Comprehensible Input and Comprehensible Input and Presentation DesignPresentation Design

By Lan Weihong By Lan Weihong

Stage 1 ExperienceStage 1 Experience

Listen to your teacher and find out when the teacher can help you learn and when she can not help you learn.

The 1st way The 1st way

When we run down the battery in our m

obile phone, we need to recharge it. We usually recharge the battery in two ways. We can either take out the battery from the mobile phone and electrify it in a charger or simply connect the charger and the mobile phone and then plug in the power.

The 2nd way The 2nd way

1. What do we need to keep our mobile phone running?

We need battery.

2. What do you do when you run down the battery?

When you run down the battery, it means you have used up the battery.

We must recharge the mobile phone.

3. How many ways can we recharge a battery from a mobile phone? What are they?

We can either take out the battery from the mobile phone and electrify it in a charger or simply connect the charger and the mobile phone and then plug in the power.

Stage 2 ExplorationStage 2 Exploration

1. When can the teacher help you learn? Why?

2. When the teacher can not help you learn? Why?

1. Based on the above learning experience, what do you think should be the initial task of a teacher at the stage of presentation?

2. And what principles should we follow when designing presentation?

Stage 3 ExchangeStage 3 Exchange

• Exchange your interpretation of the experience.

Comprehensible inputComprehensible input

• Comprehensible input (可理解性输入）

• Comprehensible input means that students should be able to understand the essence of what is being said or presented to them.

• Comprehensible input

• To provide comprehensible input, do we need to use only words that the students can understand?

•

• Students learn a new language best when they receive input that is just a bit more difficult than they can easily understand. （最佳的语言学习是学生所接受的语言输入既可理解、又高于原有水平） .

• Then how to make new words, new sentence, new text sufficiently comprehensible to the students while a bit difficult for the students?

Teachers should provide instruction that draws on the experiences of their students(利用学生已有经验） .

Teachers should provide relevant background knowledge and content（提供背景知识和内容） .

Teachers should use consistent language, visuals, and provide frequent opportunities for students to express their ideas(所用的语言始终如一、有视觉刺激，同时经常提供机会给学生表达自己的理解）

Teachers must constantly involve students, ask many questions, and encourage students to express their ideas and thoughts in the new language (经常向所有学生提问，让学生用新的语言表达自己的想法） .

Stage 4 ExtensionStage 4 Extension

• Suppose you are going to present a text in which the following words and sentences are new:

• Words: some, any,grocery • Sentences: Have you got any… ? • We’ve got some … • We’ve haven’t got any …• How would you try to provide comprehensibl

e input?

The textThe text

Lady: Oh, good morning. Grocer: Good morning. What can I do for you?

Lady: Um… Have you got any coffee? Grocer: Yes, certainly. Here you are. Lady: Thank you. Um… What about butter? Grocer: Yes. We’ve got some butter. In the fri

dge over there. Lady: Good. Now, have you got any bread? Grocer: No, I’m sorry. We haven’t got any tod

ay. Come tomorrow morning.

Fragment A (The students have read a text and have a picture to look at.)

• Teacher: Right, everybody! Listen and repeat!

• She’s got some bread.

• Students: She’s got some bread.

• Teacher: Again. She’s got some bread.

• Students: She’s got some bread.

• Teacher: Good! Marios?

• Marios: She’s got some bread.

• Teacher: Good! Anna?

• (Students repeat the pattern individually round the class.)

• Fragment B• (The teacher shows the students a picture. ) • Teacher: Tell me about this picture. • Marios: It’s a shop. • Teacher: Good !• Theresa: She is a woman. • Teacher: There’s a woman, yes.• Anna: Coffee… There’s coffee. • Teacher: Yes? • Antonis: There’s butter.

• Teacher: Yes, we can see coffee, butter, bread, sugar. Can we see books in the picture?

• Students: No.

• Teacher: No, it isn’t a bookshop. It’s a grocer’s shop. Repeat, everybody! Grocer’s.

• Students: Grocer’s.

• Teacher: (Writes the word on the board) In a grocer’s shop we can buy (shows them money ) …coffee, butter and things like that. What else can we buy?

• Marios: Tea? • Teacher: Yes. • Anna: Bread. • Teacher: Yes.

• ( Students go on giving examples using known vocabulary. When the run out of ideas, teacher shows flashcards of new items and teaches students the new words. )

• More teaching cases of providing comprehensible input.

• http://pett.gxtc.edu.cn/bbs/viewtopic.php?p=643#643

Stage 5 Evaluation Stage 5 Evaluation

• What have you learned from this topic?

• What else do you want to discuss more about it?