My extrinsic motivation is that I would like to work in one of these countries and if I am unsuccessful then I still hope to visit on holiday. I get a buzz out of being able to converse with a local in their own language – even if it is only to order some food /drink or to ask directions and then understand them. 
My intrinsic motivation is that I have found a basic level aural course on Audible (spoken word) that I can listen too when I go for a walk every day. This course has no requirement for books or to write anything down and I have progressed quicker at a basic level whilst being able to do another activity.

Her rapport is easy and relaxed so I will presume that she has known the class previously. The students react to her well without the need for the teacher to work hard to elicit information from the students.

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Younger students will be quite happy to learn through games but role play may not work with very young students. Teenagers may not want to play games as they feel that the games are childish. Teenagers are on the cusp of adulthood so role play and discussion may be more appropriate. Adults will feel that games are beneath them so role play with realistic scenarios and discussion of everyday topics may be more suitable for them.

Once again, more great links. Many thanks!

Tips and advice that I have gleaned from this forum over this course and the last course are invaluable, so thank you everyone!

Closed questions would be better suited to young/new learners wot hope questions retained for more advanced learners. As the students’ progress the topic of the open questions can be expanded as their vocabulary increases.

Many language learners can be shy to use new L2 language in public but less shy in front of fellow students. L2 language is a skill that needs to be practiced to avoid skill fade.  As the saying goes “practice makes perfect”.

Facial expressions and body language are one indicator and the level of response from the class are another. If they know you will see it in their expressions and body language and hear it in their responses. If they don’t understand it will become apparent.

I feel that, if it were possible, the teacher ought to have taken a photo of each story page and projected them on to the wall or a screen as most of the students cannot see what the teacher is pointing to.

Older students may feel that the approach used by the teacher in the video may be too childish for them. Explaining the context of the word or phrase and when to use it/them may be more beneficial to an older student using real-life situations and pictures/videos/realia.

 

Reading this forum I’ve just discovered TPR!!! Wow, this is very enlightening.

Websites that I particularly like are learnersdictionary.com (Merriam Webster), englishgrammar.org, englishgrammar101.com and learnenglish.britishcouncil.org.

With regard to ‘incidental teaching’ if the answer is a simple and quick one then deal with it there and then. If it is not simple or quick to answer then if there is time do so at the end of the lesson, otherwise find time to clarify the point at the beginning of the next lesson with that particular class.

Thank you for more excellent links.

Process: elicitation, drilling, vocabulary pre-teach, scaffolding, pairs, groups (8s), whole class.

Product: asking Sts questions, feedback, confirmation of lesson’s aims.

 

Other ways differentiation could be applied would depend on what other resources and materials the teacher had available to him. If available, then more pictures on the board and walls, the use of flashcards.

The Extension Wheel Strategy mentioned by Juanita sounds very good, a sort of pictorial brainstorming.

A difficulty here would if the less advanced learners tried to do too much too soon and if they did not succeed in the extra task they could lose confidence in their abilities. Close monitoring will alleviate this, hopefully.

With regard to the choice of outcome, initially the teacher ought to decide the content. As the learners become more advanced and known to the teacher then the learners could decide some outcomes for themselves.

For the Food I would use flashcards and realia and if appropriate real food items for younger learners and recipes and menus for more advanced learners although I have seen some other excellent suggestions on here too.

I like the idea of jigsaw training this is something else I have not heard of before that I will have to look into.

Introduce the topic using pictures (realia or flashcards) to describe regular routines and time expressions followed by audio or video on the topic to provide listening practice.

Presentation:

Then introduce relevant vocabulary and check the students understanding of the form with drilling. 

Controlled practice:

Next give the students a text to read and answer questions on worksheets.

Freer practice:

In groups (2/4) get the students to discuss their routine in a past event/timeline and then describe this to the class.

Homework:

To practice their writing skill, either exploring further what was discussed in the freer practice or another past event, i.e. holiday, etc.

Although the focus of the lesson is on the process writing, listening and reading skills are also practised. Lessons like this can prove to young learners that learning isn’t always boring and can be fun.

Other examples to practice process writing could be writing recipes, tourist advice for their own town/city, i.e. how to do get from the airport to the town/city centre by public transport, or writing an instruction guide for a piece of equipment, i.e. how to use a toaster or kettle, etc.

 

Both the teacher and the students should be involved in the decision making process. The teacher ought to determine the majority of the tasks to ensure that they are suitable for the level of the students. Students if given a choice of tasks will feel empowered and will be more open to learning.

However, cultural and religious sensitivity needs to be considered as well as whether the students have covered the subject matter in their L1 studies. Would it be appropriate for the students’ first exposure to the subject matter to be in an L2 class?

 

Diversity in the classroom environment should reflect the different styles of learning to allow for the different abilities due to different levels of intelligence.

I agree with most of the teachers interviewed but I’m not quite sure about the musical metaphor.

Join the global community. You can still engage with people all over the world to develop your understanding of language. If you haven’t already, join the community on our TeachingEnglish Facebook community with over 3.7 million fans.

Use our other resources. The British Council has a wide range of free resources for both teachers and learners of English. On the TeachingEnglish website you can download lesson plans and resources for use in classrooms and get information about professional development, conferences and qualifications.

On the LearnEnglish website you can find hundreds of pages of audio, stories, games and video content and over 2,000 interactive exercises to help you improve your English or to use with your students.

Take another course. You can take an online teacher training course with the British Council. We have a wide range of online courses to help you with your professional development, tailored to different language levels and different career stages.

Join another four-week Teacher Development MOOC as part of the British Council Teaching for Success program. The Classroom and the World, starts on Monday 4th December.

You can find out about British Council MOOCs for English language learners and for teachers here. You could direct your learners to some of these courses, or try them yourself!

Look back at the notes that you have made in your journal and join the discussion by adding your comments below.

The use of Band Descriptors will provide a guide or benchmark for both the teacher and the learner. If the class is large the teacher may struggle to apply a standard to all pupils without a guide or benchmark. The learner can see how they are progressing and what they need to do and where their weaker areas are.

I would use this type of assessment but only if the students were capable of doing so. It would depend upon their level of L2 and also could they be trusted to provide a fair assessment of their peers without showing favouritism.

Recorded samples – Vocaroo is new to me and looks very useful.  I like the idea of WhatsApp messaging too.

To avoid this, the teacher must be clear in what is required and state as much in the question and the teacher should have the test/questions proofread by another teacher.

For younger students formative assessments, for more advanced students and adults then both formative and summative assessments with self and peer assessments as appropriate. Continuous assessment would be carried out by teachers for all age groups.

For compulsory school courses then I would imagine that all 4 skills, vocabulary and grammar are tested. But for voluntary language courses, where the student simply wishes to improve their understanding or communication, then I would imagine that vocabulary, speaking, listening and possibly reading will be tested.

The method of teaching 40 years ago concentrated on yearly exams (reading/written and aural/oral) and were very heavy on the grammar. This left me feeling very unsure of my linguistic prowess and did not do much to fill me with confidence. Later when living in Germany I found that the grammar wasn’t quite as important as was the matter of being understood. As an adult I have studied Italian and Spanish at a basic level with the emphasis on communication than grammar.

Now I know that language teachers will argue that grammar is important to understand sentence structure and word order but surely being understood is more important with correct grammar coming second if you are a tourist or simply an L2 occasional speaker? If you wish to (more) fluent then correct grammar is indeed more important than simply being understood. 

 

So should we tailor our teaching to the wishes of our students, i.e. should communicating take precedence over grammar for occasional L2 speakers and vice versa for those who wish to be fluent?

 

Assessment must be continuous to ensure that the students understand what is being taught and if any points need to be revised whilst periodic testing can be used as a rule to measure progress throughout the term/year.

Assessment isn’t just a tool to measure how well the students are progressing but is also a tool to measure whether the teacher is giving the correct information in an effective manner. If one or two students aren’t progressing well the problem may lie with the students. Conversely if many of the students in a class aren’t progressing then the problem may lie with the teacher’s method.