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Certifcate in English Language Teaching to Adults

Written Assignment 3

Language Skills

Related Tasks orIntermediate Learners

o English

Rusiru Kalpagee Chitrasena

CELTA (Part-time) Trainee- The British Council, Colombo

1stJune 2014


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Contents

1. The Selected Text: Identification and Justification2. Pre-teaching Vocabulary

3. ece!ti"e S#ills Tas# 1: S#i$$ing for %ist

&. ece!ti"e S#ills Tas# 2: Scanning for s!ecific infor$ation.'. Producti"e S#ills Tas# 1: S!ea#ing

(. Producti"e S#ills Tas#2: )riting

Appendices

Appendix A: The original text

Appendix B: The re"ised textAppendix C: The tas#s

Appendix D: The ans*er #ey


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1. The Selected Text: Identification and Justification

+or the !ur!oses of this assign$ent, I selected an extract fro$ the tra"el article, ur )onderful

)ee# in xford/, *ritten by 0a"e and +iona radbury for the $againe,New Pathways. The

salient features of the text include: the descri!tions of the tours and the !laces of attraction, theex!ression of the *riters feelings, obser"ations and thoughts about the "isit, the use of the first

!erson and a dose of !ersuasion to "isit xford and ta#e the tours.

The !resent *riter intends to use this article *ith inter$ediate 456+ 117 le"el students. It *as

slightly re"ised so that it is better understood by the target grou! of students.

The criteria for the selection *ere:

a7 The rele"ance of the text to the learnersb7 The readability of the text and the le"el of the target grou! of learners

c7 The !otential of the text to $oti"ate the students to read.

8ccording to Van 6# 9 Tri$ 41;7, understanding texts related to tra"el and touris$ is a

threshold ob2and therefore should be easily understood by 1' to 1( year

olds. 8s far as the readability test is concerned, the !ercentage of co$!lex *ords is only 13.;?@

and therefore, it *as concluded that an a"erage inter$ediate student should be able to understand

at least ;>@ of the text.

Aoreo"er, the article deals *ith tra"el and touris$, and as far as the !resent *riter is concerned,

$any learners can relate to the


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+or the abo"e reasons, it *as concluded that the selected text is a!!ro!riate for the target grou!

of learners.

2. Pre-teachin !oca"ular#:

ne of the #ey ai$s of using authentic reading texts in 6=T is to !re!are the students for real-life

reading. It *ill be difficult to achie"e this ai$ if the students are !re-taught all the difficult *ords

in the text. Therefore, the !resent *riter *ill only teach so$e !ossibly co$!licated lexical ite$s

that could hinder the successful co$!letion of the tas#s. These *ords include: anniversary,

detective, discover, exploreand luxurious. These lexical ite$s *ill be taught and chec#ed using a

$atching tas#. 3

$. %ecepti&e S'ills Tas' 1: S'i((in for )ist

In this tas#, the students *ill s#i$ the text to to get the gist, or the $ain ideas or sense of a text/

4Thornbury, 2>>(:117. 8 Cuic# reading of the article *ill enable the$ to find out *hether the

*riter is ha!!y about his "isit to xford 41.1.7 and then to choose the best title for the article

fro$ a choice of three o!tions 41.2.7.

efore reading a text in real life contexts, *e often go through it Cuic#ly to see *hether it ser"es

our !ur!ose for reading. 8ccording to Dar$er 42>>?7, s#i$$ing entails the readerEs ability to

!ic# out $ain !oints ra!idly, discarding *hat is not essential or rele"ant to that general !icture/.

+or this reason, s#i$$ing is an i$!ortant reading strategy to !ractice in the 6+= classroo$

because it can be used to hel! decide if a text or section of a text deser"es careful reading

4Fation, 2>>:?>7.

*. %ecepti&e S'ills Tas' 2: Scannin for specific infor(ation.

To co$!lete this tas#, the students *ill scan the text $ore carefully in search of s!ecific

infor$ation and ignoring e"erything else/ 4Thornbury, 2>>(:117. In 2.1, they *ill read the text

to retrie"e so$e #ey infor$ation in the text and in 2.2G they *ill read about the different tours

/n aition, the $ors, gargoylean grotesque ha+e been 'losse Althou'h

these $ors are com"le, the o not nee to be tau'ht at intermeiate le+el

because the are rarel use in 'eneral communicati+e contets


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described in the text $ore carefully to select the $ost suitable tours for !eo!le in the

descri!tions.

8s obser"ed by Dar$er 42>>?7, *e often read so$ething Hbecause *e *ant to extract s!ecific

bits of infor$ation/. De o!ines that it is difficult to con"ince students of 6nglish as a foreign

language that texts in 6nglish can be understood e"en though there are "ocabulary ite$s and

structures the student has ne"er seen before/. The !ractice of scanning for s!ecific infor$ation as

a reading strategy *ill e"entually hel! the$ o"erco$e the tendency to atte$!t understanding all

the *ords in the text, *hich is an unrealistic goal for the $a>': 1;(7, one test for useful reading $ight be to chec# ho* far tas#s

reflect real-life uses of the sa$e text/. )e $ay read tra"el-related literature in real life to find a

tour or a tra"el !ac#age that *ould interest us, and *hen the students read the text to find out the

$ost suitable tour for the !eo!le in the descri!tion 4in 2.2.7 , a real life use of the selected text is

reflected.

Producti&e S'ills Tas' 1: Spea'in

This is a free s!ea#ing tas# that ai$s to boost the oral fluency of the learners. In this acti"ity, the

studentsin grou!s *ill !lan a holiday for a foreign friend and *ill exchange factual infor$ation

as *ell as attitudes and o!inions. Therefore, this tas# focuses on the threshold co$$unicati"e

functions of i$!arting and see#ing factual infor$ation/ and ex!ressing and finding out

attitudes o!inions/ 4Van 6# 9 Tri$, 1;7.

The tas# enco$!asses the characteristics of effecti"e s!ea#ing acti"ities identified in Scri"ener

42>>': 1'>-1'17. It !laces the students in a safe real-life li#e situation and leads the$ to language

that they already understand and ha"e learnt. 8 clear context *as set in the reading text by

fa$iliarising the students *ith the the$e of tra"el and touris$ as *ell as to so$e useful languagerelated to the the$e. The discussion has been fra$ed effecti"ely by suggesting four areas that the

students can focus on during the discussion. +urther$ore, the !roduction tas# has a $ore

!ersonalied context since the students *ill tal# about !lanning a holiday in their o*n country.


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In staging this tas#, I too# into account so$e of the suggestions !ro"ided in Dar$er 42>>?7.

+ore$ost, the students *ill be as#ed to thin# about the ans*ers to the gi"en Cuestions. Then, the

students *ill be !ut into !airs to reach a consensus bet*eenK the$sel"es/. Then, t*o !airs *ill

be co$bined to $a#e a grou! and in grou!s, they *ill negotiate a ne* set of ans*ers. +inally,

the students *ill be !ut into ne* !airs to co$!are the ans*ers they ha"e got.

Producti&e S'ills Tas'2: +ritin

The students *ill *rite a short letter to a friend about ho* they had a brilliant ti$e "isiting a

foreign country. This is a follo*-u! of the s!ea#ing tas# because the students *ill *rite as

ichard *ho "isited the students ho$e country. Therefore, the students can use the infor$ation

gathered during the s!ea#ing tas# although they assu$e a ne* identity for the !ur!oses of the

*riting tas#. 8t the sa$e ti$e, it effecti"ely ex!loits the context of tra"el and touris$ created by

the reading text and the reading text $ay be used as a $odel as *ell as a rich source of language

that is necessary to co$!lete the tas#.

8s clai$ed by Scri"ener 42>>'7, )e need to $a#e sure that learners $ainly get !ractice in the

real-life *riting tas#s that they *ill face/. =etters are an authentic genre in *riting and therefore,

this tas# !re!ares the students for *riting in real-life.

+urther$ore, it is a feasible tas# for inter$ediate learners, because the 8=T6&descri!tors

indicate that *riting !ersonal letters is a #ey co$!etency of inter$ediate 48=T6 =e"el 2 56+

17 6S= students.

The students ha"e already gathered the infor$ation necessary to *rite the letter during the

s!ea#ing tas#. They *ill be as#ed to *rite the first draft in class, based on their their grou!s

ans*ers to the Cuestions in the s!ea#ing tas#. 8fter the teacher corrects the first draft, the

students *ill *rite the final draft using the teachers feedbac#. Ideally, the teacher *ill elicit the

structure of an infor$al letter for$ the students and !ro"ide the students *ith so$e !rocessinglanguage.

4 The Association o! Lan'ua'e Testers in Euro"e


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,+ord Count: 122 ords/

Text:

radbury, 0., radbury, +. 42>>7. Our Wonderful Week In Oxford. Fe* Path*ays.

Fo"e$ber0ece$ber 2>>, Issue ';, !!.&>-&1.

Bi"lioraph#:

8ssociation of =anguage Testers in 6uro!e 42>>27. THE ATE !AN "O P#O$E!T. 8"ailable

fro$: Lhtt!:***.ca$bridgeenglish.orgi$ages2;>(-alte-can-do-docu$ent.!dfM.

8ccessed 2;->'-2>1&K.

5ouncil of 6uro!e 42>>17. !o%%on European &ra%ework of #eference for an'ua'es(

learnin') teachin' and assess%ent. 5a$bridge: 5a$bridge Bni"ersity Press. 8"ailable

fro$: Lhtt!:***.coe.inttdg&linguisticsourcefra$e*or#Nen.!dfM. 8ccessed 3>->'-

2>1&K.

Dar$er, J. 42>>?7.The Practice of En'lish an'ua'e Teachin'. &th. ed. 6ssex: Pearson

=ong$an.

Fation, I.S.P. 42>>7. Teachin' E*+E& #eadin' and Writin'. 1st. ed. =ondon: outledge.

Scri"ener, J. 42>>'7. earnin' Teachin'. 2nd.ed. xford: Aac$illan 6ducation

Thornbury, S. 42>>(7. An A,- of ET. 1st. ed. xford: Aac$illan 6ducation.

Van 6#, J., Tri$, J. 41;7. Threshold //0. 2nd. ed. 5a$bridge: 5a$bridge Bni"ersity Press.


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To celebrate ourthird wedding

anniversary and also

Fiona's birthday wedecided to go to

Oxford. Like many

others, we visited and fell in love with this

beautiful city.

There are a number of interesting tours

around the city.

We're both fans

of the Inspector

Morse detective

T series whichshow wonderful

scenes of

Oxford and we

wanted to see these for ourselves. We had

booked online with the Oxford tourist

information centre for the !ns"ector #orse

tour which only runs on a $aturday

afternoon.

We took the tour on our first day and it was

wonderful going to various "laces featured

in the T series, in which some strangemurder occurs. % very knowledgeable tour

guide walked us around many of the sites,

such as the &andol"h otel, and told us

some of the stories behind the characters

and strange things which had ha""ened

during filming.

The (niversity

and )ity Tour is

the most "o"ular

introductory

tour, taken bythe most of the

visitors,

es"ecially those

who have never

been in Oxford before.

!t is through the heart

of the historic city centre, illustrating the story

of Oxford and its university, describing the

architecture and traditions of its most famous

buildings and institutions, one being the *itt

&ivers #useum.

On the Family Tour you can discover the

difference between a gargoyle and

grotes+ue, and hear interesting facts about

the Oxford-educated Lewis )arroll, ).$.

Lewis, .&.&. Tolkien, and their creations.

isitors take "art in this informal tour to

know about many great things

that Oxford has to offer

children and adults alike.

This tour is available

only during school

holidays though.

There's also the *ub Tour where you do the

rounds of Oxford's fascinating "ubs and

inns, and the /host Tour where you search

out the city's ghostly "ast, and a tour of the

locations used in famous films and Tseries.

/ma'es o! u'l animals or heas cut

!rom stone an attache to the roo! o!

an ol builin'

A endi !" The Re#ised Te

Figure 1: Inspectors Morse and

Figure 2: A view of the OxfordUniversity

Figure 3: an Oxford pub


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On to" of that there are wonderful gardens,

magnificent

university "arks and

Oxford's historic

western +uarter

where there are the

remains of an old

0ritish castle and a 1ineteenth )entury

"rison- now the luxurious #almaison otel.

aving s"ent a week in Oxford we cannot

recommend it enough. There is a broad

range of activities and "oints of interest. We

found the locals very friendly and hel"ful.

$ource2 htt"233www.oxfordghosttours.com3ghost4tours3us4oxford."df

Figure 4: A garden in Oxford


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$ou are going to read an ecerpt rom an article a%out &ord'

A' !eore reading"

Ans(er the ollo(ing )uestions (ith *our partner+

Where is &ord+

,o *ou kno( an*thing special a%out &ord+

Would *ou like to #isit &ord one da*+ Wh*- Wh* not+

!' Reading"

Task ." &ea the article 5uic%l an ans$er the !ollo$in' 5uestions

11 /s the $riter ha"" about his +isit to 6!or7

12 Choose the best title !or this article

a) E"lorin' the 8ni+ersit o! 6!orb) 6ur thir $ein' anni+ersarc) 6ur 9oner!ul 9ee% in 6!or

Task /"

/'.' 0o( read the article more careull* and fnd out"

a) The $riter:s reasons !or +isitin' 6!or;


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/' Speaking"

&ichar is one o! our 'oo British !riens =e is "lannin' to

tra+el aroun our countr an has $ritten to ou to n out

about interestin' "laces to +isit @ou $ant &ichar to ha+e a

'reat time in our countr an so, ou ha+e ecie to tal% to

our !riens an 'et some nice ieas

/n small 'rou"s, "lan a holia !or &ichar Tal% about;

Places that &ichar $oul li%e to +isit

*oo "laces to eat out an o sho""in'

/m"ortant thin's that &ichar shoul %no$ $hen he:s +isitin' our countr

>a%e some notes as ou s"ea%

.' Writing"

0o( imagine that *ou are Richard' $ou recentl* had a %rilliant time

a%road and one o *our local riends helped *ou fnd reall*

interesting places to #isit' Write a letter to another riend (ho (ill

soon %e #isiting the same countr*2 descri%ing *our tra#el eperience'

se the notes *ou ha#e made during the speaking acti#it*' $ou can

(rite a%out"

9h ou ha a $oner!ul time there

Places ou +isite

*oo restaurants an sho"s /nterestin' thin's ou i

Anthin' else ou thin% is im"ortant

se a%out .456/55 (ords'

Appendi ," The Ans(e


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Ans(ers"

Task .'

.'.'@es, he is

.'/'(c)6ur 9oner!ul 9ee% in 6!or

Task /"

/'.'

a) Their thir $ein' anni+ersar an his $i!e:s birtha

b) online +ia internet

c) The /ns"ector >orse tour an the "ub tour

) Le$is Carroll, C Le$is, J&& Tol%ien

e) The >almaison =otel

/'/'

a) The #amil Tour

b) The /ns"ector >orse Tour

c) The 8ni+ersit an Cit Tour

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