TASK 2 Interaction in the class.
The following text contains the answer to points 1,2 and 3 of this task.
INTERACTION IN
THE CLASSROOM.
I would like to develop a lecture for 5th.
course of Primary Education. I know that
in real life, actual rules do not allow me to be a teacher at that level
because with a Degree in English Philology, I am supposed to be a professor at
Secondary Education. However, I am going
to “dream” only for a while, than I can
teach children (I prefer them because they have still the illusion and
enthusiasm needed for learning that we all usually lose when we grow up).
I am going to explain my students how to use the
English adjective. For this purpose, I
will need at least 3 sessions of 50 minutes.
I am going to combine traditional methods with the modernest ones. I mean, although mothern interactive methods
seem to me more efficient than the traditional “teacher-student” method if we
want our students to produce good output, I consider that the first approach to
the goal of study should require some input on the part of the teacher, some
illustrative introduction about the topic or subject we want to teach. This is going to be the point of departure
for the students to start working, more in such a field like the learning of
foreign languages (we use imitation to learn our mother tongue and we need
context to repeat the words and sentences we heard from our parents and others,
and do the same with a foreign language).
In the first place, I shall deliver my students a text
with a picture of some people in some context.
The text will describe the people and the situation with lots of
adjectives. Do not mind if they do not
understand everything at a first reading.
Then, time for asking me any difficult words or expressions. After that, they underline the adjectives of
the text with the noun it is qualifying and they rise hands to tell me them so
that I write them down on the blackboard.
This is the traditional approach.
Now on, interaction is going to have more relevance. They are going to be grouped in pairs. Each one is going to prepare a physical
description of his/her partner. Of course, I should advice them to respect each
other. Another interactive task could be
as follows. I deliver a puzzle of a
picture, having the puzzle 10 parts and deliver these among the half of the
students. The other half of the class (10
more students) has the entire picture and need the little pieces of the puzzle
to compose the image. Both teams of ten
students each are going to interact asking for the pieces of the puzzle with
descriptions of what they have to offer or what they need to make the
puzzle. They are supposed to use the
English adjectives in the right order.
The main goal is that they learn to use the adjective in English. In the
first stage, students interact with me as teacher, so I can monitorize the
process of learning. However, once they
are supposed to know how it works, I need to asses which one has had a better
understanding and which one still lacks further explanations. This is the purpose of the puzzle group
activity. No need to say that to the
classroom we use only English for instructions and any communicative needs. Mother tongue will be used only if it is extremely
necessary.
It would be also meaningful to have a blog where I
could give my students extra input, activities to do at home, and so on. For example, I can upload there some interesting
videos from YouTube to be watched during the weekend at home. Then, on Monday, I will ask them about their
content and check their understanding.
The new technologies allow us an infinite number of possibilities to
teach students, very different from the traditional methods. Moreover, in the meanwhile, students learn to
use this new technologies and it will be profitable for their future careers. However, I do not give up traditional methods
at all. I consider we should combine
them with the new interactive methods to make profit of our teaching.
Concerning points 4 and 5, I would like to share with you a slide presentation about interaction in the classroom that I found on the web:
http://www.slideshare.net/yaowarinsriuttaman/classroom-interaction-32085345
And this is my personal view about interaction:
TeachingEnglish. Increasing student interaction: Dos
and Don’ts of interaction.
I cannot think
of a more appropriate subject to apply
interaction than the study of a foreign language. There are many activities we can use in the
classroom to promote interaction:
·
debates,
·
conversations,
·
presentations,
·
introductions,
·
role-playing,
·
describing other partners,
·
peer reviews,
·
jigsaws,
·
visual lists,
·
experiments,
·
group-investigations
·
Show and tell
and many others. Each one is appropriate for a determinate age
and purpose. It is the teacher who
should select which one is the best according to the context where he teaches.
Why student to student
interaction is desirable: DOS.
Participation
Most people agree that learning anything involves participation. You can't learn to play a musical instrument without actually picking up the instrument and similarly it is difficult to learn a language without engaging with that language. Given that language primarily exists to facilitate communication, interaction in that language must have an important role to play in developing a learner's ability in that language. In other words, teachers need to promote learner interaction in order to help the learners succeed.
Maximizing practice time
Learners need to practice as much as possible if they are to be successful. Interaction through pair and group work maximizes the opportunities to practice as more learners speak for more of the time.
Collaboration
Collaborative learning, particularly through the use of collaborative tasks, has been shown to foster language development since learners can see a reason to use language in order to interact.
Socialization
Related to the concept of collaboration is that of socialization. Interaction does not only promote language development but it also fosters the development of social skills (e.g. politeness, respect for others) that people need to operate successfully in any culture.
Motivation
Motivation is a fundamental aspect of successful learning. Interaction gives learners the opportunity to use language successfully and to measure their progress which in turn should lead to an increase in motivation.
Problems we face when trying to increase interaction: DON’TS
Most people agree that learning anything involves participation. You can't learn to play a musical instrument without actually picking up the instrument and similarly it is difficult to learn a language without engaging with that language. Given that language primarily exists to facilitate communication, interaction in that language must have an important role to play in developing a learner's ability in that language. In other words, teachers need to promote learner interaction in order to help the learners succeed.
Maximizing practice time
Learners need to practice as much as possible if they are to be successful. Interaction through pair and group work maximizes the opportunities to practice as more learners speak for more of the time.
Collaboration
Collaborative learning, particularly through the use of collaborative tasks, has been shown to foster language development since learners can see a reason to use language in order to interact.
Socialization
Related to the concept of collaboration is that of socialization. Interaction does not only promote language development but it also fosters the development of social skills (e.g. politeness, respect for others) that people need to operate successfully in any culture.
Motivation
Motivation is a fundamental aspect of successful learning. Interaction gives learners the opportunity to use language successfully and to measure their progress which in turn should lead to an increase in motivation.
Problems we face when trying to increase interaction: DON’TS
Interaction
seems so desirable and sensible in theory but we all know that actually
promoting and increasing it can be an uphill struggle. Let's consider some of
the reasons for this.
Student resistance
It is unfortunately true that some learners are not enthusiastic about pair and group work, particularly in mono-lingual classes in which it is a little unnatural to communicate to someone who speaks your language in a language you are both less proficient in! I have taught many students who have told me that they don't like pair work because they might learn mistakes from their partners. There is actually no evidence to support this worry but it is still common.
Self-consciousness
I have met many learners who become very nervous and embarrassed when asked to speak English. As a language learner myself, I can understand them.
Large classes
While theoretically the more students there are in a class the more possibilities for interaction there should be, this is not the case in practice. The more learners there are, the more difficult developing interaction can be since there are more people to monitor and, therefore, more chances of problems. In addition there is, of course, a greater likelihood of excessive noise which can mask bad behavior and use of L1.
Mixed abilities
Pairing and grouping students appropriately in classes that have a wide variety of levels (e.g. secondary schools) is much more difficult than in small classes of a homogenous level.
Lack of motivation
If learners have no need to interact or don't want to, they probably won't.
Student resistance
It is unfortunately true that some learners are not enthusiastic about pair and group work, particularly in mono-lingual classes in which it is a little unnatural to communicate to someone who speaks your language in a language you are both less proficient in! I have taught many students who have told me that they don't like pair work because they might learn mistakes from their partners. There is actually no evidence to support this worry but it is still common.
Self-consciousness
I have met many learners who become very nervous and embarrassed when asked to speak English. As a language learner myself, I can understand them.
Large classes
While theoretically the more students there are in a class the more possibilities for interaction there should be, this is not the case in practice. The more learners there are, the more difficult developing interaction can be since there are more people to monitor and, therefore, more chances of problems. In addition there is, of course, a greater likelihood of excessive noise which can mask bad behavior and use of L1.
Mixed abilities
Pairing and grouping students appropriately in classes that have a wide variety of levels (e.g. secondary schools) is much more difficult than in small classes of a homogenous level.
Lack of motivation
If learners have no need to interact or don't want to, they probably won't.
Insufficient
language
Perhaps the most common reason for interaction in English breaking down, or indeed not starting in the first place, is that the students don't have the language they need to interact and, therefore, complete the task successfully.
Perhaps the most common reason for interaction in English breaking down, or indeed not starting in the first place, is that the students don't have the language they need to interact and, therefore, complete the task successfully.
Conclusion.
Interaction helps learners develop language learning and social skills and so maximizing interaction in the classroom is an important part of the teacher's role. Interaction will not necessarily happen spontaneously, however it has to be considered before teaching. The approaches suggested above all have this in common - they require forethought and are, therefore, parts of the lesson planning process.
Interaction helps learners develop language learning and social skills and so maximizing interaction in the classroom is an important part of the teacher's role. Interaction will not necessarily happen spontaneously, however it has to be considered before teaching. The approaches suggested above all have this in common - they require forethought and are, therefore, parts of the lesson planning process.
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