METHODOLOGY

EVALUATING AND SUPPLEMENTING MATERIALS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………….……….……….. 3

INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………….….………. 5

DEVELOPMENT ……………………………………………………………………….…….…….. 5

CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………….……….…….. 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………….……………….….… 10

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: Unit 2. Training Modified Activities………………………………..………… 11

APPENDIX 2: Lesson Plan …………………………………………………………………….. 16

APPENDIX 2.1: MMDI – Myers Briggs Personality Types ………………………….… 19

APPENDIX 2.2: Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator Personality Type Questionnaire … 20

APPENDIX 2.3: MMDI – Career Resources ………………………………….……….… 24

APPENDIX 3: Units in Course Book …………….………………………………….………… 25

APPENDIX 3.1: Unit 2. Training: Listening and Discussion ………………………..… 26

APPENDIX 3.2: Unit 2. Training: Reading and Language ………….……………….… 30

APPENDIX 3.3: Unit 2. Training: Business Skills …………………..…………………… 33

APPENDIX 3.4: Unit 2. Training: Writing Skills …………………..…………………… 34

APPENDIX 3.5: Unit 2. Training: Case Study……………………....…………………… 36

DECLARATION …………………………………..…………………………………….……….…. 38

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METHODOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT NO. 3 – EVALUATING AND SUPPLEMENTING MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION

As this assignment required, I briefly analyzed course material and selected appropriate

supplementary material to include in a lesson, which I then gave to a group of mixed-ability students

comprised of five Mexican college graduate adults ranging from their twenties to their forties at a

global bread manufacturing company, in order to evaluate its effectiveness.

For this exercise I chose “Unit 2: Training” of the course book “Market Leader: Advanced

Business English Course Book”. This Business English course book’s target groups are students who

are working professionals. In my opinion, this unit is very well balanced in content but lacks

personalization and does not address all basic perception modes, as suggested by Howard Gardner’s

theory:

“I believe that the brain has evolved over millions of years to be responsive to different

kinds of content in the world. Language content, musical content, spatial content,

numerical content, etc.” (Gardner, 1996: 57)

My intent was threefold: (1) to integrate auditory, visual and kinesthetic learning modalities, (2) to

ensure personalization to the teaching techniques of this unit, and (3) to change the pace of the unit by

complementing it with a Myers Briggs psychometric questionnaire applied in L2 to determine the

students’ personality type, based on their psychological preferences in how they perceive the world and

make their decisions.

“By developing individual strengths, guarding against known weaknesses, and

appreciating the strengths of the other types, life will be more amusing, more interesting,

and more of a daily adventure than it could possibly be if everyone were alike.” (Myers,

1980: 201)

DEVELOPMENT

I have broken down the unit to skills acquired per lesson, albeit bearing in mind that skills are

not separate, for two reasons:

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“Firstly it is very often true that one skill cannot be performed without another. It is

impossible to speak in a conversation if you do not listen as well, and people seldom

write without reading - even if they only read what they have just written. Secondly

…people use different skills when dealing with the same subject for all sorts of

reasons.” (Harmer, 2003: 30)

Attached herewith as Appendix 2 are the Modified Activities for Unit 2, as well as scanned

copies of the original unit marked as Appendices 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5, to allow for comparison

in evaluating the activities that I added, the teaching modalities and the techniques that I applied to this

end, as follows:

This particular unit includes the following sections:

a) a first Listening and discussion section (see Appendix 3.1), which presents an

interview with a Consultant;

“Methodologists are persuaded that the more students listen, the better their speaking

becomes…pronunciation improves for many students.” (Harmer, 2003: 29)

In this section the changes made to the course book material include realia to determine leadership

profile, personalization of the topics of discussion, a car race for a language skill team competition, and

integrating individual work, pairwork, and groupwork.

“It is probably best not to have students practice listening in isolation but rather as part

of a multi-task event…such things as discussion, reading, role-play or language study...”

(Harmer, 2003: 30)

b) a second Reading and Language section (see Appendix 3.2), with a text titled “Time to

break out from campus”, concentrating on multiword verbs; bearing in mind that:

“…language teaching is not just about teaching language, it is also about helping

students to develop themselves as people. These beliefs have led to a number of teaching

methodologies and techniques which have stressed the humanistic aspects of learning. In

such methodologies the experience of the student is what counts and the development of

their personality and the encouragement of positive feelings are [sic] seen to be as

important as their learning of a language.” (Harmer, 1998: 22)

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This section’s course book material adjustments include student correction of a subtitled text after a

jigsaw reading because it

“…provokes mandatory participation. And such participation is the beginning of

agency.” (Harmer, 2006)

a team tic-tac-toe for vocabulary, team competition for finding words and expressions, identifying

multiword verbs related to education in order to

“…aim to give students a chance to take charge…give students a listening or reading

text - or some examples of English sentences - and ask them to discover how the

language works”. (Harmer, 2003: 41)

reinforcing the activity with bingo cards containing illustrations of the action of each multiword verb,

musicalizing them with related popular songs, describing the action in the format of a bingo game,

closing the lesson with a tie in peer-corrected personalized writing of a story using the language

learned, and integrating individual work, pairwork, and groupwork.

c) a third section that deals with Business Skills (see Appendix 3.3), specifically,

telephone strategies that require clarifying and confirming.

The modifications made in this section to the course book material begin with a ‘broken phone’

game, a random student choice of number where

“…all students run the same risk of being asked, and ‘loafing’ is, therefore, less

attractive”. (Harmer, 2006)

in order to assign a student-corrected jigsaw listening activity that ties in with a script writing activity.

We also included a personalized telephone call activity using the students’ mobiles, which ties in with

the student-corrected writing of an email to their partner confirming the content of the call, integrating

individual work, pairwork, and groupwork.

d) a fourth Writing skill section (see Appendix 3.4), focusing on e-mails.

The course book material modifications in this section include a pre that elicits feedback in

regard to the emails sent the previous class, comparing them with the tips for effective writing included

in this lesson; and personalization of the written production based on course book material, in the form

of a sequential cumulative sentence game

“…the point of the activity is that everyone, even the would-be loafers, has had to take

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part”. (Harmer, 2006)

all peer-corrected.

e) close with a Case study based on the reading “Training at SmileCo” (see Appendix 3.1),

which ties in with a final related written email.

This section’s adaptations to the course book material begin with a brainstorm session for

candy forms, colors, textures and flavors, with a choice in role play.

“This will involve the students in a discussion of the…different accounts after which

they will have to reach a consensus before writing the report.” (Harmer, 1998: 122)

that will result in a tie in written production requiring an email to their real life bosses containing the

report of the system presented in the lesson as a possible project for their company, with the students

selling themselves as leaders or participants of the project using the description of their qualifications

as obtained from the Myers Briggs test.

“…skills are not performed in isolation but integrated with other skills. As a general

methodological principle, therefore, we would expect students to use what they have

read or heard in order to perform some task. When they have done work on

comprehension skills, in other words, we would expect them to react to, or do something

with, the text. This might take the form of giving opinions about what they have just

read, following instructions, writing a postcard, summarizing the content of the text or

having a conversation based on the text”. (Harmer, 1998: 106)

The supplementary lesson with placement after the Reading and Language section will provide

a change of pace to the unit. It is based on the Myers Briggs psychometric questionnaire, to describe

what the students bring to the company for whom they work. It also provides a profile description of

each student that is valuable for their résumés, job interviews and evaluations.

“Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your

perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder, and your life closer to your heart’s desire.”

(Briggs Myers, 1974)

This supplement is contained in the attached Reading/Writing skill-based lesson plan, where the ‘pre’

was a brainstorming session around the question “How would you describe yourself in your résumé or

during an interview or in an evaluation?” For the ‘while’, the students read the cover page and then

replied to the Personality Type questionnaire, taking turns to read the options out loud, and then, each

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choosing his/her preferred option on their laptop. The teacher provided examples for each item. She

also replied to queries in regard to the unfamiliar vocabulary, as well as the significance of the

questions.

“[Although] Pre-recorded listening allows students to hear a large variety of voices…

Live listening is a wonderful ideal…” (Harmer, 2003: 29)

Once they finished, the site’s software provided a result, which they copy-pasted on a world

processor document. Then, they looked up their particular personality type in a diagram within the

original webpage, which they copy-pasted again at the beginning of their document. The results

provided each learner with his/her preferred perceptions and decisions, what they bring to the

companies they work for, their strengths and their areas of opportunity, as well as awareness of their

dark side. And lastly, students accessed yet another webpage to determine the careers for which they

would be best suited and which they would enjoy the most. During the first ‘post’ production activity,

learners exercised their speaking skills while sharing their personalized information with each other in

pairwork to provide their feedback as to the accuracy of the results. The second ‘post’ production

activity linked the reading skill with a writing skill through students writing a real introductory

summary to their résumé based on the information obtained from the test. The lesson was a success.

Ss appreciated the real life tools provided to them during this class.

CONCLUSION

Sustaining motivation of my Ss is a difficult task, as evidenced by Jeremy Harmer,

“What is much more difficult [than engaging Ss] … is sustaining motivation over any

length of time. [] That seems to me to be a bigger challenge than merely getting students

involved for a few minutes”. (Harmer, 2006)

This unit deals with training, and what better place than this to provide Ss with the real tools

that will enable them to choose what courses they will enjoy, and thus be more productive for their

learning as well as the application of their knowledge. Before I gave this lesson, I practiced on my one-

on-one Ss to streamline the lesson plan. This ICELT course has taught me that simpler is better,

against my natural tendency to overdo. The first experiences helped me eliminate the reading of the

first results of the questionnaire which are very technical and required a pre-reading that was beyond

the scope of my Ss, so I chose to delete that portion, leaving a short summary reading and the

questionnaire, alluding only to the result summaries that are easily understood by laymen, albeit the

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professional vocabulary. This proved to be a wise choice, even with Ss that found the test emotionally

exhausting. I was also very careful to be ethical with Ss findings, allowing them the opportunity not to

disclose their results; although this particular group, except for one individual, was more than willing to

share enthusiastically their rediscoveries of themselves—even their dark sides. They were all able to

complete the activity in L2 to my satisfaction with excellent and meaningful results. I was very pleased

with the final outcome because it is very difficult to access your emotions in a second language, and my

students did it brilliantly. When they left the class, they were totally immersed in L2.

In closing, I am reminded of my responsibility to provide my Ss with more than just

involvement—to allow them to choose—for example to choose the tools with which they prefer to

work. Jeremy Harmer says it best, with the concept of agency:

“Agency, a concept taken from the social sciences, is in its broadest sense, as [Charles]

Taylor1 puts it, ‘responsibility for self’. Harry Frankfurt

2 goes further and suggests that

the difference between humans and animals lies in the structure of a person’s will; that

we are ‘capable of wanting to be different … no animal other than man appears to have

the capacity for reflective self-evaluation’. Others have tried to work out the role of

agency in culture or looked at how it works in IT environments (where sometimes,

according to [Julie A.] Belz3, ‘learner agency appears to override institutional

pressures’). Agency, for me, is best defined by the metaphor of the agent in, say,

passive sentences. Here, the agent is what Michael Swan4 calls ‘the person or thing that

does the action’, and I want to suggest that when we allow students at least some power

to ‘do the action’, when we hand over some of the task of learning to them, rather than

making it all a one-way production (teacher) and reception (student) process,

students are likely to be more engaged than if they don’t have any responsibility for their

own actions…However, we must never forget that it is, in the end, up to the students to

decide how much responsibility they want to take. We cannot impose autonomy on

them.” (Harmer, 2006)

WORD COUNT: 1294

1 Taylor, Charles (1991). “The Ethics of Authenticity.” Cambridge: Harvard. 2 Harry G. Frankfurt, Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person, The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 68, No.1 (Jan 14,

1971), P. 5-7 3 Belz, J. (2002). Social Dimensions of Telecollaborative Foreign Language Study. Language Learning & Technology. Vol

6, No. 1, pp.60-81. Accessed on July 7, 2011 at http://llt.msu.edu/vol6num1/belz/default.html 4 Swan, M. (2005). “Practical English Usage.” Second and third edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 393-4, P.

120

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dubicka, I. and O’Keeffe, M. (2006). “Market Leader: Advanced Business English Course

Book.” Essex: Pearson Education Ltd. Pp. 2, 14-21, 119, 135, 143, 150, 162-3

Harmer, J. (1998). “The Practice of English Language Teaching.” Fourth edition. Essex:

Pearson Education Limited. P. 22

Harmer, J. (2003). English Teaching Essentials: Listening. English Teaching Professional.

26:29.

Harmer, J. (2006). Engaging Students as Learners. English Teaching Professional. Issue 42.

Accessed on July 6, 2011, at

http://www.etprofessional.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=186%3Aengaging-

students-as-learners&catid=54&Itemid=100001

Koch, Ch. (1996). The Bright Stuff: An interview with Howard Gardner. CIO Magazine. III-

15-96. Page 57. Accessed on July 3, 2011 at

http://books.google.com/books?id=ewYAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=I+believe+that+th

e+brain+has+evolved+over+millions+of+years+to+be+responsive+to+different+kinds+of+content+in+

the+world.+Language+content,+musical+content,+spatial+content,+numerical+content,+etc.&source=

bl&ots=uyxDqW0Ccw&sig=W7B0Dp4pL6HBvJfh6-

dB0vOkvuI&hl=en&ei=NvYQTuTUEcTl0QG06PmwDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=

4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=I%20believe%20that%20the%20brain%20has%20evolved

%20over%20millions%20of%20years%20to%20be%20responsive%20to%20different%20kinds%20of

%20content%20in%20the%20world.%20Language%20content%2C%20musical%20content%2C%20s

patial%20content%2C%20numerical%20content%2C%20etc.&f=false

Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator: MDI™ – Career Resources accessed on July 1, 2011 at

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/careers.html

Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator: Personality Type Questionnaire Accessed on June 20, 2011

at http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mmdi/questionnaire/

Myers Briggs Personality Types Accessed on June 20, 2011 at

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/myers-briggs/myers-briggs.htm

Myers, I. (1974). “Type and teamwork.” The Myers & Briggs Foundation. Accessed on July

3, 2011 at http://www.myersbriggs.org/

Myers, I. (1980). “Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type.” London: Nicholas

Brealey Publishing. P. 201.

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: UNIT 2. TRAINING MODIFIED ACTIVITIES

In analyzing Unit 2, the Listening and discussion section (see Appendix 3.1) will be a

Listening/Speaking skill-based lesson:

a) As a pre-listening activity, T will provide Ss with five ‘documents’ in an office context:

a calendared diary, an invitation that asks for a RSVP, a business letter requiring a response, an email

requesting an urgent report, a phone message advising of an important meeting, and a doctor’s

appointment, all with specific dates, times and venues. T will ask Ss to prioritize the activities, and

within a few minutes, before they have had time to do the job, they will be ‘called to the hospital for a

family emergency’. Ss will be instructed to delegate and individually indicate, in writing, how they

solved their problem. Results will indicate organizational skills, teamwork and leadership traits within

the group.

b) The lesson will continue with the A discussion, personalizing their course experiences,

and preferred learning modes, at a round table.

c) The ‘while’ B and C listening activities include an explanation to the pre-listening in the

form of an interview with a consultant described in the course book.

d) The table addressing language skills in section D will be placed on a whiteboard and

completed as a car race. T will divide the classroom into two teams; each will take turns to paste the

correct verb, activity/process or person on the table that has been projected onto the whiteboard. Every

correct answer allows the Ss to move its car one to nine places on the road drawn on chart paper and

placed in the middle of the meeting room table. If it falls on a detour or a win, the player must follow

instructions. First group to reach the finish line wins.

e) Complete section E comprehension fill in slot exercise individually in the course book.

f) The ‘post’ production activity will link the listening with a speaking skill through the F

personalized discussion on Ss experienced and desired courses developed as pairwork.

The Reading and Language section (see Appendix 3.2) of this unit will be a

Reading/Language-based lesson, concentrating on multiword verbs;

The ‘pre’ will be Ss answering the question in groupwork “What’s your preference: face-to-

face or on-line learning?”

a) The ‘while’ will be a reading using the course book text titled “Time to break out from

campus”. We will use a modified

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“…jigsaw reading (where…students read…different texts and have to share information

about what they have read in order to get the ‘whole story’).” (Harmer, 2006)

Once the whole story has been put together, the Ss will take turns to read aloud the text and subtitle it

individually during the reading; once the reading is done, Ss will compare their subtitles first with the

person to their right and then with the person to their left, modifying or complementing their choices

accordingly.

b) Vocabulary exercise C will be handled as a game of tic-tac-toe. T will divide the group

in two opposing teams. Ss will flip a coin to choose who begins the game. The first S tries to fill first

blank, if he/she succeeds, she/he earns the right to place a cross or a nought as preferred; if not, the

team misses their turn and the same blank goes to the next player; the first S of the second team does

the same; and so forth and so on. If all spaces are not filled the first game, it will continue with another

game until totally filled.

c) T will regroup the class into two opposing teams different to the previous activity.

Exercise D will be a teamwork competitive exercise finding words and expressions from the exercise

that have a similar meaning to those listed. Whichever team gets them all first, wins.

d) T will ask Ss to identify the multiword verbs related to education in the sentences in

exercise E, and decide on their correct meaning.

After Ss have read the sentences and tried to identify as many multiword verbs as they can, T

will distribute bingo cards containing illustrations of the action of each multiword verb, musicalizing

them with related popular songs (e.g., Urge Overkill: Dropout Lyrics); T will describe the musicalized

multiword verbs as in a bingo game, Ss will place a token on the correct verb, and whoever identifies

all six by the end of the game, wins. If time allows, they can reinforce the language with the

complementary exercise in the course book.

e) Exercise F will be a fill in the slots with the suitable multiword verb from the box in the

course book.

f) As ‘post’ personalization teacher will instruct Ss to create a story that reflects something

in their personal lives using the twelve multiword verbs they learned in this lesson. Once they finish,

they will share their production with the group; and the group will provide feedback regarding the

appropriate or inappropriate usage of the terms.

The third section that deals with Business Skills (see Appendix 3.3); specifically, telephone

strategies that require clarifying and confirming and writing emails;

11

g) The ‘pre’ will be a game of ‘broken phone’ T will initiate with the S to her right.

He/she, in turn, will ‘repeat’ what T said to the next S to her/his right, and so forth. After one turn

each, the final person will repeat what she/he was told out loud to the class.

h) For the ‘while’, following William Littlewood’s suggestion, T will

“…ask Ss to number each other without telling the teacher; when the teacher asks a

‘number’ for feedback, the choice is random, all students run the same risk of being

asked, and ‘loafing’ is, therefore, less attractive”. (Harmer, 2006)

Once all Ss are numbered, the T will divide both telephone conversations regarding staff induction day

at Ashley Pharmaceuticals amongst Ss for jigsaw listening. Student 1 will listen to the first half of

conversation 2.3, Student 2 will listen to the last half of conversation 2.3, Student 3 will listen to the first

half of conversation 2.4, and Student 4 will listen to the last half of conversation 2.4, and Student 5 will

listen to all the conversations. T will instruct each S to explain the portion each one heard and decide

which part came first, second, third and last. S 5 will listen to the predictions and help his/her

classmates reach the correct order. Finally, the group as a team will work together to write the script as

best as they remember it.

i) Ss will correct the room-booking planner according to the second conversation.

j) Ss will separate in pairs as far from each other as possible. Each pair will chose a topic

of real conversation that will allow them to use all the useful language tips suggested in Exercise A; for

example, making an appointment for lunch. One of each pair will telephone the other on his/her mobile

and converse for a maximum of 5 minutes each. A different real topic will be chosen by each pair of Ss

and the S that was the recipient of the first call, will become the caller.

k) T will instruct Ss to match the (1) to (5) phrases with the (a) to (c) techniques in exercise

B individually. Ss will check their answers with the group.

l) For ‘post’ personalization, Listening and Speaking skills will be linked to writing skills.

Ss will write an email to their telephone partner confirming the content (appointment, commitment,

etc.) of their telephone conversation that day, which the student will correct and return to the sender.

The fourth Writing skill section (see Appendix 3.4) focuses on e-mails

a) During the ‘pre’, T will ask Ss if they understood the message of the emails Ss sent each

other the previous class.

b) For the ‘while’, Ss will take turns to read aloud the tips for writing effective emails

contained in Exercise D. They will compare the email they sent their peers with the tips and correct

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them accordingly. T will divide the class in two teams. Each team will then read one email each of the

examples which they will discuss amongst themselves as to how they compare to the tips on effective

emails, and then present the registry as well as the deficiencies they found to the rest of the class.

c) The ‘post’ personalization. T will instruct Ss to choose one of the situations at the end

of this lesson, adapt it to their own real work situation, and first write a formal email and then write a

less formal email following the sequence below:

“Students all start with a piece of paper on which the first line of [the email] is written

(or dictated by T)…then… [the next S] write[s] the second sentence of the story before

passing the paper to the person next to them. That person writes the next sentence, and

then the papers are passed on again. Finally, when the Ss get their original piece of paper

back, they write the conclusion…the point of the activity is that everyone, even the

would-be loafers, has had to take part”. (Harmer, 2006)

Final production will be read out loud by two volunteers, and corrected by the group based on the

effecting email writing tips.

Closing with a Case study (see Appendix 3.5) focuses on listening and ties in with a final

related written email

a) The ‘pre’ will ask “What do you know about candy?” to begin a brainstorm session

regarding all the forms, colors, textures and flavors a confectioner could use to produce candy.

b) During the ‘while’ Ss will first read the introductory background text on “Training at

SmileCo.”

c) Listening exercise 2.5 is a Sales Director at SmileCo meeting with the Human Resources

Manager.

“Listening material, especially when pre-recorded, allow students to study aspects of

spoken English, which are often very different from those of written grammar...”

(Harmer, 2003: 29)

T will instruct Ss to reply to questions one through three in the course book as based on their

conversation in the meeting. Once they have the answers, they will compare them with the rest of the

group for feedback.

d) T will ask Ss to choose the role they prefer to play in Task 1 and ask them to choose the

opposite role in Task 2.

“As a follow-up task students can be asked to work in groups in which they have to

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write the...report to his superior about what he thinks really happened. This will involve

the students in a discussion of the…different accounts after which they will have to

reach a consensus before writing the report.” (Harmer, 1998: 122)

e) For the ‘post’ activity T will instruct Ss to write an email to their boss outlining the

training program for the new data-collection system and suggesting the possibility of its adaptation to

serve the needs of their company and closing the message by selling themselves as the leader or

participant of this project using the description of their qualifications as identified in the Myers Briggs

test.

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APPENDIX 2 - LESSON PLAN

Name: Elizabeth De la Barrera Blanor

Date: June 21, 2011

Class Schedule: Wednesday 13:00 to 15:00 hrs. and Tuesday & Thursday 13:30 to 15:00 hrs

Observation Time: 13:30 to 14:20 hrs.

Level: Advanced according to the Common European Framework Levels: C1 up to 700 to 800 hrs.

Teaching Context and Class Profile: Private lessons to employees during lunchtime in a company

meeting room with only a round table and chairs. The group academically includes secondary, high

school and university graduates, the latter further divided into a B.A. and a M. B. A. There are five

Mexican adults ranging from their twenties to their forties. Their lower middle class social

background, though, is quite uniform. Gender breakdown is about half males and half females.

English levels range from Intermediate to Advanced. Most hold supervisory levels in purchasing.

Interests also vary from psychology to sports, action films, technology, fashion, romantic comedies,

music, and travel. Their strengths and weaknesses in the basic skills are widespread and differ greatly:

the majority has good reading skills, are able to communicate albeit grammar deficiencies, understand

most of what I say, but are weak at writing

Type of Lesson: Reading skill-based lesson tied in with Writing skill

Previous Knowledge: Students have recently seen…related vocabulary. During the previous class,

T requested Ss to bring their internet-accessed laptops/ipads/phones to this class.

Main Aim of the Class: By the end of the lesson, students will have….better comprehensive reading

skills as well as the spoken and written ability to express what they bring to the companies they work

for, their strengths and their areas of opportunity

Lesson Context: How would you describe yourself in your résumé or during an interview or in an

evaluation?”

Activity 1: The Pre-reading: “How would you describe yourself in your résumé or during an

interview or in an evaluation?”

Time: 5 min.

Objective: Brainstorm descriptive vocabulary

Procedure:

T presents the question “How would you describe yourself in your résumé or during an interview or

in an evaluation?” to Ss eliciting a brainstorming session in groupwork.

T asks Ss to write the question on their pads in a circle surrounded by lines, like a sun which she

draws on the board.

T instructs Ss to write their qualities and capabilities on each ray of sunlight while she does the

same on the board.

Ss brainstorm all their thoughts on the subject, while teacher writes on the board, and each S does

the same individually.

T explains that they are about to confirm or rebuke the results of the brainstorm by replying to a

short questionnaire that will provide them with their perspective as to their personality type, what

they like, and what they bring to the company.

Interaction: Individual and groupwork

Material:

Whiteboard and marker

Students Brainstorm Page Anticipated problems: Ss may lack vocabulary

Possible solutions: T provides vocabulary as requested

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Activity 2: The While 1st Part: The Reading and Comprehension

Time: 20 min.

Objective: (1) Reading skills: Introduction to Myers Briggs Personality Type Test;

(2) Reading and Comprehension skills: Responding to the Myers Briggs Personality Type

Questionnaire

Procedure:

T asks Ss to take out their laptops and open the first website:

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/myers-briggs/myers-briggs.htm;

T asks Ss to take turns reading the explanatory page

T asks Ss to open the next webpage: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mmdi/questionnaire/

T instructs Ss to take turns reading each question, for which T will provide an example,

T indicates to Ss that she will explain any new vocabulary upon Ss request.

Ss read and reply to the Personality Type questionnaire; taking turns to read the options out loud,

each choosing his/her preferred option on their laptop.

T provides example in each case

T replies to questions in regard to vocabulary as well as content’s meaning.

Once they have finished, the sites software will provide a result

T instructs to bookmark, print or copy and paste the results on a word-processor page and save it

T asks Ss to identify the four capital letter code that identifies his/her personality type

Interaction: Individual and groupwork

Material:

Computers

APPENDIX 1.1 – MMDI: Myers Briggs Personality Types Accessed on June 20, 2011 at

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/myers-briggs/myers-briggs.htm;

APPENDIX 1.2 - Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator: Personality Type Questionnaire Accessed

on June 20, 2011 at http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mmdi/questionnaire/

Anticipated problems: Ss lack vocabulary and comprehension of a specialized text

Possible solutions: T provides definitions and examples of each item

Activity 3: The While 2nd

Part: Identifying Personality Type

Time: 10 min.

Objective: Silent reading and comprehension skills of test results

Procedure:

T asks Ss open the first website again: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/myers-briggs/myers-

briggs.htm

T asks Ss to right-clic on their four capital letter code in the chart

T explains that the results will provide each S with his/her preferred perceptions and decisions,

what they bring to the companies they work for, their strengths and their areas of opportunity, as

well as awareness of their dark side.

T asks Ss to bookmark, print or copy and paste this text at the beginning of their word processor

document and save

T asks Ss to open the last webpage: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/careers.html

T asks Ss to right-clic on their four capital letter code in the chart

T explains that the results will be the careers for which they would be best suited and which they

would enjoy the most.

T asks Ss to bookmark, print or copy and paste this text at the beginning of their word processor

document and save

T asks Ss to silently read the contents of their bookmarked, printed or saved word processor

16

document

T invites a volunteer to read his/her contents of the career and personality summary at the

beginning of the document, inviting the group to ask about anything that may require explanation

S reads contents

Ts responds to queries

Interaction: Individual and groupwork

Material:

Computers

APPENDIX 1.1 – MMDI: Myers Briggs Personality Types Accessed on June 20, 2011 at

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/myers-briggs/myers-briggs.htm;

APPENDIX 1.3 - MMDI – Career Resources accessed on July 1, 2011 at

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/careers.html Students’ Results of Test

Anticipated problems: Ss may be uncomfortable with the test results

Possible solutions: T requests a volunteer reader to allow T to explain unknown vocabulary; rest of

the class may mark and ask about their vocabulary. If no one volunteers, the teacher will read her own

career and personality summary, allowing for questions.

Activity 4: The Post 1: Confirm or rebuke brainstorm results vs Myers Briggs Personality Type Test

Time: 10 min.

Objective: Tie in Speaking skill in Pairwork

Procedure:

T instructs Ss to discuss (confirm or rebuke) their personalized information with each other in

pairwork and to provide their feedback as to the accuracy of the results versus their page of the

brainstorm activity at the beginning of the class. T monitors conversations

Interaction: Pairwork and groupwork

Material:

Students Brainstorm Page

Students’ Results of Test

Anticipated problems: Ss unwilling to talk about their results

Possible solutions: T clarifies that the activity does not require providing personalized information

unless they choose to do so.

Activity 5: The Post 2: Myers Briggs Personality Type Test

Time: 5 min.

Objective: Tie in Writing skill individually

Procedure:

T ties in the reading skill with a writing skill instructing the Ss to write a real introductory

summary to their résumé based on the information obtained from the test.

T monitors texts

Interaction: Individual

Material:

Students’ Results of Test

Anticipated problems: Ss have difficulty summarizing the description

Possible solutions: T provides individual aid

Structure Taken from: Lesson Plan Components Piña/ICELT