SPOKEN EXPLANATIONS A TASK-BASED ESL...

SPOKEN EXPLANATIONS – A TASK-BASED ESL UNIT

Teaching Context

The unit is designed for a withdrawal ESL class which consists of 10 ESL students. All

students come from varying backgrounds. The first learner to be considered is Tara, a 10 year

old daughter of Serbian-speaking Australian migrants. She holds linguistic identities in two

cultures, because her primary education has been transferred between Serbia and Australia

and as a result she has had to ‘relearn’ both languages at different points in time. Our second

learner is Ben, a 10 year old Ghanese boy who has been a resident of Australia for 5 months.

While emotional sensitivity hinders much understanding of Ben’s background, he is clearly

literate in an indigenous language of Ghana and has received sporadic exposure to English

during his childhood (in and outside of school). Thus, the unit takes into account both of

these learners’ cognitive and affective needs,

Scope of the program

It is designed to complement a Stage 3 (year 5) English term which is focussing on the genre

of explanations, in the first term of the year. The ESL unit will take place during the first 6

weeks of the term, as the lesson may be spilt across days (in response to time constraints).

The oral interaction that is practiced and studied in the ESL unit works to support the

movement into more complex reading, writing, speaking and listening tasks in the

mainstream class work. It is aimed to ‘fill in’ the small gaps of linguistic knowledge so that

they can work more effectively in their year 5 classroom during the rest of the year.

Unit Objectives

Outcomes (English)

TS3.1: Communicates effectively

for a range of purposes and with a

variety of audiences to express well

developed, well organised ideas

dealing with more challenging

topics

TS3.2: Interacts productively and

with autonomy in pairs and groups

of various sizes and composition,

uses effective oral presentation

skills and strategies and listens

attentively.

Students will learn:

Use the correct present tense auxiliary verb ‘I

am’ and ‘He/she is’;

Listen to and create simple descriptions about a

person using this language item.

Acknowledge (critique) when they use fillers in

their own speech

Use the Question = Simple Answer + Extra

Information technique when describing

activities

Know the correct word order when making

statements

Describe people, places and things in rich detail

Use correct intonation when making statements

to support and convey meaning, by dropping

tone at the end of each sentence.

References:

Board of Studies NSW 2007, English K-6 Syllabus, Board of Studies NSW, Sydney.

Halliday, M 2004, ‘Three aspects of children’s language development: learning language,

learning through language, learning about language (1980)’ in J Webster (ed.), Language of

Early Childhood, Continuum, London.

Krashen, S, 1982, Principles and Practices in Second Language Acquisition, Penguin,

Oxford.

Nation, I & Newton, J 2009, Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking, Routledge, New

York.

Savignon, S 1993, ‘Communicative language teaching: state of the art’, in S Silberstein (ed.),

State of the art TESOL essays: Celebrating 25 years of the discipline, Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages, Alexandria, VA.

Describing People

Lesson One

Duration: 90 minutes

h

LESSON OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to… Use the correct present tense auxiliary verb „I am‟ and „He/she is‟;

Listen to and create simple descriptions about a person using this language item.

The learning activities of the first lesson aim to facilitate functional language, that is, the memorised item „I am‟ and „he/she is‟, which can then

be drawn upon in everyday interaction. Simultaneously, however, is the negotiation of language that is also meaningful and authentic. In order to

achieve these needs our activities have been sequenced to transition from an explicit “learning about language” task, also known as a „focus on

form‟, towards tasks that are deliberately constructed authentic scenarios („learning through language‟) that use this same language item

(Halliday 1980, p308). These sequenced learning activities have been designed to improve the learners‟ grammar skills and knowledge, because

both learners display a weakness in these areas. Specifically, Ben demonstrated, in his pre-assessment interview, that he cannot sufficiently

express the correct auxiliary verbs (and tense) in his personal explanation, as he confuses the possessive determiner „my‟ and the auxiliary verb

„I will‟. Thus, if we gradually introduce the past, present and future tense auxiliary verbs, through both explicit teaching and authentic

communicative task work, then students will find these phrases becoming increasingly accessible to them in their everyday language

experiences. Our specific focus has been the present tense verb as it connects to the larger English genre of „explanations‟ that is being explored

(simultaneously to this unit) in their regular classroom.

The lesson is well-planned as it presents an equal balance of the four „language learning strands‟ (Nation & Newton 2009). The first

strand considered is „language-focused learning‟ which involves the „deliberate learning‟ of the language item „I am‟ and „he/she is‟ (Nation &

Newton 2009). The Eckman, Bell and Nelson (1988, cited in Nations & Newton 2009) transformation exercise is used to teach the auxiliary

verbs „am‟ and „is‟, where the teacher leads students in transforming attributes into single statement sentences. Next, the listen and draw

technique involves familiarisation of the language item „he/she is‟ through listening and writing (drawing). Krashen (1982) emphasised this need

for „comprehensible input‟ (meaningful input), that is, learning through listening where the learner‟s attention is on the repeated use of „he is‟ as

a sentence starter. Then, students have the opportunity to use „he is‟ in their own speech. Find the difference involves learners making statements

based on pictures, as they take turns producing a sentence starting with „he is‟ in a game-like manner and then compare their descriptions

(Nation & Newton 2009). Finally, the engagement of the fluency strand help learners “to make the best use of what they already know”,

because the meaning-focused language produced in this task is stems directly from familiar content (personal) and familiar features („I am‟).

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIONS

Orientation 5 minutes

Focus the learners‟ attention on task by opening with a clear

orientation to the performance objectives: We will be able to use the

simple sentence starter „I am‟ or „He/she is‟ to create descriptions of

ourselves and others. Access prior knowledge and motivate learners

by talking about situations when we need to describe ourselves and

others, and the types of attributes we usually describe. E.g. „I am

wearing a blue jacket‟ and „I am a good soccer player‟.

Reflection 15 minutes

The main performance objectives of the lesson are consolidated in the

final fluency activity, where students have an opportunity to orally

demonstrate their ability to use simple descriptive sentences beginning

with „I am‟. The need to provide quick responses will challenge the

learners, and the need to perform orally for peers will extend their

learning, in comparison to the other activities of the lesson which

allows for much more individual construction.

CONTENT

STRAND

Language-

focused learning

LESSON ACTIVITIES

(a) Directly focus on the grammatical form of simple descriptions

by explaining the present tense auxiliary verb „I am‟ and „He/she

is‟. Have students complete a transformation exercise beginning

with these attributes:

(a) Tall

(b) Wearing a blue jacket

(c) A great soccer player

(d) Good at telling jokes

Students must transform these attributes into simple descriptive

statements by adding the present tense auxiliary verb to the

beginning of each sentence.

(a) I am tall.

He is tall.

(b) I am wearing a blue jacket.

She is wearing a blue jacket.

(c) I am a great soccer player.

She is a great soccer player.

(d) I am good at telling jokes.

He is good at telling jokes.

GROUP

STRUCTURE

Whole class

Individual

ASSESSMENT

Formative assessment:

The teacher observes

willingness and ability

to contribute to whole

class learning.

Summative

assessment: Student

workbooks are

collected and marked

for specific objective

„Adding the correct

language item at the

beginning of the

sentence‟. Note that

this does not include

spelling, handwriting

etc.

RESOURCES

Sentences in

workbook

Meaning-

focused input

Meaning-

focused output

Developing

fluency

(b) Complete a listen and draw activity where learners listen to

the description of a person and draw them. On a new piece of

paper students draw a large body of a person, and then listen to the

teacher‟s description and draw the features. Note that the aim is

not on the content words of the attributes (as there may be

language deficiencies); rather, use attributes that are already

familiar and focus on using simple sentences.

He is a tall person. He is wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of

jeans. He is tired and is not happy. He is wearing a big hat on his

head. He is protected from the hot sun. Etc.

(c) Use a descriptions task where students find the difference

between a pair of pictures. When describing their picture students

must start their sentences with „he is‟.

Student A: He is wearing a blue shirt.

Student B: He is wearing a red shirt.

Student A: He is standing in a forest.

Student B: He is standing in a desert.

(d) Use a walk and talk to practice using „I am‟. On the board

have two questions for the students to ask each other. Each answer

must begin with „I am‟.

Q: How old are you?

A: I am 10 years old.

Q: Can you tell me something that you are really good at?

A: I am a really good soccer player.

Then they move two persons to the right and swap roles. Later in

the whole class a few learners tell what one of their partners told

them.

Individual

Pairs

Whole class

Summative

assessment: Student

workbooks are

collected and their

ability to follow

directions is recorded

as a written comment.

Formative assessment:

The teacher observes

students‟ ability to use

the language item in

informal interaction.

Written comments.

Drawing in

workbook

A copy of a

simple

description of

a person that

you have

written

beforehand.

A set of cards

per pair. See

appendix A.

Interesting conversations

Lesson Two


LESSON OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to… Acknowledge (critique) when they use fillers in their own speech

Use the Question = Simple Answer + Extra Information technique when describing activities

Know the correct word order when making statements

The second lesson plan directly addresses the weakness of, firstly, pragmatics, and then, a second grammar skill. Ben and Tara both frequently

draw on language fillers (such as umm, „like‟, repetition of ideas) to „buy‟ valuable processing time in their oral interactions (Thornbury 2005).

By drawing attention to this common SLL technique students will be able to recognise the frequency of these different fillers in their own speech

and consciously act to avoid them. However, students will only be able to delete these fillers if they are taught, at the same time, replacement

language strategies to draw on as a substitute. The Question = Simple Answer + Extra Information technique will be relevant in this regard as

not only does it allow learners to elaborate on their thinking during their speech, but it also will connect to the „explanations‟ unit in their regular

class as they will be learning how to include extra information in their descriptions. The second grammar skill to be taught builds directly on the

performance objectives of lesson one. Students are learning grammar skills of simple present tense verbs, which in turn, is likely to help students

overcome their frequent „stumbling‟ of speech.

Following a similar pattern as outlined in the first lesson, the second lesson also presents an equal balance of the four „language learning

strands‟ (Nation & Newton 2009). The lesson opens with a useful output activity which allows students to record a short segment of

meaningful, authentic language based on a personal experience. The teacher uses deliberately constructed prompt questions to elicit this

dialogue. This recording is then used to drive the second strand, meaning-focussed output, as students are to listen back to their recording and

critique the specific language features that „buy‟ time in their conversation. Students will be focussing on their „ah‟s‟, „umms‟ and other

repetitious phrases and log this into a chart, We can then address this weakness through the explicit teaching of an effective interactional tool to

draw on in everyday conversations: Question = Simple Answer + Extra Information. This forms the language-focused goal of the lesson. Finally,

the lesson concludes with two extensive fluency activities, the first being a second taping of the part (a) recording, and the second being a „pass

and talk‟ activity. Both activities are designed to engage learners in meaningful, authentic output opportunities that reinforce the need for the Q =

SA + EI strategy.




orientation to the performance objectives: Listen to your own speech

then learn how to make it more descriptive by giving an answer, and

some extra information. Let students access prior knowledge by

talking about what makes somebody interesting to listen to, which in

turn will motivate learners because we will help them understand how

they can speak in ways that are interesting to their audience.


The skills that students learn through the explicit teaching of the

grammatical feature Q = SA = EI are consolidated when students re-

record their conversation. This ensures they have an opportunity to

actively engage in using the response technique. Furthermore, they are

then challenged by an extension activity where students must perform

under time constraints (they cannot practice their answer) and in front

of an audience (the whole class).

CONTENT

STRAND

Meaning-

focused output

Meaning-focus

input

Language-

focused learning

LESSON ACTIVITIES

(a) Students begin the best record activity by recording a short

segment of authentic informal conversation with the teacher. The

teacher asks the questions: „On the weekends, or after school, what

are some of the activities that you like to do?‟ And then, „Can you

explain what the rules are/what happens in it?‟

(b) Students listen back to their speech and fill in a chart that

tallies how many „fillers‟ they use.

(c) Directly focus on the grammatical technique of detailed

descriptions by explaining Question = Simple Answer + Extra

Information strategy. Have questions and responses set up and

highlight with yellow the „simple answer‟ and green the „extra

information‟.

Question: How are you today?

Answer: I am good, although I’m a bit tired from being at school

all day .

GROUP

STRUCTURE

Pair

Individual

Whole Class

ASSESSMENT

Summative

assessment: Teacher

keeps a record as

part of an assessment

portfolio.

Formative

assessment: The

teacher observes

willingness and

ability to contribute

to whole class

learning.

RESOURCES

Recording

device such as:

Computer

Portable

recorder.

A copy of

appendix B for

each student.

Fluency

Fluency

Question: What are you going to do this afternoon?

Answer: I am going to soccer practice. We have our semi-final

game this weekend.

(d) Using the tabled „filler‟ knowledge and the learnt Q = SA + EI

strategy, the learners now re-record the talk from part (a).

(e) Use the Pass and talk activity to reiterate the need to speak

with rich, detailed descriptions. In a circle have 5 picture cards

moving around the whole class. Each learner that has a card must

describe what is happening on it and add some extra information

that is describing some background or reasoning to the action. The

sentence can be written on the board as a form of scaffolding for

those who need it.

Individual

Whole Class

Summative

assessment: Teacher

keeps a record as

part of an assessment

portfolio.

Formative

assessment: The

teacher observes

students‟ ability to

use the language

strategy in informal

interaction. Written

comments.

Resources form

part (a) and (b).

A set of picture

cards. If these

aren‟t

available,

images from

familiar books

can be used.

Preparing a presentation

Lesson Three


LESSON OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to… Describe people, places and things in rich detail

Use correct intonation when making statements to support and convey meaning, by dropping tone at the end of each sentence.

The final lesson plan is intended to synchronise each learning objective that has been introduced over the lessons of the unit. It draws obvious

links to the constructivist principles that guide the unit as a whole, that is, the tasks each “put the focus on the learner” (Savignon 1993, p40) by

continuously placing the learners in a role that ensures they develop and apply functional, communicate competence. Also, the premise of

„personal experience‟ that is used in the interview task is a deliberate response to the need to draw upon the sociocultural context of our learners

to help facilitate meaningful and authentic language based on their target needs.

The final lesson also effectively balances all four „language learning strands‟ (Nation & Newton 2009). The lesson begins with a focus on

meaning-focused input, as students watch and listen to an authentic language learning text. They hear rich descriptions and control of intonation

modelled in this language. The next task is the explicit teaching of correct intonation when making statements, as learners can utilise this

language tool to help support and convey meaning in their speech. The modelling of the video is further reinforced by the teacher also

controlling intonation, which serves to heighten the learning experience for the learners. The learners then move back into a student orientated

task whereby the language is controlled by pairs of students negotiating the structured questions of an interview. This serves as meaning-focused

input for the students. Students then transfer this knowledge using their knowledge from lesson one, as they are adding auxiliary verbs to the

beginning of each sentence to help structure the presentation. From this point onwards students are provided with the opportunity to develop

their fluency skills by repeatedly presenting their language task to multiple audiences that gradually increase in size, simultaneously increasing

the “pressure and encouragement to perform (Nation & Newton 2009, p9).




orientation to the performance objectives: Describe people, places and

things in rich detail and use correct intonation to help support and

convey meaning. Motivate learners by using the „Bindi Irwin‟ video.


The skills of the three lessons in their entirety are consolidated when

students present their final speech. This ensures they have an

opportunity to actively engage in using the set of oral explanation skills

they have developed over the unit.

CONTENT

STRAND

Meaning-

focused input

Language-

focused learning

Meaning-

focused output

LESSON ACTIVITIES

(a) Students watch and listen to YouTube video: „A day in the life

of Bindi Irwin. The film is played through once, transcripts are

handed out and then students are encouraged to follow along in the

transcript during the second viewing.

(b) The teacher draws direct attention to the intonation drop at the

end of each statement in the video. Use the activity delayed

repetition for each statement in the video, which can be

highlighted in the transcript. The teacher models the phrase in

front of the whole class (paying attention to correct use of

intonation), counts to three and then then class repeats it as a

group.

(c) In pairs, students interview each other with a of structured

questions displayed on the board. These are simple „getting to

know you‟ questions which only require personal experience to

answer. It is reiterated that students must answer the questions

GROUP

STRUCTURE

Whole class

Whole class

Pairs

ASSESSMENT

Formative

assessment: The

teacher observes

students‟ ability to

reproduce modelled

intonation. Written

comments.

RESOURCES

YouTube video

and transcript:

„A day in the

life of Bindi

Irwin.

with the Q = SA + EI response strategy.

(d) Turn the answers into statements that begin with the present

auxiliary verb „he/she is‟ on the worksheet.

(e) Practice this as a prepared talk using the pyramid procedure

to practice. Students present their statements about their partner in

a pair with the use of notes, then a small group, and then a

different small group. After three stages of practice there should be

minimal notes. Students then have the opportunity to present to the

whole class.

Individual

Pairs, small

groups, whole

class.

Summative

assessment: Final

presentation is

marked and

recorded.

See appendix

C.

Worksheet to

begin.

Appendix A

(Build Your Wild Self 2012)

Appendix B

How many times do you:

Say ‘umm’

Say ‘er’

Can’t think of the

right word

Say the wrong thing and start

again

Tally:

Appendix C

My Partner ____________

I would like everybody to meet ________________________.

S/he is ________________ years old. _________ enjoys ________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________.

S/he finds this fun because _________________________________________________________________-

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________.

Also, __________________________________________________________________________________

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