4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) Candidate name: __________Example Fol____________________ Criteria To standard Not to standard yet 1 st Submission To standard Not to standard 2 nd Submission Tutor feedback and resubmission guidance if necessary Tutor feedback Part A Comment on the learners’ backgrounds Comment on the learners’ motivations Comment on the learners’ learning preferences Use written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task Grade for part A Tutor(s) signature(s) and date: Pass Resubmit Double marked (if applicable) Tutor(s) signature(s) and date: Pass Fail Part B Identify learners’ strengths Identify one grammar problem with at least two pieces of evidence Select one appropriate activity to address the grammar problem and provide a rationale Identify one pronunciation problem with at least two pieces of evidence Select one appropriate activity to address the pronunciation problem and provide a rationale At least one of the two activities is from a published ELT source Correctly use terminology relating to language systems and skills Use written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task Overall word count of 7501000 Overall comments: Overall grade Tutor(s) signature(s) and date Pass Resubmit Double marked (if applicable) Tutor(s) signature(s) and date: Pass Fail NB *Please use the same cover sheet for submitting all parts and resubmissions of your FOL. Thank you!
6
Embed
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) - api.ning.com · 4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)! Part(BM(Learners’(language(abilitiesand(needs! Learner(strengths! (skills!and!systems)(Ingeneral
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) Candidate name: __________Example Fol____________________ Criteria
To stand
ard
Not to
stan
dard yet 1st Submission
To stand
ard
Not to
stan
dard
2nd Submission
Tutor feedback and resubmission guidance if necessary
Tutor feedback
Part A Comment on the learners’ backgrounds
Comment on the learners’ motivations
Comment on the learners’ learning preferences
Use written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task
Grade for part A Tutor(s) signature(s) and date:
Pass
Resubm
it Double marked (if applicable) Tutor(s) signature(s) and date:
Pass
Fail
Part B Identify learners’ strengths
Identify one grammar problem with at least two pieces of evidence
Select one appropriate activity to address the grammar problem and provide a rationale
Identify one pronunciation problem with at least two pieces of evidence
Select one appropriate activity to address the pronunciation problem and provide a rationale
At least one of the two activities is from a published ELT source
Correctly use terminology relating to language systems and skills
Use written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task
Overall word count of 750-‐1000 Overall comments: Overall grade Tutor(s) signature(s) and date
Pass
Resubm
it
Double marked (if applicable) Tutor(s) signature(s) and date:
Pass
Fail
NB *Please use the same cover sheet for submitting all parts and resubmissions of your FOL. Thank you!
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) Example Assignment: Part A-‐ Learners’ backgrounds Category (Please omit this column from your word count)
Write here in prose. (Note, if you are handwriting this assignment, you will need to use more space to reach the word count and the required level of depth.)
The class is an upper-‐intermediate level group who are studying general English for 10 hours per week. It is a multi-‐lingual group with three Spanish speakers, two Arabic speakers, a Russian speaker, a Hungarian speaker, a Chinese speaker and two Japanese speakers. They range in age from 19 to 47 years old. Some students have been in the UK for over 10 years and plan to stay (e.g. Aleksander, Summer and Nuri) but others are here more temporarily to improve their English for a few months (e.g. Khadhija, Gabor and Takeshi). The majority of the group started learning English in school so have been learning for an average of eight and a half years already. For all but two of the learners, English is their second language whereas for Khadhija, who already speaks French and Arabic fluently, and Mario, who speaks Spanish and a bit of Italian, it is their third. The group comprises of a variety of different professions for example, Takeshi is an engineering student, Emilia owns her own graphic design business, Aleksander is currently a barista but is a qualified architect in his own country, Nuri and Summer are stay at home parents, Mario is a journalist and Khadhija is a full time English student.
Learners’ motivations
Their motivations include integrative, instrumental and extrinsic. Khadhija is taking the FCE exam next month and particularly wants to improve her speaking score so has extrinsic motivation. Aleksander is here to improve his job prospects so could be said to have instrumental motivation, whereas Khadhija really wants to make English speaking friends, from around the world, so could be said to have integrative motivation. Other reasons for learning English amongst the group included “to be able to read medical journals in English”, “to be able to help my son with his English homework” and “to be able to meet English people in the pub”!
The group’s learning preferences and rationale
In terms of learning preferences, all students seem to enjoy working together in pairs / groups, though Gabor is sometimes reluctant to work with his partner until he has a full understanding himself. This would make him seem a little intolerant of ambiguity and quite an independent learner. Emilia enjoys pair work but will only contribute to whole class stages if she is specifically nominated, so I’d say she is less of a risk-‐taker and perhaps more accuracy focused since she doesn’t like to make mistakes in front of the whole class. The group in general is quite serious and focused. They ask lots of questions about grammar and vocabulary, and enjoy controlled practice activities. They like visual activities and are keen to see new language written on the board to help with spelling and accuracy. They enjoy problem-‐solving tasks as evidenced by their reaction to the “alibi” game on the first day. They react well to drilling and seem keen to improve their pronunciation. Word Count for Part A: 476 words
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) Part B -‐ Learners’ language abilities and needs Learner strengths (skills and systems)
In general, the learners in this group have a strong ability to express themselves verbally and overall have a high degree of speaking fluency. Their grammatical knowledge is generally good for the level, though they still sometimes make errors when applying it. Other strengths vary within the group: Aleksander is much better in writing than speaking as he needs more time to think to express himself accurately; Summer has a very extensive vocabulary and communicates well but makes lots of grammatical errors. They are very earnest and committed to learning, asking lots of questions and spending time studying English outside of class.
Grammar problem Past simple tense At least two examples of the error and their corrections.
Most learners in the class have made slips with this tense, using the bare infinitive instead of the past simple. 1) In a written activity, Junko wrote “When I first arrive in America…” She should have written “When I first arrived in America” 2) During her interview, Carmen said “Last night we see a show in theater”. She should have said “we saw a show at (the) theater”
Material “Pictures into story” in Grammar Practice Activities (Ur, 1998: p215). See appendix 1. Brief description of the activity and Justification for choice for these learners.
In this activity, students receive a set of pictures, order the pictures as they like, then write the story. This group seems to enjoy collaborative and problem solving tasks so it suits their learning preferences. Although some of them prefer, and are stronger in, spoken activities, this written follow-‐up would help them develop written accuracy, which is a main goal in learning English for a few of the learners, particularly Kenny and Junko. Mario’s job as a journalist means that a written activity would be suited to his English learning needs as well”.
Pronunciation Example: Pronunciation problem /l/ vs/r/ sounds At least two examples of the error and their corrections.
The Japanese and Chinese speakers in my group struggle most with this issue. In her interview, Summer struggled to correctly produce accurate /l/ sounds. She said, for example, “I like (/raɪk/) to shopping”. She should have said I like shopping “I /laɪk/ (-‐) shopping”. In a class about personal finances, Takeshi said “I have little (/rɪtər/) money for go out.” I have little (/ lɪtəl/) money for go(ing) out”
Material “Pronunciation Journey” from Pronunciation Games (Hancock, 1995: p36). See appendix 2.
Justification for choice This is a discrimination exercise in which learners must listen and check the correct word from a minimal pair, e.g. light or right to ensure arrival in the correct city. To include other members of the group, the examples could be adapted to focus on sounds that they struggle with, e.g. /b/ vs /p/ (bat vs pat) for the Arabic speakers, (Smith, 2001: 197) and /b/ and /v/ (best vs vest) for the Spanish speakers, (Coe, 2001: 93). I would make sure groups contained a mix of learners whose own languages are different. This group seems to respond well to pronunciation work and will benefit from seeing phonemes written down for visual support, making this an appropriate activity for this class.
Word count: 350 – 500 words NB Total word count for Parts A and B must be 750-‐1000 words
Part B: 483 words
Total Part A and Part B: 959 words
Bibliography • Coe, N. (2001) ‘Speakers of Spanish and Catalan’ in Swan, M. and Smith, B. (eds) Learner English: A teacher’s
guide to interference and other problems (2nd edition), CUP pp90-‐112
• Hancock, M. (1995) Pronunciation Games, Cambridge, CUP
• Smith, B. (1987) ‘Arabic speakers’ in Swan, M. and Smith, B. (eds) (1987) Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems (2nd edition), CUP pp195 – 213
• Ur, P. (1998) Grammar Practice Activities – A practical guide for teachers, Cambridge, CUP
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) Appendix 1: Ur, P (1998) Grammar Practice Activities – A practical guide for teachers, Cambridge, CUP p215 -‐ 217
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL) Appendix 2: Hancock,M. (1995) Pronunciation Games, Cambridge CUP p36-‐37