Chapter 4 : Who are the learners?

Mixed-level classes - reasons

-Grouping by age without regard to ability -Keeping groups together: school administration will often keep learners together as a class, course after course, rather than separating and readjusting or mixing. Because of learners progress at different speeds, the "exit" at different levels. Difference in ability can become more and more pronounced through each class the group progresses through. -Placement testing: sounds sensible, but can be problematic. Insufficient levels: Learners may be in the same class because the school does not have enough levels

Group characteristics — commentary

-Groups have characters and moods -interesting to note how different teachers may evoke markedly different responses from the same groups -Beyond common features, students will have differences such as: -reasons for needing English -personalities -ability to remember things -sensory preferences -Jobs, home lives, health, friendships, etc. -beliefs about teachers and what they can or should do -Learning styles -difficulties or physical disabilities -Levels in various language systems and skills -motivation -topics they find interesting -beliefs, political views, ideas about morality, prejudices, etc -sense of humor, response to jokes and sarcasm -Preferences for classroom methodology

Needs analysis: speaking

-interview learners individually or in pairs -plan activities to focus learners on specific issues, leading to discussion -ask learners to select and reject items from a menu or a set of cards, and discuss their reasoning with others -ask informally about what would be useful to work on next lesson -show intended course book for the course and discuss it with the class -get learners to help plans of course -organize a social event at which informal discussion on needs arise -Asked learners to describe a model of their workplace or a diagram of their company structure, etc.

Needs analysis: writing

-questionnaire -choose the best answer from a selection (I like written work for hw, I like reading for hw, I like classwork homework, I don't like homework) -gap-fill sentences (In class I particularly enjoy working on ——) -delete things that are not true for you -take a language test -take pictures/diagrams that represent their use of English -write paragraph about topics set by teacher -write a letter/email/note to your teacher -write a homework essay about what you want to learn and why

Needs analysis: observation

-set the students tasks that will allow observation, speaking and using language. Gives a chance to diagnose their language/skills problems and discover what they need -If it's a one to one student, it may be possible to observe at their workplace, and get a realistic idea of what they need to work on -Ask each learner to bring in samples of material they work with. Leaflets, letters, task, professional magazines, etc.

Group Characteristics

1. Do groups have a character distinct from that of the individuals in it? 2. In what ways are people in the language class similar to each other? 3. How much do teachers description of a homogenous group beer simplification?

What level is the class?

1. General idea of overall class level. 2. Idea of individuals levels. 3. Individuals levels in various systems and skills. 4. Individuals levels over specific tasks.

Working with individual difference - 3 approahces

1. Teaching class as whole : pitching lessons at the perceive character, level, and likes of generalized feeling of a groups identity 2. May not be concerned with individual differences, and feel their primary task is to work with the class as a whole, using supplied syllabus and course book and interpreting the job as aiming to cover the required material in a certain amount of time. Respond to feedback from the class as a whole, picking up on whether the majority of students are keeping up or not, and providing extra practice accordingly. They accept that some of what will be done is unsuitable or uninteresting or impossible to follow for some members of the class, but feel that it is a price to pay. With large classes, priority seems to be to maintain a sense of progress and to hope that as many people can keep up as possible. 2. Individualized approach : Teaching with lots of individual task in small group work. Viewing the classes for many different individuals. Can be very valuable, but teachers may find this goal to be demanding, requiring greater quantity of planning beforehand and, in class, perhaps a constant moving around, with listening and focused individual help. 3. Compromise approach : involves working with the class as a whole while attempting to also take individuals into account. Pitching lessons to what teachers receive as the majority, but keeping in touch with others by asking questions, adding additional comments and explanations, offering special task for some students, the writing class to work on different things, choosing topics and appeals different groups, designing task that appeal to different learning styles and preferences. Can achieve this balancing act by using intuition, gathering useful feedback from learners, and learning about your students.

First meeting with a class

1. What can you learn about a class at first glance? 2. How can you learn more about them and what they might be thinking about you? 3. What kind of relationship do you hope to achieve with them? Things you can understand by first glance: -male to female ratio -do they have their materials -are they silent or talking, or actively doing something -how do they react to your presence -eye contact , body posture, comments overhead Intuitive reads: -do they seem to be ready for language lesson? -are they waiting for me to say something? -does a reaction feel challenging to me in a positive way or threatening in a negative way? -Afton teachers or initially most concerned with the perception of what students think of them, "do they like me" and "what do they expect from me" seem to be fundamental issues for many teachers

2. What level are my students? Common level structures in schools

Advanced Upper intermediate Intermediate Pre-intermediate Elementary Beginner Each level may be subdivided, and schools plan and progress on an assumption that it will take the average learner a certain period of time to move from one level to the next.

Council of your categories : English ability

C2 mastery C1 operational proficiency B2 vantage B1 threshold A2 waystage A1 breakthrough

Motivation

External motivation: strong external reason for why they want to study, jobs, college, exams, etc. Internal motivation: fun of learning, setting personal challenge, etc -frequent cause of difficulties within classes as when there is significant mismatch of motivation among participants. Example, students who need to pass an exam next month alongside others who want to relax chance to chat and play games in the new language

Needs analysis (for students)

Gather info about: • where the nerves are starting from: present language level, current problems, etc. • what learners would like to learn (different from what they need to learn) • how they want to study it tools used can be: -questionnaires, tests, sets, activities Examples: Writing: learner writes comments, info, answers the questions, etc. Speaking: Lerner speaks with you or other students Observing: observe the learner at work

multiple intelligences

Howard gardener has suggested that people have seven intelligences: 1. Linguistic 2. Visual 3. musical 4. Logical/mathematical 5. Bodily/feeling 6. Interpersonal 7. Intrapersonal (understanding oneself) Traditional education systems tend to focus on language and logical intelligences. People probably have all seven but in different portions

IELTS exam

International English Language Testing System Often taken by people who want to go to another country for employment or study. Unlike earlier exams it aims to test a broad range of levels, so a learner who is in IELTS preparation may be anywhere between intermediate and advanced.

Cambridge ESOL suite of exams (English to Speakers of Other Languages)

KET (Key English Test), PET (Preliminary English Test), FCE (First Certificate in English), CAE (Certificate in Advanced English), CPE (Cambridge english Proficiency Exam)

Uses and problems with needs analysis

Students may not have taken their

Note about student attitudes

When you enter class, a part of what you see is related to what you bring into the room. You find what you expect. Thinking a group of students will be kicking in, motivated, dull, or unhelpful may tend to find exactly what they look for.

Sensory preferences

Writers in a euro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) no that humans have different sensory preferences. Some prefer for auditory, some prefer for visual, some prefer for kinesthetic. When planning lessons, avoid bias for your own Cincy preference and make sure there's a range of working those that include visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners.