Selasa, 05 Januari 2016

Name                           : Rezki Firdaus
Student’s ID                : 1407335
Topic                           : Strategies in ELT Teaching and Learning
Date                            : October 21st, 2014

Teaching the language system and form focus instruction
Basic understanding of English language systems and language skills is imperative to work in the ELT/EFL classroom with confidence. It is complex task, especially for teacher, because teacher must show students what the language means and how it is used, what the grammatical form of the new language is, and how it is said and written (Harmer, 2007). Possessing basic understanding of nature of language means the teacher must be aware with structural as well as communicative view of language developed in last two hundred years. Structural view of language covers the study of language at the level of phonology (the systematic study of sound system in a particular language), lexis, vocabulary and grammar. Linguistic also classifies the scope of its study at three levels; phonology (study of sound system in a particular language), morphology (study of vocabulary and words) and syntax (study of sentence formation).  The communicative view of language primarily extended the structural view of language adding situational and functional (communicative) aspects.
The research has proved both view are relevant and important and any of them cannot be overruled while teaching the language in the classroom. This perspective in total is called ‘The Language Systems’. The other important aspect, the teacher needs to be aware is the skill in which the teacher wants to enable his students to communicate. There are four language skills; Listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening and speaking are oral mode of skills and reading are written mode of skills. Listening and reading are receptive skills and speaking and writing are productive skills. Again, there may be several aspects to look upon these skills. If we have a look upon these following sentences, we will find they are connected with various systems of the language and can be interpreted differently.      
  
1)        Grammar              : Lend me $5; Could you possibly lend me $5?    
2)        Function               : Library; bookstore                                              
3)        Lexis                    : Foot; foots                                                 
4)        Grammar              : I’d rather not; no way                                         
5)        Function               : Hit; heat                                                     
6)        Phonology            : Photograph; photographer                                  
7)        Lexis                    : Should; must                                                       
Function Language systems and the language skills encircle the domain in which the teacher is supposed to incorporate text books and materials offering effective teaching to the students as per their objectives and needs. For example, the student takes the placement test, which based on all grammar and vocabulary and mostly multiple choice. He scores quite high; however, he does not speak very well and has difficulty understanding even the simplest spoken language. Now, a language teacher is assigned to devise a balance of the four skills and the four systems for her study program. In this assignment is proficient in grammar and vocabulary but he is facing problems in speaking skill and has difficulty understanding even the simplest spoken language. As far as his need is concerned, he wants to get prepared for a university. First of all, multiple choice questions are useful to check the concept of the learners. They are objective and do not give any information about his competence with reference to productive skills like writing or speaking. To prepare a plan for teaching, specify the following points.  Certainly, they will be considered in syllabus and activities to be devised.        
I.       He is proficient in the knowledge of grammatical rules and prima facie meaning of the vocabulary so there is a little need to emphasize on grammar or vocabulary.    
II.    He is very weak in speaking skills, so speaking skills, types of speaking, attitudes, accent, pronunciation, stress, intonation, body gesture will be the key components.
III. Since listening is an input skill and very import for speaking skill, it will also cover the above speaking point as well as listening sub skills like listening for gist, specific information, detail, functions, attitudes.
IV. As he is going to take admission in a university, his objective is to be good in academic writing. The course content should focus on skills like note taking, note making, writing essay and reports etc.
V.    Reading is also very important part of his objectives. He is to be trained in sub reading skills like skimming, scanning, reading for detail, deducing meaning from context etc.
            Unfortunately, the placement test does not give any information about his competence in other skills except grammar and vocabulary. In this situation, I would like to adopt an integrated course which will include listening, speaking, reading and writing with their sub skills and I will connect all of them in such a way that may enable him making notes for assignment and exams, interacting with students and teacher and understanding lectures, discussions and participating in discussions, reading academic books and preparing notes form them will offer him extensive listening of authentic material with similar content he is going to face in his university, carefully graded from simple to easy. During this will train him in above mentioned listening sub skills and will connect it will be speaking skills. He will have opportunity to participate discussions, pair chatting, debate, interview and presentation.  It will be carefully graded with the level of the student. We will offer him full training in reading sub skills and ask him to make notes and generate articles on the basis of the given reading material. According to my reasoning he has plain knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. I will train him in in actual use of that acquired grammar and vocabulary knowledge for real time communications like writing an assignment or exam applying them for oral communication. I do not find any reason to teach grammar or vocabulary extensively but I feel the need to train him in how to utilize them more proficiently. For example, we can teach him how to deduce various meaning of a vocabulary from the context of a text while reading a book. Likewise, I will approach him to be communicative in grammar. He must be aware how these rigid rules of grammar may be used in different function /communication situations. The above strategy is good but will fail if I will not include his particular habits of learning, objectives and his interests. His feedback will also shape out my teaching plan. I am very much sure that this will help this student to fulfil the requirement and being proficient in English language and communication.





Teaching Grammar (Theories and Practice)
            Teachers’ theories are particularly useful in enabling teachers to cope in grammar teaching instructional contexts which are ill-defined. In ELT, grammar teaching clearly set up such an ill-defined domain: the role of formal instruction itself has been a recurrent area of debate, and more than 20 years of research have failed to yield steady guidelines for grammar teaching methodology (see Ellis 1994, Simon Borg, 1999). The role of formal the first issue in teaching grammar that consider here concerns the instruction role which such work actually plays in second and foreign language learning. In teaching intermediate learners, we can give opportunities for formal instruction in every lesson. The strategy was to take note of students’ errors during oral fluency activities, and to feed these notes back to the class for subsequent analysis, discussion, and self- correction. In discussing grammar, we also can encouraged students to compare English grammar with that of their first language and provided oral practice activities following the analysis of grammar.
Grammar work was an intrinsic aspect of teaching, and through it can articulated a clear rationale for position. This can be summarized as follows: Students expect grammar work. Formal instruction addresses these expectations, and eases the concerns students would develop in the absence of such work. Grammar work based on the errors students make during fluency activities validates such activities in the students’ eyes, and encourages initially reluctant students to accept these activities more enthusiastically. Students like to be made aware of their errors. Grammar teaching creates this awareness, which also improves students’ ability to monitor and self-correct their use of language. Grammar work allows for variation in lesson pace and, within the context of high-energy, interactive learning, provides students with some quiet, reflective time. An awareness of patterns in English grammar facilitates students’ understanding of the way the language works. Making students aware of parallels and contrasts between English grammar and that of their first language often allows them to understand the grammar under study more rapidly. It also makes students aware of the source of foreign language errors caused by first language interference.
Grammar practice consolidates students’ understanding of grammar and provides the teacher with diagnostic information about their needs. Traditionally, the role of formal instruction in ELT has been assessed in terms of the contribution it makes to developing students’ ability to use the language for communication. Analyzing and practicing grammar helped students make better sense of the workings of the language, but did not feel such work improved their ability to use the target grammar. Exposition whether grammar is best learnt through a process of discovery, or whether expository teaching provides better results (e.g. Shaffer 1989, Simon Borg, 1999). Learning by discovery work was more effective than learning by being told (Simon Borg, 1999). Discovery work also called for more planning on part, for which time was not always available. Discovery and exposition in grammar teaching were thus influenced by a set of interacting thoughts about pedagogical ideals, instructional content, students, and context. In particular, it enables us to make sense of the presence in teaching of what had traditionally been mutually exclusive instructional strategies. Grammar teaching emerges clearly here as a complex decision-making process, rather than the unthinking application of a best method.

Teaching vocabulary by appllying in classroom
It would be unrealistic to teach everything there is to know about a word the first time it is presented to students – and any such attempt would make for some very tedious lessons. Obviously we need to make choices about how much we teach on a first presentation. For example with the word like, in addition to its sound and spelling we might choose to teach only one of its meanings (to enjoy, find something to be pleasant), with one grammatical pat­tern (I like + singular or plural noun) and some associated vocabulary (I like football/cartoons; I can’t stand game shows). At a later date we can add other meanings such as to be similar to (I have a car like that) or add more grammati­cal patterns such as like + to + verb (I like to play tennis). The choices we make are influenced by factors such as frequency, usefulness for the classroom, and “learnability” – how easy the item is to learn (and teach!).
We can also take each type of knowledge from the list above and make students aware of its importance and usefulness in building up their knowledge of a word. For example, we can focus occasionally on how to express opposite or similar meanings for a set of vocabulary we are teaching, show students what is useful to learn about the forms of nouns or verbs, or how prefixes and suf­fixes can help build vocabulary knowledge quickly. Giving students practice in manipulating these different areas of knowledge teaches useful learning strate­gies they can apply to learning other vocabulary.
Students often feel frustrated that they can understand more than they can produce, but explaining this issue of active versus passive knowledge as a normal part of learning can be reassuring. When you assign vocabulary lists to learn, why not include some passive vocabulary items and discuss with students which items they need to learn “for understanding” and which they need to learn really well so that they can use them. (But be sure that in practice or testing activities, students are required to remember and use only the active vocabulary productively.)
Additionally, even from the elementary level, it is important to include in vocabulary lessons not just single words, but also larger “chunks” such as collocations, phrases, or expressions, even whole sentences, as well as strategic vocabulary. By building up a stock of expressions as well as individual words, students can assemble the language they need to commu­nicate more fluently.
There is a lot to learn about vocabulary in terms of its range, the sheer number of words and phrases to learn, and the depth of knowledge students need to know about each vocabulary item. Materials can help students in two broad areas: First, they need to present and practice in natural contexts the vocabulary that is frequent, current, and appropriate to learners’ needs. Second, materials should help students become better learners of vocabulary by teaching different techniques and strategies they can use to continue learning outside the classroom. There is a vast amount of research into how learners learn best and how teachers might best teach. The next section presents some key principles that we can follow to help students learn vocabulary more effectively.
One of the first vocabulary learning strategies for any classroom is how to ask for words you don’t know in English, and how to ask the meaning of English words you don’t understand, so phrases like “What’s the word for in English?,” “How do you say ?,” and “What does mean?” are useful to teach at the basic levels. As students progress, another useful strat­egy they can use is to paraphrase: “It’s a kind of ,” “It’s like a ,” and “It’s for -ing X” etc. Focusing on these strategies puts vocabulary learning firmly on the classroom agenda. Teachers can help learners get into the habit of noticing by making clear in classroom instruction and homework assignments: which items should be learned, what each item is (a single word, a phrase, a collocation etc.) and for what purpose (active use or pas­sive recognition). Structured vocabulary notebook exercises which are designed to make students focus on a particular vocabulary set or feature are a good way of devel­oping this noticing strategy. Teachers can use different ways to present vocabu­lary including pictures, sounds, and different text types with which students can identify: stories, conversations, web pages, questionnaires, news reports, etc. In each of these contexts, topics should be relevant to students’ interests. Similarly, practice activities should vary and engage students at different levels. These should range from simple listen-and-repeat type of practice through controlled practice to opportunities to use the vocabulary in meaningful, per­sonalized ways. Some students may use different learning styles for different types of language or in different learning situations. Learning vocabulary is largely about remembering, and students generally need to see, say, and write newly learned words many times before they can be said to have learned them.
At this point, a useful step is to take time to organize the new vocabu­lary in some way that allows students to “notice” and bring together the target words as the basis for a communicative activity or to have a clear record for review purposes, or both. Students often write translations above new words in their textbook and these can be spread around the page. Materials should provide opportunities for students to use the vocabulary meaningfully, to say and write true things about them­selves and their lives. Students should be encouraged to add vocabulary they want to learn, too. And if the experience of learning is also enjoyable, so much the better! One note of caution is that personalization may be more appropriate for some students than others.
Vocabulary not only supports the four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, but also mediates between ELT students and content-area classes in that these students often find that lack of vocabulary knowledge is an obstacle to learning. Therefore, it follows that ELT vocabulary teaching and learning are often emphasized. In a similar fashion, if ELT teachers are attuned to effective strategies for teaching vocabulary, they could facilitate students’ proficiency in the four skills. A review of the literature on ELT vocabulary shows that whereas most studies have focused on effective teaching and learning, lacking are studies that provide examples of how to put various research findings into practice. Moreover, empirical research often focuses on a limited number of specific strategies, whereas classroom practice is more complex and uses a variety of strategies. The present study highlights the importance of bridging the gap between research and practice.
Reviewing a broad range of relevant literature that addresses various aspects of second-language (L2) vocabulary teaching and learning: for example, intentional and incidental vocabulary learning, vocabulary retention, and vocabulary learning through diverse activities or tasks. In order to provide a model for ELT teachers to apply theories and insights provided by others in their own classrooms, then apply some vocabulary - teaching strategies drawn from research findings to an authentic Web reading text in which certain vocabulary items are assumed to be difficult for ELT students to comprehend. In studies on L2 vocabulary learning, a distinction had long been made between incidental and intentional learning, with the main focus on the former, especially exploring the extent to which students can learn vocabulary items incidentally while engaging in other language-learning activities. Furthermore, to augment incidental vocabulary-learning in the ELT classroom, it would be effective for teachers to provide students with target vocabulary items through tasks, as well as to ask them to read only the texts that include the target words.
For example, students can read and retell a text generatively, that is, in their own words (Joe, 1998, Jihyun Nam, 2010). Also, in order to learn unknown words while reading a text, students can access a dictionary with various look-up options such as pictorial and verbal cues (Laufer & Hill, 2000, Jihyun Nam, 2010). With regard to vocabulary retention, Hulstijn (1992, Jihyun Nam, 2010) demonstrated that target vocabulary items were retained significantly longer when their meanings were correctly inferred than when explained by their synonyms.
Applying Vocabulary Teaching Strategies to an Authentic Text although a considerable number of studies on L2 vocabulary teaching and learning are available, lacking are examples of how teachers can apply the various research findings of scholars to their own teaching materials. In order not only to bridge the gap between theory and practice, but also to provide a springboard for ELT teachers’ design of vocabulary teaching materials, various activities and tasks for vocabulary teaching and learning that apply effective strategies drawn from others’ research findings to an authentic. Target vocabulary items can be provided with their equivalent pictures and written annotations, as shown in asserted that adult L2 learners could draw on the mature conceptual and lexical systems of their native languages (L1s), in part because target vocabulary items usually have corresponding words in L1s.
Annotations of Words
       Faucet: the thing that you turn on and off to control the flow of water from a pipe, e.g., The faucet is leaking.
       Pitcher: a container used for holding and pouring liquids, with a handle and a spout e.g., a pitcher of beer.
       Fridge: an informal expression for a refrigerator e.g., Keep the milk and butter in the fridge.
       Layer: something that is placed on or between other things e.g., several layers of clothing
       Mulch: decaying leaves that you put on the soil to improve its quality and to protect the roots of plants e.g., you had better lay mulch on the soil around the plants to retain moisture.

Fill-in Task, Although open-ended tasks, discussed below, can contribute to students’ vocabulary retention they involve highly productive processing and so may not be appropriate for students at the beginning or intermediate levels. A more controlled vocabulary-learning task such as a fill-in may better accommodate their linguistic competence. A fill-in task may also be designed so that the sentences are connected to provide a summary of the text.
Composition and retelling tasks may be more appropriate for advanced students at a high level of English proficiency level than for those at other levels, because they presuppose a high level of speaking ability. Fill-in and summarizing tasks may be more appropriate for beginning- or intermediate- level students.
Vocabulary Exercises because vocabulary increases for unidentified words can be improved more effectively when a reading text is accompanied by text-based vocabulary exercises than without them, teachers need to consider possible ways of developing exercises that students can carry out with new words to realize varied lexical features. Similarly, a matching exercise and a crossword puzzle can be designed with the target words as follows.
Various materials for ELT vocabulary-teaching that apply to an authentic text strategies drawn from research findings so that teachers can be encouraged to put theories or insights into practice similarly. Moreover, the various vocabulary-teaching strategies developed in this study need to be variably applied to ELT students’ according to their proficiency levels. That is, whereas pictures and L1 equivalents and controlled fill-in tasks are more appropriate at the beginning and intermediate levels, less controlled tasks such as compositions and retellings may be more suitable for the advanced level. Although the number of studies reviewed and employed here is limited, they do yield implications for ELT vocabulary-teaching that teachers may use as theoretical suggestions for creating materials. First, the use of visual representations such as pictures and drawings can promote vocabulary retention. Second, L1 translation equivalents, can promote L2 vocabulary-learning. Third, higher involvement in vocabulary production processing, for example, a composition task or retelling a text, can contribute to vocabulary retention. Finally, task-based vocabulary-learning through various activities can promote vocabulary learning.
A lot of vocabulary learning research points to the relative success of learners who are independent, devote time to self-study, use a variety of learning strate­gies, and keep good vocabulary notes. Good learners seem to be those who initiate their own learning, selectively attend to words of their own choice, studiously try to remember these words, and seek opportunities to use them. We can help students be bet­ter learners and acquire good learning habits by setting structured learning tasks that can be done out of class. These might include helping students construct a vocabulary notebook, using resources such as dictionaries and the Internet, and finding opportunities to use English.
The course book can play a valuable role by offering guidance in the form of different types of note-taking skills and learning tips, as well as providing organizing tools such as templates, grids, and charts. Very often students’ own vocabulary note-taking consists only of writing translations of single words in lists, but it can be much more varied than this, including labeling pictures and diagrams, completing charts and word webs, writing true sentences, creating short dialogues, etc. Students now have access to vast resources such as the Internet and the wealth of information in learners’ and online dictionaries. If students are trained how to use these resources and understand how they can provide information on for­mality, collocation, grammatical patterns, etc., they can exploit these resources more effectively and become more independent in their learning. Materials can also provide students with ideas to activate and practice vocabu­lary in their everyday life, which is especially useful for students who live in non-English-speaking environments. Activities might include labeling items of furniture in English in a room, or trying to remember the English name for all the items they see in a clothing store. As mentioned earlier, the act of retrieving vocabulary seems to be an effective way of learning, and such activities can take place at any point in the day – not just at times designated for studying English.

Conclusion
Research and theory have not produced a consensus on the best way to teach grammar; they have, however, produced many interesting and suggestive insights. The practical five-component model proposed here is one possible basis for decisions about grammar teaching in specific contexts. Essentially, the decision as to the best way to teach grammar has to be taken by the practitioner within a specific situation, informed by research and by his or her own professional experience- and reflection-based judgment.
The acquisition of vocabulary is arguably the most critical component of success­ful language learning. Until recently, however, it has been difficult to determine the most important words and phrases needed to establish a suitable vocabulary for conducting conversations most effectively. The Corpus’ massive collection of texts has given us access to a wealth of information regarding spoken and written English that was previously unavailable.
The task at hand, therefore, is to take this new information and apply it in the classroom. Since there are so many things to learn about each piece of vocabulary (meaning, spoken/written forms, collocations, connotations, gram­matical behavior, etc.) it is important that we as teachers only introduce a little at a time, starting with the most frequent, useful, and learnable vocabulary, and returning later to more difficult vocabulary and less frequent uses of previously learned items. We need to repeat vocabulary often, because students must work with a word or phrase many times before acquisition takes place, and we must offer variety to keep the exercises fresh and to cater to different learning styles. Finally, we need to help students understand that learning is a gradual process that takes place in small, manageable increments over time, and to encourage them to seek additional information on their own, personalizing the learning experience and tailoring it to their own specific needs

References

Brown, H.Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs:  Prentice Hall.

Harmer, Jeremy. 2007a. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited.
Harmer, Jeremy. 2007b. How to Teach English. China: Pearson Education Limited.
Borg, Simon. 1999. Teacher’s theories in grammar teaching: ELT Journal Volume 53/3 July 1999: 157 – 163
Nam, Jihyun. 2010. Linking research and practice: Effective strategies for teaching vocabulary in the ESL classroom: TESL Canada Journal. Vol 28, No. 1: 127 - 134



























EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR AN ESSAY OF READING REPORT
EFL METHODOLOGY
Presenter’s Name      : REZKI FIRDAUS
Student’s ID               : 1407335/B
Topic                          : Strategies in ELT Teaching and Learning
Date                            : October, 14th 2014

1)       ASPECTS
2)       CRITERION SCORE AND DESCRIPTION
3)       COMMENTS
4)       RATER’S SCORE
Content
9
The conclusion of other resouces as well as research findings or illustration (9)
Without enrichment (7)


Media
5
Readability of the media
Not too wordy
Effectiveness of using it


Language: Grammar
4
Limited mistakes/errors (4)
Several  mistakes (3)
Many mistakes (2)
Too many mistakes (1)



Pronunciation
4
Several mistakes in pronouncing words


Encoding
6
The concept was easily understood by the floor.
The presenter shows his / her knowledge about the topic discussed.


Decoding
6
The presenter can cope with the questions from the floor.


Presentation Technigue
6
During the prresentation, the presenter makes used of the media as her / his guidelines without reading the transparencies.


Total Score
40 : 10 = 4. 0 (A)




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