Практика устной и письменной речи английского языка

Методика преподавания иностранных языков

 

1. Методика как теория обучения иностранному языку: предмет методики, методические понятия, методы исследования.
2. Основные цели, содержание и принципы обучения иностранному языку на современном этапе.
3. Основные средства обучения иностранному языку на современном этапе.
4. Основные этапы формирования иноязычных навыков и умений.
5. Система упражнений в обучении иностранным языкам.
6. Самостоятельная работа в процессе обучения иностранному языку.
7. Методика обучения произношению в средней школе.
8. Обучение грамматике в средней школе.
9. Обучение иноязычной лексике в средней школе.
10. Пути совершенствования обучения иноязычной монологической речи в средней школе.
11. Пути совершенствования обучения иноязычной диалогической речи в средней школе.
12. Обучение аудированию иноязычной речи, как виду иноязычной деятельности.
13. Методика формирования технических навыков чтения.
14. Методика обучения чтению на иностранном языке в IV-VIII классах.
15. Методика обучения чтению на иностранном языке в IX-XI классах.
16. Обучение технике письма: овладение графикой, каллиграфией, орфографией.
17. Методика обучения письменной речи на иностранном языке, основные виды письменных работ и их характеристика.
18. Типы, структура и планирование уроков иностранного языка в школе.
19. Особенности и методическое содержание современного урока иностранного языка.
20. Кабинет иностранного языка в средней школе.
21. Педагогическое общение на уроке и приемы активизации иноязычного общения учащихся.
22. Методика работы с учебным фильмом (диафильмом, видеофильмом, кинофильмом) в обучении иностранным языкам.
23. Методика использования игровых приемов при обучении иностранному языку в средней школе.
24. Способы создания и развития мотивации изучения иностранного языка у школьников.
25. Контроль и учет знаний, навыков и умений в системе управления учебной деятельностью учащихся по овладению иностранным языкам.
26. Методика организации и проведения внеклассной и внешкольной работы по иностранному языку.
27. Методика использования технических средств при обучении иностранному языку.
28. Коммуникативный метод обучения иностранному языку как способ обучения иноязычному общению.
29. Нетрадиционные формы организации урока по иностранному языку в средней школе.
30. Тестовые формы контроля в обучении иностранному языку в средней школе.

 

 

Практика устной и письменной речи английского языка

1. Travelling

Why do people travel? It is now possible to travel to most parts of the world easily. What are the good and bad points of it? What do you enjoy and not enjoy about travelling? What means of transport do you prefer when you travel? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the four forms of travel: by air, by sea, by rail, by road? Which foreign countries would you like to visit? Which parts of your own country would you like to visit one day?

2. Describing people – Appearance

What is your ideal of a handsome man or a beautiful woman? What is the ideal human form? (Consider face, hair, eyes and complexion, height and build or figure, general appearance). Has the notion of the ideal human form changed over the centuries? Who do you consider to be the most attractive man/woman of all time? Comment on the implications of the sayings “Appearances are deceitful”, “Handsome is as handsome does”, “Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”. Do you think your build sometimes determines your character? Do you think our appearance reflects the life that we have led? Can you think of examples from literature? How do you solve your beauty problems? Do you watch your weight?

3. Describing people – Character and Personality

What characteristics do you consider to be more attractive and less attractive (in terms of intellectual ability, attitudes towards life, attitudes towards other people)? What qualities do you think are needed in a good friend, hoped for in a parent? How do you think your character has changed or developed over the past five years? Are there any aspects of your personality you still don’t like? How would you say your national character is different from that of the British? How much truth is there in stereotyped national characteristics?

4. Health and medicine

What are the health hazards of modern life? What are the maladies of the 21^st century? Are people becoming more health-conscious? Have your own attitudes to health care changed at all? What are the rules for staying healthy and keeping fit? What is the difference between western medicine and holistic medicine? What do you know about the alternative approaches to medicine (Acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy etc.)?

5. Buildings and Homes

What do you like and what don’t like about the place where you live? What are the differences between homes in this country and Britain? What things would you like to have done to improve your room, flat or house? What is your dream house: location, style, the interior decoration, furnishings and fittings and the garden? How many people could live in the house? Who would they be? What are the advantages and drawbacks of living with your parents?

6. Food

What are the basic characteristics of our country’s cuisine? How is it different from the cooking of another country you know about? What is your favourite dish – how is it prepared? What is a balanced diet? How does diet affect your health? What do you consider to be “healthy” food and “unhealthy” food? What foods do you avoid because they are considered to be bad for you?  

 “We are what we eat”. Do you agree?

7. Books and Reading

Is reading important? Do you think the importance of reading is increasing or decreasing? Do you consider books as a means of relaxation, as a means of education or as a means of broadening your mind? What are the most successful writers in the U.K. and the U.S.A. today? What is your favourite book? Explain why you like the book, what it is about and why you recommend it to other readers. What message is the author communicating to the reader? Why do you read / not read thrillers, detective stories, poetry, romantic novels, sciences fiction, classical works of literature? What is your favourite genre? What are its typical characters, style and content? What is the future of reading? Will TV / Internet replace reading books?

8. Work. Job Satisfaction

How do you apply for a job? How to create a good impression at a job interview? What’s important in a job for you? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What job suits you? Why? What attributes help one to be successful in one’s career? What are the career prospects for language students? What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching as a career?

9. Customs, Celebrations and Holidays

What are the most common British and American customs, traditions and celebrations? Do they have roots in the cultural heritage of the people or do they emphasize the modern problems and aims? Do you believe that customs are fraught with superstitions? What is the difference between customs and superstitions? What are the most common superstitions? What is their role in everyday life?

10. Philosophy on Life

Which is nearest to your philosophy on life: “Go where life takes you”, “Do it now”, “Life is not a dress rehearsal”? Why? What are your short-term and long-term ambitions? What things contribute to success? Is it worth making sacrifices to become successful? What things are important to your happiness: Marriage? Good health? Achieving your ambitions? Why? What are the most common causes of happiness? What are the eternal values of life? What is the relation between morality and religion? Can world religions provide us with answers to the most essential questions of human existence? What moral guidance can you get when you ponder these vital questions: How can you live a meaningful life? What shall you be loyal to?

11. Parenthood: Bringing up children

What is stronger, “nature” or “nurture”? Can “hothousing” produce “better people”? Would you bring up your child in this way? Should parents have high expectations of their children? How to make your child gifted? What are a “stimulating” parental style and a “supportive” parental style? What factors determine your child’s harmonious development?  

12. Ways of Learning

What are the rules for using your brain more effectively? Are men and women’s thought processes different? Is there any real difference in male and female levels of intelligence? Does success in studying depend on how clever you are or on your organization of time? Have you learned to manage you study time? Are you primarily a left-brain or right-brain learner? What are the ways you prefer to learn: do you have visual preferences, auditory preferences or tactile preferences? Does a better understanding of yourself as a learner can help you determine some of the ways you are best able to learn? Do you think that the potential of human brain is unlimited?

13. War and Peace

What are the most common causes of war? Do you believe that aggression and violence are innate in men? What were the origins of the Cold War? Has the United Nations been successful in preserving world peace and solving major problems facing the world: proliferation, terrorism? What are the roots of terrorism? What is the ideology of the most notorious terrorist organizations – ISIS, Al-Qaeda? What is being done to contain terrorism? 

14. Courts and Trial

Why does a person become a criminal? Does the environment help to create the criminal? What are the most common criminal offences and civil offences? Which are most common in Belarus? “Crime doesn’t pay” is a well-known English saying. Can you think of any news stories that either prove or disprove this saying? Which aspects of the law seem unsatisfactory to you? Comment on the saying “The Punishment should fit the crime”. Can you think of court cases where the law has been unjust? What is your attitude to capital punishment? In which ways is the mentality of a criminal different from that of ordinary people? What are the causes of juvenile delinquency? What is the way to combat juvenile delinquency?  

15. Love and Marriage. Family Matters

Are you a romantic person? Do you believe in love? What types of love do you know about? Do dating customs differ in different countries? At what age is it customary for people to get married? What are the alternatives to marriage? What are the advantages or disadvantages of cohabiting relationships? Why do marriages break down? Why is the divorce rate very high nowadays? Can you agree with the saying “Marriages are made in heaven?” What are the rules for a happy marriage? Family life is less important in the modern world than it was in the past. Do you agree?

16. Mass Media

What are the most common electronic and print media? What are the functions of the media? What are the most influential British and American newspapers? Why cannot we do without radio and television? What TV / radio programmes do you like / dislike? What qualities do you look for in a TV programme? What genres dominate prime-time viewing? What is your favourite news programme? Why are soap operas so popular? What is your attitude to TV commercials? Does television have negative influence on children, on family life? What advantages, if any, does television have over radio? Why do people prefer watching television to going to the cinema?

 

17. Cinema

What is the role of cinema in life? What types of films do you know? What films appeal to you most? Why? If the task of a film is to reproduce real life, should everything we see be reproduced? Should films about social evils and human vices be made? What is a film star? What does the success of a film depend on? Give a review for a film you have seen. Consider the genre, direction, cast, screenplay, setting, acting, photography, special effects, sound effects, general impression.

18. Science and Technology

What is the purpose of scientific research? Why have most important inventions and discoveries been made by men? Do you think this will continue in the future? What aspects of science or technology have a direct effect on your life? How is learning and studying changing because of technological advances? What are some of the global problems caused by technological progress? Is it worth spending huge amounts of money on space exploration and genetic research at the expense of social programmes? How can you evaluate the results of technological progress? Are they always for the benefit of mankind? 

19. Young People Today

What are the distinguishing features of the Millenium generation? What are their typical attitudes and values? What problems do young people face today? How easy is it to get education and start a career? Do you think internet addiction is a major problem? Do you often use social networks as a means of communication? What are the roots of juvenile delinquency? What are the similarities and differences in the lifestyles and interests of the young people in Belarus and Britain/USA(leisure time, fashion styles, music styles, youth subcultures – rockers, punks, Goths, rappers, ravers)?

20. Theatre

Why do people go to the theatre? What is the role of the theatre in the lives of people and in your own life? Why is the theatre sometimes alluded to as a “synthetic” art? What is a play: amusement, instruction, just a story enacted on the stage? Describe a production you have seen: the sets, the costumes, the acting, the direction.

21. Music in our Life

What role does music play in your life? What is the purpose of music in your opinion? In what genres did the world music develop? What is meant by the terms classical or serious music, pop, rock, jazz and contemporary music? How can you explain the popularity of pop / rock? What is your favourite instrument? Can you play it? Does it help you to understand music? What is your favourite music (singer, group)? Do you believe that music may be used as the lines of communication between people?  

22. Sports and Games

What are the most popular sports nowadays? What is the most popular game in your country (in Britain, in the USA)? What summer / winter sports do you prefer? Why? Many sports ate exhausting and often painful. Why do you think people accept and even enjoy this? Violent and dangerous sports should be banned by law, shouldn’t they? Why do you like / dislike watching sports events on TV? Why do you think people’s interest in watching sport is so great?

 

23. Painting

What are the most famous schools of painting and their leading painters? Can Leonardo da Vinci be considered the greatest artist of the Renaissance? What are his most famous pictures? What is your attitude towards classical and modern art? What do you know about the Byelorussian art of painting? Who are your favourite painters? Why do you like their works? What is your favourite genre of painting? Comment on the technical side of your favourite painting: its genre, subject, composition, form, technique, style, light and shade effects, and its emotional impact. What was the latest art exhibition that you visited? Have you been to any well-known art galleries / museums in this country / abroad? What kind of pictures would you like to have decorating your sitting-room?

24. Clothes and Fashion

Do you think “style” and “fashion” are synonyms? Do you think clothes reveal character? How fashion-conscious are you? What is your favourite style in clothes? Do you think it is psychologically important to be well-dressed? Would you agree that new fashions are created for the commercial exploitation of women? What are the attitudes to fashion in different cultures? Are the British fashion-conscious? Are Belarussians fashion-conscious?

25. Shopping

Do you like shopping? Why? Why not? What kind of shopper are you? What do you know about the art of the buying? Have you ever bought a pig in a poke? Whom do you consider an extravagant shopper? What types of shops do you know? Do you prefer to do your shopping in specialist shops or big stores and supermarkets? Why? Do you prefer self-service or counter service? 

26. The Ideal Teacher Profile

What makes a good foreign language teacher? Which is more important: linguistic skills/ knowledge of the subject or professional, knowledge and classroom management skills – e.g. organisation, lesson cohesion, pacing of activities, teacher-student interaction? Do you think that a good teacher is the one who has an inborn gift for teaching / a vocational call or can the skill of teaching be taught? What qualities can a language teacher acquire through education and training? What are the most important elements of professional competence: the ability to plan and execute lessons, to develop supplementary materials and tests, the awareness of current approaches and teaching techniques, positive attitude towards continuous professional development, something else? What personal qualities are essential in a language teacher: a good sense of humour, care for people, a charismatic personality, dedication to the job, enthusiasm, ability to empathise with students, intelligence, determination, flexibility? Why? What do you enjoy most about teaching?

27. The Good Learner Profile

What makes a good learner? How important is the student’s motivation – integrative or instrumental? What characteristics should good learners share if they are to communicate successfully in a foreign language? What are the effective learner attitudes and strategies for learning English – should learners be actively involved in the learning process; should they be prepared to take responsibility for their own learning; should they show positive attitude, be sociable and outgoing? What are the different levels of language proficiency that students can reach?

 

28. Classroom Management

What skills of classroom management are necessary for a teacher to give interesting lessons? Why are the three elements – engage, study, activate – necessary for successful teaching and language learning in class? How should a teacher choose activities appropriate for teaching different student levels? What are the appropriate reading/ writing/ listening tasks for different language levels? How should a teacher give instructions? What is the right distribution of student talk/ teacher talk in class? How should teachers correct mistakes? In what way has the Communicative Language Teaching influenced current teaching practice? Do you think teaching practice as an integral component of teacher training?

29. School Education

What differences can you see between a British school and a Belarusian school? Compare the strengths and weaknesses of Britain’s educational system with Belarusian educational system. What kind of school education is best: state or private, selective or non-selective? What subjects should be compulsory in school? Why? What are the ideal school priorities? Should school teach you how to deal with real life when you leave school, develop your character and personality, help each child to develop fully their talents or something else? What is the role of foreign languages in human communication? 

30. Nature and Environment

What are the most crucial environmental problems in the world today? List issues related to air, water, soil pollution, industrial pollution, overpopulation etc. What are their effects on the environment? What are the causes of the global warming and what are its possible consequences? What environmental pressure groups do you know of? What are their aims and methods? What are the successes won by them over the past two decades? How much of the damage caused to the natural world is likely to be controlled or reversed? If so, will it happen due to scientific discoveries or political and cultural changes?