CELTA Written Assignment: Focus on the Learner

Learner profile

Małgosia is a middle-age student at Pre-Intermediate level. She works as a shop assistant in a supermarket.  Due to the fact that she works with people, she likes to spend her free time on her own. She loves travelling, skiing and swimming.

Małgosia started studying English a year ago. First, she attended a summer school and later she signed up for an English course in one of the language centres in Krakow. During the course the teacher puts a lot of emphasis on communicative activities and getting students to talk. At school, Małgosia only studied French but she cannot speak it anymore.

Małgosia learns English for herself and is very extrinsically motivated. She hopes that a good knowledge of English could help her find a better job. Her husband can speak English and he encourages her a lot to study it. What is more, Małgosia is aware of the fact that English is used as a lingua franca and if you want to communicate while travelling abroad it is essential that you can speak it.

In class, Małgosia is quite an active participant. She likes working in pairs and groups  because she can listen to other students. She loves listening to English audiobooks and songs. Małgosia admits that sometimes charts and timelines help her learn or understand, but she prefers to listen. Therefore, she is an auditory learner with a small inclination towards visual learner.

Learner needs

Skill (Speaking)

Even though during the interview Małgosia stated that the skill she would like to improve is listening, the skill she really needs to focus on and causes her lots of difficulties is speaking. Małgosia is very self-conscious while speaking, by practising it she will gain more confidence and thus increase her fluency.

Grammar

Małgosia’s overall grammar comprehension is quite good. However, during the interview I noticed that she particularly struggles with verb patterns, for example:

1.        I’d like change my work. (instead of “I’d like to change my job.”)

2.       I like see it. (instead of “I like seeing it.”)

3.       I like work in pairs. (instead of “I working in pairs it.”)

These errors are typical of EFL students  as the correct choice between an infinitive or –ing form of the verb and the rules that guide speakers may seem arbitrary to learners (Parrott, 2000, p. 170).

This type of mistakes does not often lead to serious misunderstandings but if Małgosia wants to continue progressing in English and work on her accuracy, she should be aware of it.

Pronunciation

Małgosia’s pronunciation is quite good and reflects how much input she gets from listening audiobooks and songs. However, she evidently struggles with pronouncing the th sound correctly.

1.       I work with people. (pronounced /wɪf/ instead of / wɪð/)

2.       I was in South America. (pronounced /saʊf/ instead of /saʊθ/)

3.       I think about my job. (pronounced /tɪŋk/ instead of /θɪŋk/)

According to Śpiewak and Gołębiowska (Polish speakers, 2001, p. 165) “/θ/ and /ð/ are regularly replaced by any of the following: /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/ or even /ts/, /dz/. Interdentals are a nightmare for elementary learners, and need a lot of practice.

Suggested activities

Skill (Speaking)

Małgosia’s speaking skills benefit from every communicative activity that she can do in the classroom. She is a very cautious and sequential learner and needs to know well the lexis, grammar or functional language that she is going to use in a speaking activity. Therefore, the task that I chose for her is a communicative activity Find someone who… from New English File Teacher’s book p. 228 (Appendix 1). In this task students have to mingle and ask each other questions to complete the survey. This task will definitely appeal to Małgosia, since she is an auditory learner and likes listening to other students. I would use this activity during freer practise after revising verbs followed by –ing form.

Grammar

To help Małgosia with verb patterns I would revise verbs followed by to infinitive or verb+ing with the whole group. I would start with a short guided discovery and follow it with an activity sheet from New English File Teacher’s book p. 181 (Appendix 2) for restricted practice. In this task, students have to complete the sentences with either to infinitive or verb+ing. Ideally, this task would be followed by the speaking activity for freer practise that I have mentioned above.

Rationale

In the interview Małgosia mentioned that she likes to have examples first and work out the rules by herself. Taking into consideration the fact that she is an inductive learner, I would provide her and her fellow colleagues with a guided discovery. The activity is supposed to draw Małgosia’s attention to the verb patterns. She is a little bit a routine learner and this type of activity could help her organise what she already knows without a need to take risks.

Pronunciation

I would give Małgosia and her fellow students an activity from Tree or three to practise the th sound (Appendix 3). First students have to look at a family tree and listen to some questions, answer them and then check with the recording. After that, students draw their own family trees and talk about them in pairs.

Rationale

This activity should appeal to Małgosia’s auditory intelligence as she enjoys listening a lot and she can copy the sound after hearing it. She will also have a chance to compare her pronunciation with other students during pair work. Also, talking about family is easy, it is something that all of the students have in common, so Małgosia will be able to focus on her pronunciation rather than looking for the “right” words.

994 words

Bibliography

Baker, A. (2006). Tree or three. Cambridge: CUP.

Parrott, M. (2000). Grammar for English Language Teachers. Cambridge: CUP.

Oxenden, C., & Latham-Koenig, Ch. (2012). New English File. Oxford: OUP.

Śpiewak, G., & Gołębiewska, L. (2001). Polish speakers. In M. Swan, & B. Smith, English Learner (pp. 162-178). Cambridge: CUP.

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3