School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Enhancing MFL teaching for new tutors

Faculty of Arts Graduate School, University of Leeds; Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, University of Southampton

School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Lesson planning

Honor Aldred, Dept of French, University of Leeds

11.00 – 12.30

Lesson planning

• A (very) little theory

• Its relevance in lesson planning

• The lesson:

• Aims/Objectives

• Signposting

• Timing

• Some ideas

Lesson planning

A (very) little theory: Second Language Acquisition

• Parameters set at L1 values

• Learning styles and strategies

• Psychological factors

• Motivation

• Cognitive processes, reorganising existing knowledge

Lesson planning

Methodologies and approaches

• Grammar-Translation method

• Direct method

• Communicative Language Teaching with a focus on meaning

• Form-focused instruction, regularly revisiting grammatical structures

• Task-focused instruction, where students identify grammatical and syntactical structures for themselves

• Learner autonomy

Lesson planning

Some principles (1):

• Students need to be in charge of their own learning

• Students can learn from or with each other

• If students have varying learning styles they need varying teaching styles

• A mix of methodologies may be the best approach

• > Focus on form within meaning-based instruction

Lesson planning

Some principles (2):

Studies show that …

• Formal instruction speeds up the language acquisition process

• Explicit instruction more effective than implicit

• Drills followed by contextualised, freer use are useful

• Regression is normal – with U-shaped development where performance is likely to be particularly variable

Lesson planning

John Klapper, Understanding and developing good practice: Language teaching in higher education (London: CILT, 2006)

Lesson planning

Group task (10 minutes):

1. Consider the ‘mini-lessons’ delivered in your group in session 1.

• Which methodology or approach seemed to characterise each lesson?

• What were the advantages of each approach?

• How could the lessons be improved in the light of the different methodologies and approaches?

2. Agree on one or two points to share with the whole group.

Lesson planning

The lesson

The constraints:

• Degree of prescription in the module you will be teaching

• Your departmental policy re language of instruction

• Facilities available to you (e.g. IT)

• Number and duration of seminars

• Numbers of students in the seminar

Lesson planning

The lesson: signposting

• Why?

• Learner involvement and autonomy

• At the beginning

• At the end – for the following week

• Is it clear in the module documentation?

Lesson planning

The lesson plan:

• Clear objectives – to you and to the students

• Timing: allow for

• Registration;

• Feedback on marked work, both whole class and individual;

• Questions

• Setting work to be done for the following week

• Think about how you will treat each element of the lesson

• Mix group work and whole class work

Lesson planning

The lesson: further considerations

• Be flexible in the language of instruction

• Be flexible in content – even if it means you don’t finish the work prepared

• How will you cover work left undone at the end of the seminar?

• To be done as additional independent work?

• Via resources on VLE? Email?

• How will you deal with questions you couldn’t answer during the seminar? Email? VLE? Next week?

Lesson planning

Some ideas:

• If seminar room is networked, use prepared Word files to gain a little time (they can be edited as part of the lesson, Powerpoint files can’t)

• Ideas for using OHP slides

• Crib ideas from your experience as a student

• e.g. colour coding for cases

• Crib ideas from each other

Lesson planning

Group task

1.Share with your group ideas you remember as being helpful to you as a learner either at school or as an undergraduate.

2.Agree on one or perhaps two to share with the whole group.

Lesson planning

María Fernández-Toro and Francis R Jones, DIY techniques for language learners (London: CILT, 2001)

Lesson planning

And finally –

• Make sure you know who your mentor is and make use of him/her.

• Don’t be scared of peer observation

• Go out and enjoy your teaching.