Teaching in low resource contexts by ibrahima Diallo

Teaching in low-resource contexts A methodology and training book Ndeye Bineta Mbodj, Abdou Dieng, Magatte Faye, Marie Frederic Pouye and Adrian Tennant

ISBN 978-0-86355-750-7 © British Council 2014 Design /E295 10 Spring Gardens London SW1A 2BN, UK www.britishcouncil.org

Authors Ndeye Bineta Mbodj Abdou Dieng Marie Frederic Pouye Magatte Faye Adrian Tennant

Editors Adrian Tennant Carolyn Tooth Smith

Course director Adrian Tennant

Course participants Benin

Mali

Benoit Ahle Lazare Allani Ogoutegbe

Youssosoupha Magassaouba Luc Diarra

Burkina Faso

Togo

Dramane Sawadogo Goro Souleymane

Akuetey Akuete

Cameroon Florence Muluh Gregory Obenson Ayuk

Cote dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ivoire Ble Emanuel Aliefe Poku Augustin

Gabon Bernard Bouassa Jean Clair Nguema Ndong

Guinea Conakry Issa Sylla Issiaga Bangoura

Senegal Marieme Sarr Ndeye Bineta Mbodj Gorgui Gueye Rokhaya Samb Sophie Diouf Yaye Binetou Mbaye Abdoulaye Ndiaye Abdou Dieng Adama Sidibe Adji Salimata Gueye Assietou Cisses Sarr Baba Ndate Kandji Djiby Diaw Fanta Konte Guita Toure Marie Frederic Pouye Magatte Faye

Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Unit 1: Key definitions ......................................................................................................................................................... 3 Unit 2: Materials from the teacher .................................................................................................................................. 6 Unit 3: Materials from around you ................................................................................................................................. 13 Unit 4: Large classes ......................................................................................................................................................... 17 Unit 5: Evaluating materials ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Unit 6: Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Appendix Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Bibliography and websites with additional resources .......................................................................................................... 32

Contents | 1

Introduction This book is the result of a Hornby Regional School (HRS) held in Dakar, Senegal between 21 and 25 October 2013. Thirty-two participants from nine Francophone West African countries attended the course and spent five days learning about materials’ development with a particular focus on low-resource contexts. At the end of the HRS, four of the participants stayed on for a few days and, with the help of the course director, Adrian Tennant, they have written this book. The objectives of the book are as follows: ■■

for teacher trainers to use with teachers in their areas

■■

to provide ideas for developing materials and making use of the resources around us

■■

to raise awareness of what is around us.

We hope that this book will be used as a resource by those who were lucky enough to have been able to attend and by the many teachers and trainers in the region who would have liked to attend, but did not have the opportunity. The book has been designed to be as practical as possible – taking the theory of materials’ development and making it hands-on. Within most units you will find the following structure: ■■

brief explanation

■■

task

■■

commentary

■■

an example from the workshop

■■

conclusion.

This structure is repeated, so that a unit may include three or four tasks (for example), each one leading on from the previous one or focusing on a different aspect of the concepts behind materials’ development.

Adrian Tennant Dakar, Senegal, 30 October 2013

| Introduction

Unit 1: Key definitions

Unit 1 – Key Definitions |

|â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Unit 1: Key definitions

Unit 1 Key definitions Brief explanation

What is material design?

In this unit we will be looking into what is meant by the terms ‘materials’, ‘material design’ and ‘low-resource context’ (LRC) in English Language Teaching (ELT). As these terms and concepts were at the heart of the HRS and are central to this book it is important to have a shared understanding of how we are using the terms. Of course, you may disagree with some of our definitions and we have tried to give you the opportunity, through the use of tasks, to define the terms yourself and think about what you consider each to be.

Task 3 Read the following statements and tick the ones that apply to material design.

What are materials? Task 1 Instructions:

Material design is …

✔

making copies of textbook activities when the book is not available to students the way we design teachable materials adapting activities from a textbook for classroom use writing classroom tasks for your students resorting to one’s creativity to come up with a teachable material

1. write down a sentence defining the word ‘materials’

classroom activities designed by a colleague (not taken from a textbook)

2. if possible, discuss your idea with a partner – try to work out a common definition

creating support for teaching

3. if you are working in a group, share your definitions and note down any common elements

knowing how to evaluate the material we use

4. look at the definition below and compare it with your own definition. Materials: anything used to help to teach language learners. Materials can be in the form of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a whiteboard; anything which presents or informs about the language being learned. Source: www.teflcertificatecourses.com/tefl-articles/ eflteaching-terminology.php

Task 2 List the different types of materials you can use in your classes.

how we use teaching materials

selecting appropriate materials to use in class

Task 4 Think of two other statements that apply to material design and write them in the table. Commentary Here the most important thing is that there is not a ‘correct’ ready-made definition of material design, but a wide range of ideas as to what aspects are involved in the process. If we look back at the definition of materials, these include things like texts written by the teacher on the whiteboard. In fact, materials are anything that can be used to help learning occur in (or outside) the classroom. This idea will be explored a little more deeply in the next section on low-resource contexts.

Unit 1: Key definitions | 5

What is a low-resource context? Task 5 Study these situations and answer the following question: Situation 1: Teacher A is in a school where there is no electricity, but all students have got their textbooks and the teacher has a copy of the teacher’s book. Situation 2: Teacher B works in a school that has a photocopier, but there is only one textbook available for a class of 100 students. Which of the above situations describes a LRC? a. both of them b. situation 1 c. situation 2 d. neither of them Commentary In a language teaching context ‘resource’ does not just refer to the textbook. Therefore, LRC cannot be determined just by the number of textbooks available but should also include the variety of resources at hand. For example, the fact that all students have a copy of the textbook does not mean that it is not a low-resource context (see situation 1). The only resource here seems to be the textbook. What if an activity requires listening to a recording? So, it is not simply the availability of a textbook that resources a classroom; we must also consider the range and variety of resources available in order to have efficient teaching and learning.

Conclusion Materials, material design, and low-resource context are key words in this book. A clear understanding of each of them will help answer the following questions:

■■

what to design?

■■

when to design it?

■■

how to design it?

| Unit 1: Key definitions

Unit 2: Materials from the teacher

Unit 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Key Definitionsâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 2: Materials from the teacher

Unit 2 Materials from the teacher Brief explanation In this unit we will look at materials that the teacher already has available such as textbooks, worksheets, etc. and how these can be adapted for use in the classroom. We will also look at how teachers can design their own materials such as activities and worksheets. Task 1 Look at the following worksheet. What do you think the objective is?

Source: Asarikova et al. (2004).

Would you use it like it is? Why or why not?

Unit 2: Materials from the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x192; | 9

Commentary What is the objective of the activity? Well, the main one is to teach students to follow instructions, but there is a flaw in the design of the activity. Although students may well be able to successfully complete the activity (i.e. make a badge), this does not necessarily mean they were able to follow the written instructions. Why? Because the visual support provided by the pictures means that in reality the students could make a badge while not understanding any of the text. However, with just a little twist it is possible to adapt the activity and make it work well. Task 2 Look at the worksheet again. What changes could you make to the activity so that the students would need to understand (and show they have understood) the written text? Here are some ideas and examples from the HRS: ■■

you could remove the instructions, put them in a box and ask students to match them with the pictures

■■

you could jumble the different steps and ask students to re-arrange them

■■

students could work in pairs, with student A giving the instructions and student B performing the task.

Conclusion Ready-made materials do not always meet our learners’ needs or fit our context. Often, an activity only needs a small change for it to work really well and the objectives to be met. The following framework might help you think of the different ways in which ready-made materials, such as those in textbooks, can be made appropriate for our learners’ needs and the context in which we teach. Change Make small changes to activities in the book

Add Something else to improve the outcomes

Remove/replace Take something out completely or replace it with a new activity

Evaluate Try it out and evaluate the results – does it work better?

Task 3 Try the following writing task: Write a double page spread for students. It should cover two teaching periods. The students have been learning English for two years. You have 30 minutes to write your materials. Commentary It is likely that what you wrote was a lesson plan rather than the materials for the students. Task 4 Here is a sample that was written by one of the participants during the HRS. What do you notice? Level:

Third form

Lesson title:

Writing a story

Duration:

One hour

Objectives:

By the end of the lesson students should be able to write a story from pictures.

Use the past simple task:

(30 mins) in pairs Re-order the clues and write the story One day a hyena was very hungry

1. go to the bush

2. see a goat

3. decide to kill it

4. the goat run

5. hyena chases it

6. hyena meet lion

7. lion beat hyena

8. hyena go back home

9. hyena is ill

10. and hyena dies

Correction and feedback:

(30 mins)

After the correction, think of another funny story you can write and share. As homework, write a story of your own.

This is an example of a typical first attempt at material design. Here the writer is thinking from the teacher’s perspective rather than from the viewpoint of the student. The result is more like a lesson plan with objectives, duration, class, level and lesson sequences – things that students do not need to see on the paper. Another issue is the pace of the lesson. Looking at the activities suggested, most require mechanical drills rather than real thinking to generate production. The students can get lost between the different steps and there is a lack of support to help the students complete the activity. In other words, the step up is too big and students do not receive enough input to get to the end product (the objective).

| Unit 2: Materials from the teacher

If the objective of the lesson is for students to write a story, they should be given not only the necessary vocabulary and grammar tools for support but other tools such as scaffolding writing with suggestions, questions, hints, etc. Students need relevant writing prompts to motivate them. For example, if the objective of the lesson is for students to talk about personal information, there are certain things that they need to know before they can actually talk about their own or someone else’s personal information, such as: ■■

vocabulary related to personal information

■■

what questions they need to ask to find the personal information

■■

how to ask questions.

Here is an example from the HRS participants: Asking and talking about personal information A. Who is it? 1. ask your teacher questions to find out 2. what do you know about the person you’ve found out about? Tell the class B. Pair work 1. think of five things you want to know about your partner, then write down five questions to find out 2. now ask your questions to your partner and write down his or her answers C. Speaking 1. use the answers to your questions in activity B to tell the class about your partner.

Task 5 Look at the last lesson on asking and talking about personal information. Which activity was written or designed first: A, B or C? Commentary The first activity designed was C, as this demonstrates whether or not the students can do what is needed to meet the objectives. The next was activity A (the input) and finally, activity B, which provided the scaffolding for the completion of activity C.

Conclusion We do not have to start designing materials from scratch. There are ready-made materials such as textbooks, worksheets from the internet or materials designed by other colleagues that can serve as a starting point. However, it is important to remember that such materials were designed for specific needs and objectives and for specific contexts. Therefore, we should always evaluate them prior to using or adapting them to our own teaching-learning context (see unit 6 for more about evaluating materials). Another key point is that when designing materials, it’s a good idea to look at the activity or lesson from the students’ perspective as well as that of the teachers. The teachers’ perspective gives us a clear idea of where we are leading our students (objectives), while the students’ perspective allows us to avoid gaps between tasks to ensure there is enough input to reach the objectives.

Conclusion When you are designing materials there are some important points to consider, such as: ■■

objectives – what do we want learners to be able to do at the end?

■■

layout – what will learners see?

■■

support – what will learners do to reach the objective(s)? Are there any tasks or activities that will be too difficult for them because they haven’t been given enough support?

When designing materials we first need to look at what we want to achieve by the end of the lesson and then design the final activity to demonstrate that students can do it. We then work out the steps between the input (maybe a reading text or a recording, for example) and the final activity (the output).

Unit 2: Materials from the teacher | 11

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 2: Materials from the teacher

Unit 3: Materials from around you

Unit 1 – Key Definitions |

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 3: Materials from around you

Unit 3 Materials from around you Brief explanation We are surrounded by materials that can be adapted for use in the classroom by using just a little creativity. We can design materials and activities using whatever resources are available around us and we can involve students in the process. Student-generated materials involve the learners in the teaching–learning process. When students are responsible for their own learning they feel proud of themselves and become motivated. Task 1 Answer these questions: 1. what resources can we easily find around us?

In order to provide students with enough support, we considered giving the students a sample questionnaire as a scaffolding tool to avoid having a gap between what they had to do (the objective) and the input they received (see below). Sample questionnaire 1. which type of waste do you have? 2. where do you put your waste? 3. who collects the waste? 4. how much do you pay for waste collection?

2. how can we use these resources in the classroom?

5. do you know what people do with the waste they collect?

3. for what purposes?

6. what is the impact on the environment?

Here is an example from the HRS participants Instructions:

Here are three more activities from the HRS

1. students have a look in their bin and make a list of things they can see

Step 1 Instructions:

Activity 1: ‘No pens’ dictation

2. working in pairs, they divide the list into what they could save or throw away

1. explain that you are going to do a dictation, but ask everyone to put their pen on the floor

3. students select words related to the topic from those given by the teacher

2. dictate a short text to the class at a reasonable pace (but not too fast). Dictate it again

4. students categorise the waste items, e.g. glass, plastic, food, paper, other

3. then ask participants to pick up their pens and write what they can remember

5. next, students design a questionnaire to find out how their community handles waste (including for example, local authorities, people at home classmates, neighbours, market traders)

4. put the participants in pairs and encourage them to share and discuss

6. students then use the answers to their questionnaires to write an article to sensitise people to the issue of waste 7. the students’ best articles are published in the school magazine or posted on Facebook. Commentary The example above shows us that no special materials are required – the teacher is using things that can be found within the LRC. Using everyday and easily available materials can contribute to the development of the students’ interest in learning.

5. finally, read the dictation again and get the participants to check what they have written. Example text: Large classes are a challenge, but there are many positives. One of the positives is the dynamic nature of such classes. With so many students, there are lots of opportunities to get them to work together, compare, share and discuss. Step 2 In pairs, participants discuss and answer these questions: ■■

what skills are involved in this activity?

■■

what materials does it require?

■■

is the activity feasible in your context?

■■

does it require much time for preparation?

Unit 3: Materials from around you | 15

Commentary Unlike traditional dictations where learners would stop listening once engaged in writing, the ‘no pens’ dictation allows more time for listening. It also fosters interaction and collaborative learning. Activity 2: Experts 1. ask three people to come and sit on chairs at the front of the classroom – the ‘experts’ 2. ask the audience (other students) to suggest an (unusual) topic that these people can be experts on 3. the audience ask questions and experts answer, taking turns to say one word each to create a sentence or response. Commentary This activity requires no other materials or resources than the learners and the theme provided. It is engaging and students are given an opportunity to use language functions such as asking questions, giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing, etc. A lot of listening and concentration is required from the experts to produce meaningful and grammatically correct sentences. Note: I first came across this activity at a workshop given by Ken Wilson – Adrian Tennant.

Activity 3: DIY Grammar Instructions: 1. ask students to choose a nice long sentence from one of their grammar exercises in the coursebook or workbook 2. tell them to take a piece of paper and rip it up into as many pieces as there are words in the sentence 3. they then write one word on each piece of paper 4. tell them to mix up the pieces of paper and hand them to their partners 5. tell them they have a time limit (30 seconds or one minute) to put the pieces of paper in the correct order and make the sentence 6. when they finish, they can check with the student who made the sentence if they are correct. Variation: To make it extra difficult, ask each student, when making the sentence, to add another piece of paper with an extra word that doesn’t fit into the sentence. The other student has to re-order the sentence and spot the intruder word. Commentary This activity is very adaptable and can be used for reviewing and practising many different grammar structures. Note: This activity appeared in a resource book written by myself and Lindsay Clandfield about nine years ago – Adrian Tennant.

| Unit 3: Materials from around you

The Lifeplayer Brief explanation The Lifeplayer is a specially designed audio player that includes both a radio and an MP3 player. The MP3 player can have pre-loaded content added to the SIM card and also has a record function, allowing teachers and students to record and play back their own materials. The British Council has added content from a number of its websites including a collection of stories, podcasts and a drama-based radio programme called Obla Air. The Lifeplayer can be powered either directly from the mains, by using the solar panel, or by turning the crank handle to charge the battery. This makes it ideal for low-resource contexts. Comment from the HRS participants How about getting students to record their own things? Stories, songs, etc. Then teachers can re-use these materials in subsequent lessons. The Lifeplayer can be a breakthrough for teachers in low-resource contexts. And, as teaching goes hand-in-hand with challenges and worries about meeting learners’ needs, let’s hope that the next step will be a solar device that can be used for teaching with videos.

Conclusion Is there a need to adopt everything that is in textbooks? In developing countries people worry about authentic materials and where they can find them. However, most so-called ‘authentic materials’ are not designed for the classroom and actually need to be adapted to make them suitable. In contrast, materials generated by the students or using things we find around us can often be far more meaningful. Students must be given the opportunity to be involved in generating materials. Shifting from a teacher-centred classroom (where the teacher is also responsible for providing all the materials) to a learner-centred classroom can make the classroom a more effective place for learning to take place. Look around! Be creative! Adapt! Contextualise! Wherever there is a will to change there is a way.

Unit 4: Large classes

Unit 1 – Key Definitions |

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 4: Large classes

Unit 4 Large classes Brief explanation

Here is an example from the HRS participants

Large classes are a reality in West Africa (and many other parts of the world), although it would be hard to give a clear definition of what a large class is: 60 students? 100 students? What a large class is actually depends on many different factors such as the number of students, the amount of available materials, the size of the classroom, etc.

Step 1 Instructions:

The option of reducing the number of students in the classroom is often neither practical nor possible for a variety of reasons, including issues such as the number of teachers who are trained and the space available in school buildings. Rather than worrying about the situation, we need to face the challenge head on and find ways of equipping teachers to deal with large classes and to teach effectively with the resources they have at their disposal. Task 1 List five things related to challenges when dealing with large classes then compare your list with one of your colleagues and discuss these questions:

1. fold a piece of paper (held in the ‘landscape’ position) in half 2. fold it again twice so that you have six rectangles. Step 2 Instructions: In pairs, interview your desk mate and fill the six boxes with the given information: 1. first name 2. date of birth 3. your favourite subject at school 4. your favourite sport 5. your favourite television programme 6. one thing you don’t like.

1. how do you deal with these challenges?

Step 3 Now write a paragraph about your partner. Begin like this:

2. what activities do you think can fit large classes?

My partner’s name ......................................................................

3. are there any benefits connected to large classes?

He or she .........................................................................................

Commentary Teachers feel that dealing with large classes raises a number of issues, including too much noise, lots of papers to mark, students using L1 while working in groups or pairs, classroom management, time constraints, lack of material and even administrative constraints. The following activities are likely to help teachers meet these challenges.

He or she ......................................................................................... Step 4 Read your paragraph to the class. Extension activity: The teacher can also extend the activity by adding another listening task to it. For example, the teacher collects all the paragraphs and chooses one. Then the teacher quickly comes up with some multiple choice questions, which the students write down. Then, the students put their pens down and listen to the teacher.

Unit 4: Large classes | 19

Here are some examples of the kind of questions that might be asked:

Activity 2: Invisible body Instructions:

1. the person in this passage would like to work at: a) a school b) a court c) a hospital

1. make sure every student has a paper and pen or pencil

2. the person does not like: a) fighting b) studying c) testing 3. the person likes to learn: a) Maths b) English c) French 4. the person watches: a) films b) documentaries c) cartoons. Listen again and choose the correct answers. Commentary This activity can be used in a class of 60 students or more. It is not so demanding in terms of physical effort and is not costly either because students only need a pen and paper. Here are a few more activities: Activity 1: True for you Instructions: 1. ask students to repeat after you in a chorus: ‘I’m from…’ (Teacher gives a country that is different from the students’ own) 2. ask them: Is it true for you? Are you from … ? You should hear a chorus of NO! 3. tell students you only want them to repeat a sentence you say if it’s true for them 4. repeat the sentence; this time they should be silent! 5. say: ‘I’m in an English class’. Everyone should repeat this time 6. continue like this with sentences such as: ■■

I’m from Guinguineo

■■

I like couscous

■■

I’m a teenager

■■

I’m a girl

■■

I want to be a pilot

■■

I can speak two languages.

Note: The activity can be adapted to fit many situations. For instance, the teacher can read out sentences from the lesson (e.g. grammar) and students will only write down what is true about the lesson.

| Unit 4: Large classes

2. read out words connected with the body. Students should write them in the correct place on the page as if there was a picture of the body on the page 3. dictate words, i.e. head, feet, knees, elbow, stomach, etc 4. put the students in pairs and have them compare and discuss 5. then the teacher can move to another activity that is related to total physical response. The teacher shouts out body parts and asks students to touch those parts of their bodies. Generally this is the kind of activity that students like and it warms up the class. Note: possible variations: names of countries/map, rooms/house, furniture/room, parts of car/car, etc.

Activity 3: Rub them out Instructions: 1. write up a list of words on the board from recent lessons 2. divide the class into two teams 3. ask a person from one team to come up to the board and explain a word – then rub it out 4. then ask someone from the other team to come up, choose a word, explain it and rub it out 5. continue until all the words have gone. Note: Textbooks don’t recycle new vocabulary enough (minimum required is 20 times!). You need to introduce activities that help revise vocabulary.

Conclusion If group work or pair work activities are involving and motivating enough, we can easily control what our students are doing and see that large classes can be rewarding for both the students and the teacher. In a large class context teachers should care about students’ learning styles. Large classes are here to stay. If teachers are motivated and creative enough they realise there are lots of opportunities to get students to work together, compare and discuss.

Unit 5: Evaluating materials

Unit 1 – Key Definitions |

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 5: Evaluating materials

Unit 5 Evaluating materials Brief explanation In this unit we will be looking at how to evaluate materials. In other words, what makes a piece of material effective for teaching-learning? In every teaching-learning context there is a set of criteria that determines whether the materials we use will help us reach our teaching-learning objectives. When setting our list of criteria it is important to take into account aspects such as age, level, balance in activities and skills, variety, culture, etc. Task 1 Look at this activity written by some of the participants from the HRS. What do you think of it? What changes could you make to improve it? Lady in despair

Commentary This task brings up the importance of scaffolding activities. For instance, in the picture description activity, students jump from sharing ideas orally to producing a piece of writing (the teacher just takes it for granted that students know how to write a 100-word paragraph). Task 2 Work in groups. Make a list of criteria for effective materials. Commentary Some of the things you might have included are: ■■

suitable for age, level (ability), etc.

■■

culturally appropriate

■■

balanced (i.e. mix of skills)

■■

student and teacher friendly

■■

variety of task types and activities

■■

logical, clear steps

■■

help students towards course objectives

■■

affordability of the material

■■

availability of the material.

Instructions: ■■

what can you see?

■■

guess five reasons why the woman is crying in groups

■■

share your reasons with the class

■■

write a paragraph of about 100 words to comfort this lady, this time on your own.

Written by: Issa Sylla (Guinea Conakry), Souleymane Goro (Burkina Faso), Djiby Diaw, Fanta Konte and Marie Frederic Pouye (Senegal).

Unit 5: Evaluating materials | 23

Task 3 Now compare your criteria with those outlined in the questionnaire below: Yes

Partly

1. Does it reflect your students’ needs? 2. Is there variety in the activities? 3. Are the activities feasible? 4. Are the activities well scaffolded? 5. Is it the right level (of difficulty)? 6. Does the book fit the curriculum and syllabus? 7. Is there a balance between learning about the language and learning to use it? 8. Are there opportunities to integrate the different skills? 9. Is it usable in the classroom? 10. Is the book adaptable/flexible? 11. Are there enough revision opportunities? 12. Is the book well structured? 13. Is the book affordable? 14. Is the book available? Score: 2 points for yes 1 point if the answer is partly 0 points if the answer is no Source: based on one questionnaire in Grant (1987)

Task 4 Look at the coursebooks you use in your contexts and use the questionnaire (above) to assess them: 1. what score do the books get? 2. is that a fair score in your opinion? Why (not)?

Conclusion When it comes to evaluating materials, there are no standardised or set criteria. It depends on the specific contexts, objectives, situations, etc. and so we can set our own list of criteria. We should evaluate any teaching material we use to know how effective and helpful it is. For instance, aspects such as affordability, availability, and adaptability seem to be very important in a low-resource context.

| Unit 5: Evaluating materials

One other point to raise is that what makes a material ‘good’ or ‘bad’ does not depend just on the material itself: a good coursebook in the hands of a bad teacher will probably not foster much learning – if any – whereas a not-so-good book in the hands of a good teacher is very likely to lead to efficient learning and teaching.

Unit 6: Conclusion

Unit 1 – Key Definitions |

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 6: Conclusion

Unit 6 Conclusion Task 1 Remember the key elements regarding the following topics and complete the table. Topics

Key elements

Low-resource context

Large classes

Teacher-designed materials

Student-generated materials

Material evaluation

Note to teacher trainers: in a training session, split participants into five groups and have each group reflect on one topic and then share with the whole group.

Task 2 To teachers using this book on their own, try one or more of the following: ■■

design activities to teach a lesson of your choice in a low-resource context

■■

think of an activity that will work for large classes and provide the different steps

■■

select a lesson from your coursebook or a worksheet you want to use in your classroom. Then think of variations of the activities that can make them work better

■■

design an activity that will enable you to use student-generated material to teach a lesson (reading, listening, vocabulary, grammar, etc.)

■■

make a list of criteria you will use, in your context, to evaluate the teaching materials.

To teacher trainers: Groups that reflected on the topics in task 1 will design the activity related to their topic and then share with the big group. Finally, after reading the book and completing the tasks, it becomes clear that LRC, large classes and ‘lack’ of materials should no longer be seen as obstacles in language classrooms. Activities provided are not a recipe of solutions to challenges we encounter in ELT, but they should serve as a starting point for both teachers and teacher trainers to improve practices.

Unit 6: Conclusion

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Unit 6: Conclusion

Appendix

Unit 1 – Key Definitions |

|â&#x20AC;&#x192; Appendix: Glossary

Glossary Here are a number of key words and concepts and what we mean by them in this text: Adapt – contextualising, changing some aspects of the materials so that they fit your teaching and learning context (age, level, social background, learners’ needs, etc.). Adopt – you take ready-made materials (textbook, worksheets, etc.) and use them without changing them. Design – create the material you are going to use for your teaching. Input – information and tools provided to students often by the teacher or through receptive skills such as reading and listening. Mechanical drills – activities that simply require repetition, where students act like robots and thinking is not required. Monitor – when you monitor you walk around, watching and listening to pairs and groups working and then giving them support when they need it. Objective – what you want students to learn or be able to do at the end. Output – production after processing information, often demonstrated through productive skills such as speaking and writing. Scaffolding – this includes guiding students step-by-step through the materials and the process of learning. Making sure they have the vocabulary and grammar they need to do a particular task. Student-generated material – things students create or bring to class for the purpose of teaching and learning. Variety – a range of different types of activities so that everything is not the same.

Appendix: Glossary | 31

Bibliography and websites with additional resources Asarikova, N, Tsert, I, Alimova, M and Tennant, A (2004) English Matters Grade 5. London: Macmillan. Grant, N (1987) Making the most of your textbook. London; New York: Longman. Shamim, F, Negash N, Chuku, C and Demewoz, N (2007) Maximizing learning in large classes: Issues and Options. Addis Ababa: British Council. Tennant, A (2011) ‘Viewpoints: Pairwork’. IATEFL Voices, Jan–Feb 2011, Issue 218 p.13. Tennant, A (2011) ‘Viewpoints: Authentic Materials’. IATEFL Voices, Jan–Feb 2011, Issue 218 p.13. British Council websites www.teachingenglish.org.uk http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org www.britishcouncil.com.sn/en Low or minimal resources ideas www.onestopenglish.com/support/ minimal-resources/ Lifeplayer in use (short film) http://vimeo.com/95947555

| Appendix: Bibliography and websites with additional resources

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