Delta Module Three

Principal Examiners Report

2010
Version 1

Contents

1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Purpose of Report ............................................................................................................................... 4
3. Examiners comments ......................................................................................................................... 4
3.1 Overall comments on the work of candidates ............................................................................... 4
3.2 Specific strengths.......................................................................................................................... 5
3.3 Specific weaknesses..................................................................................................................... 5
3.3.1 Grasp of Topic ....................................................................................................................... 6
3.3.2 Needs Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 6
3.3.3 Course Proposal .................................................................................................................... 7
3.3.4 Assessment ........................................................................................................................... 7
3.3.5 Presentation and Organisation .............................................................................................. 7
4. Advice for centres and candidates ...................................................................................................... 7
5. Examples of Part 1 .............................................................................................................................. 9
5.1 Examples from Teaching Exam Classes assignments................................................................. 9
5.2 Examples from Teaching Young Learners assignments ............................................................ 11
5.3 Example from an EAP Reading Assignment .............................................................................. 13
6. Examples of priorities and objectives ................................................................................................ 14
6.1 Example from an EAP assignment ............................................................................................. 14
6.2 Example from a YL assignment .................................................................................................. 15
6.3 Example from a Teaching Exam Classes assignment ............................................................... 16

Principal Examiners Report 2010

Delta Module Three Principal Examiners Report

1. Introduction
Delta Module Three is one of three Delta Modules which candidates can take as a free standing
professional development component or as part of the Delta qualification. Module Three aims to
develop candidates knowledge of and competence in assessment and course planning in relation to a
specialist area, and includes: approaches to needs analysis; curriculum and syllabus design principles
and different types of syllabus; course design and evaluation; and assessment of learners. The
module is assessed by means of a 4,000-4,500 word Extended Assignment (EA), submitted in June or
December of each year, in which candidates carry out an independent investigation leading to the
design of a course programme related to their chosen specialist area.
Candidates choose a specialism for the EA which is relevant to their current or intended teaching
context (for example, Business English, Young Learners, ESP, EAP, Exam Classes, One-to-One,
etc.). The EA consists of five parts: (1) specialist topic area (2) needs analysis (3) course proposal (4)
assessment and (5) conclusion. To complete the assignment, candidates need to:

review the relevant literature of their chosen topic area and identify key issues
explain how they identified the needs of a chosen group of learners, and how they used
diagnostic tests to establish learning priorities
design a course of at least 20 hours, providing a rationale for its design, goals and teaching
approach
explain how the course will be assessed and evaluated
outline how the proposed course design relates to the issues identified in the introduction.

In doing so, candidates are expected to demonstrate an informed understanding of: their chosen topic
area; key principles of needs analysis and diagnostic testing; key principles of and types of course and
syllabus design; as well as key principles and roles of assessment.
The EA is assessed according to a detailed Mark Scheme which allocates marks for each of the five
assessment categories each of which is divided into three sub-categories.
Grasp of topic

Review of the relevant literature in the topic area

Understanding of key issues in the topic area
Application of knowledge to practice and identification of key issues

Needs analysis and commentary

Key principles of needs analysis and diagnostic testing

Analysis of the diagnostic test and identification of learner needs
Discussion and justification of priorities supported by the needs analysis

Course proposal

Key principles of syllabus and course design

Justification of learning aims, teaching approach and the course in terms of learner needs
Design of the course

Assessment

Key principles of different types of assessment

Justification of assessment procedures in terms of course design and learner needs
Application of assessment procedures

Presentation and organisation

Academic writing, language and referencing

Presentation, coherence and organisation
Clarity of argument and quality of ideas

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These categories are marked in line with the grade descriptions as outlined in the Delta Modules
Handbook 2010 (page 70). Marks are awarded for each category using a band system and then
totalled to form an overall grade (Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail). The weighting for the assessment
categories is as follows:

Grasp of topic (25%)

Needs analysis and commentary (20%)
Course proposal (25%)
Assessment (20%)
Presentation and organisation (10%).

2. Purpose of Report
This Module Three Report is based on Extended Assignments submitted in December 2009 and June
2010. These assignments are independent research projects owned by candidates, so it is not
appropriate to provide model sample assignments. However, this report highlights areas considered
by examiners to be particularly strong or weak so as to give clearer guidance to candidates and
centres. It also provides specific comments to help candidates and centres.

3. Examiners comments
The topic areas focused on (and the percentage of candidates who chose these) were as follows:

Teaching exam classes (30%)

Teaching young learners (17%)

EAP (13%)

Business English (9%)

Teaching one-to-one (9%)

ESOL learners with literacy needs (4%)

Teaching in a non-English-speaking environment (3%)

Teaching in an English-speaking environment (3%)

ESP (3%)

Teaching multilingual classes (4%)

Teaching monolingual classes (2%)

Language support (1%)

CLIL (1%)

LDT (1%)

Others (0.5%)

As predicted in the previous PE report, there was a greater range of chosen topics this time.
Nevertheless EX, EAP, YL, BE and 1-1 remain the three most popular topics and were chosen by over
75% of candidates. It is hoped that there will continue to be a wide range of chosen topics in future
submissions.

3.1 Overall comments on the work of candidates

Generally the standard of assignments seems to be improving. Layout was generally good, better use
was made of headings, sub-headings and appendices, and generally the word-limit was adhered to
overall and for each section. Most assignments were thorough, although there were still some
candidates who seemed to have misunderstood the guidelines. Generally the grade for topic was a
good predictor of overall grade as has been the case in previous sessions.

Principal Examiners Report 2010

3.2 Specific strengths

There were many excellent assignments which:

researched the chosen specialism in insightful ways and critiqued the relevant literature

identified key issues and their practical implications

used a range of tools to identify needs

analysed the results thoroughly and clearly identified learning priorities

designed innovative and comprehensive course plans which were well justified

were complemented by useful, logical and relevant assessment

were well-written and clearly organised with plentiful reference to key sources.

Most kept to the word limit. Those that did not were penalised or returned unmarked.
Some specific strengths were as follows:

Stronger candidates made good use of suggested headings outlined in the Handbook.

Some had done some extensive reading/research, and were often able to juxtapose writers
views and provide justified criticality/draw conclusions of their own.

Stronger candidates made explicit references to significant features of their specialism.

Some used very detailed breakdowns/summary charts of when NA/DTs and assessments
would be carried out.

Some presented very comprehensive course plans, with explicit links visually and in writing to
stated course objectives. There was some good use of colour-coding and arrows to highlight
different strands, sequencing and links to course objectives.

Occasional bursts of creativity and insights in some papers were refreshing to read.

3.3 Specific weaknesses

The main areas of weakness were failure to adequately research the chosen specialism, lack of
theoretical underpinning in some or all sections, failure to analyse learners needs adequately, not
linking the design of the course to the needs identified, and not linking the whole assignment explicitly
to the chosen specialism.
Failing candidates tended to have common problems such as:
Overall
not fully understanding the specifications for this assignment
lack of theoretical underpinning
not paying attention to the suggested word lengths for each section.
Part 1
lack of in-depth grasp of the underlying specialism e.g. if the focus is on EAP writing, some
candidates focused too much on writing and made comments which could refer to any writing
class and did not focus sufficiently on EAP issues
lack of practical understanding of the topic.
Part 2
poor needs analysis which is not designed specifically for this assignment and fails to
adequately diagnose learners needs
an NA which is unclear and too superficial, and which does not reveal learning priorities
lack of clarity as to how the learning priorities are derived from the analysis
lack of clarity as to how the needs analysis informs the subsequent course plan.
Part 3
poor justification for and design of the course

Principal Examiners Report 2010

lack of explicit links between the course and the NA

lack of depth to the course plan and limited links to the needs analysis.

Part 4
justification for and design of the assessment procedures needs to be much clearer
lack of clarity as to what is to be tested, when and how.
Writing

lack of use of and reference to evidence through the appendices

use of footnotes and exceeding the word-limit
poor academic writing
general lack of cohesion throughout.

Many areas of weakness identified in the previous Examiners Report (October 2009) were again valid
for this session, so readers are advised to consult this report, especially sections 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3
and 3.2.4.
The following comments made by examiners in the last two sessions (December 2009, June 2010)
reflect specific weaknesses according to the five main assessment categories:
3.3.1 Grasp of Topic
Lack of clarity as to the specialism. Some candidates began with a course in mind and just
used the specialism as a kind of title. Some candidates chose a specialism which was
contained in the title and file name, but then proceeded to discuss a separate topic, such as
Project Work with Young Learners for example. The focus here was on project work which is
not a specialism and is not specific to YL teaching.
Some candidates narrowed the scope of their assignment, for example by focusing on one
exam or one part of one exam. With some weaker candidates, the discussion of the topic as a
whole then tended to be weak, with the result that they neglected the bigger picture or the
general principles of the specialism. A problem quite specific to those who chose teaching
exam classes was that some candidates described the exam itself in too much detail and
failed to discuss the specialism.
Some candidates chose a title which could easily be related to multiple specialisms, for
example Business English for 1-1. or Preparing Chinese YLs for Reading and Writing Flyers
Exams. In such cases it is important that one specialism is clearly chosen and focused on in
Part 1.
Lack of reference to literature in discussing the specialism. In some cases ideas were drawn
only from generic books, such as Harmer, Scrivener or Thornbury, which do not have the
necessary depth for the chosen specialism.
Some candidates took up a lot of Part 1 to explore their reasons for doing the specialism at
the expense of the content of that section, while others used this section to discuss needs
analysis and course design in detail.
3.3.2 Needs Analysis and Commentary
Lack of reference to literature on needs analysis and diagnostic testing. Some candidates
failed to consider the theory, while others mentioned it without direct reference to key sources.
Weaker candidates tended to use NA tools without explaining why, did not analyse thoroughly
enough, and subsequently failed to justify learning priorities adequately with reference to the
analysis. Some candidates seemed to have already decided on their course focus and
seemed to go through the motions of doing a needs analysis.
Rather uncritical application of learner styles questionnaires, which in some cases produced
little more than a colour-coded table showing that students had a mix of styles.
Lack of critical selection or prioritisation of data collected from the NA and DT a tendency
sometimes just to turn the data into an unfeasibly long list of course objectives without linking
back to the purposes of the students and the very short time available.
The analysis of the tests given has tended to focus too heavily on the detail with not enough
drawing together of the different strands that have come out of these.
In particular the justification of the choice of priorities was often weak or non-existent.

Principal Examiners Report 2010

3.3.3 Course Proposal

Course plans were sometimes lacking in detail and rationale for sequencing. Some even failed
to include a course plan. Weaker candidates were unable to justify the course content
adequately. Candidates should essentially ask themselves, if another teacher were required to
teach the course as it is designed, would they be able to, and would they also understand why
the course has been designed that way from the reading of the assignment alone?
Lack of reference to literature on course design principles in general. Some candidates failed
to consider the theory, while others mentioned it without direct reference to key sources.
Lack of critical and relevant discussion of syllabus types weaker candidates often tended to
claim a particular course somehow reconciles all syllabus types in a 20-hour course.
Failure to relate general principles of course design to the specified topic (e.g. to explain why
an analytical syllabus might be appropriate for younger learners).
Lack of focus on activities and language actually specific to the chosen area. Having started
off by discussing the principles of EAP, for instance, the actual course should then be an EAP
course, rather than a general English course.
Some had clearly used a course which was already planned before the assignment. This led
to transparent attempts to justify an already determined course post-hoc.
Lack of grounding of courses in particular times and places. Many of the courses seemed
rather generic, rather than having been tailored to particular needs and to exploit particular
emergent opportunities for creative learning.
Great reluctance to leave anything out particularly grammar even when the needs analysis
has clearly shown that learners need more focus on skills.
Weaker assignments tended not to include any discussion of sequencing of objectives within
their 20-hour course, or show how lessons related to one another.
3.3.4 Assessment
Assessment procedures of weaker candidates tended to be superficial with little account of an
overall framework, and little thought as to how they fit into the course. In some cases there
were no appended samples of tests.
Particularly with the topic of teaching exam classes, a reliance on use of selected exam
practice material without linking this explicitly to the particular course objectives (and
therefore no real assessment of whether such objectives as using certain strategies or
developing certain knowledge or skills had been acquired during the course).
Failure to link assessment explicitly to course objectives and in many cases, only to assess
part of the course objectives.
Where portfolio assessment was used, a lack of reference to relevant sources (e.g. HampLyons) and sometimes an inappropriate attempt to present this as summative assessment,
rather than an approach which challenges the formative/summative distinction.
Course evaluation is predominantly dealt with superficially or not at all.
3.3.5 Presentation and Organisation
The main problems with presentation concerned sloppy layout and spacing between sections,
and failure to signal appendices in the main body of the assignment.
There were a few very poorly proofread and/or written pieces of work which suggested a rush
to complete and submit the assignment on time.
Some candidates used poor and/or inconsistent referencing conventions.
Too much core detail put into appendices - in a few cases perhaps as a way of
circumnavigating the word count, in others as a result of data overload. On occasion,
appendices were also poorly labelled, and required a lot of detective work.

4. Advice for centres and candidates

The majority of assignments submitted for assessment met the criteria and represented work which
demonstrated a sound grasp of candidates chosen specialism, principles of needs analysis, course
design and assessment. There was also a good range of assignments which met the criteria for a
Merit and Distinction.

Principal Examiners Report 2010

The advice given in the last Examiners Report (October 2009) remains valid, so centres and
candidates are advised to consult section 4 of this report in addition to the comments below.
Centres should give clear guidance to candidates on how to approach the assignment, in particular:
choosing a specialism as the starting point for the assignment and ensuring it underpins all
sections
ensuring the specialism is discussed in theoretical and practical terms
ensuring background reading is referred to explicitly in all sections
ensuring the NA tools are analysed adequately and that the results are synthesised to
establish learning priorities some candidates may require training in this
ensuring the course plan is developed out of the needs analysis, and justified explicitly in
terms of the results and priorities identified (it is important that the EA is not seen as a course
planning assignment but that designing a course plan is one aspect of the assignment)
ensuring the assessment procedures are justified in terms of the course, and that sample tests
are appendixed
ensuring that plenty of time is allowed for proof-reading before submitting their final version
ensuring all candidates are familiar with the advice on pages 71-76 of the handbook
reminding candidates that the word count limits for sections are important to achieve
appropriate balance and weighting.
Candidates are advised to make use of the following checklist as a final check before submitting their
assignment.
Have I

clearly chosen a specialism from the list provided, and indicated this on the cover
page?
outlined key features of the specialism and indicated what distinguishes it from
other forms of teaching?
referred to and commented on background reading and key sources throughout?
discussed principles underlying NA/DT, CSD, assessment, etc?
clearly justified my choice of needs analysis tools?
included completed samples of diagnostic tests used in the appendix?
analysed the results of the diagnostic tests adequately?
justified the learning priorities I have identified clearly in relation to my needs
analysis?
justified my course objectives in terms of learner needs?
added my course plan as an appendix to the main body of the text?
included sufficient detail in my course plan?
made it clear what I will assess and how, with samples in the appendix?
outlined how the course will be evaluated?
respected the word-limit and indicated the word count on the cover page?
linked all parts of the assignment coherently to one another?
signposted all the appendices clearly in the main body of the text?

Yes/no

Centres are advised to continue to monitor candidates progress in this assignment, through individual
tutorials and by commenting on drafts, in order to ensure that they are meeting the criteria before they
complete the whole assignment. Some candidates might require additional advice, such as how to
include quotes within the text.
Centres should also continue to advise candidates that assignments are checked electronically for
plagiarism and that plagiarism has already been and will be penalised. Plagiarism checks include
checks against previously submitted assignments as well as assignments or parts of assignments
which include passages copied from online resources or books.
Centres should inform candidates that submission of assignments which have been
plagiarised will lead to the candidates disqualification and a ban on re-entry of up to three
years.

Principal Examiners Report 2010

5. Examples of Part 1
A common problem faced by many candidates who have chosen to narrow down their topic area is
how to maintain a balance between the broader specialism (such as teaching exam classes) and the
narrower topic (such as IELTS) and how to then use the latter as an example of the former. The
following four examples illustrate ways in which both weaker and stronger candidates tackled Part 1 of
the assignment.

5.1 Examples from Teaching Exam Classes assignments

The following examples contain extracts from Part 1 of the assignments of two candidates, A and B,
who chose Teaching Exam Classes as their specialism and chose to design an IELTS preparation
course for their group of learners. As can be seen from the extracts and accompanying examiner
comments (in bold after each extract), both candidates approached Part 1 in noticeably different
ways.
Example A
How exam classes differ from General English
There are many factors to consider when working with exam classes which are not relevant to a
General English learning environment. The most obvious being the level of focus of the learners as
they are all working towards achieving the same aim: to pass the exam. (May, 1996) However, the
needs of individuals are not necessarily homogeneous. In the case of a preparation course for IELTS
its possible that some students may have a good level of linguistic skills and need training in exam
skills, language that can be applied in many different contexts outside the classroom whereas others
may be retaking the exam and are on the course to develop their language skills.
In addition, the time frame can influence the content and construct of an exam course as learners are
working towards a particular date in which they will sit the final exam. Another dynamic to consider
here, which is usually the case when preparing students for IELTS, is that students may choose to
take the exam at different times. Consequently, some will have more self-study time than others
between the end of the course and sitting the final exam.
Teaching Approaches
Having worked with IELTS students for some time there are a considerable amount of preconceptions
that I bring with me to the project. I am aware of certain constraints to the exam, for example in Part 2
Speaking candidates are required to perform a monologue which is commonly found to be the most
difficult task for students, as it is not something they would normally do. I recognise the need to
improve confidence as an important element in achieving success. Furthermore, in my background
reading I have developed my awareness of teaching approaches and feel this will benefit my
instruction on ELTS preparation courses in the future. In his article Improving scores on the IELTS
speaking test Issitt (2008) suggests a number of strategies for teaching students who are taking
IELTS speaking test. He outlines how using the marking criteria can enable students to effectively
engage with the criteria instead of producing rehearsed sentences which the examiner can easily
detect. Issitt also highlights how improving performance in this section of the exam can really help to
boost students final grades as speaking and writing are marked as whole bands only.

Examiner comments:
Candidate A tended to focus too much on describing the IELTS exam and did not devote
enough time to discussing general issues relating to teaching exam classes.

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Example B
Preparing students for an examination is a special responsibility (Burgess & Head 2005:1).
Many learners take IELTS or TOEFL in order to gain entry into a university in an English speaking
country, or to open up employment opportunities. As a result, expectations for positive outcomes are
great (May, 1996; Burgess & Head, 2005).
The aim of an exam class is to maximise the students score. The main way they differ from
General English (GE) classes is that there is a clear goal that is often missing from GE classes. The
shared goal helps develop a strong class dynamic promoting hard work in and out of the classroom
(May, 1996; Burgess & Head, 2005). This hard work is rewarded with progress. In exam classes the
learners consider this progress more valuable as it takes them closer to passing the exam. This cycle
has a positive effect on the learners as well as the teacher. When students are succeeding the teacher
is encouraged to further challenge them.
In order for the learners to pass the exam they need to cover the subject matter that is likely
to arise and practice the skills required. As a result, teachers often teach to the exam (Hughes, 1989;
Baxter, 1997). This relationship between the test and the teaching is called Backwash and is a
symptom of exam classes (Prodromou, 1995). If an exam requires the learner to complete lots of
multiple choice activities the class preceding this may consist of little else. Here the impact the exam
has on the teaching is negative as the class will be dull and predictable. Prodromou (1995) believes
that exams in general simplify language down to word and sentence level removing context, content,
interest and humour. For positive backwash to occur an exam class should be engaging and fun much
like a GE class. In fact, increasingly exam boards have made the decisions to mimic real life and have
created activities that the learners will be familiar with from GE coursebooks (Burgess & Head, 2005).
However, with an exam such as IELTS where the content is more serious, the teacher may have to
draw on their personal resources to make the lessons engaging for the learners.
Furthermore, learners (especially those preparing for a high stakes exam like IELTS) can be
intolerant of being taught anything that 'isn't in the exam', even though it may be good for their
learning, which means communication is really important and that the syllabus needs to be negotiated
at least partly with the students. If it is non-negotiable from the teachers point of view, then a rationale
for activities should be provided. Otherwise students can become mistrustful of the teacher and start
to doubt their abilities.
The students must feel that the teacher is knowledgeable about the English language and
about the exam. Preparing learners for exams is as much about teaching the strategies and skills
needed in order to meet the criteria as it is about the language (Thornbury, 2006). The learners need
to know what type of tasks to expect and how to complete them. Therefore, learner training is
essential (Thornbury, 2006). Exam strategies such as using learner dictionaries, applying self
correction techniques or receptive skill training are often incorporated into a course (May, 1996;
Burgess & Head, 2005). It is useful if the teacher can pass on tips that are less commonly known.
Prodromou (1995) believes if testing dominates teaching it can result in: errorphobia, fear,
anxiety, mistrust, and boredom. Therefore exam classes work best if teachers and students like, trust
and respect each other. As the exam approaches most students need a lot of reassurance that they
can/will pass. Dealing with anxious learners means that the teacher may have to assume the role of
counsellor which can be draining (Burgess & Head, 2005).
In addition, sometimes the level of the exam is out of reach of the learners despite all their
efforts (May, 1996). This is particualry true of IELTS where many candidates are aiming at a level
which will give them access to higher education. This can be demotivating particularly in mixed-ability
classes when weaker students may be seen as holding the class back. Furthermore, exam classes
produce a lot of marking and the syllabus can be seen as restrictive which teachers may feel limits
their creativity and impinges on their free time (May, 1996; Burgess & Head, 2005).
Examiner comments:
Candidate B also chose to design an IELTS course, but successfully managed to discuss
general issues related to the specialism itself (namely Teaching Exam Classes) and highlighted
these issues with reference to preparing students for IELTS as an exam.

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5.2 Examples from Teaching Young Learners assignments

The following examples contain extracts from Part 1 of the assignments of two candidates, C and D,
who chose Teaching Young Learners as their specialism. As can be seen from the extracts and
accompanying examiners comments (in bold after each extract), both candidates approached Part
1 in noticeably different ways.
Example C
The sense of pride and achievement teenagers, and I, feel when they successfully complete a project
is incredibly satisfying and motivational. Teenagers, generally, respond well to being given
responsibility and complete ownership of their work. They enjoy the opportunity of putting teaching to
the test (Fried-Booth: 1986:11) by using all their skills in an integrated manner to achieve an authentic
goal. By giving teenagers a real purpose to use their language as a whole (holism) rather than a series
of pre-selected, discrete items to practise (atomism), language learning becomes more meaningful
and memorable.
However, project work is not an easy option for teachers. It puts students in the driving seat and
requires their active involvement for it not to crash and burn. Through past experience, I know projects
can fail for numerous reasons such as topic type, too much/too little teacher input or lack of resources.
Wanting to avoid future crashes and burns and making the most out of project work has prompted me
to choose Project Work with Teenagers (14-15) as my specialism.
What is project work?
Humanism emphasizes the centrality of the learner rather than the supremacy of the subject matter or
of the teacher. (Stevick: 1982:7)
Essentially project work is a humanistic approach to teaching and learning which places the student at
the centre of the classroom and involves them directly in their learning process. It does this making
them make decisions about the content, the nature and the direction of their project. Similar to
content-based (CBI), content and language-based learning (CLIL) and task-based (TBL) classrooms,
it believes that language is best learnt as a whole, rather than a series of linear items, and in situation
where the content is meaningful to the learner and therefore more memorable.
.language development is an organic process. Language items are not isolated entities to be
mastered one at a time in a step by step fashion. Rather they are integrated and their acquisition is
inherently unstable. (Nunan: 2004:114)
Fried-Booth (1986) agrees and feels project work is an integrated or layered approach to learning
where all four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) at some point will be used. The
exact balance of which is dependent on the project type.
Another distinguishing element of project work is that it usually culminates in an end product, whether
it be a wall display, short film or a visit somewhere. Having a clear idea of what the end product is
helps students understand expectations, teachers anticipate language needs and provides a sense of
achievement when the project is finished. However, the end product is not the only benefit of project
work: A large task (macro-task) composed of smaller steps (micro-tasks) (Ribe & Vidal 1993:3).
The micro-tasks students will have to go through to achieve their end product will benefit them
enormously as it is during these critical processes that teachers can step in and provide explicit
language instruction (Stoller: 1997). This language can be anticipated by the teacher, practised in the
classroom and then instantly put to real use outside of the classroom. This real need and use of
language (holism), again, distinguishes project work from more conventional approaches (atomism).
Caution must be taken with project work, however, as it requires commitment from both student and
teacher. Over-kill can result in despondency, as I experienced once with my teenagers. Haines
believes project work should not seen as a replacement for other teaching methods but rather an
approach to learning which complements mainstream methods (Haines: 1989:1)

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Examiner comments:
Candidate C describes Project Work in detail without discussing Young Learners as a
specialism or describing issues related to teaching teenagers, which is the focus of the course
designed. Much of the discussion of Project Work might be beneficial in lots of contexts. The
candidate needed to outline key issues related to the chosen specialism (teaching teenagers)
and discuss Project Work as a possible way to address these issues.

Example D
One main problem reported by teenage learners (TLs) is that course book materials are not
interesting. This is because most materials available today are not suitable/relevant for TLs and are
aimed towards young learners (511), or adults (18+), using cartoon stories or topics such as
pregnancy/retirement. The few aimed at teenagers become out-dated quickly and tend to be aimed at
American/European students. Due to this, I want to devise a course that benefits and reflects my TLs,
and improve my activity planning for future TL classes. This in turn will make my students more
motivated and benefit more from their English studies. Key factors to be considered when planning
this course and teaching my students are:
Independence/Autonomy
TLs are starting to break away from parents and find independence, which means they want to start
taking ownership and authority over their studies. This is different to adults, who already have a sense
of independence/ownership over their studies, and children, whose courses are normally controlled
completely by the teacher. Similarly to Harmers findings (2003), I have found that utilising surveys
and discussions on work to be undertaken, and debating class/teacher rules, helps achieve this sense
of autonomy. This also concurs with Lewis who mentions that giving TLs responsibility, and making
them accountable for their actions, allows autonomy over what they are doing and how they should do
it (2007:7).
Materials
Thomson raises the point that TLs need materials to have connections to their lives and evolve around
their own personal being, rather than something they are unlikely to know about or want to know about
(2006). By selecting materials involving their personal lives I have noticed that TLs are more interested
in the language presented. Materials and activities that have been received well by my students are
the use of songs, computers and videos.
Lesson Variety
Due to low concentration spans in teenagers, it is important that lessons have a variety of different
stages and activities from skills to language, movement and games. Lindstromberg puts this down to
TLs becoming restless easily; making them switch off from the activities given (2004:16). This is
something that I have found common with TLs and that back up activities are often needed if
concentration weakens.
Classroom Management
Teenagers are sensitive to issues of fairness (Lindstromberg 2004:19). As the teacher I must ensure
positive feedback/attention is spread evenly so students feel respected and not disregarded. In
classes where I have focused on particular TLs the others became detached from the lesson and were
harder to re-engage later on.
Conclusion
Overall, this implies that when designing my course I need to not only assess previous work/tests for
learning needs, but also include my TLs in the decision making of the courses content, find topics
relevant to them and ensure that activities are varied and suit their learning styles. When teaching I
should also provide a balance of attention and note inter-student relationships.

Examiner comments:
Candidate D narrows the focus to discussing issues related to teenagers. The candidate
demonstrates good understanding of the specialism and key issues related to it and
successfully integrates generic issues with reference to his own context.

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5.3 Example from an EAP Reading Assignment

Following are 2 sections for an EAP assignment in which the candidate successfully narrowed down
the specialism while maintaining a focus on EAP.

1.2 Reasons for Designing an Intensive/Extensive Reading EAP Course

I, as do others (Nuttall, 2005), feel that many subject teachers and course administrators
undervalue the teaching of reading and, from my experience, I have seen at firsthand how EAP
students struggle when dealing with large amounts of reading in academic environments. Yet
Reading is probably the skill needed by the greatest number of EAP students throughout the world
(Flowerdew and Peacock 2001, p.185) since most textbooks and specialist international journals
are only published in English. Not only that, many students who are good in general English
reading lessons are not necessarily good at reading in subject-specific areas (ibid). Although
content mastery is not always necessary, it is clear that many EAP students simply lack the reading
strategies and tactics necessary for coping with the demands of academic reading (Carrell and
Carson 1997, p.54)), and so teachers need to find out what kind of reading demands students will
face at university and decide which reading strategies students should be taught (Errey, 2005).
This course is based on intensive and extensive reading. Intensive reading provides learners with
the skills to identify what and how language works through skills-based and text-based approaches
leading to a deeper comprehension of a given text. Extensive reading, by contrast, aims to give
learners an understanding of the overall meaning of a text, and in the process, provides the
conditions for intensive reading strategies to be practised (Hedge, 2000). Many studies have
indicated how extensive reading can potentially improve reading fluency and push readers towards
automaticity - especially useful for EAP readers who have lots of texts to read and because
language is often recycled, vocabulary is consolidated and allowed to grow, which in turn, facilitates
the acquisition of grammar, discourse, register and style (Brown, 2000; Maley, 2009; and Milne,
2009) all pivotal for the language development of EAP learners.
1.3 Defining EAP
In this section the candidate included a good summary of the main features of EAP and discusses
different definitions and approaches in the literature, general vs specific EAP, issues related to
learners' level, study skills, etc
1.4 Reading in EAP
From the theory, there is a strong argument that reading is an interactional process between the
text and the reader in which cognitive and metacognitive strategies are used (Alderson, 2001).
Cognitive strategies include top-down and bottom-up processing:

Top-down processing enables readers to build a global understanding by predicting the

meaning of the text through the application of existing knowledge (Alderson, 2000). This is
made possible through what is called schemata. Schemata comes in two main forms:
formal schemata linguistic/language knowledge and the understanding of how information
is organised (crucial for dealing with academic genres and rhetorical forms (Spector-Cohen
et al., 2001)) and content schemata knowledge of the subject, the world and cultural
knowledge (Alderson, 2000).

Bottom-up processing pays close attention to the language itself (Nuttall 2005, p.78) and
centres on word-level meaning, sentence structure, and textual details (Plakans 2009,
p.253).

EAP readers will have limited schemata and knowledge of the language in a text compared with
that of the author (Spector-Cohen et al., 2001), so any EAP reading course must aim to fill such
gaps. Developing formal schemata can help learners to strike an equal and necessary balance
between top-down and bottom-up text-processing strategies, thus enabling more efficient reading
and encouraging the acquisition of content schemata that can be acquired from textbooks,
journals, and articles of educational content Griva (2005).

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Many writers argue that metacognitive strategies are also required to self-regulate thoughts that
monitor cognition (Plakans, 2009). I always encourage EAP students to consider and reflect upon
the use of particular strategies because it helps them understand their suitability and encourages
their conscious selection.
Errey (2005) argues that both cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies be explicitly taught in
order for EAP students to cope with readings that are composed of discourse in discipline-specific
fields, and under time constraints. All the reading suggests that more proficient and skilled readers
have a wider repertoire of skills and are better able to select between appropriate strategies.

Examiner comments:
Candidate E successfully managed to discuss general issues related to the specialism itself
(Teaching EAP) before exploring specific issues related to the narrower focus (Teaching EAP
Reading). Links between the narrower focus and the overall specialism are maintained
throughout and logically discussed.

6. Examples of priorities and objectives

A common problem faced by many candidates concerns the link between the learning priorities
identified from the needs analysis in Part 2, and the course objectives outlined in Part 3. In cases
where candidates have tried to base their assignment around previously-designed courses this link
has tended not to be very convincing.
The following examples contain extracts from Parts 2 and 3 of the assignments of three candidates.
As can be seen from the extracts and accompanying examiners comments (in bold after each
extract), all three candidates approached this linking in noticeably different ways.

6.1 Example from an EAP assignment (from Part 3 of the assignment)

Course aim: to improve students ability to produce effective, researched academic writing in English
Course objectives:
Course participants will learn to:
1. locate academic sources suitable for their purposes and extract relevant information
2. organise notes when reading books or listening to lectures for use when writing or presenting
ideas
3. organise ideas or arguments coherently in a manner appropriate to genre
4. (a) support and (b) reference ideas appropriately
5. notice and produce language of a style appropriate to academic genre specifically (a)
modality, (b) nouns and noun phrases, (c) conjunctions and subordinate clauses.
6. (a) give constructive feedback and (b) improve output in response to feedback
7. approach academic work with critical awareness
Students will also:
8. practise taking part in academic discourse
9. produce and present a piece of researched academic writing
10. increase their confidence when engaging in academic discourse
11. be taught lexis necessary for completing tasks successfully
12. improve their lexical range and grammatical accuracy
Link to needs analysis
The emphasis on writing reflects students concerns for their writing proficiency.
The emphasis on style responds to the findings from target needs analysis and secondary
research suggesting this area causes concern.
By not constraining students in their choice of writing assignment I am catering to students
differing academic and non-academic interests.

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Link to diagnostic test

The language elements mentioned in objective 4 emerged as weaknesses in diagnostic
testing (see appendix A3). A mix of relatively simple and advanced teaching points has been
selected to cater to varying proficiencies.
The element of guided practice (highlighted above in green) allows me to support students at
the lower levels of proficiency revealed in diagnostic testing.
Link to constraints
The focus on academic style gives the course a character distinct from accuracy-oriented
grammar classes
Following the process of researched writing involves a variety of skills (reading sources,
giving oral feedback) as the school requires and is distinct from IELTS training.
The long assignment will be performed during homework with class time dedicated to
discrete tasks that newcomers can perform.
Link to part 1
The decision to incorporate elements of analytical syllabi reflects arguments made in part 1.
The topics selected for classwork (see appendix A2) are not subject specific, reflecting our concern
not to go down the ESAP route in class time.
Examiner comments:
The candidate clearly links the course objectives to the needs analysis and gives good
justification in terms of the diagnostic test results. There is also good use of colour-coding
which links to the subsequent course plan. :
6.2 Example from a YL assignment
2.5 Diagnostic procedure and linguistic needs
Since the children have been mainly focusing on skills they were administered a diagnostic test that
tests the four skills (Appendix 4). The level is based on the childrens age rather than language level.
The test consists of:
A three-part listening test (Appendix 10a).
A six-part reading and writing test (Appendix 10b).
A 3-5 minute five-part YLE STARTERS ESOL Cambridge speaking test (Appendix 10c).
The children performed relatively well on this test scoring between 72-87% (Test Samples: Appendix
11) (Results: Appendix 5a/5b). The children performed better on the parts of the test that involved
reception rather than production of language. Below, is a summary of the learners strengths and
weaknesses.
Skill
Listening

Strengths:
Identifying or label pictures.

Reading

Reading, understanding and

answering questions about the text.
Answering true/false questions about
pictures.
Matching opposite adjectives.
Gap-fill with opposite adjectives.
Reproducing written texts following a
model.
Speaking in single word utterances or
short but unstructured sentences.

Writing

Speaking

Phonology

Pronouncing single words correctly.

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Weaknesses
Listening to and understanding longer
texts and answering comprehension
questions about it.
Confuse answering true/false when
sentences contain negation.
E.g. There isnt a picture on the wall.
True/False.
Problems with filling-gaps was mainly due
to not reading the rubric carefully.
Spelling e.g. *hous, *settember, *brawn.
Forming questions.
Communicating in English is difficult for
them even though their comprehension is
generally good.
Their spoken English lacks fluency and
accuracy.
Longer speech sounds stilted.
Wrong intonation which effects
intelligibility.
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The childrens linguistic needs that I identified based on these results and my observations are:
Skill
Listening
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Phonology

Children need to:

be able to listen to and understand longer texts and answer comprehension
questions about it.
Read more challenging and authentic texts and show comprehension of them.
Practise writing following less structured models.
Practise the written form of lexis to improve spelling.
Practise interactional speaking skills for fluency and accuracy.
Pronounce utterances without sounding stilted.
Practise intonation.

These needs are the basis for the course objectives (see 3.3). Although the children need to improve
the four skills, speaking will be given priority as it is their weakest skill.
2.6 Non-linguistic needs
During the lessons, I constantly observed the children as I believe that observation is a very useful
source of information about performance, attitudes and motivation. I recorded my observations in a
table (Appendix 6) from which I drew up the class profile and identified some of the childrens nonlinguistic needs, namely, the need for:
A variety of activities.
An environment where they can feel confident to experiment with the language.
Praise and encouragement.
My observations were also entered in another table (Appendix 7) which will also be used to monitor the
childrens progress throughout the course.
3.3 Course objectives
Although there are no imposed objectives for this course, it is important to state them as it brings into
focus what one wishes to achieve in a course. (Graves, 2000). Below are the objectives of the course,
based on the need analysis outcome (see 2.5):
Objectives*:
By the end of the course learners will:
be better able to understand more challenging and authentic recordings such as the LRRH
story and a videoclip about wolves.
be better able to understand more challenging reading texts other than those in their
course books such as the LRRH story and fact files about animals.
have practised writing short descriptions of characters and short stories.
be better at spelling lexis related to the story, family, food, appearance, animals and the
forest.
have practised oral skills such as repeating stories, talking about animals, describing a
forest scene and telling their own stories.
have improved intonation.
have practised pronouncing new lexis.
(*The colours used in the table reflect those used for the needs (see 2.4) and the aims in the course
plan (Appendix 1)).
These objectives will also be communicated to the parents at the beginning of the course.

Examiner comments:
The candidate makes explicit links between the learning priorities and the diagnostic test
results, although both the linguistic needs and non-linguistic needs could have been
grouped under the same sub-section as learning priorities. The course objectives are also
clearly linked to the priorities, and use of colour highlights this link. The objectives themselves
could, however, be more specific.
6.3 Example from a Teaching Exam Classes assignment

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2.5) Priorities
I would like to consider students opinions regarding the skill areas they want to focus on because if
students can have some choice in this learning matter, the higher the chances of the language focus
to be uptaken (Nunan,1995:135). It will also give them satisfaction to clear their own predicted
learning hurdles (Hutchinson and Waters,1987:60). However, because of students weaker scores in
the reading diagnostic test and some students inexperience with learner centred approaches like self
directed studying strategies, the teacher with their expertise needs to overrule some of the learner
centred course suggestions, and make appropriate decisions. (Widdowson,1987:86).
In light of this discussion I will devote time to practising and raising awareness of the relevant subskills needed for all parts of the test. However, due to students self cited weaknesses, more space
will be allocated to the productive skills. In addition, there will be a focus on self directed learning
techniques to reflect some students apparent lack of knowledge of independent study skills.
3.2) Objectives
The objectives show the various stages on the journey towards the destination, expressing the
specific ways the goal will be achieved (Graves,2001). However, the objectives of this course need to
accommodate students identified needs or personal agendas and those of the teachers (Dubin and
Olshtain,1986). So, referring back to the needs analysis and diagnostic test, we see students
identified needs are to improve elements of their productive skills, but because their reading scores
were lower than other self cited weakness the teacher needs to intervene and act on behalf of the
students by focusing an objective on reading. E.g. Student 1 scored 20/40 for the reading but scored
6 for her speaking, which was her cited area for improvement (appendix 1.2/5.1). Moreover, some
students demonstrated an apparent lack of knowledge of the exam structure and autonomous
learning attributes.
Based on students needs analysis, diagnostic scores and the teachers intuition the objectives will
enable students to:
i) know about the test format and how to address each part effectively. This involves awareness of
marking criteria.
ii) be exposed to independent learning strategies useful for test preparation.
iii) be aware of the different facets of writing discourse needed to write an effective discursive essay
(writing, part 2) and to describe a graph or chart (writing, part 1). i.e. organisational awareness,
cohesive devices, specific language/phrases to describe trends.
iv) be aware of the different facets of spoken discourse needed to do well in the speaking test i.e.
awareness of over-hesitating, and extension of discourse.
v) be aware of the different sub-skills needed to answer questions on the reading sections of the
exam. i.e. skimming, scanning and understanding main ideas of paragraphs.
vi) be aware of the different listening sub-skills needed to answer questions in the exam. i.e. detailed
listening, gist listening, sound discrimination and other skills involved in communicative discourse.
vii) adapt some of the course material to describe their own personal situations or topics that interest
them. This is to combat negative backwash.

Examiner comments:
The candidate summarises the learning priorities but these are a little vague and would benefit
from greater detail. The course objectives are referred back to the needs analysis and learning
priorities, although some of the detail in the first paragraph of 3.2 might work better in section
2.5. It is clear however how the course objectives have emerged from the needs analysis.

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