How to Prepare for Cambridge Delta Module

Two
I’ve decided to write this blog post because before starting my module 2 I was really frustrated,
and had no idea what to do and how to prepare. Hopefully, this post will help you, or at least give
you some ideas of what needs to be done, and how to prepare. Please let me know if there’s an area
that I haven’t addressed.

Delta Module Two is the toughest among the three, and the one that needs the most time and
preparation. One of the reasons for that is the amount of writing needs to be done. You will be
writing about 39.000-47000 words (chances are you are going to write toward the higher end of
that number) in total which are divided among background essays (8000-10.000), lesson plans
(16.000-20.000. However, there is no specific word count for lesson plans), reflection forms
(1.200-2.000), peer observations (10000+), professional development assignment (PDA) parts A
(2.000-2.500) and B (1.500-2.000). Not to mention the rewriting which is going to happen a LOT
when the tutor asks you to rewrite some sections of your work.
Another reason is the time. I took Module 2 in six weeks, and I call that ‘not the intensive course,’
but the ‘insanely intensive.’ To be able to pull that off, you need to be well-prepared, able to
handle the pressure, stay organized, meet the deadlines, and be responsive to tutors’ feedback.

I can’t stress enough how imperative the preparation is. I know countless people who started
CELTA with almost ZERO knowledge about the course, and yet they managed to pass. However,
when it comes to Delta Module 2, the same doesn’t apply. You need to be aware, and well-
informed about the layout of the course even before contacting the center to register. Many people
fail the course, or withdraw. So, you have a challenging journey ahead, and you need to brace
yourself.

To get a visual perspective on the layout of the course, I’ve created a graphic timeline of the
course. You can take a look here.
The Tips
Some of the suggestions might not apply to you depending on your experience and your teaching
background. It would be a good idea to brush up/refresh general teaching knowledge by
reading PELT by David Nunan.
Delta Module One
Take Delta Module One. That way you will read a lot of books, and will gain knowledge that
would be invaluable when doing Delta Module 2. Even if you don’t sit the exam, the work is going
to help … a lot.

Delta Module Two Handbook

to put the importance of reading and understanding the handbook, I will quote my tutor when he
said to us on the first day “For the next six weeks this (pointing at the handbook) will be your
bible.”

After you read this post, go to Cambridge website, download the handbook, and start reading right
away!
The Skills and Systems
Decide on the skills and systems that you are going to base your assignments (LSA) on. You will
have to do 4 LSAs. Two skills (Speaking/writing, reading/listening) and two
systems (Discourse, phonology, grammar, and lexis.) Regarding the skills, you have to choose one
that is productive and another which is receptive.
Pick the skills and systems you either feel confident and knowledgeable about, or the ones you
need to develop. The best choice might be a combination of both. That’s only what I think.

Having decided on the skills and systems (or at least 2 of them,) next you will need to do some
background reading. You will need to read anything from 2 to 5 books (if you can read more, go
ahead ’cause all will come in handy.) However, you might need/use more than 10 books/references
when actually writing the BE and LP (I advise you to learn the abbreviations because everyone is
going to use them throughout the course. click here to read my post about the abbreviations).
The next step is getting in touch with your colleagues/friends who have been through Delta
Module Two. You need to ask them for some sample BEs (ONLY BEs that have passed.) You
need to read the BEs thoroughly to get a solid idea of what is required, and how it should be done.

Finally, after reading some BEs, try writing one! It doesn’t have to be a complete BE. You just
need to see what the experience of writing it feels like. Think of an idea for a BE and try to follow
the layout of the sample BEs you have, but choose a completely different topic so you won’t find
yourself just copying things. (NOTE: during the course Cambridge University doesn’t tolerate
plagiarism of any kind and any candidate who plagiarize will fail the course and might be
suspended for 3 years.) The reason I suggest doing this process is because you will have to do
some research, use your own voice, quote some references, organize the essay, and finally writing
the bibliography. Thus, when you are writing your first LSA during the course, the process is going
to be easier since you have actually tried to write something, even if it wasn’t a complete BE.

A golden tip I wish I thought about when I was taking the course: For writing your LSAs (if you
are using ebooks or online resources) if you happen to have another screen connect it to your
laptop/PC and use one screen for the Word document and the other for ebooks/websites. You can’t
imagine how smooth the process is going to be.
PDA Part A
You will be writing this assignment throughout the course. It consists of four stages. You will find
details about each stage in the Delta Module Two Handbook (click here to see when each stage
should be written.) In stage one you have to list your weaknesses and strength as a teacher. You
can think of those prior to the course and take notes. You can also invite a colleague to observe you
and tell you what they think your strengths and weaknesses are. Having an idea of them, will make
writing Stage One flow smoothly. Not to mention that you will benefit as a teacher, ’cause after all
that’s why you are doing Delta; to become a better teacher, right?
Another thing that will help you to start your PDA Part A is the diagnostic lesson.

Diagnostic Lesson
In week one you will have to teach the diagnostic lesson which is an unassessed lesson. Your tutor
will give you feedback after the lesson which will get you starting on PDA Part A and the course in
general. For the diagnostic lesson, just be yourself. Don’t try to pull off the best lesson the world of
ELT has ever witnessed. Because you will need both, strengths and action points from your tutor.
Take notes from your tutor feedback and go home and start writing Stage One right away.

The Experimental Practice (PDA Part B)

decide on the approach or method of your Experimental Practice prior to the course. It’s better to
have not only an idea of the EP, but also that you have some theoretical background about it. You
can choose anything that you haven’t practiced in the classroom before doing the EP during the
course. Some potential approaches/methods are Dogme, TBL, and Using Cuisenaire Rods.

You will have to write:

-A background essay 750-1000 words.
-A commentary for the lesson 750-1000 words.
-A lesson plan (not like the detailed one you need to write for the BE)
-A post lesson evaluation 400-500 words.
You will also need assessment tools for your learners and your peers who will be observing you.
You might use two questionnaires.

Peer Observations
I have already covered this in a post. You can read it here.
Get to know the layout of the course and what is required to be done. You can do that by reading
this post Delta Module 2 Time Line.

Organization
Right from the beginning of the course you gonna hit the ground running. So, you need to
be totally organized , meet deadlines, and keep track of what needs to be done, and when it should
be done. For that reason, I’ve created here a planner for module two. The planner lists the all that
needs to be done throughout the course, and empty boxes for the days so you can write notes on
them. Lots of candidates have used it, and many have written me some positive feedback about it.
Which Option to choose
There are some full-time and part-time options for taking module two. I’ve written a post about it it
here.
Something to Help
you need to find something that makes your mind stray away from the stress of the course for a
little while. For me it was a cellphone game called Hill Climb Racing 2. I used to play a little on
my way back home, or when I first got home before starting to work on LSAs/PDA. It can be
anything you want, but I think it is important to find something completely unrelated to the course
or ELT in general.

That’s all. If you have any question, feel free to comment on the post or get in touch with me.
Good luck with your course.

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A25/11/2018

Cambridge Delta: Full-time or Part-time?

Some things before we start
 You can take any module at any center at any time that suits you.
 Whether you do it face-to-face or online it’s the same.
 It’s not written on the certificate whether you did it online or face-to-face (not should it
matter in my opinion.)
 You can sit the Module One is exam twice a year, in June and December.
 Any entry fee you pay for Module 1 and 3 is non-refundable or transferable.
 Not all the things stated here apply to all the centers, so before deciding on any module,
check with your center,
Module One
Module One can be taken face-to-face or online. Some centers provide online courses
with face-to-face sessions, but those who don’t or can’t attend the sessions won’t miss
anything as all will be provided on the LMS (Learning Management System like Moodle.)
The online option is a minimum of eight weeks, and could be up to 16 weeks. I prefer the
online option since you can have some time for reading, and practicing. The face-to-face
option is usually 2 weeks or 3. I think the time is not enough at all. If you take a look at the
recommended readings for Module One, you will find that you need to read a minimum of
seven books (probably double that number). To add, you need to familiarize yourself
with the exam tasks, and the way they are marked. Mostly face-to-face courses run a
couple of months before the exam which means you will have time to read and practice,
but the thing is you will have no support since the course is over. On the other hand, in
online courses there will be communication with the tutor(s) and other candidates. You
could team up with someone and start a group study, a WhatsApp group, or ask your
questions in the forums.
Module Two
Module Two can be taken in some options: six weeks, eight weeks, three months, and
nine months. There might be other options that I’m not aware of. However, not all the
centers provide all the options. You need to get in touch with the center and see which
ones they provide. So, which option is the best? Unfortunately, there’s no answer for this
question. It all depends on you, and your situation. The six-week course is highly
intensive. And one needs to be able to handle pressure, and manage their time really
well. The eight-week option is also demanding, not as much as the six weeks, but it’s still
a full-time intensive course. If you can handle whatever the course might throw on you,
then go for the full-time option. An advantage is that you’ll always be in the zone. You will
have input sessions in the morning along with some unassessed teaching, and in the
evenings you’ll be working on your LSAs. This way, you won’t have to remember where
you left off every time you need to go to work. Or only having most work done on
weekends. I went for the six-week option, and I was able to pass all my assignments
while my dominant hand was broken during the last two weeks of the course. So, if I
could do it, why wouldn’t you? If you take the part-time option you can have time to
reflect. you can read more, and research. you can work on your plan in the PDA and
actually have more steps and do some development. I once had a look at the PDA of a
friend of mine who took the nine-month option, and it was A LOT different from mine
since she had a lot of time to read and reflect.
Module Three
Module Three is mostly done as a distant course since you will have to write an
assignment (4000-4500 words) about a teaching specialism or ELT management. Most
centers offer a ten-week course for Module Three with optional face-to-face sessions.
Some centers assign you to one tutor for all your assignment, while others, assign a tutor
for each section you write. An online course is the best option for Module Three because
it takes a lot of time to complete the stages and sections of the assignment and sending
them to your tutor, then, while they are checking your work, you’ll be working on another
section of the assignment.
A Final Word
Think carefully before taking any course, check with your center about everything, and
ask around before going for any center. As for me, I went for IH Izmir for Module Two,
and ITI Istanbul for Modules 1 and 3. And I do recommend both centers
The 5a Form in Delta Module 2
In this post I will be (briefly) introducing the 5a form. In Delta Module 2 the amount of sheets,
documents, forms, things need to be written and taken care of can be daunting for candidates.
Thus, in my posts about Delta Module Two I try to write about some things so you can know what
is the course like before taking the journey and be more prepared for your Module 2.

In Delta Module 2, your tutors will assess your work using 3 forms: 5a, 5b, 5c. The 5a form is
related to your LSAs. For each LSA there is a 5a from.The form is filled by the tutor, and the
trainee gets a copy (usually) the day after the RE is sent to the tutor along with oral feedback. 5b is
for your PDA assignment, and 5c I have no idea about it because the candidates don’t see it and
it’s filled by the tutors.

There are 47 criteria in 5a and they are divided among the 4 parts of an LSA as follows:
BE 15 criteria, 4 categories.
LP 12 criteria, one category.
TP 17 criteria, 4 categories.
RE 3 criteria, one category

Each criterion has 3 possible grades: met, partially met, and not met . Apparently, if one gets few
of the latter, they may fail the LSA.
Met: when you completely meet the criteria throughout your whole BE/LP/TP/RE
Partially met: when you meet the criteria on many occasions. That means if you miss it even once,
it will be partially met (It happened to me when I cited a reference and accidentally wrote the first
name of the author rather than the surname.)
Not met: obviously, one gets that when they don’t do/write the things related to that criteria.

Your 3 5a forms are sent to Cambridge for assessment. The materials of the one LSA (the internals
LSAs) will be sent for assessment, it’s usually your strongest, provided it is a system if your LSA4
was a skill, and vice versa.

5a forms can be really helpful while you are working on your LSA. For starters, you can read each
category to understand what is required. Also, you can use it as a checklist to see whether you have
covered what is required or not.
One thing you should notice is that any given criterion might consist of more than one thing that
needs to be done. For instance, in 2c you need to explain with reference to classroom
experience, reading and research why you have chose the area you based your LSA on. That is,
if you write only about classroom experience, you are going to get partially met. Why? Simply
because you haven’t mentioned about your research, or what the literature says about it. So, there’s
that.
Another thing is key words. Not that all the words on the 5a are not important, but there are some
key words you need to pay attention to. For example, 3b that you need to show a range of
learning and teaching problems occurring in a range of learning contexts. That means you need to
write about 4 or 5 issues related to this language area. When I was doing module 2 I was
recommended to write about 4 or 5 because it might be difficult to show a range with 3 (but might
be acceptable I think,) however, it’s impossible to show a range with only two issues. You also
need to mention the cause of that issue and associate it with a range of contexts such as the
learners’ L1 or their level.
I’d also like to mention that during the course there will be a session about the form. Your tutors
will go over all the criteria, and advise you how to address them. After you get each 5a (when you
are done with the LSA) your tutor will go with you over the criteria that you got ‘partially met’,
and ‘not met’ to tell you why you got that and how to avoid it in your next LSA.

If you have any question, you can ask in the comments sections below

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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 

C P D 17/12/2017

Choosing a Title for your LSA in Delta Module 2

Deciding on a title for the LSA is the most important thing because you would know your
focus area and narrow it to be able to cover it in 2000-2500 words. Once you know what
your title is, the rest is easy (I’m just kidding, nothing is easy :D) but you would know
what your focus is.

Don’t go back and forth between systems and skills, or a system and another. Once you
start the process of going back and forth between options, you’ll be frustrated and
probably won’t know what to write and how to write. Just stick with the first idea you get,
ask for your tutor feedback, and start writing.

It is a good idea to pick a system or a receptive skill for the first LSA, or even the first
two LSAs, and leave the productive skill till the third or fourth LSA.
So, what does an LSA title look like?

The titles of LSAs in Delta are long and might be up to 20 words! Depending on what
you’re analyzing, for whom, and using what. Some sample titles (thanks for my friends
Romina, Basak, Duygu, Nastya, Maria, Ebru, and Saoirse for providing me with some of
their titles) :

Skills Titles
Helping Low Level Learners to Develop Scanning and Skimming Reading Subskills to
Find Information Online about University Courses
Helping lower level learners (A1, A2, B1) develop skimming and scanning subskills for
reading advertisements
Developing lower level learners’ (A1, A2, B1) speaking subskills (turn-taking and
adjacency pairs) in transactional situations
Helping Higher Level Learners to Develop Speaking Sub-skills to Participate in
Conversations.
Helping lower level learners to write a cover letter for a job application.
Helping lower level learners develop their intensive reading skills.
helping lower level learners to listen to video travel guides.
helping lower level learners write a job application email.
Helping lower level learners to develop skimmimg and scanning sub- skills.
Helping lower level learners write text messages.
Developing lower level learners’ speaking sub skills in conversations.
Developing lower level learners’ informal email writing sub-skills.
Developing lower level learners’ skimming and scanning reading sub-skills.
Systems Titles
Helping Turkish Speakers to Notice and Produce Intelligible Pronunciation of Dental and
Labiodental Sounds
Helping lower level learners to use the simple past
Helping learners of lower levels (A1, A2, B1) recognize and use modal verbs of
obligation.
Helping lower level learners (A1, A2, B1) recognize and use functional language to offer
and request help.
Enabling lower level (CEFR a1,A2) learners to use be going to for future plans and
present progressive for arrangements.
Introducing lower level learners to phrasal verbs within the theme of friendship.
Helping lower level learners recognize and used adjective+ noun collocations
Helping lower level learners to understand and use verb noun collocations
Helping lower level learners recognize and use Type 1 Conditionals for future possible
results
Helping A2 level learners use polite requests in transactional contexts.
Helping lower level learners use the Past Simple to describe past events.
Enable lower level learners to recognise and use phrasal verbs.
What does an LSA title contain?

 The word used to introduce the learners

 The level of the learners
 The Skill/System you’re analyzing
 The genre/context

The word used to introduce the learners:

Avoid using the word ‘teaching’ it entails that the lesson is teacher-centered and the
focus is on teaching rather than learning. Use words like enabling,
helping, and developing, these words shifts the attention to the learners. To
add, developing or helping the learners is what actually is going to happen in the lesson,
since the learners won’t be able to be introduced to a system/skill, practice, and become
experts at it in one lesson, right?

The level of the learners:

Mentioning the level of the learners, like lower-level or higher-level learners, in your
titles narrows your focus to that level. It would help you when writing the issues and
suggestions section(s) in your LSA. Picking a specific level means that your issues will
be about that level. Sometimes, it is a good idea to narrow down to a level since some
areas come with numerous learning issues and you need to keep the number to four or
five issues due to the word count.

The Skill/System you’re Analyzing:

Obviously, you will need to write the system or the skills your LSA is about. be careful
though not to choose something that can’t be covered in 2500 words. When I wanted to
write a grammar LSA I thought about the past tense and past aspects. After pondering
on the decision for like half an hour, I realized that I would need like 10,000 words to
cover the topic. Instead, I went for used to and would for expressing past habits.
The genre/context:

You don’t have to write a specific genre, but sometimes you need to. Like if your LSA is
about scanning and skimming it might help to add the genre or the context that these
sub-skills will be practiced. Be careful though, if you include the genre in your title, you
need to analyze the genre in your LSA. One of my LSAs (my first actually) was about
developing scanning and skimming in reading, and I added the genre to the title. My
tutor read my LSA and asked me about the genre analysis, and I was like “do I need to
add it?!!!!” I had to spend a whole evening researching the genre to include an analysis
in the LSA (I don’t need to talk about how frustrated and upset I was, and how I felt I
was going to fail the assignment. But I didn’t!!)

So, that’s all I have to say about titles. Remember, pick an area quickly to avoid
frustration, and then give a careful thought about the wording of the title. Of course, your
tutor will provide support, but it’s HIGHLY recommended to have an idea in mind before
going to your tutor.

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A06/09/2017

10 Minor Mistakes to Avoid when Writing in

Delta Module 2
image credit

Going back and forth between writing, rewriting, reading, citing, and making a final draft
in a limited time would probably be the reason to forget doing the following little things.
Some of them are crucial and you will get a ‘not met’ or ‘partially met’ because of them.
 this is one of many memes that I created during
my Delta module 2 course

I categorized the mistakes into 2 sections, background essay, and lesson plan.

Background Essay
Cover Page

The cover page of your Background Essay, should contain the following: the title, the
number of the assignment, whether it’s a system or a skill, your name, your center, your
candidate number, the date of submission, and last but not least the word count.

Word Count

not stating the word count on the cover page. There is one criterion related to word
count: respects the word limit (2,000-2,500 words) and states the number of words used.
The key words are underlined. So, respecting the word count is half of the criterion,
stating the word count on the cover page is the other half. So, respecting without stating
will get you a ‘partially met’ for the criterion. And take my word for it, it may happen
because there’s a lot to take care of.

Footer

Not adding a footer with your name, LSA number, and its title, and the page number. I
have no idea if there is a criterion related to the footer (probably there is), however, it is
important to do it since my tutors told us to include a footer containing: Name, LSA
number, LSA title, and page number.

Bibliography

Misspelling the authors’ names or confusing them. I got a ‘partially met’ for the criterion
related to citing and referencing in on of my BEs because I’ve used the first name of the
author when using in-text citation, and because I didn’t use italics in the bibliography. I
used MLA as a citing system, and MLA italicizes the titles in the bibliography.

Appendices

Not adding the appendices in the same document. If you use any activity in the
Suggestion section, you need to add a copy of that worksheet/slide/document an an
appendix. You need to name them, something like Appendix A, Appendix B … etc. You
also need to source them.

Lesson Plan
Learners’ Strengths and Weaknesses

When writing the learners’ profile, you need to write their strengths and weaknesses.
However, a common mistake is that candidates usually write about those in general,
while you should write only those which are related to the focus of your lesson. So, if
your focus is Phonology, writing “this learner can’t use conditionals correctly” is not
valid.

Links with other Lessons

Another common mistake is that writing all/any lesson that was prior to THIS LSA. The
criteria 5d dictates that the lessons listed/mentioned should be related to the focus of
the LSA. In other words, ‘relevance’ is a key word here. For instance, your LSA focus is
past perfect, you need to to mention a lesson when the learners learned how to use the
simple past. And as a subsequent lesson, you might be able to mention using the same
structure with another context, or using the structure in a skill-based lesson like writing
or speaking.

Stating Assumptions

When stating assumptions related to your lesson focus, you need to include
assumptions related to learners knowledge, abilities, and interests. If you exclude one of
those, you’ll get a ‘partially met.’ For example, you can write:
Interests: I assume that the learners will be engaged in the theme of the lesson because
….
Abilities: I assume they will have a difficulty when applying reading subskills since … .
Knowledge: I assume they will know the key vocabulary related to … because … .
Copying the Analysis from the Background Essay

The analysis in the lesson plan is going to be narrower when compared with the
analysis of the skill/system area in your background essay. In the background essay,
you’re analyzing the area in general. On the other hand, in the lesson plan you’re
analyzing what is going to be presented in the lesson. Let’s say your focus in the
background essay is noun + verb collocations, you will analyzed the collocations in
general. In the lesson plan, you will need to write the list of collocations you are going to
present, and analyze them.

I made this mistake in one of my LSAs, and got a ‘not met’, and the tutor was not happy
at all when he saw it.

I REALLY love memes

ًWriting a Detailed Procedure Form

This is just my personal opinion: writing a procedure form that is way too much detailed
can, and probably will backfire. For my LSA1, the procedure form was 4 complete
pages! When I reviewed it, I found out that I will absolutely forget something, or do
something in a way different from what I’ve written. One of the things that I’ve written in
details and changed later on, the ICQs. I wrote the exact ICQs that I should ask,
however, I removed the questions and wrote “T checks the instructions using ICQs.” I
figured writing that is better than writing the exact questions, because if I forget to ask
one of the questions, the tutor is going to highlight it. I tried to write enough details to
understand how the lesson will flow, but not too much details that something here or
there might be forgotten.

For some, a detailed procedure form might seem better, and that might be true. It’s just I
found out that writing too much details will make it hard to stay on the exact track in the
lesson. The rationale behind that is although you’re an experienced teacher, but there
will be a bit of room for stress, for an obvious reason, you’re being assessed. If you

disagree, please let me know in the comments

So there it is, 10 minor mistakes to avoid in your Delta Module Two. If you can add
other, please do in the comments.

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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 

C E L T A31/08/2017

The Unspoken Rule to Survive CELTA or Delta

For some, this post might seem a cliche. However, I decided to write
about the issue due to the fact that this ‘rule’ is usually overlooked.

Many people who did CELTA or Delta have told me that it was really a
bad experience. That wasn’t because of the nature of the course, their
tutors, the pressure, the amount of work needed to be done, nor lack of
knowledge. It was simply because of their peers.

I’ve heard about a lot of people who would fight during the course, or
provide each other with destructive criticism, rather than constructive
one. Or, not sharing materials with other peers.

During my CELTA and Delta, it was a privilege from me to meet friendly,

kind, collaborative, and caring people (shout out to my CELTA peers:
Tatyana, Fatma, Idil, Alper, Tevhide, and Taylan. And for my Delta peers
Duygu, Romina, Ebru, Charles, Saoirsi, Basak, Maria, John, Nastya,
Gamze, and Dilek.) We collaborated a lot and comforted each other when
any of us had gone through a bad TP or was feeling stressed because of
what was coming. We shared materials, resources, books, activities,
plans, feedback, and food. I’ll always be grateful for them because they
have made the courses an even better experience.

An important reminder

What you need to know is that you’re not assessed on how many times
you answer a question, nor when you dominate a feedback or an input
session. You’re not going to be assessed against your peers, and
there’s no ‘the teacher’s favorite student’ here. Nothing of what I’ve
mentioned will affect your grade.

You will be assessed based on your performance when writing

assignments and teaching lessons against a list of criteria, that’s it. So,
trashing your peers’ lesson will do no good for both parties. Nor hiding
materials/resources would.

Another thing to add, is that helping other teachers (in this case your
peers) is a kind of professional development. Simply because you’ll help
them to overcome troubles, listen to how they react to an arising issue,
and the list goes on.

A Final Word
Collaborate, and enjoy the experience with your peers so when you or
they talk about their course later on, you will all have a smile on your
face. Doing such a course is a great opportunity to meet professional,
developing teachers, and you will probably be friends for life. In the end,
it is only a course that lasts for a few weeks, so why not make those
weeks count?

Image credit: Freepik

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A25/08/2017

Writing the Peer Observations in Delta Module

Two
Delta Module two peer observation

Peer Observations
In Delta Module 2 you have to observe 10 hours/lessons and write anything from 800-2000 words
for each observation. Though they might seem a lot to do, but you are going to learn a lot from
them. This was the consensus in my course when we discussed the peer observations and what was
their impact on our learning. If you are doing an intensive course, 6-8 weeks, it is good to write a
couple before the course starts (as I heard). It is also good if you write some of them in week 1
when you are observing your peers’ Diagnostic Lessons. Don’t rely on writing them when
observing your peers’ LSAs, because the norm is that no one is allowed into an LSA except for the
assessor. Everything in this post is descriptive, and not prescriptive.

Defining your Focus

You need to link each observation with a focus. The focus should be related to your action points
from your PDA. The focuses might be monitoring, reducing TTT, giving instruction, varying
feedback, exploiting materials and learners’ output, dealing with learners’ errors, focusing on
drilling and pronunciation, and the list goes on. So, you need to know your focus when you are
observing the lesson, and later when you are writing the peer observation, you need to state it.

Using an Observation Task/Sheet

Your center is probably going to provide you with observation tasks sheets. They are helpful
because their layout and the notes/questions on them are focused to target teaching areas that I’ve
mentioned in Defining your Focus. Try to use them while observing because they will guide your
and offer good tips for observing the lesson.
Asking the teacher for a copy of the lesson plan might come in handy too. Also, be ready to give
feedback to the teacher, because probably they would be expecting it (for some it might be a part
of their action plan in their PDA.)

Writing the Peer Observation

You need to include 4 parts in a peer observation: Introduction, Description of the Lesson,
Analysis, and Reflection.

Introduction

It shouldn’t be long. You can write your focus for this observation, and some information about the
lesson like the lesson’s focus, lesson’s context, level of learners, and how many there are. Should
be something like 40 words.

Description of the Lesson

Here, you write what happened during the lesson, i.e. running commentary. What the teacher did
and how they did it. What the learners did, and their reaction/involvement/participation. How the
lesson developed, and how stages unfolded. It could be about 300 words.

Analysis

In this part you analyzed the techniques and the way the teacher acted throughout the lesson. For
example, you’re commenting on the way the teacher managed the pair/group work, then you
support your comments by quoting from ELT literature. For instance, Harmer notes the importance
of pair and group work by stating: “Groupwork and pairwork have been popular in language
teaching for many years and have many advantages.” But, you need to state the year and the page.

Reflection

In this part you will express your thoughts about the the approach the teacher followed. Remember,
you are not criticizing the teacher. You need to state whether you do things differently in your
teaching practice, and whether observing the lesson will make you change the way you do things.

The Golden Tip

What turned out to be helpful the most was that when I observed a lesson, I wrote directly using
my laptop. That way when the lesson was over I would end up writing 300-400 words and some
notes that I will elaborate on when writing the complete observation. Believe me you need to save
as much time as you could. However, you need to check with the teacher, because some might be
irritated if someone is using their laptop at the back of the classroom. My kind, awesome, lovely,
and amazing peers (now friends) always allowed me to use my laptop.

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A23/08/2017

Dos and Don’ts for Writing a Delta Background

Essay
There’s a lot to consider when writing your Delta Module 2 background essays (BEs). Some things
might be more explicit than others. I provide a list here of some of what needs to be done when
writing a BE.
 Dos
Always respect the word count. Cambridge is strict when it comes to word count. If they say 2000-
2500 words, that is exactly what they mean. There is no 10% tolerance or anything else. Don’t go
over or under it, not even by 1 word!

Do specify your area, the genre (if you think you need one,) the subskills/language structure in the
title.
Don’t just come up with a title like “teaching past tenses for English learners” this title has a wide
scope and it is too vague for the reader. For more information about the titles of BEs, check out my
other post here.

The evaluation of suggestions mustn’t be just a sentence or two. You need to evaluate a suggestion
critically, and not only mentioning its strengths. For example, comment by saying something like
‘this activity will not work with lower level learner because …’. You need to support your
evaluation with your reading from research. You need to quote someone to back up your
evaluation. There is a criterion about this, and it won’t be ‘met’ if you don’t evaluate it well
enough.

Cambridge guidelines suggests that the minimum should be 3 book in the bibliography. However,
you need to use more than that to be able to analyze the area well enough. Use key sources that are
credible such as books and professional journals. Avoid using any titles that are written for
language learners. Avoid quoting blogs unless the author is someone who has been published in
the ELT world like Jermey Harmer or Scott Thornbury, i.e., someone credible.

Use your own voice when writing and try to paraphrase rather than direct quoting. A mistake that I
made when paraphrasing (and had to spend 3 hours rewriting) was changing just some of the
words and using fronting or another grammatical structure. However, it turned out that you need to
write the whole thing with your own words when paraphrasing, which is actually, paraphrasing.
Do check this page to be able to differentiate between quoting and paraphrasing so you won’t be
accused of plagiarism. Even if you think you know the difference, I urge you to check it to be on
the safe side.
Link each issue to a source from your own teaching context(s). Meaning, what is the source of the
issue, is it the learners’ L1, the level of the learners, or confusing the target structure with other
similar structure?
Here is a part of what I mean that should be done, associating the issue with its source (this is from
a background essay about reading sub-skills.):

When I am teaching lower-level learners, they quite often stop the reading task to ask me, their classmates, or
to check a dictionary for the meaning of each word that is new to them. They tend to do this regardless of the
reading task assigned, which, in turns, affects the subskills and the general aim behind the task.

Don’ts
Don’t write anything related to language learning and learning problems in the analysis. The
analysis should be only about what proficient language users do with the skill/system. The learning
process and the problems can be discussed in later parts, issues and suggestions.

Don’t write about the teaching process from your own perspective. Meaning, don’t use phrases like
‘I will teach the learners’ or in the title ‘teaching learners…’ rather use the learners’ perspective by
using phrases such as ‘helping the learners to use,’ ‘enabling the learners to recognize,’ and
‘developing learners’ reading subskills.’

Don’t insert images of text in the body of the essay without including the words in the images in
the word count. What I was told is that the background essays are scanned by programs that count
every word in the body of the essay including the ones in the images. So, if you want to insert a
table from a book, try to write it in the word processor in order to be clear on the word count.

Do not write 2000 words and stop. This is a mistake that some trainees commit. You need to use
those words to analyze the area, and to write about problems and suggestions. If you end up
writing toward the low end of the word count, then you probably haven’t analyzed the area well
enough.

In the issues and suggestions, do not write about 2 issues. A minimum is 3, though I was advised
against it. And was recommended to go with 4 or 5. If you write more it means that you are not
giving enough details, back up from research, and critical evaluation. When writing the issues vary
the type. For example, if you are writing about a grammar structure, come up with an issue with
meaning, another with form, and one with pronunciation. You can write two about
form/meaning/pronunciation, however, you need to provide an issue for each aspect.
Hope you find the tips helpful. Feel free to ask any question or add any other tips in the comments.

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A14/08/2017

Delta Module 2 Timeline

Delta Module 2
In this post I will show you the Delta Module 2 timeline. Meaning, what you have to do, and when
you have to do it. I’ve finished my Delta module two last Friday, and I’m already at it! It was a
great experience for me, and I learned a lot from it. I met really great people and enjoyed learning
with and from them about teaching.

I will be posting more about Delta Module 2 in the next few weeks. And feel free to ask any
question you want, and I will try to answer it in a comment or write a post here about it to give
more information.

Module 2 is broadly speaking offered in 4 versions (in parenthesis is what I like to call them): over
9 months (part-time), over 12 weeks (full-time), over 8 weeks (intensive full-time), and over 6
weeks (insanely intensive full-time).

This Delta Module 2 timeline is for the insanely intensive full-time (6 weeks) course. In part-time
course you’ll have to do things in the same order, but spread over more weeks. However, check
with your center/tutor.
If you have done an eight or twelve week Module 2, please write in the comment how it was
different from the six-week one.

The abbreviations
The abbreviations used in the infographic (you NEED to know them because everyone at the
course will be using them):

LSA: Language System/Skill Assignment.

PDA: Professional Development Assignment.
BE: Background Essay.
LP: Lesson Plan.
RE: Reflection and Evaluation.
EP: Experimental Practice.
PO: Peer Observation.

NOTE: don’t forget to download and print the Delta Module 2 Planner from here to keep you
organized throughout the course. some of my peers and I used it, and it was really helpful.
click on the image for a larger version or to save it
 by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A02/07/2017

Off to Cambridge DELTA Module 2

Hi everyone,

This is going to be my last post for a while. My DELTA Module 2 course starts tomorrow and it

lasts for six long weeks

Hopefully, I will post about my experience after the course and share it with passionate ELT
teachers.

Wish me luck

by Ahmad Zaytoun

READ MORE
 

D E L T A17/06/2017

Cambridge Delta Module One in a Nutshell (an

infographic)
I have created this Cambridge Delta Module One infographic to function as a simple introduction
to module 1. In the infographic I have listed the tasks of paper 1 and paper 2, the marks available
for each task, what is the task about, and what to read to prepare for the task.
When to start reading?
It’s a good idea to start reading early for Module 1. So, if you are planning to take the course in
December, maybe you’d like to start reading as early as January since there’s a lot to cover, and
not to mention that you are already working full-time. The readings in the infographic are
suggestions and you might wanna read more to be able to score high, or get your head round the
topic.

How to prepare?
To prepare for Delta Module One, you can either study on your own and sit the exam. Or, you can
take a preparation course with a center. From my experience, I’ve found the course to be a great
option, since it provides you with practice, feedback, tips, and techniques to tackle the tasks.

I’m taking the a preparation course at ITI Istanbul. They run a great course online and they offer a
HUGE advantage: you can retake the course as many times as you want without having to pay
again till you pass the test! (NOTE: I’m not an affiliate for ITI Istanbul nor was asked to talk about
their course here. I’m doing it out of love. They did a great job, and still doing so since I haven’t
sat the exam this June.)
Some Random Thoughts
You can take the preparation course for Delta Module One in a center and sit the exam in another.
It won’t be an issue.
Module One exam fee is 140 GBP and you pay it once you decide to sit the exam (the fee might
vary).
You need to register for the exam at least 4 or 5 weeks before its date.
Once you pay for the exam you can’t postpone it. (meaning you can’t take back your money or
change the date of your exam).

The Inforgraphic
click on the image for a larger version
Cambridge Delta Module One

by Ahmad Zaytoun

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
D E L T A26/05/2017

Delta Module Two Planner

UPDATE 28/5/2017: There was a mistake in the second planner and I have edited it. Please
redownload it.

UPDATE 13/6/2017: I have added an eight-week version

My DELTA Module Two is starting this July, 2017. I know I should be very organized
and manage my time properly since the course is highly intensive. That’s why I’ve
created these 2 planners which are for full-time DELTA Module Two courses. The
calendars is a ready-to-print, A3 sized.

You can print them on A4-sized paper too, but it would look a bit small. Stick it on your
wall, and tick as you go!

DELTA Module Two

Planner
 DELTA Module Two
Planner
The abbreviations (They are used during the Module 2 course, so you need to learn
them):

LSA: Language Systems/Skills Assignment

BE: Background Essay
LP: Lesson Plan
TP: Teaching Practice (the lesson that you will teach)
SE: Self Evaluation
PDA: Professional Development Assignment

Click on the the download link to get the planner:

325 downloads
Delta Module Two Planner 1

Download File Planner-edited.jpg –

307 downloads

Delta Module 2 Planner 2

Download File Planner-2-1.jpg – 1 MB

 215 downloads

Delta Module 2 Planner 8 Weeks

Download File Planner-8-WEEKS.jpg – 2 MB

Hope you like, and find them useful. I will write more posts about DELTA Module 2 once

I finish the course this August. So, stay tuned to my blog

Good luck with your DELTA Module 2, and feel free to comment on and share this

post