Teaching pronunciation

Key terminology

Standard pronunciation

Sounds – vowels and consonants

intonation the way your voice goes up and down as you speak, especially at the end of what you say.

Stress – which words, or which parts of a word, you say loudest and longest

drill A technique teachers use for encouraging learners to practise language. It involves guided repetition or practice.

In a choral drill the teacher says a word or sentence and the learners repeat it together as a class.

In an individual drill the teacher says a word or sentence and one learner repeats it.

In a substitution drill the teacher provides a sentence and a different word or phrase which the learner must

use (or substitute) in exactly the same structure, e.g.

Teacher: I bought a book. Pen.

Learner: I bought a pen.

In a transformation drill the teacher says a word or a sentence and the learner answers by changing the

sentence into a new grammatical structure, e.g.

Teacher: I bought a pen. Didn’t

Learner: I didn’t buy a pen.

Teacher: I went to the cinema. Didn’t

Learner: I didn’t go to the cinema.

Imitation tasks

Communicative tasks

Presentation

Presentation Presentation noun, present verb

1. When the teacher introduces new language usually by focusing on it, often by using the board and speaking to the

whole class.

2. When a learner or learners gives a talk to their class or group.

Practice

Controlled practice, restricted practice

When learners use the target language repeatedly and productively in situations in which they have little or no

choice of what language they use. The teacher and learners focus on accurate use of the target language.

Production

An approach to writing which involves analysing and then reproducing models of particular text types.

 

 

Teaching grammar

Key terminology

deductive learning Deductive learning involves teaching students a general principle followed by specific examples.

 

inductive learning I nductive Learning is a powerful strategy for helping students deepen their understanding of content and develop their inference and evidence-gathering skills.

 

discovery techniques The discovery technique is a method of teaching in which students are not directly presented with a target grammatical structure or rule. Instead, students are given content in which the target structure is used.

 

presentation of grammar structures the way to present grammar structures

 

controlled:: free practice of grammar material

 

Language interference in Grammar teaching

communicative task A classroom activity in which learners need to talk or write to one another to complete the activity.

error A mistake that a learner makes when trying to say something above their level of language or language processing.

A developmental error is an error made by a second language learner which could also be made by a

young person learning their mother tongue as part of their normal development, e.g. I goed there last week (I

went there last week).

A fossilised error is an error that has become a permanent feature of a learner’s language, the error has

become a habit. Fossilised errors cannot easily be corrected.

When a learner makes a slip they make a language mistake but they are able to correct themselves.

 

Mistake A mistake that a learner makes when trying to write something above their level of language or language processing.

 

Teaching listening

Key terminology

Receptive skill

When learners do not have to produce language; listening and reading are receptive skills.

Listening for gist

To read or listen to a text and understand the general meaning of it, without paying attention to specific details.

Top-down listening where the learner tries to understand what is happening even if she can't understand every phrase or sentence. The learner is trying to pick up key words, intonation, and other clues so as to make a guess at the meaning.