2008-09 AM Teaching for Communicative Competence

English Didactics
Educational Terminology
Online Resources for ELT
Online Journals for Foreign Language Teaching
Literary Research for Didactics
Secondary Literature for ELT

• Lecturer: Wolfgang Gehring
• Language tutor: Lindsay
• Time: Thursdays, 10-12am
• Venue: A6 0-001

• Performance expectations for AM 7
• What is facilitation?

  All written work should be handed in by February 28, 2009. 

Week 2 - October 23, 2008

What makes lesson plans communicative? We'll try to find criteria for communicative lesson planning based on lesson plans from platforms for teachers. Your task: How would you introduce words that have to do with animals in a communicative way? Write your own lesson plan.

Activity 1: Describe your competence (sample: writing): linguistic development, communicative development, content/topic development

• simple sentences, informing family, school
• simple text + describing familiar thematic contexts and speech acts
• similar areas of interest

Activity 2: Outline a lesson plan focusing on introducing words relating to animals and the zoo.

Activity 3: Outline the concept of communicative competence with the help of a mind map (use a transparency).

Week 3 - October 30, 2008

1. Your review of the lesson plan

2. Compare Weskamp/Piepho concept and communicative language teaching (Richards/Rogers) (see download on stud-ip)

• Which aspects are new and which aspects are introduced differently?
• Add new aspects to your Weskamp/Piepho concept (using a different color) and be prepared to comment on it.

3. Make a list of features of communicative language teaching based upon the text on CCT. How many features are considered in the animal lesson plan?

4. Research: Find typical procedures of communicative language teaching (tasks and activities). Look in textbooks, the web, the reserved shelf, etc.

5. Skill development and CLT: We differentiate between skills (pronunciation, words, structures) and abilities (speaking, reading, listening, writing). How can we develop skills and teach communicative competence? How do textbooks solve this problem?

• Your task: read (see download on stud-ip) and analyze a textbook unit from stud-ip.

Week 4 - November 06, 2008

1. Application: Make a list of features of communicative language teaching (based on the CCT text). How many features are taken into consideration in the animal lesson plan?

2. Research: Find typical procedures of communicative language teaching in one of the Red Line units (see download on stud-ip).

Week 5 - November 13, 2008

1. Elicit theoretical fields for the evaluation of lesson plans

2. Analyze the "opinion" lesson plan (on stud-ip under "Dateien" 06.11.) by applying the collected criteria from week four.

1. authenticity of speech acts
2. authenticity of language use
3. authenticity of activities
4. contextualization of the lesson
5. appropriateness of language use
6. communicative level of activities for weaker/stronger learners
7. opportunities for free language use and hypothesis testing
8. variety of forms of interaction
9. cooperative forms and communication
10. proportion of learner-centredness/teacher-centredness
11. proportion of closed, half-closed, and open activities
12. sociolingustic references in the lesson plan

3. Please outline alternatives

1. Introduction (contextualization)
2. Development/Practise (Erarbeitung)
3. Application/Production (Anwendung/Transfer)
4. Follow-up activities

Week 6 - November 20, 2008

1. Lemmata - short texts within group work on:

• Group 1: authenticity (see: Defining Authenticity)
• Group 2: learner-centeredness
• Group 3: hypothesis building
• Group 4: contextualization
• Group 5: cooperative learning (see: Cooperative Learning and the Second Language Classroom by Allison Chafe)

2. Collect questions one might ask about grammar teaching.

3. Task-based grammar teaching: Does it work? (see download on stud-ip)

  Please send me your short texts per email --Lindsay 14:25, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Week 7 - November 27, 2008

1. Go through Red Line units 4 and 5 (see download 6.11) and find steps, activities, etc that could be labelled authentic, learner-centered, etc. Think also of other didactic termonology such as comprehensible input, etc.

2. Be prepared to facilitate either Richards "Addressing the Grammar Gap" (groups 1-3) or Swan "Good and Bad Reasons for Teaching Grammar" (groups 4-5).

3. Collect questions one might ask about grammar teaching.

4. Task-based grammar teaching: Does it work? (see download on stud-ip)

Week 8 - December 04, 2008

 Due to my obligations for the mündliches Staatsexamen the sitting in week 8 must be cancelled.

Please do the following tasks instead:

1. Outline a research paper (for those who wish to take part in the poster session for 6KP).
2. Make a list of features for evaluating grammar sections in textbooks. (use Swan and Richards)
3. Visualize the main arguments in the Freeman text (Visualize means to use text and graphic elements)
4. Write "ten golden rules of grammar teaching" (based upon Swan, Richards, Ur, and Freeman)

 PLEASE: 
 * Upload the rules and the features on studIP by 10.12.
 * You may work in groups of no more than two individuals.

Week 9 - December 11, 2008

See last week's assignment:

1. Outline a research paper (for those who wish to take part in the poster session for 6KP).
2. Make a list of features for evaluating grammar sections in textbooks. (use Swan and Richards)
3. Visualize the main arguments in the Freeman text (Visualize means to use text and graphic elements)
4. Write "ten golden rules of grammar teaching" (based upon Swan, Richards, Ur, and Freeman)

 PLEASE:
 * Upload the rules and the features on studIP by 10.12.
 * You may work in groups of no more than two individuals.

Week 10 - December 18, 2008

1. Action Item: Analyze lesson plan "some/any”; use your features as criteria; write a cohesive text.

2. Outline a research paper (for those who wish to take part in the poster session for 6KP) according to the IMRAD structure.

3. Visualize the main arguments in the Freeman text (visualize means to use text and graphic elements - see download).

Week 11 - January 08, 2009

Learning strategies online-reference

Week 12 - January 15, 2009

1. Action item: Read through Larson Freemann texts and others on grammar (downloads: Ellis, Nunan)

2. Outline a research project on grammar teaching/learning

3. Alternative: Outline a research project on learning strategies methodological competence please use this link

Week 13 - January 22, 2009

Communicative activities (promoting speaking abilities)

1. Please explain what the core curricula for your intended school form says about the ability "Sprechen" (include levels, abilities, standards).

2. Compare the statements with concepts of communicative competence. See Harden, Fremdsprachendidaktik in my google library

3. Please choose 3-5 examples from the following sources: either "Kommunikative Übungen" or "Aufgabenbeispiele an Gesprächen teilnehmen/zusammenhängend sprechen" and:

• define principles of activities,
• comment on their level and on the particular communicative element that is being promoted, and
• compare the activities with standards in the core curriculum relevant for your school type.

Week 14 - January 29, 2009

Please choose 3-5 examples from the following sources: either "Kommunikative Übungen" or "Aufgabenbeispiele an Gesprächen teilnehmen/zusammenhängend sprechen" and:

• define principles of activities,
• comment on their level and on the particular communicative element that is being promoted, and
• compare the activities with standards in the core curriculum relevant for your school type.