“Teaching English Across Age Levels”
Course Instructor: Mgr. Andrea Billíková, PhD.
abillikova@ukf.sk
(consultation by appointment, room 234)
Course Description
The course is designed to introduce humanistic ways and techniques of teaching English as
a foreign language across different age levels. The course is designed to those trainees who
wish to teach in the future and who like to learn by doing. The course is divided into five
blocks dealing with 1. Current status and roles of teachers and learners, 2. Application of
humanistic approach in EFL classroom, 3. Teaching across age levels, 4. Welcome to
English classroom, 5. Teaching aids and course books. The course requires hard work since
it involves a lot of active involvement, observation, reflecting, planning, collecting and
preparing materials.
Course Objectives
After taking the course, successful teacher trainees will be able to:
1. participate in pair, group and all class discussions,
2. express their own opinions, provide arguments, suggest solutions for problems,
3. do mini surveys (interviews, questionnaires) with in-service teachers and Internet
survey,
4. observe lessons and provide feedback, comments and summary
5. identify the objectives of activities experienced at our sessions, describe their
procedure, provide feedback and suggest possible modifications
6. design learner-oriented lessons with and without a textbook
7. evaluate drama as an approach in language teaching
8. distinguish needs, wants and lacks of learners across different age levels
9. select course books appropriate for their learners and evaluate them according to
criteria
10. work in teams, socialize in class, accept each other and respect their learners as
human beings
Recommended Study Sources
1. Ed.Bacova, Philips: AS IF. Drama Based Lesson Plans for English Language Teaching.
BC. 2000.
2. Charlyn Wessels: Drama. OUP. 2001.
3. Maley, Duff: Drama Techniques in Language Learning.CUP. 1996.
4. Dougill: Drama Activities for Language Learning. Macmillan. 1991.
5. Phillips: Drama with Children. OUP. 2000.
6. Neelands, Goode: Structuring Drama Work. CUP. 2000.
7. Scott W. A., Ytreberg L.H.: Teaching English to Children. Lon gman. 1994.
8. Whiteson, V.: New Ways of Using Drama and Literature in Language Teaching. 1996.
9. Wright, A.: Creating Stories with Children. Resource Books for Teachers.Oxford
University Press, 1997.
10. Retter, C., Valls, N.: Bonanza (77 language games for young learners). Longman. 1993.
11. Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. English for Specific Purposes .CUP. 1997.
12. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
Course Outline:
TOPIC
Introduction to the course. Getting to
know each other.
Learning/ acquiring in formal &
informal setting. Qualities of good
language teachers and language
learners.
Traditional language learning and
teaching vs. Humanistic language
learning and teaching.
Applying humanistic approach in EFL
classroom.
CONTENT
Name activities, trust activities, creating
rapport in EFL classroom. Taking a record
of activities, setting learner-oriented
objectives.
Acquisition vs. learning.
Roles of language learners and teachers in
EFL classroom. Facilitative roles vs.
controlling roles. The status of teachers in
the past, nowadays and in the future.
Background to language teaching methods
and techniques.
Humanistic principles (J. A. Komenský, A.
Maslow, Rogers, M. Zelina)
The potential of drama techniques in EFL
classroom.
ACTIVITIES
– name activities and trust
activities
– reflecting on own learning
process
– activity file (record of
activities)
– brainstorming
– expressing beliefs
– setting personal objectives
– creating poster
–
–
poster presentation
problem solving
–
–
drama techniques
indirect observation 1,
(observation sheet and
reflection)
creating posters and short
presentations
Internet survey and
interviewing in-service
teachers (summary)
Teaching across age levels
– needs, wants and lacks of
very young learners, young learners,
adolescents, ESP learners
School documents, Common European
Framework of Reference for
Languages
Teaching very young learners and
young learners.
Specifying differences between learners in
various age, their needs, wants and lacks
Influential variables and factors when
learning a FL.
–
Learning through senses. TPR.
–
Teaching teenage learners
Songs and art in EFL classroom. Using
video. Testing. Assessment. Preparing
“maturita” learners for their exams.
Teaching adults (ESP)
Needs Analysis. Course design. Needs
analysis.
Welcome to English Language
Classroom 1
Welcome to English Language
Classroom 2
Classroom techniques. Using the voice
potential. Using the
blackboard/whiteboard. Putting learners
into pairs, groups.
Needs, wants and lacks of novice teachers
and mentors.
Welcome to English Language
Classroom 3
Dealing with learners with learning
disorders (specifically ADHD).
Teaching aids and course books 1
Selecting a course book
Teaching aids and course books 2
Using English course book efficiently in
EFL classroom.
–
indirect observation 2
(observation sheet and
reflection)
– practical activities,
teaching tips and
recommendations
– bring your activity file
with at least 15 activities
(follow the system
introduced at out first
session)
– cooperative learning
– designing own needs
analysis and providing
conclusions and
summary
– indirect observation 3
(observation sheet and reflection)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Teaching aids and course books 3
Market offer. The latest teaching and
learning trends
–
–
interviewing guest
teachers (novice teachers,
mentor teachers)
summary and reflection
hosting the specialist
summary and reflection
setting criteria
course book evaluation
writing a lesson plan using
the textbook
writing a lesson plan
without a course book
hosting publishers CUP,
Macmillan and Enigma.
summary and reflection
ASSESSMENT
1. ATTENDANCE and PARTICIPATION
Three or more missed sessions - automatic fail!
Students who have signed up for the course are expected to participate and experience activities by doing them.
Therefore, the course is recommended for trainees who are serious with their class participation and regular class
attendance.
2. PORTFOLIO containing:



ACTIVITY FILE (35%)
OBSERVATION FILE (30%)
MISCELLEANOUS (reflections, summaries, findings, interview questions,
questionnaires, teaching aids, posters … (35%)
 ACTIVITY FILE
Students are expected to take a brief record of 20 activities experienced during our sessions (name of activity, length, class
arrangement, objectives, process, teaching aids) and their reflection on these activities. Reflection should be something like an
internal written monologue about our sessions expressing feelings, ideas and opinions.
Name of the
Technique
activity/length/MNGMT
Objectives
Procedure
I´am
“Angry Andrea”
Linguistic objectives:
For example: Successful
learners will be able to:
- Produce...
- Use...
- Compare...
- Name....
- Contrast...
- Write about...
- Discuss...
1.Ss stand in circle
picture of the blackboard
2. Introduce yourself
(designed...), cards,
(I´m a hungry Hana)
flashcards, etc.
3.Each student says
his/her name + adj
beginning with the
same letter as their
name+they use mime
to express the meaning
of the adj
4.Next S introduces
himself+ repeats all
the previous sentences
T: 5-10´
All class act.
(Ss stand in a circle)
Other objectives:
-compare cultures...
-share with each other...
-accept each other...
Teaching Aids
Your comments: (I liked....I am not sure about.....I would ask these questions...I would
improve/modify...)
 OBSERVATION FILE
As an indirect observer of lessons taught at Fatranská School you are expected to read through the observation handouts before
the class and fill them out correctly during your observing. If you have questions, please ask the teacher trainer BEFORE you
are to observe, but NOT during. Your observations should be honest evaluations of what you observed. There is no point in
saying everything was perfect, great, interesting; it rarely is. With this in mind, you are to be constructive with your criticism
and comments. The point of observing is for YOU and the TEACHER to learn. Please make this happen. At the end of the
course, you are required to hand-in an Observation File including 3 completed observation sheets and reflections. You can
choose 5 observation sheets from the list below depending on what you want to observe.
No
OBSERVATION TASK
SOURCE
1
* from VADEMECUM PDG PRAXE
Handout provided by A.Billíková
2
* Class Management
Handout provided by A.Billíková
3
* Teacher Talk
Handout provided by A.Billíková
4
* Presentation of new language
Handout provided by A.Billíková
5
* Error Correction
Handout provided by A.Billíková
6
* Lesson analysis
(LP required)
* AIDS: The Blackboard and the
Learners.
* Using L1 in the classroom
Handout provided by A.Billíková
7
8
Handout provided by A. Billíková
Handout provided by A. Billíková
 MISCELLEANOUS (reflections, summaries, findings, interview questions,
questionnaires, teaching aids, posters … (35%)
1. Poster
Make a poster to be related one of the topics: 1. The Status of teachers in the past,
nowadays and in the future. OR 2. The Status of learners in the past, nowadays and in the
future. Prepare it in the way to be presented in the class (presentation time: 5- 10 minutes)
2. Internet survey and/or interviewing in-service teachers (summary)
Prepare 5 questions to interview an in-service English teacher teaching either to very young
learners, young learners, teenage learners or adults. Find out what advantages and
disadvantages there are when teaching certain age level. Ask about their teaching tips,
strategies and techniques they use. Summarize your findings and be ready to present them
in the class. Using the Internet, find out which ISCED is being followed by the teacher you
interviewed and provide its summary.
3. Needs analysis
Design a needs analysis for potential adult learners who wish to learn English and have
similar/same jobs. Find out what their needs, wants and lacks are. Keep variety of open and
closed questions. Summarize your findings and suggest what kind of English you would
teach them and why.
4. Hosting novice teachers, mentors, specialists and publishers
Prepare 3 questions in advance. Summarize the findings in your paper (1 question-summary
in one paragraph).
5. Course book evaluation
Choose any course book you wish to evaluate. Follow the pre-set criteria and write its
evaluation. Summarize your findings.
6. Lesson plan
Design a 45-minute learner-oriented lesson plan without using a course book. Prepare
handouts (if needed), teaching aids and include them in your portfolio.