Tracy Jansen
DLC Celta Assignment 3 - Intermediate level
DLC Celta Assignment 3
Intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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RATIONALE FOR SELECTING THIS READING MATERIAL: As the students of the TP classes are immigrants & refugees, bar one, I believe the variety of facts presented in this article about their host country will generate stimulating conversation both in the classroom, and facts they can take home to discuss with family and friends, hopefully encouraging the further use of speaking practice. Considering that the B1 Intermediate group have already covered life-appropriate topics of Friends & Famous People, Dating, Adrenalin and Childhood Memories in the first two weeks, using the Inside Out Intermediate teaching book, the topic of Travel and more specifically, South Africa, is relevant to their new skill of using English as a foreign language.
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BACKGROUND READING: "Learning Teaching, 3rd Edition" by Jim Scrivener Page 265 on Reading as a Receptive Skill reads: "The more someone reads, the more they pick up items of vocabulary and grammar from the texts, often without realising it, and this widening language knowledge seems to increase their overall linguistic confidence, which then influences and improves their skills in other language areas, too (though this is probably only true in cases where the material they read is self-chosen and is genuinely relevant and interesting to them).
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MAIN AIM: To provide scan reading practice using a text about 30 Cool Things about South Africa in the context of travel and countries
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide fluency and accuracy speaking practice in a conversation in the context of travellers to South Africa.
Procedure (60 minutes)
Enquire from students how long they have already been in South Africa and what they personally enjoy about living here. Elicit features and / or benefits of this country versus their experiences of living in other countries after timed (4 minute) pairwork discussions. Students to be invited to respond individually with a personal opinion.
(No need to pre-teach any vocabulary / lexis as the 30 facts may be easily inferred through either the image or the full statement.) Ask students to scan the selected authentic material for the following two specific questions, i.e. where the first telephone was used in South Africa (Port Elizabeth) and how many official languages South Africa has (11). Ask ICQs and advise time limit of 3 minutes. Distribute copies of the authentic reading material. Class feedback to clarify correct answers.
Instruct students to work individually to complete the 6 questions on the gap-fill hand-out within a time period of 5 minutes. Elicit understanding of the instructions with ICQs and distribute the questionnaire. Stop students after 5 minutes and ask that they check their answers with their partners for 3 minutes. Ask pairs to share their answers for class feedback.
Present second task by asking students to complete the information required, again by looking for the answers in the text, which now require more detailed information. Allocate a time limit of around 8 minutes, asking ICQs. Distribute question sheet and after the allocated time, ask students to check their answers with their pair partner. If the class is sufficiently large, allow 2 sets of pairs to check their answers, or divide the class into new groups of three to compare their results.
Ask students to work in pairs and prepare a list of the top three favourite features of the country, not limited to those in the article, that they could one day relate to their grandchild, under the heading of "When I was your age, I lived in a country where ...". Allocate a 5 minute time limit for this activity to allow for sufficient feedback time which should encourage interesting whole class discussions.
