The document outlines a learning plan for a class on learning English as a foreign language. It includes established goals from educational standards in Bulgaria and the US. Key understandings are that students should focus on being understood when speaking English and not be afraid of mistakes. Essential questions address why learn English and why not be shy speaking with mistakes. The plan involves students brainstorming learning methods, surveying classmates, watching videos of footballers discussing English learning, and interviewing partners about their strategies. A performance task challenges students to create a video on their English learning tips and challenges to enter a contest.

1. Presented by: Elka Veselinova
elka_veselinova@abv.bg

2. DESIRED RESULTS
Established Goals:
Bulgarian State Educational Requirements – English as a foreign language, Intensive learning
(Grade 8)
Core “Speaking”, Level 2: The student uses standard language and adequate for a certain
communicative situation behavior, pronunciation and intonation. If it is necessary, the student
applies compensatory strategies for overcoming communicative problems.
Core “Listening”, Level 2: The student understands details in conversations between native and
non-native English speakers; understands authentic texts spoken on radio and TV.
Common Core, State Standards – English / Language Arts (Grade 7)
Speaking and Listening Standards:
Comprehension and Collaboration
2. Analyze the main idea and supporting details presented in diverse media and
formats (e. g. visually quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or
issue under study.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
5. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify
claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

3. Understandings:
o
o
o
Essential Questions:
When speaking a foreign language, what is
important is to be understood by the
Why learn a foreign language?
listeners and not to be afraid of making
mistakes.
There are various ways of learning vocabulary
Why is it important not to be shy to speak in
and grammar – you should choose those ones
English even with mistakes?
which are effective for you.
When listening to a foreign speaker you
should try to understand some details and
words you do not know by the context.

4. Students will know:
 People around the world have
different accents when
speaking a foreign language;
 Dictionaries do not give all
the meanings of certain words
and phrases (e. g. dialects or
slangs);
 Different ways of learning a
foreign language.
Students will be able to do:
 find autonomous learning
strategies;
 listen for the gist and specific
information;
 distinguish problem areas with
English and suggest ways to address
them;
 think and speak in English in a
comprehensible way;
 analyze critically issues around
fluency versus accuracy;
 understand non-native speaker’s
accent, pronunciation and
intonation;
 apply different compensatory
strategies for overcoming
communicative problems.

5. EVIDENCE/ASSESSMENTS
Performance Tasks: Vratsa Foreign Language School Video Studio
announces this month video contest. Create a video (2.5 – 3 min. long)
describing your ways of learning English and say what the 3 most difficult
things about learning English for you are. In addition, give some advice to
non-native speakers why and how they should learn English. Panels of
students and teachers will vote separately and independently and choose
the top 3 videos. The best videos will be uploaded on our video board,
send to the Premiership football players participating in the videos you
have seen before and used in our School Advertising Campaign. Besides,
the winners will receive special financial reward by the Headmistress and
will be included in the group travelling to an English-speaking partnercountry for our next multilateral Comenius project.

6. Digital Storytelling : Video: How I learn English - Tips and Challenges
Teacher Name: Ms. Veselinova
Student Name:
________________________________________
CATEGORY
Duration of Video
4
3
Length of the video Length of the video
was 2.5 - 3 minutes. was 1.5 - 2.5
minutes.
2
Length of the video
was 1 - 2 minutes.
1
Presentation was
less than 1 minute
long OR more than 3
minutes.
Voice - Consistency
Voice quality is
clear and
consistently audible
throughout the
video.
The pace (rhythm
and voice
punctuation) fits
the story line and
helps the audience
Grammar and usage
were correct and
contributed to
clarity.
Voice quality is
clear and
consistently audible
through some (7084%)of the video.
Tries to use pacing
(rhythm and voice
punctuation), but it
is often noticeable
that the pacing does
Grammar and usage
were typically
correct but errors
detracted from
story.
Answers in a way
both - "why" and
"how" but the
advice in general
does not seem very
Voice quality needs
more attention.
Voice - Pacing
Grammar
Point of View - why
and how to learn
English
Voice quality is
clear and
consistently audible
throughout the
majority (85-95%) of
Occasionally speaks
too fast or too
slowly for the story
line. The pacing
(rhythm and voice
Grammar and usage
were typically
correct and errors
did not detract from
the story.
Gives complete and Gives meaningful
meaningful advice
advice but answers
answering both only one of the
"why" and "how".
questions - "why"
or "how".
Date Created: Oct 16, 2013 02:03 pm (CDT)
No attempt to
match the pace of
the storytelling to
the story line or the
audience.
Repeated errors in
grammar and usage
distracted greatly
from the story.
It is difficult to
figure out what
advice is given.

7. Other Evidence:
Brainstorming different methods and approaches of learning a
foreign language as well as what students find the most
challenging about learning English (survey, matching questions
with answers, interviewing a partner and making notes about
his/her answers);
Oral or written response to the Essential questions;
Checking students’ understanding with listening
comprehension based on two videos in which seven famous
Premiership football players talk about their options about
learning English.

8. LEARNING PLAN
Learning Activities:
Brainstorming ideas about different methods and approaches of learning a foreign language;
Carrying out a survey among all the students in the class about their methods and approaches
of learning English;
Checking students’ listening comprehension skills by making them watch Video 1 and match the
players to their ways of learning English http://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/en/learnenglish/whats-best-way-learn-language
Listing down the top 3 things students find the most difficult about learning English;
True / False Quiz on Video 2 (listening for specific information)
http://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/en/learn-english/what-did-you-find-most-challengingabout-learning-english
Checking students’ reading comprehension skills (matching questions with their answers);
Investigating what their partner’s learning strategies are through interviewing them and
summarizing the results (open-ended questions) in a written form;
Reviewing the performance task and the scoring rubric;
Reviewing the website http://www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills for further information,
practice and fun.

9. Welcome to the
football world 

10. What’s the best way to learn a
language?
The Players:

11. What’s the best way to learn a language?
Worksheet 2
Now watch the players answer the question. Which players talk about …
Dirk Kuyt
speaking to
team mates
writing down
words
watching films
making
mistakes
having lessons
with a teacher
learning fast
Didier
Drogba
Petr Cech
Gilberto
Silva
Ivar
Ingimarrson
Mido

12. http://premierskills.britishcouncil.org/en/learn
-english/what-did-you-find-most-challengingabout-learning-english

13. What did you find most challenging about learning English?
Worksheet 3
Watch
Watch the players answer the question “What did you find most challenging
about learning English?”
Do the players mention anything you‟ve talked about?
Watch again and decide if these sentences are true or false. (T or F)
1 Ingimarsson says that speaking and spelling are difficult.
2 Cech says that newspapers contain proper English.
3 Kuyt finds „scouse‟ difficult.
4 Sun can‟t find some words in the dictionary.
5 Mido thinks that lots of people pronounce words badly.
6 Cech says that expressions are easy to translate.
7 Sun still doesn‟t understand the two meanings of „boot‟.

14. Bye, bye
For further information, practice and fun:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills