first sentence.
Too general. American food is terrible.
Too specific. American food is tasteless and greasy because Americans use too
many canned, frozen, and prepackaged foods and because everything
is fried in oil or butter.
Good. American food is tasteless and greasy.
Two:
Do not include too many unrelated ideas in your topic sentence; if you do, your
paragraph will not be unified.
Too many ideas. San Francisco is famous for its temperate climate, its many tourist
attractions, and its cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Three parts of this controlling idea are too unrelated for a single
paragraph they would require three separate paragraphs.
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Good. San Francisco is famous for its many tourist attractions.
THE CONCLUDING SENTENCE
Now that you know how to write a good topic sentence for a paragraph, you should
also learn how to write a good concluding sentence. A concluding sentence is not absolutely
necessary, but it is very often helpful to the reader because it signals the end of the
paragraph and because it reminds him/her of your important points.
A concluding sentence serves three purposes:
1. It signals the end of the paragraph. (Use an end-of-paragraph signal such as “In
conclusion” “In summary” “Finally” etc)
2. It summarizes the main points of the paragraph.
3. It gives a final comment on your topic and leaves the reader with the most
important ideas to think about.
The examples below demonstrate two different types of concluding sentences. The
first one paraphrases the topic sentence, that is, the concluding sentence repeats the main
idea of the topic sentence in different words. The second example summarizes the two main
points of the paragraph, which were not specifically stated in the topic sentence.
SYNONYMS
Synonyms, words that have the same basic meaning, do not always have the same
emotional meaning. For example, the words ‘stingy’ and ‘frugal’ both mean ‘careful with
money.’ However, to call a person stingy is an insult, while the word frugal has a much more
positive connotation. Similarly, a person wants to be slender but not skinny, and aggressive,
but not pushy. Therefore, you should be careful in choosing words because many so-called
synonyms are not really synonymous at all.
GOLD
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold
has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore , it is suitable for jewelry,
coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful
forever. For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was
minted 23 centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to
industry and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial
applications. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts’ suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated
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heat shields for protection outside the spaceship. In conclusion, gold is treasured not only
for its beauty, but also for its utility.
Review: what is a paragraph?
These are the important points you should have learned from this chapter:
I. A good topic sentence:
a. Is a complete sentence with a subject, a verb, and generally a complement.
b. States both the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph.
c. Is neither too general nor too specific. It states the main idea clearly, but it
does not give the specific details.
d. Is usually (but not always) the first sentence in the paragraph.
II. A good concluding sentence:
a. Signals the end of the paragraph.
b. Summarizes the important points briefly.
THE ESSAY
WRITING AN ESSAY
An essay is a piece of writing several paragraphs long instead of just one or two
paragraphs. It is written about one topic, just as a paragraph is. However, the topic of an
essay is too long and too complex to discuss in one paragraph. Therefore, you must divide
the topic into several paragraphs, one for each major point. Then you must tie all of the
separate paragraphs together by adding an introduction and a conclusion.
Writing an essay is no more difficult than writing a paragraph, except that an essay
is longer. The principles of organization are the same for both; so if you can write a good
paragraph, you can write a good essay.
An essay has three main parts:
1. An introductory paragraph.
2. A body (at least, one but usually two or more paragraphs).
3. A concluding paragraph.
The introductory paragraph consists of two parts: a few general statements about
your subject to attract your reader’s attention, and a thesis statement, to state the specific
subdivisions of your topic and/or the ‘plan’ of your paper. A thesis statement for an essay is
just like a topic sentence for a paragraph: it names the specific topic and the controlling
ideas or major subdivisions of the topic.
The body consists of one or more paragraphs. Each paragraph develops a
subdivision of your topic, so the number of paragraphs in the body will vary with the number
of subdivisions. The paragraphs of the body are like the main supporting points of a
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paragraph. Furthermore, just as you can organize the ideas in a paragraph by a
chronological order or by order of importance, you can organize the paragraphs in an essay
in the same ways.
The conclusion in an essay, like the concluding sentence in a paragraph, is a
summary or review of the main points discussed in the body.
THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
All writers (even professionals) complain that the most difficult part of writing is
getting started. How many times have you wasted valuable minutes during an essay
examination trying to think of your first sentence? Getting started, or writing an
introduction, can be easy if you remember that an introduction has four purposes:
1. It introduces the topic of the essay.
2. It gives a general background of the topic.
3. It often indicates the overall ‘plan’ of the essay.
4. it should arouse the readers’ interest in the topic.
The Introduction has two parts:
I. General Statements.
II. A thesis statement
Notice the two parts of the following introductory paragraph.
Model1. The introductory paragraph.
A person born in the twentieth century has seen a lot of changes take place in
almost all areas of human life. Some people are excited by the challenges that these
changes offer: others want to return to the simpler, less automated life style of the past.
Living in the twentieth century has certain advantages, such as a higher standard of living,
but it also has some disadvantages, such as a polluted environment, the depersonalization
of human relationships, and the weakening of spiritual values.
The first sentence in an introductory paragraph should be a very general comment
about the subject. Its purpose is to attract the reader’s attention and to give background
information on the topic. Each subsequent sentence should become more specific than the
previous one and finally lead into the thesis statement.
General statements:
1. Introduce the topic of the essay.
2. give background information on the topic.
The thesis statement is the most important sentence in the introduction. It states the
specific topic and lists the major subtopics that will be discussed in the body of the essay.
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Furthermore, it often indicates the method of organization, such as chronological order or
order of importance.
The thesis statement:
1. States the main topic.
2. Lists the subdivisions of the topic.
3. May indicate the method of organization of the entire paper.
4. Is usually the last sentence in the introductory paragraph.
The only additional element in an essay is the linking expressions between the
paragraphs of the body. These are just like transitions within a paragraph. You use
transitions within a paragraph to connect the ideas between two sentences. Similarly, you
use transitions between paragraphs to connect the ideas between them.
You can see that writing an essay is essentially the same as writing a paragraph: an
essay is just longer. The chart below shows you how the parts of a paragraph correspond to
the parts of an essay.
Note: the body is the longest part of the essay and can contain as many paragraphs
as necessary to support the controlling ideas of you thesis statement.
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Essay
Paragraph
Topic sentence
A. Support B. Support C. Support
Concluding sentence
I. Introduction
II. Topic sentence A. Support B. support C. support (concluding sentence)
General Statements Thesis Statement
III. Topic sentence A. Support B. support C. support (concluding sentence)
IV. Topic sentence A. Support B. support C. support (concluding sentence)
BODY
V. Conclusión
Restatement or summary of the main points: final comment.
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To sum up, an introductory paragraph is like a funnel: very wide at the top,
increasingly narrow in the middle, and very small at the neck or bottom.
THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH
The final paragraph is the conclusion, a very important part of the essay. In this
paragraph you tell the reader that you have completed the essay. This is achieved by either
writing a summary of the main points discussed in the body of the essay.
ESSAY OUTLINING
Because an essay is longer and more complex than a paragraph, it is even more
important to organize your thoughts and to plan your essay before you begin to write. The
best way to do this is to make an outline.
The principles and techniques that you have already learned for paragraph outlining
can be applied to essays. The only additional element is the numbering of each paragraph
with Roman numerals. For example, in a five-paragraph essay, the introduction is paragraph
I, the three paragraphs of the body are paragraphs II, III, and Iv, and the conclusion is
paragraph V.
Study the following model outline for an essay on the advantages and disadvantages
of living in the twentieth century. Only the paragraphs of the body of the essay have been
outlined; only the thesis statement is the introductory paragraph has been given.
MODEL 3: ESSAY OUTLINING
THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Of Living in the Twentieth Century
I. Living in the twentieth century offers certain advantages, such as a higher
standard of living, but it also has some disadvantages, such as a polluted
environment, the depersonalization of human relationships, and the weakening
of spiritual values.
II. The biggest advantage of living in the twentieth century is the high standard of
living we enjoy.
A. More money for less hard work.
1. More office workers than manual laborers
2. Higher salaries
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3. Increased government services
a. Social security
b. Unemployment benefits
c. Disability insurance
B. Longer life expectancy.
1. better medical care.
a. More hospitals, doctors, nurses
b. Advances in medical technology
2. Improved nutrition
3. More leisure time
C. Modern conveniences.
1. Communication
a. telephones
b. radio and television
2. Labor-saving machines in the home
a. dishwashers
b. washing machines
c. vacuum cleaners
3. faster transportation
III. One of the main disadvantages of living in the twentieth century is that we are
living in an increasingly polluted environment.
A. air pollution
1. smog
2. nuclear fallout
B. Water pollution
1. chemical wastes from factories
a. dead fish
b. contaminated drinking water supplies
2. raw sewage from cities
3. oil spills from ships
IV. A second disadvantage of living in the twentieth century is depersonalization of
human relationships.
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a. people and machines
1 Automated vending machines, banks, etc
2. tape recorded telephone answering
3. computerized dating services
b people and numbers
1. social security numbers
2. credit card numbers
a. More hospitals, doctors, nurses
b. Advances in medical technology
V. The final disadvantage of living in the twentieth century is the weakening of
spiritual values
a. Materialistic culture
b. Faith in science instead of in religion
VI. In conclusion, although the twentieth century has indeed given us a lot of
advantages by making us richer, healthier and freer to enjoy our lives, it has, in
my opinion, not made us wiser. The twentieth century has also made our earth
dirtier, our people less humane, and our spiritual lives poorer. We should
continue to enjoy the benefits of technological advancements because they free
us to pursue our interests and goals. However, we must make a concerted effort
to preserve our natural environment for future generations. Moreover, we should
take the time now to make our lives more meaningful in an increasingly
impersonal, computerized world.
WRITING TECHNIQUE QUESTIONS
1. How many paragraphs does this essay contain?
2. How many paragraphs are in the body of the essay?
3. Look at the contents of paragraph II. How many point are given?
Do you think there are too many ideas for one paragraph? Would
you recommend dividing it into several paragraphs? How many?
What would be your new topic sentences?
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TRANSITION SIGNALS BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
Transition signals are important not only within paragraphs but also between
paragraphs. If you write two or more paragraphs, you need to show the relationship between
your first and second paragraph, between your second and third paragraph, and so on.
Think of transitions between paragraphs like the links of a chain. The links of a chain
connect the chain: they hold it together. Similarly, a transition signal between two paragraph
links your ideas together.
Two paragraphs are linked by adding a transition signal to the topic sentence of the
second paragraph. This transition signal may be a single word, a phrase, or a dependent
clause that repeats or summarizes the main idea in the first paragraph.
Study the following model, and notice how the paragraphs are linked by a single
word, a phrase, or a clause.
Model4. paragraph transitions
FLEXTIME
One of the most important changes that management has made in industry in recent
years is the scheduling of flexible work hours for their employees. Workers are given the
option of choosing when they will work. This allows them more leisure for family and fun.
Flextime has obvious advantages for workers, but it also has advantages for factory
management.
The first advantage is increased production per-hour (+ supporting sentences)
A second advantage is that factory workers are happier. (+ supporting sentences)
In addition to increased output and worker satisfaction, factory managers
report that absenteeism has declined. (+ supporting sentences)
Although flextime has produced these three positive results in some
industries, it is not as advantageous in all types of business. (+ supporting sentences)
Review: the Essay
An essay has at least three main parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
1. The introductory paragraph attracts the readers’ attention and informs the reader
what your main topic of discussion will be. An introductory paragraph has two parts:
a. Several general sentences that give background information on your subject
and gradually lead your reader into specific topic.
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b. A thesis statement that states the subdivisions (topics of each paragraph). It
may also indicate your method of development.
2. The body of an essay discusses your subdivided topics, one by one it contains as
many paragraphs as necessary to explain the controlling ideas in the thesis
statement.
3. The concluding paragraph reminds your reader of what you have said. Remember to
use a ‘conclusion’ transition signal. Your concluding paragraph has a summary of the
main ideas, or a restatement of the thesis, and your final comment on the topic.
Outlining an essay
1. Always make an outline of an essay before you begin to write.
2. Number each paragraph with Roman Numerals.
Transitions between paragraphs
Remember to show the relationship between paragraphs by using appropriate
linking words, phrases, or clauses.
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READING
WHAT IS READING?
DEFINING READING
Different people use the term reading in different ways, and much confusion can
arise from consequent misunderstandings. So we had better start by making sure that we
are thinking about the same thing when we use the term. The process of identifying written
words is mainly the concern of the teacher of early reading.
Getting a message from a text
It is reading of this kind what we are concerned with in this book. As we have seen,
other meanings of the word reading exist, but we shall exclude from consideration any
activity that does not have as its main purpose the extraction of meaning from writing. Our
business is with the way the reader gets a message from a text. So we should establish what
we mean by a message.
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
The encoder has a message in his mind (it may be an idea, a fact, a feeling, an
argument, etc) which he wants somebody else to share. To make this possible he must first
put it into words: that is, he must encode it. Once it is encoded, in either spoken or written
form, it is available outside his mind as a text. The text is accessible to the mind of another
person who hears or reads it, who decodes the message it contains. Once it is decoded, the
message enters the mind of the decoder and communication is achieved.
Obviously this model is too simple, for things can go wrong at any stage in the
process, we cannot be sure the decoder has received the message that was intended.
However, the process is clear enough for us to say that reading means getting out of the text
as nearly as possible the message that the writer put into it. We shall need to consider in a
little more depth the part played by the writer, the reader and the text itself in this process;
and we will start with the reader.
Is the reader’s role passive?
The text is full of meaning like a jug full of water, and it can be poured straight into
the reader’s mind which soaks it up like a sponge. In this view, the reader’s role is a passive
one; all the work has been done by the writer and the reader has only to open his mind and
let the meaning pour in.
Why do we reject this? One obvious reason is that it seldom happens like this. Not all
the meaning in the text actually gets into the reader’s mind; the figure should show at least
some of the water trickling –if not streaming- down the reader’s face. The fact that the
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meaning is in the text is unfortunately no guarantee that the reader will get it out, fro we
know from personal experience that a text that seems easy to one person may seem difficult
to another.
TEXT AND DISCOURSE
The concept of value is most easily illustrated from conversation to begin with: but,
as we shall see, it is equally relevant to the study of written texts. Consider this utterance:
Aren’t you cold?
Imagine for yourself as many situations as you can in which this might be uttered.
Who is saying it to whom and why? In all the situations, the utterance will in one sense
clearly have the same meaning. But in another sense, the meaning may be quite different:
the difference is the distinction between what we say and why we say it. Said by a mother to
her son, the question may express concern for his well being. It may express surprise at
meeting someone unsuitably dressed for the weather. If it is said by someone who is feeling
chilly to someone who has just opened the window, it may be a complaint.
Following Widdowson (1978), we shall use the term signification to refer to the
meaning that would be common to all utterances of the sentence ‘aren’t you cold?’, and the
term value to refer to the significance of the utterance for particular speakers in a particular
situation. The concept of value is important, because it is quite possible to understand the
signification of an utterance without interpreting its value correctly. The distinction is often
used for comic effect:
‘waiter, waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!’
‘Hush, sir, not so loud, they’ll all be wanting one’
The customer intended to make a complaint; how did the waiter choose to
misinterpret this utterance?
A skilled reader grasps not merely the signification of what he reads (though that is
the necessary first step) but also its value. This involves understanding the writer’s
presuppositions sufficiently to recognize what he means by a particular statement: not just
what he says, but why he says it.
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SELECTING A TEXT
READABILITY
Obviously a text should be at the right level of difficulty for the students, but
assessing the right level is not straightforward.
Our concern here is with the linguistic difficulty only, ignoring for the moment the
questions of conceptual difficulty and interest. The combination of structural and lexical (i.e.
vocabulary) difficulty is readability.
Suitability of content
One criterion for a class library should be the inclusion of a variety of books on
subjects known to appeal to the students. Various studies have been made of students’
reading tastes. But it is dangerous to generalize when there are so many variations of age
and nationality to be taken into consideration; you really need to carry out an investigation
of what your own students like before you order many books or select class reading
materials.
FINDING OUT WHAT STUDENTS LIKE
If you do plan a survey of reading tastes, it is as well to bear in mind at the design
stage:
a. in some countries, the classics (Shakespeare, Dickens and so on) still retain
a strong position. Students may name such writers because they consider it
the proper thing to do, but they seldom get much out of reading this writers
(especially in abridged or simplified versions) apart from a feeling of virtue.
The classics have their place, but it is much later than students think, when
they are able to read unsimplified modern prose with ease.
b. If you can,, base your enquiry on what students have actually read as well as
on what they say would choose to read. If there is a school or class library,
try to discover which books are borrowed most often, books read in the L1
may tell you more about reading tastes more than those in FL, if there is a
reasonable collection. Information of this kind is more reliable than a
questionnaire telling you what they think you would like to hear.
c. You can also keep an eye open for the sort of reading matter that is found in
students’ possessions. If it does not include works of major ment, there is no
need to be surprised (let alone disappointed). But you might consider laying
in a stock of similar material in the FL. Never mind what you feel about its
quality: if students want to read it, half the battle has been won. You can
wean them on to worthier material later.
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EXPLOITABILITY
Of all the qualities above, exploitability is arguably the most important after interest.
A text that you cannot exploit is no use for teaching even if the students enjoy reading it.
We are using the term exploitation to mean facilitation of learning. When you exploit a text,
you make use of it to develop your students’ competence as readers. What do we want them
to learn in the reading lesson? For what purposes should we exploit the text?
THE PURPOSE OF THE READING LESSON
Of course as they read the students will improve their knowledge on the FL. But this
ought to be considered an incidental bonus: it is not the purpose of the reading lesson. We
are not saying language must not be taught, of course, but simply that this is not the kind of
lesson we are talking about. In a reading lesson we are not setting out to teach a language;
alternatively, if we are setting out to teach language, we are not giving a reading lesson.
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BIBLIOGRAFÍA GENERAL
Davies, P. with E. Pearse (2000), Success in English Teaching, Oxford University Press.
Harmer, J. (1992), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman.
Scrivener, J. (1994), Learning Teaching, Heinemann.
Ur, P. (1996), A Course in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.
Hedge, T. (1988), Writing, Oxford University Press.
Nolasco, R. and L. Arthur (1987), Conversation, Oxford University Press.
Nuttal, C. (1996), Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language (New edition), Heinemann.
Seligson, P. (1997), Helping Students to Speak, Richmond.
Underwood, M. (1989), Teaching Listening, Longman.
Preliminary English Test Handbook (1996), University of Cambridge Local Examinations
Syndicate.
Ellis, G. and B. Sinclair (1989), Learning to Learn English, Cambridge University Press.
Lowes, R. and F. Target (1998), Helping Students to Learn, Richmond.
Willis, J. (1981), Teaching English Through English, Longman.
Libros de texto
Davies, P. with E. Pearse (2000), Success in English Teaching, Oxford University Press.
Ellis, G. and B. Sinclair (1989), Learning to Learn English, Cambridge University Press.
Harmer, J. (1992), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman.
Hopkins, A. and J. Potter (1994), Look Ahead (Books 2-3), Longman.
Hughes, A. (1989), Testing for Language Teachers, Cambridge University Press.
Lowes, R. and F. Target (1998), Helping Students to Learn, Richmond.
Nunan, D. (1995), Atlas (Books 2-3), Heinle & Heinle.
Preliminary English Test Handbook (1996), University of Cambridge Local Examinations
Syndicate
Richards, J. et al. (1997), New Interchange (Book 2), Cambridge University Press.
Scrivener, J. (1994), Learning Teaching, Heinemann.
Ur, P. (1996), A Course in Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.
Willis, J. (1981), Teaching English Through English, Longman.
