Month: May 2016

I mentioned in Part 1 of my blog  examples of adaptation and supplementation of teaching materials for the IB coursebook. The focus of this blog is to explain why I had to adapt the coursebook materials and what I had to consider for during this process; for example learner’s needs and contextual factors. In my case, my tutoring sessions are between one or two hours a week with students who are mainly English speakers, with an age range between 16+ to adulthood. There are two groups; one of four adolescents and one group of six adults.

The adapted materials were implemented in a context where Spanish is learned beyond a formal classroom setting. (Private tuitions). Being a home tutor involves many factors, but I would like to summarize my concerns of what is important and suits a home tutor. Barkhuizen(2011:163) states that:

1. A concern with how the learner undertakes the learning process: for example, students’ engagement with materials and lesson contents. Observing teenagers needs, I had to provide more informational input, such as explanation of historical context, because not all the students know about the Spanish Civil war. The aim of the lesson is to link with the poem with its background. Contrary to this, the adult group brings their past knowledge to the class. They are the focussed on the form of language and they request reinforcement with grammar and pronunciation.
2. A concern with particular attributes of the learner; the teenagers’ motivation is to pass their exams (university requirement entrance). The adult group had a second house in Spain or family in Spanish.
3. A concern with how to use the one or two hour weekly sessions  effectively. This involved organising materials that engaged learners in order to fulfil their goals.
4. A concern with the subject matter of learning, i.e. with what is taught and learned, and how the materials are adapted in accordance with the learners’ needs and interests.

The fourth framework is concerned with the subject matter of learning, which is undoubtedly very important in my practice. I would like to highlight that the learners who seek tuition are already motivated to learn, but their frustration of not understanding the content of their coursebook could indeed jeopardise their learning. When adapting my materials, I had to consider the aforementioned factors. I supplemented two examples in order to complete a task which was centred around  understanding a poem called Recuerdo Infantil by Antonio Machado (1875–1939). The carefully selected materials came through visual media on YouTube, which were; an extract of the  film La Lengua de las Mariposas, by Manuel Rivas and a Flamenco song.

The main reason I chose this type of media was its accessibility for the learners outside the language tuition. Their feedback was that they found this type of material entertaining and interesting for learning more about Spanish culture. Another reason was to foster the learner’s need to overcome the problems they faced when they had to explain what they read, because it was difficult for them to distinguish between the literal meaning and the deeper meaning of the poem. Not only that, but also, they had to complete a task that involved reading aloud, discussing their interpretation of the poem and the task of analysing it.

Internal evaluation Teaching Materials

I carried out an internal evaluation of the materials (table1below):

(A) film from YouTube- La Lengua de las Mariposas,by Manuel Rivas.

(B) Listening Task: Students listened to a Flamenco song from YouTube- which was the poem in the coursebook: Recuerdo Infantil by Antonio Machado.

INTERNAL EVALUATION Of Materials A/B	Reading	Are materials (A/B) adequate and appropriate for improving reading comprehension of the poem? Yes, it helped the semantic predictability of the main topic -Time/Death/Love/some terms such as una ‘tarde parda y … de lluvia tras los cristales..’
	Listening NO-Difficulty: A-Film/B-Song	Is the listening material well recorded? Yes. Provide authentic input? Yes, the students were able to match the related film visuals and video visuals with relevant lexical phrases in the reading material. They were also able to copy the pronunciation and repeat it along with the music.
	Speaking Grade of Difficulty Need more practice to achieve higher level	Does the task include adequate individual and group speaking activities?  In pairs students had to discuss the new terms in the poem and make links between the poem and the setting.
	Writing Grade of Difficulty NO This task was completed.	Are models provided for different genres? Yes. Teenagers had to write sentences with the vocabulary and link them with the school setting. The adult group had to write about their previous school experience.
	Vocabulary Grade of Difficulty NO Materials were feedback ‘I had learned new meanings and the Spanish social context’	Is the new vocabulary integrated in varying contexts and situations? Yes. Students were not familiar with the new vocabulary items or the historical context. The visuals on the film extract provided new knowledge. So the students were able to identify the new items when   they listened to the flamenco music.
	Grammar The learner need more time to rewrite the task	Do the poem structures gradually increase in complexity to suit the growing ability of students? Yes. Students recognised alliteration, adjectives and phrases. They also recognised hyperbole and exaggeration as a rhetoric device, for example ‘truena el maestro’. In the writing task students benefited from paired feedback.
	Pronunciation Grade of Difficulty The accent of the song was clear easy to understand and the film was easy.	Is there sufficient work on recognition and production of stress patterns, intonation and individual sounds? Yes. They were able to recite the poem without  any difficulties.

Overall, my aim is not to promote the use of technology as the only means of adapting or supplementing materials, but to recognise that in this study I found the role of media to be an important choice for adapting teaching materials. Due to the fact that multi-media offers the learners extra input, I was not able to expand just by being a native speaker of Spanish in one session. I found the supplemented materials were optimal resources for the learners that were exposed to Spanish accents, the music with visuals to accomplish their difficult task. This media materials were appropriate for the age group and their need. The film extract and the flamenco music engaged learners with semantic fields such as: monotonous, routine, school, teacher. I decided to use an extract of the film to show the setting where the poem was written and the classroom scene in the film is linked to key themes in the poem such as; time, love, death and education in Franco’s strict regime. Also, the music video reinforced the students’ past knowledge by having the visuals with the new vocabulary.

At first glance students found that the vocabulary of the poem was colloquial, although they struggled when they had to explain the deeper meaning of the poem. However, the material encouraged them to use their own words in order to explain what they had heard and watched. For the adult group, the pronunciation was a problem, especially when they had to read aloud. However, the media provided opportunities for reflection of their pronunciation and self-correction. Upon reflection, it was useful to create material that supports learners to be autonomous so that they can achieve their goals, and to be able to enhance the teaching materials for future use.

References

Barkhuizen,G.(2011) Home Tutor Cognition and the Nature of Tutor-Learner Relationship.In:Benson, P., Reinders, H. & Dawsonera 2011, Beyond the language classroom, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke

During this course we studied current research exploring how to evaluate teaching materials for Second Language Teaching (SLT), as well as how to evaluate our own materials. In this blog I will review the evaluation on my worksheet design called Interactive worksheet AS, targeted to private students, who are preparing for their Spanish A Level examination. In our session in TLM714, in week 8, we had to review and evaluate our materials with our peers. I found that within this course and especially in the last sessions, I gained a deep understanding of what, how and why my colleagues and I had created worksheets using digital technology. This was a rich, collaborative learning experience because we all designed our teaching materials by implementing theoretical backgrounds rigorously, such as Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) with the use of digital technology.
According to Ellis (1998:226), who selected the definition of Task by Richards, Platt and Weber (1985:289)

A task “… is an activity or action which is carried out as a result of processing or understanding language (i.e., as a response to verbal or non-verbal input). For example, drawing a map whilst listening to a tape, listening to an instruction and performing a command, getting a partner to draw a concealed picture from an instruction, group completion of a demanding jigsaw puzzle, may be referred to as tasks. Tasks may or may not involve the production of language.”

Also, Tasks in SLT demand teachers to include detailed evaluation criteria of what makes a task successful. Ellis (1998:236) argues that task evaluation is equivalent to micro-evaluation. This is in alignment with the teacher’s own ideas of what evaluation entails and can also contribute to teacher development by promoting reflection on teaching.
As part of our course criteria we had to evaluate the strengths and weakness of materials utilizing a synthesis of current approaches applied to the material evaluation. During this session I felt fortunate to be able to share my peers’ thoughts and ideas about our worksheet designs and feedback. The level of my peers’ work was so inspirational, that motivated me to go back to my own work and enhance it further with some changes. In this post I will present my work and its evaluation.

The design process

I consider the principles that I have chosen to be the most relevant for my practice; some of them were drawn from the literature mentioned in my previous blogs; Principles and Frameworks for material design and Framework for language book evaluation.

Materials should encourage students to maximise their potential.

Materials should expose learners to language through authentic use.

(Tomlinson, 2011)

Materials should be clear and systematic, but flexible enough to allow for creativity and variety.

Materials should encourage learners to apply their developing skills to the world beyond the classroom.

As a novice designer, to deign worksheets that help the task’ effectiveness, I found that it was required task- targets. First target; why do students need to learn this Spanish language? Students need to be able to pass their Spanish A-Level exam to go to university. Secondly, what do students need to learn for their exams? They must experience analysis of a unit and learn topics prescribed for AS Level exams, in this case the topic was immigration and the use of the Subjunctive. With these targets in mind I designed my worksheets.

I decided to follow Jason Renshaw ,who uses MS Word (2007 version) to create ELT materials, using tutorials which show how to build professional teaching materials. However, I found watching the videos to be time consuming. Alternatively, I selected a book written by Karen Richardson (2012) ELT Teacher 2 Writer. Richardson (2012) includes concise instructions on how to write worksheets which include examples and questions such as: ‘why might using worksheets motivate our learners?’ She answers this question by explaining worksheets might motivate the learner as they are communicative; they are in a different format to that of the coursebook; they give further practice of the language/exam skill; and they bring news or current affairs into the classroom. Richardson (2012) also asks ‘What is the learning outcome?’, and explains that it is to practice recycling of a vocabulary set; discussion.

Richardson’s (2012) answers provide important suggestions for how to start writing materials I thought would motivate learners, which set an information gap to give further practice of the language; these are very important to put in my work. Moreover, I had to work in accordance with my framework and principles.

Underlying framework and principles

It is valuable to implement TBL in order to contribute to the achievement of the aforementioned principle, as (TBL) is an approach used in SLT. Ellis (2014) states TBL seeks to engage learners’ interactionally authentic language use by having them perform a series of tasks, with the aim of acquiring new linguistic knowledge. This proceduralized utilises their existing knowledge by treating language as a tool for making meaning, rather than as an object of study.
After a solid understanding of principles that underlying task-based learning, I have found a Criteria for a task that I refer is based on What is TBST?

•Meaning is Primary: The learners will acquire a new pragmatic meaning in when performing the task. Discussing in pairs.
•There is a communicative goal: Students will struggle to communicate in the same condition as in they expose in the real world. They need to know about immigration.
•Activity measured by outcome: quick correcting feedback from the teacher and peers.
•Focus in format as needed: The learner will acquire new vocabulary and structure by fostering incidental acquisition.
•Real-world relationship: will be able to use in the real communication outside the classroom.
Based on Skehan, P (1998) Task-Based Instructions Aral.(18.p268)
My PowerPoint link TASK Evaluation

The evaluation of a task

Having the principles is a good foundation, though they have to match the requirements as I framed my TBLT design based on the following context:

Language level: Spanish A level Advanced

Learner Type: Sixth form Students, age 17+ and Adults

(All the students have private tuition )

Time: 60 minutes

Task: Preparation for Oral examination Task A level

Topic: Immigration

Language: Sophisticated vocabulary -Grammar- Use of Subjunctive

Material: Interactive- worksheets

The aim: The students will be able to discuss and express their opinion with new vocabulary, on a relevant topic for their exams.

The objective:

Critically evaluate the art form- Banksy’s Graffiti as for & against immigration.

To be exposed to authentic Latin American accent by listening activity and watching YouTube video .

Read aloud and discuss in pairs by using new vocabulary and the Subjunctive structure. Hubiera/Hubiese pasado si…?

To be able to complete the worksheet and extension activities independently.

Learner’s needs

To be able to use new vocabulary and expand their knowledge on the topic with evidences given in the worksheet(extract from the media, TV news, newspaper requirements for exams)

To be able to discuss in pairs and express their opinion.

To be able to self asses and provide peer-review.

Evaluation checklist

CRITERIA SCORE

1.Materials maximise learners’ potentials. 6
2.Language in authentic use 4
3.Are the materials clear/systematic 5
4.Meaning is Primary 5
5.There is a communicative goal: 5
6.Activity measured by outcome: 5
7.Focus in format as needed: 6
8.Real-world relationship: 6

COMMENTS

1.Even Though ,the learners were challenged to using grammar structure, it benefits.
2.The accent was difficult to understand
3.The instructions are clear.
4.The learners learn vocabulary when performing the task.
5.Oral participation is as if students were in the real world.
6.The immediate correcting feedback benefits performance.
7.The learner use new structure when it’s needed/ incidental
8.Use of vocabulary and structure outside the classroom.
Worksheet link: Interactive worksheet AS

To conclude

Having to evaluate a task seems to be considered as daily routine in teaching. I have found that applying the methods of evaluation given by Jolly & Bolitho (1998) very useful. By using some of the evaluation techniques, I was able to ascertain whether the task had accomplished its aims. For example, I found that the listening activity was quite difficult for some of the students and I had to provide a script alongside the listening. The evaluation at the end of each lesson helped me to focus on what to alter or add in future tasks. Adding a further point, I have to take into consideration that this target students had to pass their A-Level exams. Their aim was to gain confidence in their speaking task an the materials allowed them to be creative, because they used IPad to compare their worksheets. They adapted their worksheet to a more sophisticated level so they able to use it during their independent learning time. I think that the principles matched with the aims of the lesson.
I realised how arduous was the  procedure to prepare a worksheet with its evaluation. Yet, It is essential to follow a  framework to  achieve results. In this study I gather evidences for what activities were beneficial during the task, and what can be used in future lessons to keep consistency and task’s effectiveness.

References

“Black Box Videocast 9: What is Task-Based Language Teaching …” 2015. 19 April. 2016 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPIwbu47WTg>

Ellis, R. (1998) The evaluation of communicative tasks. In: Tomlinson, B. 1998, Materials development in language teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York;. Pp 217.

“Jason Renshaw’s Videos on Vimeo.” 2015. 20 April. 2016 <https://vimeo.com/user3250934/videos>

Karen Richardson(2012)Smashwords – How To Write Worksheets – a book by Karen Richardson. Accessed  2015. 19 April. 2016 <https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/533350>

Tomlinson, B. (1998) Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York;.

“UCLan’s Video Library Server – Sorting out Misconceptions about Task …” 2014. 21 May. 2016 <https://vls.uclan.ac.uk/Play/9795>

In a recent  blog I have produced a lesson plan with a task called Video telling- Narrar el video. In this blog I will provide more information about the process of material production and the principles that I have used to evaluate my teaching materials.

This chosen principles are relevant for my practice, some of them were drawn from the literature mention in my blogs.

• Materials should encourage students to maximise their potentials.
• Materials should expose learners to language in authentic use(Tomlinson, 2011)
• Materials should be clear and systematic but flexible enough to allow for creativity and variety.
• Materials should encourage learners to apply their developing skills to the world beyond the classroom.

I will summarise the step that I followed by using the model provided by Jolly and Bolitho(1998:97):

Identification This task based learning was aim to a small group of adolescent students, who are preparing for their Spanish GCSE. The students have private tuition once a week. Their Spanish level is at beginners level and they need to gain confidence in the Spanish speaking and writing skills. This group of learners found difficult to learn a long list of vocabulary and find videos more memorable and entertaining. I created a video for students to connect visuals with content.

Exploration of the area of need in terms of language, learners need to be able to write and script by using new vocabulary and complex sentences.

Contextual Realisation of the proposed new material, the short video gives the learners the opportunity to listen to an authentic Latin American accent and encourages them to record their transcript.

Pedagogical Realisation of materials by the finding of appropriate exercises and activities. The learners will be using their worksheet that they download on their IPad or mobiles.

Physical Production of materials, involving sharing the YouTube video and writing their own script and sharing with their families.

Information on Learner’s Context

Language level: Spanish GCSE and AS level

Learner Type: Students -age 14+ and Adults Time: 30 minutes

Task: Preparation for Oral examination Task and Written task

Topic: Describing my hometown

Language: Sophisticated vocabulary -Grammar- Use adjectives comparison

Material: Ipads, laptops,
The aim: The students will be able to learn how to edit Youtube film and express their opinion with new vocabulary, on a relevant topic for their oral and writing exam.

Checklist of questions for evaluating a task

Rod Ellis Cap9. The evaluation of communication task(1998:225) Tomlinson, B. (1998:225)

Dimension	Key questions	Answers
Approach 1 Objectives model (To learn sophisticated vocabulary to describe their home town) 2 Responsive evaluation	Is the approach to be one evaluating the task in terms of its objectives or is it to be one of de an understanding of how the task works for language learning. Or both?	Both because this vocabulary is essential for learners to pass their GCSE exams. Students are challenged to use new words for the task. The found that describing their own town was easy.They were able to ask vocabulary related to their town history.
Purpose 1 accountability 2 development Teacher development/ self-taught how to use technology for teaching.	Is the evaluation directed at determining whether the task ‘works’ or is directed at improving the task for future use or encouraging teachers to reflect on the value and use of this of this kind of task?	It is directed to improve the task for future use and to encourage teachers to reflect on the value and use of this kind of task.
Focus 1 Effectiveness 2 Efficiency	Is the focus of the evaluation on the effectiveness or the efficiency of the task? If the focus is on the effectiveness of the task, what will the task to be compared with?	Effectiveness of the task is considerable because the students can compare their own video production and make alterations and improve their work while they see other examples. However, this task is not effective in regard time management as it takes proportionally too much time during lesson. But it is a good task for homework to stimulate autonomy beyond the classroom.
Scope 1Internal 2 External	Will the evaluation of the task be in terms of its stated objectives or will consider the appropriateness of the objectives themselves? Will the evaluation of the task consider predicted benefits or will also consider unpredicted benefits as well?	In my lesson plan I have considered the appropriateness of the objective against students learning profile before I set the task. During and after the lesson I evaluate the objective against performance. Before setting  the task I predict the benefits of the task and during the lesson note all unpredicted benefits.
Evaluators 1 Insiders(teacher and students)2 Outsiders (peer evaluation)	Who will evaluate the task? What biases do the chosen evaluators have?	Teacher will focus on internal and external scope, while students may focus on their interest in the task. My colleagues evaluate on short and long term learning goals. I evaluate on students grades and results.
Timing 1 Formative 2 Summative	Will the evaluation of the task take place as it is being used in the classroom or on its completion?	It takes place during the activity or with checklist at the of each lesson.
Type of Information 1 Test scores 2 Documentary 3 Self-report 3 Observation	What kinds of information will be used to evaluate the task? How will the information be collected/	Self reporting,Test scores, observation by teacher. Data is collected manually by google mail.

To conclude, the above checklist helped to adjust and evaluate the task. This evaluation shows that the materials used were compatible accord with the principles. The task encourages students to maximise their potential while performed their task. Students were able to compare their own video production and make alterations. This was not anticipated. Nonetheless, the time frame was not quite as predicted for the specific task because the task was completed in two sessions. Overall, this evaluation shows the appropriateness of the materials used and how they can be implemented in the future. I have to admit that this study has demonstrated for me that digital technologies have potentials when applied in SLT. This type of task not only helped the students to be creative  but also encourage me to use more visuals and sounds in mobile devices. Further research on how to evaluate teachers materials with technology seems to be appropriate.

References

Jolly, D. & Bolitho, R. (1998) A framework for material writing. In: Tomlinson, B. 1998, Materials development in language teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; New York;. Pp 98-99.

Ellis, R. (1998) The evaluation of communicative tasks. In:Tomlinson, B. 1998, Materials development in language teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge;New York;. Pp 225.