PENNY UR

Penny Ur was educated at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. She emigrated to Israel in 1967, where she still lives today. She is married with

four children and five grandchildren. Penny Ur has thirty years' experience as

an English teacher in primary and secondary schools in Israel.

She is interested in all aspects of language-teaching methodology, but in

particular issues of fluency and accuracy in language teaching and

language-learning.

A COURSE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

This interesting book provides all the task material, reading

and worksheets that you need in order to teach. It also will give you additional guidance

and information to help you use the material effectively.

Strategies, advices and activities to develop the different skills in English

Teaching.

It offers us the opportunity to have critical reflections on the tasks and to share and discuss with other members about the different contents.

“A course in Language Teaching” eases the acquisition of the material that the author recommends to use in English classes.

In this book you will find different activities to work on:

Tests Teaching pronunciation Teaching vocabulary Teaching grammar Topics, situations, notions and

functions. Teaching speaking Teaching reading Teaching writing The syllabus Materials Lesson Planning Classroom interaction Classroom discipline Younger and older learners Large heterogeneous classes

A COURSE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

REASONS FOR TESTING

Give the teacher information about where the students

are at the moment, to help decide what to teach next.

Give the students information about what they

know. Motivate students to learn or

review specific material. Provide students with a sense of achievement and progress in their learning.

WAYS OF PRESENTING THE MEANING OF NEW ITEMS

Concise definition. Detailed description. Examples. Illustration (picture, object) Demonstration (acting,

mime) Synonyms Opposites Translation

SOME IDEAS FOR PRESENTING NEW TOPICS FOR SITUATION

Write the name of the topics in the middle of the board and invite the class to brainstorm all the associated words they can think of.

Write the name of the topic in the middle of the board and ask the class what they know about it.

Give the title of a text and invite the class to write down sentences or expressions they expect will occur within it.

  Present a text and ask for an appropriate

title.

Teach a selection of words and expressions and ask the class what they think the situation or topic is.

TEACHING SPEAKING

Dialogues Plays Simulations Role Play Discussion Debate

TEACHING READING

When we read a text, we need to perceive and decode letters in order to

read words; to understand all the words in order to understand the

meaning of the text. Through reading, we gather meaning from what we read;

our understanding of a text comes from understanding the words of which

it is composed

TEACHING PRONUNCIATION

Imitation of teacher or record model of sounds, words and

sentences. Recording of learner speech, contrasted with native model.

Imitation drills: repetition of sounds, words, and sentences.

Tongue twisters. Self-correction through listening

to recordings of own speech.

SOME TEXBOOK WRITING ACTIVITIES

Write a report of a book you have just read.

Write a narrative based on a picture or a series of pictures.

Describe an occasion when you where disappointed or afraid, surprised…

Look at the window and describe the view you see.

Write an answer to a given letter of complaint.

Imagine your ideal school. Describe it.

Describe someone you know very well.

MATERIALS

 A set of computers A set of references books for the

teacher. A number of overhead projector

and slide projectors. Video equipment Several cassette recorders with

accompanying earphones. A wide variety of posters and sets

of colored pictures, plus board and card games for language learning.

A library of simplified readers in the target language.

INTERACTION PATTERNS

Group work Closed-ended teacher

questioning: Individual work: Choral responses Student initiates,

teacher answers: Full-class interaction: Teacher talk: Self-access:

REASONS FOR QUESTIONING

To provide a model for language or thinking.

To check or test understanding, knowledge or skill.

To direct attention to the topic being learned

To get learners to review and practice previously learnt material.

To communicate to learners that the teacher is genuinely interested in what they think.

DISCIPLINE

•Plan and organization your lesson carefully

BEFORE PROBLEM ARISES

•Make sure instructions are clear, assertive, brief•Keep in touch with what is going on

•Deal with the problem quickly, prevent escalation

WHEN PROBLEM IS BEGINNING •keep your cool, don`t take things personally•Don`t use threats

•Explode yourself (loud and assertive command)

WHEN PROBLEM HAS EXPLODED •Give in•Make them an offer they can`t refuse.

slogan: prevention is bettern than cure

slogan: Do something

slogan: Act quickly - don´t argue

YOUNGER AND OLDER LEARNERS

Younger children learn languages better than older ones.

Foreign language learning in school should be started at as early an age as possible.

Children and adult learn languages basically in the same way.

Adults have a longer concentration span than children.

It is easier to interest and motivate children than adults.

THREE VARY IMPORATNT SOURCES OF INTEREST FOR CHILDREN IN THE

CLASSROOM ARE: PICTURES, STORIES AND GAMES.

HETEROGENEOUS CLASS

In a heterogeneous class some problems can occur. For

example: Discipline Correcting written

assignments, Interest, Effective learning Materials Individual awareness Participation.

WHAT WE LIKED THE MOST ABOUT THE BOOK

“TEACHING SPEAKING”

It is a very important module that certainly will help us in

English teaching. This module Contains activities that incite

students to speak spontaneously about

situations.At the end of the book there are

short but interesting activities to be implemented

in the classroom.

USEFULNESS

To offer variety to the class. Implementation of new

strategies for English teaching; to make english classes

fascinating. To be critical, responsible and

conscious in our role of teacher. To be creative, resourceful and

autonomous. To reflect on our way of

teaching. This book invites us to give opinions, agreements and

disagreements. Advices to face situations in

English Language Teaching. To value teacher`s labor.

ACTIVITIES

TEACHING VOCABULARY

Which of the prefixes in column A can combine with which of the words in column B. Write out the complete words.

A BOVER HUMANTRANS NATIONALSUPER FLOWDIS FORMINTER INFECT

Choose the letter of the item which is the nearest in meaning to the word in bracket.He was (reluctant) to answerA)Unprepared C) refusingB) unwilling D) slow

 

Choose the letter of the definition which comes closet in meaning to the word elated

Ready and willing Tense and excited Tending to talk aloud In high spirit

Complete the passage using the words from the list.

Area, century, pirates, government, regularly, South.

In the seventh ________ Spanish ships sailed ________ to Central and ________ America to fetch gold for the Spanish ____________. The ships were often attacked by _______, who infested the Spanish Main (the sea _______ north-east of Central and South America)

TEACHING GRAMMAR

Type 1: Controlled drills: learners produce examples of the structure; these examples are, however, predetermined by the teacher or the textbook and have to conform to very clear, closed-ended cues.

Example: John drinks tea but he doesn’t drink coffee Like: ice cream/cake Speak: Spanish/Italian Enjoy: playing football/playing chess

TEACHING SPEAKING

PICRTURES DIFFERENCES

The students are in pairs; each member of the pairs have a different picture (either A or B).Without showing other their picture they have to find out what the differences are between them. (There are eleven).

TEAHING READING

Criticizing reading materials:In Boxes 10.12.1 are five examples of texts in English for intermediate to advanced readers. The first three are accompanied by tasks; the last two are not. What would be your comments on the first three? And can you design your tasks for others?

TEACHING WRITING

Some textbook writing activities: Write a report of a book you have just

read. Write a narrative based on a picture

or a series of pictures. Describe an occasion when you where

disappointed or afraid, surprised… Look art the window and describe the

view you see. Write an answer to a given letter of

complaint. Imagine your ideal school. Describe it.

Describe someone you know very

well.

As adults we appreciate how great teachers influenced our lives!

(Pearson Longman)

“The most important teacher is the person

who makes you feel like the most important

student”(Marleny Aguirre-Univ. Pedagògica- Bogotà)

“A motivating teacher can count on never being

forgotten”Omar Marín-Centro Combo Americano Pereira

REFERENCES