This document profiles an English language learner named Melanie Torres. It analyzes various aspects of her English abilities, including an interview transcription, analysis of her phonetic, grammatical and lexical skills, and a lesson plan designed to address weaknesses in her vocabulary. The analysis found Melanie has generally good pronunciation for her level, but makes some vowel and consonant mistakes typical of Spanish speakers. Her grammar shows inaccurate verb tense usage and omission of words like articles and pronouns. She also answered some questions with responses that were contextually inappropriate. The lesson plan aims to teach food and tradition vocabulary using grouping strategies to help learn meanings.
Language Learner Profile: Learning Strategiescmillafilo
In the different research concerning how a second language can be acquired, it has been shown that many factors affect acquisition process of the language. This piece of work covers the influence of learning strategies by English language learners, and how the use of these can improve their level of proficiency or their understanding of the target language.
We are third year students of the English teaching major that the UCSC offers, and we are currently in our “Teaching Experience I”. For the purpose of effectiveness of our future lessons, we decided to carry out this research interviewing a second year student of a secondary school located in Concepción.
This student had an interview with us, and on the basis on that, we spot the possible linguistic problems that she had. In this piece of work, we are going to analyze the difficulties she had in order to make proposals, and plan a lesson so that this student can overcome those problems.
Language Learner Profile: Learning Strategiescmillafilo
In the different research concerning how a second language can be acquired, it has been shown that many factors affect acquisition process of the language. This piece of work covers the influence of learning strategies by English language learners, and how the use of these can improve their level of proficiency or their understanding of the target language.
We are third year students of the English teaching major that the UCSC offers, and we are currently in our “Teaching Experience I”. For the purpose of effectiveness of our future lessons, we decided to carry out this research interviewing a second year student of a secondary school located in Concepción.
This student had an interview with us, and on the basis on that, we spot the possible linguistic problems that she had. In this piece of work, we are going to analyze the difficulties she had in order to make proposals, and plan a lesson so that this student can overcome those problems.
This lesson is about writing agony letter , it appears in the productive tasks of the New Slimming of the syllabus.
Teachers can use the letters or Reading and Writing as brainstorming without referring to the Second Conditional ( since it is omitted according to the New Slimming )
In Indonesia, the students find the problem how to pronounce English well. It is happened because the variation of the language and dialects are influenced by many areas in Indonesia. Also, the different nature of each language influences how to produce a good pronunciation of a particular language. Pronunciation becomes important when the speaker wants to tell his ideas to the listener. If the speaker makes a mistake in pronouncing the word, the listener may not understand what the speaker means.
Pronunciation, is one of the textbooks containing course materials arranged by Mr. Rifki Amin –who teach English at Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing (STBA) Pertiwi Tangerang. The arrangements of these course materials have been done as one of the attempts to fulfill the needs of the textbook containing course materials which go along with the syllabus of the related course.
Tangerang, August 2015
Rifki Amin, M. Pd.
This lesson is about writing agony letter , it appears in the productive tasks of the New Slimming of the syllabus.
Teachers can use the letters or Reading and Writing as brainstorming without referring to the Second Conditional ( since it is omitted according to the New Slimming )
In Indonesia, the students find the problem how to pronounce English well. It is happened because the variation of the language and dialects are influenced by many areas in Indonesia. Also, the different nature of each language influences how to produce a good pronunciation of a particular language. Pronunciation becomes important when the speaker wants to tell his ideas to the listener. If the speaker makes a mistake in pronouncing the word, the listener may not understand what the speaker means.
Pronunciation, is one of the textbooks containing course materials arranged by Mr. Rifki Amin –who teach English at Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing (STBA) Pertiwi Tangerang. The arrangements of these course materials have been done as one of the attempts to fulfill the needs of the textbook containing course materials which go along with the syllabus of the related course.
Tangerang, August 2015
Rifki Amin, M. Pd.
If you only ever teach ESL/EFL students one thing in Pronunciation let it be this. Research shows the best way to teach new information is by attaching it to old information (things learners already know). What is the first and often only thing students know in a new language? The names of colors. This webinar teaches how to use the names of colors, ABC and first language as an accurate, inclusive foundation for the pronunciation of all English
APLX DATA ANSWERSVerb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb.docxfestockton
APLX DATA ANSWERS
Verb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb Progressive tense Noun Noun Plural
Run Ran Running Intern Interns
Eat Ate Eating Laptop Laptops
Walk Walked Walking Homework Homework
Study Studied Studying Man Men
Swim Swam Swimming Person People
Practice Practiced Practicing Table Tables
Encounter Encountered Encountering House Houses
Admire Admired Admiring China(flatware) 瓷器 China
Hit Hit Hitting Car Cars
Sleep Slept Sleeping Goose Geese
Drive Drove Driving Volcano Volcanoes
See Saw Seeing Syllabus Syllabi
Do Did/Done Doing Potato Potatoes
Help Helped Helping Tooth Teeth
Cut Cut Cutting Woman Women
Bring Brought Bringing Glasses 眼镜 Glasses
Intern Interned Interning Computer Computers
Shower Showered Showering Deer Deer
Arise Arose Arising Foot Feet
APLX DATA L2
Verb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb Progressive tense Noun Noun Plural
Run Ran running Intern Interns
Eat ate eatting Laptop Laptops
Walk walked walking Homework Homeworks
Study Studied Studying Man men
Swim swam swimming Person people
Practice practiced practicing Table tables
Encounter encountered encounterring House houses
Admire admired admiring China(flatware) 瓷器 Chinese
Hit hitted hitting Car Cars
Sleep slept sleepping Goose Gooses
Drive drove driving Volcano Volcano
See saw seeing Syllabus Syllabus
Do did doing Potato potatos
Help helped helping Tooth teeth
Cut cutted cutting Woman Weman
Bring brought bring Glasses 眼镜 Glasses
Intern Intern Interning Computer Computers
Shower showered showerring Deer Deer
Arise arised arising Foot Feet
16/20 17/20 12/20
APLX DATA L1
Verb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb Progressive tense Noun Noun Plural
Run Ran Running Intern Interns
Eat Ate Eating Laptop Laptops
Walk Walked Walking Homework Homeworks
Study Studied Studying Man Men
Swim Swam Swimming Person People
Practice Practiced Practicing Table Tables
Encounter Encountered Encountering House Houses
Admire Admired Admiring China(flatware) 瓷器 China
Hit Hit Hitting Car Cars
Sleep Slept Sleeping Goose Geese
Drive Drove Driving Volcano Volcanoes
See Saw Seeing Syllabus Syllabi
Do Did/Done Doing Potato Potatoes
Help Helped Helping Tooth Teeth
Cut Cut Cutting Woman Women
Bring Brung Bringing Glasses 眼镜 Glasses
Intern Interned Interning Computer Computers
Shower Showered Showering Deer Deer
Arise Arose Arising Foot Feet
L1 Native speaker(baseline)
· Age: 21
· From Van Nuys, CA
· Length of L1 study: Native
· Education level: Junior at UCSC
· Linguistics major
· Father and mother both speaks English
· Mother is native english speaker, Father is Guatemalan.
1. When did you begin to study English?
My mother was a college freshman when she gave birth to me. As a result, she needed a babysitter or some sort of daycare to take care of me while she went to school and worked. She taught me basic English words and phrases that any parent would begin to teach their toddler. However, while she was busy, and once she found a trustworthy but inexpensive daycare to dr ...
APLX DATA ANSWERSVerb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb.docxarmitageclaire49
APLX DATA ANSWERS
Verb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb Progressive tense Noun Noun Plural
Run Ran Running Intern Interns
Eat Ate Eating Laptop Laptops
Walk Walked Walking Homework Homework
Study Studied Studying Man Men
Swim Swam Swimming Person People
Practice Practiced Practicing Table Tables
Encounter Encountered Encountering House Houses
Admire Admired Admiring China(flatware) 瓷器 China
Hit Hit Hitting Car Cars
Sleep Slept Sleeping Goose Geese
Drive Drove Driving Volcano Volcanoes
See Saw Seeing Syllabus Syllabi
Do Did/Done Doing Potato Potatoes
Help Helped Helping Tooth Teeth
Cut Cut Cutting Woman Women
Bring Brought Bringing Glasses 眼镜 Glasses
Intern Interned Interning Computer Computers
Shower Showered Showering Deer Deer
Arise Arose Arising Foot Feet
APLX DATA L2
Verb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb Progressive tense Noun Noun Plural
Run Ran running Intern Interns
Eat ate eatting Laptop Laptops
Walk walked walking Homework Homeworks
Study Studied Studying Man men
Swim swam swimming Person people
Practice practiced practicing Table tables
Encounter encountered encounterring House houses
Admire admired admiring China(flatware) 瓷器 Chinese
Hit hitted hitting Car Cars
Sleep slept sleepping Goose Gooses
Drive drove driving Volcano Volcano
See saw seeing Syllabus Syllabus
Do did doing Potato potatos
Help helped helping Tooth teeth
Cut cutted cutting Woman Weman
Bring brought bring Glasses 眼镜 Glasses
Intern Intern Interning Computer Computers
Shower showered showerring Deer Deer
Arise arised arising Foot Feet
16/20 17/20 12/20
APLX DATA L1
Verb Present tense Verb Past tense Verb Progressive tense Noun Noun Plural
Run Ran Running Intern Interns
Eat Ate Eating Laptop Laptops
Walk Walked Walking Homework Homeworks
Study Studied Studying Man Men
Swim Swam Swimming Person People
Practice Practiced Practicing Table Tables
Encounter Encountered Encountering House Houses
Admire Admired Admiring China(flatware) 瓷器 China
Hit Hit Hitting Car Cars
Sleep Slept Sleeping Goose Geese
Drive Drove Driving Volcano Volcanoes
See Saw Seeing Syllabus Syllabi
Do Did/Done Doing Potato Potatoes
Help Helped Helping Tooth Teeth
Cut Cut Cutting Woman Women
Bring Brung Bringing Glasses 眼镜 Glasses
Intern Interned Interning Computer Computers
Shower Showered Showering Deer Deer
Arise Arose Arising Foot Feet
L1 Native speaker(baseline)
· Age: 21
· From Van Nuys, CA
· Length of L1 study: Native
· Education level: Junior at UCSC
· Linguistics major
· Father and mother both speaks English
· Mother is native english speaker, Father is Guatemalan.
1. When did you begin to study English?
My mother was a college freshman when she gave birth to me. As a result, she needed a babysitter or some sort of daycare to take care of me while she went to school and worked. She taught me basic English words and phrases that any parent would begin to teach their toddler. However, while she was busy, and once she found a trustworthy but inexpensive daycare to dr.
How to Teach Pronunciation: Getting StartedJudy Thompson
We asked hundreds of ESL/EFL teachers, "If I could wave a magic wand and fix one thing to help you teach Pronunciation - what would it be?" The number one answer was - How do I start? I created a webinar to answer this great question (link to recording of the webinar http://bit.ly/1SW62M7) and these are the slides from that webinar.
English Rough Draft Essay
Learning English as a Second Language Essay
Challenges Faced By ELL Students
English Form 1 Assessment Paper
Esl Advantages And Disadvantages
English As A Second Language Essay
Action Research for Esl Students
My Goals Of An ESL Teacher
Essay on ESL teaching
Esl Classroom Observation
Essay on Personality and the ESL Student
Personal Statement On Teaching Esl
Essay on English Language Learner
Esl Teacher Interview Paper
Esl Teaching Education For Esl Teachers Essay
English in My Life Essay
Honest Reviews of Tim Han LMA Course Program.pptxtimhan337
Personal development courses are widely available today, with each one promising life-changing outcomes. Tim Han’s Life Mastery Achievers (LMA) Course has drawn a lot of interest. In addition to offering my frank assessment of Success Insider’s LMA Course, this piece examines the course’s effects via a variety of Tim Han LMA course reviews and Success Insider comments.
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Palestine last event orientationfvgnh .pptxRaedMohamed3
An EFL lesson about the current events in Palestine. It is intended to be for intermediate students who wish to increase their listening skills through a short lesson in power point.
Instructions for Submissions thorugh G- Classroom.pptxJheel Barad
This presentation provides a briefing on how to upload submissions and documents in Google Classroom. It was prepared as part of an orientation for new Sainik School in-service teacher trainees. As a training officer, my goal is to ensure that you are comfortable and proficient with this essential tool for managing assignments and fostering student engagement.
1. 1
Language Learner Profile
English Methodology II
Students: Nidia Gil
Anna Luna
Teacher: Astrid Guerra
2. 2
INDEX
I. Language learning strategies framework .…………………... 3
II. Learner’s background …………………… 4
III. Interview ……………………………… 5
IV. Transcription ……………………………... 7
V. Phonetics analysis ……………………………… 7
VI. Grammatical analysis ……………………………... 9
VII. Lexis analysis …………………………….. 11
VIII. Lesson plan .………………………….... 13
IX. Lesson plan evaluation .…………………………… 16
X. Conclusion .…………………………… 17
XI. References .…………………………… 18
3. 3
Language Learning Strategies Framework
For many years researchers have tried to find the best alternative to learn the
English language and since it is a difficult language to teach in our country it becomes a
real challenge to choose the suitable strategies for each kind of learner. According to
O’Malley and Chamot (1990) the learner strategies affected in a positive manner when
they are used. These strategies help our studies to understand more easily what they
are learning, because they involve several techniques to understand the new content.
In this report we are going to analyze different aspects of the learning strategies
through an oral interview. Firstly we are going to set up the context of the learner: where
she lives, where she studies and her perceptions about English, basically to know more
about her background. Secondly, we do an interview about her likes and dislikes, daily
routines and food, from which we are going to take certain mistakes to analyze. Thirdly,
we select the principal errors of the interviewee and we analyze them grammatically,
phonetically and lexically.
We base our analysis on Chamot, Barnhardt, El-Dinary & Robbins (1999) and the
structure they propose, which contemplates five stages. Firstly, in the preparation phase
the teacher provides students with activities which will prepare them to develop the
4. 4
following task. Secondly in the presentation stage the teacher presents the new content
and provides examples to clarify doubts that can emerge during the lesson. Thirdly,
students practice what they have just learned through meaningful activities and
exercises. Fourthly, in the evaluation stage the teacher asses what the students did in
the previous stage, this can be done in many ways either self-evaluation or co-evaluation.
Finally, the expansion is a stage designed for activities that can be done in
future lessons related to the main topic.
5. 5
Learner’s Background
Melanie Torres is sixteen years old and she lives with her parents and siblings.
She is in her second year of high school in Aurora de Chile College. She lives and
studies in Chiguayante. She has been learning English since elementary school, where
she was taught the basic English.
Her English level is strongly influenced by many factors, either inside the
classroom or outside. Currently she has 3 hours of English per week (3 modules of 45
minutes). She considers herself very interested in this language, particularly because
she usually listens to music and watches movies in English. In addition to this, she
spends a lot of time in the computer, being exposed to a wide variety of English sources
from social media.
She is one of the outstanding students and it is remarkable to say that when
hearing spoken English she explains that she can get the main idea of the message
without knowing every word. She has very good marks in the subject, even though she
has never taken a course of English.
6. 6
Testing
Taped Interview
I: interviewer
S: student
1 I: Hello
2 S: Hello
3 I: What’s your name?
4 S: My name is Melanie
5 I: Can you spell your name?
6 S: Yes, M, E, L, A, N, I, E
7 I: Ok, How old are you?
8 S: I’m sixteen years old
7. 7
9 I: And where do you live?
10 S: I live in Concepción, Chiguayante
11 I: Ok, How many brothers and sisters do you have?
12 S: I have two brothers and one sister
13 I: What does your father do?
14 S: My father is (an) electrician
15 I: What does your mother do?
16 S: My mom work at home
17 I: Ok, now we are going to talk about daily routines, What time do you get up in the
morning?
18 S: I get up at seven o’clock
19 I: What time do you go to school?
20 S: I go to school at seven thirty
21 I: Ok, do you walk to school?
22 S: Yes, I walk
23 I: And what do you do at the weekends?
24 S: I listening to music and go out with my friends…eehm cooking and
checking my facebook
8. 8
25 I: Ok, how many hours do you spend on facebook?
26 S: I spend six hours …on facebook
27 I: Ok, now we’re going to talk about food, what’s your favorite meal?
28 S: My favorite meal is chocolate and French fries.
29 I: And what do you usually have for breakfast?
30 S: eeehm bread eehm bread and butter and milk
31 I: Ok, now we’re going to talk about likes and dislikes, what is your favorite subject at
school?
32 S: My favorite subject is biology
33 I: Why?
34 S: Because is very important for my future studies
35 I: Ok, you like music, right?
36 S: Yes
37 I: And what type of music do you like?
38 S: Ehhm Pop, bachatas
39 I: Why?
40 S: Because I dancing with…with those
41 I: Ok, do you like movies?
9. 9
42 S: Yes
43 I: And what kind of movies do you like?
44 S: I like comedy movies
45 I: Why?
46 S: Because is very fun
47 I: Ok, what are your favorite computer games?
48 S: Ehhm… The Sims... is my favorite
49 I: Ok, Thank you
Transcription
10. 10
//a l sn ŋ tə mju z k ənd gə a t w ð ma frendz ɪ ˈ ɪ ɪ ˈ ː ɪ ʊ ʊ ɪ ɪ (eehm) ˈkʊkɪŋ ənd ˈʧekɪŋ maɪ
feɪsvʊk//aɪ spend sɪks ˈaʊrs ɒn feɪsvʊk//maɪ ˈfeɪvɒrɪt mɪl ɪz ˈʧɒkəleɪt ənd frenʃ ˈfraɪz//
(eeehm) bred (eehm) bred ənd ˈbʌrər ənd mɪlk//
Analysis
Phonetics analysis
Commonly, high school students do not deepen on phonetics and we found that
this is crucial if we want them to acquire a better pronunciation and understanding of
spoken English. Melanie’s pronunciation is good according to her level of English. It is
very easy to understand her due to her simple vocabulary and her clear pronunciation.
However she mispronounces some vowel sounds basically because in Spanish we have
5 vowels and all of them are strong, while in English there are 6 strong and 6 weak
vowel sounds. She as a Spanish speaker is not familiarised with this wide variety of
sounds. This is clearly seen in the following samples.
In line 20 we can see the use of the vowel sound /ɪ/ instead of the vowels
sound /ɜː/.
Word Student’s Pronunciation Correct Pronunciation
Thirty ˈθɪrtɪ ˈθɜːtɪ
In line 28 she uses the diphthong /eɪ/ instead of the short vowel /ɪ/, making the
last syllable of the word longer.
11. 11
Word Student’s Pronunciation Correct Pronunciation
Chocolate ˈʧɒkəleɪt ˈʧɒkəlɪt
In line 32, biology is pronounced almost like the Spanish word by joining the
vowels sounds /ɪ/ and /ɒ/ instead of the diphthong /aɪ/ and /ɒ/.
Word Student’s Pronunciation Correct Pronunciation
Biology bɪˈɒləʤɪ /baɪˈɒləʤɪ/
Line 34 shows a typical mispronunciation, where the short vowels sound /ʊ/ is
used instead of /ʌ/. These cases are just a confusion of sounds that can be easily
corrected making use of drilling exercises.
Word Student’s Pronunciation Correct Pronunciation
Studies ˈstʊdɪz /ˈstʌdɪz/
In line 24 we can notice that the consonant /b/ is replaced by /v/. This case
commonly happens to ESL students because of the speed and fluency of the speech.
Students tend to shorten words and change elaborated sounds for simple ones.
Word Student’s Pronunciation Correct Pronunciation
Facebook feɪsvʊk feɪsbʊk
Grammatical analysis
12. 12
Generally speaking, Melanie does not show lots of grammatical and syntactical
mistakes. For producing answers she tends to rely a lot on her Spanish structure, which
is very different from the English one, causing the following mistakes.
Use of tenses
Firstly we focus on the incorrect usage of tenses during the interview. In the first
case there is an inaccurate use of the verb “work”.
“My mom work at home.”
This is because she uses the plural form instead of the 3rd singular of the verb
work. The correct answer would be “My mom works at home”.
Another mistake that she committed is the use of the present continuous form of
a verb to talk about a certain activity.
“I listening to music and go out with my friends.”
13. 13
In this case, the correct answer would be “I listen to music and go out with my
friends” because we are talking about an activity that she likes to do, not about
something that is currently happening.
Another case that calls our attention is a sentence which also has a problem with
tenses
“Because I dancing with... with those”
Firstly there is a problem with the verb dancing because it is expressing a
continuous action happening at the moment of speaking. The correct answer would be
“Because I dance with that music”. She confuses the continuous tense with the present
simple tense to talk about her likes and dislikes.
Missing words and Pronouns
Another issue that we noticed is the omission of certain words and pronouns.
Another central point that we analyzed in relation to grammar errors, was the
omission of some words, especially pronouns.
The first problem that we found was the omission of the article an before a noun.
“My father is electrician”
14. 14
The correct answer would be “My father is an electrician”. This mistake is caused
by the interference of Spanish in English. Normally in Spanish we don’t use pronouns
before nouns as in English. For Example if we say this in Spanish it would be “Mi padre
es electricista”. We can notice that there is no need of an article.
Another mistake that we found is the omission of the pronoun it before the verb to
be.
“Because is very fun.”
The correct answer would be “Because it is very fun”. This answer is not
grammatically correct because there is no subject. She is talking about something fun
but she doesn’t mention what it is. This mistake is also caused by the interference of
Spanish in English. In spoken Spanish we can omit the subject and it would sound
correct whereas in English it sounds wrong.
Lexis analysis
Melanie made herself clear, however sometimes her answers are not according
to the question given. She answered what we ask but in some cases her answers were
15. 15
not what we were expecting because they were not appropriate for the context of the
question.
“My favorite meal is chocolate and French fries”
In this sentence the word chocolate is out of context since it is not exactly a meal.
Perhaps, she thought that we were asking for food in general. Basically the problem lies
on a vocabulary issue since Melanie didn’t know the meaning of the word meal.
Lesson Plan
16. 16
Content area: Vocabulary Topic: Food and Traditions
Grade: 10th grade High School
Objectives
Content knowledge skills: Learn specific English vocabulary related to food and drinks
Learning strategy: Using grouping/deducing to facilitate learning and knowing the
meaning of new vocabulary.
Procedures
Preparation
Provide Students with a strategies questionnaire and that asks them which one of
those is suitable for them in order to learn vocabulary and meaning.
‘‘Today we are going to talk about food and traditions from different places in the
world. For a start, we are going to focus on how we can learn new words related to
food and traditions and their correct meaning. Complete this questionnaire by
numbering from the one you like the most to the one you like less (1 to 5). If you
have other strategies for learning vocabulary write them down. Share your answers
with a classmate when you are finished. ’’
Presentation
17. 17
Present the strategy grouping and explain what it is consisting of.
‘‘Today you are going to learn about the strategy grouping, which is helpful for
remembering and understanding new vocabulary since it makes it more organized.
Using schedules and all sorts of charts and notes will help you classifying items like
the types of traditions and foods that we are going to learn today.’’
Draw a chart in the whiteboard demonstrating how to use grouping.
‘‘For instance we can classify food in salty, sweet and acid food.’’
Practice
18. 18
Divide the class into two groups. Provide one group with a list of words related to
traditions and the other group with the list of words about food. (These words are
unknown for them but their meaning can be easily deducted). Make each group work
in pairs and ask them to make categories with those words (national traditions and
international traditions; Breakfast food, Lunch food and dinner food).
‘‘Make two groups, one is going to be the Food’s group and the other one is going to
be the Traditions’ group. Between your groups work in pairs and classify the given
words in the category you think is the most suitable for each list’’
Evaluation
When students are finished ask each couple from the food’s group to join another
couple from the traditions’ group and ask them to compare and explain the new
words the classified.
‘‘ When you finish, each couple from the food’s group has to find another couple
from the traditions’ group to compare and explain the meaning of the new words
appearing in the classification you did.’’
19. 19
Expansion
Give students time to study those new words at home or in the lab. After a certain
amount of time, give them a quiz on the new vocabulary they learnt.
Make student to look for more specific words for each category presented in class
and explain that you will include those words in future quizzes so every student
learns them.
Lesson Plan analysis
We considered the lexis mistake made by the student for creating the lesson. It
was very difficult to choose the correct type of activity and the objective of the lesson.
When choosing strategies we tended to deepen on wrong factors which were not
certainly useful for the type of mistake we were dealing with. In addition to this, we have
never worked with this type of lesson before, its different stages and procedures made
our work complicated but not in a considerable way, however, we took the risk because
according to Chamot (1999), this is the most appropriate type of lesson to teach learning
20. 20
strategies. Chamot’s book was useful for developing the activities, working as a guide in
order to face the exact mistake. We believe this lesson, even modified, is helpful for
many other learning problems and mistakes which will appear during our future duty as
teachers.
21. 21
Conclusion
To sum up briefly this assignment was very challenging for us since it involved a
new kind of structure for creating lessons. Moreover, it was very complete assignment
because we analyzed deeply certain features of language. It is remarkable to say that
there are many factors that can influence the student’s performance at the moment of
producing English. Principally, the phonetics and grammar mistakes that we found were
caused by the interference between English and Spanish, where Melanie replaced
English structures by Spanish ones. Secondly, lexis mistakes were mainly caused
because of the lack of vocabulary. These facts are common in high school students;
they can make themselves clear by using a reduced amount of words. This is not a bad
feature; however, when it comes to develop specific tasks this reduced amount of
vocabulary becomes insufficient.
Influences outside school are also important for developing knowledge not only of
vocabulary but also of structures and pronunciation. Melanie has a considerable
exposure to English outside the classroom. When listening to music in English and
repeating the lyrics, she acquires certain patterns of pronunciation innately. The same
happens with structure and lexis. For further studies it would be good to analyze all the
aspects of language, not only in speaking but also in writing, reading and listening.
22. 22
References
Chamot, A. U., Barnhardt, S., El-Dinary, P. B., & Robbins, J. (1999). The Learning
Strategies Handbook. White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman.
O'Malley, J.M. & Chamot, A.U. (1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language
Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, B., Swan, M. (2001). Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and
other Problems: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.