06 Supporting the Trainee

8/12/2019 06 Supporting the Trainee

1/5


2/5

2

IH Teacher Trainer

International House World Organisation

not necessarily fixed such as collocations (black coffee, hot day, wonderfultime).

FunctionsThis refers to how words and grammar is used in particular situations (egrequests, advice, promises). Specific examples of these which are used inspeaking or writing are called functional exponents (can you come overhere, please?, Id have a quiet word with him, if I were you, Ill let you knowthe next time I see him).

PronunciationThis involves: sounds (vowels, diphthongs and consonants), word andsentence stress (unmarked and marked stress), rhythm, intonation (voicepitch and range), as well as aspects of connected speech (linking betweenwords or catenation, elision (omitting sounds in or between words e.g.nexweek), the schwa, assimilation (sound changes (e.g. good boy becomesgoobboy), intrusive sounds (e.g. a banana /r/ and two /w/ apples and three/j/ oranges).

Task OneLook at the following example utterances (words, phrases, or entiresentences), and decide what help a pre- or newly qualified teacher may needfrom their trainer in terms of developing their analysis. Compare your answersto the Suggested Answer Key which your course tutor will make available at

the beginning of the session.

a I wish you wouldnt eat with your mouth open!b This time tomorrow well be lying on the beach, soaking up the sun!c Her plane gets in at nine oclock.d I shouldnt have talked to him like that.e I have to go shopping tomorrow; Ive got to go shopping tomorrow; I must

go shopping tomorrow.f The bomb broke the windows of nearby buildings; the blast shattered the

windows of nearby buildings.g Can you let me know when you get here? Would guests please inform

reception when they arrive.h I really like watching old black and white films; I like watching old black

and white films very much; I very much like watching old black and whitefilms; I like very much watching old black and white films

i Who are you talking to? To whom are you talking?j shoes, trainers, brogues, clogs, high-heeled shoesk economy, economical, economics, economistl Where were you yesterday afternoon?m sheet, piece, beachn Do you like chocolate cake? Would you like a chocolate cake?o Im going to take that book back to the library tomorrow; Im going to take

that book back to the bookshop tomorrow


3/5

3

IH Teacher Trainer


B Developing Trainees Analysis of Specific LanguageApart from developing a keen ear and eye for the language they are to teach,

trainees need to be able to decide how best to convey this analysis to theirstudents. They need to be exposed and have opportunities to experimentand become increasingly confident with using the following as means ofclarifying aspects of language:

a picturesb time-linesc concept questionsd translatione teacher explanationf mini situations

Below is a table which examines some typical issues for inexperiencedteachers with each of these and the type of support a trainer needs to provideto help them create and use them with increasing effectiveness.

Means ofclarification

Issues for inexperiencedteachers

Support a trainer needs toprovide

a pictures the object / concept needs to beinstantly recognisable from the

image. A picture of a basketball

net could variously indicate thegame of basketball, a basketball,a basketball net. It needs to bewithin the students world ofexperience. For example, it

would be difficult for a youngchild to be able to understand orrelate to a papaya if they hadnever seen one.

Tell the trainee that if in doubt,show the picture to a

someone else (in these

examples) preferably toanother child) to check fortheir veracity.

c conceptquestions

These need to be clear andcompletely relevant to the targetlanguage. The need to the

meaning of the target language,rather like peeling an apple, youwouldnt go straight into thecentre of the apple to get to thepips first, youd take the peel offfirst, then remove the core. Thetarget language should not

appear in the questions (youcant teach the unknown through

the unknown) and the answersyou expect from the students

should be short and within thestudents linguistic level.

Give trainees a checklist ofDos and Donts for writingand using concept questions.

Show them examples of goodand bad concept questionsand get them to pinpoint theirrelative strengths andweaknesses. Show them theprocess of writing questionsi.e. writing a clear description

of the meaning of thelanguage they are to teach,

turning these sentences in toquestions, making sure they

can be answered by students.Get them to rewrite the faulty


4/5


5/5

5

IH Teacher Trainer


f minisituations

Makes sure this is generative ifits being used as a means ofclarifying a tense. Its not time-

efficient to spend 5 minutessetting up one situation which

only generated one example ofthe target language, and then

spend another 5 minutes settingup another situation which again

only elicits one example.

Select a situation which willgenerate several examples ofthe target language if this is

the main language teachingfocus of the lesson. If its to

illustrate a piece of emergentlanguage make sure the

situation is easy to visualiseand involves the students

actively in building upmeaning. Imagine, forexample the expression overthere is in a reading text. Toshow the meaning of, thetrainee could ask the students

where the stairs to the schoolare and gesticulate and point,saying theyre over there.Then get the students torepeat and gesticulate at the

same time.

Documents

06 Supporting the Trainee