Assignment 2 Focus on the learner
Assignment 2: Focus on the Learner
Part 1: Background
a) I have been teaching an upper intermediate group made up of 12 Hungarian learners. Their ages vary from mid-twenties to early eighties the majority being between forty and sixty. Their interests include swimming, various outdoor activities and the arts. The majority of the learners wish to improve their English for a commutative purpose in order to further their careers for the purpose of travel or keep to in touch with friends/family. Accordingly they prefer working on their speaking skills. Working in pairs and small groups is a part of the lesson that the students often respond well to, as it gives them opportunity to practice their spoken English. All the students have three or more years’ experience leaning English. Most of the student’s prior leaning experience was at high school, although some have attended other language schools or learnt while travelling. They are mainly visual/kinesthetic learners but there are some auditory learners in the class who prefer listening activities.
b) Speaking: The students have a high level of fluency; they can communicate naturally stating their opinions together and with the teacher in English. The students will often ask the teacher to re-clarifying if there is something they don’t understand. The students speak well in present and past simple but struggle sometimes when using present, future and perfect continuous. Pronunciation can be problematic at times.
Writing: The students are able to present their points of view using well-structured sentences and vocabulary not covered in the lesson. In some cases the students’ written language is better than their spoken. They write well in present tense, some students struggle with irregular verbs and the appropriate use of them.
Reading: The students are all competent readers of English. They are able to read quickly for a general idea of the text content and also in depth in order to extract information. They
Part 1: Background
a) I have been teaching an upper intermediate group made up of 12 Hungarian learners. Their ages vary from mid-twenties to early eighties the majority being between forty and sixty. Their interests include swimming, various outdoor activities and the arts. The majority of the learners wish to improve their English for a commutative purpose in order to further their careers for the purpose of travel or keep to in touch with friends/family. Accordingly they prefer working on their speaking skills. Working in pairs and small groups is a part of the lesson that the students often respond well to, as it gives them opportunity to practice their spoken English. All the students have three or more years’ experience leaning English. Most of the student’s prior leaning experience was at high school, although some have attended other language schools or learnt while travelling. They are mainly visual/kinesthetic learners but there are some auditory learners in the class who prefer listening activities.
b) Speaking: The students have a high level of fluency; they can communicate naturally stating their opinions together and with the teacher in English. The students will often ask the teacher to re-clarifying if there is something they don’t understand. The students speak well in present and past simple but struggle sometimes when using present, future and perfect continuous. Pronunciation can be problematic at times.
Writing: The students are able to present their points of view using well-structured sentences and vocabulary not covered in the lesson. In some cases the students’ written language is better than their spoken. They write well in present tense, some students struggle with irregular verbs and the appropriate use of them.
Reading: The students are all competent readers of English. They are able to read quickly for a general idea of the text content and also in depth in order to extract information. They
Bibliography: Riddell, David, Teach EFL, Teach Yourself, 2010 Swan, Michael, Practical English Usage, Oxford University Press, 2005 (third edition) Vince, Michael, Elementary Language Practice, Macmillan, 2005