Class Organization

Here one refers to the different techniques and steps a potential teacher may take in order to organize classroom work. In this respect, one talks about the linguistic means of communication to be used (students’ L1, L2, both), types of activities and teacher and students roles in those activities, along with the media to be used in the teaching process (visuals, audio recordings, videos, flashcards, etc).

Getting students used to an English-only classroom

After observation, you may note that a good deal of the mother tongue is used during the lesson or that some is used for instructions. Talk this over with teachers if it becomes an issue, but it is advisable for you to start in English and continue. For classes unused to an English-only environment you will need to teach classroom language through gesture, mime, flashcards or a chart. This will take time, especially with beginners. Simple instructions like ‘listen’, ‘open your books’, ‘ask your partner’, etc. can be gradually built up over the first few days. Make your own comments as simple and as natural as possible: ‘Really?’, ‘That’s a good idea Tarak’, ‘What do you think Ahmed?’, ‘I enjoyed your dialogues. Now let’s look at ...’, ‘Who’s next?’ Try to establish a limited but realistic range of comments for all groups to cope with. They will soon start imitating you.

Changing pace

One has to bear in mind that all of the best laid plans can go wrong. Perhaps the students find the text you chose unexpectedly difficult. You planned a listening task but the cassette recorder won’t work. Students are losing interest and the amount of chattering _(talking) is increasing. Students have enjoyed the game so much that they have become over-excited and need calming down. This calls for a change of pace, a slower more reflective activity or a livelier task. You will also need to add variety to your weekly lesson routine or you and the pupils will lose interest.

‘I found it really good to vary the lessons – one week text, one week a game, one week a song and text work, etc.’

Vanessa Garfield, Valence, France. Assistant in a collège and a lycée.

Dealing with the unexpected

• Abandon something that isn’t really working rather than go on trying it in vain, but have a filler activity to use as back-up (support).

• Always have an emergency plan if you are relying on equipment that might go wrong.

• Keep some fillers in your bag which correspond to the month’s work. These can be ten-minute activities which liven up a dull, uninterested room (usually speaking/listening game or contest) or calm down a disordering group (usually reading or writing based).

• Collect a set of multi-purpose texts for use in emergencies.

• Keep a small collection of large detailed pictures and/or photos on a theme or topic related to the term’s work. You can cut a collection of photos from newspapers (local or foreign ones) and magazine supplements to use with higher levels. Update and check photos regularly. For example:

– give out two or three photos to small groups or pairs or whole class

– students write words associated with the person or event

– students invent a headline or match a headline you give on the board to the photo

–        students prepare short oral description of photo – what it shows, which event it represents, etc. (See example 1 in bottom of page) 

Dealing with large classes of mixed ability

Mixed classes usually comprise students who have arrived at varying levels of achievement. This does not mean that the weakest at speaking are not as capable at language learning. Some may have had no English at primary school while others may have had three years. In a secondary school some may be very good at reading a poem and understanding it, but not accustomed to discussing the meaning in English and lack the vocabulary to do so.

Setting up a pair-work system

Always follow a similar procedure so that once it is familiar, students will respond automatically and know what is expected.

• Assign roles clearly around the class, pointing to each student in turn. ‘You are A ... you are B ..., etc.’or use colours, animals, etc. with younger learners.

• Double-check they know their role with a show of hands. ‘Hands up As ... hands up Bs’or ‘Who’s red?’ ‘Who’s a tiger?’

• Don’t explain what they have to do, demonstrate. Take one student, he is A and you are B. Practise the dialogue/exchange. Double-check with one pair of students who play A and B and act out with you prompting the pair work. Put prompts on the board if this helps lower levels or classes unsure about pair work.

Prompts on board          student A ‘... from?’

student B ‘I’m ...’

• Use choral repetition to reinforce roles if necessary. All As say their lines in chorus. Pick on a student B to respond. Repeat with Bs.

• Only let students start when you are sure they are all clear as to what they are supposed to be doing. Use this technique for all communication games and it will get faster and more efficient as they get used to working without you. Never try to set up pair work without checking that the instructions are clear. Think how you will set it up before the lesson.

• Quickly circulate when they start in order to see if each of the pairs is clear and working together. Help individual pairs with prompting. Keep an eye out for waning interest and don’t let it go on too long. Are they near to exchanging all the information they needed to exchange? Be ready to call a halt.

• Change pairs with the minimum of fuss and noise as this can be a big time-waster in large classes and annoy colleagues in nearby classrooms. Try not to say ‘Find a new partner ...’as the whole room could be set in motion. All students turn round quietly and form a pair with someone behind or in front or on the other side. Make all As stand up (no scraping chairs) and on the count of three move two desks down, up or across to find a new partner. (see S2 for 'information gap' activities as an example of pair work) 

Finishing off

Many teachers find it difficult to judge how long activities will take and find themselves either running out of time or with fifteen more minutes to go and nothing to do. This is true for all teachers, but it improves as you get to know your classes. However, plan ahead and slow down/recover well before the bell rings so you can give a summary of the lesson. After a discussion or simple oral task you may need to go over main problems on the board and must allow time for this essential feedback. In some schools pupils just pack up and rush off when the bell rings. Try to avoid this. Insist on a formal conclusion and goodbye. If you are required to give homework or to ask students to prepare a task such as something for the role play in the next lesson, do not do it at the very end. Attention usually wanes by the end, so give forewarning and instructions earlier and then just a final reminder at the end.

Teaching equipment and media

Media: it is about aids used by teachers and learners to achieve certain educational objectives.

(1) Channel used: auditory (e.g. the radio), visual (pictures), audiovisual (TV – video).

(2) Type of information used: whether linguistic or non-linguistic.

(3) The phases at which they are to be used: what stage in the learning process.

¤ The media used serve to present information, to exploit information (questions – dialogues), to practise (repeat sounds, patterns), they also have a didactic pedagogical function as they are intended to motivate the learners, attract their attention or inform them.

¤ Media can also be considered from a financial point of view: can they be available?

¤ Are they easily adaptable to your needs?    

¤ What are they used for exactly:

-          to support the teacher

-          to supplement the teacher

-          to replace the teacher

¤ Are the media to be used individually or in groups.

¤ The media we use can present organizational and financial problems:  

-          can we afford the equipment

-          can you carry them from one room to another

-          where are we going to use them: beginning, middle or end of the session/class.

¤ There are also problems of flexibility (e.g. can you change their content when necessary) and adaptability (e.g. can you adapt them to learners of different ages, levels).

Investigating media types

Auditory media: radio – tape recorder – auditory lab

Advantages:

<Radio>:

-          They expose the learner to authentic language as it is used by native speakers.

-          They expose them to different accents and voices, which will help them understand the language in different social situations.

-          These also help to develop the learners’ communicative competence.

-          They develop their listening and speaking skills.

-          Make the learners practise difficult sounds and structural patterns.

<Lab>:

-          You can recall your learners’ sounds and utterances and compare them to those of a native speaker. This provides a certain objectivity which enables you to monitor yourself.

-          The teacher can guess the students’ errors as well as recognize and evaluate their progress.

-          It can be used by the learner without the presence of a teacher.  

-          In class it can serve as a basis for conversational activities, discussions, comments, hence an exploitation of vocabulary and/or structures.

-          It allows intensive practice, conversations, practice of intonation, focus on different sounds, new vocabulary.

-          The teacher can monitor his learners individually; it is time saving, expands cultural knowledge; it can be useful for dictation.

<Tape recorder>:

 You can control and select the teaching material; you can adapt it; it is easy to carry, available and not expensive.

Visual and audiovisual aids:

<Visual>: These may include: pictures, the blackboard, leg boards, maps, posters, drawings, work cards, worksheets, wall charts, photographs, etc.

¤ These are easily available; they are time saving, not expensive, they do not fall out-of-date; easily adaptable, reusable.

¤ The technical projected aids: need technical devices: slides, films, transparent paper, video tapes è we need certain equipment.

¤ The over-head projector:

Advantages: it is attention catching, it is vivid.

Disadvantages: financial problem, they are also uncomfortable to carry as well as vulnerable to breakdowns (e.g. electric failures).

<Audiovisual>:  these combine sound and image: TV, video, films, DVD, computers, etc.

Advantages: same as with visual aids + allow for more information to be included (hence more information to be conveyed).