5 – DESCRIBING LANGUAGE

A – MEANING IN CONTEXT
Meaning in Context:
 Why is something being said?
 What does the speaker wish to convey?
 Meaning of language depends on context and what speaker wants people to
understand
Language Functions: are the ways in which we do or perform certain things such as
apologising, inviting, suggesting, etc.
 The meaning of language depends on where it occurs within a larger stretch of
DISCOURSE.

B – THE ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE

Grammar: the way in which different elements are put into a sequence.
Vocabulary: words in a language
Pronunciation: the way we make the sounds of a language.

C – FORMS & MEANINGS

One form, many meanings
 Verbs and words may have more than one meaning.
 Use context to determine the meaning.
- e.g. The present continuous verb form can refer to both the present and the future.
- e.g. “book” can mean both ‘something to read’ or ‘to reserve’.
One meaning, many forms
 One idea may be expressed in different ways.
 Connotative value!
- e.g. Different forms can be used to express the concept of the future.
- e.g. We can describe an intelligent person by using a number of words. “Intelligent”,
“bright”, “clever”, “smart” etc.
Examples:
- I’ll see you tomorrow.
- I’m going to see you tomorrow.
- I’m seeing you tomorrow — that’s the arrangement, isn’t it?
- I can get to you by about six o’clock.
- I see you at six, and afterwards I have a meeting with John.
D – PARTS OF SPEECH

E – HYPOTHETICAL MEANING (something that is not real, but it might be the case)
Modal Verbs
 Modals verbs are auxiliary verbs which we use to comment on the likelihood of
something.
Conditional Sentences
 Formed when the conjunction “if” is used to preface a condition.

F – WORDS TOGETHER
Collocations: two or more words that often occur together.
 Collocations of verbs with nouns.
- Do my hair/ the laundry/ the cooking
- Make my bed/ a promise/ a wish/ a coffee
Lexical Chunks (Lexical Phrases): a group of words that are commonly found together.
- “In my opinion,” “to make the long story short,” “by the way,” “at the end of the day,”
“do you mind if I…”
Idioms: a lexical phrase where the meaning of the whole phrase may not be comprehensible
even if we know the meaning of each individual word.
- e.g. “full of beans” — as plain as the nose on your face/ obvious.

G – LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
Language Functions: ways in which we do or perform certain things such as apologising,
inviting, suggesting, etc.
 Language functions are realised through a number of different LANGUAGE
EXPONENTS.
Language Exponents: the different language formulations for performing a language function.

H – TEXT & DISCOURSE

COHESION
How things stick together in texts.
This can be achieved through devices such as anaphoric reference,
lexical or grammatical cohesion.

Lexical Cohesion:
Anaphoric Reference Grammatical Cohesion
When words are used to
When we use words to refer When the use of grammar in bind a text together.
to sth that has already been a text helps to bind it
e.g. when a series of similar
mentioned. together.
topic words (children,
e.g. “He picked up the stick e.g. repeated use of the past adults, grandparents,
and thew it for the dog.” tense. grandchildren) are all used
in a text, making the
connections between them
 COHERENCE
The way a text is clearly organised and has a logical sequence of ideas.
CONVERSATIONAL DISCOURSE
The skills TURN-TAKING involves:
- Recognising when you can take a turn
- Knowing how to keep your turn
- Knowing how to signal that someone can take their turn
- Knowing how to show that you are listening.
DISCOURSE MARKERS: items of language that explain the relationship between what
went before and what comes after.
- e.g. “Yeah, I was saying.”
- “Hold on a second”
- “Furthermore”

I – LANGUAGE VARIABLES
SPEAKING VS. WRITING
 In speaking, speakers can use paralinguistic (non-language) features to modify the
meaning of context.
- e.g. changing tone of voice, gesturing, using face expressions etc.
 In writing, writers can use tricks to create rhythm and effect.
- e.g. dashes (-), exclamation mark (!), new paragraphs etc.

Function Words
Content Words
Words that make the
Words which carry text work but do not
meaning like have any topic
“flower”, “car”, meaning.
“hot”, “sun”, “feel”
“Any” “the” “of”

REGISTER
The topic we are speaking about and the tone (for example, formal and informal) that we
wish to adopt.
  Learners need to be able to recognise register differences so that they can choose their
words appropriately.

LANGUAGE VARIETIES
Many different varieties: British English, American English, Singaporean English, Korean
English, Mexican English etc.
- e.g. A British speaker says, “Have you been to Venice?” An American speaker says
“Did you go to Venice?”
- e.g. Indian and Pakistani speakers say, “We are not having that problem here”. British
speaker says, “We don’t have that problem here.”

6 – TEACHING THE LANGUAGE SYSTEM

A – TEACHING SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE
Deductive Approach - when we give students explanations or grammar rules and then based
on this, the students make phrases and sentences using the new language.
(Engage - study - activate) (the straight arrows requence)

Inductive Approach - in this approach instead of going from the rules to the examples, we
go to the examples and the student tries to figure out the rales.
(engage-activate-study) (the bumerang-type lesson)

Discovery Activities: those where students are shown language and asked to try to work out
how it works (rules, etc.) for themselves rather than being told by the teacher.

Students have to make some cognitive effort

They are encouraged to think about what they see, hearing or working on rather than just
repeating mindlessly.

B – EXPLAINING MEANING
 One of the clearest ways of explaining the meaning of something is by showing it.

- Showing the object

- Mime
- Body movements
- Facial expressions
- Pictures
- Diagrams
- Timelines
- Describe the meaning of the word

 Using check questions

  Translate words or phrases

C – EXPLORING LANGUAGE CONSTRUCTION

 Using fingers to show how “he is” turns into “he’s”.
 Demonstrating words and sentences by beating time with our arms.
 Using one of the markings to show how words are stressed.
 Using cuisenaire rods to show parts of speech, stress patterns and sentence
construction.

D – PRACTICE & CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Practice helps students to internalize how the language is constructed When sth. is practised
more than once, it passes from our short term memory (where we store things which we
remember for a temporary period only) to our long term memory (where we store things
which we remember permanently)

CONTROLLED PRACTICE through REPETITION

FREER PRACTICE the stage beyond controlled practice where students try to use
“new” language in their own sentences or conversations.

E – MISTAKES, SLIPS, ERRORS, & ATTEMPTS

Errors: systematic mistakes due to lack of knowledge.
Slips: accidental mistakes that can self-corrected.
Mistakes: errors made despite knowing the correct form, often due to distraction.
Attempts: efforts to use language, correct or incorrect.
False Friends: are words that sound the same but have different meanings.
Developmental Errors: this is something that occurs naturally as they develop knowledge of
the language learnt. As as a consequence these students make incorrect assumptions about the
language and how it works.

F – CORRECTING STUDENTS
Echoing: a technique whereby the teacher repeats what a student has just said (often in a
questioning way) to indicate that something isn’t quite right.
Reformulation: a way of correcting where the teacher reformulates what a student has just
(incorrectly). The teacher says it correctly but does not then insist on the student repeating the
correct version. (Gentle correction)
Using a Student’s Peers: the teacher asks if one of their peers can help out.
Explaining and Giving Examples
PRAISE STUDENTS FOR THEIR SUCCESS!
Through the use of words and noises such as “good”, “well done”, “fantastic” etc.
7 – PLANNING LESSONS
A – REASONS FOR PLANNING
For Students:
 A plan shows that the teacher has devoted time to think about the class.
 It suggests a level of professionalism and a commitment to the kind of research they
might reasonably expect.
For Teachers:
 A plan gives the lesson a framework, an overall shape.
 It has a destination which teachers want their students to reach, and some idea how
they are going to get there.
In the Classroom:
 A plan helps to remind teachers what they intended to do.
 Planning is important when a teacher is to be observed as a part of assessment or
performance review.

B – A PROPOSAL FOR ACTION

Reasons why we might have to divert from our plan once a lesson is in progress
1 MAGIC MOMENTS
Events which happen in a lesson which the teacher didn’t expect but which may well be
extremely beneficial for the students even though they were not part of the original plan.

2 SENSIBLE DIVERSIONS
Events which happen in a lesson when something non-magical happens, which causes us to
reconsider our plan.

3 UNFORESEEN PROBLEMS
 The students may find an activity which we thought would be interesting really
boring.
 An activity may take more or less time than anticipated.
 The students may find something that we though would be fairly simple very difficult
(or vice versa)
 Fewer students than we have planned for may turn up class.
 The students may have used the material or done the activity we had planned before.
 Technology may fail 🤷‍♂️
C – PLANNING QUESTIONS
1. Who exactly are the students for this activity?
2. What do we want to do and why?
3. How long will it take?
4. How does it work?
5. What will be needed?
6. What might go wrong?
7. How will it fit in with what comes before and after it?
D – MAKING A FORMAL PLAN Background Elements
1. Aims
2. Class Profile
3. Assumptions
4. Procedure
5. Timetable Fit
6. Anticipated Problems & Possible Solutions
7. Materials

1 AIMS (What we hope the students will be able to do by the end of the lesson)
 To teach the present perfect tense
 The students will be able to talk about recent experiences using the present perfect
tense.
Our aims should be
2 CLASS PROFILE (A general picture of the group (level, age range, atmosphere etc.)
and detailed descriptions of individual students)

CLASS DESCRIPTION
The students in this upper-intermediate class are between the ages of 18 and 31.
There are five women and eight men. There are five university students, a scientist. four
people who work in business, a waiter and a mother who doesn't work outside the home.
Because the class starts at 07:45 in the evening. the students are often quite tired after a long
day at work (or at their studies). They can switch off quite easily. especially if they are
involved in a long and not especially interesting piece of reading. for example. However, if
they t involved, they can be noisy and enthusiastic. Sometimes this enthusiasm gets a little
out of control and they start using their first language a lot.
Etc.

3 ASSUMPTIONS (saying what we assume the students know and can do) (what the
students already know or have studied before)

1- Students will have some prior knowledge of lexis to describe character and physical
appearance
2- Students will know like + ing and like + to

4 PROCEDURE (the part of a plan where teachers describe what is going to happen and
what in order)

T = Teacher
S = An individual student
T —> C = The teacher working with the whole class
S,S,S = Students working on their own
S <—> S = Students working in pairs
SS <—>SS = Pairs of students in discussion with other pairs
GG = Students working in groups
4 TIMETABLE FIT (saying where this lesson fits in a sequence of lesson – what happens
before and after it)

TIMETABLE FIT

The lesson takes place from 07:45 to 09:00 pm on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. in the
past three lessons, the students have been discussing the issues of journeys and travelling -
how people adapt to different travelling environments. They have listened to an interview
with someone who lives in a bus and travels around the country looking for places to park it.
They have been looking at vocabulary and expressions related to travelling. They have
revisited a number of past tenses, including hypothetical past (third) conditionals (If he hadn't
lost his job, he wouldn't have sold his house).
Next week the class will start working on a “crime and punishment” unit, which includes a
courtroom role-play. work on crime-related lexis and passive constructions.

6 ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS & POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (listing anticipated

problems and thinking ahead to possible solutions we might adopt to resolve them)

ADDITIONAL POSSIBILITIES

7 MATERIALS
Teachers are expected to to attach to their plan copies of material which they are
going to use, and to say where it comes from