Keller, Texas TESOL Online & Teaching English Jobs

UNIT 7 – TEACHING NEW LANGUAGE This unit begins by stating that students need to be exposed to the new language, understand it’s meaning and how it’s constructed, and finally to produce it, in order to effectively learn. The unit covers three main points – the introduction of grammar structures, building of vocabulary, and the building of language functions. I particularly liked the concept that “grammar is the tree trunk [of language learning], while vocabulary and functions are the leaves that add beauty and variety”. As in previous sections, this unit gave several helpful lists for activities that could be used during the Engage, Study, and Activate stages of lessons targeted to certain aspects of language learning. For example, to learn vocabulary, realia may be used to boost student understanding in the Engage stage, then an example text or game such as a crossword could be appropriate for the Study stage, followed by a pair-work exercise in the Activate stage to use key vocabulary in a creative and active way. The unit covers these kinds of examples and suggestions not only for classes designed to introduce new vocabulary, but also those dealing with new grammatical structures, as well as those designed to teach language functions. It was useful for me to see lists of what needs to be covered in the grammar and language function lessons. I.e. in grammar lessons, students need to know the meaning, use, forms and patterns, as well as any differences between spoken and written forms of the grammar. In classes covering language functions (such as inviting, disagreeing, suggesting, etc.), Boomerang and Patchwork ESA lessons are particularly useful, as they give the students the chance to produce language at the appropriate level and in the appropriate style for a given situation. Overall this unit was easy to understand and implement in real-life situations.