Teaching English Language Skills

Terminology

• Listening: Decoding the meaning of an audio string
• Speaking: Encoding thoughts and concepts into oral form
• Writing: Encoding thoughts and concepts into written form
• Reading: Decoding meaning from a written string
• Receptive: Reading and listening
• Productive: Speaking and writing

Teaching Grammar

• Implicitly: No overt grammar explanation
• Explicitly: Inductive (examples then rule) or deductive (rule then examples)

Accuracy vs. Fluency

• Fluency: Natural language use, communication, meaningful linking language to context
• Accuracy: Correct sentence formation, language practice outside of context

Acquisition vs. Learning

• Acquisition: Subconscious, informal, based on attitude, stable order
• Learning: Conscious, formal, based on aptitude, simple to complex order

Lesson Planning

• Key elements include: learner characteristics, objectives, materials, activities, timing, and feedback
• Factors to consider for varying a lesson include: tempo, organization, difficulty, topic, and mood

Strategy for Education Policy

• The goal is to reduce curriculum information overload
• Focus on outcomes, adaptation to societal changes, motivation, and individualization

Modernised Curriculum Content

• Aims to create a coherent, clearly defined curriculum, incorporating creative activities, teamwork, critical thinking, linking subjects like science and mathematics with learning outside the classroom

Transforming Educational Content

• Focuses on prioritizing critical thinking, problem-solving, and practical application of knowledge
• Aims to integrate digital literacy and interdisciplinary subjects and reform assessment to evaluate competencies

Supporting Teaching Staff

• Enhance teacher preparation and professional development
• Reduce administrative burdens and provide adequate resources for effective teaching and student engagement

Ensuring Equity in Access to Quality Education

• Aims to address regional and socioeconomic disparities
• Create an inclusive environment for all students to have equal access to high-quality education

Increasing Funding and Ensuring Stability

• Secure stable and sufficient funding for the education system
• Support the implementation of strategic goals effectively and sustainably.

CEFR 3

• Standardized framework for describing and assessing language proficiency
• Focuses on what learners can do, not what they can't
• Proficiency levels range from basic to proficient

Acquisition Theories

• Behaviorism: Language is learned through environmental influences. Learning through associating words with meaning
• Nativism: Humans have a biological predisposition to acquire language through innate language acquisition device (LAD).
• Constructivism: Learning is an active process of constructing knowledge in social environments within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
• Monitor Model: 5 Hypotheses on language acquisition

Neuroscience and ELT 5

• Brain Function: Synapses are structures where neurons communicate, and neurotransmitters relay signals
• Lateralization: Right hemisphere is involved in visual/spatial memory, emotions, and social functions; left hemisphere is central for language processing, logical reasoning, and analysis

Language and Brain Function

• Different areas in the brain are responsible for decoding and production of language
• Specific areas like Wernicke's area, in the left temporal-lobe, and Broca's area in the frontal lobe play a role in speech

Hemispheres

• Left hemisphere is involved in syntax, phonology, lexis for spoken/written language production/understanding
• Right hemisphere is used for linguistic processes like taking over functions if left h. is damaged. It may also play a part in dyslexia, through recognition of form

Bilingualism and Wernicke's Area

• Second languages are processed on the same levels in the brain.
• Wernicke's area within the temporal lobe is part of the brain's language comprehension function

Approaches and Methods

• Strategies: Specific methods of tackling problems or tasks
• Styles: Consistent learning preferences or tendencies
• Processes: Every human engages in learning
• Learning Styles: Reflective or intuitive, field-dependent or independent, autonomous and authority-dependent Methods: Grammar-translation, direct methods, audio-lingual, suggestopedia, communicative language teaching, task-based language teaching, content-language integrated learning, and blended learning

Task-Based Language Teaching

• Focuses on real-world tasks where language is used as a tool for task completion
• Follows three stages: pre-task, task cycle, and post-task

Content and Language Integrated Learning

• An approach where students learning a subject concurrently learn a second language.
• Emphasizes content development and language proficiency.

Blended Learning

Combines face-to-face instruction with online learning components, providing a more personalized educational experience.

Communicative Approach

• Focuses on real-life communication, authentic materials, learner roles
• Includes activities like information gap, role-playing

Teaching Listening

• The stages include pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening
• The advantages of this include active engagement, multi-sensory learning, comprehension and real-life task simulation

Teaching Speaking

• The stages include pre-speaking, while-speaking and post-speaking
• The advantages include fluency, speaking confidence, cultural awareness, and practicing English in practical situations

Teacher Reading

• Focuses on comprehension, vocabulary expansion, critical thinking, and cultural awareness.
• Includes pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading stages

Teaching Writing

• Primary goal focuses on equipping learners to communicate effectively using the written medium
• Includes creative expression, grammar, and academic writing

Teaching Vocabulary

• Emphasizes contextual understanding, and learning strategies like categorization, repetition and personalization

Motivation

• Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic motivation: Extrinsic motivation comes from external factors like rewards or punishments, while Intrinsic is driven by the learner's personal interest
• Categories of motivation: Positive vs. Negative, Integrative vs. Instrumental, Global vs. Situational vs. Task

Learning Styles

• Includes methods like Grammar-translation, Direct method, Audio-lingual, Suggestopedia, Communicative Language Teaching, Task-Based Language Teaching, Content and Language Integrated Learning, Lexical Approach, and Blended Learning
• Descriptions of the methods provided

Contemporary Approaches

• Eclectic approach: Integrating diverse teaching methods