My portfolio teaching practice 2 training | Page 15

Taking turns
In a smaller class the teacher can introduce a rule whereby no one who
has already spoken can speak again until all the members of the group
have had a turn to speak This is rather an artificial constraint, but it
ensures that the discussions are not taken over by one or two students
right from the star.
The pyramid technique
Another way to structure a discussion in a large group is via the pyramid
or snowballing technique. For example, each student might list the five
most important qualities a good parent must have (patience, a sense of
humour etc). The students then form pairs and agree on their five things
and so on until there are few enough groups for a list to be elicited from
each group and put on the board or the whole class is discussing the topic
together.
Games
Many conventional games can be adapted to foreign language teaching.
As with any communication activity the areas of language produced may
be predictable, and therefore useful as a guided activity, or less
predictable and suitable for a freer stage. Games particularly useful with
younger learners but are generally popular with students of all ages,
especially if they appreciate how they can help them improve their
English.
Productive skills: Writing
It is useful to consider what types of writing your students may want or
need to do or reasons they may have for writing: for example: letters to
request information or to complain, form and questionnaires, lecture
notes, exam essays, reports. Etc.
Writing involves many different aspects like: handwriting, spelling,
punctuation, sentence construction, organizing a text and paragraphing,
text cohesion, register style.
Learner development and study skills
Ideally one of your task as a language teacher is to encourage your
students to take responsibility for their own learning both inside and
outside the classroom. You may be responsible for setting or suggesting
work that students can do outside of lesson time.
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