COURSEBOOK EVALUATION. What is coursebook or what should it be in T-ing/L-ing process? *textbook*teaching aid tool*aim:achieve course objectives. Why use a coursebook? ______________________________. What are the factors which detrmine choice of CB? SS (level,aims,interest,needs,previous experiences) TS( beliefs about teaching,aims: how and why i want to teach) INSTITUTION (syllabus). 2 main categories coursebooks fall into: *Traditional (focus on reading writing grammar, accuracy is stressed no fluency, a lot of L1, learning the lng as a system,only lockstep or individual work.), *Communicative(opportunities to practise the language in situations similar to real life, all skills are practised,focus on fluency and accuracy,pairwork,groupwork,authentic materials,L2 used, little L1) WHy evaluate CB?You have to evaluate to choose. There is no best CD. Criteria for CB evaluation: 1General: apply to all CBs. (every book should learn communication) 2Specific. Relate to specific audience-individual learners ( a song,rhymes,business language). 3 stages of evaluation Neville Grant recommends:INITIAL evaluation - filter out all unsuitable things, DETAILED eva-compare and choose which is the best. IN-USE eva-if you teach, work from a book and see if it still is good. CATALYST- Communicative [should give opportunities to practice communication], Aims [ it should be able to help to achieve aims at the course.] Teachable [ easy to follow mainly by T and Ss also, clear well organised] Additional [add ons, additional materials which arent in the book=tapes,dictionary,TB,videos,tests,games], Level [suit the level of the group] Your general impression, Ss interest, Tried and tested by other T.] SARS Select _________ Adopt __________Reject _______________Supplement______________
CB deficiencies______________________
M Method Does the books method suit your own teaching method and overall aims?
A Appearance Is the book appearance (cover,design,colour,feel)) appealing and attractive?
T Teacher friendly is the book easy to use?Is weel organised?Is there index?Does it have answer key? Does it help you save preparation time?
E Extras Are there additional materials such as WB,CS,teachers notes or separate TB? How helpful are these materials?
R Realistic How authentic is the communication in the book? Does the language seem true to life and current?
I Interesting Is the book likely to be interesting for your learners? How do the topics relate to their lives? Just as important, is it interesting to you?
A Affordable Is the book affordable? Is it worth of the price that learners or parents will have to pay ?
L Level Is the levelsuitable for the class youre teaching?
S Skills Does the book cover all the skills you want to teach? Does it match your institutions in syllabus?
SYLLABUS DESIGN Syllabus is grading selection of aspects of the language and items to be taught and grading ( putting things in order) or A list of language items to be taught put in the best possible order to ensure successful learning. Syllabus consists of: 1 Objectives a)long term objectives (relate to a year) b)short term objectives (week, unit) 2. Order of items to be taught. 3 Materials-textbook,supplementary materials. 4.Type and timing of evaluation of Ss progress (tests) - oral/written , formal/informal. 5.Time schedule. (timetable, revision) 6.Approach or methodology to be used. 7.Type and timing of evaluation of syllabus. Criteria for ordering syllabus items: simple/complex , basic/specialized , useful/specialized , frequent/infrequent , familiar/unfamiliar, easy/difficult easy to teach/harder to teach.
Who needs a syllabus 1.Learners (syllabus free vs syllabus-bound learners*) *learn only for the exam,they attend the classses they dont want to do anything at home. a)select a course. b)evaluate their learning c)supplement a course 2)Teachers a)plan lessons b) organise their time c)evaluate their teaching and their Ss progress. 3)Administrators a)achieving uniformity of their courses and methods b)describe their courses c) select materials d) place Ss in courses 5)How do you design a syllabus 1)Factors to consider a)learners needs (professional and linguistic) b)theories of language learning and teaching c) institution (time resources exams physical constraints) 2Syllabus design 3Implementation 4Evaluation 5Re-design and reimplementation . 6)Who designs a syllabus 7Product vs process oriented syllabuses __________ 8)Synthetic and analytic approach to syllabus design ________________
A notional functional coursebook: one based on a notional/functional syllabus, rather then structural syllabus.ie one which divides language up according to the sequence of notions and functions, as used in real life conversations.
Types of syllabuses. Grammatical: (non communicative)A list of grammatical structures,such as the present tense,comparison of adjectives,relative clauses,usually divided into sections graded according to difficulty or/and importance. Lexical A list of lexical items (girl, boy, go away) with associated collocations and idioms, usually divided into graded sections. One such syllabus,based on a corpus ( a computerized system of authentic language) is decribed in Willis. Grammatical-lexical (communication may be neglected) A very common kind of syllabus: both structures and lexis are specified, either together, in sections that correspond to the units of a course,or in two separate lists. Situational (accuracy neglected)this syllabus take real life contexts of language uses at their basis: sections would be headed by names of situations or locations such as Eating a meal. Topic based rather the situational syllabus ,except that the headings are broadly topic-based,including things like FOOD or The Family , these usually indicate a fairly clear set of vocabulary items, which may be specified. Notional Notions are concepts that language can express. General notions may include „number”, for example , or „time”, specific notions look more like vocabulary items „man”, „woman”, „afternoon”. Functional notional Functions are things you can do with the language, as distinct from notions, you can express: examples are „identyfying”, „denying”, „promising”. Purely functional syllabuses are rare: usually both functions ant notions are combined. Mixed or „multi strand” Increasingly modern syllabuses are combining different aspects in order to be maximally comprehensive and helpful to Ts and Ls.in these you may find specification of topics,tasks,functions and notions as well as grammar and vocabulary. Procedural (tasks instructions problem solving) These syllabuses specify the learning tasks to be done rather than the language itself or even its meanings. Examples of tasks might be : map reading, doing scientific experiments, story writing. Process This is the only syllabus which is not pre-set. The content of the course is negotiated with the learners at the beginning of the course and during it, and actually listed only retrospectively. Skills oriented , Content based English for specific purposes. Grammatical structural ___________Skill based
ACTION RESEARCH
1)Research - a systematic process of inquiry consisting of three elements or components. A) a question , b)data c) analysis and interpretation of data. 2)The difference between research and action research. Action research is kind of research which is carried out by the practitioner(rather than university based researchers) and incorporates an element of intervention and change. Action research involves the collection analysis and reporting of case data. The term „action research” directs attention to the importance of empirical data [rather than just using intuition] as a basis for reflectively improving practices. The purpose of action research a)to test theories b)to try and understand and deal with immediate practical problems facing teachers and learners. „The fundamental aim of action research is to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge.”, „Both product and process need to be jointly considered when attemtping to improve practice. Processes need to be considered in the light of quality of learning outcomes and vice versa. This kind of joint reflection about the relationship between processes and products is a central characteristic of what have been termed AR 4)AR as a value professional developmental tool and vehicle for change. (reflective teaching)Practitioner centred. „reflective teaching provides a way of developing professional competence by integrating two sources of knowledge,received knowledge and experimental knowledge with practice. 5)What to take into consideration before undertaking any AR? a)the importance of the issue for the T and S, b)opportunities to explore the area. c)any parties interested in helping and joining in d)the manageability of the task 6)Steps in the research process. a)Issue identification b) preliminary investigation - observing the situation/ thinking about the facts/asking more detailed questions in order to find out more about the situation. c)hypothesis d)plan Intervention :* decide what method/techniques of data collection youre going to use to test your hypothesis (diaries,samples of Ss` writtenwork, videos,tapes,observation sheets,questionnaires) * deciding how many lessons are going to be observed,how many people are going to be involved in it,how long it may take. *devise any material you need in order to carry out your research (observation sheets,questionnaires) *carry out the research e)Outcome -reflect upon your research findings,conclusion,what practical action you might take as a result of your research-evaluation . f)Reporting presentation of analysis of your findings (conclusion) in various forms (article, staff development sessions) 7)Characteristic of AR a)validity is the research design such that we can cinfidently claim that the outcomes are a result of experimental treatment? Is the reasearch design such that we can generalise beyond the subjects under investigation to a wider population? b) reliability would an independent researcher on re analysing the data come to the same conclusion? Would an independent researcher on replicating the study come to the same conclusion? c) participants determine the agenda d)in the field (conducted in classroom, under conditions as they are, not as contrived for an experiment) e) self improvement by systematically monitoring change f)collaborative action and support (AR by an isolated indiviidual is possible, but the need for support and constructive criticism indicated the need for collaborative group based activity) 8)Problems in doing a) lack of time b)lack of experience c) lack of ongoing support d) fear of being revealed as an inconvenied teacher e) fear of producing a public account of their research for a wider.
AUTONOMY ability to make choices which will consequently have an influence on our behaviour i.e the choices which will potentially determine our actions. There are two decisive factors: skills/abilities and a positive attitude.
In a foreign language classroom situation this autonomy will mean:
*being open to communicative situations *self directed learning in an outside of the classroom.*developing an ability to express without inhibition ones own thoughts and emotions . Learner autonomy can be defined as the Ts responsibility for learning both in and outside the classroom on the level of: -awareness -selfdirection and selfevaluation.
A from Ls perspective. Learner autonomy is :
*choice of ways of learning based on the materials selected by the T
*individual style of learning
*experimenting with knowledge, here with language
*choice of what-how-when but following Ts demands
*creating conditions for learners to become responsible for their work
*a choice according to interests and needs
The T role in definition of autonomy:
*individual approach to Ls so that they can develop their individual abilities
*Accepting learners as they are and their individual evaluation
*The T is not necessary :learning can be done independently
*Limiting the Ts role to that of a controller
*A total independence from the T
The main conclusions of the study:
Lack of full awareness of all aspects of learner autonomy in the context of classroom instruction
The role of the T is still perceived in very traditional way
A relatively positively attitude towards autonomy which is based on the theoretical knowledge and training the Ss received and their own experience of being learners
Readiness of autonomy
Negative attitudes of novice and inexperienced