Table of Contents - uni-bielefeld.de · Web viewThe grammar topic the class is currently working on...

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................21.1 Preface...............................................................................................................................21.2 The Kenyan School System...............................................................................................31.3 Description of the School : Precious Blood Secondary School Kilungu...........................7

2 Classroom Observation Tasks...............................................................................................92.1 Attending to the learner.....................................................................................................92.2 The Learner as a Cultural Being......................................................................................122.3 Grammar as lesson content..............................................................................................152.4 Classroom Power.............................................................................................................172.5 The Board as a Resource.................................................................................................19

3 Lesson Plans..........................................................................................................................203.1 Lesson Plan: Modal Auxiliary Verbs..............................................................................203.3 Lesson Plan: The German School System.......................................................................253.3 Lesson Plan: Practice for the Oral Examination..............................................................30

4 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................375 Index.......................................................................................................................................396 Bibliography..........................................................................................................................407 Erklärung..............................................................................................................................41

1 Introduction1.1 PrefaceI did my teaching practice at Precious Blood Secondary School Kilungu in Kenya; this is the

school in which I worked as a volunteer for one year in 2003/04. During that time, I assisted in

teaching German and - contrary to my expectations - enjoyed this experience very much. It

was one of the factors which motivated me to choose to become a teacher.

This time, I spent six weeks in Precious Blood Secondary School Kilungu. During the first

two weeks, from 20th July to 2nd August 2006, the students were doing their end of term

examinations. I was involved in the examinations in various different ways: I assisted the

school secretary in typing and stapling the examinations; I invigilated German oral

examinations and helped to mark exams in German and English. Additionally, the German

teacher and I drew up a plan to prepare the Form Four students for their final examinations:

she was to teach grammar and composition, while I was to prepare the students for the

German oral examinations. This involved choosing texts, pictures, and topics for discussion,

meeting the girls in small groups, going through the material with them, and giving them

feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. During the first two weeks of my teaching

practice, I spent about ten hours practising with the Form Four students.

The German teacher and I also worked together in order to prepare about 20 students for the

National Music Festival; their contributions included reciting German poems and giving

German speeches. During the weekends, I attended student Masses and club meetings.

In the four weeks after the holidays (4th September to 6th October 2006), I attended English

lessons and worked on the classroom observation tasks. I taught ten German lessons in Form

One and four lessons in Form Three, while continuing to prepare the Form Four students for

their oral examination. My work with the Form Four students took about 20 hours. The

German teacher also gave me Form Four German grammar papers and compositions to mark.

As oral comprehension has been newly introduced into the final examination and there are not

yet many tapes available in Kenya, the German teacher and I recorded a tape with dialogues

and texts for use in class.

During this time, I took part in the whole school day, beginning with morning assembly and

including teachers’ meetings. In my spare time, I assisted the school librarian in the library.

2

In the first part of this report, I will give a brief introduction to the Kenyan school system. This

introduction is necessary to understand the information about Precious Blood Secondary

School and elements of my lesson plans.

For the classroom observation tasks, I observed English lessons from Form One to Form Four.

I decided to observe English lessons rather than German lessons for the classroom observation

tasks because there are four English teachers and only one German teacher. Thus, focusing on

the teaching of English gave me the opportunity to gain an insight into different teaching

styles.

In my reports on the classroom observation tasks, I will first give a short description of a

lesson I observed and then analyse it according to the questions given by Wajnryb1 and

including the results of my discussions with the teachers. My lesson plans are concerned with

the teaching of German. However, the topics I chose seem to be transferable to the teaching of

English.

1.2 The Kenyan School SystemThe Kenyan school system is an “8-4-4-system”: it consists of eight years of primary school,

four years of secondary school, and four years of university. The school year begins in January

and ends in December; it is divided into three terms. Each term is three months long, followed

by a month of holidays.

Kenyan children usually begin school at the age of five or six years. However, in the course of

the last years, many older children have been coming to Standard One and the number of

primary school pupils has risen. The reason for this development is that the government of

President Mwai Kibaki, which came to power in 2002, abolished fees for primary schools.

This means that many children who could not go to primary school because their parents were

unable to pay school fees now have access to eight years of education. However, it is a

government regulation that students at all schools must wear uniforms; these uniforms have to

be bought by the parents. Additionally, parents may be asked to pay money for books, school

1 Wajnryb, Ruth. Classroom observation tasks: a resource book for language teachers and trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1992.

3

trips and the facilities the school offers (e.g. computers or a school bus). This means that a

number of pupils are still cannot attend school for financial reasons.

Most Kenyan primary school pupils go to schools near their homes; there are both mixed

schools and schools only for boys and only for girls. Lessons begin at eight o’clock and end at

four o’clock. Due to the increased number of primary school pupils, the classes have become

very large: one teacher may teach 40 to 100 children. The children get their first reports and

grades (from A to E) in Standard One.

Many children in Kenya learn a tribal language as their first language and may only begin

learning English and Swahili (the country’s two official languages) in school. In tribally

homogeneous areas, the language of instruction for the first two to three years may be the

tribal language. From Standard Three onwards, all lessons are conducted in English; Swahili is

taught as a subject. The subjects taught in primary school are English, Swahili, Mathematics,

Geography / History / Religious Education, and Science. At the end of Standard Eight, all

students sit for an examination in order to obtain the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education

(KCPE). The National Examination Council, which is under the Ministry of Education,

centrally sets the examination. The KCPE consists of a written examination in the five

subjects taught in primary school; it is possible to attain a maximum of 100 points in every

subject. The number of points obtained in the KCPE is one of the factors which determine

whether the pupils will go to secondary school and by which secondary schools they will be

accepted.

There are three categories of secondary schools: District Schools, Provincial Schools and

National Schools. Schools are allocated to these categories by the government according to

their performance and their facilities.

District Schools accept students only from the district in which the school is situated;

Provincial Schools take 65% of their students from their district and 35% from the rest of the

province, while National Schools accept students from all over the country. District Schools

may be day schools, boarding schools or schools with both day students and boarders;

Provincial Schools and National Schools are always boarding schools.

4

The amount of fees for the three types of schools differs: a student at a District School pays

between 10,000 and 15,000 Kenyan Shillings2 (Ksh) for a school year; students at Provincial

Schools pay 25,000 Ksh to 30,000 Ksh, while students at National Schools usually pay more

than 30,000 Ksh.

Standard Eight pupils make four choices of secondary schools to which they would like to go;

there must be one District School, one Provincial School and one National School among

them. The students are allocated to the schools according to the number of points they

obtained in their KCPE Examinations. However, if students are chosen by secondary schools

their parents cannot pay the fees for, they will not be able to attend this school.

The National and Provincial Directors of Education fix the entry points for the various

schools. The number of points necessary for being accepted to a certain school differs from

year to year; it depends on the nation-wide KCPE performance.

Most boarding schools (i.e. all National and Provincial and some District Schools) are only for

boys or only for girls; day schools may be mixed. As not all primary school students go on to

secondary school, the classes are smaller; they may consist of 40 to 60 students. Lessons in

secondary schools usually begin at eight o’clock and end at four o’clock; this means that

students have up to ten lessons per day.

In Form One, the first year of secondary school, the students study up to thirteen subjects.

Mathematics, Kiswahili and English are compulsory; the students choose two to three sciences

(i.e. Biology, Chemistry, Physics) and two or three Humanities (i.e. History & Government,

Christian / Islamic / Hindu Religious Education, Geography). The optional subjects offered

differ; they include Agriculture, Home Science, Computer Studies, Commerce, German,

French, Arabic and Music.

In Form Three, the students choose the subjects in which they want to do their Kenya

Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. Seven subjects are counted for the

KCSE mean grade; Mathematics, Kiswahili, and English are always counted. Students sit for

two or three written examinations in every KCSE subject. For example, the English

examination consists of three papers which are called “Grammar and Comprehension”,

“Composition and Functional Writing”, and “Oral Skills and Literary Appreciation”. The

students of foreign languages (i.e. German, French or Arabic) do two papers and an oral

examination. In Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Home Science and Agriculture, students are

required to do a practical examination; in Computer Studies, they have to hand in a project.

2 Exchange rate (October 2006): 1 Euro ≈ 96 Ksh

5

The National Examination Council centrally sets the KCSE examinations. The Form Four

students sit for the KCSE examinations in October and November; they receive their results

about three months later. The leaving certificates (i.e. the report on the KCSE results) are

usually issued about one year after the students have done the exam. The students who want to

attend university begin their studies two years after completing their secondary education.

The Joint Admissions Board, instituted by the Ministry of Education, is in charge of the

admission of students to public universities. There are seven public universities in Kenya;

about 10,000 students are admitted to university every year.

The government requirement for university entry is a KCSE mean grade of C+. However, the

requirements have been rising steadily in the course of the last years due to the increasing

number of secondary school students. In 2005, only students with a mean grade of B+ or

higher were called to university. Public universities are subsidized by the government;

students pay around 9,000 Ksh per year for tuition.

There are a number of private universities in Kenya (e.g. the Catholic University of Eastern

Africa); they accept students with a mean grade of C+ and above. Fees for private universities

may be as high as 80,000 Ksh per year.

The pupils who do not go to university may either go to a college (e.g. to train as a secretary or

a nurse) or to a vocational training school. Vocational training schools are also open to those

pupils who have not gone to secondary school. A significant number of pupils do not further

their education after Standard Eight; they may look for work or – in rural areas – go home to

work on their parents’ farms.

Primary school teachers are trained in colleges, where they do so-called Certificate Courses.

The training takes two years; the teachers qualify to teach all subjects in primary school.

Secondary school teachers either do a Diploma Course, which takes two years, at a Teachers

Training College or they go to university for four years to obtain a degree. Secondary school

teachers teach one or two subjects.

After leaving the college or the university, the teachers go for three to six months of teaching

practise. The Teachers’ Service Commission (T.S.C.), a governmental organisation, may

employ fully qualified teachers to teach in a public school or they may go to work in a private

6

school. Primary school teachers employed by the T.S.C. earn about 8,000 Ksh a month;

secondary school teachers earn around 20,000 Ksh.

Teachers who are employed by the T.S.C. can be transferred countrywide. If they are

transferred to remote districts with poor infrastructure, they are paid higher salaries, the so-

called “hardship allowance”.

1.3 Description of the School : Precious Blood Secondary School KilunguPrecious Blood Secondary School Kilungu is a girls’ boarding school situated in a rural area

of Makueni District in Kenya’s Eastern Province3.

The school was founded by the Catholic order of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood

as a primary school for girls in 1940 and converted into a secondary school eighteen years

later. It is a Provincial School run by the government; the headmistress has always been a

Precious Blood Sister.

The school motto is “Education for Service”; the “Vision Statement”, written and annually

updated by the Board of Governors and the teachers, asserts that the school aims “to bring

about holistic development through quality education, and so equip the student with skills and

values that will empower her not only to attain self fulfilment, but also to make a positive

contribution to her nation in religious and moral integrity”4.

Currently, the school has two streams with a total of 399 students; there are 50 students in one

class. The two classes in one year are called “West” and “East” (e.g. Form One West and

Form One East). The school employs 25 teachers and 25 non-teaching staff (e.g. matrons,

kitchen staff, watchmen, farm workers). In 2006, Form One students paid 10,000 Ksh in Term

1 and 8,000 Ksh in both Term 2 and Term 3. The fees for the first term are higher because the

girls have to buy the school uniform: maroon sweaters, white blouses, grey pleated skirts,

white socks and black shoes, and a P.E. uniform.

The school’s physical facilities include eight classrooms, two laboratories, two Home Science

rooms, one computer room with 22 computers, a well-equipped library, a German room, a

History room, and a school hall.

3 Map of Kenya: Index I4 Mission and Vision Statement: Index II

7

The students sleep in 11 dormitory sections in four buildings. The girls in one building are

members of the same House. The Houses are named after Kenyan Lakes; they are called

Naivasha House, Baringo House, Bogoria House, and Nakuru House. Each of the four Houses

has a House Captain. The Houses compete in the areas of academics, extra-curricular activities

and discipline. The overall winner is rewarded with a party at the end of the year.

Water for the school is supplied through two boar-holes. The school is connected to electricity

and is equipped with a generator for the case of power failures; it keeps cows and plants its

own vegetables. Kikoko Mission Cottage Hospital borders the school compound; ill students

go there for treatment.

Beside the compulsory subjects Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, and

Kiswahili, the school offers Christian Religious Education, Home Science, Agriculture,

Commerce, Computer Studies, German and Music as optional subjects.

Twice a week, the students have the opportunity to do sports after classes. There are hockey

pitches, a badminton court, a netball field, a basketball field and a volleyball field; football and

handball are played as well.

Apart from sports, there are various clubs and movements, which meet once a week, for

example Ranger Guides, the Young Christian Society, the Science Club, a Drama Club, a

Debating Club and a Wildlife Club.

The school does well academically, though there are fluctuations in its performance. Last year,

students with 398 to 420 points (i.e. with results of 80-84%) in their KCPE examination were

accepted to Form One. The KCSE mean grade has been B and above in the last seven years.

The school has always been No. 1 in Makueni District and is among the top schools in Eastern

Province. Nationally, Precious Blood Secondary School Kilungu has been among the ten best

schools a number of times. In the last five years, 350 out of 474 Form Four leavers have been

admitted to university, i.e. the university intake level was 73.8%.

The students successfully participate in various competitions: Precious Blood Kilungu has

repeatedly been the best girls’ school at the Science Congress; students have gone through to

the National Level of both the Athletics championships and the Music Festival. The German

students have won the German Cultural Festival, in which about 25 schools participate, for ten

successive years.

8

Discipline is maintained with the help of a strong prefect body. The prefects are Form Four

students chosen by the headmistress. They are responsible for various areas of the school (e.g.

as Dining Hall Prefect or Library Captain); the Head Girl and the Deputy Head Girl guide

them. Punishments for not obeying the school rules5 or not following the daily routine6 include

demerits (this means that points are deducted from the House) and “bookings”. Girls who are

“booked” have to spend a certain amount of their free time working on the school grounds or

in the school field. There are no major discipline problems.

Former students of the school have formed an “Old Girls Association”. This association has

established a bursary fund, which sponsors 16 needy students every year.

The main problem faced by the school administration is poor fees payment. The majority of

the students come from arid districts. Many parents are economically disadvantaged; fees

payment is slow and incomplete.

2 Classroom Observation Tasks2.1 Attending to the learnerThis classroom observation tasks deals with the way the teacher reacts to the individual

learner. I observed lessons taught in Form One East and Form Four West for this task; these

classes are taught by two different teachers.

In Form One East, the teacher knew most of the students’ names and used their names to call

on them. However, she also called on the students whose names she did not know, calling

them for example “the girl next to Joyce”, “you” or “Charity’s friend”. When contacting a

single learner, the teacher often used encouraging non-verbal attending strategies such as a

nod or a smile. Students who had contributed information once were called on more often than

others; students sitting in the middle of the classroom were not called at all. These patterns

could be observed in spite of the teacher’s attempts to involve as many students as possible

(e.g. “Let me hear an answer from somebody who has not spoken today.”). There seems to be

a danger of students, especially quiet or shy ones, being neglected. 5 School rules: Index III6 Daily routine: Index IV

9

The Form Four teacher knew all her students’ names and used them to call on the students

who raised their hands. In this class, students sitting in the front row, especially those sitting to

the extreme left and to the extreme right seemed to be out of the teacher’s field of vision.

Like in Form One, the teacher used nods, smiles, eye contact and the students’ names to call

on them or encourage them to participate in class. Reprimanding looks, frowns or shaking of

the head was only used to discourage two or three students from speaking to each other. These

disapproving attending strategies had immediate effect and did not have to be used repeatedly

towards the same students.

According to the teachers I spoke to, the use of strategies is not planned in advance, but rather

triggered by classroom events such as the behaviour of the students. The teachers

acknowledged that the attending strategies they use on a particular day in a particular situation

may be influenced by their own mood. A further aspect mentioned by one teacher is that she

feels she is more likely to use negative attending strategies when she is not well prepared.

Even though the choice of strategies seems to be unconscious, the teachers are aware of the

fact that their own attending behaviour may be problematic. They feel that they are not able to

pay enough attention to every single learner; this may be partly due to the size of the classes.

The teachers regard it as very difficult to “teach for everybody” and say that it is impossible to

call on every student every lesson. As the teachers know that they inevitably neglect some

learners, they collect the students’ homework regularly in order to be able to give them

feedback on their progress. The students are also encouraged to speak to the teachers during

break time of after classes if they have questions or problems.

The classrooms are full of desks from the very left to the very right, so it is impossible for the

teacher to have all the students in full view. This may explain why the teachers in both classes

I observed paid less attention to students sitting in a particular area of the classroom. When I

shared the data I had collected with the Form One teacher, she was surprised to see that the

students sitting in the middle of the classroom had not been attended to at all. She said that she

consciously tried to involve students sitting in the back and in the front and was not aware of

the fact that she seemed to be forgetting the students in the middle.

10

Learning and using students’ names involves a conscious effort on the side of the teacher. A

teacher I spoke to tries to learn the names of students as quickly as possible by making a

sketch of the seating arrangement, collecting homework frequently, and giving back

assignments and tests personally. Strategies like taking pictures of students are not practicable

in Kilungu, as the technical equipment is not readily available.

One of the English teachers said that knowing the students’ names makes her feel more

confident in class and that she considers it a matter of politeness towards the students to try to

learn their names. She said that she regards knowing the names as a precondition to

establishing a personal relationship with the students and thus creating a positive atmosphere

in class.

Students’ names were only used to call on students to participate in class. They were not used

to criticise a student or tell her off. The teachers agreed that the students seem more attentive

when they are aware of the fact that the teacher knows their names; this may be because the

students are motivated by feeling that they are perceived as individuals.

The Form Four teacher said that she makes a conscious effort to involve the students who

seldom volunteer information and those who do not seem to be following the lesson. She sees

the danger of discouraging active students through this strategy, but says that less active

students seem to gain confidence by getting positive feedback. She told me of several cases in

which attending to a student in class had been a factor which improved the student’s

performance.

No “pattern within a pattern” (Wajnryb, p. 30) was apparent to me as an observer, but students

complain that some teachers pay more attention to girls from the city and less attention to girls

from rural areas. Others feel that some teachers only pay attention to the bright students. This

shows that students are extremely sensitive in this respect and that they are quick to take note

of and interpret the teachers’ attending strategies.

Students attend to other students in various ways. One example which I found striking is that

while students correct each other in class and may even laugh at a mistake another student

makes, they seem to be very sensitive: they do not correct or laugh at weak students, but rather

look at the teacher when a weak student makes a mistake and wait for her to react. This shows

that the students seem to sense when it is appropriate for them to attend to each other and

11

when the teacher has to intervene. Students’ attending behaviour towards other students seems

to be an important factor in establishing a classroom atmosphere that is both lively and non-

threatening.

The attending behaviour I witnessed was mostly positive and encouraging, reprimanding

looks, frowns and shaking of the head had immediate effect. This is certainly due to the fact

that the students in this school are very well behaved, which means that the teacher does not

have to spend a lot of time and energy thinking of and implementing disciplinary measures.

Observing lessons with this question in mind has shown me how important it is for the teacher

to be aware of the attending strategies used in the classroom, as students seem to observe this

very carefully and may interpret strategies the teacher uses subconsciously as personal

criticism or encouragement.

2.2 The Learner as a Cultural BeingFor this classroom observation task, I observed a series of lessons in Form Four about short

stories from the book Half a Day and Other Stories. It contains stories by authors from

Eastern and Northeastern Africa.

Before the lesson, I discussed the cultural composition of the class and the questions worth

focusing on with the class’s English teacher, who is a Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood.

The teacher herself is a Tanzanian; the students are all Kenyans: most of them are members of

the Kamba tribe, there are a few Meru girls, one Indian girl and a girl from the Kisii tribe.

The aspects we decided to focus on are the following (cf. Wajnryb, p. 40):

1) What do the learners learn about culture through this series of lessons?

2) Learners are cultural beings with a cultural perspective on the world. Which culture-

specific expectations of the classroom and learning processes become evident?

3) How is the cultural dimension of the learner considered by the teacher and the students

among each other?

4) What does an observer learn about the students’ cultural background?

12

The lessons I will describe are about the short story “Heaven and Earth” by the Kenyan author

Wangui wa Goro7 (pp. 91-104); the lessons about the other short stories had the same

structure. The story “Heaven and Earth” deals with domestic violence.

First of all, the class discussed the title. The teacher then asked the students to comment on the

picture illustrating the story (p. 101). The students read the story aloud; each girl read a

paragraph. In the following lessons, students gave presentations on themes of the story and

characterizations of the main characters. Both the themes (domestic violence, the role of

religion in society, tradition, appearance vs. reality, alienation) and the traits attributed to the

various characters were discussed in class.

The following interpretations of the lessons I observed are results of a discussion with the

class’s English teacher.

The learners do not learn about the culture of a region totally foreign to them (e.g. Great

Britain), but read and discuss short stories written by authors from Eastern and Northeastern

Africa. Many of these stories deal with sensitive aspects of culture. By discussing and

analysing the short stories, the learners reflect on their own culture and learn about traditions

of other peoples within their country or region. Thus, they attempt to develop a personal

opinion and to position themselves in their culture.

The modes of address in class in Kenya are different from those in Germany: the students

address the teacher as “Teacher” or “Sister”; the teacher calls the students by their first name

(and not - as in the German Oberstufe - by their last name). This may indicate a certain degree

of respect the students have towards the teacher and a clear setting of classroom power, which

seems to be expected by the students. The students are active and well-disciplined in class;

they ask questions and participate in discussions. Even though they challenge the teacher’s

views (e.g. in a discussion) or tell the teacher when she has made a mistake, the students obey

the teacher’s instructions. They seem to accept that she has the right to make classroom-

organisation decisions. When I asked the students about what they expect from English

lessons, they said that they want the teacher to structure the lessons well and to give them a

good preparation for the final examinations.

7 wa Goro, Wangui. Heaven and Earth: Index V

13

The choice of activities does not seem to show any particular consideration of the students’

culture; these activities can probably be found in many classes all over the world: a phase of

teacher questions and student answers was followed by the reading of the story, student

presentations, and a discussion among the students.

The teacher said that some issues that appear in the short stories have to be sensitively

discussed in class, as they are taboo topics which are usually not discussed openly. Such topics

include female genital mutilation, domestic violence, racism, tribalism, sexuality, and sexual

violence.

Concerning tribalism, the teacher has noticed that students are less open when discussing

aspects (e.g. marriage rites, values) of their own cultures or the tribes of other students in the

classroom than when they are talking about a tribe not represented in class. This shows that

cultural stereotypes are a reality which might constrict the open exchange of views in the

classroom. Discussing these topics in class requires cultural sensitivity on the side of the

teacher when planning which aspects will be discussed.

Cultural concepts which might be unclear to non-Africans but which were mentioned in class

without being explained (thus implying that there is a general consensus about their meaning)

were for example ancestral land, dowry, the value of children, the role of the gods, polygamy,

and infertility.

Regarding the fourth question mentioned above, the students’ description of the picture and

their reactions while the story was being read aloud were interesting. When commenting on

the picture (p. 101), the students said that a car stands for wealth. The woman entering the

church was described as “modern”, well-dressed and confident; the students associated a

woman with such an appearance with city life. In contrast, they described the woman sitting

inside the church as “simple” and said that she probably comes from “the village”.

While reading the text, the students laughed and whispered when certain paragraphs were read

aloud. For example, they laughed when the collection in church was described and when the

vicar had to fight for attention because of Mme. Lady’s behaviour in church (p. 94). A

sentence which the students commented on to each other was: “men and women each have

areas of responsibility designated by their biology” (p. 95).

The students’ contributions reflect the norms and the experiences they grew up with. They

show how the students perceive Kenyan society and which questions they think are worth

14

commenting on. The norms for acceptable behaviour, e.g. in church, are seem to be relatively

clear; deviation from these norms causes shock or amusement.

There was an animated discussion about the connection between dowry and domestic

violence. Before marrying, the man pays dowry to the woman’s family: the woman may feel it

is impossible to leave her husband because her family cannot repay the dowry; and some men

behave as if they owned their wives because of the money they paid. The teacher encouraged

the students to focus on possible solutions of the problem. The aspect mentioned by most girls

and agreed upon in class was that education is a means to achieve independence from men,

society, and cultural norms. This attitude of the girls might be a factor which explains their

commitment to learning and their disciplined behaviour in class.

2.3 Grammar as lesson contentIn order to find out more about the teaching of grammar, I observed a series of grammar

lessons taught in Form Three West. I will give a short description of the lesson on

“Consolidation of adjectival clauses and complex sentences”; the other lessons I observed had

a similar structure.

After greeting the students, the teacher wrote the topic of the lesson and five sentences in

which relative pronouns were used on the board. While writing, she gave explanations on what

she was writing down. The students copied the sentences into their exercise books. After that,

the teacher dictated a short text from a grammar book she had brought with her to the students;

the text was about characteristics of defining and non-defining adjectival clauses. The teacher

then dictated a cloze-exercise with ten sentences to the students; the students filled in the

blanks in individual work. They were asked to exchange the books, read out the sentences

their neighbours had written and to mark them right or wrong. Another exercise followed.

Finally, the teacher gave the students more exercises on adjectival clauses as homework.

As I unfortunately did not have the chance to speak to the teacher about the lessons, I worked

on those questions from R. Wajnryb that seemed answerable on the basis of the lessons I had

observed (pp. 86f).

Grammar was the central focus and the only topic of these lessons. In fact, these lessons were

meant to be “grammar lessons”. Two of the five English lessons per week are designated for

15

the teaching of grammar. It was difficult for me to tell whether the students were involved in

thinking about grammar: the rules were presented to them; they were not asked work out rules

for themselves. However, the students seemed able to cope with the exercises without much

difficulty; they completed them quickly and all the answers they read out were correct.

The focus of the lesson was clearly on “knowing” rather than on “doing”. The students were

told how a specific aspect of the language works; they were expected to learn about the use of

pronouns and the differences between defining and non-defining relative clauses. The

language was only used in highly controlled gap-filling exercises. As far as I could see, the

students did not have to make inferences about the system of the language while working on

these exercises; they were only expected to apply the rules which the teacher had presented to

them.

The students listened to the teacher, took notes and worked on the exercises. There was no

evidence that the teacher was aware of different learning styles. The students, on the other

hand, all seemed to be following the teacher-centred lessons; so there was no observable

evidence of different learning styles on the side of the learner either.

Concerning the outcome of the lesson, I suppose that the students learned what the teacher

expected them to. The lesson’s objective was clearly stated at the beginning of the lesson: it

was meant to familiarise the students with adjectival clauses in complex sentences. It seems

likely that most of the students were already able to construct sentences like the ones

presented before the lesson, as their level of proficiency in English is very high and they have

been taught in English since Standard Three of primary school. Had the structure been

completely new to them, this lesson might not have provided enough practise or given enough

opportunity to ask questions. However, as it can be reasonably supposed that the students

already knew the structure, the lesson probably successfully introduced them to the technical

terms used to talk about the topic.

The teacher probably wanted the students to acquire the knowledge necessary to deal with

tasks concerning adjectival clauses in examinations; and it seems reasonable to suppose that

the students went away with that knowledge.

16

2.4 Classroom PowerI decided to observe several English lessons in different classes, focusing on different topics

and taught by different teachers in order to try to find whether patterns in regard to classroom

power are caused mainly by the age of the students, the subject matter or the individual

teacher.

The lesson I attended in Form One focused on reading comprehension. The teacher

determined the course of the lesson and wrote on the board; the students listened to the

teacher’s explanations, did written exercises and asked questions which were answered by the

teacher.

The grammar lesson I attended in Form Three was about phrasal verbs. The teacher wrote on

the board, cleaned the board, gave the meaning of unknown words, gave explanations and

gave dictation. The students copied what the teacher wrote on the board and dictated to them;

two students read out a paragraph from the textbook. Only one student asked a question,

which was answered by the teacher.

In Form Four, I attended a literature lesson. The class discussed the short story “The Hands of

the Blacks” by Luis Bernando Honwana8. The lesson was divided into three phases: first, a

student presented her findings on the stylistic devices used in the story. The presenter wrote

notes, which were later copied by her classmates, on the board. She cleaned the board, spelled

out unknown words and repeated what she had said if others had not heard it. The presenter

also asked her classmates questions and answered questions asked by them. During the second

phase, which only took a few minutes, the teacher asked questions about the stylistic devices

to be found in the story; the students also had the opportunity to ask questions which were

answered by their classmates or by the teacher. During this phase, a student asked a question

about racism, which lead to the third phase of the lesson: a discussion about racism, in which

various aspects were brought up. Both the students and the teacher asked questions, answered

questions and gave their opinions. Towards the end of the lesson, a student asked for one of

the revision questions to be discussed. When the teacher had given her consent, the student

read out the question and other students attempted to answer it. Students organised the lesson,

asked and answered questions, determined discussion topics, and discussed them among

8 Honwana, Luis Bernado. “The Hands of the Blacks”, in: Clarke, Ayebia: Half a Day and Other Stories. An Anthology of Short Stories from North Eastern and Eastern Africa. Nairobi: Macmillan Kenya Publishers. 2004. 115-120.

17

themselves. The role of the teacher was to supplement information found by the students,

direct attention towards aspects which had been overlooked by the students, and to correct

students if necessary. Comparing the three lessons, it becomes evident that the amount of

teacher control was considerably higher during the lessons observed in Form One and Form

Three. In Forms One and Three, all decisions (cf. Wajnryb, p. 120) were made by the teacher.

The students had a higher amount of control in the lesson I observed in Form Four; for

example, a student gave a presentation, cleaned the board, and answered questions. During the

discussion, the topic of which was determined by the students, the students answered each

others questions. Even though the teacher controlled the structure of the lesson (student

presentation, teacher comment, discussion), it can be described as student-centred within the

boundaries of the syllabus.

When discussing my observations and Wajnryb’s criteria for observing classroom power (p.

120) with the teachers, they suggested that the aims, language and skills focus, topics, and

materials are determined by the syllabus. The seating arrangements can also not be influenced

either by the teacher or by the students: the classrooms are full of desks; it would not be

possible to arrange them in any way except in straight lines.

The teachers agreed that two criteria influence the degree of student involvement: the age of

the students and the topic of the lesson. Grammar-lessons are generally teacher-centred. The

Form Three teacher said that new material was being introduced which had to be presented to

and learned by the students. Another reason which the teachers gave for given for the their

high degree of decision-making power was that they perceive many grammatical topics as

difficult and feel that the students might not be able to present them adequately. The teachers

also complained about the syllabus, which they feel is overloaded. They expressed the opinion

that they would not be able to cover all the grammatical topics in the given amount of time any

other way.

In literature lessons, the students often work on topics in groups and then present them to the

class; the teacher may supplement or correct information if necessary. However, this relatively

high degree of student involvement in the planning and realisation of the lesson is practised

during the students’ time in secondary school. In primary school, lessons are often teacher-

centred; they may consist only of teacher-presentations Therefore, the English department of

Precious Blood Secondary School tries to make students more responsible for their own

learning and to enable them to organise lessons and present material. However, this is an

18

ongoing process from Form One Form Four. Teachers of some other subjects place less

emphasis on student participation; lessons may consist only of teacher presentations.

2.5 The Board as a ResourceIn Precious Blood Secondary School Kilungu, the board is one of the few resources which are

available in class, as there are no flipcharts, overhead projectors, or beamers.

The lesson I observed was a literature lesson in Form Two. The teacher had told me that the

lesson was going to consist of student presentations; each group had worked on one character

from the novel “Coming to Birth”9. I would have expected the teacher to ask the students to

write the most important points of their presentation on the blackboard.

The teacher wrote “Coming to Birth - The Characters” on the board at the beginning of the

lesson. She then asked the students to name the characters in the novel and wrote their names

on the board in four columns. The list of the characters may have served different purposes:

the students activated their pre-knowledge while collecting the names of the characters; the list

was also an overview of the work already done (as the teacher ticked the characters which the

class had already talked about last lesson) and an overview of the coming lesson.

As the students presented the characterisations they had worked on, the teacher wrote the traits

of two characters beside their names. It seemed as if this was done randomly; she did not

explain why she did not write down the traits of all the characters presented.

Contrary to my expectations, only the teacher wrote on the board. While writing on the board

in the beginning of the lesson, she commented on the role of the characters in the story or

asked one of the students to do so. When she wrote the character traits on the board during the

student presentation, the students did not seem to be paying attention to her; they were taking

notes on the presentation. It seems questionable whether it made any sense to write on the

board at all, or whether it may have even been distracting.

A point I noticed was that some items on the board were not legible to me (and to the students

sitting in the last row with me) as they were written too far down; the board can not be moved.

This means that teachers should not use all the space on the board.

9 Oludhe Macgoye, Marjorie. Coming to Birth. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. 1986.

19

Wajnryb asks for comments on the comprehensibility of the items on the board (p. 124). If a

student had come to class late, she may have had difficulties in finding out what the class was

doing; it would not have been possible for somebody to recap the lesson on the basis of the

items on the board10.

On the basis of the lessons I observed, my own teaching experience and my experience as a

student, I would suggest the following rules (cf. Wajnryb, p. 124):

- Have a fixed place for items like vocabulary and homework.

- If the board is not moveable, do not write too far down.

- Make sure your handwriting is big enough and legible.

- Before wiping the board during the lesson, ask if everyone has finished copying.

- Always use the same symbols and explain them if necessary.

- Use short points, diagrams, sketches, mind maps; do not write long texts on the board.

- Be prepared - plan in advance what you are going to write where.

- Write the title or topic on the board.

- Comment on the status importance of the items. Tell the students whether or not to

copy them.

3 Lesson Plans3.1 Lesson Plan: Modal Auxiliary Verbs Class: Form One East, 46 students

Duration: 80 minutes, 8:50 - 10:10 a.m. (2nd and 3rd period)

Topic: Modalverben “können, wollen, mögen” (Willkommen I, pp. 49-52) 11

Description of the Class

Forty-six of the Form One students are learning German; they are all in Form One East. The

girls are between 14 and 16 years old. They have been learning German for two terms; this

means that they have had a total of about 72 German lessons. German is their third foreign

language: their mother tongue is Kikamba or another tribal language; their first and second

foreign languages are Swahili and English. 10 Items on the board: index VI11 Willkommen 1, pp. 49-52: index VII

20

I assisted the German teacher in marking the last term’s final examinations: some students do

very well, while others have difficulties even with reproductive exercises. Some teachers

complain that the Form One students are “noisemakers”; they have frequently been booked for

this reason. There are no discipline problems during the lessons.

Concerning the students’ motivation in German classes, their teacher has the impression that

many regard German as a difficult subject which is pulling their class performance down.

Some students complain that it is difficult to get good marks in German, while the Commerce

class (Form One West) is getting high marks with little effort. According to the teacher, more

than half of the class plans to drop German after Form Two. She thinks that this is a reason

why the class as a whole does not seem very motivated. She says that they are moving very

slowly and will not be able to cover the syllabus. The class has only reached the beginning of

chapter three, i.e. less than half of the book which should be covered in Form One.

In contrast, the English teacher says that the girls are bright, eager to learn and co-operative in

class.

Recent Work

Currently, we are in the second week of the third term. The girls have just come back from a

month’s holiday at home. During the two weeks before the holidays, the students did exams in

every subject; they were given C.A.T.s (Continuous Assessment Tests) in the first week after

the holidays. In the first lesson of the term, we revised the topic hobbies and did pronunciation

exercises.

Goal

The students understand the concept of modal auxiliary verbs in German; they learn the

conjugation of the verbs and the syntax of sentences with modal auxiliary verbs and secure

their knowledge through exercises.

Objectives

1) The students understand the concept of modal auxiliary verbs in German by analysing

the comic and listening to teacher’s explanation. (cognitive)

2) The students are familiarise themselves with the conjugation of modal auxiliary verbs

by comparing it to the conjugation of regular verbs. (cognitive)

21

3) The students learn how to construct sentences with modal auxiliary verbs by focusing

on the similarities to English and Swahili, familiarising themselves with the

visualisation given in the textbook, and doing an exercise. (cognitive)

4) The students secure their knowledge of conjugation and syntax by working on

exercises on the topics. (cognitive)

Time Phase / Step Activities Class Organisation

Media

2 Welcoming -- --8 Activity

Phase I / introduction

A student (s) reads the text of the comic; the students then explain what is happening on the pictures and try to deduce the meaning of “kannst” / “kann”.

Class plenary Willkommen 1, p. 49

18 Activity Phase II / exercise

The class works on exercise 9; first t-question and s-answer, then students work in pairs and write down three questions and answers. The students have the possibility to ask questions while working on the exercise; six pairs then read out one “exchange” each.

Class plenary & pair work

Willkommen 1, p. 49

30 Activity Phase III / grammar presentation

A student reads the first two paragraphs of the grammar box; the teacher explains and writes notes on the board. A student then writes the conjugation of a regular verb on the board. The teacher writes the irregular modal auxiliaries on the board (one form at a time) and asks the students to find out irregularities, which are then underlined. The students copy the items on the board into their exercise books; they then read out the forms.

Class plenary Willkommen 1, p. 49 & Blackboard

42 Activity Phase IV / grammar practice

The students do ex. 12 in individual work; they write the answers into their exercise books. They then read out the answers, which are corrected in the class plenary if necessary. The class does ex. 11 in the class plenary; the explanations and the conjugation are still on the board;

Individual work & class plenary

Willkommen 1, p. 51

22

ex. 11 serves as a comprehension exercise.

50 Activity Phase IV / grammar presentation

The teacher writes simple sentences from the book (p. 50) on the board and lets the students analyse their syntax (Which verb is in which position? Which verb is conjugated?); she then points out similarities to English and Swahili.


57 Activity Phase V / grammar practice

The students work on ex. 13, which requires them to put elements of sentences together in the correct order; each pair writes five sentences; the sentences are then read out and corrected in the class plenary.

Pair work & class plenary

Willkommen 1, p. 52

65 Activity Phase VI / grammar presentation

The teacher writes complex sentences from the book (p. 50) on the board and points out the position of extra information in sentences with modal auxiliary verbs using the bridge (p. 50) as a visualisation.


75 Activity Phase VII / grammar practise

The teacher gives five signs to five students and asks them to stand in front of the class in three different orders. The class then analyses and discusses which sentence orders are correct (ex. 14 & 15).

Class Plenary Willkommen 1, p. 52

78 Finishing / Assigning Homework

The teacher asks the students to learn the conjugation and syntax of the modal verbs and to do ex. 10 and 11 in their exercise books. T writes homework on the board.

Class plenary Blackboard

Didactic Commentary and Reflection

I was sceptical about introducing a new grammatical concept and practising it in the same

lesson, as I thought this might be demanding too much of the students. However, their English

teacher encouraged me to challenge the students and said that they are able to grasp new

concepts quickly.

As the girls have only had German lessons for a relatively short time, I decided to introduce

the grammatical concept in English, while using German for “classroom phrases” and easy

instructions. I made this decision in line with the textbook, which gives explanations in

English. The decision to use English as medium of instruction was confirmed by the girls

23

themselves; they complain that the German teacher speaks only German with them and they

hardly understand anything and often do not know what they are supposed to do. This

understandably frustrates them.

The students found out the meaning of “kannst” in the comic without any problems and did

not ask any questions while we worked on ex. 9 in the class plenary. During the pair work

phase, many girls had questions about the meaning of words and the correct pronunciation.

This showed that it is important to include phases in which the students have the possibility to

ask each other and the teacher questions “privately”, as some of them might not feel

comfortable asking questions in front of all their classmates. Their reservation might,

however, also have been due to the fact that they did not know me very well yet and did not

know how I would react to questions.

Finding the irregularities in the conjugation of modal auxiliary verbs went quite quickly; the

girls were eager to participate. The girl who had volunteered to write the regular verb on the

board “got stuck” and was helped by her classmates, so the situation was not too embarrassing

for her.

While reading the conjugated verbs with the girls, I found that their pronunciation of the

Umlaut “ö” was not good. This is why I decided to do the pronunciation exercise for this

sound in the textbook with them (p. 64)12. The directions are a bit funny and nobody seemed to

get it right the first time, so it caused great amusement in class and may have been a good

relaxation phase.

Some students participated when I asked them questions during the phases in which I was

presenting new grammar; some even asked questions in class plenary in the course of the

lesson. Form One East was my first “big” class; before, I had only taught groups of 14 to 25

students. This lesson made it clear to me how difficult it is to keep all students in view and not

to work only with the bright and quick ones. In such big classes, it seems especially important

to include phases of pair work and group work to give all students an opportunity to talk.

When giving them homework at the end of the lesson, I asked the students whether they would

like to do a test on the conjugation of the modal auxiliaries in the following week. They said

that they would like to do a test, as external pressure made it easier for them to learn.

12 Willkommen 1, p. 64: index VIII

24

Contrary to my expectations, the students worked with concentration even towards the end of

the lesson; this may be due to the fact that they are used to lessons with a lot of input, or partly

because I was interesting to them as a new teacher and a native speaker.

I spoke about the lesson with the German teacher, Mrs. Mutuku. She commented that the

students seem to have understood the concepts I was attempting to explain and that they

seemed motivated to contribute to the lesson. She said that I had talked quite fast in the

beginning, which I had noticed myself, but that I slowed down (which took a conscious effort)

later on. She also told me that I mainly called on students sitting in the back of the class. This

may have been due to my classroom observations, during which I had the impression that the

students in the back were given less attention by the teacher than those sitting in front. This

showed me how difficult it is to eliminate a certain problem (e.g. the uneven teacher attention

given to students) even if one is aware of it; having ones own classes observed or getting

honest feedback from the students is probably the only way to become aware of one’s own

teaching mistakes.

3.3 Lesson Plan: The German School System Class: Form Three, ten students

Duration: 60 minutes, 2:50-3:50 p.m. (9th and 10th period)

Topic: Schule in Kenia und in Deutschland (Willkommen 3, pp. 115-119)13

Class Description

The class consists of ten students from Form Three East and Form Three West. According to

the German teacher, they are highly motivated and very co-operative in class. Four of the

students are weaker than the others, but all of them work hard and are eager to improve.

Recent Work

The grammar topic the class is currently working on is “Deklination des Nomens”

(Willkommen 3, Lektion 12). The German teacher asked me to give the students an

introduction to the German school system, which is handled in Lektion 14 of the textbook.

13 Willkommen 3, pp. 115-119: index IX

25

Goal

The pupils gain an insight into the German school system and practice their speaking and

reading skills.

Objectives

1) The pupils practice their speaking skills by talking about schools in Kenya and asking

questions about the German school system. (cognitive)

2) The pupils develop a personal connection to the topic by asking questions about

aspects of the German school system that they find interesting. (affective)

3) The pupils collect and systematise basic information about the German school system

by asking questions, reading the text and filling in the table. (cognitive)

4) The pupils practice the skill of extracting relevant information from texts and diagrams

by gathering information about the German school system from the material presented

in the textbook. (cognitive)

Time Phase /Step Language Class Organisation/ Activities

Media

2 Welcoming Class Plenary --5 Introduction /

informing students about lesson content

“Heute werden wir über das deutsche und das kenianische Schulsystem sprechen.”

Class Plenary / t-information

--

15 Activity Phase I / activating pre-knowledge

- “Lasst uns zuerst über das kenianische Schulsystem sprechen. Stellt euch vor, dass ihr mit einer Deutschen über das Schulsystem in Kenia sprecht.“ – „Über welche Themen informiert ihr sie?”- T writes a mind map “Schule in Kenia” on the board14

- expected contributions: • Schuluniform • Internate, Tagesschulen • Fächer • …..

Class Plenary / t-question, s-contributions

Blackboard

17 Transition / preparing Activity Phase II

“Als nächstes werden wir über das deutsche Schulsystem sprechen.“


Worksheet “Schulen in Deutschland”15

14 Mind map „Schule in Kenia“: index X

26

- T hands out the worksheet- “Schaut euch bitte das Diagramm und die Bilder an.“- „Stellt euch vor, dass ihr für die Schülerzeitung ein Interview mit einer deutschen Person machen wollt. Ihr wollt so viel wie möglich über das deutsche Schulsystem und Schulen in Deutschland herausfinden.”

30 Activity Phase II/ writing

“Welche Fragen stellt ihr? Erarbeitet bitte zu zweit ungefähr 10 Fragen und schreibt sie auf.” - Students write down questions in pairs.

Class Plenary / t-instruction

Worksheet “Schulen in Deutschland”

32 Transition / preparing Activity Phase III

- “Jetzt könnt ihr mir eure Fragen stellen.“- „Die Informationen schreibe ich an.”


--

47 Activity Phase III/ collecting results

Expected questions:- Was ist eine

“Hauptschule”? Was ist ein “Gymasium”?

- Gibt es in Deutschland auch Internate?

- Müssen die deutschen Schüler Schulgeld bezahlen?

- ……- T. writes answers on the board, students take notes

Class Plenary / s-questions, t-answers

Blackboard

49 Transition / preparing Activity Phase IV

“Ihr habt schon viel über das deutsche Schulsystem erfahren. Jetzt werden wir mit Hilfe des Buchs diese Informationen ergänzen.”


--

60 Activity Phase IV / adding information

- “Lest bitte die Stichpunkte auf S. 116 in eurem Buch.“- Students read the text on p. 116 aloud, one note at a time.- „Überlegt, welche Punkte wir schon aufgeschrieben haben. Ergänzt die anderen Punkte in eurem Heft.”- Students say whether the

Class Plenary / s read and write

Willkommen 3, S. 116 & exercise books

15 Worksheet “Schulen in Deutschland” index XI

27

information given in each point is new to them and write down new information in their exercise books.

72 Activity Phase V / systematising information

„Versucht jetzt zu zweit, die Informationen in Übung 3 (S. 117) zuzuordnen und in einer Tabelle zusammen zu fassen.”

Pair work / s read and write

Willkommen 3, S. 117 & exercise books

74 Finishing / setting of homework

“Schreibt einen kurzen Artikel (ca. 1 Seite) für die Schülerzeitung über das deutsche Schulsystem. Was findet ihr besonders interessant? Was ist anders als in Kenia?“- T writes homework on the board.


Blackboard

Didactic commentary

The lesson is meant to equip the learners with basic knowledge about the German school

system; the idea running through the lesson is cross-cultural information about the school

systems. The students are asked to put themselves into the situation of Kenyan students

informing Germans about the Kenyan school system and sharing their knowledge of the

German school system with Kenyan students. This situation is similar to the “story” on which

the textbook is based; it deals with a student exchange between a Kenyan and a German

school. The German students visit Kenya in the first book; the Kenyan students go to visit

Germany in book three.

The mind map in the first phase of the lesson is meant to re-activate the students’ pre-

knowledge of the Kenyan school system. They are asked to focus on the aspects they would

mention if they had to inform a German person about the school system in their country. In

this phase, the students also revise vocabulary which they need to talk about schools and

school systems in general. Hopefully the students can be encouraged to participate in class

through the choice of the topic, about which the students know more than the teacher. The

mind map, which is the product of this first phase, can be taken as a basis for formulating

questions in the next phase of the lesson.

In the second activity phase, the teacher hands out a worksheet with pictures and diagrams

about the German school system. The students are then asked to formulate questions which

they would ask a German interview partner if they had to prepare an article for the school

magazine. Many words and concepts mentioned on the worksheet are unknown to the

28

students, while others might seem familiar, so the formulation of questions should not prove

too difficult.

In the third activity phase, the students interview the teacher about the German school system.

The students can decide which aspects to focus on; other information can be added at a later

stage. As the spelling of many relevant words may be unknown, the teacher will take notes on

the board; the students take notes.

After the students have asked their questions, they are requested to read a text in the textbook

to supplement the information they have collected so far. They then systematise the

information by collecting it in a table in the textbook.

As homework, the students are asked to write an article (e.g. for a school magazine) about

points they found particularly important or interesting. The homework thus builds on the

interview questions the students asked in the second activity phase.

Reflection on the lesson

In Activity Phase I, the students were a bit slow to contribute at first; teacher-questions were

necessary to elicit answers. The students contributed more readily after a couple of minutes;

the mind map16 which was the product of this session gave quite extensive information about

the Kenyan school system.

Many aspects mentioned on the worksheet were unknown to the students. In the beginning,

they wanted to ask the questions immediately. They wrote down more questions than I had

expected, so the phase took five minutes longer than planned (up to minute 35).

When the students asked their questions, every answer seemed to lead to another question.

They asked about differences between the German and the Kenyan school systems and gave

their opinions about difficulties and advantages of both systems. The students mentioned

many more aspects than I would have expected, and since the discussion was very animated, it

took almost 20 minutes longer than planned. I decided not to break off the discussion and

continue with the textbook, because the students were obviously very interested in the topic,

and we mentioned many aspects given in the text book in our discussion.

The rest of the lesson plan had to be considerably shortened: we read some of the points

mentioned in the textbook (p. 116) and spoke about how this information fits in with what we

had already talked about. This means that we did part of Activity Phase IV and left out

Activity Phase V. As we had not systematically collected the information yet, I did not want to

16 Mind map “Schule in Kenia” index X

29

ask the girls to write the magazine article yet. Their homework was to add the new

information from the textbook to their information in the exercise book.

I had given the lesson plan to Mrs. Mutuku in advance, so she knew that the lesson was

supposed to look different. During the feedback session after the lesson, we agreed that it was

good that the girls showed so much interest that an animated discussion became possible.

During the discussion with the students, I had switched to English when matters became too

difficult to express in German. Mrs. Mutuku said that this was understandable, because the

students’ questions demanded answers which were so complex that they could not have

understood them in German. She asked me to take over the next lesson as well to finish the

session about the German school system and - in the coming lessons - to concentrate on using

German as much as possible.

3.3 Lesson Plan: Practice for the Oral Examination Class: Form Four, 6 students

Duration: 75 minutes, 4:45 – 6:00 p.m.

Topic: Familie

Description of the Class

The students are all girls; they are 16 to 18 years old. They have been learning German for

four years and have had three to four lessons a week every term. This amounts to a total of

about 500 hours of German lessons. The girls are learning German as their third foreign

language: their mother tongue is Kikamba; in school, they have learned Kiswahili and English.

The group is so small because German is an elective subject. Many students dropped the

subject after Form Two. Asked for the reasons, some of them said that they found it too

difficult and preferred to take Commerce; others dropped the subject because all German

teachers from Germany left the school and the students were not sure whether German would

continue to be taught.

Generally, the group’s performance is good. The students attained a mean grade of B+ in the

KCSE mock examinations. However, two of the students are much weaker than the other four.

The students are in their final term in school (Form Four, third term) and are preparing for

their KCSE examinations, which will begin in October.

30

Recent Work

Currently, the Form Four students are being taught by the Kenyan German teacher, and

myself. I am preparing them for the oral examination and the listening comprehension task;

the Kenyan German teacher is working on grammar and composition with them.

Goal

The pupils prepare for the oral examination by practising their pronunciation, reading and

speaking skills.

Objectives

1) The pupils practice the pronunciation of the ö-sound by doing the pronunciation

exercise. (cognitive)

2) The pupils reactivate the vocabulary from the word field “Familie” by collecting and

systematising words in a mind map. (cognitive)

3) The pupils practice concentrating on accuracy in reading through the reading exercise

“Fehlerlesen”. (cognitive)

4) The pupils develop a personal connection to the topic by exchanging their views on

“Familie” during the group discussion. (affective)

5) The students prepare for the exam situation by giving a short presentation to the class.

(cognitive)

Time Phase / Step Language Class Organisation / Activities

Media

2 Welcoming Class plenary --4 Introduction /

informing students about the lesson

„Wir machen zuerst die nächste Ausspracheübung, dann sprechen wir über das Thema ‚Familie’.”

Class plenary / teacher (t)-information

--

9 Activity phase I / pronunciation exercise

„Holt die Blätter mit den Ausspracheübungen heraus. Lest bitte reihum je ein Wortpaar vor.“

Class plenary / student (s)-contributions, t-corrections (?)

Worksheet 1: Ausspracheübung

11 Transition / preparing Activity Phase

“Wir werden jetzt den Text über “Familie” auf dem Arbeitsblatt lesen.

Class plenary / t-instruction

Worksheet 2: „Übung für die mündliche Prüfung,

31

II Wir machen “Fehlerlesen”. Könnt ihr euch noch an die Regeln erinnern?“

- Teacher (t) hands out the texts

- if necessary, P summarizes the rules

Thema: Familie“17

18 Activity Phase II / reading

Fehlerlesen Class plenary / s-contributions, s-corrections

Worksheet 2

20 Transition / preparing Activity Phase III

„Wir werden zunächst die Wörter zum Thema Familie an der Tafel sammeln. Margaret hat dieses Thema vorbereitet, sie wird anfangen.“

Class plenary / t-instruction

Blackboard

30 Activity Phase III / collecting vocabulary

- Margaret writes words on the board in form of a mind map. - Class adds words to the list; Teacher assists where necessary (e.g. supplying unknown words, correcting spelling) - expected words: Familienmitglieder, Aufgaben von Familie, Großfamilie / Kleinfamilie…

Class plenary / s-contributions, t-assistance (?)

Blackboard

32 Transition / preparing Activity Phase IV

- „Lest bitte die Fragen unter dem Text.“- S reads the questions aloud; Students (SS) have the possibility to ask comprehension questions. - “Setzt euch in einer Gruppe zusammen. Diskutiert die Fragen.“- „Macht nach der Diskussion bitte Stichpunkte.“

Class plenary / t-instruction, p-contribution (?)

Worksheet 2

42 Activity Phase IV / discussion

Group discussion Group work / p-discussion

Worksheet 2

50 Activity phase V / collecting

Students write notes on their personal view

Individual work / note-taking

Exercise books

17 Worksheet 2: “Übung für die mündliche Prüfung. Thema: Familie.“: index XII

32

results52 Transition /

preparing Activity Phase VI

„Wer möchte uns seine Meinung vortragen?“

Class plenary / t-question

--

59 Activity Phase VI / student presentation

S-presentation, T-questions

Class plenary / s-presentation, t-questions

--

67 Activity Phase VII / reflection on the presentation

T-comment on the S-presentation, questions / comments from other students

Class plenary / t-comment, ss-questions

--

70 Finishing / Homework

- „Wer bereitet das Thema „Berufe“ für morgen vor?“- “Als Hausaufgabe könnt ihr, wenn ihr wollt, einen Aufsatz schreiben. Das Thema steht auf eurem Arbeitsblatt.“

Class plenary / t-contribution

Worksheet 2

Didactic Commentary

The goal of the lesson is to prepare the students for the oral KCSE examination. In the oral

exam, the students will be given a text, four discussion questions and a picture. They will have

15 minutes time to prepare to read the text, give a short talk on one of the given topics and

describe the picture. The aspects that will be assessed are pronunciation and intonation, the

students’ ability to communicate (e.g. by reacting to examiners’ questions), the linguistic

correctness of the students’ utterances and the range of vocabulary they use. The exam will

take about 15 minutes.

The students have spoken about all the relevant topics in class; the teacher has taught the

complete syllabus. Therefore, to prepare the students for the oral examination, we are revising

with them and trying to encourage them to speak as much German as possible. For instance,

we are attempting to reactivate the words and expressions the students know in connection

with particular topics. Mrs Mutuku and I went through the German exams of the last ten years

to get an idea of the type of question the students might be asked to discuss. We chose revision

topics from this list. We also work on sounds that the girls find difficult to pronounce, and

practise free speaking. Another aspect that we are practising is how to describe pictures,

graphs and statistics.

33

In this lesson we will focus on the topic “Familie” Unconnected to the topic we handle in the

lesson, we have been doing pronunciation exercises at the beginning of each lesson, as some

of the girls have problems pronouncing sounds that do not occur in English, Swahili, and their

mother tongue. The pronunciation exercises were compiled by a German teacher who used to

teach in Precious Blood Kilungu; they focus on the Umlaute (i.e. ö, ü, ä), the difference

between r and l (which Kikuyus find difficult to pronounce, as the “l”-sound does not exist in

their language), and the pronunciation of words beginning with a vowel without an “h” (which

Wakamba tend to find difficult). In this lesson, we will practice the long and short “ö-sound”

(i.e. /ø/ and /œ/).

The text18 we will read is connected to the topic “Familie”. It is meant to give the students an

introduction to the topic, but the main focus of the text is to give the students an accuracy-

based reading exercise. As the students are meant to focus primarily on the correct

pronunciation and intonation, they will read the text aloud. We will play the game

“Fehlerlesen”: one student starts reading, if the others hear a mistake, they give a signal (e.g.

by knocking on the table) and the next student continues. Thus, the students are motivated to

read correctly and to listen keenly. “Fehlerlesen” is not a game I would play with every group,

as some students might feel shy to read to a large audience and be embarrassed if they only

manage to read a few words before making the first mistake. However, this is a small group,

the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and the students know each other well. They are also

used to me, as I taught them for a year when they were in Form One and Form Two.

For each lesson, one student prepares to present words and expressions on the topic to the

class; she writes them on the board as a mind map. The mind map as a way of presenting

vocabulary seems appropriate for this group: it enables them to collect the vocabulary

connected to a certain word field in a systematic way, which is useful when they present a talk

on the topic. They generally do not need the translation of the words, so vocabulary lists

would not be appropriate. However, the students are encouraged to write down every noun

with its definite article (indicating whether it is masculine, feminine or neuter) and its plural.

Verbs are noted down in the infinitive form; the participle is added if it is irregular. When the

student has written the vocabulary she has collected on the board, the other students will have

the opportunity to add words, assisted by the teacher if necessary.

The students will then read the questions given under the text („Wie wichtig ist deine Familie

für dich? Du kannst zum Beispiel über folgende Aspekte sprechen: Was für ein Verhältnis hast

18 Worksheet 2: “Übung für die mündliche Prüfung. Thema: Familie.“: index XII

34

du zu deinen Eltern? Brauchst du deine Familie? Wer gehört zu deiner Familie? Möchtest du

später heiraten und Kinder haben? Wer ernährt die Familie? Wie wictig sind Geld und

Karriere?”) and discuss them in two groups for approximately ten minutes. They will then take

notes on their answers to the questions for about five minutes as a preparation for presenting a

short talk on the topic.

One student will present her views on the topic; the teacher will ask her questions in order to

practice communicative skills and spontaneity. The other students will also be allowed to ask

the presenter questions or comment on the presentation. The student who presented will be

given corrective feedback after the lesson if the mistakes she made are not ones that the others

are also likely to make.

The lesson will end with an explanation of the homework. The students are told that they may

write a short composition on what they know about family life in Germany and in how far it

differs from family life in Kenya. The topic was handled in Form Three; as it is not possible to

revise every topic orally, the students are encouraged to write short compositions both in order

to practice their writing skills and in order to revise the facts they learned on various cultural

and social aspects of life in Kenya and Germany. The composition task is voluntary, as the

students have already been given the task to write two compositions every week in preparation

for the KCSE examination. One student will be asked to prepare a mind map on “Berufe”, the

next day’s topic.

In case one of the activities takes longer than expected, we will meet again in the evening.

This is necessary, as we have to handle one topic a day according to our exam preparation

schedule. In case we finish sooner than expected, a second student will present her short talk

on “Familie”.

Reflection on the Lesson

The pronunciation exercise showed that some of the students find the pronunciation of the ö-

sound difficult. However, they were able to pronounce it quite well when reminded of the

position the mouth has to take.

The activity “Fehlerlesen” took slightly longer than expected. The students seemed motivated

by the competitive aspect of the exercise; they listened keenly and read slowly and

deliberately. I could observe that the four stronger students were quite strict with each other;

they enjoyed being able to knock for a mistake after a short time. In contrast, they were more

tolerant when the weak students were reading and ignored some quite obvious pronunciation

35

mistakes. This observation confirmed my opinion that the students in the group know each

other well and are very considerate.

While collecting ideas for the mind map, a point I would not have expected to be emphasised

so much is “Probleme in der Familie”. The girls collected many words and expressions to

express problems that can occur in families, what possible causes for these problems are and

which consequences they can have (e.g. Alkoholsucht, Drogenkonsum, Gewalt, Missbrauch,

Misshandlung, Arbeitslosigkeit, Streit, Scheidung)19.

The group discussion was very animated; the students seemed to have a genuine interest in the

topic. They expressed their views in German, consulting the dictionary where necessary and

challenged each other’s opinions. As the girls were still discussing after ten minutes, I decided

to let them continue. After twenty minutes, I asked them to come to an end and make notes.

One of the students volunteered to present; I asked her several content-related questions

during the presentation, which she was able to answer quite well. The other students did not

have any comments or questions relating to the presentation; maybe they had spoken about all

relevant issues during the group discussion. After the presentation, I wrote some of the

student’s mistakes on the board and asked the group to try to correct them. The students then

asked questions relating to the exam situation, e.g. what they can do if they do not understand

a question, if they can not remember a particular word or if they may use the Swahili word if

they are talking about a concept that does not exist in English or German. When I told their

German teacher about these questions, we decided to compile a list of “Redemittel” for the

students to increase their confidence and give them the feeling that they know how to react

appropriately in the exam situation.

At six o’clock, we were still listening to the presentation. I asked the students whether they

wanted to continue for a few minutes rather than meeting in the evening to give feedback on

the presentation, and they agreed. We finished ten minutes later than planned.

4 ConclusionMy six weeks of teaching practice in Precious Blood Secondary School Kilungu gave me a

good insight into school life in a Kenyan boarding school and various aspects of being a

19 Mind map “Familie”: index XIII

36

teacher. For instance, I experienced lesson preparation, teaching, giving marks, preparing

students for examinations, attending extra-curricular activities, and attending staff meetings.

Due to the fact that I knew the school, most of the teachers, and some of the students, I found

it quite easy to get used to my surroundings again. However, the perspective I had was

different due to the background knowledge of four semesters at university, the classroom

observation tasks, and the lesson plans.

I was given the opportunity to observe many English lessons with different teachers and thus

got an impression of different teaching styles. The classroom observation tasks were helpful in

focusing on aspects which I would otherwise certainly not have paid any attention to, for

example attending behaviour and feedback to mistakes.

In the lessons I taught myself, I appreciated the fact that the students were well-prepared and

interested; this made teaching very enjoyable.

There are hardly any discipline problems and the students are eager to learn, so teaching at

Precious Blood Secondary School is very motivating for teachers. One gets the impression that

the students value the good education the school offers to them and that they are determined to

make the most of this opportunity.

In spite of the high pressure, caused for example by the positioning of students in class, the

minimum grade of B+ necessary for university entrance, and the ranking of secondary schools

according to the KCSE results, the atmosphere in the classes is positive. For instance, I never

witnessed a student being laughed at in class, and teachers say that strong students go out of

their way to help weaker ones.

The teachers were all helpful and open; most teachers from the English department had time to

discuss the lessons I had observed. The other teachers were also ready to assist me whenever I

needed help, for example when I was collecting information about the Kenyan school system.

Unfortunately, the German teacher was sometimes not available for speaking about my lesson

plans in advance; she was also not always there to attend the lessons I was teaching. She

seems to be under a lot of pressure, because the other two German teachers have retired and

she only qualified as a teacher four years ago. The German teacher seemed reluctant to let me

observe her lessons; this is another reason why I worked on all the classroom observation

tasks in English lessons.

37

The experiences I made during my teaching practice strengthened me in my decision to

become a teacher. I also think that obtaining the secondary school qualification to be able to

teach abroad is a realistic perspective for my future.

5 Index

Map of Kenya....................................................................................................................... IVision and Mission Statement.............................................................................................. IISchool Rules......................................................................................................................... IIIOrder of the Day.......................................................................................................…........ IVWangui wa Goro: Heaven and Earth................................................................................... VThe board as a resource: Items on the board........................................................................ VIWillkommen 1, pp. 49-52..................................................................................................... VIIWillkommen 1, p. 64............................................................................................................ VIIIWillkommen 3, pp. 115-119................................................................................................. IXMind map „Schule in Kenia“ ............................................................................................... XWorksheet „Schule in Deutschland“ ................................................................................... XIMind map „Familie” ............................................................................................................ XII

38

Worksheet 2: “Übung für die mündliche Prüfung. Thema: Familie“ .................................. XIII

39

6 BibliographyClarke, Ayebia. Half a Day and Other Stories. An Anthology of Short Stories from North Eastern and Eastern Africa. Nairobi: Macmillan Kenya Publishers, 2004.

Dulin, Eberhard (Ed.). Willkommen. A German Language Course for Secondary Schools in Kenya. Course Book 1. Nairobi: Kenya Institute of Education, 1995.

Dulin, Eberhard (Ed.). Willkommen. A German Language Course for Secondary Schools in Kenya. Course Book 3. Nairobi: Kenya Institute of Education, 1995.

Ojany, Francis. Kenya, a Study in Physical and Human Geography. Nairobi: Longman.

Oludhe Macgoye, Marjorie. Coming to Birth. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 1986.

Wajnryb, Ruth. Classroom observation tasks: a resource book for language teachers and trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1992.

40

7 Erklärung

Die/der Unterzeichnete versichert, dass er/sie die vorliegende schriftliche Arbeit selbstständigverfasst und keine anderen als die von ihm/ihr angegebenen Hilfsmittel benutzt hat. Die Stellen der Arbeit, die anderen Werken dem Wortlaut oder dem Sinne nach entnommen sind, wurden in jedem Fall unter Angabe der Quellen kenntlich gemacht. Dies gilt auch für beigegebene Zeichnungen, bildliche Darstellungen, Skizzen und dergleichen.

Der/den Unterzeichneten ist bewusst, dass jedes Zuwiderhandeln (Einreichen einer Arbeit, diewörtlich oder nahezu wörtlich, ganz oder zu Teilen aus einer Arbeit oder mehreren Arbeiten[publiziert im Internet, in Zeitschriften, Monographien etc.] anderer übernommen ist) alsTäuschungsversuch (siehe § 18 BPO) gelten kann, der die Bewertung der Arbeit mit „nichtausreichend “ zur Folge hat.

______________________________ _____________________________Ort, Datum Unterschrift

41

Table of Contents - uni-bielefeld.de · Web viewThe grammar topic the class is currently working on...

Documents

Transcript of Table of Contents - uni-bielefeld.de · Web viewThe grammar topic the class is currently working on...