In my language learning development, I went through many unique learning strategies which have contributed a lot in my language learning

development. Among all strategies, I found reading and grammar the most effective ones. By reading books and other English language materials, I acquired vocabulary and became proficient in other language skills unconsciously. Grammar helped me interpret the linguistic design of the reading text and assisted me in writing skills. On the other hand, I remained deficient in listening and speaking skills because I did not get any chance to get exposed to authentic listening / speaking models. In the light of my foreign language learning experiences, I found an effective language lesson should primarily be premised over learners needs and wants. The lesson should be organized and instrumental in generating motivation and involving students in language learning process. The course content should take into consideration the learners background, problems, language proficiency and the learners setting. It should have multiple interaction patterns (t>s, s>t, s>s) and reduce Teacher Talking Time (TTT) and promote Student Talking Time (STT). Think of your own experience as a learner of foreign language in a school. How did you get your language lesson back then? If I try to recall my memory back to my childhood, I guess I started to learn a foreign language lesson when I was in junior high school. That times I was one of the best students who can learn fast about English, I most of the time got good grades on this subject. The next question would be, how could that happen? What did my teacher do those days? what made my language subject turned out to be good? First, I thought it was because I had a good class, but then if it was so, how come only a few students managed to get good grades on this? I then realized that actually I was introduced to English at the first time not from school, but from recordings of English belonged to my sister. My older sisters and brothers loved collecting cassettes from western singers, and played the songs over and over again. I think that was the first time I got to know the language, as I listen to it day by day at home. So what does this mean? What I am trying to say here, people learn a language by having it within their daily activity, listen, read, write and communicate with it. And this is how I conclude hot to create a good language lesson in the class. Design the class activities communicatively, involve the students more, push them to be active during the class, force them to listen to it, read it, write it and speak with it. The main idea is to bring the language within our daily lives, as simple as that.

Surely we need to cover other aspects of the language in designing the lesson, yet what matters the most is to see the productivity given by the students is more than the teacher. If we want to master a language, dont you think we need to practice it again and again? Practice makes perfect, rite? Principles of good feedback practices Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) present a framework of seven principles of good feedback practice and methods and techniques, which extend beyond written comments, to support each of the principles. Their work is built on the idea that feedback should strengthen the student's capacity to self-regulate their own performance and contribute to the student's ability to learn for the longer term. Good feedback practice: helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, expected standards); Students can only achieve goals or outcomes, if the understand them, assume some ownership of them and can assess progress. If students perceive the aims of an assessment task differently to lecturers/tutors it can affect performance and their ability to use feed back. facilitates the development of self-assessment (reflection) in learning; When well organized, self-assessment can lead to significant improvement in learning especially if integrated with staff feedback. Self and peer assessment processes help develop the skills to make judgements against standards delivers high quality information to students about their learning; (See the making comments into usable feedback pages) encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning; Discussion with the teacher helps students to develop understanding and correct misunderstandings and to get an immediate response to difficulties. Peer dialogue enhances learning as: students who have just learned something are often able to explain it in a language and in a way that is more accessible that teachers' explanations it exposes students to other perspectives on problems and alternative approaches and methods for addressing problems

students develop detachment of judgement (of the work from themselves) which they are able to transfer to assessment of their own work it can encourage students to persist and it is sometimes easier to accept critique from peers encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem; Where feedback praises effort, strategic behaviour and progress related to the performance in context. However the extent of praise must be consistent with the level of performance otherwise students may be confused by mixed messages. provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance; Feedback is most useful when students have an opportunity to improve work by being able to resubmit the work or receiving feedback during the production process (e.g. comments on drafts) or apply the feedback to a subsequent piece of work. Also student can benefit from being given help to develop strategies to use feedback provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape teaching. Frequent low stakes assessment (e.g. diagnostic testing) can provide feedback to students on their learning and information to teachers about students' level of understanding and skill, so that teaching can be adjusted to help students close the gap. (See evaluating teaching pages ) What is Feedback on Teaching? The collecting and reviewing of numbers, ratings, comments, letters and testimonials that act as qualitative and quantitative evidence of good practice, indicators of areas for continuing improvement, support for innovative teaching practices, and insight from others' perspectives on your teaching. Why is Feedback Important? 1) Strengthening Teaching Practice Feedback allows you to check if you are meeting your goals for your teaching, such as "Is the material that I present organized logically for students new to this field?" "Do my students like hearing their classmate's experiences?". 2) Myth-Busting (or Confirming) You have ideas about what your students are liking or doing, but how do you know? By seeing your teaching from another perspective, you can discover whether your assumptions hold true, such as "Are the students taking notes when I am writing on the board?" "Do I appear

confident when students are asking questions?" "Is the skit I do every year still funny?" 3) Documenting Success You think you teach well, but how do you know? Feedback can provide evidence of teaching competence as part of your teaching dossier during job seeking, renewal, promotion and tenure, or of teaching excellence for internal and external teaching awards. 4) Fostering Innovation Your new idea is inspirational, but how do you know it works? After trying out a new assignment, technique, tool or other innovation, you can ask for feedback to determine what worked and what needs further tinkering. 5) Publication of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) You have a great teaching strategy or tool, how would others' know it works? Feedback may be analyzed and included as results or evidence of impact in a SoTL research conference presentation or journal article. Note that if you intend to publish this feedback at a conference or in a journal article ethics clearance would be required; ethics clearance is not required for reporting feedback in the class, your teaching dossier or teaching reports. What is student-student classroom interaction and how does it affect learning? This theme addresses how well students communicate with one another in class. Classes where students have opportunities to communicate with each other help students effectively construct their knowledge. By emphasizing the collaborative and cooperative nature of scientific work, students share responsibility for learning with each other, discuss divergent understandings, and shape the direction of the class. The Pedagogy in Action module on Cooperative Learning is a great place to learn more about structuring student-student interactions both in and out of the classroom. The Cutting Edge teaching method module on using ConcepTests in the classroom also has tips for integrating think-pair-share activities into even large classrooms. Characteristics/examples of classes with low and high student-student classroom interaction Classes that have low interaction among students are more lecturefocused, often well-organized, and tend to present material clearly, with minimal text and well-chosen images. The instructor is usually well-versed in the content, but teaches in a way that does not provide an opportunity for interactions among students.

In contrast, a more student-focused class provides multiple opportunities for students to discuss ideas in small groups and may support a whole class discussion. One simple measure of this is the proportion of the class dedicated to students talking to one another. The quality of the discussion is also important: tasks that have the potential for more than one answer can generate deeper thinking processes and may also shift the direction of the lesson. (Note the connection here with aspects of the Lesson Design and Procedural Knowledge themes.) Successful discussions are characterized by small group conversations that seek to give voice to all students and to provide sufficient time and opportunity to listen and consider the ideas of others. Consider structuring your class so that it: Provides opportunities for students to work in pairs and small groups and use multiple modes of communication (e.g., discussions, making presentations, brainstorming). Encourages students to work together as a class to contribute to a comprehensive answer to an open-ended problem. Devotes a significant proportion of class time (15-30%) to student interactions. Encourages in-depth conversations among students (and between students and instructor). Features several students explaining their ideas to a respectful class that listens well. Tips and examples for improving student-student classroom interaction I want students to interact at different scales and engage in discussion my classroom. Consider using... In-class assignments where students think individually about a question, talk to their peers about an idea, and then report their findings back to the class. These think-pair-share exercises work best when there are multiple answers to a question (nurturing and valuing divergent thinking). Conceptual multiple-choice questions (ConcepTests) about themes from the lesson mingled with peer instruction. The use of clickers can facilitate this technique. More structured discussion exercises such as jigsaw activities where students become experts in some facet of a topic and then work as teams of mixed experts to further explore a topic. One or more cooperative learning techniques that encompasses a variety of methods to encourage student-student interactions within your classroom.

I want students to work on open-ended problems to encourage indepth conversations with each other and with me. Consider using... Open-ended questions. These are questions with more than one right answer and encourage students to make a judgment call. Sometimes such questions can foster in-class debates. Structured academic controversies in which small teams of students learn about a controversial issue from multiple perspectives and attempt to come to consensus. Explorations of data in your classroom. Encourage students to delve into the real data to decide how best to use/interpret/display it. I want students to present their ideas to others and to have all ideas respected. Consider... Professional communication projects that involve students in the presentation of their ideas as oral or poster presentations. Incorporating gallery walks to encourage groups of students to build a class response to an instructional prompt. Students are actively involved in synthesizing important concepts, consensus building, writing, and public speaking to share their findings. This technique works best in small to medium-sized classes.