The document provides an overview of key elements of describing language, including: 1. Sentence constructions such as subject, verb, object, complement, and adverbials. 2. Parts of speech like nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions. 3. Verb forms including tense, aspect, voice, and types. It discusses the forms and uses of these various linguistic elements to describe language.

1. Becoming a
Friends Teacher

2. Session 1
Teachers and Learners

3. What makes a good teacher?

4. A good teacher
Ability to give interesting classes
Use (the full range of) their personality
Desire to empathize with students
Treat all students equally
Correct without offending
Know students’ names

5. Teacher-Student relationship
Care about students’ learning

6. How should teachers
talk to students?

7. Teacher Talk
Interaction  crucial skill
‘Rough-tune’ the language
Empathy
Physical movement

8. Comprehensible language

9. How should teachers
give instructions?

10. Giving instructions
Rules:
As simple as possible
Logical
Check students have understood
a student explains the activity
someone shows how it works
a student translates

11. Clear and well staged

12. Who should talk in class?

13. TTT and STT
Maximize STT and minimize TTT
Good TTT – comprehensible input
Language acquisition – TTT works!
Common sense and experience

14. Get the balance right!

15. What are the best
kinds of lesson?

16. Best lessons
Predictable classes  Student boredom
Teachers need to violate their behavior patterns
Starting point for student involvement
Different tasks during a lesson
Variety Anarchy

17. Balance predictability and surprise

18. How important is it to follow
a pre-arranged plan?

19. Pre-arranged plan
Variety with flexibility
‘Abandon the plan’
React quickly to unplanned events
Plans are only prototypes

20. Good teachers are flexible!

21. Why is it difficult to describe
a good learner?

22. Good learners
Students bring unique personalities
‘Practice makes perfect’ – Does it?
Doing homework – best student?

23. Encourage habits in students

24. How important is the
students’ motivation?

25. Students’ motivation
World War II – successful language learning experience
They were highly motivated
They really wanted to learn
They had powerful reasons (fear of failure)
Integrative vs. Instrumental motivation
Teachers provoke interest and involvement
Real motivation comes from within

26. Tell me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn!

27. Who is responsible
for learning?

28. Responsibility for learning
Self-study / Self-access center
Students take responsibility for their own learning
Good learners don’t wait to be taught
Learning: teacher-student partnership
Start gradually and encourage student autonomy
Teachers should choose the right kind of task

29. Encourage the practice of self-study

30. What characteristics do good
classroom learners share?

31. Good learners’ characteristics
Willingness to listen
Willingness to experiment
Willingness to ask questions
Willingness to think about how to learn
Willingness to accept correction

32. Create a positive atmosphere

33. What’s special about
teaching adults?

34. Teaching adults
Longer history of learning experience
Opinions about teaching and learning
More nervous of learning
High degree of anxiety
Can be disruptive and exhausting
Life experience

35. Teaching adults
View the importance of learning
Greater attention span
Few discipline problems – immediate cooperation
Learning doesn’t need to be camouflaged
Use entertaining and enjoyable activities

36. Balance serious and fun moments

37. What are the different levels?

38. Learning levels
Basic distinction:
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced

39. Learning levels
beginners false elementary lower intermediate upper advanced
beginners intermediate intermediate

40. The CEF
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
beginners false elementary lower intermediate upper advanced
beginners intermediate intermediate

41. Learning levels
Beginners – success and failure are easy to see
Teacher has a part in students’ success
Intermediate – the plateau effect
Give students more challenging tasks
Advanced – clear evidence of progress
Encourage students to take more responsibility

42. How should we teach
the different levels?

43. Teaching levels
Appropriacy
Level of language
Teacher’s behavior
Activities depend on students’ language level

44. Choose language and
activities appropriately

45. Conclusions
Session 1

46. Session 2
Classroom Management

47. How should teachers use their
physical presence in class?

48. Teachers’ physical presence
It plays a large part in classroom management
Physical characteristics and habits into the classroom
Issues to consider:
Proximity – how close do you want to be?
Appropriacy – create a friendly atmosphere
Movement – move around to some extent
Contact – watching/listening as carefully as teaching

49. Consider your physical approach
and personality in the class

50. How should teachers use their
voices in class?

51. Teachers’ voice
Teacher’s most important instrument
Issues to think about:
Audibility/Volume – everyone should hear
Variety – vary quality and volume
Conservation – take care of your voice

52. Different and varied voices
More interesting classes

53. How should teachers mark
the stages of a lesson?

54. Marking lesson stages
A play starts with the rise of a curtain!
Make it clear when you start and finish
Changes of direction  get the students’ attention
clap hands / speak loudly / raise hands
Provide closure – summaries / predictions

55. Successful teachers promote a
feeling of completeness

56. What’s the best seating
arrangement for a class?

57. Seating arrangement

58. Seating arrangement
Orderly rows
Students and teacher can see each other
It makes lecturing easy – eye contact
It makes discipline easier
The teacher can easily walk around
It implies working with the whole class
Keep everyone involved

59. Seating arrangement
Circles and horseshoes
For smaller classes
Teacher at the open end (horseshoe)
Less dominating position (circle)
The Round Table – King Arthur (equality)
Lower the teacher-student barriers
All students can see each other

60. Seating arrangement
Separate tables
Teacher walks around monitoring and helping
The atmosphere is less hierarchical
Students gain more responsibility
Consider students’ preferences
It makes ‘whole-class’ teaching more difficult

61. Always consider advantages
and disadvantages!

62. What different student
groupings can teachers use?

63. Student groupings
Whole class
Students focus on the teacher and the task in hand
Groupwork and pairwork
Cooperative activities / Greater independence
Problems: students domination / disruption / use of L1
Solowork
Students work at their own speed, as individuals

64. Use different class groupings for
different activities

65. How can teachers evaluate
their lessons?

66. Evaluating lessons
Ask students for feedback (spoken or written)
Invite a colleague into the classroom
Have a lesson recorded on film
Ask students to give suggestions periodically
Keep a record of students’ achievements

67. Experiment and Evaluate

68. Conclusions
Session 2

69. Session 3
Describing Learning and Teaching

70. What do we know about
language learning?

71. Language Learning
Children learn a language by exposure (unconsciously)
Most adults can learn a language without studying it
Children and adults share certain similarities:
Exposure, but little production
Motivation to communicate
Opportunities to use the language
Natural language acquisition in the classroom (???)

72. What elements are necessary
for successful language
learning in classrooms?

73. Elements for successful learning
Different kinds of exposure (classroom vs. ‘picking up’)
Motivation, exposure and use
Three elements (present in nearly all classes)
ESA
Engage
Study
Activate

74. ENGAGE
Arouse Ss’ interest, involving their emotions
Allow ‘fun’ moments that lead to better learning
Activities and materials (games, music, discussions,
stimulating pictures, dramatic stories, etc.)
Engage Ss with the topic/exercise/language
Engaged Ss learn better!

75. STUDY
Focus on language and how it is constructed
Different styles – Ts explain grammar, Ss discover
grammar, Ss work in groups
Examples: sound problems, 3rd person ‘s’, inviting
patterns, use of pronouns, parapraph organization,
‘make’ and ‘do’, etc.
Blend acquisition and Study activities

76. ACTIVATE
Ss use the language freely
Ss try out real language use with little restriction
Exercises: role-plays, debates and discussions,
advertisement design, ‘Describe and Draw’, story and
poem writing, writing in groups, etc.
Ss need to have a chance to Activate their knowledge

77. The ESA elements need to be
present in most lessons

78. How do the three elements of
ESA fit together in lesson
sequences?

79. ESA Lesson Sequences
Straight Arrows:
Engage – Modern robots. Actions. Like them? Why (not)?
Study – Particular robot. ‘can’ / ‘can’t’. Pronunciation.
Grammar.
Activate – Groups design a robot. Presentation.

80. Straight Arrows
ESA
Engage Study Activate
Straight Arrows Sequence

81. Straight Arrows
It works for certain structures
It doesn’t work for all learning styles
It works better for lower levels
It’s not appropriate for more advanced levels

82. ESA Lesson Sequences
Boomerang:
Engage – Discussion on job interviews. Ss get interested.
Activate – T describes an interview situation. Ss plan
questions. Ss role-play the interviews. T monitors.
Study – T works on troubles. Comparison for discovery.
Controlled practice.
Activate – Ss role-play another job interview.

83. Boomerang
EAS(A)
1
Engage Study Activate
Boomerang Sequence 2 3

84. Boomerang
Ts answer the needs of Ss
Show Ss they have a need to use language
Transparency – what Ss need/what they are taught
Ts need to find good material based on the problems
More appropriate for intermediate/advanced Ss

85. ESA Lesson Sequences
Patchwork:
Engage – Picture of sunbathers. Comments.
Activate – Ss act out a dialogue: doctor – sunburn victim.
Activate – Text on different people and effect the sun has on their skin. Ss
say how they feel about it.
Study – Vocabulary and pronunciation.
Activate – Ss describe themselves as in the text.
Study – Relative clause (I’m the type of person who...). Ss practice.
Engage – T discusses advertisements.
Activate – Ss write a radio commercial for a sunscreen. Ss record.

86. Patchwork
EAASASEA 1
(etc.)
6 4
Engage Study Activate
3 2
5
Patchwork Sequence 7

87. Patchwork
Very common at intermediate/advanced levels
Reflection of the way we learn
Balance between Study and Activation
Balance between language and topic
Flexibility

88. What teaching models
have influenced current
teaching practice?

89. Teaching Models
Grammar-translation – grammar analysis
Audio-lingualism – habit formation
PPP – straight arrows sequence
TBL – emphasis on the task – boomerang sequence
CLT – functions and exposure – patchwork sequence

90. Promote students’ success by
using the ESA elements in
different and varied sequences

91. Conclusions
Session 3

92. Session 4
Describing language

93. Sentence constructions

94. Sentence constructions
Subject, Object, Verb, Complement and Adverbial
Complements (be, seem, look etc.) – relates to subject:
She seems happy. / They are Irish. / He looks tired.
Subject + Verb (+ Object):
He laughed. (intransitive) / He read the book. (transitive)
Objects (direct and indirect)
She sang a song. (DO) / She sang me a song. (IO)

95. Sentence constructions
Adverbial (phrases) – complement the verb:
He lived in Paris. (place)
They arrived late / at night. (time)
She sings beautifully / like an angel. (manner)
Multi-clause sentences:
The girl met the woman who was standing at the canal
and they went to a café and had a meal, which they
enjoyed very much.

96. Parts of speech

97. Parts of speech
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Determiners
Prepositions
Pronouns
Conjunctions
Exclamations

98. Noun types
Countable and uncountable
Weather, doubt, money, people, friends, coins, etc.
Plural nouns, singular verbs
Darts is a popular game. / The news is depressing.
Collective nouns
Familly, team, government (either singular or plural)
Compound nouns
Walking stick, city hall, boyfriend, etc.
Noun phrases
The man with the hat... / The girls I met last night...

99. Verb types
Auxiliary verbs and Modal auxiliary verbs
be, do, have
shall, should, will, would, can, could, may, might, must, ought
Main verbs – main meaning
Phrasal verbs – verb + adverb and/or preposition
run over, put off, take after, get away with, put up with, etc.

100. Verb forms
Present / Past / Simple / Continuous (Progressive)
simple continuous
present Mr. D’Arcy is in the hall. What’s happening?
I love it here. I’m not listening.
past She said goodbye. He was waiting at the gate.
She cried. They were listening to the radio.
She bought a new phone.

101. Verb forms
Form and meaning
What are you doing tomorrow?
I arrive at the house and knock on the door... (storytelling)

102. Verb forms
Perfect verbs
simple continuous
present I have read Othello. I’ve been reading Othello.
They haven’t arrived yet. They haven’t been traveling for long.
past He had studied English as a child. She’d been living in Argentina for years.
She hadn’t talked to him before. They hadn’t been talking for more than
a minute when...

103. Verb forms
Participles
Present – taking, talking, happening, going, etc.
Past – taken, talked, happened, gone, etc.
Regular and irregular verbs
Regular – talked, happened, laughed, etc.
Irregular – ran, went, bought, saw, etc.

104. Verb forms
Active and passive
A scene of utter chaos confronted her.
She was confronted by a scene of utter chaos.
Verb complementation
(to +) infinitive – I can swim. / I like to swim (2 possibilities)
Participle – I enjoy running.
‘that’ – She suggested that I trained as a teacher.

105. Pronouns
Personal pronouns
subject object reflexive possessive
I me myself mine
you you yourself yours
he him himself his
she her herself hers
it it itself its
we us ourselves ours
you you yourselves yours
they them themselves theirs

106. Pronouns
Relative pronouns (who, whose, where, which, that)
The man who walked into my office was tall and blond.
She gave me a pen that I still use.
That’s the school where I taught my first class.
That’s the woman whose courage saved her child.
The saxophone is the instrument which makes the nicest
sound.

107. Adjectives
Comparative and superlative
-(i)er/-(i)est; more/most; irregular
adjective comparative superlative
good better best
big bigger biggest
nice nicer nicest
young younger youngest
silly sillier silliest
clever cleverer/more clever cleverest/most clever
interesting more interesting most interesting

108. Adjectives
Adjective order
size color origin material purpose noun
the small purple German silk evening dress
the large ( ) ( ) wooden ( ) crate

109. Adverbs
Time – early, late, yesterday morning
Manner – well, quickly, fiercely
Place – upstairs, in Cambridge, in hell
Adverb position – usually at the end of sentences
Modifying adverbs – a wonderfully physical performance,
an unusually large cucumber, a really fascinating film

110. Prepositions
At, in, on, for, of, with, etc.
Usually before nouns or at the end of a clause
The book’s on the shelf.
It’s not something I’m very interested in.
Particular prepositions
anxious about, dream about/of, good at, depend on...
Prepositions and adverbs
She climbed down the ladder. (P) / She sat down. (A)

111. Articles
Determiners – the, a, an, this, that, these, those, some, all of
Definite article – the
Indefinite article – a/an

112. Conjunctions and conditionals
Conjunctions join two clauses (and, but, so, because...)
Nicky said goodnight and walked out of the house.
Conditional sentences (if)
Present, Past and Future
Real and hypothetical
First, Second and Third

113. Conjunctions and conditionals
real hypothetical
Talking about If you pay by cash, you get If I had a dog, I’d take it for
the present a discount. walks.
Talking about If you work hard, you’ll If I won the lottery, I’d
the future pass the exam. travel around the world.
Talking about If it was very warm, we ate If I’d known about the rail
the past outside. strike, I would have come
by car.

114. Forms and Meanings

115. Forms and meanings
One form, many meanings
book, beat, can, I’m talking to the president
One meaning, many forms
I’ll see you tomorrow. / I’m going to win the race. / I can get to
you by tomorrow evening. / He arrives at home on Sunday.
intelligent, bright, brainy, clever, smart, etc.

116. FORM MEANING

117. Language Functions

118. Language Functions
Purpose you wish to achieve
Inviting
Apologizing
Agreeing
Giving advice
Asking for information, etc.

119. Students need to know how to
perform functions!

120. Words together: collocation

121. Collocation
‘How was your lesson?’ ‘A complete disaster!’
‘A total disaster!’ / ‘An utter disaster!’
‘A full disaster!’ / ‘A whole disaster!’
Common/good sense, but not bad sense
Making the bed, but not making the housework

122. Speaking and Writing

123. Pronunciation

124. Pronunciation
Sounds (phonemes)
Stress – different symbols
Pitch – the level at which you speak
Intonation – the music of speech

125. Conclusions
Session 4

126. Session 5
Teaching language

127. What does language
study consist of?

128. Language study
Students need to:
Be exposed to the language
Understand its meaning
Understand its form (how it is constructed)
Practice it

129. How should we expose
students to language?

130. Exposure
Example 1: ‘It’s a pen’ (complete beginners)
Example 2: invitations (elementary)
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Example 4: ‘protection’ (upper intermediate)

131. How can we help students to
understand meaning?

132. Understanding meaning
Example 1: ‘It’s a pen’ (complete beginners)
Example 2: invitations (elementary)
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Example 4: ‘protection’ (upper intermediate)

133. How can we help students to
understand language form?

134. Understanding language form
Example 1: ‘It’s a pen’ (complete beginners)
Example 2: invitations (elementary)
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Example 4: ‘protection’ (upper intermediate)

135. How should students
practice language?

136. Practicing language
Example 1: ‘It’s a pen’ (complete beginners)
Example 2: invitations (elementary)
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Example 4: ‘protection’ (upper intermediate)

137. Why do students make
mistakes?

138. Making mistakes
Part of learning
Interference from L1 – ‘false friends’ (assist, pretend, lunch)
Grammar issues (article usage, word order)
Developmental errors – ‘I have to go’ / ‘I must to go’
Mistakes – errors / slips

139. All students make mistakes as a
natural and useful way of learning.

140. How should teachers
correct students?

141. Correcting students
It is a vital part of the teacher’s role
Carefulness, sensitivity and appropriacy
See if Ss can correct themselves
Ask a colleague to help
Example

142. Where do language study
activities fit in teaching
sequences?

143. Study activities
Example 1: ‘It’s a pen’ (complete beginners)
Example 2: invitations (elementary)
Example 3: comparatives (lower intermediate)
Example 4: ‘protection’ (upper intermediate)

144. Conclusions
Session 5

145. Session 6
Reading and Writing

146. Why teach reading?

147. Why teach reading?
Careers, study purposes, pleasure
Good exposure to English
Good models for English writing
Opportunities to study language

148. What kind of reading should
students do?

149. Kinds of reading
Authenticity
Balance real English and Ss’ capabilities and interests
Consider topics and types of reading
Who are the students?

150. What reading skills should
students acquire?

151. Reading Skills
Scanning – particular information
Skimming – general idea
Reading for pleasure
Reading for detailed comprehension

152. What are the principles
behind the teaching of
reading?

153. Principles
1. Reading is not a passive skill.
2. Ss need to be engaged with what they’re reading.
3. Ss should be encouraged to respond to the content of a
reading text, not just to the language.
4. Prediction is a major factor in reading.
5. Match the task to the topic.
6. Good teachers exploit reading texts to the full.

154. What do reading sequences
look like?

155. Why teach writing?

156. Why teach writing?
Reinforcement – visual demonstration of language
Language development – it helps us to learn
Learning style – produce language more slowly
Writing as a skill – teacher’s job!

157. What kind of writing should
students do?

158. Kinds of writing
Consider Ss’ age, interests and level.
Make sure Ss have enough language
Common everyday styles
Consider usefulness and enjoyability for mixed groups
Motivation should ALWAYS be present!

159. What do writing sequences
look like?

160. How should teachers
correct writing?

161. Correcting writing
Red ink, underlinings and crossings-out?
Demotivating effect
Balance accuracy/truth and sensitivity/sympathy
Avoid ‘over-correction’:
Correct specific mistakes (pronunciation, grammar, etc.)
Use a correction code
Always write a comment at the end

162. Correcting writing
Two last points:
Correcting is important, but time-consuming
Ensure Ss understand the problem and encourage re-writing

163. What can be done about
handwriting?

164. Handwriting
Personal matter – reflects character
Word processors – less motivation to write
Insist on neatness and legibility

165. How does writing fit into ESA?

166. Conclusions
Session 6

167. Session 7
Speaking and Listening

168. What kind of speaking should
students do?

169. What kind of speaking?
Activate exercises
Ss using any and all the language
There should be a task to complete
Ss should want to complete the task

170. Why encourage students to do
speaking tasks?

171. Encouraging students
Rehearsal
Ss ‘get the feel’ of what communicating really feels like
Feedback
Ts see how well/badly their class is doing
Ss see how easy/difficult a speaking task is
Engagement
Activities can and should be highly motivating

172. What do speaking activities
look like?

173. How should teachers correct
speaking?

174. Correcting speaking
Correction is different during an Activate exercise.
Constant interruption ‘destroys’ the purpose of the activity.
Watch and listen, note things down
Ask for Ss’ opinions, then give feedback
Make the mistakes impersonal

175. What else should teachers do
during a speaking activity?

176. What else?
Get involved, but don’t dominate!
Intervene when necessary
Prompting is often necessary
Consider sympathy and sensitivity!

177. How do speaking activities fit
into ESA ?

178. Why teach listening?

179. Why teach listening?
Hear different varieties and accents
Ts should judge the number of varieties
Treat English as a global language
Recordings expose Ss to spoken English
The more Ss do it, the better they become!

180. What kind of listening should
students do?

181. Kinds of listening
Authentic / Realistic material
Consider engagement and motivation
Consider Ss’ age, level and interest
Different kinds of recordings
Announcements, conversations, telephone exchanges, lectures,
‘plays’, news broadcasts, interviews, radio programs, stories
read aloud etc.

182. What’s special about listening?

183. Listening
The same speed for everybody (panic!)
Encourage ‘general understanding’ first
Unique features of spoken language
Incomplete utterances (Dinner?)
Repetitions (I know, I know what you’re talking about.)
Hesitations (Yes, well, uhm, yes, possibly, but, er...)
Ensure that Ss are well prepared

184. What are the principles behind
the teaching of listening?

185. Principles
1. The CD player is just as important as the CD.
2. Preparation is vital.
3. Once will not be enough.
4. Ss should be encouraged to respond to the content of a
listening, not just to the language.
5. Different listening stages demand different listening tasks.
6. Good teachers exploit listening texts to the full.

186. What do listening sequences
look like?

187. Where does video fit in?

188. Video
Consider age, level, interest, task difficulty and motivation.
Video is richer – speakers can be seen (body language)
Watching videos is not an excuse for TV watching!
Play the video without sound
Play the video but cover the picture
Freeze the picture
Divide the class in half

189. Conclusions
Session 7

190. Session 8
Using coursebooks

191. What are the different options
for coursebook use?

192. Coursebook use
Consider language, content and sequencing.
Four alternatives:
Omit – inappropriacy problems
Replace – interest and appropriacy
Add – extend Ss’ engagement
Adapt – teacher’s style

193. So why use coursebooks at all?

194. How should teachers choose
coursebooks?