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Approaches To Instruction

The document outlines an instructional plan for a language course, including the context, objectives, stages of instruction, and approaches to language learning. It describes the context of a course for 13-year old students in Spain, the objectives to teach family vocabulary and structures, and examples of activities. It also discusses cognitive and connectionist approaches to language learning like Anderson's ACT model and the interface position on learned rules and acquired knowledge.

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Paola
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5 views

Approaches To Instruction

The document outlines an instructional plan for a language course, including the context, objectives, stages of instruction, and approaches to language learning. It describes the context of a course for 13-year old students in Spain, the objectives to teach family vocabulary and structures, and examples of activities. It also discusses cognitive and connectionist approaches to language learning like Anderson's ACT model and the interface position on learned rules and acquired knowledge.

Uploaded by

Paola
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Approaches to instruction

Taking your teaching context, how would you plan an instructed language course? What
elements should it contain? What issues are crucial to determine its focus?
These items should guide you:
 approaches to language learning you agree with,
 your social context,
 the learning context (school, institute, number of students per course, students'
levels, materials availability),
 learners' ages.
Your task should contain:
 the objectives of the course,
 a description of the target/real learners,
 a rationale for your choices (this means basing your decisions on theoretical
points).
Word limit: 1,000 words.

School: Colegio Provincial Nº


Class: 1 year
st

Time/Lesson period: 80’


Age of students: 13
Number of students: 20
Level of English: Level 1
Learners’ features: Group of 13-year-old students with different learning styles, who are
not fully autonomous. They are willing to participate in class; the teacher will encourage
them to be agents of their own learning and make them interact and speak as much as
they can. Teacher aims to build the knowledge considering what students already know
and make them understand the use of target structures, through consciousness raising
activities.
Learning outcomes:
- Function: Giving/asking for personal information as regards members of the family.
- Linguistic exponents:
- Have you got any brothers or sisters?
- Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.
Lexical Items: Pronouns, numbers, family members.
Prior knowledge: Numbers, family members, greetings, asking about people’s name, how to
spell their names, where they are from and their age, the verb ‘to be’. Text type: informal letter.
Aim/s, Students will be able to:
● Give and ask for personal information using a new structure.
● Improve socialization and their speaking skills.
● Use technology for school.
Material/s: photographs, books (Snapshot. Starter. Workbook. Longman. 1999; Extreme 1.
Sts’ book. Richmond Publishing. 2004.), images, PowerPoints.
Anticipated problem/s:
- Students do not remember vocabulary about family members.
- Students do not know how to use PowerPoint.
Possible Solution/s:
- Ask students to revise their notes of the previous class about the vocabulary.
- Provide students a guide of how to use PowerPoint.
Final task: Students have to prepare a PowerPoint with photographs of their families and
describe them using the new structure.

Stages Purpose Teacher’s activities Timing

Warm-up * Create a positive Proposes a game. She asks 10’


atmosphere. students to find and circle eight
*Revise family members in the puzzle
vocabulary. sticked on the board.
*Catch students’
attention.

Global * Introduce the Shows students a picture of her 20’


Presentation new grammatical family and says sentences like “This
structure. is me, these are my brothers.” “I
* Give examples of have got two brothers but I haven’t
how this structure got any sisters”.
is used.
* Relate
grammatical form After students get the meaning and
with function. function, the teacher explains on the
* Make students board the positive and negative
infer meaning, forms of the verb “have got” with the
function and form. pronouns I, you, we and they.

Detailed
Presentation

Checking * Check if students Asks sts to write sentences about 10’


Comprehension understood the their families.
new structure.
* Reinforce form, Sts read them aloud and corrects
meaning, use and pronunciation.
pronunciation.
Controlled * Practice and Gives students a short activity to 15’
Practice reinforce the new practice the new structure learned.
structure.

Free Practice * Practice and Asks students to work in pais. Each 15’
reinforce the new student has to guess her/his
structure. classmate identity using the new
*Improve structure.
socialization.

Final Task * Acquire the new Homework: Sts will prepare a 10’
structure. PowerPoint with photos of their
* Practice families and describe them to the
speaking in front of whole class.
the class.
* Use of
technology.

Approaches to language learning

Cook (1993) suggests common factors to cognitive approaches. E.g.:

1. Speech production is information-processing, a process of activating the network in all


its complexity, driven top-down to achieve particular goals. The plan shows concrete
speech production in which, after Ss finish stating the rules, they can comment on what
they have written.
2. Learning is a process from declarative, ‘controlled’, well-attended data to procedural,
‘automatic’, non-attended processes. Ss move from a controlled activity to a less
controlled activity. They are guided to use the vocabulary given. However, they can
express themselves using their own rules.
Anderson’s ACT * Model (Adaptive Control of Thought)
This model, developed by Anderson, distinguishes:

➤Working memory involves speech, which requires production rule in working memory
with interaction between declarative and procedural memory.

➤Declarative memory stores actual information in the form of cognitive units, such as
propositions or images.
➤Procedural memory checks parts of the rule against declarative memory.
Within this model, learning implies:
1. Declarative or cognitive stage: A description of the procedure is learnt. It happens when
the mind starts learning a new production rule or system, it relies on declarative
knowledge. E.g., Ss have the opportunity to observe rules (can, have to, etc.) and use
them to write their posters.
2. Knowledge compilation or associative stage: A method for performing the skills is
worked out. At this stage the mind tries to compile the information stored in declarative
memory into more specific procedures.. From the beginning, Ss are in contact with
vocabulary and grammar rules so they can associate that with their previous knowledge.
3. Tuning productions or autonomous stage: The skill is more and more rapid and
automatic.. Ss can produce language, creating rules based on the place they have
chosen.
Theoretical positions
Considering interface position, learners possess different kinds of L2 knowledge which
distinguish between weak and strong. The former claims that “the rules that are ‘learnt’ do
not describe the internal knowledge that is called upon in natural communication” (Ellis,
1985). When Ss have to recognise certain places and their rules, they are not aware of
their real meaning and uses at the very beginning. They try to communicate what they
understand.
Ellis explains that a strong interface position states that there is an easy flow of knowledge
from learning and acquisition, and vice versa. As regards pedagogical implications,
grammar teaching can foster language acquisition by focusing learners’ attention on
aspects of the input which may become automatised until they are available for natural
communication.
Overall, it is important to underline that planning, adapting or creating materials is a
thinking skill, which involves prediction, anticipation, sequencing and organizing. The main
advantage is that we are aware of our students’ needs, experiences, level, and attitudes.

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