English Language Teaching Principles Practice (ELT/PP Year II) - Module II

MODULE
English Language Teaching Principles
Practice (ELT/PP year II) – Module II
Distance Education
Universidade Pedagógica
Rua Comandante Augusto Cardoso n˚ 135
Copyright
This Module cannot be printed for commercial purposes. In case of photocopying, reference should be
made to Universidade Pedagógica and to the Authors of the module.
Universidade Pedagógica
Rua Comandante Augusto Cardoso, nº 135

Telefone: 21-320860/2
Telefone: 21 – 306720
Fax: +258 21-322113

Acknowledgements
To COMMONWEALTH of LEARNING (COL) for providing the Template used for the productions
designing the modules
To Instituto Nacional de Educação a Distância (INED) for the support and guidance provided
To Magnificent Rector, Dean of Faculty, Heads of Department for support provided during whole
process.
Technical Assistance
Author: Romão Beatus Paulo
Instructional Designing: António Franque
Language Review: Sarita Monjane Henriksen
Graphic Designing: Fátima A. Nhantumbo
Edition: Anilda Ibrahimo Khan

Contents
About this MODULE 1
How this MODULE is structured ..................................................................................... 1
Course overview 3
Welcome to English Language Teaching principles Practice (ELT/PP year II) - Module
II........................................................................................................................................ 3
English Language Teaching principles Practice (ELT/PP year II) - Module II(—is this
course for you?.................................................................................................................. 3
Course outcomes............................................................................................................... 4
Timeframe......................................................................................................................... 5
Study skills........................................................................................................................ 5
Need help? ........................................................................................................................ 6
Assignments...................................................................................................................... 7
Assessments ...................................................................................................................... 7
Getting around this MODULE 8

Margin icons ..................................................................................................................... 8
Unit 1 9
English Language Teaching Principles Practice (ELT/PP year II) Module II ................. 9
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 9
Lesson 1: Planning a Lesson ................................................................................. 12
Lesson 2: Planning a Writing Lesson.................................................................... 16
Lesson 3: Stages of the Lesson.............................................................................. 19
Lesson 4: Lesson Plan Format/Model ................................................................... 25
Unit Summary................................................................................................................. 31
Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 32
Feedback ......................................................................................................................... 34
Unit 2 38
Teaching Pronunciation .................................................................................................. 38
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 38
Lesson 1: Pronunciation ........................................................................................ 40
Lesson 2: Practising Sound and some Minimal Pairs ........................................... 44
ii Contents
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 50

Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 50
Feedback ......................................................................................................................... 51
Unit 3 54
Pair Work and Group Work............................................................................................ 54
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 54
Lesson 1: Pair and Group work............................................................................ 56
Lesson 2: Type of Pair and Group Work ............................................................. 60
Feedback ......................................................................................................................... 62
Lesson 3: Organizing Pair and Group Work ......................................................... 66
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 69
Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 70
Feedback ......................................................................................................................... 71
Unit 4 72
Correcting Errors ............................................................................................................ 72
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 72
Lesson 1: Errors Correction .................................................................................. 74
Lesson 2: Differente Ways of Correcting Student´s Errors .................................. 77
Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 80
Assignment ..................................................................................................................... 81
Feedback ......................................................................................................................... 81
About this MODULE
Practice (ELT/PP year II) – Module II has been produced by
Universidade Pedagógica. All MODULE produced by Universidade
Pedagógica are structured in the same way, as outlined below.
How this MODULE is structured

The course overview
The course overview gives you a general introduction to the course.
Information contained in the course overview will help you determine:
If the course is suitable for you.
What you will already need to know.
What you can expect from the course.
How much time you will need to invest to complete the course.
The overview also provides guidance on:
Study skills.
Where to get help.
Course assignments and assessments.
Activity icons.
Units.
We strongly recommend that you read the overview carefully before

starting your study.
The course content
1
About this MODULE English Language Teaching Principles Practice
(ELT/PP year II) Module II
The course is broken down into units. Each unit comprises:
An introduction to the unit content.
Unit outcomes.
New terminology.
Core content of the unit with a variety of learning activities.
A unit summary.
Assignments and/or assessments, as applicable.
Resources
For those interested in learning more on this subject, we provide you with
a list of additional resources at the end of this MODULE; these may be
books, articles or web sites.
Your comments
After completing we would appreciate it if you would take a few
moments to give us your feedback on any aspect of this course. Your
feedback might include comments on:
Course content and structure.
Course reading materials and resources.
Course assignments.
Course assessments.
Course duration.
Course support (assigned tutors, technical help, etc.)
Your constructive feedback will help us to improve and enhance this

course.
2
Course overview
Welcome to Practice (ELT/PP

year II) – Module II
Welcome to the ELT/PP. We hope that you will enjoy this module
and develop your knowledge and skills on issues related to it, via
distance learning. Congratulations on your choice and decision to
commit yourself, over the next few months, to serious study and
putting into practice your newly learning experience, skills and
attitudes towards English Language Teaching.
We hope that this module - ELT/PP Year II Module II (ELT/PP II)

- will help you to develop the professionalism that your work
requires you to have and also that it will increase your appetite for
further study in the field of ELT/PP Year III.
(Practice (ELT/PP year II) – Module

II—is this course for you?
This course is intended for people who have some experience in teaching
and who are pursuing studies or teaching in the field of ELT. It is also
intended for all those, somehow involved in teaching or prospective
teachers or facilitators. For example, you may be a tutor at a learning
centre and so on. In this course you will develop practical skills in
teaching English as a Foreign Language. The course is especially
designed to meet the needs of the teachers who:
Teach large classes without resources needed to accomplish their task.

Those teachers placed in the field without any training in the field of
English Language Teaching. Teachers, who want to enhance their
knowledge, improve their practices and skills in order to update the
3
Course overview English Language Teaching Principles Practice
techniques and methods and get new insights into English Language
Teaching.
This course is structured in modules and the sequence of each unit can be
used independently. The course is designed to be used actively by you
working in the field.
Course outcomes
Upon completion of Practice (ELT/PP year II) – Module II you will be
able to:
• List objectives and language content of the lesson you teach.
• Write objectives of the lesson plan. Be familiar with same

stages and samples of the lesson plan.
Outcomes
• Be familiar with same stages and samples of the lesson plan.
• Plan the lesson plan with appropriate stages
• Establish the importance of teaching pronunciation.
• Distinguish strong and weak syllables.
• Make corrections of your students’ errors.
Apply techniques and methods to help your students learn the

English Language.
Timeframe
ELT/PP Year II Module II (ELT/PP II) is a year course.
We advise you to spend at least 2 hours a day to read each lesson.
How long? We recommend two 2 hours on self study.
4
Study skills
As an adult learner your approach to learning will be different to that
from your school days: you will choose what you want to study, you will
have professional and/or personal motivation for doing so and you will
most likely be fitting your study activities around other professional or
domestic responsibilities.
Essentially you will be taking control of your learning environment. As a

consequence, you will need to consider performance issues related to
time management, goal setting, stress management, etc. Perhaps you will
also need to reacquaint yourself in areas such as essay planning, coping
with exams and using the web as a learning resource.
Your most significant considerations will be time and space i.e. the time
you dedicate to your learning and the environment in which you engage
in that learning.
We recommend that you take time now—before starting your self-

study—to familiarize yourself with these issues. There are a number of
excellent resources on the web. A few suggested links are:
http://www.how-to-study.com/
The “How to study” web site is dedicated to study skills resources.
You will find links to study preparation (a list of nine essentials for a
good study place), taking notes, strategies for reading text books,
using reference sources, test anxiety.
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/stdyhlp.html
This is the web site of the Virginia Tech, Division of Student Affairs.
You will find links to time scheduling (including a “where does time
go?” link), a study skill checklist, basic concentration techniques,
control of the study environment, note taking, how to read essays for
analysis, memory skills (“remembering”).
http://www.howtostudy.org/resources.php
Another “How to study” web site with useful links to time
management, efficient reading, questioning/listening/observing skills,
getting the most out of doing (“hands-on” learning), memory building,
tips for staying motivated, developing a learning plan.
The above links are our suggestions to start you on your way. At the time
of writing these web links were active. If you want to look for more go to
www.google.com and type “self-study basics”, “self-study tips”, “self-
study skills” or similar.
5
Course overview English Language Teaching Principles Practice
Need help?
In case of difficulties, please contact the following:
In Maputo:
Help
Universidade Pedagógica - Centro de Educação Aberta e à Distância
(CEAD)
Faculty of Languages: English Department
Rua: Comandante Augusto Cardoso no. 135 Maputo
Telephone: 21 420860-2 or 21 306720
Monday to Friday: 8:00 to 12:00
Email: f:linguas@yahoo.com.br
In the provinces:
In each province there is a resource centre available and a local Provincial

English Advisor to help you.
For any assistance related to academic issues the Provincial English

Advisor will be able to help you and do not hesitate to contact her or him.
Assignments
There are no assignments in this module. After unit 1 and 2 you will have
to write the first test and after unit 3 and 4 you will write the second test.
At the end of the academic year you will write an exam. Between the
tests your teacher might decide to give you a group or individual work,
Assignments
which will count for your final assessment. So if you are given any task
take it serious and try to do it well.
6
All tests are written after completing the two units of each module. And
between the tests you might be given a task which will count for your
final assessment. They should be submitted to your local
tutor/teacher/facilitator.
You will be informed of when you have to write the test at a local level.
Assessments
There are 2 tests after completing units 1 and 2. The second test is written
after completing units 3 and 4. At the end of the academic year you will
write an exam. Between the tests you might be given any task which will
Assessments
count for your final assessment.
All tests, group work or tasks are teacher’s marked work.
The local tutor or Provincial coordinator will inform you when you have
to write the tests, individual/ group work or any other task that you have
to do.
The normal length of the tests at UP is about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Your
local tutor or teacher will inform you about the deadlines for submission
of any individual/group work.
7
Getting around this MODULE English Language Teaching Principles
Practice (ELT/PP year II) Module II
Getting around this MODULE
Margin icons
While working through this MODULE you will notice the frequent use of
margin icons. These icons serve to “signpost” a particular piece of text, a
new task or change in activity; they have been included to help you to
find your way around this MODULE.
A complete icon set is shown below. We suggest that you familiarize

yourself with the icons and their meaning before starting your study.
Activity Assessment Assignment Case study
Discussion Group activity Help Note it!
Outcomes Reading Reflection Study skills
Summary Terminology Time Tip
8
Unit 1
English Language Teaching

Principles Practice (ELT/PP year
II) Module II
Introduction
This unit shows how individual techniques and activities fit into the
lesson as a whole. We assume that you are already familiar with basic
techniques for presentation, practice and using texts. Is it true? Yes, it
seems that you are able to draft your lesson plan as well as to incorporate
a number of techniques in presenting vocabulary, presenting structures
and practising structures from the previous modules and units. The use of
this unit depends on the type of textbook that you are using, and
especially on your notes that accompany your textbook. It means that if
your notes are clear and detailed, then the focus of this unit will be based
on knowing what it contains and using it effectively.
Upon completion of this unit you will be able:
List or set the objectives and language content of the lesson you
teach.
Distinguish the various stages of the lesson and explain the

Outcomes
relationship between them.
Give examples on how to make a sample lesson plan.
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Unit 1 English Language Teaching Principles Practice (ELT/PP year II)
Module II
Backwash effect: The effect that the nature of the final examination
has on the teaching and learning during the course.
An examination which focuses on tests of
grammatical knowledge is likely to lead to the
teaching and learning of grammatical knowledge
Terminology in courses preparing candidates for the
examination, whereas a communicative
examination is likely to encourage communicative
approaches and activities in the classroom.
Cognitive Approaches to language teaching which involve

approaches: learners thinking about the language and working
out rules from the example of instances.
The linking together of consecutives utterances in

accordance with the function of the utterances.
Coherence: Thus an invitation followed by an acceptance or a
generalisation followed by an example would be
coherent whereas a factual enquiry followed by an
anecdote would not be coherent. For example:
A: Would you like to go and see my mother?
B: Yes, I would love to. Thanks. (Coherent)
A: Could you tell me which wharf the boat to

Inhaca leaves from, please?
B: I went to Matola last week to see my friend.

(Not coherent.)
Cohesion: The logical linking of consecutives or related

utterances. For example:
(1)
My brother is always tired in the evenings. He

goes to work six in the morning and doesn’t get
home till nine.
(2)
I agree that Amade Chababe is an experienced

player. He played for Matchedje and then
Desportivo and in both teams he won the
championships. However, I don’t think the club
should pay all that money for him.
Contracted forms: Verb forms which are shortened in formal speech,

for example:
I’ve she’s they’d
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Contrastive Comparing two different languages to discover in

analysis: what ways they are the same, similar and different
in order to predict likely learner errors to explain
discovered errors.
Controlled A practice exercise in which learners are told

exercises: exactly what to do and how to do it. It is hoped
that nearly all the learners will get nearly all the
exercises right and will therefore develop correct
habits and gain useful knowledge about the
language. Ellis and Tomlinson (1990:14-15, 203-
206)
Correction: The amendment of particular instances of language

use, which are considered faulty. For example:
Pedro his albums are many (X)
Pedro has a lot of albums (√ )
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Module II
Lesson 1: Planning a Lesson
Introduction
How did you find the terminology above? Did it help you to be aware and
gain more insights? For sure it gave you, as a teacher, some more
vocabulary. In the next part, you will reflect on a number of aspects
involved in planning a lesson.
At the end of this lesson you will be able to:
Establish the main things that you need to know before going into
class to teach the lesson.
Write objectives of the lesson plan.

Lesson Outcomes
It is advisable to spend two hours on this lesson.
How long?
Think about this:
Imagine yourself planning a lesson. What would you do?
When you plan a lesson, it is always important to state what the

general objective of the lesson is. A lesson may focus on:
- A particular topic – so the objective of the lesson may be to

learn the names of colours or to practise language for asking
for information.
- A particular structure – so that the objective of the lesson

may be to describe actions using the present continuous
tense or to practise going to for talking about future plans.
12
- A skill – so the objective of the lesson may be to understand

instructions for using a machine or to express opinions.
Is there anything new that you did not know? If that is the case,
then go back and read the above notes again. That will help you
mastering the new content.
Now to make sure that you understood the explanation above, let’s
try the following task.
Now, read the list below written by one of the teachers while planning
his/her lesson. The task given to the students was to practise ask and
answer the question using the table. After that they ask each other
Activity 1 questions.
When do you get up in the morning?
eat breakfast in the afternoon?
When does your uncle go to school in the evening?
go to bed at night?
sleep
When do you clean your teeth?
When do you meet your friends?
When do you learn E-makhuwa?
What do you think would be the objectives of the lesson? It might be

difficult to answer the question but you can check from the notes the
following aspects: in the above notes, the teacher was asking questions
Reflection
using the present simple. But we can not assume that the notes above
refer only to the present simple and this is because you need to ask
yourself the following:
Do the notes give enough information? It is important for you to decide
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Module II
on your own, in other words, use the notes to plan your own lesson and
then compare your lesson plan with these notes.
Hopefully the notes above helped you to clarify some of the aspects that
were not clear to you.
Now read the notes below written by three different teachers and then
decide which teacher has the clearest idea of the objectives of the
lesson plan. Then compare their comments and write down your own
comments and see where they can fit within the three comments made.
Teacher A:
We are doing lesson 10. The focus is on questions and answers practice
using a substitution table.
Reading
Teacher B:
We are going to practise present simple questions with when… and time
expressions.
Teacher C:
We’re going to practise asking and answering questions using the present
simple so that students learn to talk about everyday activities and when
they do them.
Now, if you were to teach that lesson, which notes would you consider as
adequate and why do you think that way? Below are the comments made
about the three teachers.
Commenting on the notes of teachers A, B and C it could be said

that:
Teacher A is not thinking of the objectives of the lesson at all – he or she

seems to see it just as “a lesson in the book” that has to be taught.
Teacher B has thought about what language is being taught in the lesson.
14
Teacher C has the clearest idea of the objectives of the lesson. She or he
is thinking not only what language she or he will teach, but also what the
students will learn to do in the lesson.
It is important to set up objectives of the lesson. When you set up

objectives, it is like having a map to direct you where to go. Objectives
allows us to see if the intended target of the lesson has been achieved and
help us to redefine and change strategy for the next lesson to come. And
also important to know is that the objectives should always be defined
using action verbs.
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Module II
Lesson 2: Planning a Writing Lesson
Introduction
You may have written so many lesson plans and their objectives. Could
you explain what are the criteria on the basis of which you write
objectives of a lesson?
Discuss some skills involved in a lesson plan.
Design your lesson plan
Lesson Outcomes
Identify structures, forms and functions involved in a lesson plan.
It is advisable to spend two hours on this lesson
How long?
In this part of the lesson, you are invited to think of a lesson you have
taught recently or a suitable lesson in your textbook and on the related
objectives. Can you tell us what you learnt in that lesson?
When you plan your lesson, it is important for you to know exactly, for
instance, what level of language you want your learners to learn. Most
lessons introduce either new vocabulary or new structure, or both. Then
bear in mind these points:
• New vocabulary: not all new words in a lesson are equally

important. As part of the preparation for the lesson, you
should decide which words need to be practised, and which
only need to be briefly mentioned.
• Structures: if a new structure is introduced in the lesson, it

will need to be presented carefully and practised in the
16
lesson, also considering what was introduced in earlier

lessons.
Refer back to the exercise/activity above. What new words were

introduced in that lesson of yours?
Activity 1 Which were the most important?
What new structures were there?
What other structures were practised?
It depends on the lesson that you introduced that day. But maybe your
lesson that day was focused on:
Grammar
The preposition after abstract nouns,
Tip Future continuous,
Punctuation of direct speech,
Reading
Newspaper articles,
Scientific book extract,
Literature,
Listening
Interview: a fire-fighter talks about domestic fires,
A family history,
Opinions about various household gadgets,
So far, how do you find the explanation? Does it go along with your
previous knowledge and techniques already acquired?
Then, let’s now see other elements that are involved in planning a lesson,
such as structure, vocabulary, reading, writing and listening. Remember
that these are some of the elements, so you can find more when we give
17
Module II
you further reading which is very important to do it on your own time.
The other element is skills. You need to know and be aware of what skills
will be developed in the lesson. Is it speaking, reading, listening or
writing? You already know that, speaking and writing are productive
skills because they require producing language while listening and
reading are receptive skills – they require reception of language and not
production. If possible the lesson should include practise of more than
one skill, that is, it should be integrated – this will increase the variety
and interest of the lesson.
You are again invited to refer back to any exercise that you did with your
students and tell us:
• What skills were developed in it?
• Which skill was practised most?
You might have said that
Grammar:
We saw definite articles with place names, passive construction, and

inversion after negative adverbs.
Writing:
Informal letter: a reply to an invitation, report: a holiday, summary of the

story and many other elements of skills.
To sum up, you may engage your students in reading, speaking, listening
and writing skills in the same lesson without noticing and why? The
reason is because when you were planning your lesson you planned it for
one or two skills, but when you go to teach you might have realized that
there is more than one skill involved. And that is a natural process. For
example, you cannot speak without listening and vice-versa. So, when
you plan your lesson bear in mind that there is a lot of process in mind of
the students than only listening to your lesson. And you, as a teacher,
need to take that into account.
18
Lesson 3: Stages of the Lesson
Introduction
A lesson plan can be divided into a number of stages such as warm-up,

elicitation or brainstorm, presentation, practise, production and so on.
In this lesson you will see some of the stages involved in lesson plan.
You may be already familiar with some steps therefore they will not be a
surprise for you.
Write the stages involved in a lesson plan.
Focus on the main stages of the lesson.
Lesson Outcomes
It is advisable two spend 2 hours on this lesson.
How long?
As a teacher, you have written a number of lesson plans to be taught. Can

you explain how many stages were you able to divide your lessons into?
Reflection The natural response to that question will be “it depends on the type of
lessons that I wanted to teach that time”. And that is a fair reply to that
question.
Yes, we would stamp on your response and add more to say that, any
lesson we teach naturally divides into different stages of activities: For
example, at one stage in the lesson, the class may be listening to a
dialogue, at another stage, the teacher may be explaining or pre-teaching
vocabulary and writing them on the board; at another stage students may
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Module II
be doing some oral practice. It is much easier to plan the details of a

lesson if we think in terms of separate stages rather than trying to think of
the lesson as a whole.
List down the stages that are involved in a lesson plan. Try to list as many
as possible. Focus on the main stages of activity and not on particular
activities or techniques, for example, asking questions on a text.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
Then, in which stages were you able to list them?
Read our comments and see if our comments match.
Presentation: You present new words or structures, give examples and

write them on the board and so on. Your main task at this stage is to serve
as a kind of a facilitator. You know the language, you select the new
Reading material to be learned and you present this in such a way that the meaning
of the new language is as clear and memorable as possible.
In this stage, you do the all talking – you provide input (the language that
students need to hear and learn), while the learner listens and
understands. Any production on the part of the learners is incidental,
designed simply to introduce the new language into the memory store.
20
Practice: Students practise using new words or structures in a controlled

way, for example, making sentences from prompts, asking and answering
questions, giving sentences based on a picture. You need to know that
practise can be oral or written.
The practise stage follows presentation. One of the assumptions of

practice, therefore if that learners already know the forms that are the
target of the practice but needs to gain control over them.
The purpose of this stage is to activate the new knowledge (schemata is a

knowledge we have about a certain topic, event, fact in our mind and that
when we hear or listen something we try to relate to what we already
know.) to the point where it can be used automatically and correctly in
normal communication. For this reason the learner is required to engage
in extensive production of utterances containing the new structure. In
contrast to the presentation stage, emphasis is placed on the learner
participation, and the teacher needs a new role in order to accommodate
this activity. Your role at this stage is to monitor the student language.
You do the minimum of talking yourself. You are skilful conductor of an

orchestra, giving each performer a chance to participate and monitoring
the performance to see it is satisfactory.
Thus, practice is something that learners have to do in order to make the

transition from knowing a feature to using it in real – life communication.
A clear analogy exists with learning to play the piano: before the learner
attempts to play a whole piece, he/she practises scales and short phrases.
Helping learners to achieve control over their knowledge requires

different kinds of practice. A common distinction found in most training
manuals is that between controlled and free practice.
Controlled practice takes the form of drills which requires the

mechanical production of specific linguistic forms.
Free practice involves engaging in simulated communication which has

been set up to provide opportunities for the use of those forms that have
been presented and practised in a controlled manner. Controlled and free
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Module II
practices are best viewed as a pole of a continuum. The continuum

reflects the degree of focus required by the learner. In controlled practice
the learner is required to focus more or less exclusively on the correct
production of the target features. In free practice the learner is
concentrated with the meaning rather than with form. In between the two
poles are the other kinds of practice, for example, guided, meaningful or
contextualised practice.
It is possible to produce a fairly tight definition of controlled practice, as

follows:
Controlled practice
9 Takes place when the learner has already internalised the specific
feature which is the learning target;
9 Involves production on the part of the learner;
9 Involves the isolation of a specific linguistic feature;
9 Requires the learner to carry out a mechanical operation that

leads to correct production of the target feature;
9 Involves the provision of teacher feedback regarding the

accuracy of the learner’s production of the target feature;
9 Provides learner with the opportunity to repeat incorrect

productions correctly.
As you can see, the list can be endless, but it is important to be

explicit.
Free practice is not easy to define. The problem lies in establishing

clear criteria for distinguishing “free practice” from “communicative
use.” One possible criterion is the purpose of the performance. It is
argued and quiet convincingly that when the learner is concerned
with leaning, the L2, she or he might engage in free practice, but
22
when the learner is concerned with conveying a real message, she or

he might engage in communicative use.
Reading
Students read a text and answer questions or do a simple task, for

example, complete a table. You need to know that a reading lesson
can be subdivided into sub-stages which are:
Reading;
While-reading;
Post reading and
Teacher directs feedback session.
Listening
Listening can be done through a tape-recorder, radio, audio-visuals

and the one that teacher reads and the students listen. This can be
based on a dialogue while students listen and then answer questions.
Listening lesson also can be divided into sub-stages which are:
Listening;
While-listening;
Post-listening and
Teacher directs feedback session.
Feedback session consists of the review of the language, structure,

reading or listening done earlier on in the lesson in order to refresh
students’ memories, or as a preparation for new item to be presented.
Remember that, a single lesson would not, of course, normally

include all these stages.
The stages are not in fixed order. Usually you present new language,
then move to practice, then get the learners to use language more
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Module II
freely. But you may, for example, present a structure, practice it

quickly, then present and practice something else before going on to a
final production activity – each stage could occur several times in a
single lesson.
You have to be aware that the stages overlap. For example, reading a
text might be a part of presentation or it might be quite separate
activity as designed above in the sub-stages. Answering questions on
a text is part of reading but also provides the learner with oral
practice. Remember, when we are talking about stages of a lesson, we
are thinking of the main focus of the activity.
Production: Students use language they have learnt to express

themselves more freely, for example, to talk or write about their own
lives and interests, to express opinions, to imagine themselves in different
situation. Like practice, production can be oral or written.
The traditional model/format of the lesson plan is PPP. That is

Presentation, Production and Practice stages. This model is still in use
nowadays, and because of the technology available, we provide you with
Tip the different ways that you can use to plan your lesson. Now, it is up to
you to decide the one that fit your necessity. But we would suggest that
you go far beyond the traditional PPP. Don’t you think so?
24
Lesson 4: Lesson Plan Format/Model
Introduction
Lesson number four is intended to show you different formats used when
you plan your lesson. The idea is to provide you with different
formats/models of a lesson plan so that you do not become narrow
minded. You should be broad minded and that’s why, we provide you
with as many examples as possible, so that you can be able to decide
which one to follow. Then let’s see objectives first.
Familiarise yourself with a number of lesson plan formats/models
Design your own lesson plan
Use appropriate lesson plan

Lesson Outcomes
How long?
We hope that you are coping well with our examples and whenever you
find it difficult any of the explanation, you need to read it again and use
your time to interact with other colleagues that we are sure will be able to
help you. We are living in a global village, so take that chance to clarify a
number of aspects that are not clear to you by talking to your colleagues.
The below formats/models of lesson plan are samples and there are so
many formats/models that you can see and find. Here you will see just
some examples of formats/models of lesson plan and you might use them
in your lesson or when you plan your lesson.
25
Module II
Lesson plan format/model 1
In this plan format/model normally you find:
Name of the school
Teacher
Material
Unit
Topic
Duration of the lesson
Objectives: (insert objectives from scheme of work that is, derived from
the syllabus objectives for each unit.) The objectives state what students
should be able to do by the end of the lesson in terms of language,
functions, forms, skills, vocabulary and content.
In each lesson plan, you can have a variation of stages and it all depends
on the way you want to organise your lesson plan. These stages can be
divided into steps of the lesson. That is, stages can be broken into steps.
Read this variation of the lesson plan.
Stages
1. Warm up: (state time allowed and activities that teacher and
students will do during the warm up stage. Warm-up is a phase
where you prepare students to get started for the lesson. This can
be done through some song, game, questions, story telling, and
revision of the previous lesson.
2. Presentation: (state time allowed and activities that you and

students will do during this stage and sub-stages). Here you
introduce the content that can be new grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation, etc. You should focus on what you want to teach
that day. For example, the difference between forms, for example
tenses and functions or express opinions/points of view.
26
2.1 Elicitation: You invite students to answer voluntarily the

question that you put forward. The questions are intended to
guide your students towards the discovery of main points to
be learnt.
2.2 Explanation: You explain the content, concepts, activities,

focus topic, drills on new learnt issues.
3. Practice: (state time allowed and activities that you and students
will do during this stage and or sub-stages). You ask students to
work out on activities to practice content, language forms, for
example, grammar points, vocabulary – old and new,
pronunciation), that you presented on the previous stage. This can
be controlled or free practice.
3.1 Controlled practice: You guide and control the kind of

expected responses.
3.2 Free practice: You let the students perform tasks that
reinforce knowledge or language acquired earlier. You can
achieve this through improvisation, communicative
activities, presentation, writing, homework, portfolios and so
on.
Observations:
In this space you can write any comment so that the next lesson
can be improved.
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………….……………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
27
Module II
This is another lesson plan format/model where you find:
Name of the school
Teacher
Material
Unit
Topic
Stages Sub-stages Teacher’s Students’ Time

activities activities
Warm-up
Elicitation
Presentation
Explanation
Controlled
Practice
Practice
Free
Practice
Observations
As it was said at the beginning of this lesson, you should be broad

minded and these different formats/models of a lesson plan will help you
28
to achieve that objective. So, remember to use the formats/models that

match with your needs.
You have below another lesson plan format/model where you find:
Name of the school
Teacher
Material
Unit
Topic
Time Stages Activities Activities
Minutes Stages Teacher Students
…minutes 1. Warm-up
• Revision
• Home-work
correction
• Song
• Story
• Games
• …
Time Stages Activities Activities
29
Module II
Minutes Stages Teacher Students
2. Presentation
…minutes Teacher
provides new
information
(language)
• Teacher
elicits new
language
through
visual aids,
realia (are
real objects
that you
bring into a
classroom.)
• Explanation
3. Controlled
Practice
…minutes
• Choral
repetition
• Individual
repetition/w
ork
• Pair work
4. Less controlled
…minutes practice
• Group work
• Pair work
…minutes 5. Production
• Summary
• Composition
• Role plays
• Dialogues
The idea is to let you have these different formats/models at your disposal
and you can use any one of them. The readings suggested below are
30
useful and they will help you improve more on your own. So, do not
waste your time, whenever it is possible go to the library or find one of
these books and read it.
- Doff, A. 1988. Teach English, A Training Course for Teachers,

Cambridge: CUP. Chapter 8: Planning a lesson, pages 34 – 37.
- Ellis, R. 1991. Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy. UK:

Further Reading Multilingual Matters. Chapter 5: The Role of Practise in Classroom
Learning, pages 101-122.
- Harmer, J. 1983. The Practise of English Language Teaching, UK:

Longman. Chapter 11: Planning
- Hubbard, J. et al 1983. A Training Course for TEFL, Oxford: OUP.

Chapter 5: Planning and Preparation, pages 155 – 182 – 206.
- Matthews, A. et al (ed.) 1985. At The Chalkface, Edward Arnold,

pages 5 -18
Unit Summary
In this unit you learned the techniques that can be used in a lesson plan.
The various stages that are involved in planning and how to make a
simple lesson plan. Then, you learned different models/formats of the
Summary
lesson plan. You saw that in the traditional model of teaching the
common model/format is PPP, which means presentation, practice and
production. But also you learned that there are many other
formats/models that you can use to prepare your lesson such as starting
with: Warm-up, presentation, elicitation, explanation, practice, controlled
practice and free practice. Any of those lesson plan formats/models are
useful so it is up to you to decide which one to use.
31
Module II
Assignment
The following notes were written by two teachers describing the lessons
they gave. Match the description with the lesson stages in the box. See
example below.
Teacher 1
Assignment Activity 1
First, we talked a bit about deserts, and what’s like to travel across a
desert. Then we read a text about an explorer who’s crossed every desert
in the world, and the students answered questions on it. In the text there
were several examples of the present perfect tense. I wrote some of these
on the board, and I gave a few more examples orally. Then we did a
grammar exercise in the textbook. After that, I asked students to make up
their own questions using “have you ever…?” to ask each other.
1. Introduction
First, we talked about deserts, and what’s like to travel across a

desert.
2. Reading
Then we read a text about an explorer who’s crossed every desert in

the world, and the students answered questions on it.
3. Presentation
In the text there were several examples of the present perfect tense.
4. Practice
I wrote some of these on board, and I gave a few more examples

orally.
32
5. Production
Then, we did grammar exercises in the textbook. After that I asked

students to make up their own questions using “have you ever…”
Now, read the second description below (teacher 2), and write the five
stages in the box provided below.
Teacher 2
Activity 2
First we reviewed words for clothes, which the students had learnt last
week, and then I taught them adjectives to describe materials (cotton,
woollen, leather etc.), and wrote them on the board. Then we looked at
some pictures of the people in the textbook, and they made sentences
about them (“she’s wearing a green cotton dress”). Then I asked them to
write a few sentences about themselves, beginning “last weekend I was
wearing…” After that we read a text in the book about clothes people
wear in different countries.”
1. ……………………………..
2. …………………………….
3. …………………………….
4. …………………………….
5. ……………………………..
You need to know the objectives of the lesson, as well as students and as
a whole the purpose of each stage. So it is important for you to introduce
each stage of the lesson. Look at the description on the second teacher
again and discuss:
33
Module II
1. What you could say to introduce the lesson, to make the

objectives clear to the class?
2. What you could say to introduce each new stage of the lesson?
Feedback
Teacher 2.
1. You can introduce the whole lesson by giving the following

explanation: Today, we’re going to talk about clothes. We’re going to
say what clothes people are wearing.
Then you’re going to write about your own clothes.
And if there’s time, we will read something about clothes as well.
Introduction/Review:
1. Do you remember last week’s lesson? We learnt some words for

clothes. Can you remember them?
Presentation:
1. Now, let’s learn some new words. Here are some clothes.
What are they made of…?
2. Let’s practise talking about clothes. Look the picture on page …
3. Now, I want you to write about yourselves, about your own clothes.
What were you wearing last weekend?
Do you remember?
34
Oral Practice:
1. Now, we are going to read about other countries. First, look – here are
three countries (writing on board.)
Where are they?
Production:
Students practice some sentences and then they read aloud.
Writing stages for teacher 2 (activity 2 )might look like this:
1. Review
2. Presentation
3. Oral Practice
4. Written production
5. Reading
Possible comments: Writing a lesson plan helps you. Going into the
class without a lesson plan is the same as going to the supermarket
without a list of items that you want to buy. So, one is likely to forget
some of the items that he or she would like to buy. A lesson plan helps
you to decide exactly what you will do and how you will do it. You can
look at the lesson plan again after the lesson, and use it to evaluate what
happened. (Did you do what you planned to do? was each stage
successful?)You can keep the lesson plan and use it again next year. In
that case remember to adapt it to the real conditions of your new students.
Remember that there is no one single way to write a lesson plan, although
a good lesson plan should give a clear picture of what you intend to do in
the class.
35
Module II
The plan in the teacher’s workbook is intended as an example of how a

lesson can include some of the features discussed in this unit, but not
necessarily as the best and only way to write a lesson plan.
Below is another feedback for activity 2 of the same lesson plan focussed
from a different point of view. You need to read it and then decide which
one can be appropriate for your students.
This is a lesson plan that the teacher made for her or his class
The teacher’s notes only gave the basic information, so he or she added
several ideas of his or her own.
Lesson nº 01
Objectives: To practise talking about clothes, materials and colours.
New vocabulary: adjectives – woollen, learned and paid.
Structures: Present continuous… is wearing… (revision)
1. Review: Teacher shows pictures of clothes. Students give

words such as coat, hat, shirt, trousers, and so on.
2. Presentation: Teacher shows objects made of wool, leather,

plastic, etc. Presents new adjectives and write them on the
board.
3. Practise: Teacher tells the students to turn on their books on

page… and they make sentences. For example, she’s wearing
a green cotton dress.
Pair-work: A: What’s she wearing?
B: She’s wearing a green cotton dress.
3. Writing: teacher writes on board. “Last week I was

wearing…” Students write sentences about themselves.
36
Teacher collects about ten student’s sentences and reads them out.
Others guess who was wearing that kind of clothes last week.
4. Reading: Teacher writes on board: Peru, Kenya and Malaysia.
Teacher asks where these countries are. What’s the climate like?
What kinds of clothes do people wear in those countries mentioned
above?
Students read text on page … silently and find answers to guiding

questions.
Observation about the lesson plan
Let’s talk a little bit about the value of writing lesson plan. You
should know that the lesson plan is not written just for the benefit
of the inspector or head teacher; its main purpose should be to help
you and whenever it is possible adapt it to your own classroom.
37
Unit 2 Teaching Pronunciation
Unit 2
Teaching Pronunciation
Introduction
This unit assumes that you are familiar with the basic sound system of
English (although not necessarily with features of stress and intonation),
and you can pronounce English adequately. We assume that the teaching
of pronunciation is not an optional luxury to be left to advanced level. In
other words, pronunciation should be an integral part of an English
teaching programme from the early stages, just as the teaching of
structures and vocabulary. However, the basic question is: What do we
start with?
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:
Be aware of your students’ pronunciation difficulties.
Show a range of simple techniques for helping your students to

improve their pronunciation of individual sounds.
Outcomes
Be more aware of importance of stress and intonation in spoken

English.
Show ways of focussing on stress and intonation in class...
38
Aspiration: In English, initial voiceless plosives (p/t/k/) are

aspirated. Aspiration as much as voicing
distinguishes these sounds from /d/d/g/.
Terminology
Dialogue frame: A skeleton dialogue with slots in it where new
words or phrases may be inserted. In its most
controlled form, the dialogue frame is an extended
four-or-six line substitution drill.
Distractors: The incorrect choices in multiple choice test item.
Eclectic approach: An approach which adopts any techniques or

procedure, so as long as it can be shown that it
results in successful learning.
Lexical set: A group of words that have something in common,

for example are related in meaning or belong to
the same situation, subject matter etc.
Lockstep: The traditional system of class management where

the teacher is in control of every interaction and
where only one interaction takes place at a time.
Meaningful drill: A drill which cannot be performed correctly

without an understanding of the meaning of what
is said.
Mechanical drill: A drill which requires students to produce correct

examples of the language without needing to think
about the meaning of the sentences.
39
Lesson 1: Pronunciation
Introduction
We assume that you are familiar with the basic sound system of English
and that you can pronounce English adequately. We will use Phonetic
Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet, so that you can use the
Standard English to teach your students. Then let’s see objectives of this
lesson.
Identify the pronunciation problems of your students.
List the International Phonetic Alphabet: Consonants and vowels.
Lesson Outcomes
How long?
Let’s start with this simple exercise. We think that you do understand
what we mean with the heading such as consonant, vowel and so on.
Now think about your students’ pronunciation. What do you think are the
main problems? After identifying the problems fill in the table below.
Activity 1
40
Consonant Vowels Stress Intonation
Were you successful to identify the main problems that your students
have and to note them down in under appropriate heading?
Students may have listed that it is difficult to distinguish the number three
and the sound of tree. They also might have said that they cannot
pronounce well the sound of think and the word sink. They might have
Tip said that they confuse the sound of high with thigh. These and other
examples are clear way to tell you that you need to make an effort so that
students can improve these aspects in pronunciation and this kind of task
is a long term objective as long as they are learning English.
Pronunciation problems will of course vary greatly from one speaker to

another. Common problems are likely to occur:
• Difficulty in pronouncing sounds which do not exist in your

learner’s own language, for example, for many learners, the
consonant /∂/ in “the” and the vowel /З:/ in “bird.
• Confusion of similar sounds, for example, /i:/ and /i/, or /b/ and
/p/.
• Use of simple vowel instead of diphthongs, for example, /i:/

instead of /I∂/;
• Difficulty in pronouncing consonant clusters, for example,

/desks/, /fifө/;
• Tendency to give all syllable equal stress, and “flat” intonation.
Individual sounds
41
There is no need to teach the sounds of English individually; students are

able to “pick up” the sound system of the language by listening to you (or
other voices on cassettes or broadcastings done in English). However,
they may be particular sounds or sounds combinations which your
learners may find it difficult (like those discussed in activity 1). In
addition learners may make mistakes in pronunciation without being
aware of it. In such circumstance, it is useful to focus on the sound or
group of the sounds which is causing difficulty.
Imagine that you want to focus on a sound which students find difficult.
Which of these steps are most important? Which are not necessary? Mark
your answer in the space provided. You might want to tick in the
Activity 2 appropriate box to mean the one you agree.
Say the sound alone.
Say the sound in a word.
Writes words on the board. √
Explain how to make the sound. √
Get the students to repeat the sound in chorus.
Get individual students to repeat the sound. √
Contrast it with other sounds. √
42
There is no single correct answer to the question asked above, but try to
reflect on the following aspects:
9 The basic steps are for the teacher to say the sound clearly in
isolation so that students can focus on it and in one or two words;
and for students to repeat the sound, in chorus or individually.
9 If students confuse two similar sounds, it is obviously useful to

contrast them so that students can hear the difference clearly.
9 If the students have difficult in producing a particular sound

(usually because it does not exist in their own language), it is
often very useful to describe how it is pronounced, as long as this
can be done in a way that students understand (using simple
English or their own language)
9 You could for instance say: Writing the word on the board is not
so important – the focus should be on pronunciation, not on
spelling.
43
Lesson 2: Practising Sound and some Minimal Pairs
Introduction
The next lesson will discuss the practising of sounds and talk briefly
about minimal pairs, as well as look at what is stress and intonation and
how you can practice with your students.
Debate what word stress means.
Explain what minimal pairs are.
Lesson Outcomes
Explain stressed and unstressed syllable.
How long?
First of all let us look what we mean by sentence stress.
In normal English sentence with certain words are stressed and

certain words are unstressed.
Normally we stress content words – the words that are essential for
conveying message. These are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
(most) and demonstratives.
Unstressed are words or the grammatical forms or structure words

that result in a correct grammatical utterance even though these
words are not essential to the communication of a message. For
example, in the following sentence:
'Janet has 'gone to the 'baker’s.
Which words do you think are content and stressed? Clearly,
Janet, gone baker’s are the content words and are therefore stressed.
44
Content words are those words that carry the meaning of the sentence and
are called stressed words.
Tip Practising sounds
Now, look at exercises below and choose the sound that your students
find it difficult.
Activity 1
Minimal pairs
1 2
Will well
Say the number: 1 or 2. Repeat as many times as possible and try to

do the same exercise with your students. Write the words on the
board and while you are reading, ask your students to say which
number you are reading.
Can you now explain what minimal pairs are? Minimal pairs can be
defined as pairs of words which only differ in one feature, as for
example, sing, song; park, bark; loose, lose, ship, sheep. Minimal
pairs can be used to focus on differences vowel or consonant sounds.
Stress and intonation
Stress
Most words with two or more syllables have one stressed or strong
syllable and two or more unstressed or weak syllables. Often the
vowel in the unstressed syllable is pronounced as /∂/ or /i/. We call
these reduced vowels.
More examples are:
Asia, apart: the “a” is pronounced as /∂/
45
Between, wanted: the “e” is pronounced as /i/
In “able”, “table”: the “a” is pronounced as /ei/ in vegetable,

syllable, it is reduced to /∂/
In connected speech, when we say sentences rather than single words,

many more vowels become reduced because complete words are
unstressed. For examples:
I ate bread and cheese.
Look at us.
English is a stressed timed language. This means that the length of time
between stressed syllables is always about the same, and if there are
several unstressed syllables they must be said more quickly. For example:
He wrote a letter.
He wrote a long letter.
He wrote a very long letter.
In each sentence, the unstressed syllables (“a”, “a long”. “a very

long”) took about the same amount of time as to say “ a very long”
had to be said quickly.
1. Look at the words and phrases below and mark the stressed syllables
and reduced vowel.
Mark them like this: disappointed for stressed.

Activity 2
Mark the like this: disappointed for unstressed.
Disappointed a kilo of sugar
Attractive give me an orange
Trousers I’d like some coffee
Suppose he was late again
Perfect we can leave as soon as you are ready
46
2. How could you show the stress pattern of a sentence in your

classroom and explain:
Using your voice?
Using gestures?
Using the blackboard?
1. Suggested answer:
Disappointed a kilo of sugar
Attractive give me an orange
Trousers I’d like some coffee
Suppose he was late again
Perfect we can leave as soon as you are ready
2. Possible suggestions:
Using your own voice:
You need to say the sentence, exaggerating difference between

stressed and unstressed syllables.
Using gestures:
You can use arms like a conductor of an orchestra, using a strong

gesture for the stressed syllables.
Using the blackboard:
Writing dots and dashes: for example, a kilo of sugar =.-..-.
You can underline the stressed syllables. a kilo of sugar.
You can write the stressed syllables in heavier letters.
Intonation
47
Intonation is the music of a language – the way the voice goes up and
down as we speak. Intonation is very important in expressing
meaning, and specially in showing our feelings or emotions, for
example, surprise, anger, disbelief, and gratitude.
However, intonation patterns are quite complex and it is better for

students to acquire them naturally rather than try to learn them
consciously.
For teaching oral English at a fairly low level, teachers need to be

aware of the two basic intonation patterns:
9 Rising tone: used in asking Yes/No questions, and to express

surprise, disbelief, and so on. The voice rises sharply on the
stressed syllable. For example, really, is your friend?
In really the voice raises sharply because it is a stressed syllable as

well as the word friend.
9 Falling tone: used for normal statements. Commands and for WH

– questions. WH – questions are the questions that start with WH
– such as Where, who, whom, When, Why, What and so on - the
voice rises slightly earlier in the sentences, and then falls on the
key word being stressed. For example,
A ticket to London, please. What’s YOUR name?
In the sentence above, voice rises slightly earlier in the word ticket
and London and then falls. The same is happening with the sentence
what’s your name. The voice rises in your and the sharply falls in
name.
Back-chaining technique for intonation
The reason to start at the end rather than the beginning is that it is the
last stressed syllable that determines the intonation pattern of the
whole sentence. So by repeating the end of the sentence, the correct
intonation is preserved. For example:
48
Use gestures and show the stress and intonation as a part of repetition
drill.
You: Listen. How long have you been living here? How long have
you been living here? de – DA – de – de –de – DA – de – de. How
long have you been living here?
ii. Students repeat, starting from the end.
You: Living here. Living here. Everybody.
Students: Living here.
You: Been living here.
Students: Been living here.
You: Have you been living here.
Students: Have you been living here.
You: How long have you been living here?
Students: How long have you been living here?
You: Ask groups of students to repeat the whole sentence, then

individual students.
You: Gesture to indicate a group.
Group: How long have been living here? and so on.
Finally, you can use also arm and hand as conductor of an orchestra
to illustrate stress.
Further reading is written here to help you to be broad minded about the
topic. So, whenever you find time try to find one of the listed books and
read them.
49
- Doff, A. 1988. Teach English, A Training Course For Teachers,

Cambridge: CUP. Chapter 10: pages 44 – 49.
Further Reading - Haycraft, B. 1971. The Teaching of Pronunciation, UK: Longman
- Hubbard, J. et al. 1983. A Training Course for TEFL, Oxford:

OUP. Chapter 7: The Teaching of Pronunciation.
- Roach, P. 1983. English Phonetics and Phonology, Cambridge:

CUP. A Complete basic course providing practice in pronunciation.
Unit summary
In this unit you learned the techniques for the teaching of pronunciation.
You have seen that pronunciation should be an integral part of an English
teaching programme from the early stages just as the teaching of other
Summary
skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing. The early we
expose our students to a sample of spoken language the better they can
cope of the pronunciation problems. Remember that students are able to
pick up the sound of the language by listening to you or any other audio-
visual materials that are available.
Assignment
Task 1:
Look at these remarks. Which ones would normally have a rising

intonation?
Assignment
Which would have a falling intonation?
50
Use ↓ for falling tone and ↑ for rising tone. Or you can use gesture and
body movement to show rising tone and falling tone.
Dialogue A:
A: I don’t want anything to eat.
B: No.
Dialogue B:
A: Can I borrow some money?
B: No.
Dialogue C:
A: Who’s that?
B: It’s Jorge.
Dialogue D:
A: Is that Jorge?
B: No, it isn’t.
Task 2:
How could you show intonation patterns in class?
Feedback
Task 1:
Possible comments
Dialogue A:
A: I don’t want anything to eat.↓
B: No.↑
51
Dialogue B:
A: Can I borrow some money?↑
B: No.↓
Dialogue C:
A: Who’s that?↓
Task 1:
Possible comments
Dialogue A:
A: I don’t want anything to eat.↓
B: No.↑
Dialogue B:
A: Can I borrow some money?↑
B: No.↓
Dialogue C:
A: Who’s that?↓
B: It’s Jorge↓
Dialogue D:
A: Is that Jorge?↑
B: No, it isn’t.↓
Task 2
There are two main techniques of showing intonation patterns in class.
1. By drawing arrows on the blackboard (as in the example above.)

By arm and hand movements, like the conductor of an orchestra.
The easiest way for students to practise stress and intonation is by

repetition. If the focus is on pronunciation, traditional repetition drills,
which are often boring for students to do, can be made interesting and
challenging; students are not only asked to repeat a sentence, but to repeat
it using a particular stress and intonation pattern. For this to be effective,
it is important for you to:
52
• Give a good model of the sentence themselves; saying it at normal

speed, making a clear difference between stressed and unstressed
syllables, and using natural intonation;
• Indicate stress and intonation clearly, using gestures;
• Make sure that students pay attention to stress and intonation hey
they repeat the sentence.
One way to help students use natural intonation is to practise saying the
sentence in sections, starting with the end of the sentence and gradually
working backwards to the beginning, for example,
living here/ been living here/ have you been living here/ How long have
you been living here?
This technique is known as back-chaining.
The reason to start at the end rather than the beginning is that it is the last
stressed syllable that determines the intonation pattern of the whole
sentence. So by repeating the end of the sentence, the correct intonation is
preserved.
53
Unit 3 Pair Work and Group Work
Unit 3
Pair Work and Group Work
Introduction
This unit is concerned with ways of organising activities in the class

rather than with teaching techniques. It will give you some examples of
how to organise pair work and group work so that you can improve your
teaching methods.
Discuss advantages of working in pair and group.
Organise pair and group work effectively.
Outcomes
Deal with initial problems that may arise.
Show how pair and group work can be used for various classroom
activities.
Pair work: Independent work by pairs of students working

simultaneously on a task or practice activity. Often
an extension of ordinary controlled practice or
Terminology drilling, with more opportunity for students to talk,

hence higher STT.
STT: Student Talking Time, the amount of time in

class spent by the student talking.
Group work: Independent work carried out simultaneously

by groups of three or more students on a task
or tasks.
54
Team teaching: Two or more teachers working together as a

team to teach a class (or classes).
Task oriented Activities where students are set a clear task to

work: complete, as opposed to practice activity,
where students go on practising until told to
stop.
Usage: Refer to examples of language that are correct

grammatically and have meaning, but which
have no communicative value; in other words
there is no reason why these examples should
be produced, except as examples of form and
meaning.
Use: The way in which a speaker uses a particular

language form to communicate on a particular
occasion. The use of form may be described in
terms of its function or communicative
purpose.
Weak forms: The phenomenon of changed vowel values in

pairs of certain common words when they are
not stressed, for example, /wəz/ for was.
55
Lesson 1: Pair and Group work
Introduction
This lesson is concerned with ways of organising activities in the class

rather than techniques, particularly activities done in group or pair work.
Organise pair and group work.
Use pair and group work to perform the activities.
Use a number of activities involving pair and group work.

Lesson Outcomes
How long?
As you teach, you have used so many times pair and group work. Can
you list some advantages of using them? Can you explain exactly what
you do in the class? Yes, you might have said, students are able to speak,
even the shy ones. Students have more time to interact with one another
and many other examples that you are able to give. That’s wonderful.
Now, let’s see some of the advantages of using pair and group work.
When we have a task, we sometimes divide students into pairs. That is to

say, students work with his or her partner, and all the pairs work at the
same time (it is sometimes called simultaneously pair work).
For group work, we divide again the class into small groups of four or
five students in each group and all groups work at the same time.
Is that what you thought about pair and group work? Then, well done you
are doing well. Do not forget that pair and group work are not teaching
methods but ways of organising the class. They can be used for many
different kinds of activity, and are naturally more suitable for some
activities than for others.
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Read the following examples that show the use of pair work. The purpose
of these exercises is to give you the experience of doing language practice
on the use of pair work or group work. The first example given is used for
Activity 1 controlled oral practice; it practises vocabulary and conditional structures.
A: Work in pairs: Ask and answer questions.
What happens if …
a) You eat green mango?
b) You eat too much food?
c) You leave ice in the sun?
d) You pour petrol into fire?
e) You sit in the sun for too long?
Now think of three more examples of questions like this.
1. To practise this, ask the first two questions to the whole class, to
show how the activity works. Your students may give more than one
answer which is possible. For example, they might say, you will be
sick/you get stomach ache for the first one. For the b), they might
say, you will get sick/you will fat.
2. After you have tried thus, you may ask your students to sit into pairs
in order to ask and answer the other questions.
3. When most pairs have finished, you need to go through the answer
together.
4. You ask some pairs to tell you the questions they might thought of
themselves. Get other pairs to answer them.
The next activity shows the use of pair in reading task. Tell your students
to work together to try to understand the text.
B: Work in pairs.
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Find words in the passage that mean:
- The type of mosquito that carries malaria.
- Something intended to prevent something.
- A sensible action to avoid possible danger.
- Young insects after leaving the egg.
- A natural area of still water
1. Read the text and find the answers.
2. Insecticide literally means something to kill insects with. With

your partner do you know what these words mean? Try to guess
from the context what they mean.
a) Suicide
b) Homicide
c) Pesticide
Malaria
Malaria is a common disease in Mozambique, as it is in many

other tropical parts of the world. It is caused and spread by
bites from a particular type of mosquito called “anopheles”.
These mosquitoes are attracted to our bodies by the smell of
sweat, and when they bite us they pass into our blood the small
living thing that causes malaria.
Fortunately modern science has produced a preventive, so we

can protect ourselves from malaria by regularly taking tablets
such as Chloroquine.
Another sensible precaution is to spray insecticides in our

houses and to have mosquito nets over the windows and doors
or to use mosquito nets at night.
Recently, large scale efforts have been made by the World
58
Health Organization (WHO) and other organisations to destroy

larvae before they hatch. Female mosquitoes lay their eggs in
pools and other standing water, so spraying these areas can
wipe out whole colonies of malaria mosquitoes.
We, as individuals, can do the same thing on a small scale by

getting rid of old tins and pits near our homes that collect
water, and by spraying any areas of standing water that remain.
We must do all we can to prevent diseases, which cause

misery, pain and at times, deaths.
Written by a group of English teachers during workshops in

2007 in Manica.
You need to explain briefly what they have to do. You have to divide
them into pairs to do the activity.
When most pairs have finished, stop the activity. You need to discuss
the questions together. Ask your students to tell you any words whose
meaning they could guess and not guess, and discuss them together.
59
Lesson 2: Type of Pair and Group Work
Introduction
This lesson, will be about the type of pair or group work that you can
make in your classroom and the advantages and disadvantages. You will
also see in the lesson that some activities are suitable for pair and some
are suitable for group work.
Use group work in your class.
Apply activities that can be done in group.
Lesson Outcomes Explain the advantage of using group work.
How long?
Group work
This part will discuss and give you a number of activities that can be
done in groups. Group work is a much freer activity and it aims to
practise the four skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Try
this activity with your students sitting in groups.
1. Which of these people earns the most money in your province?

List then down starting from the highest paid to the lowest paid.
2. Who do you think should earn the most money? Who do you
think should earn more and who should earn less?
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Nurse
Doctor
Teacher
Farm worker
Taxi Driver
Engineer
3. Divide your students into groups of four or five. Make sure that
they understood the instructions and each group should choose
one secretary to write the list agreed.
4. While the activity is going on, you need to move from one group
to another, but do not interrupt the discussion.
5. When some groups have finished their discussion, stop the

activity. Ask the secretary to report back on what they decided.
You will see that there are many advantages of using pair and
group work but also you have encountered some problems. We
do not want to take a lead on that so we will ask you to list down
advantages and problems. But some advantages of using group
work is the freedom that students have to express themselves and
also it allows the shy students to speak. In addition to that do the
task below and then read the feedback provided.
Advantages and problems
Write advantages and problems of pair and group work?
What problems might be there?

Activity 1
Advantages Problems
61
How would you overcome the problems?
Feedback
Probably, you have written the following items:
Advantages Problems
More language practice Noise
Students are more involved Students make mistakes
Students feel secure Difficult to control
Students help each other
You might have written a list that is probably slightly different from this,
but you might have written something that fits under these headings. Is
this correct? Let’s first discuss the advantages of pair and group work:
9 More language practice: Pair and group work give students far
more chance to speak English.
9 More are more involved in activity: Working in pair or group

encourages the students to be more involved and to concentrate
on the task.
9 Students feel secure: Students feel less anxiety when they are
working privately than when they on show in front of the whole
class. Pair and group work can help shy students who would
never say anything in a whole class activity.
9 Students help each other: Pair and group work encourage

students to share ideas and knowledge.
62
Then, let’s talk about the problems and ways to overcoming them:
Noise: Pair and group work in large class will be noisy, and this can not
be helped. But:
Usually the students themselves are not disturbed by the noise; it is more
noticeable to you standing at the side or to someone in the next room.
The noise created by pair and group work is usually good noise because
students are using English, and engage in learning task.
Students make mistakes: during a pair and group work you can not
control all the language used, and should not try to do so. When doing
controlled language practice in pairs or groups, the number of mistakes
can be reduced:
- By giving enough preparation: The activity can be done with the

whole class first, and pair work used for the final stage.
- By checking afterwards. You can ask some pairs or groups what

they said, and then correct mistakes if necessary.
- Give clear instructions about when to start, what to do and when

to stop.
- Give clear defined task which do no continue for too long:
- Set up a routine, so that students accept the idea of working in

pairs or groups, and know exactly what to do.
The next part, you are going to deal with ways of organising group
work and how many members can be in each group.
Organising group work:
a) Forming groups: The size of the group should be worked out in

relation to the total number of students in the class. As a general
rule we could say that there should be 3 – 6 students in each
group and not more than 5 or 6 students. Remember that you will
still have to look after the groups, so clear up any difficulties,
63
check they are working and it is difficult to manage a large

number of the groups. You should normally form the groups
yourself, usually on the basis of mixed ability (that is good and
weak students together.)
b) Group leader: Each group should have its own leader or

coordinator. At the start, you will probably have to appoint the
group leader, but later on the students can be allowed to choose
their own. The function of group leader is not to dominate the
group but to coordinate their activities and to serve as a link
between the group and you.
c) Your role: Your role as a teacher, both in setting up these

activities and in overseeing them while they are in progress, is a
crucial one and will, of course, be very different from the one
you have in more conventional teaching situations. These are
some of the things you must do:
- Select activity carefully: You should ensure that the activities

can be done reasonably well with the language the students have
at their disposal. You may have to indicate to the students how
they can do this. Sometimes an activity will require new language
and you must decide whether you are going to pre-teach this or
let the students ask for it when they realise they need it.
- Work out the instructions for an activity carefully: Presenting

the activity to the class will be a major factor in its success. Keep
instructions simple, and if necessary use the mother tongue.
- Present the activity to the class: As noted above, you may need
to do this in the mother tongue, but try to use English as much as
possible because both explaining and evaluating activities is a
very real use of language in a classroom situation. Give plenty of
examples and give the students “trial run”.
- Monitor the students’ performance: While the activities are in

progress, your main task is to move around the class and to
“listen in” discreetly in order to find out how the students are
getting on. You may also join in and help with an activity but if
64
you do so, it should be as a member of the group. Do not, as a

rule, correct mistakes of language during a group activity but
make a note of them and use them as the basis of feedback. The
students should also be told that you are available for
consultation if they need you, either to clarify instructions or to
help with language.
- Provide feedback: There is no set way of doing this, and in any

case it will to some extent depend on the nature of the activity.
For example, you may want to evaluate the activity as a whole
(for example, how well the students participated or performed).
In this case, it will usually be appropriate to ask them to give
their own ideas before giving your opinion. You will also need to
establish the students’ reactions to an activity. If students react
negatively, you may decide not to repeat the activity, to modify
it, or if you are convinced of its value, try to demonstrate why it
is example. A major kind of feed back will be concerned with
language. If during your monitoring of the activities, you have
detected mistakes, you may choose to point these out to the group
afterwards or, if it seems appropriate, to the whole class.
Alternatively, you may use errors you have noted as the basis for
remedial of further teaching. While you are monitoring, you will
also become aware that the students could perform better if they
knew certain items of language. Make a note of these and find an
opportunity to teach them to the class.
- Keep record: It is important to keep a record of the activities

you have done with a class, together with any comments on the
students’ performance. You should also note down any ideas for
further activities which occur to you or modifications of existing
ones. These will often occur to you while you are monitoring.
Lesson 3: Organizing Pair and Group Work
Introduction
65
This lesson is about organising appropriate pair work in your classroom,

demonstrate how to organise pair work and what type of activities can be
used to perform pair work. As usual, we will start with objectives of the
lesson.
Organise appropriate pair work
Familiarise with some of the activities for pair work
Lesson Outcomes
It is advisable to spend two hours on this unit.
How long?
Organising pair work
Read the following situation. A trainee was teaching an intermediate

class. He presented like/do not like and then he used this exercise for
freer practice in pairs.
Exercise 1
Likes and dislikes
Pair work: Ask what your classmate likes and doesn’t like.
Ask about: food, sport, music and school subjects.
Then this is a description of what happened during the activity.
Trainee: Everyone should do exercise 3. You need to sit in pairs and do

ask and answer questions.
While students were performing a task he just sat on his table.
After the activity he asked then if they finished. He said good and
then he told them (students) to do exercise 4.
From your point of view:
66
Do you think the activity was successful?
What do you think might have gone wrong?
What could he do to make it more successful?
Why do you think the activity was not successful, and what he could
do to make it more successful?
It depends on the way you delivered the lesson. There are so many ways
you can do that, such as starting from warm up and then linking to
elicitation. Question such as, Antonio, do you like mango or banana? And
Tip from there build on. So, once again, there is no single way that can be
considered as the best one. It all depends on our creativity and techniques
to use that day. The readings below will clarify more.
Below are some of the ways that can be used to make the activities above
successful. Now read on.
9 He could prepare for the pair work by establishing what the

questions and answer should be. He could also demonstrate
the pair work by asking questions round the class, or by
getting one pair of students to ask and answer in front of the
class. Then students would know exactly what to do.
9 He could be more active in starting the pair work. Instead of

just saying: “work in pairs”, he could show the students what
to do with, check that everyone had started working in pairs.
This would be very important if the class were not used to
pair work.
9 During the activity, he could move quickly round the class to

check that students were talking and to see when they
finished.
9 Instead of waiting for everyone to finish, he could stop the

activity. Then there would be no more chance for students to
67
get bored and start talking about other things.
9 After the pair work, he could ask some pairs what they said,
or ask a few pairs to repeat their conversation in front of the
class.
Read on the following demonstration:
Demonstration
i) Teacher: Now, you are going to talk about things you like and
things you do not like. Look at the exercise. What questions
can you ask?
What about the food?
Students: What food do you like?
Teacher: Good. What answer could you give?
Students: I like mango.
I like eating fish.
I like chicken and so on.
ii) Next you need to ask few questions round the class, to show the
kind of conversation students might have:
You: What kinds of music do you like Manuel?
Manuel: I like hip-hop music.
You: Hip – hop. Which singer do you like best? (and so on)
Then you can ask your students to have similar conversation,

while others listen.
iii) You divide the class into pair
You: You are going to work into pairs. (Indicate pairs by

pointing if there are students left without a partner, make groups
of three.) Ready? Ask and answer the questions. First one person
asks all the questions, then change round. Start now!
68
iv) Students work in pairs. Move quickly round the class,

checking that everyone is talking. (But do not try to correct
mistakes, as this will interrupt the activity.)
v) When most pairs have finished, stop the activity. Ask a few
students what their partner said:
You: Joanna, tell me about Lina. What does she like?
Joanna: She says that she likes cassava, R & B music and judo.
And she likes English as well but not writing lesson.
You: Oh! She does like writing lesson, correct.
Unit summary
In this unit you learned different ways to use pair and group work. Pair
and group work are ways of organising the class are not techniques or
methods. You become aware of advantages of using pair and group work
Summary
and the problems can cause. The way how you can organise the language
activity using the pair and group work.
The next further reading is to help you to improve more your knowledge.
So, whenever you are free, find a little time and read the books listed
below.
69
- Byrne, D. 1986. Teaching Oral English, UK: Longman. Chapter 8:

The Punctuation Stage, pages 76 - 80
Further Reading - Doff, A. 1988. Teach English, A Training Course For Teachers,
Cambridge: CUP. Chapter 12: Pair and group work, pages 57 – 61
- Hubbard, J. et al 1983. A Training Course For TEFL, Oxford:

OUP. Chapter 10: Special Techniques for problem classes, pages 293
– 321
- Willis, J. 1981. Teaching English Through English, UK:

Longman. Chapter 9: Dividing the class up: pairs and groups
Assignment
Task 1
You have two rows of a class of 50 students. The desks and chairs are
fixed and students sit on chairs. How could you divide the class into:
Pairs and small groups?
What instruction would you give?

Assignment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Task 2
Draw a plan of your own class. Show how you would divide the class for
a pair and group work activity.
Task 3
Look at a lesson which you will teach soon, or find a lesson in a suitable
textbook. Choose one activity (or a part of an activity which would be
suitable for pair and group work.
Plan part of the lesson and
- Decide how to divide the class into pair or group work.
70
- Plan an introduction or demonstration to make it clear
- Plan a short round up stage to follow the pair or group work
Feedback
Task 1 and 2
Possible comments:
- For pair work: Most students would work with the person next to
them. Students 1 could turn and work with student 8, and
students 2, 3 and 9 could work in group of three together. Or
students 10 could join to students 11, and the remaining students
could be divided into pair
- For group work: Students could work in groups of three or four

along each row. – This would be easy to organise but would
make it difficult for students to work well as group, as they
would be in a straight line. Or: Students in the front row could
turn round and form groups with those behind (either three
groups of three in the front row and the second row one group of
three and the last group will be made by four students.)
Task 3
Any reading or speaking lesson based on the pronunciation will be

suitable for the students to practise the exercise in pair or group work.
Using the explanation above in feedback task 1 and 2 any kind of
activity will be suitable.
Let’s take example of a reading lesson. After the students have done
reading in pair or group, you may ask them to the comprehension check
activity in group in the same way as explained in feedback task 1 and 2. It
largely depends on the settings that you have in your classroom. So, be
creative and let your students get used to pair and group-work.
71
Unit 4 Correcting Errors
Unit 4
Correcting Errors
Introduction
Errors are commonly produced by students leaning English. What has
caused them? Presumably the students have never come across sentences
like those before. This unit is concerned with lexical and grammatical
errors in both spoken and written language.
• Explain the importance and significance of learners’ errors.
• Develop positive strategies of error correction.
Identify a range of techniques for correcting oral and written errors.

Outcomes
Errors: In the chain of language are those such as

word order, lack of agreement, incompatible
tense-adverbial and tense-tense combinations.
Errors in the choice axis are incorrect choices
Terminology of word or phrase in a given slot in the
sentence.
Meta-language: Language used for talking about language, for

example, grammatical terms, noun, verb etc.
Mistake: As opposed to error, a slip of the tongue etc.

which the student can self-correct when
challenged, because it is not caused by lack of
knowledge (competence). A mistake is
sometimes referred to as a performance error.
Competence: Knowledge of grammatical and other rules of

a language which enable a speaker to use and
understand it. By definition a native speaker
has perfect competence.
72
Information gap: The principle that two (or more) students

engaged in a practice activity do not share
exactly the same information. If the task is
correctly set, the students must pool their
information and are thus forced to
communicate through English. The
information gap is therefore an important
element in many communicative practice
tasks.
Intensive Reading a passage in depth for complete

reading: comprehension and/or analysis.
Intonation: The rise and fall in pitch which accompanies

an utterance. The phenomenon is related to
sentence stress. Different intonation and
sentence stress patterns can entirely change
the meaning of n utterance.
Pre-teaching: Isolating language items about to come up in a

text and teaching this first.
73
Lesson 1: Errors Correction
Introduction
As practising teachers we know well that students make errors. Until

recently, theorists and methodologists seemed chiefly concerned with
who should accept responsibility and some regarding students as mainly
responsible. However, the truth is that even the most intelligent students
do make errors, even learning under the best learning conditions. This
lesson is then concerned with the following objectives:
Describe your student’s language error in appropriate way.
Apply appropriate ways of correcting student’s errors.
Lesson Outcomes
How long?
Read the following comments made by some of the teachers.
Teacher Hang:
I never let my students make mistakes. If they say anything wrong, I stop
them and make them say it correctly. I do not want them to learn bad
English from each other.
Teacher Azhari:
I correct students sometimes, but not all the time. If we are practising one
particular language point, then I insist that they say it correctly. But if we
are doing a freer activity then I try not to correct too much. If, I do correct
students, I try to do it in an encouraging way.
74
Teacher Pat:
I try to correct errors as little as possible. I want my students to express

themselves in English without worrying too much about making
mistakes. Sometimes I notice points that everyone gets wrong, and deal
with them later – but never interrupt them
Place yourself as a learner of these teachers. Which teacher would

you prefer? Why?
To start with, the teachers described above are found in different schools
and they do exactly the same as described by those comments above.
You are often afraid of your students making errors. You feel
(like teacher Hang) that students might learn you’re mistake, and
so they must make sure that everything they say is correct. This
idea derives from views of language learning which were
popular in 1950s and 1960s; it was believed that language was
learned by repetition of correct forms until they become
automatic, and so repeating incorrect forms would be harmful.
It is now widely agreed that language is not learnt in this way;

rather it is a system of rules that the learner has to acquire, and
that trying out language and making errors are a natural and
unavoidable part of this process.
Your learners’ errors are very useful way of showing what they
have and have not learnt. So instead of seeing errors negatively,
as a sign of failure, we can see them positively as an indication
of what we still need to teach. Obviously, if we try to prevent
students from making errors we can never find out what they do
not know.
You would agree (like teacher Azhari) that we need to correct

some errors, to help students learn the correct forms of the
language.
With teacher Pat, there is a danger that students might feel they
are not being taught properly. But this does not mean that we
75
have to correct our students all the time – if we do, it might

make them unwilling or unable to say anything at all.
It is important to correct students’ errors. But it all depends on the

kind of activity you are doing with your students and the objective of
the activity: whether we mainly want students to produce accurate
language or whether we want them to express themselves freely and
develop fluency. Let’s read the example below.
Example 1:
You have just presented a number of verbs with irregular past tense
forms. Now you are practising them using a simple picture story.
(The objective of the activity is to check that students can use the
verbs correctly. You have to correct any major errors, especially
those involving the verbs you have taught, or the activity will lose its
points).
Example 2:
There is some vacant land near your school. You are discussing with
your students (in English) what should be done with it. You want
them to give interesting ideas.
In this activity you want students to use English freely to talk about
really life. You want them to express their ideas as fluently as
possible; so you should be careful not to correct too much or you
will interrupt the activity. It would be best either to correct only the
most serious errors, and to do so quickly and quietly, or to remember
the commonest errors and deal with them afterwards.
76
Lesson 2: Differente Ways of Correcting Student´s Errors
Introduction
This lesson is about different ways that we can use to correct our students
errors. What you need to know is that errors are integral part of the
learning process so do not bother in correcting each aspect of your
students. As long as the learning process goes on some of the errors will
disappear.
Differentiate strategies for correcting errors.
Introduce ways of correcting errors.
Lesson Outcomes
How long?
Strategies for correcting error.
Read this imaginary exchange between a teacher and a student. Pay

attention to the ways that dialogue develops. The dialogue is about daily
routines, so, they are practising present simple tense.
Teacher: Antonio, what do you do in the morning?
Antonio: I …am… get up….. at seven o’clock.
Teacher: hmm, that’s not right, is it? I get up – not “I am get up.” I get
up, what about you Joseph…?
What comments can you make about this technique? Do you think it was
77
useful?
Our comments:
The teacher was very discouraging, although the students tried to give a
Tip good answer.
The teacher did not give the students a chance or help to say
the sentence correctly.
Although a teacher asked really question, he or she showed no interest at

all in the student’s answer.
Now discuss what else the teacher could have done. Try to elicit ideas
that you have, and then give a short demonstration of each technique.
The teacher could correct students in a positive way, and

give him a chance to say the sentence correctly, for example:
Teacher: Well, all right, but – I get up. Again
Antonio: I get up seven o’clock.
Teacher: Good!
The teacher could help student to correct himself, by

showing where the error was in the sentence, for example:
Teacher: Yes, Ok, nearly. What should it be? I get….
Antonio: I get up at seven o’clock.
Teacher: That’s right – good.
This is a good technique if you think the students really know the correct
form, and so can correct his or her own mistake.
The teacher could pass the question to another student, and

then come back to the first student again, for example:
Teacher: Well, nearly. Anyone else? What do you do in the mornings?
Yes, Pedro?
78
Pedro: I get up at seven o’clock.
Teacher: Yes, that’s it. I get up. Now, it’s your turn Pedro, again.
Pedro: I get up seven o’clock.
Teacher: Yes, Well done.
This technique helps to involve the rest of the class, but it should be used
with care; it is important not to make the first student feel victimised.
To sum up the main possible basic principles of positive correction:
9 Encourage the students, focussing on what they have got right,

not on what they have got wrong.
9 Praise students for correct answers, and even for partly correct
answers; in this way, they will feel they are making progress.
9 Avoid humiliating students or making them feel that making a

mistake is bad.
9 Corrects errors quickly; if too much time is spent over correcting

errors, it gives them too much importance and holds up the
lesson.
Helping students to correct themselves
You need to know that there is no single best technique for correcting
errors. The most important thing is for you to be flexible and to be aware
of the effect on each individual learner of correcting errors. So you will
use different strategies according to the kind of error, the ability and
personality of the student, and the general atmosphere of the class.
One of the effects of so many corrections would probably be to

discourage the students – they make it appear that she or he has written
almost nothing correctly.
You can reduce the amount of underlining and write corrections in the
margin, this would make the page look less heavily corrected.
79
You can correct only the errors that seem most important, or only errors
of a certain kinds, for example, items that they were taught recently.
You could indicate where the student has made important errors, and ask
him/her to try to correct herself. This would encourage the students to
look again as he/she has written and think about possible errors.
Further reading below is to improve more your knowledge. So, whenever

you find time pick up some of the books and read them.
- Byrne, D. 1986. Teaching Oral English, UK: Longman.
- Doff, A. 1988. Teach English, A Training Course For Teachers,

Further Reading Cambridge: CUP.
- Hubbard, J. et al 1983. A Training Course For TEFL, Oxford:

OUP.
- Willis, J. 1981. Teaching English Through English, UK: Longman
Unit summary
In this unit you learned different ways of correcting errors or mistakes of
your students. Remember there is no best technique for correcting errors
or mistakes and no single way you can use can be described as the best
Summary
way to correct your student error or mistakes. But encourage them to
have peer correction and self correction without realising that she or he
has been corrected. Error or mistakes are an integral part of learning
process and are caused by slips of the tongue, tiredness, boredom and so
on.
80
Assignment
Task 1
Divide your students into groups and ask them to look at the examples of
common errors which your students have made. Choose five which you
think are important and discuss with your students how you can correct
Assignment
that?
a) What seems to be the cause of each?
b) Does it show something the students do not understand? Or is it

something they understand but still get wrong?
c) What should you do about it?
Feedback
Task 1 Comment
The errors that students make are useful, because they show what the
students have learnt and what areas might need to be taught again.
- One of the causes can be the influence of the first language on the
second language. That is, from Portuguese to English. For
example, it is common for our students to write: I have 10 years
old.
- It does not show that the students do not understand. It is a part of

the learning process and as long as students learn the target
language some of the errors/mistakes will disappear. That is to
say, the learning process will take care of some of the problems.
But you need to know that some of the problems may become
81
fossilized.
- One of the techniques is to correct some of the common problems

that you can detect. You can plan a lesson based on their
mistakes and do corrections with them without them realising
who made such mistakes. That is a good way to motivate them to
learn a foreign language.
82

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MODULE

English Language Teaching Principles

Practice (ELT/PP year II) – Module II

Rua Comandante Augusto Cardoso, nº 135

Fax: +258 21-322113

Author: Romão Beatus Paulo

Instructional Designing: António Franque

Language Review: Sarita Monjane Henriksen

Graphic Designing: Fátima A. Nhantumbo

Edition: Anilda Ibrahimo Khan

Getting around this MODULE 8

Unit summary ................................................................................................................. 50

How this MODULE is structured

If the course is suitable for you.

What you will already need to know.

What you can expect from the course.

The overview also provides guidance on:

Where to get help.

Course assignments and assessments.

We strongly recommend that you read the overview carefully before

The course content

The course is broken down into units. Each unit comprises:

An introduction to the unit content.

Core content of the unit with a variety of learning activities.

Assignments and/or assessments, as applicable.

Course content and structure.

Course reading materials and resources.

Course support (assigned tutors, technical help, etc.)

Your constructive feedback will help us to improve and enhance this

Welcome to Practice (ELT/PP

We hope that this module - ELT/PP Year II Module II (ELT/PP II)

(Practice (ELT/PP year II) – Module

Teach large classes without resources needed to accomplish their task.

• List objectives and language content of the lesson you teach.

• Write objectives of the lesson plan. Be familiar with same

• Plan the lesson plan with appropriate stages

• Establish the importance of teaching pronunciation.

• Distinguish strong and weak syllables.

• Make corrections of your students’ errors.

 Apply techniques and methods to help your students learn the

We advise you to spend at least 2 hours a day to read each lesson.

How long? We recommend two 2 hours on self study.

Essentially you will be taking control of your learning environment. As a

We recommend that you take time now—before starting your self-

Faculty of Languages: English Department

Rua: Comandante Augusto Cardoso no. 135 Maputo

Telephone: 21 420860-2 or 21 306720

Monday to Friday: 8:00 to 12:00

In each province there is a resource centre available and a local Provincial

For any assistance related to academic issues the Provincial English

All tests, group work or tasks are teacher’s marked work.

Getting around this MODULE

A complete icon set is shown below. We suggest that you familiarize

Activity Assessment Assignment Case study

Discussion Group activity Help Note it!

Outcomes Reading Reflection Study skills

Summary Terminology Time Tip

English Language Teaching

Upon completion of this unit you will be able:

Apply techniques and methods to help your students learn the

Distinguish the various stages of the lesson and explain the

Give examples on how to make a sample lesson plan.

Write objectives of the lesson plan.

Discuss some skills involved in a lesson plan.

Design your lesson plan

Activity 1 Which were the most important?

What new structures were there?

What other structures were practised?

Write the stages involved in a lesson plan.

Focus on the main stages of the lesson.