VINH UNIVERSITY

Full name : Nguyen Thi Kim Soa

Class code :LA K26

 SECTION 1

CHAPTER 1.

1. Writing a reflection paper (1 A4-size page, about 500 words) of what you have learned from
this chapter.
In this chapter I have learn about the supports of interactive techniques involving the
integration of skills. Proponents of the whole language approach have shown us that in the
real world of language use, most of our natural performance involves not only the integration
of one or more skills, but connections between language and the way we think and feel and
act. Language of instruction, English, can be used as a tool for developing knowledge and so
they develop their linguistic ability in the target language.
Content-based instruction utilizes the language as the medium to convey informational
content of interest and relevance to the learners. Content-based curricula can serve the nature
of the subject matter than by language forms and sequences. Theme-based instruction
provides an alternative to structuring a course around themes or topics .Theme-based
curricula can serve multiple interests of students and can offer a focus on content while still
adhering to institutional needs for offering a language course per se. Main principles include
discovering through trial and error, processing feedback, building hypothesis about language,
and revisiting the assumptions in order to become fluent. Experiential learning tends to put an
emphasis on the psychomotor aspects of language learning by involving learners in physical
actions into which language is subsumed and reinforced. An integrated-skill approach
initially used in teaching native language reading skills, but more recently adapted to second
language learning contexts. The presentation of language is enhanced if students receive
interconnected series of sentences. Any of a series of techniques designed ultimately to teach
students to perform the target task. In task-based instruction, the priority is not the bits and
pieces of language, but rather the functional purposes for which language must be used.
Task-based instruction focuses on a whole set of real-world tasks themselves. Input for tasks
can come from a variety of authentic sources. The variety of authentic sources contains
Speeches , Conversations, Cartoon strips, Interviews, Photos, …….. A subject-matter teacher
and a language teacher link their courses and curriculum so that each complements to other, it
is an “adjunct” model of content-based instruction
 Combining suitable and effective techniques can help both teachers and students to perceive
all the aspects the would like to provoke .
2. Suppose that you are asked to employ a teacher for a content-centered curriculum. What
qualifications would you draw up for such a teacher?

Suppose that I am asked to employ a teacher for a content-centered curriculum .I would ask
him or her to use the features of content based teaching because content-based teaching
allows learners to acquire knowledge and skills that transcend all the bits and pieces of
language. The ultimate strength of learning that is pointed toward practical non-language
goals. The application focuses on the meaningful learning principle. Learners are focused on
very useful, practical objectives as the subject matter is perceived to be relevant to long-term
goals. The intrinsic motivation is also increased because it is so important to learning of any
kind of skill. Content-Based Instruction is an approach to language teaching that focuses not
on the language itself, but rather on what is being taught through the language; that is, the
language becomes the medium through which something new is learned. The language being
learned and used is taught within the context of the content. When students are engaged with
more content, it will promote intrinsic motivation. Students will be able to use more
advanced thinking skills when learning new information and will focus less on the structure
of the language. This approach is very student-centered as it depends entirely on the students’
ability to use the language.

Thank you for reading !

 CHAPTER 2

A food festival audio script

Radio host: My next guest is Sarah Lee, who has come along today to tell us about a charity food
festival that’s going to take place next weekend in Saint Clement’s Field in Upper
Clayton. Welcome to the programme, Sarah.
Sarah Lee: Thank you. It’s great to be here.
Radio host: OK, Sarah, can you tell us a little bit about the festival? It’s a charity event, isn’t it?
Sarah Lee: Yes, that’s right. I work for a local charity called ‘Wish you were here’. We organise
holidays for children who might not otherwise have a chance to go away – families on
low incomes or single parent families with childminding problems. We’ve organised
this festival to raise money for a week-long summer camp in Cornwall for forty
children. We hope to raise about five thousand pounds next weekend. This is the first
time we’ve organised such an event, but if it’s successful we’ll make it an annual
event.
Radio host: So, what happens at a food festival, Sarah?
Sarah Lee: Well, this festival has got something for everyone, no matter what your age. There are
more than fifty food stands, selling all kinds of dishes from around the world. We’ve
got Afro-Caribbean food, Indian food, Italian pizzas, Spanish tapas ((pause)) you
name it, we’ve got it ((laughing)).
Radio host: So people can buy food? But we’re in a recession. Can people afford to go out to eat?
Sarah Lee: Well, that’s the good thing. All of the meals have a fixed price of two pounds.
Children’s portions are one fifty. And you can have a taste of the food first, before you
decide what to buy.
Radio host: Really? Well, you can’t say fairer than that! What else have you got on the agenda,
Sarah?
Sarah Lee: We’ve got celebrity chef Ollie James! He’s going to be sampling dishes and saying
what he thinks of them. And he’s going to be giving a master class on preparing and
cooking fish and seafood.
Radio host: That’s interesting. Ollie is an expert when it comes to fish.
Sarah Lee: Exactly. We’re hoping he’ll draw the crowds.
Radio host: What else can people expect to find, Sarah?
Sarah Lee: Well, we’ve got other cooking demonstrations and there’s a food photography
competition with prizes for different age groups. There are stands selling local
produce: cheeses, honey, fruit and veg. There’s face-painting and a play area for the
kids.
Radio host: It all sounds great, Sarah. So, when is the festival?
Sarah Lee: It’s next Saturday, that’s June the thirteenth. It starts at ten o’clock in the morning and
finishes at seven o’clock in the evening.
Radio host: And it takes place in Saint Clement’s Field in Upper Clayton. Is that right?
Sarah Lee: Yes. Oh, and I should say that there is no admission charge, but as this is a charity
event we will be walking around with collection tins and we hope that visitors will be
generous.
Radio host: Thank you, Sarah Lee from ‘Wish you were here’. Visitors can check our website at
the end of the programme for a full calendar of festival events. Now ((fade out)) ...

Section 1 Question 1-8

Complete the form below
Write ONE WORD AND/ OR A NUMBER for each answer

A food festival
Type of festival charity
Information about festival
Example
Name Sarah Lee
Festival a 1. ……………………..
Charity Wish you were here
Person Children (no chance)
Purpose 2. ……………………..
Participant in Cornwall for 3. ……………………..

Detail of festival
Store 4. …………………….. selling many dishes
Price a fixed two for all of the meals
Celebrity chef 5. ……………………..
Selling local produce: cheeses, 6 ……………………..,
fruit and veg.
Possible time and place of festival
Time start 7. ……………………..
finish 8. ……………………..
Place in 9. …………………….. Field
Charge of festival 10. ……………………..

Key:
1. Food 8. at seven
2. raise money 9. Saint Clement’s
3. forty / 40 children 10. No
4. more than fifty/50
5. Ollie James
6. Honey
7. at ten
Questions 9-12

Choose FOUR letters, A—I. Which FOUR activities are available at the food festival

A. Selling foods around the world

B. Giving classes on cooking fish and seafood.
C. Holding a food photography competition
D. Serving local products

Questions 13-16

Choose FOUR letters, A—I. Which FOUR kinds of food are mentioned in the conversation.
A. Afro-Caribbean food
B. Indian food
C. Italian pizzas
D. Spanish tapas
 CHAPTER 3

-Setting of the problems

-Goals to fix the problems

-Describe an activity of a series of activities that you use to fix the learners’
problems as in your assigned situation, what classroom activities you will use,
what activities for self-studying you suggest your learners to do at home …

- What factors or macro-skills do your activities design to help students improve?

- Explain how your activities can help the learners solve the assigned problems

They show their confidence that their English accent is even better than their
teacher .

The problem is : the students show their confidence that their accent even better
than their teacher .

When they are self-confident of their accent , they tend to look down on their
teacher .They do not want to follow the teacher’s instructions and inquiry which
will lead to many other serious problems .Firstly ,their bad behavior towards the
teacher will make the classroom environment become awful and the other students
will lose their learning spirit as well .Secondly, due to the students’s slow
cooperation ,the lesson’s content can not be completed on time .Thirdly ,the
teacher will surely lose face in front of the class .

Goals to fix the problems :

-Make students to trust their teacher and cooperate well in the classroom .

-Change the students’ bad behavior towards the teacher .

-Change the classroom’s environment.

Plans:

Teacher find some complex activities which need long –term practice or
experience in order for the students to change their behavior towards the teacher .

For example , Teacher will divide students into groups of four ,and put the
students who are confident that their accent is better than the teacher into the same
group so that they will be given a chance to compete with each other

Aims: students will cooperate with other students on a topic concerned with
learning a foreign language and find their own weak side and change their thought
of the teacher .

Objectives: The more the students work on a foreign language ,the easier they will
recognize their own ability . The participants needs constantly to negotiate
meaning, and generally manage the interaction in terms of who is to say what, to
whom, when, and about what.

Each group has to find the ways to be improve speaking skill ,and the things which
influence people’s accent when they learn a foreign language .Students have to
find information which is about the native accent and the ways to gain it .Besides,
they have to search for the hereditary factors which may affect seriously the
learners’ accent when they learn a foreign language . Teachers will ask the group
member to express his/her own thinking not involving the understanding of the
meaning of words or phrases but merely the different sounds. Not easy to capture
speech until recently, and spoken language has tended to be viewed as formless
and difficult to analyze. The students will soon recognize that when they work
with their friends ,there will be different accent .Their friend’s different accent
does not mean they are bad ,and soon they will have another way to think of their
inappropriate thought about the teacher’s accent . Now there is more of an
emphasis on top-down features such as stress, tone, and rhythm. There is now an
emphasis on being more non-directive and focus not on the sounds being
generated by the student but the comprehensibility of what they say.

Everyone has their own voice and accent when learning a foreign language .
Younger students, especially 1-12 years of age, have the best chance at developing
native-like pronunciation. If the student is older they will almost always retain an
“accent.” However, fluency and accuracy can achieve the same levels regards of
the initial age at which language study began.

Exposure is closely related to age. The more authentic experiences that a student
has with the language the better their pronunciation normally is. The quality of the
exposure is the naturalness of the setting and the actual engagement of the student
in hearing and interacting with the language.

For example, an ESL student who lives in America will probably have much more
exposure to the actual use of English than someone in China. This, in turn, will
impact their pronunciation. The similarities between the mother tongue and the
target language can influence pronunciation. For example, it is much easier to
move from Spanish to English pronunciation than from Chinese to English.

For the teacher, understanding the sound system’s of your students’ languages can
help a great deal in helping them with difficulties in pronunciation. Lastly, some
just get it while others don’t. Different students have varying ability to pick up the
sounds of another language. A way around this is helping students to know their
own strengths and weaknesses. This will allow them to develop strategies to
improve.

From a series of information using top-down techniques , students will soon

recognize that they may have a nice native-like accent ,but that does not mean they
are so good that they can look down on the teacher or even their other classmates
.On the other hand, the teacher may have a not quite good accent ,it does not mean
she/he is bad because of the heredity .Teacher must explain and correct each
group’s ideas .In order to lead them to the conclusion that a nice accent mean
nothing without practicing and studying hard .Teacher should use some
illustrations picked up on newspaper or magazines concerned with the task .For
example

According to an article ,there are seven factors which may affect people’s accent :

Students’ Ages

As an ESL teacher you’ve probably already noticed the difference between

teaching young learners and adults. The younger your students are, the easier it is
for them to acquire an accurate pronunciation – and it becomes increasingly
difficult as they age as the brain’s original plasticity diminishes, and it becomes
more rigid.
 Now that said, this does not mean adult students should give up
trying to improve their pronunciation. It just means they have to work harder. If
you teach adult ESL learners, be ready to plan and devote some of your class time
to targeted pronunciation practice.

Learners’ Attitudes

Research and studies consistently show that ESL students with a positive attitude
towards learning English learn faster. By the same token, students who are
genuinely open-minded and interested in improving their pronunciation often do
improve it. It is truly amazing what the right attitude can do.
 On the other hand,
students who have prejudices or a natural dislike for English will be less
successful than those with a positive attitude and open mind. If you have students
who are openly negative or complain about the English language, try to have a
nice long chat to address these issues. Before you can help students overcome their
pronunciation barriers, you’ll need to help them overcome these others barriers
first.

Student Motivation
Out of these first three internal factors, motivation is the one that can really make a
difference. Highly motivated students will in all likelihood have a better
pronunciation. What motivates students to speak better? Most simply want to fit
in; they don’t want to be discriminated against because they have a “funny”
accent. Others, like adult learners, really need to speak clearly and effectively for
professional business communication.
 If you have students who seem to lack
motivation, use their passions to help them find it.

Native Language Interference

Students from different nationalities have varying degrees of difficulty learning

proper pronunciation. The difficulty depends on how different their native
language is from English. For example, English is a stressed language; Spanish is
a syllabic language; Chinese is a tonal language. Phonemes are different in each,
as well as the way the mouth, teeth and tongue are used. Your students may have
difficulty articulating some sounds because they simply do not exist in their native
language, sounds like the“th”.
 First, you’ll need to assess your students’
difficulties and formulate a plan to overcome them. Identify the pronunciation
problems. Is it a problem with stress? Some phonemes more than others? With
Japanese students you may have to practice the “l” and the “r”. Whatever their
difficulties are be sure to tailor your pronunciation exercises to help your students
overcome them.

Exposure to English

It will come as no surprise that ESL students who live in English-speaking

environment acquire better pronunciation faster because they are immersed in the
language. But not all ESL students are immersed in an English-speaking
environment. The degree to which they are exposed to English on a daily basis
will determine how fast they’ll be able to improve their pronunciation. So,
children who go to bilingual, English-speaking schools should have a better
pronunciation than those who study English only a couple of times a week.
 If
you have students who don’t have enough exposure to the English
language,encourage them to increase it, either by listening to authentic audio or
hanging out with English-speaking locals.

Not Explicitly Taught

One of the factors that may be affecting your students’ ability to acquire proper
pronunciation is quite simply that it is not being explicitly taught in the
classroom.This is one of the things that ESL classes often lack and one of the
things that makes a world of difference in the acquisition of pronunciation.
 Do
you correct their pronunciation mistakes as they speak, or do you give them
specific pronunciation exercises that target certain phonemes, word pairs or verb
endings? Be sure to devote some class time specifically to pronunciation practice.

Native vs. Non-Native Input

Students’ pronunciation largely depends on the pronunciation they hear on a daily

basis. If they are immersed in a community where most of the individuals speak
English with a non-native accent, this will surely influence their own
pronunciation. Moreover, if the teacher has a non-native accent, it will affect
students’ pronunciation as well.
 Of course, you can teach English if your accent
is not native perfect. But it is your responsibility to strive to improve your
pronunciation as much as you can. It is also vital for you to encourage students to
seek out native input, either by joining activities or groups with English speakers
or spending some time in an English-speaking country.
Students must be proactive in their hopes to secure the right English
pronunciation, but teachers are the coaches in this endeavor. These are the two
sides of the pronunciation coin – partners working together to achieve a common
goal. One can’t achieve it without the other.

The activity does not only help to save the teacher’s reputation in the students’
mind , but also teach them a lesson about modesty when estimate the others’
ability in studying a foreign language ,especially concentrating that a good accent
is necessary but it is not enough for a student when studying English .

In conclusion :

Teacher will use group work and top-down techniques to lead students to think
rightly about accent and a studying process.
 Teacher uses students’ own thought and ideas through their activities to correct
their own incorrect thought .

CHAPTER 4: TEACHING READING

Smart cities as essential must-haves

Vietnam has been taking the first steps on the path towards smart and sustainable cities.
Now, the country has to develop a smart infrastructure system including green buildings,
effective waste treatment systems, clean energy, and reaching out for more co-operation
opportunities for the private sector to join.
Analysts maintain that only pragmatic and efficient solutions will last the distance in the
smart township wave
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are heading towards becoming smart and sustainable cities
thanks to some of the most tech-savvy young people found anywhere in the world.
Matthew Powell, director of property consultancy Savills Hanoi, said that local
authorities at the city level have been making concentrated efforts in building a smart
city, centred on improving the efficiency of electricity and water use, as well as social
utility infrastructure. However, Powell said that learning, research, and testing are
essential.
“Local real estate enterprises need to take reference from regional countries and seek
advice from international consultants to find the right direction and smartest products for
their projects,” he said.
The property technology trend meanwhile is currently strong globally, and enjoying a
huge amount of investment. Investors have a lot of choice in applying smart technology
in their projects, but not all directions are appropriate with the characteristics of their
products and Vietnamese user habits.
Vietnam has many advantages to develop smart and sustainable cities. The country’s
population is young, with 70 per cent of its citizens below the age of 35, and highly
literate with a 98.5 per cent literacy rate among those aged 15 to 35.
The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study found that 84 per cent of Vietnamese
respondents shop online at least once a month, trailing closely behind Thailand at 85 per
cent. Developers of new residential projects are leveraging this trend and building smart
townships to attract young buyers.
Foreseeing the potential and bright future of sustainable development, many developers
have geared themselves towards becoming smart.
One of those, leading Singaporean developer Keppel Land, is partnering Keppel Urban
Solutions, an end-to-end urban developer, to create a $500 million Saigon Sports City in
Ho Chi Minh City, combining high-quality urban living with vibrant and healthy lifestyle
concepts. According to Linson Lim, president of Keppel Land Vietnam, the group will
incorporate cutting-edge technologies into the development of Saigon Sports City.
“We aim to establish Saigon Sports City as a model for other urban developments in
Vietnam, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, which is undergoing transformation into a
smart city,” Lim said.
Ho Chi Minh City is forging ahead with smart city development by harnessing data and
technology to improve sustainability and enhance the quality of life for the people living
and working in the city.
“The Keppel Group, with its diverse capabilities, can support the city in developing
solutions for smart cities, whether it is providing access to innovative real estate
solutions, clean water, waste-to-energy plants, data centres, or urban logistics,” Lim said.
Meanwhile, Lotte Group from South Korea is also implementing its $884 million eco-
smart development in Ho Chi Minh City to be a complex of shopping mall, offices,
hotels, serviced residences, and apartments. The 11 residential towers, 15-40 storeys each
and covering 50,000 square metres will be built first. Lotte Group will also complete
25,000sq.m of contracted infrastructure that will serve the site, including four roadways,
before transferring it to local authorities.
The trend is not for foreign developers only. Domestic developers are actively improving
themselves to the trend of smart and sustainable cities. For example, Sunshine Group has
built a series of smarthomes and a smart living ecosystem by applying integrated smart
technology into their products.
According to property consultancy JLL Vietnam, Sunshine Group has created a similarity
to the Grab system to serve their residents, along with a smarthome app that offers
cashless payment through their Sunshine Online service. The overall aim is to provide
homeowners with an intelligent and hi–tech urban complex that focuses on
transportation, shopping, and relaxation services.
Vingroup, the biggest local real estate developer in Vietnam, upgraded its 280-hectare
large-scale project into a dynamic township named Vinhomes Smart City in the west of
Hanoi this past April.
Property developer BRG has also co-ordinated with Japanese group Sumitomo to develop
a $4.2 billion smart city project in Hanoi. According to BRG chairwoman Nguyen Thi
Nga, the smart city will become a landmark development in Hanoi’s gateway, driving
urbanisation in the northern Red River area, creating numerous jobs, and propelling the
city’s development.
Masayuki Hyodo, CEO of Sumitomo Group, commented that the smart city model
currently lures much international attention. It aims to create a living zone for residents,
where environment-friendly features combine with advanced landscapes and broad green
spaces.
The project uses artificial intelligence with facial recognition features and a single
command centre to provide a full suite of information services for occupants, from air
quality monitoring to environmental pollution warnings.
Stephen Wyatt, country director for JLL Vietnam, said that smart townships are gaining
significant popularity that has directly led to a series of changes in the Vietnamese
property market. “While it could be a good option for investors and individual buyers, the
latter should be aware that developers are providing tech solutions to varying degrees.
Besides, technology that is not pragmatic and does not enhance efficiency or liveability
for users may not take off.”
The Vietnamese property market is starting its journey where both public and private
sectors are changing the urban landscape to incorporate technology that could enhance
the living environment.
“We expect that for future real estate developments, staying smart will not just be a trend
but also become a must-have,” Wyatt said. “The adoption of new technology platforms
generates new and more easily-accessible market data, which is key for overall real estate
transparency in Vietnam.”
Huy Pham - Operations director Sain-Gobain
We are well aware of the issues related to sustainability and this is a development
strategy for Sain-Gobain. Our products therefore must bring about long-term benefits and
help reduce materials. Sustainable products force us to reduce manufacturing expenses,
but we can achieve a long-term benefit, and protect the environment.
We have set big challenges but we are determined to hit these targets. We have set up
targets such as reducing carbon dioxide in the manufacturing process to 25 per cent.
Right now almost 100 per cent of income material has been recycled, and we use bio-
materials which are environment-friendly.
We are also trying to reduce input material for our manufacturing system. During recent
times we have reduced around 20 per cent of the material. Many other solutions have
been applied, such as using green water harvesting from rain instead of the city’s water
and recycled waste. Apart from that, we are also recycling waste released from
construction sites so that it cannot impact the environment.
One of the most difficulties for Vietnam’s cities to transform into green cities is the
reinforcement which is still not strong enough from competent bodies, though the
Vietnamese government has introduced a good legal system governing this issue.
Baptiste Legeret - Commercial director, INSEE
We are producing with the theme that all of our products are sustainable for our -
company, ourselves, and for our children too.
INSEE is pushing for all of our products to be the most sustainable. Our motto is that we
build for life, and this means we try to reduce our impact on the total life cycle. We can
do this by investing in state-of-the-art technology, trying to reduce waste, and investing
in innovating new products which are competitive and made of alternative materials.
Sustainable development is placed at the core of our business strategy to balance the
triple bottom line of economical growth, environmental performance, and social -
responsibility.
Furthermore, our approach not only helps guarantee our long-term business but also helps
us address both global and industrial challenges. This commitment is not only part of our
corporate culture, but it also provides us a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
As a leading business in adopting a sustainable approach in Vietnam, for the past 10
years we have been implementing a wide range of activities and campaigns to ensure we
balance our economical, environmental, and social responsibilities. As one of the
pioneers in this, we have experienced and overcome challenges in the certainty that our
efforts will lay a solid foundation for sustainability. VIR
Bich Ngoc

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/en/feature/smart-cities-as-essential-must-haves-
539200.html
Lesson Plan

Pre reading:

Level : Intermediate

Time allocation : 10m

Aims :Students will have some input vocabulary to understand the reading text

Objectives : through some tasks to help students to get the useful vocabulary .
 TASK 1:

Read the last paragraph in the text carefully and find the words which mean :
1. involving the use of natural products and energy in a way that does not harm the
environment :………………………………
2. used to describe a situation in which people or organizations compete against each
other:………………………….
3. come out of a place:…………………………….
4. the act of making something stronger, especially a feeling or an
idea:………………………….
KEY :
1.sustainable
2.competitive
3.released from
4.reinforcement

TASK 2 :

Read the definition carefully and match each of them with the word given

1. The natural world in which people, animals and plants live

2. To make something less or smaller in size, quantity, price,
3. Covering or affecting the whole world
4. A thing that you can choose to do or have out of two or more possibilities
A. global
B. reduce
C. alternative
D. environment
Key:
1D 2.B 3.A 4C
 CHAPTER 5

ADVICE FOR TEACHING IELT TASK 1 OR 2 TO VIETNAMESE

LEARNERS.

Vietnamese students tend to choose IELTS to study ,that is why a lot of teachers
try their best to take teaching IELTS into account .Vietnamese students are afraid
of taking IELTS test because it is really difficult and complicated .Especially
,writing skill is considered one of the obstacle for to students to get over .IELTS
writing task 1 is strange for the students if they are not given enough techniques
and time to practice .The teachers have to be a good input and instructor when
teaching writing for IELTS students .

In the first stage of the composing process, students must generate vocabulary and
ideas on the topic of the activity or lesson. This is not only a writing skills
strategy; it is what is called building schema: mental pictures of concepts -the
terms we need to be able to think, talk about and write on a subject-. In our native
language, we consciously and subconsciously accumulate a huge storage bank of
topics which have gone into long-term memory and bring them to use
subconsciously when we communicate. When we try to function in a second
language, we also need these ‘banks’ of concepts to be able to produce our second
language with any degree of fluency.

Teaching the IELTS can present a variety of challenges: the IELTS tests English
skills that students will continue to use and build long after the exam. Because of
that, your role in the classroom is dual-purpose. You’re not only preparing your
students for the exam itself, but you’re also teaching them a new language.
Whenever teaching a particular IELTS writing task (i.e. summary, letter, or essay),
it’s a good idea to have your candidates read several examples before having them
write one of their own. Any writing task involves the execution of a suite of
different micro skills. Many of these can be covered simply by exposing your
candidates to the vocabulary, rhetoric, and structures common to these writing
tasks. Each example features a writing prompt, a type of graphic information, and
a model response. Model responses typically reflect performance at the highest
band scores, so be sure to rewrite the ones you would like to use to make them
more appropriate to your candidates’ level. Also consider killing two birds with
one stone by creating IELTS-style reading questions about model responses, such
as true/false/not given or matching sentence endings.

Like the other tests of the IELTS exam, academic task 1 of the IELTS writing test
requires knowledge and skills that are generally developed in secondary school,
which is why the exam is not recommended for candidates below the age of 16.
Firstly, candidates need to have basic visual literacy skills in order to correctly
identify and understand the key features of a range of charts, graphs, tables,
diagrams, maps, etc. Additionally, they need a reasonable capacity to analyze and
evaluate the relationships between these key features and then synthesize this
thinking into a summary supported by the details provided. Lastly, they need the
language skills with which to articulate their understanding. Depending on where
and whom you’re teaching, you may find it necessary to develop your candidates’
visual literacy and critical thinking skills in addition to their language proficiency.
This is what I discovered when I began teaching the IELTS exam with secondary
students in the UAE. Here are some strategies I’ve used to help my candidates.

The most important thing you have to do for any IELTS Writing Task is to answer
the question. For Task 1 questions you always have to write a letter and I would
like to share with you a technique that helps you answer the question correctly
every time.

You will notice that the question below states that you should write about why you
are writing to your friend and then gives four bullet points for you to mention.
These are the five main things you must write about and you should write about
these five things and these five things only.

Now that you have your five main points you simply split your letter into five
main paragraphs and deal with each main point in a separate paragraph.

In each paragraph you should make it very clear which point you are writing about
in order to make it obvious to the examiner. You can do this by including
keywords from the question, or even better, synonyms or paraphrases of those
keywords.

If you follow this strategy you will always answer the question correctly and the
examiner will be able to see this very clearly.

A product-oriented approach focuses on the end result of the learning process as

what the learner is expected to be able to do as a fluent and competent user of the
language.

A process-oriented approach focuses on the various classroom activities which are

believed to promote the development of skilled language use.

A good teacher has to point out his /her good steps must be :

-Introduce or emphasize the purposes for writing

-Activate students concerns and interests

-Give numerous opportunities to write

-Turn yourself (the teachers) to be action researchers in their own classrooms

-Investigate their own practices and the effects of those practices on their students

-Bridging the gap between theory and practice

- Ask students to Quickly review what they write, do the reviewing at sentence
and paragraph level

-The students should be given the opportunity to compare different versions of a

text and helped to see how the way in which information is organized with a text
will partly determine its effectiveness

-The atmosphere of the writing classroom should be warm and supportive, and
non-threatening.

-Teachers will show willingness to write and offer attempts for class discussion
along with those of the students .They work together, assisting each other,
pointing out strengths and weaknesses without possible offence. The tasks should
be livelier and more enjoyable.

-Writing task is more realistic and more interactive. Writing is commonly seen as
a three-stage process: pre-writing, writing and rewriting (equally important) Three
stages help students master the process by participating in it.

-The importance of providing models for the learners and allowing them
opportunities in class to rehearse those things they need in the real world beyond
the classroom.
-Teacher focuses principally on the mechanics of the writing process (content is
checked in a previous conference) Teacher checks the spelling and punctuation
and encourages the pupil to get the piece right before going on to another piece.

- The teacher focuses on both content and form

Teaching writing is very different from teaching other skills. When acquiring a
new language, we learn to speak like we learn to walk: through trial and error, and
as we develop the moves and techniques we are soon toddling around. Writing
skills are more analogous to learning to play a musical instrument. There is a
language that must be learned to be able to read music and specific strategies that
must be learned and practiced in order to become proficient. There must also be
motivation to learn, a purpose to practice, and students must go through stages in
developing specific competencies before proficiency can be achieved.

There are some useful tips for teachers to prepare for teaching IELTS Task 1
writing .

Overview

How to Write an Academic IELTS Task 1

This starter lessons tells you in simple steps how to structure and write a basic
IELTS Graph.

Types of Graph

Graphs Over Time

This important lesson shows you what you must do to properly describe a graph or
chart that has a period of time.
IELTS Pie Chart
In this lesson you'll learn how to write about a pie chart, with tips on how to best
organize your answer and advice on the language to use.

IELTS Process
In this lesson you'll learn how to describe an IELTS process diagram, with
information about organizing your answer and using the passive voice.

Two graphs together

Sometimes you get two graphs to describe together. This lessons shows you how
to organize your answer if you do.

IELTS Tables
This lesson provides you with IELTS practice for tables. It shows you that tables
are not that different from other types of graph.

Task 1 Language

Language of Change
This lesson explains some useful sentence structures using some common
language of change and you can practice the words with a gap fill.

Language to Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast language is needed for most graphs and diagrams so it is
important to learn and practice it.

A Common Mistake
This lesson takes you through a mistake that is common when describing graphs in
Task 1.

Using Prepositions
Learn how to use the right prepositions when you are using the language of change
in a graph over time.
Describing graphs in the future
Sometimes you may be given a graph to describe that is predicting what will
happen in the future. View some strategies on how to approach a task 1 like this.

Organisation

Organizing a Line Graph (Part 1)

Find out about how there is more than one was to organize a task 1 graph, and
learn how to write about a graph divided into 'age groups'.

Organising a Line Graph (Part 2)

If you want to achieve a high band score for your graph you must ensure it is well-
organised. This lesson tells you more about one possible way of doing this.

These IELTS writing task 1 lessons provide you with practice for learning about
all the various types of graph or diagram you may get.

It discusses line graphs, processes, bar charts, pie charts and tables and provides
you with many other tips, advice and practice for the types of language you will
need to use.
 SECTION 2

1. Have you utilized any ICT tools in your English teaching ?What stools have you
used ?How?What do you think the roles of ICT in teaching language skills?How can
ICT help the teacher of English teaching language skills better? Why ?
Some of the important ICT tools and applications used in the field of English Language
Teaching are following:-
(i) Computers: This is the most important tool of information and communication
technology and backbone of modern human life. All the modern communication process
are impossible without the use of computers. It is helpful in storing, preparing, collecting
and preparing of data for communication. It is helpful in the development of listening and
speaking skills. It is helpful in English language speaking and listening skills.
(ii) Over heard projector: It is an important tool of displaying information and processes
to a large number of people simultaneously. It can be used in teaching and training of
personnel. Prepared forms of information are easy to display with the help of over head
projector.
(iii) Lingua phone: This tool is very important in language training of the students. A
number of students can practice speaking and hearing drills with the help of lingua
phone. It is especially useful in the training of English language listening and speaking
skills.
(iv) Radio: It is very useful in education and training of the students of rural areas. Many
distance and open education programs are being conducted with the help of radio. It is
also useful in audio conferencing. Programs relayed on radio are helpful in the
development of language skills, especially dialogues and dramas.
(v) Television: It is useful in education as well as entertainment of the people. It is found
that It is helpful in developing listening skills, useful in learning situational language as
well as It is highly motivating also. It is very helpful in understanding the language of
mass media. A large number of students may be benefitted with the programs of
television simultaneously. Many distance and open universities are running their
educational programs on television, such as Indira Gandhi National Open University,
Maulana Azad National Urdu University etc. It is an important tool of audio video
conferencing. Live telecast of training and discussions are done through this.
(vi) Internet: It is the most important facility of communication. All the modern
communication takes place through this. It has made the communication facility very
fast, convenient, economic, and attractive. There are lots of facilities available for
communication on internet. Some of them are following:-
(a) Social media: Social media has become an important tool of communication. It
provides a platform for sharing thoughts and ideas. Blogs are made on it. Students can
add themselves with the English language learning groups and take advantage of sharing
information. Lots of social sites are available on it like, Face book, Twitter, Instagram
etc. It is very helpful in learning situational language.
(b) Online facilities for English language learning: A lot of online facilities are available
on internet for the development language skills. Some of them are e-guidance, e-tutoring,
e-teaching, e-journals, e-magazines, e-books, e-library, online training, virtual classes etc.
(c) Online language related courses: These courses are available on internet. Some of
them are free and some of them are payable. Students can enroll themselves in these
courses and get education and training easily on their own place. Some of the agencies
which are providing on line courses are following MOOC, Future Learn, NPTEL, and
IIT’s, Concordia University etc. Students can watch online and offline videos of language
learning for the enhancement of their language skills.
(d) Feature Films in Teaching English: Films can be used in the teaching of English
language. Films may be documentaries, educational and entertainment based. These can
arouse high level of motivation. It results in a most satisfying learning experience.
Uses of ICT for an ELT teacher: we cannot think of better educational environment
without a better teacher. In earlier times the teacher was the focal point of education, but
now the role of teachers has changed a lot. He is considered as a guide and friend of
students who helps in learning, does not provides knowledge. To teach better a teacher
need to be update with the changes. For this ICT helps a lot. ICT can be useful for a
teacher in the following ways.
(i) It is helpful in the professional development of the teachers. A teacher can learn
various language skills with the help of information and communication technologies. He
can do various certification programs in English language teaching run by the famous
educational institutions like Cambridge University, British Council etc. These programs
help in enhancing his capacity to teach English language and to make his subject content
easy, economic and more understandable.
(ii) A teacher can increase his domain of Knowledge English language with the help of
e-journals, e-magazines and e-library that can be achieved only through the use of
ICT. He can also participate in discussions and conferences with the experts of his
English language teaching to improve his knowledge and skills ELT through audio and
video conferencing.
(iv) ICT helps a teacher to learn innovative methods of teaching. He can work with the
students on various project and assignments. It also helps him in providing teaching
contents, home works etc.
(v) He may participate in various in-service training programs and workshops which are
essential for his professional development with the help of information and
communication technologies.
(vii) ICT helps a teacher to guide his students about the English language learning
materials available on internet, e-books, e-journals, e-magazines and social sites like
linked-in which are helpful in better learning of English language skills.
(viii) ICT also helps him framing curriculum of English language learning. He can study
curriculums ELT of different countries to study their pros and cons, challenges as well as
sociological and psychological issues related to English language learners. All these
things help him in framing a curriculum
In teaching English at high school, I have used some of them such as :TV , computer
connected to the internet , radio and projector.
2.When students study in your classroom, which English skills do they hate the most
?why is that? Do you have any explanation for their feelings about that skills? What
are they ?why ?

When students study in my classroom, they hate speaking the most because they find it
hard to open their mouth using English to express their ideas or thought .

There are some reasons for their hatred of studying speaking skill in the classroom.

-They are too shy or unconfident in front of the others.

-They are afraid to lose face when making mistakes .

-They don’t have enough vocabulary or grammatical structures

-They are often laughed at by their classmates.

3.Of all language skills in English teaching, which skill do you like to teach the most
?why is that? Please share your opinions and experiences about that?

Of all language skills in English teaching, I like to teach Speaking Skill most because of
the following reasons .

Language learners are often too embarrassed or shy to say anything when they do not
understand another speaker or when they realize that a conversation partner has not
understood them. Instructors can help students overcome this reticence by assuring them
that misunderstanding and the need for clarification can occur in any type of interaction,
whatever the participants' language skill levels. Instructors can also give students
strategies and phrases to use for clarification and comprehension check.

By encouraging students to use clarification phrases in class when misunderstanding

occurs, and by responding positively when they do, instructors can create an authentic
practice environment within the classroom itself. As they develop control of various
clarification strategies, students will gain confidence in their ability to manage the
various communication situations that they may encounter outside the classroom.

The English language has become an international language. Among nations it as a

lingual francs. It is spoken, learnt and understood even in those countries where is not a
native’s language. English is playing a major role in many sectors including medicine,
engineering, education, advanced studies, business, technology, banking, computing,
tourism etc. All our software development today, the communication facilities available
to us through internet, our access to a variety of websites, are all being carried out in
English. Most of the research works are conducted and compiled in English.
Anything written and recorded in this language is read and listened to, in wider circles.
As a result, English is being taught and learned around the world as a second language
today.
In-order to become a well rounded communicator one needs to be proficient in each of
the four language skills viz., listening , speaking, reading and writing, but the ability to
speak skillfully, provides the speaker with several distinct advantages. The capacity to
express one’s thoughts, opinions and feelings, in the form of words put together in a
meaningful way, provides the speaker with these advantages. The joy of sharing one’s
ideas with others is immense. When we speak to others we come to have a understanding
of our own selves, as Robert Frost once said: ‘‘I am a writer of books in retrospect, I talk
in order to understand, I teach in order to learn.’’ Undoubtedly, the clarity in speech
reflects clear thinking.

Through well-prepared communicative output activities such as role plays and

discussions, you can encourage students to experiment and innovate with the language,
and create a supportive atmosphere that allows them to make mistakes without fear of
embarrassment. This will contribute to their self-confidence as speakers and to their
motivation to learn more.
4.Please list your problems you encounter when teaching English skills in your
context .What are the roots of these problems?

When teaching English skills in my context , I encounter many problems:

- Due to the mother tongue language’s influence on SS’s English studying , SS

refuse to accept the new knowledge so it is hard for them to practice.
- Ss don’t pay as much attention on studying English as other subjects .
- Ss lack of experience and time for studying foreign language
- The class is large
- The school quality is poor

The roots of these problems are :

- Some skills like speaking and listening are not included in the national exams

- Ss have to study too many subjects at school

- The curriculum is long and complicated

-SS are afraid of making mistakes and being laughed at by their classmates

5.Please list some problems that you encounter when teaching English in your own
context before learning from this course or this MA program. What are the roots of
these problems?

When teaching English skills in my context , I encounter many problems:

- Due to the mother tongue language’s influence on SS’s English studying , SS

refuse to accept the new knowledge so it is hard for them to practice.
- Students don’t pay as much attention on studying English as other subjects .
- Students lack of experience and time for studying foreign language
- The class is large
- The school quality is poor
The roots of these problems are :

- Some skills like speaking and listening are not included in the national exams

- Students have to study too many subjects at school

- The curriculum is long and complicated

- Students are afraid of making mistakes and being laughed at by their classmates
then they will lose face.
 SECTION 3

I have been teaching English at a high school for more than fifteen years now ,and I have
applied many different methods and techniques to my teaching jobs but it seems not to be
very effective like what I expect .When taking part in the course, I have learned a lot of
better significant ones which must be useful for my English teaching job .I had tried
many techniques in my teaching job before ,but it seems to be redundant due to a lot of
difficulties from both my side and my students’ side .Firstly ,The students are
accustomed to thinking English as a really hard subject and that they are impossible to
master .After taking this course , I am quite sure that I will help them to change their
mind and make my teaching process be more effective .Secondly, from this course I do
not only acquire some more new but also suitable methods for different leveled students
classes because the classes at high school are always mix-leveled which leads to time-
consuming teaching progress .Teachers usually spend a lot of time waiting for the low-
leveled students to catch up with the higher ones .From now on I will select the most
useful ways from teaching all skills to apply in order to save time and make the lessons
become easier and more interesting. Thirdly ,the techniques I have gained are practical
and helpful and I certainly think of when taking my classes .For example:

In teaching reading skill ,I like top-down approach The analysis of errors made by reader
when reading aloud. Something more than mechanical decoding is going on when readers
process texts. Reconstruct the meaning rather than decoding of forms. The text is at the
heart of the reading process.

In teaching listening skill ,I think I can help the students to be successful in improving
their listening skill by segmenting the stream of speech into meaningful words and
phrases; Recognizing word classes; Relating the incoming message to one’s own
background knowledge. Identifying the rhetorical and functional intent of an utterance or
parts of an aural texts; Interpreting rhythm, stress and intonation to identify information
focus and emotional/attitudinal tone; Extracting gist/ essential information from longer
aural texts without necessarily understanding every word.

In teaching speaking skill ,I will try to oppose input knowledge to help students to have
ideas to speak.

In teaching writing skill , I now know that the students should be given the opportunity
to compare different versions of a text and helped to see how the way in which
information is organized with a text will partly determine its effectiveness.

Before participating in the course ,my expectations at the beginning were just to get some
techniques and methods in teaching English skills or something like that .However, the
course does not only help me to revise the ones I studied at university years ago ,but also
gives me some more new and practical .Moreover ,I have acquired a lot of ICT which
may help me a lot in both designing the lessons plan and evaluating students level .Some
useful websites will be powerful for me when keeping students taking part in the lessons
.Using ICT via teaching skills will help students and teacher to communicate easily and
effectively .I used to use the Internet in teaching skills but it was just some very primary
usages that were not attractive enough .I find myself indulged in the course by the
powerful uses which ICT has brought us in teaching English skills .In the future ,coming
back to my teaching job from this course , I will convey the effectiveness of applying
ICT to teaching a foreign language through my lessons .Besides, the course has given me
many previous encouraging techniques that will help me a lot when coping with the
students who are bored with studying foreign languages .For instance, I will surely use
warming up games acquiring from the useful websites .Or when teaching writing skill, I
used to ignore some primary steps like giving simple structures and vocabulary before
asking the students to do the writing tasks .I will encourage my students to practice from
some very early steps .Misleading perception: The function of writing is to produce texts
for teachers to evaluate, not to communicate meaningfully with another person.
Sitting in Mr. Khang’s class , I respect all your trying ,the professor has worked really
hard to fulfill our needs so we do not have any complaints or suggestion after the course
.However ,we have to attend many other training courses ,we do not have enough time to
finish all the projects .We beg the teacher’s sympathy and forgiveness .We all find that if
we completed all of the projected given , we would get a higher level in teaching all the
skills .they are all significant and necessary for our teaching job. We have just two days
for all things that is why there would be some unexpected mistakes during our project .we
wish we will sometimes join in your courses in the future .With your help ,I do think I
will help my students with their listening skill first because they often take the wrong
way when listening and this leads them to the poor result. It should be noted that the
learner’s perception of their listening problem and strategies can affect their
comprehension both positively and negatively. Thus, in order to help students get
improved with their listening skill, it is needed finding out their listening problems which
cause difficulties to them. First of all, the students find it hard to understand proper
names as they have never heard about it before. In other words, they have no background
knowledge about what they are listening. The second problem is believed to rise from the
unfamiliar, uninteresting and too long listening which makes the students feel strange,
discouraged and bored of what they are hearing. The last one is assumed to be about the
sound connections and intonation spoken by native speakers with different accents.
instead of listening to every word in their first language, many language learners tend to
integrate their linguistic competence, experience and background knowledge to
comprehend the text.

After the course I realize that I should apply some useful approaches in teaching all skills
or at least correct our misleading instructions when teaching skills.

With the problems teachers encounter listed in section 2 , I think I will find solutions for
them .For example :
Problem 1: Due to the mother tongue language’s influence on students’ English studying
, students refuse to accept the new knowledge so it is hard for them to practice.

=>Teachers will use games or let them work together, assist each other, point out
strengths and weaknesses without possible offence. Speaking performance was enhanced
by rehearsal of the task under different conditions, and the opportunity to review and
reflect on the tasks. Greater motivations that converts to better retention of principles of
effective speaking, listening, reading, and writing

Problem 2: Students don’t pay as much attention on studying English as other subjects .

=>Teachers should provide models for the learners and allow them opportunities in class
to rehearse those things they need in the real world beyond the classroom in order to be
interested in studying English .

Problem 3 :Students lack of experience and time for studying foreign language

Using a variety of tasks created a second problem in that they did not wish to end up with
a hotchpotch of unrelated performances from which no general description could be
drawn

=>Teachers should attend primarily to what learners can do with language, and only
secondarily to the forms of language, we invite any or all of the four skills that are
relevant into classroom arena.

Problem 4:The class is large

=>Teachers should let students work in small groups in a big class.

Problem 5: The school quality is poor

=>Teachers should take advantage of whatever around, devising tasks which formed
related groups, each group being distinguished by a particular communicative skills, use a
series of short tasks conducted under what they describe as ideal conditions and with
different content and different demands to sustain the interest of the pupils

With the problems students encounter listed in section 2

Problem 1: They are too shy or unconfident in front of the others.

=>Teachers should always be their side to give them support whenever they need,
Comprehensible input is important construct in understanding processes of second
language acquisition. Learners use considerably more language, and exploit a greater
range of language functions when working in small groups as opposed to teacher-fronted
tasks in which all students proceed in a lock-step fashion. The lesson could be anything
that interests the learners from a serious subject. Learners are focused on very useful,
practical objectives as the subject matter is perceived to be relevant to long-term goals.
At the beginning level, certain basic survival skills themselves are content-based.

Problem 2: They are afraid to lose face when making mistakes .

=>Teachers encourage students to learn from mistakes as a habitual activity in the

classroom. They will be directly in touch with the realities being studied. It is contrasted
with learning in which the learner only reads about, hears about, talks about, or write
about these realities but never comes in contact with them as part of the learning
processing . First developed at a very early age – perhaps even before birth, in the womb,
through childhood and into adulthood

Problem 3:They don’t have enough vocabulary or grammatical structures.

=>Teachers should supply them thoroughly . Lessons will be about the subject using the
language that learners are trying to learn, rather than their native language from the
primary stage to the higher level ones in order to help the students to have chance to
practice at the most suitable stage .

Problem 4:They are often laughed at by their classmates

=>Teachers should be strict instructors . The interaction is characterized by a relative
lack of negotiation in which each learn has her set piece which she parades for the others.
Greater motivations that converts to better retention of principles of effective speaking,
listening, reading, and writing. Language of instruction, English, can be used as a tool for
developing knowledge and so they develop their linguistic ability in the target language.

I would like to send you my gratitude !Thank you very much for your nice help.

There are also some new coming issues when I am writing this portfolio .Firstly ,
according to the cultural teaching methods ,teaching process is usually teacher-centered
approach more than learner-based approach which causes students passive .Although
almost every teacher knows that bad point ,we can not do any big changes due to the
education curriculum in our country .If we want to change anything in the process ,we
need call for the authority’s support .Secondly , the students need the newer materials
which are based on the practical situations or real life so that they can easily compare
what they learn and what in their mind. Thirdly , teachers need to be provided more
appropriate and relevant facilities to the materials and teaching work like computer
connected to the Internet ,Projector, lab ….The techniques and methods are really useful
but in some real teaching conditions they will be hard to be taken into account .The
teachers need to be really reactive and hardworking enough to take advantage of the
teaching aids available then change them to use in the classroom .They also need to
design their lesson plans so that they can be able to go with the facilities we have .For
example ,when we teach at a remote school where there is no internet connection , we
should use pictures instead power point presentation to illustrate our lesson’s content .

-------------------------THE END----------------

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION