MAIN BASES TO UNDERSTAND TEACHING ENGLISH PEDAGOGY. IN THIS FIRST MODULE YOU WILL FIND THE PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING ENGLISH.

1. ESCUELA DE CAPACITACIÓN PARA PROFESORES DE INGLÉS
TEACHING ENGLISH AS A
SECOND LANGUAGE COURSE

2. 1. WHATISMOTIVATION?
 The word "motivation" is typically defined as the forces that account for the selection,
direction, and continuation of behaviour. Actually, it is often used to describe certain sorts
of behaviour. A student who studies hard and tries for top grades may be described as being
"highly motivated", while his/her friend may saythat he is "finding it hard to get motivated".
Such statements imply that motivation has a major influence on our behaviour.
1.1MotivationintheESL/EFLClassroom
 Motivation has long been a major problem for most teachers of English as a Second
Language (ESL) or as a foreign language not only in the Arab World but also elsewhere.
 Motivation in the ESL/EFL classroom is easily one of the most important. The main reason
is that most of students have low motivation to learn English.In addition to that, while most
of them have a vague sense that whether "English will be useful for my future" or not, they
don't have a clearidea of what that means, nor is that a very strong motivator; it's too vague
and too far off.
 According to William Littlewood (1987: 53), we have the following concept:
‘In second language learning as in every other field of human learning, motivation is the
criticalforce which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all,how much energy
he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres. It is a complexphenomenon and includesmany
components: the individual’s drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for
stimulation and new experience,and so on. These factors play a role in every kind of learning
situation.’
 “Student motivation is influenced by both internal and external factors that can start,
sustain, intensify, or discourage behaviour” (Reeve, 1996).The teacher has to activate these
motivational components in the students but that is the precise problem. How can it be
done in every class everyday?
Module N°1:Psychological principlesofTeachingEnglish

3. 1.2 Waysofmotivating studentsintheclassroom
1.2.1“Pairwork”or“Groupwork”
 One of the successful ways, if the teacher is resourceful and skilful enough, to motivate
his/her students to participate in the lesson is to use “pair work” or “Group work”
appropriately.Language is best learned through the close collaboration and
communication among students. This type of collaboration results in benefits for all or
both learners. In fact, learners can help each other while working on different types of
tasks such as writing dialogues, interviews, drawing pictures and making comments about
them, play roles, etc…
1.2.2Theseatingofthestudents
 The way the students are seated in the classroom will often determine the dynamics of the
lesson. Indeed, a simple change in the seating pattern can make an incredible difference to
group coherence and student satisfaction, and there are other cases where seating has
been a crucial element in the success or failure of the lesson.The seating pattern you use
may, in some cases, not be fully under your control – if for example the desks are fixed to
the ground or the school has strict rules about not moving the furniture. Student numbers
are also going to be an issue.
 I’ll talk about average size classes – anything from 6 to 25. Teachers have different
preferences for seating arrangements – groups seated round small tables is often one
choice. This is probably the best option for the larger classes in this range, but for smaller
numbers and with adult or teenage students you can try the horseshoe shape. A horseshoe
may be desks in aU-shape with a hollow centre, students in a semicircleon chairs with arm-
rests and no desks, or students seated around three sides of a large table, with the teacher
at one end. In any case, whatever seating pattern you choose or is imposed on you, the
class is likely to be more successful if you keep the following principles in mind:
a)Tryandmaximise eyecontact.
 Both teacher to student and student to student. In full class phases of the lesson, if the
person who is speaking does not have eye contact with the others, then attention is likely
to drop. This is the main reason I personally think the horseshoe shape to groups is better.
b)Makesurestudentsareseatedatacomfortable distancefromeachother.

4.  Make sure you do not have one student sitting alone or outside the groups. Besides, try to
leave a fair empty, but not so much a space because large distances between the students
will tend to lead to a “muted” atmosphere, low pace, and less active student participation
in the lesson.
c)Thinkinadvanceabouthowyouwillorganise changingpartnersorchanginggroups.
 This is a stage of the lesson, which can potentially descend into chaos if it is not tightly
controlled, with students wandering aimlessly around not knowing where to go or
confidently moving to the wrong place.
1.2.3Roleplay
 This is another technique to vary the pace the lesson and to respond to the fundamental
notion of variety in teaching. Teachers are advised to use the role- play activity in order to
motivate their students and to help the less motivated learners take part in the lesson.
Besides, certain tasks in the student’s book are followed by a role- play activity where it
becomes a necessity to undergo such an activity. As good examples of that we can state:
the hide (item) and guessing game, dramatizing an interview of customer and shop
assistant, doctor and patient conversation, etc…
1.2.4 Usingrealia,flashcards,Storiesandsongs inteaching
 Realia and flash cards are considered as important tools in teaching especially a foreign
language, since they play the role of a facilitator in teaching new vocabularies such as fruits,
vegetables, clothes items, etc…Besides, they are very helpful in drawing especially
beginners’ attention to follow and match new words to items. In addition, realia is an
authentic material that helps the teacher to overcome classroom artificiality.Creating
stories with the students is another way of developing speaking and writing skills. Actually,
creating stories is grounded in the students’ ability to create a story from their personal
experience. In creating stories some issues are revealed such as: a) fluency, b) whether the
students have enough language to create the story, and c) accuracy.
 Teachers are able to demonstrate techniques of using songs in different ways to teach
grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and community building because the students like
songs and they motivate the students to learn the English language in an interesting way.
Teachers can elicit students’ ideas about the song through activities such as prediction,
mind maps, word splashes, etc. Students discuss questions such as the feelings in the song,
what will happen next, etc. and write their responses in an interesting manner. Students
may write and present how the song makes them feel and then draw a picture of their
feelings while listening to the song. Teachers respond to this presentation and ask
questions. Then, feedback is provided from the group.

5. 6) Using audio visual material: audios, video, computer…
 Since our schools are equipped with various audiovisual materials such as MP3 players,
videos, computers, projectors, magic boards and many others, teachers should use these
materials when teaching. Indeed, they should include the appropriate material to use while
planning their lessons.For instance, we should include audios in a lessonbased on listening,
while we need to include a computer in any e-lesson or a lesson about designing a website
or an internet page about your school. Whereas, we can use an overhead projector in
presenting writing drafts for classroom correction or to read.
2. IMMEDIATECORRECTION
TheErrorCorrection
It is always asked whether we should correct all students’ errors, whenever they
occur. The reasonable answer is that if we stop at every single error and treat it with
no room for errors to take place, this will lead to a gap of communication and
students will be too much afraid of making mistakes. Hence, due to being too much
obsessed with making errors, students will be too much reluctant to participate.Thus,
Teachers should be aware of when to correct errors and how to do that without any
hurt and humiliation. In a learner- centered classroom, it should be better to correct
errors, which students make unconsciously, whenever there is a gap of
communication or when not treating the error will result in a misunderstanding of the
idea expressed.
Concerning the ways of how to correct errors, there are several techniques, which the
teacher, who is seen as the monitor, should choose from them according to the type
of the error and task where the incorrect form of language occurs. Among these ways
of correction, we can state: self correction, peer correction and teacher correction.
Whenandhowshouldyoucorrectyourstudents?
 Every teacher will have different views on this and different ways of correcting their
students and it’s a case of finding out what both you and your students feel comfortable
with. Here, there are some ideas:

6. a) Askthestudentshowtheywanttobecorrected
 This sounds obvious but it can be easily overlooked. Talk to your students about error
correction and to find out from them how they like to be corrected. Often students have
clear ideas about how they would like you to correct them. With large groups you may have
to go with the majority, but if you have a small group you can cater for individual needs.
b)Areyouworkingonaccuracyorfluency?
 Before you begin an activity, bear in mind whether you are concentrating on accuracy or
fluency. For a class discussion for example, fluency would be appropriate. The important
thing is that students are expressing themselves and thinking on their feet. However if
students have had time to prepare a role-play and are then going to perform it you may
want to encourage accuracy. Be clear of the aims of the task and make sure students are
aware of what you expect from them. Don’t present an activity as a fluency task and then
pick them up on every single mistake.
b) Selfcorrection /Peercorrection
 The first thing when correcting can be the students themselves. Students can often correct
themselves when they realise they’ve made a mistake. Sometimes the mistake is simply a
‘slip’and they are aware of the correct version. Give students a chance, and time, to correct
themselves. Often by just raising your eyebrows or repeating the mistake students will
know what you mean and back track to correct the error themselves. Some teachers create
all sorts of hand signals to indicate the type of error. Pointing behind you is a classic to
indicate to students that they should have used a past tense. If these work for you and your
students, go ahead and create your own correction indicators.
 Students can also correct one another. Peer correction often helps to create a positive class
atmosphere as students realise you are not the only source of error correction and they can
learn a lot from one another.
d)Correctionslots
 One way to focus on students’ mistakes is to take ‘time out’ of an activity and look at
mistakes as a group. When students are doing a speaking task in pairs or groups you have
to monitor the students and listen on what they’re saying. Students will get used to you
hovering around them although if it’s not your usual monitoring style they may wonder
what you’re up to at first! You can make a note of the mistakes that you hear; whether they
are pronunciation, grammatical or lexical. You can collect a selection of their errors and
then stop the activity. You can write a selection of the mistakes on the board and ask

7. students to correct them. If students are working in pairs and you have a left over student,
why not assign them the role of assistant teacher? They can have a notebook and pen and
make notes of mistakes they hear. If they do their job well they could even run the
correction slot with their mistakes instead of you. Usually most of the mistakes can by
corrected by the students themselves.
e)Newmistakesorthesameoldones?
 New mistakes are usually a sign that they are exploring new uses of language or
experimenting with new vocabulary but if they are always repeating the same mistakes it’s
not such a good sign! By noting their mistakes students have a record of their progress and
can avoid repeating the same mistakes time and time again. It’s a good idea to have a set
space in their notebooks to write down their errors and the correct version ( You can also
do it on the board). One way of doing it is to divide a page into three columns:
 Mistake  Correction  Note
 It depends of the weather  It depends on the weather
 Not the same as in
Spanish
 I've lived in Barcelon since six
years
 I've lived in Barcelona for six
years
 Since - for points in time
 For - For periods
 Sometimes it’s a good idea to have little tests based on the classic mistakes students make
in class. It encourages students to look over their notes and try to learn from them.
3. REINFORCEMENT
Principle 1:Positive Reinforcement
As a teacher, you should focus on your students successful attempts to use English. At first,
reward ANY success however small. If students speak out loudly and clearly, but make a
mistake, praise them just for speaking out or for pronouncing it well. As students improve,
you can focus on the most outstanding successes. Whatever you encourage, students will
continue to do. On the other hand, if you do not encourage them, they will likely become
passive in class.
Principle 2:ClearGoals andInstructions

8. Students need to know exactly HOW an activity is done, otherwise they will be out of
control when the activity starts. If necessary, write the instructions on the blackboard or
overhead projector. Or, model the activity with one of your best students so everyone can
see what they need to do.
Students also need to know WHY an activity is being done. Dictations are done to train the
ear, so they will be more successful in learning in the future. Pair practice is a simulation of
real-life conversation, so they should not show their questions to their partner.
Be sure to include goals and instructions in your lesson plan. That way you will be sure to
remember to do them, and if you do have any problems, you will easily see how to fix them
in future lessons.
Principle 3:TheElementofSurprise
Students usually know exactly what will happen in class andanswer questions mechanically.
By adding suprises to your lessons, students will be forced to think about meaning and will
pay more careful attention. For example, you could ask students ordinary questions such as
whether they like pizza, or if they like chocolate. Then ask them if they like chocolate pizza.
You might askstudents about their families,then askif they are married, or if they can drive
a car. Students who are answering without thinking will say "yes" automatically. In such
cases, their classmates will usually laugh at their mistake, and they will realize the
importance of paying attention.
Of course, laughing is good in general, so saying anything strange will improve the class
atmosphere.Whenever you have a list of questions or a lot of language to cover, add
something funny or strange at the end of the lesson. Add some intentional mistakes to see
who will find them. In a sense, this is a kind of listening exercise. If you do this often, then
some day if you really do make a mistake, you can casually tell students it was just a test!
A variation of the Surprise Principle is called the "information gap". When students all use
the same textbook, they already have the same information. But if you give only SOME
students certain information, a text or picture for example, the other students must use
English to find out what information they are missing. Successful pair practice and language
games include "information gaps" to encourage students to discover what information they
do not have.
Principle 4:FriendlyCompetition
Competition automatically grabs students' attention. The easiest way to have friendly
competition is to divide the class into two teams and play some kind of game. You could
have the left side of the room against the right side, boys against girls, or each row against
all the others. Competition can be used on an individual level as well, by giving points to

9. students for their work. Make sure all students have a chance to succeed at getting some
points so that nobody feels bad. You can give points for any written work such as dictations
or mini-quizzes. Students enjoy seeing their progress over time, keeping them motivated in
the long term. You can also give points during the whole term, by giving points for all kinds
of activities during your classes.
4. FREQUENT REVIEWINENGLISH
In order to use the language, ESL learners need to be able to retain what they have studied
throughout their language learning process and to use it when necessary. Part of becoming
a fluent speaker is having the ability to speak without constantly pausing to remember
words or grammar structures. Such pauses are eliminated when the material is put into
long-term memory as part of their ESL studies, in such a way that speakers can recall it
without hesitation.
SPACED REVIEW IN TALL
TASK
• Apply These five principles to your teaching and see how your
students change over time. Positive Reinforcement and having
Clear Goals and Instructions can be used right from the beginning,
in every class. Introduce Surprise, Variety and Competition to
your lessons slowly, so as not to overwhelm your students. Make
one or two small changes in every lesson, and pretty soon your
students will call you "Super Teacher"!

10. The TALL ESL system includes spaced review as an integral part of the application. For
example, after learners do various activities in the software to learn new vocabulary words,
the software will show them the same words to review the next day, but then will not show
these words for a couple of days. The words will later reappear in another review activity.
If ESL learners remember the words after this short period of time, the words will disappear
againand reappear after another delay in a test. However, if ESL learners cannot remember
the words, they are put back into the review cycle until they are mastered.
In this way, TALLʼs Spaced Review system helps ESL learners move the material into their
long-term memory. When the material is in the learnersʼ long-term memory, they become
masters of the material. The ESL learners can then use the material in communication
quickly and easily. Review that is not spaced and repeated may only allow the ESL learners
to recognize that they have seen the material before, not actually use the material for
communication. With that in mind, let’s review the graphs one more time:
5. HowtoCorrectMistakes
Practice
When introducing new vocabulary, emphasize correct pronunciation and during the
drilling exercises have students practice using choral repetition. This means students are
not immediately singled out to pronounce new and unfamiliar words and they can become
accustomed to the sound of the words together. The next step is generally to call on
students or have students volunteer to pronounce words or phrases. It is an important step
to check pronunciation on an individual basis however it means that a student is being
singled out to perform independently in front of the entire class. Correcting mistakes at
this level is the most challenging but you can use the same process to correct errors in any
situation.
Self-Correction
The best way tocorrect mistakesis tohavestudentscorrect themselves.Ideally a student

11. will realizea mistake has been made and fixit automatically but that is not always the case.
If a student answers a question incorrectly you can gently prompt them to revisit their
answer. One of the ways to do this is to repeat what the student said placing emphasis on
the incorrect portion, for instance “I have play baseball.” and saying it in a questioning
way. At this point the student has an opportunity to think about and revise his initial
response. You may have your own method of prompting students with a facial expression
or phrase which they associate with being incorrect but avoid saying words such
as wrong, incorrect, or no in response to mistakes. They are negative and will have ill
effects on your students’ confidence in the classroom.
Peer Correction
When a student is unable to selfcorrect, peercorrection mightbe appropriate. If astudent
raises his hand while you are waiting for a student to self correct, you may want to call on
that student for the correct answer or, after waiting a short time for a student to self
correct, you could ask the whole class the same question and encourage a choral response.
Especially with challenging questions, this is a good method because then it is unknown
who in the class has the right answer and who does not. Just repeat and emphasize the
correct answer by writing it on the board and explaining why it is correct. This is a good
method of correcting mistakes because it shifts focusaway fromthestudent that provides
the original incorrect answer.
Providingthe Answer:LastResort
Sometimes individual students as well as entire classes have no idea what the answer to
your question is. If providing hints and examples does not lead them to the correct
answer, you will have to provide it. Generally this is a last resort and means that a lot of
review activities may be in order but keeping a positive attitude and explaining the
answer good-naturedly will do a lot to keep your students positive about learning English.
Asking similar questions in a simpler form will build student confidence again so that the
lesson can continue smoothly.
6.Critical ThinkingSkillsDevelopmentintoESL/EFLCourses
6.1WhatCriticalThinkingMeansGenerally
Critical thinking is not an easy concept to define as it can mean quite different things to
different people in different contexts and cultures.
Despite this fact, I believe that ESL/EFL instructors can greatly benefit both themselves
and their students by attempting to understand and incorporate some of its key elements
into their classrooms.

12. Generally speaking, to think critically about an issue is to consider that issue from various
perspectives, to look at and challenge any possible assumptions that may underlie the
issue and to explore its possible alternatives.
More specifically, when we think critically about a given topic, we are forced to consider
our own relationship to it and how we personally fit into the context of the issue.
6.2HowCritical ThinkingMakesClassesBetter
Firstly, classes, which involve elements of critical thought, tend to be generally more
interesting and engaging. Consider for example, two possible discussion topics related to a
unit on the environment.
 Topic one: asks students to summarize the main issues covered in the class in
preparation for a final writing activity.
 Topic two: asks students to outline the draft of a letter to be sent to the city's mayor
addressing their concerns about environmental issues in and around the city.
Though the teacher may find both approaches equal in terms of how well they facilitate
language use in class, it is clear that the later topic will encourage a greater degree of
participation and interest from the students. Secondly, using issues that encourage critical
thinking helps to give the classrooma more meaningful and cohesive environment.
Students who feel that they are working together will be more likely to attend classes and
will be more involved while they are there.
Two Things to Keep in Mind When Getting Started:
a) Knowing the Interest of Your Students is Essential
b) Learning to Really "Discuss" the Discussion Questions
Classroom Techniques
1.Debate
Why it Works
Debate forces students to think about the multiple sides of an issue and it also forces them
to interact not just with the details of a given topic, but also with one another. Also debates
are versatile in the range of topics possible and the format that the debate may follow.

13. How it Works
 Students must first be made aware of a debatable topic and of the variety of potential
positions that can be taken on the topic. These topics can come from course materials,
from classroom discussion, or from the local community.
 Students should then be givenan opportunity to research the topic somehow and form
their own opinions on the issue.
 Next pairs or small groups should be formed where like-minded students can share
their opinions on the topic and gain information from others. During this step students
should be encouraged to think about the potential arguments that will come from the
other side and how they can respond to these arguments.
 Now some form of debate must take place where the two (or three or four) sides share
their opinions and present their arguments. This could take the form of a classic
debate, with opening and closing arguments from both sides and time for rebuttals all
done as a class. Alternatively, it could simply be small groups or pairs sharing their
differing points of view with one another.
 Then, the instructor should follow-up with a summary of the opinions and views
expressed by all sides and an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses.
 In the final step, the class and instructor should be allowed to express their opinions
on which side made the case most convincingly. This step is important in that it helps
the students to understand that this type of thinking and debate process can lead to
real results and provide some sense of closure on the topic.
Things to Remember
 The debate itself can take many forms.
 Students need to be allowed to form their own opinions rather than having the teacher
assign "sides" to the debate.
 Choosing a topic appropriate to the interests of the students is essential.
2.MediaAnalysis
Why it Works
Analyzing various forms of media, either in an ESLor EFL environment, gives the opportunity
for students to think about important issues like media bias and censorship. When students
look at the types of issues that may bias reporting, they are also forced to think in terms of
their biases and to reflect on these in detail. This is not to say however, that media analysis
needs only to focus explicitly on issues of bias and censorship as any analysis of media has
the potential to raise students' general awareness and encourage them to think about the
issues that affect their lives.
How it Works
 A form of media and topic need to be chosen, either by the instructor or the students,
that reflects the interests of the class and has the potential to encourage critical
thought.

14.  Time for analysis (reading, watching, listening, etc.) must then be provided to give the
students ample time to absorb the material they will be asked to work with.
 Class, small group, or pair discussions should then be undertaken on the content of the
piece to give students the opportunity to work out any problems or questions they may
have.
 Once the students are comfortable with the content of the piece, the instructor should
then introduce questions designed to encourage critical reflection. Some possible
examples are as follows:
 Who is the author? Why did they write or report this piece?
 Do you feel the facts are accurate? Why or why not?
 Is the author or reporter giving equal attention to all sides of the issue?
 How does this piecemake you feelpersonally? How do you feelothers (from other
countries, cultures, political groups, etc.) would feel about it?
 Do you see examples of bias, either in the piece itself or in the language chosen?
 With ample time, a good follow-up to this activity is to ask students to write a response
either to the author or an editor of the piece expressing their opinions.
Things to Remember
 The media is all around us and finding material for classroom use is just a matter of
opening a newspaper or watching the news
 The focus of this type of activity does not need to be on traditional topics like bias and
censorship
 Teachers must know their students and their interests in order to source appropriate
material for classroom use
 Working with local media outlets may give the opportunity for real correspondence
between the class and a writer or editor.
3.ProblemSolving
Why it Works
Problems exist everywhere, both inside the classroom and out, and their resolution is a
popular source of conversation in allcountries and cultures. Analyzing asomewhat complex
problem like a city's poor public transport system can offer students a myriad of
opportunities to analyze an issue critically. By asking students to look at pro's and con's and
costs and benefits an instructor is forcing them to consider real world problems that impact
their daily lives in a critical way.
How it Works
 First the class must identify a problem that is relevant to their lives and interests. Some
examples might include:
 The high cost of education at their school
 Overcrowding in the city
 Local noise pollution

15.  Corruption of city officials
 Visa difficulties for international students
 Next the class should work together to clearly define the problem. This step is
important for the completion of the task and the instructor needs to work to make sure
everyone is starting with a similar definition.
 Divide the class into pairs, groups, or teams and ask them to list the root causes of the
problem.
 The instructor should then identify two or three causes that seem appropriate to the
task and ask the students to discuss steps for their correction. Here the instructor must
ask the students to keep in mind the real-world consequences to their actions and
prevent solutions from becoming imaginary.
 With a little work from the instructor, the students' ideas can be collected into an
action plan which can be posted around class or sent to an appropriate official for
review. This works particularly well in a university setting where an instructor's
colleague can write a response to the class.
Things to Remember
 Problems are everywhere but the instructor must think through the steps in the
process clearly before introducing a given problem to the class
 Student generated solutions need to be as concrete and realistic as possible
 Working with an outside agent (city official, university representative, lawyer) for
correspondence is helpful as it lends weight and a sense of accomplishment to the
project.
Strategiesfor DevelopingCritical ThinkingSkills
Make Up Words – An activity to establish new vocabulary in proper context, the teacher
will make up fake English words and put them in context using a sentence or a paragraph.
The made up word represents a vocabulary word the students recently learned. The made
up word also appears as the same part of speech as the vocabulary item. Students then
guess which vocabulary word the made up word represents.
WordCategories – Working to create associations between words, students in groups come
up with word categories, then group vocabulary words into those categories. Students
justify to the class why the groupings were created. A possible adaptation of this activity
occurs when one group establishes groupings, then writes the categories for the next group
to guess which vocabulary words go into which categories.
CONCLUSION
• Teachers are able to use this and some of the techniques suggested
as a starting point for the development of critical thinking in their own
classes. Teachers will find their efforts in this regard to be both
personally and professionally rewarding.

16. Think-Pair-Share –Anactivity helping to criticallyanalyze a new concept, the teacher begins
with an essential question. Students have two minutes to freewrite. The teacher then puts
the students in groups of two or three, where the groups or pair share their ideas. Students
then share with the class the ideas acquired from other groups. Students then write down
the ideas and turn their ideas into a short narrative conveying those ideas. Therefore,
students take the think-pair-share notes turning them into a writing piece.
Critical Thinkinginyourlessons–It’seasierthanyouthink!
Let’s look at one specific way in which you can begin to bring critical thinking into your
lessons. It begins with vocabulary, one of the building blocks of language.
Vocabulary
In all vocabulary development, students must know a word in three ways: by its form, its
meaning, and its use.Criticalthinking takes this concept even further. Students should know
a word as it relates to other words. For example, let’s say that you are teaching students
the following lexical set about forms of transportation:
bicycle sailboat
airplane hot air balloon
rocket subway train
cruise ship bus
taxi skateboard
Once your students have a solidunderstanding of the above words, I’d suggestthefollowing
activity:
1. Divide the class into groups of four students.
2. Ask student groups to list the above forms of transportation in order
from slowest to fastest.
3. Ask each student group to discuss their list with another group.

17. This activity, as simple as it sounds, involves lots of logic and critical thinking. For example,
students may decide that a skateboard is probably the slowest form of transportation on
the list. However, it gets a bit more difficult after that. Is a bicycle faster than a sailboat? It
depends on the wind speed. Therefore, does a sailboat move at the same speed as a hot air
balloon, since they both move with the wind? Does a taxi move faster than a subway train?
Sometimes, but then a taxi has to stop at intersections. How about a cruise ship? Perhaps
we can find the average speed of one on the Internet. Is a rocket the fastest form of
transportation? Yes, everyone agrees that it is.
The goal is actually NOT to arrive at a correct answer, but to get students to think more
deeply about words, what they represent, how they are each part of bigger systems, how
they relate to each other within those systems, and so on.
By doing so,students arerequired to useallof their languageskills intheprocess. Thelesson
is no longer about memorization and simple meaning. It has transcended this and become
an experience. Students are much more likelyto remember and use thesevocabulary words
after such an activity.
Of course, any number of vocabulary sets can be used, with a variety of other critical
thinking activities. For example:
1.Thelexicalsetis“inventions”
Activity One: List the words on a timeline in the order in which they were invented.
Activity Two: List the words again in the order of importance to humans.
2.Thelexicalsetis“sports”
Activity One: List the words in a Venn Diagram, dividing sports into those that can be
played indoors only, outdoors only, and both indoors and outdoors.
Activity Two: List the words again in the order of the amount of equipment needed to play
them.
3.Thelexicalsetis“adjectives”
Activity One: List the words under the headings of Positive, Negative, and Neutral.
Activity Two: List the words in a Venn Diagram, dividing the adjectives into those that can
describe people, things, or both.
As mentioned before, get students into groups to collaborate and to achieve the goals of
each activity. Then, get groups talking together to discuss their choices.
Thesetypes of activities areespeciallyhelpful as students later create sentences using these
words. After all, they’ve had a chance to explore the vocabulary more deeply with their
fellow classmates.
In coming blogs, we’ll discuss many more ways to include critical thinking in your lessons.
Until then, Happy Teaching!