UNIVERSITATEA

2019

1
USING AUDIO-VISUAL TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN
PRIMARY SCHOOL

2019

2
Cuprins:

Argument

1. Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Topic relevance
1.3 Relationship with the teaching practice
2. Theoretical background
2.1. The general over-view of audio-visual materials
2.2. Types of audio-visual materials
2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using audio-visual aids
3. Pedagogical research
3.1. Introductory notions
3.2. Aim, objectives and the methodology of research
3.3. The hypothesis of research and the variables system
3.4. The sample
3.5. The stages of research
3.6. Processing and interpreting the results
4. General conclusions
Bibliography
Annexes

3
CHAPTER I

Introduction/1.1.Objectives

“Language opens doors. It unlocks the world of reading and the imagination, the
excitement of writing, the capacity to explore new subjects and releases our potential to
learn and grow as an individual. In schools, it underpins progress, impact on attainment
throughout primary and secondary years, affects self-esteem and behavior and plays a
huge role in a child’s future life chances. Without enough language-a word gap- a child is
seriously limited in their enjoyment of school and success beyond.”1

Vocabulary is one of the most important components of the English language, the very
foundation of it. Possessing worth vocabulary helps students to understand spoken and written
discourse and to communicate, that is the main goal of any English teacher. Fluent
communication requires that students posses a sufficient amount of words in order to express
their opinions.

In is a known fact that children learn their native language very fast and without any
effort. When they move with their parents in another country, they are capable of learning two-
three languages. A Romanian child that goes to school in England, for example, will be speaking
Romanian, English and a third language that is being thought in school. Small children make
language acquisition with incredible facility as they do not think about grammar or vocabulary
and do not worry which grammar structure goes where. The language is just emerging from their
mouth, gradually, begining with one-word utterance up to phareses and full sentences.2

In order that children get to this point, they have to hear a lot of language and this usually
comes from their parents and primary carers. This type of exposure to a lot of language is vital
for acquiring knowledge of a foreign language. Another important feature is the quality of the
language they are expose to, meaning that of their parents, who simplify what are they saying,
using more simple sentences, exaggerate the intonation, most of the times using a higher voice
that sounds more enthusiastic, trying to match the age and the specific situation of the child. “A

1
www.oxford.ly/wordgap, Why Closing the Word Gap Matters: Oxford Language Report, Foreword by Jane
Harley, pag. 2.
2
Harmer, Jeremy, Teach English, pag. .. .
4
high level quality of the interaction include talking about the child’s main points of interest,
varying vocabulary and using words in different contexts.”3

In the end, all children have the desire to communicate, in order to express their needs,
wants and feelings. For this purpose, they need to know the words to express their thoughts.
Primary students are in need of language acquisitions and at the perfect age to make it. 4This is
the best motivation for a teacher to emphasise on learning the vocabulary and create as many
opportunities to use the language during English classes. This “ease of acquisition”, as Jeremy
Harmer named it, becomes gradually less noticeable as children move towards puberty, and after
that, language acquisition is much more difficult. In other words, it is a very important issue for
primary students to make vocabulary acquisitions during this period of their childhood as “the
ease” we have just mentioned is not endless.5

Speaking about the difficulties that primary students may face in the learning process, we
have to mention that when encountering unfamiliar words, especially when it comes to
remembering, primary students tend to forget the new words if they are presented merely
verbally, and in non-motivated situations. As a matter of fact, teachers should be aware of this
issue and try to create a favourable classroom environment, so that learners feel interested and
involved into the specific activities as much as possible .

In this respect, the integration of audio-visual aids as a teaching technique proved its
effectiveness in the context of foreign language learning. Learners need to study in a relaxed
classroom atmosphere. The general opinion of the researchers that studied the importance of
educational audio-visual materials reveals that these devices are beneficial to effectively achieve
higher objectives. The audio-visual aids also meet all students’styles and lower their affective
variables and minimize the amount of challenges that face both teachers and learners in the
teaching-learning process.

When students meet new words, they start getting to know their meanings, forms and
uses and then try to memorize them. This process takes a considerable effort and time for both
teachers and learners. In time, this memorizing activity becomes boring and students loose
interest in it. The work entitled “Using Audio-Visual Techniques In Teaching English In
Primary School“ examines the effectivenesws of audio-visual aids in enhancing student’s
vocabulary acquisition at 4th year primary school level, to find out whether these teaching

3
Kate Nation, What are the root causes of the word gap?, Oxford Language Report, pag. 5.
www.oxford.ly/wordgap
4
Ibidem, op. cit., pag. .. .
5
Ibidem, op. cit. pag.. .
5
techniques help students remember new words. The means of research are permanent classroom
observation combined with a test that was applied after teaching vocabulary using “story time”
technique. I applied the two means of research to a group of 20 students from grade 4 th . As
regards classroom observation, I performed this activity on daily basis in order to get genuine
and accurate data on the students’ feed-back when explaining and practicing new words through
audio-visual aids. The results obtained from this activity revealed that primary students
remember nearly all new words when they encounter them with auditory and/or visual images.
These aids were also useful when teacher wants to attract and motivate pupils for teaching not
merely vocabulary but also a foreign language. We proposed some pedagogical implications for
the teaching of vocabulary with audio-visual devices, through songs and games, and show that
modern technological materials provide more comprehensible vocabulary and create a relaxed
atmosphere inside the classroom.

The audio-visual devices not only relaxes the general environment during classes but stirs
the interest and fastens the process of memorizing and understanding of new words in a way that
cannot bare comparison with the traditional methods and strategies of teaching.

In order to reach the proposed goals, I structured the present work into three chapters,
with the following titles: “Introduction”, „Theoretical background” and „Pedagogical research”.

The first chapter contains information on the main questions and the objectives of this
work, the relevance of the chosen topic that is teaching new vocabulary to primary students in
the 4th grade using audio-visual aids. I also presented the main points of view on vocabulary
issues as I learnt about it from researchers such as Jeremy Harmer, Ur Penny and Paul Nation;
the definition of the vocabulary, the main techniques and strategies in order to present the new
words and explain their meanings.

The second chapter, „Theoretical backgrounds”, focuses on audio-visual aids, their

definition and content, different ways of making effective use of them and enhance their
potential. In the end, we speak about several problems that a teacher may face when using the
audio-visual aids to teach vocabulary.

The third chapter, „Pedagogical research”, contains the practical side of the work. This
chapter refers to teaching English through songs and games and the use of audio-visual aids
while performing the activities. Teaching vocabulary with young students is easy as the words
they need are at the basic level and refers to concrete items, that usually surround them and are
part of their environment. So, there is no point in giving them complicate and boring

6
explanations. It’s much better idea to show them pictures, videos, play games and sing songs.
The learning process will be easier and more relaxed. Using audio-visual aids makes English
classes fun, memorable and entertaining and, most important, students will learn without even
knowing it! Their effort to memorize and understand new words and grammar structures will be
minimum. I believe this is the main reason why students in primary classes really enjoy the
English classes as the level of stress is much lower than othet classes as maths or native
language. I also presented the information that resulted from the applied vocabulary test and
classroom observation in order to prove the importance and effectiveness of audio-visual aids in
teaching new vocabulary. I also introduced story-time as an activity that helps improve several
skills, mainly listening, and of couse, new vocabulary.

1.2. Topic relevance

In Romania, the education system is still dominated by the view that knowledge is a set
of facts that have to be memorized. The teaching-learning process focuses mainly on the teacher,
who is the core of most activities and the main source of knowledge. As a result, primary
students are compelled to learn many different subjects, which add a large amount of data. Some
of the information they are struggling to memorize, is, in fact, too difficult for them to
understand. In the Romanian educational system, children are eligible to go school consisting of
pre-school(very young learners, age 3-6), four years of primary school(young learners, age 7-10,
grade 1st -4th ), four years of intermediate(late or young learners, 5th-8th grade) and finally,
stdents got o high- school, until the age of 18 or 19.

English as a foreign language was added to the curriculum starting from the 3th grade of
primary school. Students receive one hour of 50 minutes of English per week and they have to
pass examinations in all subjects, including English, in order to move from one level to another.
Romanian teachers are aware of the techniques and methodology of vocabulary teaching and
they enjoy making use of audio-visual aids. Yet, few primary students have good knowledge of
vocabulary or grammar, I may say that a third of the students from a class fall into this category.
This situation is due to small age, shyness, not enough opportunities to speak during classes as
the number of students is sometimes over 25 per class, lowering the possibilities of engaging
each student in speaking activities.

7
 Before we teach foreign language for young learners we should know about the
characteristic of the young learners. This can help the teacher to undestand their behaviour, the
way they are thinking and acting, their abilities, as well as their personal needs of
communication. Without having the knowledge ot this, a teacher will not get the best results.
Children in the fourth grade are a challenging group, full of qualities such as imagination,
creativity, ingenuity, lack of patience, eagerness to speak: 1) They express a positive attitude
towards learning a foreign language, especially the English Language; 2) They will have already
formed the basic concepts and have decided on their view of the world and developed their own
values and beliefs, which guide present and future behaviors. 3) They can tell the difference
between fact and fiction, but sometimes, they confuse the two notions; 4)They ask question all
the time; 5)They are able to make some decisions about their own; 6)They have definite views
about what they like and don’t like doing; 7)They have a developed sense of fairness about what
happens in the classroom and begin to question the teacher’s decisions; 8)They have a great need
for individual attention and approval from the teacher; 9) They are keen to talk about themselves,
and respond well to learning, using their own example and lives as the main topics in the
classroom; 10)Their understanding comes not just from explanation, but also from what they’ve
seen and heard and most important, have a chance to touch and interact with. 11)They have
developed a sense of accomplishment, which centers on the ability to learn and apply skills, deal
with peers, competition, self-control, and greater physical strength. 12)Their attention is preatty
limited as they get bored very quickly, so the activities have to be very interesting.6

Speaking about the information that students are getting in school and their level of
understanding it through traditional methods of teaching, Paul Nation states that „Knowledge is
constructed by humans. Knowledge is not a set of facts, concepts, or laws waiting to be
discovered. It is not something that exists independent of knower. Humans create or construct
knowledge as they attempt to bring meaning to their experience. Everything that we know, we
have made. Based on this opinion, a learning process that focuses on the teacher is no longer
suitable. It is because our brain is continuously finding meaning and saving meaningful cases,
and learning processes have to involve students in finding meaning. Teaching and learning
processes have to make it possible for the students to understand the meaning of their learning
material.„7

Primary students, as second language learners, cannot communicate successfully without

acquiring enough vocabulary knowledge that is the core of communicative competence. Paul
6
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Child_Center_Nine/
7
Nation, Paul, www. .. .
8
Nation described the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language use as
complementary: „knowledge of vocabulary enables language use and, conversely, language use
leads to an increase in vocabulary knowledge.„8 In other words one thing leads to another,
reciprocally.

Without sufficient vocabulary, students aren’t able to form sentences or larger texts, to
speak and write in the English Language. Usually, the best students in a class are interested in
learning new words in a foreign language and ultimately be successful as second language
learners. They are also the students who will tend to develop better reasoning, inferencing and
pragmatic skills.9 When a student wants to speak in a foreign language, he/she needs a certain
amount of words that can be used to express ideas, concepts, meanings. First of all, students need
words. Than, they need the grammatical structures in order to express correctly what they want
to say. So, teachers often find their students using dictionaries and less often grammar books.

Speaking about learning a foreign language, vocabulary is one of the most important
component, and the English language curricula in the Romanian educational system, certainly
reflects this. Grammar rules are more difficult to be understood and learnt by the primary
students as they are learning almost the same grammar concept of their native language during
primary classes. The specific activities that the teacher performs in order to teach grammar are
less interesting and appealing to students that have to make some effort in order to memorize and
produce correct language. On the other hand, clear rules should help students learn better while
vocabulary doesn’t have a clear set of rules as grammar has.

Rebecca Oxford, in the article „Vocabulary Learning:A Critical Analysis of

Techniques„ wrote about the lack of clear rules for teaching vocabulary and the strategies that
can be used by teachers in order to overcome this problem: „Given the difficulties of vocabulary
learning in a second or foreign language (L2), along with the obvious necessity of trying to
overcome them, one would expect that vocabulary instruction would be at the top of the agenda
for language teachers. However, the opposite is often the case. Vocabulary is not explicitly
taught in most language classes, and students are expected to "pick-up" vocabulary on their own
without any guidance. Courses on reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and culture are
common in L2 programmes, but very few vocabulary courses exist. Many instances of so-called
vocabulary instruction involve merely giving students lists of words to memorize or providing
limited practice opportunities, with no further assistance to the often overwhelmed learner.” She
also wrote that vocabulary is “by far the most sizeable and unmanageable component in the
8
Nation, Paul, www …
9
What does the word gap mean for a child’s academic achievement and wider life chances?, pag 7.
9
learning of any language, whether a foreign or one’s mother tongue, because of tens of thousands
of different meanings. ”10

When presenting vocabulary, English teachers may face some problems of how to teach
students in order to achieve the best results with the minimum of effort. A good set of
appropriate techniques, which will be implemented to the students, is a good instrument in the
hands of the teacher. Most teachers develop children’s vocabulary by explaining the meaning of
a new word once. This may be enough for good students, that have a lot of words in their
memory, all linked as in a net, which enables them to make phonological, semantic and
grammatical associations. But, for other children, with fewer words in their vocabulary, not
connected to each other, the new words will be forgotten rapidly. For this category of students,
the new words will have to be taught and well practised. A good teacher should prepare himself
or herself with various and up-to-date techniques and has to be proficient in order to be
understood by his/her students, and make them interested and happy in the teaching and learning
process in the classroom, as teaching English vocabulary is a new and different activity from
student’s native language, that is Romanian language in our case.

Rebecca Oxford, in the article „Language Learning Styles And Strategies:An Overview”
wrote that „Language learning styles and strategies are among the main factors that help
determine how –and how well –our students learn a second or foreign language. A second
language is a language studied in a setting where that language is the main vehicle of everyday
communication and where abundant input exists in that language. A foreign language is a
language studied in an environment where it is not the primary vehicle for daily interaction and
where input in that language is restricted.”11

A teacher should never assume that students know the meaning of even simple words.
When assessing the level of understanding of the word „live”, for example, very few could do
this despite the fact they are hearing the word many times at TV. Finally, good techniques and
suitable material are compulsory in order to teach a foreign language successfully. Providing
students with a rich language environment is vital.12

The use of visual-audio aids for teaching English at primary level is something that the
vast majority of language teachers do nowadays in their classroom. We can’t imagine the
teaching-learning process without coursebook images, photographs, paintings, cartoons, picture

10
Rebecca Oxford,„Vocabulary Learning:A Critical Analysis of Techniques, www. pag….
11
Rebecca Oxford, in the article „Language Learning Styles And Strategies:An Overview”
12
Jean, Gross, “Vocabulary-caught or taught?”, pag. 12.
10
books, comics, flashcards, wallcharts, YouTube videos, films, student-created artwork and
media, and so on.”
“The purpose of using audio-visual materials is to initiate, stimulate and reinforce
learning as these aids reinforce the spoken and the written words with concrete images and
provide rich perceptual experiences which are basis of learning. They reduce the boredom of
more verbalism.”13

1.3. Relationship with the teaching practice. Vocabulary: definition; techniques for
teaching vocabulary.

Penny Ur, in her work, „ A course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory” defined
vocabulary, emphasizing on the concept of vocabulary „items”, as follows: ”Vocabulary can be
defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a new item of
vocabulary may be more than a single word for example, „post office” or „mother-in-law”,
which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea. There are also multi-words
idioms such is „call it a day”, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an
analysis of the component words. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about
vocabulary items rather than words.„14

Jeremy Harmer distinguishes between these two types of vocabulary. The first type of
vocabulary refers to the one that the students have been taught and that they are expected to be
able to use. Meanwhile, the second one refers to the words which the students will recognize
when they meet them, but which they will probably not be able to pronounce.15

Other researchers indicate two kinds of vocabulary, namely receptive vocabulary and
productive vocabulary.

a. Receptive Vocabulary is about the words that learners recognize and understand when
they are used in context, but which they cannot produce. It is vocabulary that learners recognize
when they see or meet in reading text but do not use it in speaking and writing.

b. Productive Vocabulary is about the words that the learners understand and can
pronounce correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing. It involves what is needed
13
Kieran Donaghy, Daniel Xerri, The image in ELT, an introduction, pag. .
14
Ur, Penny, ..p. 60
15
Harmer, Jeremy, A … pag. .. .
11
for receptive vocabulary plus the ability to speak or write at the appropriate time. Therefore,
productive vocabulary can be addressed as an active process, because the learners can produce
the words to express their thoughts to others.

We can conclude that vocabulary refers to the total number of words with rules for
combining them, that make up a language and that are used by the individuals and community
groups in order to communicate.

Vocabulary is made of two main branches, as follows: lexicography and lexicology. The
first one, lexicography is is a special technique for writing dictionaries, and refers to the way of
classifying, listing, defining and grouping all items in a dictionary. When looking up for words
in a dictionary, we find that words are put into an alphabetical order, with information about
spelling, pronunciation, meaning and examples to illustrate different usage of the word, and in
some dictionaries, the history of the word. Both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries are used
succesfully by beginners and intermediate level learners.

Lexicology is the study of lexis, of simple, complex and compound words. Ii is the object
that studies the classification, formation and meaning of the words. The English language has
eight different parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions,
determiners and conjunctions.

A noun is a word that represents a person(Jane Austen), a place(Italy, house), an

animal(lion, tiger, dog, cat), a thing(ruler, pencil, rubber) or a concept(liberty, independence).
Nouns are either proper, written with a capital letter(Shakespeare), or common, without a capital
letter(poet). With nouns, we can use an indefinite article(a poet, an old woman), a definite
article(the weather, the women), or no article(We’re studying poetry written by women.).16

Proper nouns refer to names of people, places, organizations, days, months and special
occasions. Most of them have no article(fig. ), some of the proper nouns are used with the
definite article in the plural(fig. ) and some in the singular(fig. ).

Eg. of proper nouns:

16
English Grammar, pag. … .
12
 Elvis Presley Sunday

Denmark June

Rome Easter

Microsoft Margaret Thacher

Fig:

the Queen the White House

the United Kingdom The Gulf War

the BBC

the Eiffel Tower

Fig.

the Robertsons the United Nations

the Arabs the Middle Ages

the Alps

the Netherlands

Common nouns are used to categorize people or things. Some common nouns are
countable and can be singular(woman, poet) or plural(women, poets). Other common nouns are
uncountable and are not used in the plural(poetry, weather). Uncountable nouns are used when
we talk about an abstract concept, an activity, a substance or a material. They are not used with

13
the indefinite article or in the plural. We can use uncountable nouns with no article and the

a black pen good luck

a pencil food

a book clothing

freedom water
determiner „much”.

Eg. Her poem is about flying, freedom and good luck.

They have food and clothing, but they don’t have much water.17

A verb is a word or a group of words that indicate: an action, (meaning what we do: to
eat, to drink, to walk) or events(what happens), a state of existance, what we think, how we
feel,or relationships, especially those concerned with inclusion and possession; we also have
linking verb used to describe states(to be, to seem, to appear).18

I know what you mean.

My parents understood everything.
They believe in fate.
I appreciate all your help.
Some people hate cucumber in sandwiches.
The city guide contains useful information.
That old suitcase belongs to me.
These flowers are beautiful.
Everything seems fine.
You appear to be nervous.

Adjectives are single words(exciting, new, long) and compounds(hard-working, well-

organized) that describe a noun and they usually stand before nouns or separate from the nouns,
after linking verbs such as „to be” or „seem”.

Eg: „a beautiful girl”, „she is beautiful”

What a beautiful girl!

She seems nice.

The new teacher has exciting ideas.

17
Yule, George, English Grammar , pag.. .
18
Ibidem, op. cit., pag. .. .
14
 She’s hard-working and her classes seem thorough and well-organized.

Adjectives are used for the following purposes: to emphasize, to describe and to classify.
Emphasizing adjectives are restrictive or intensifying. Restrictive adjectives are used to talk
about something special or unique. Intensifying adjectives reinforce the meaning of the nouns.
We usually put restrictive before intensifying(fig. ).

Restrictive Intensifying
Chief, exact, first, major, only, principal, Absolute, complete, entire, extreme, real,
sole, specific sheer, total, utter

Eg. Safety is my chief concern.

Our main problems are financial.

Try to give a specific reason.

I haven’t play before, I am an absolute beginner.

The meeting was a complete waste of time.

The boy was the only real hero in the story.

Describing adjectives are used in a certain order, what we call a „normal” order,
(grammatically speaking), but not the only possible order.19

Opinion Size Physical Age or time Shape Colour

quality
Excellent, Big, huge, Dry, hard, New, old, Circular, Green, pink,
lovely, ugly long, tiny hot, light recent, young round, spiky, red, yellow
square

Classifying adjectives are usually put in the following order, with material before
purpose. Again, the „normal” order but not the only possible order.20

Location Origin or source Material Type Purpose

Distant, indoor, African, French, Leather, metal, Economic, Camping,
southern, west Muslim, nailon, plastic medical, running,

19
Ibidem, op. cit, pag. .
20
Ibidem, op. cit., pag..
15
 Victorian scientific swimming

Adverbs are words(always, really, thoroughly, totally) that describes a verb, (She sings
well. I am here), an adjective(Mary is really clever.) or another adverb(I took it very seriously.)
and are concerned with time, place, manner and degree. We usually put adverbs immediately
before the adjectives and adverbs that modify.21

Eg:

It’s nearly complete.

Is it politically correct?
She did it fairly easily.
He spoke very quietly.
I slipped and fell backwards.
I’ll be there tomorrow.
I haven’t been abroad recently.
Rooms are cleaned daily.
It no longer works.
Have you read it yet?
She was only joking.
They simply weren’t paying attention.
Degree adverbs are udes to say to what extent something is done or felt.

Eg.

He totally forgot.
She really hates fish.
We failed completely.
Prices increased moderately.
They’re pretty good.
The music is a bit loud.
He spoke too quietly.
I dindn’t leave home early enough.
Manner adverbs are used to say how something is done. They are uesd in novels to
describe how something was said and they usually come in end position. Adverbs of viewpoint
are used to describe the perspective or point of view being considered. Adverbs of comment are
used to insert a comment or opinion about what is being said or written.22

Eg.
21
Ibidem, op. cit, pag.. .
22
Ibidem, op. cit., pag. ..
16
I will read it carefully.
He writes clearly.
They searched the room quickly and thoroughly.
She works hard now.
The are working individually.
It was done scientifically.
Surprisingly, he failed.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the car accident.

A pronoun is a word that is used to replace a noun or a noun phrase. Eg. He(instead of
John) gives her(instead of Mary) a bunch of flowers.23

Prepositions are single words such as at, from, in, of, on or phrases such of in front of,
next to and out of. They are used with noun phrases to describe people( group of Italian students)
or things(the train to London) or when we want to provide additional information on: place(eg.
at, in, on, above, below, between), time(at, in, on, during, for, since), direction, agent, device or
instrument.24

Determiners are words such as articles(a/an, the), demonstratives(this, that, these, those)
and possessives(my, your, her, his, its, their) that we can use in reference of a noun in order to
identify who or what the noun refers to(eg. That man with the beard is my uncle.)25

Quantifiers are words and phrases that we use when we talk about quantities that are
countable(a few, many, twenty) or uncountable(a little, much). We can use quantifiers before
nouns (I ate a few biscuits and drank some milk.), instead of nouns(Did you want any?) or with
of-phrases(I left most of the biscuits for you. I couldn’t eat all of them.)26

A conjunction is a word that connects two parts in a sentence: words, phrases, clauses or
sentences. They are of three types: co-ordinating conjunctions, used to connect similar elements,
correlative conjunctions, used in pairs, to connect similar elements and subordinating
conjunctions, used to connect subordinate clauses to the main clause.27

Word formation is the process of creating new words from resources of a particular
language according to certain semantic and structural patterns existing in that language. It
consists of three forms: affixation, compounding and conversion.28
23
English Grammar, pag .. .
24
Ibidem, pag…
25
Ibidem, pag…
26
English Grammar, pag.. .
27
Ibidem, pag. … .
28
Cambridge Grmmar, .. pag….
17
 Affixation is the process of attaching suffixes, prefixes or is fixed to a base.
Suffixation: attaching a letter or a group of letters to the end of a word, (Eg: proud + ly=
proudly). A suffix changes the meaning of the word it is joined to by changing its part of speech.
(the adj. national + the suffix -ity becomes the noun nationality).29
Preffix Gramatical category New words
-en with sweet, flat, dark -verb -sweeten, flatten, darken
-ify, -ation with simple -verb, noun -simplify, simplification
-ent, -ence with depend -adjective, noun -dependent, dependence
-ant, -ance with tolerate -tolerant, tolerance
-ous with scandal -Adjective, verb -scandalous, scandalise
-ify with glory -Adj, verb, noun -glorious, glorify, glorification
-ly with coward, saint, friend -adjectives -cowardly, saintly, friendly,
-less with home, meaning, use -adjectives -homeless, meaningless, useless

Prefixation: when attaching a letter or a group of letters to the beginning of a word(Eg: in

+ legal= illegal). A prefix has a meaning of its own that changes the meaning of the word it is
joined to. It can be used before different parts of speech and most of the times, it changes a noun
into an adjective or adverb(underpayment, undersigned, underdeveloped, underweight, undercut,
undervalue). The most common meanings or functions of prefixes are as follows:
The oppositive, a negative or the reverse Unlock, impossible, illegal, disappear,
abnormal, apolitical
Bad or wrong Misspell, malnutrition
Degree, size, quality Superhuman, overcooked, hypersensitive,
underprepared
attitude Pro-abortion, anti-hunting
numbers Biennial, tripartite, multi-talented, polyglot,
monologue, semi-professional
time Pre-war, post-graduate, forecast, ex-husband
Position, direction Income, outgoings, transplant, pan-African
With, along with, touching on Co-writer, fellow-workers, context
miscellaneous Pseudo-artist, re-record, befriend, enable,
empower

Vocabulary exercises:
1. Below are Latin and Greek origin prefixes and suffixes and their meaning. Write
three words that contain these prefixes or suffixes. Then write each word’s meaning.
Prefix: geo- Meaning: earth, ground, soil
1. Geography - The science of the planet’s

29
Ibidem, pag. .. .
18
 surface
2. Geode - A hollow stone line on the inside
with crystals
3. Geology - The study of the physical
structures of the earth and how
it has changed over time
Prefix: oct- Meaning: eight
1. Octopus - A sea creature with long arms
2. Octagon - A planet figure with eight
straight sides and eight angles
3. Octave - A series of eight notes
Prefix: de- Meaning: reduce down, away from
1. Decline - A downward slope or bens
2. Descend - Come down from a higher place
3. Decamp - To leave suddenly

2. Below are Latin and Greek origin prefixes and suffixes and their meaning. Write
three words that contain these prefixes or suffixes. Then write each word’s meaning.
Prefix: non- Meaning: not
4. Nonfat - Having all or most of the fat
removed
5. Nonsense - Words or actions that make no
sense
6. nonlinear - nor arranged in a straight line
Prefix: tri- Meaning: three
7. triangle - a three –sided figure
8. tricycle - a vehicle with three wheels
9. triple - multiply by three
Prefix: rupt- Meaning: break, burst
10. erupt - send aut lava, rocks and ash in a
sudden explosion
11. interrupt - to say something whilst someone
else is speaking
12. disrupt - to interrupt the activity of
something

3. Write the meaning ef each prefix, suffix and root word. Write the new word and what
that new word means.
Prefix/suffix Theprefix/suffi Root The root New word The new
x means: word word word

19
 means: means
In- Not Active Busy, inactive Not
energetic energetic
Dis- Not/opposite of Trust Believe in, distrust doubt
place
confidence
in
-ed Past tense Hop A short leap hopped Made a
short leap
-less Without End Completion, endless Not
stop stopping
Im- Not Polite Showing impolite Showing
good bad
manners manners
-scope see micro Extremely microscope Instrument
small for
inspecting
very small
things

We can also use both prefixation and suffixation and attach letters to the beginning and
the end of a word(eg. in+depend-ent = independent).
Compounding is the process of combining two separate words(free morphemes) to create
a new one with a different meaning(commonly a noun, verb, adjective). The process is also
colled composition and comes from the latin „put toghether”. English orthography is not
consistent with compounds. They are written in different ways, for example, as one word:
sunglasses, aircraft; sometimes, a hyphen is used between the two words, when the first word
ends with a vowel and the second one starts with it, as in take-off, life-threatening, in-law. Also,
compounds can be written as two separate words, eg: football stadium, air cargo, light coloured,
light switch, window cleaner. We can combine adjectives with verbs, nouns or adverbs and we
may use more than two words, as in community center finance committe or bathroom towel-
rack. 30

Conversion: or zero affixation means that a word can have different word classes while
keeping the same form. The most productive form of conversion in English is noun to verb
conversion.

30
Ibidem, pag.. www. …
20
 Eg.

NOUNS VERBS
access To access
bottle To bottle
fool to fool
a fish to fish
e-mail to email
Google to google
Host to host
ship To ship
torch To torch
pocket To pocket

Another productive form of conversion in English is verb to noun conversion, as in the

following examples:

VERB NOUN
to alert Alert
To attack attack
To call Call
to cry Cry
to experience experience
to fear Fear
to feel Feel
to hope hope
to increase increase
to judge judge
Sometimes, the difference occurs at the level of pronunciation.

Eg. Present/preznt/(noun, adjective) present/pri’zent/(verb)

Word are related to each other through synonymy, antonymy, hyponymy and polysemy.

Synonymy: two words that differ in form but have the same meaning or almost the same
meaning are synonyms(eg. the words stone and rock). Oxford on line dictionary provides the
following definition for synonymy: „the fact of two or more words or expressions having the
same meaning; the origin of the word comes from mid 16th cent.: via late Latin from
Greek sunōnumia, from sunōnumos, from sun- ‘with’ + onoma‘name’.” Synonyms can be nouns,
verbs, adverbs or adjectives as long as both words are the same part of speech. They don’t need

21
to be only single words, one synonym can be formed by two words, as in the eg. war – armed
conflict; finally, a word can have more than one synonym, depending on the meaning the learner
wants to use and is appropriate to the context.31

More eg. of synonyms:

amazing Astonishing, startling

baby Infant, child
bad Substandard, poor, inferior
beautiful Good-looking
benefit Good, sake, interest
cat feline
sick ill
tremendous remarkable
happy Content, merry, jolly
sweet Pleasant, agreeable, delightful

Antonymy: is the opposite meaning of a word a word that means the opposite of another
word mid 19th cent.: from French antonyme, from ant- (from Greek anti- ‘against’) +
Greek onuma ‘a name’. In some cases, teachers may define a word by giving its opposite. Most
of the times, we can make an antonym by adding a prefix, as in real-unreal, flexible-inflexible.
The English Language has four types of antonyms: gradable, nongradable/complementary,
relational and auto-antonyms.

Gradable antonyms are opposites at either end of the spectrum, as in the following
examples: hot-warm-cool-cold; slow-fast, easy-difficult, happy-sad, long-short.

Complementary antonyms are absolute opposites, as in the following examples: mortal-

immortal, dead-alive, male-female, true-false, full-empty.

Relational antonyms are opposites where one word describes a relationship between two
objects, and the other word describes the same relationship when the two objects are reversed, as
in the eg. parent-child, teacher and student, buy and sell.

Auto-antonyms are the same two words that mean the opposite, as in the eg. fast,
meaning moving quickly and fast, stuck in place.32

Hyponymy: in lexicography, hyponym is a term used to designate a particular member of

a broader class, therefore it is named a subtype or subordinate term a word with a particular
31
www. Oxford online dictionary
32
www. Antonymy,… .
22
meaning that is included in the meaning of a more general word, for example ‘dog’ and ‘cat’
are hyponyms of ‘animal’ ; . It is a less familiar term as synonymy or antonymy but it refers to a
much more important sense relation: it describes that „a thing” is a kind of „another thing”, eg. A
daffodil is a flower. An eagle is a bird. A cat is a mammal. Pink is a colour. Four is a number.

The words daisy and rose are hyponyms of flower; pink, scarlet, orange, hot pink are all
hyponyms of the colour red; the words maple, birch and pine are all hyponyms of tree.
Hyponymy refers also to verbs, as it is the example of the verb to see which has several
hyponyms: glimpse, stare, gaze.33

Polysemy:means that a word can have a wide range of meanings the fact of having more
than one meaning; early 20th cent.: from poly- ‘many’ + Greek sēma ‘sign’. In this respect, the
English Language is very rich in polysemantic words. For example the word book, has three
main meanings: 1) a bound collection of pages, 2) a reproduced and distributed text, 3) to make
an action or event a matter of record; the word present has four meanings: 1) right now, the
current moment, 2) a gift, 3) to show or display, 4) to be physically somewhere.34

Teaching vocabulary is a difficult task for many teachers all over the world. Paul Nation,
wrote that the most important issue related to teaching new words is that vocabulary must be
taught in context not from lists of unrelated words as the meaning of words change according to
their use in particular sentences and particular contexts. The words must be presented as vehicles
for relaying information and ideas, for communicating in a foreign language. Thus, the new
words should not be taught as a list, that is a common fact for each teacher that some words
won’t be memorized by students without an extra effort on the part of the teacher.

33
www. Hyponymy… .
34
www. Hyponymy, …
23
 According to Paul Nation, then teaching a word, three things must be taught:

the shape or form of

the word

the meaning of the

word

that the form and

meaning go together

Let’s take as example the word peach. If we want to teach the word peach, we must teach
the learner to recognize or produce the word peach, we must teach him that a peach is, and
we must teach him that the sound or shape of a peach and the meaning of a peach go
together. But, how can we teach these three things that are mentioned above. Nation explains
that we can teach the form or the shape of a word by means of three separate senses:
Visually, through the following ways: by showing the written form of the word, by
showing the mouth movements involved in saying the word, by showing hand movements
that draw the letters of the word in the air, by showing wooden or plastic letters that spell the
word.

Tactilely, with the sense of touch, by using letters made of wood, cardboard, sandpaper,
so that the learner can feel the shape of the letter that make up the word, by using a system of
writing like braille, or by writing the word letter by letter, on the learner’s hand.

Aurally, by saying the word, or by producing the word in morse code or some other aural
code. We can teach the meaning of a word by use of demonstration, showing an object or a
cutout figure, by gestures, or by performing an action. We can show our students pictures such as
photographs, blackboard drawings, illustrations cut out from magazines or newspapers or
explanation.35

35
Paul Nation, Techniques for teaching vocabulary, English Language Institute, Wellington, New Zealand, pag.18.
24
 Finally, teachers can present the form of a word with its meaning together, so that the
students can make the right connections and firmly implant them in their automatic responses. Of
course, the matter of creating interest must be considered important by the teacher, as student
will not pay attention to the tasks unless some form of enthusiasm is arousen. But how can we
perform this action? First of all, we can make it difficult, by not giving the answer directly to the
learner, about form, meaning or form plus meaning. Teacher can force the learner to guess, to
follow clues by the teacher or found in his own previous knowledge.

Vocabulary exercises.

1. Read each sentence and determine the meaning of the bolded words using cross sentence
clues. Explain what clues helped you work aut the meaning of the word.
Example: My neighbour was a victim of a thief who stole her purse while she was aut
shopping.
Definition of thief: someone who steals

1. Sentence: There is a book belonging to you in the classroom. Please, pick it up

before you go home.
Definition of belonging: to be own by
Question: What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?
Answer:The student has to pick up the book and take it home as he or she owns
it.
2. Sentence: Rice is the chief food for about 50% of the population of the world.
Definition of chief: most important, main
Question: What clues in the sentence lead you to your definition?
Answer: Fifty per cent of people eat rice as their main source of food.

2. Improve each sentence by crossing out the words in bold and replacing them with a
word from the word list. Write the word on the line.

Word list: topic-steel-hire-blossom-mammal-factual-addition-private

1. We talked about a variety of subject matters. topics
2 Our business is doing well so we are going to employ more staff. hire
3 Why don’t we go and see the cherry flowers? blossoms
4 The sink in our kitchen is made of hard, strong metal. steel
5 As well as being a pianist, she is a painter. In addition
6 She mixed the powder in water to make a thick substance. paste
7. Tom climbed the strai rup to the room below the roof. attic
8. My classmates chose the president of the student council. elected

25
 Teacher should use the reasoning and interpretative abilities to find the answers, should play
games in a moderate manner so that students reach the meaning of the words, enjoy a feeling of
success, and not give up because of a high level of difficulty. Some of the techniques for adding
interest to the teaching-learning of the form of the word, are: 1. Altering the arrangement of a
word by scrambling the letters or weitnig the words upside down or right to left. 2. Making it
necessary for the learner to identify the parts of a word, by writing them in code. 3. Making it
necessary for the learner to choose the form from among other possible choices.

Vocabulary exercises.

1. Colour the words with a soft g sound to get to the finish.

Start

goat cage large vegetable girl

page danger game Egypt good
gate gas garden giraffe orange
dog gym huge go gold

Finish

2. Use the words to make instructions.

Example: of aut house go the / Go aut of the house.
1. Path the to folloe mosque the __________________________________________ .
2. At mosque left the turn _______________________________________________ .
3. Second the the road on take right _______________________________________ .
4. Right after turn shop the ______________________________________________ .
5. To you get the continue until park ______________________________________ .
6. The go park into ____________________________________________________ .

3. Write the words. Sort the words.

Example: cei rcema- ice cream
1. Aorrtc
2. Rgonea
3. Abnnsaa
4. Ecri
5. Ootpat

26
 6. Gaurs
7. Omnle
8. Oonni
9. Ewart
10. Ncchiek

vegetable fruit other

4. Write the le words.

Example: nedalh – handle
1. Belat
2. Eplap
3. Etolbt
4. Enlka
5. Tterlu
6. Polpee
7. Tbleee
8. Lektet
9. Bgetveale
5. Read the text and write the words.
„In many countries, bread is cooked in a mud oven. A fire heats a mud oven, not gas or
electricity. When using a new oven, the first fire should be small because a big fire could
crack and break the oven walls. The best fires are made with dry wood. Light the fire
inside the oven and wait for about an hour until it is very hot. When the oven is at the
right temperature, put aut the fire. Put the bread directly onto the bottom of the oven to
cook.”

nouns adjectives
Example Example
bread mud
O N
F S
H H
t d

27
 Teachers can add interes for the learning of the meaning of a new word by making it
difficult to identify the meaning, for example when using real objects, the teacher can cover them
and challange students to guess what the object is by feeling or contemplating its disguised
appearance.36 When the form of the word is also new, the teacher should repeat it many times
and to ask the student to indicate the possible meaning by pointing, drawing or translating.37

Vocabulary exercises:

1. Circle the word that has the same meaning.

1 A feeling of satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements

gloom unhappiness pride humility
.
2 A person who steals another person’s propriety
thief police owner law
.
3 Clean an area by brushing away dirt or litter
bundle sweep garbage drive
.
4 Round green seeds that are widely eaten as a vegetable
banana carrot potato peas
.
5 A leader or ruler of a people or clan
subordinate chief extra minor
.
6 More pleasant, more delightful
saltier More bitter More sour sweeter
.
7 A knitted garment with long sleeves, worn over the upper body
gloves sweater hat pants
.
8 A paved path for pedestrians at the side of a road
sidewalk road highway traffic
.

2. Circle the word that has the same meaning.

1 First in order of importance

minor ordinary principal extra
.
2 A large body in outer space that circles around the sun or another star
comet plane meteor fireball
.
3 Kind or tender
harsh wild aloof gentle
.
4 Time regarded as still to come
past present future distant
.
5 A relationship between friends

36
Paul Nation, art. cit, pag.19.
37
Paul Nation, art. Cit, pag.18.
28
 . friendship society dislike concern
6 A long area of land between hills and mountains
peak mountain forest valley
.
7 An infant’s bed
cradle container mattress blanket
.
8 Highly pleasant to the taste
edible delicious bland dull
.

When the teacher uses demonstration, an action can be performed in a ambigous way so
that student guess what the meaning of the action is. In order to check the level of understanding,
at the end, the teacher asks students to translate the word into their mother tongue.

When using drawings, the teacher ca use different games drawing dots on a blackboard
and invite the students to connect the dots and make a picture of what the word means, or by
letting the student to draw one line at a time, as long as the activity is done correctly. With cutout
figures, the students can be blind folded so that they identify the cutouts. When using verbal
explanations, the teacher can use many of the techniques used to introduce interest when
teaching the form of the word. The meaning of a word can be written as synonyms, opposites,
synonims in the mother tongue, a description, in code or with scrambled letters. Some letters can
be omitted also. The game „What Is It?” is very efficient in this situation, the teacher repeats the
new word as many times as possible. The teacher says:

A refrigerator is useful.
A refrigerator is big.
A refrigerator is usually white.
A refrigerator had a door.
A refrigerator uses electricity.
It is cold in a refrigerator.
A refrigerator makes ice.
People put food in a refrigerator.
At the end of the activity, teacher asks the students to translate the word into the mother
tongue, to draw or to point to a picture of the object indicated by a word.38
Teacher can arouse interest for the process of learning the conection between form and
meaning, by various ways, such as guessing, following clues, or using memory. When using
the technique of guessing the meaning, the teacher shows some objects or pictures, says the
38
Ibidem, art. cit., pag. 20.
29
name of an object, and a learner points to the objects one by one until the correct one is
found. A game can be made out of this activity by engaging students in a contest, to point the
correct object in the fewest tries and declaring a winner of the game.
When using the following clues technique, the teacher provides a list of words and a list
of meanings. Each word is connected to its meaning by a wiggly line in such a way that
following a line is not so easy but possible. Another type of matching exercise is to identify
the pictures/objects with the underlined words from a set of sentences.
Exercise 1.

A mouse is small.

A mouse likes cheese.

The cat is chacing a mouse.

or

A horse is big.

A horse eats grass.

I like this brown horse.

When using memory, of course, thet teacher reinforces words that the learners have learnt
before, using a multiple-choice test, or to match meanings in one column with words in
another column, thus being an example of teaching by testing.
Eg.

A. bird
B. sheep
C. duck
D. fish

Or

A. horse
B. rabbit
C. cow
D. sheep

Or

30
  Rabbit

 Cow

 Cat

 Frog

Ex. 2. Circle the correct answer to each question.

1. A citizen of the United States is a:
a) Canadian national
b) German national
c) US national
d) Spanish national
2. To have a party, you first need to:
a) Play soccer
b) Invite your friends
c) Walk in the park
d) Hug your mom.

Ex. 3: Draw a line from the phrases on the left to those on the right to make complete sentences.

1. This juice taste better with Valleys

two ice
Develop them
2. Many people are afraid to
3. Often rivers run through All the minor details
4. My tooth aches so I have to
For the baby to sleep in
go see
5. The books are tied up in a
6. A proper summary should
31 The dentist

Snakes

Cubes
 only include the main
points, not
7. When you create photos
from film you
8. Tha cradle is

Ex. 4. Circle the correct answer to each question.

1. When you put 2 and 2 together to make 4, that is called
a. Division
b. Addition
2. What kind of animals would you see in a field?
a. Cows, horses and sheep
b. Giraffes and lions
3. What time of year would you see cherry blossoms?
a. Winter
b. Spring
4. When something is correct, it means that it’s
a. Fiction
b. Factual
5. A seal is a
a. Reptile
b. Mammal.

Teacher can use the power of observation and memory by different techniques, such as
games like Kim’s Game, very useful when practicing words that have already been
introduced.
Eg. Teacher gives students a one-minute glipse of about 15 objects or pictures whose
names they know. Then, he covers the objects or puts them away. Thew students must write
or say as many of the objects as they can remember. Another version of the game is to ask
students to write the name of the objects in the same order they saw them written on the
blackboard. It’s a game that can be done putting time-pressure on the students, alowing 30

32
 seconds to perform the activity. This way, teacher can make a simple job like copying new
words in their notebook more interesting.39
Eg. Kim’s Game: Teacher shows student the images of eight items and the same image
but with one removed item. Student have to name the item that was removed from the
initial picture. One picture has been removed-which one?40
Picture 1

water melon
cascade

apple pencil

coffee cup

pocket watch

sun glasses
lotus flower

Picture 2. One picture has been removed-which one?

Answer: the apple.

39
Ibidem, pag.21.
40
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/kim-s-game-visual-memory-exercises
33
 water melon
cascade

apple pencil

coffee cup

pocket watch

sun glasses
lotus flower

And the game continues in the same manner, with the teacher removing one item each of the
time. It is a game that develops visual memory and memory strategies.

Eg. Specific strategies for teaching a new word41

-Orange-

41
Ibidem, art. cit, pag.
34
 orange
tree
orange
paint
orange
fruit
ORANGE orange
juice
gnearo The teacher writes hrsub on the blackboard
and repeats the word several times. The, asks
the students to write the word by
unscrambling the letters, without knowing
the meaning yet.
Chart The teacher says „orange” several times and
asks the students to write the word by
unscrambling the letters, without knowing
the meaning yet. Then, the teacher asks
students to try to guess the right picture, by
pointing. When students point to a wrong
picture, the teacher repeats the word
„orange”. When they point to the right
picture, the teacher says:” Yes, an orange.”
wrapped The teacher brings to class an orange, in his
pocket or wrapped in a piece of paper. He
asks the learners to guess what he has.
Dashes The teacher uses supply-the-word technique
----- and writes a dash for each letter of the word.
----e The teacher repeats the sentence that contains
---ge the word orange but does not say the word
--nge aloud. The students have to provide the word
-range and if no one cames with the word, then the
35
Orange
Play the game „What is it?”
Play the game „Kim’s Game.”
Play the game „What’s in my hand.”
Reading passage
teacher writes the last letter on the last dash.
The, teacher works backwords -s, -u, until
someone is able to say the word.
Students are asked to raise their hand when
they think they know the word.
A brush is one of the objects or ane of the
words.
The teacher only pretend to have something
in his hands and stars peeling the orange until
someone guesses the word. If students don’t
know the word, then teacher writes a list of
words on the blackboard and asks students to
choose their answer from that list.
The students read a passage with the word
orange in it. When the reading ends, the
teacher gives several meanings or show
several pictures or objects and asks students
to find the word in the passage that
corresponds to the meaning thus
demonstrated.

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1. The general over-view of audio-visual materials

36
 2.2. Types of audio-visual materials

The audio-visual aids can be classified into following types:1)Auditory aids, 2)Visual
aids, 3) Auditory and visual aids, 4) Activity Aids.
1)Auditory aids consist in the following devices:
 Radio
 Gramphone
 Tape recorder
2)Visual aids are, as follows:
 Black-board
 Charts
 Models
 Maps
 Pictures
 Sketches and diagrams
 Slides and film strips
 Epidiascope
 Bulletin board
 Cartoons
 Globe
 Museum
 Real objects
 Musical instruments
3) Auditory and visual aids are, as follows:
 Sound-motion pictures(films)
 Television
 Drama
4) Activity Aids are as follows:
 Field trips and excursions
 Booklets
 Newspapers
 Magazines42
42
www. need, Importance or uses of audio-visual aids.
37
 The use of visual aids:

 Black-Board-This is the cheapest and the best aid for teaching a language. It can
be used for oral work, for reading lessons, writing lessons, practice lesson, for
testing work and for all types of language work. The following points should be
kept in mind while using black-board:
 Every written word or figures drawn on it should be neat, clean and clearly
visible.
 Do not make too much or too little use of black-board.
 Draw sketches, pictures and diagrams which help in the work of language
teaching.
 Use colored chalk where desirable.
 Invite and encourage the students to use black-board as often as possible.
 Flannel Board-It is a rectangular, wooden ply board on which a piece of flannel
is pasted. It can be used for teaching spellings, words, structures and giving
pronunciation practice. it can be used for teaching composition and storytelling
also.
 Flash Cards-Flash cards are a useful device for teaching the beginners. Flash
cards are strips of this card board which are held before the class for a short
interval of time. They may be used for reading practice, oral teaching, teaching
spellings, sounds etc.
 Charts-Charts are frequently used by a language teacher. The English class-room
should always have four or five charts displayed prominently on the walls. They
should largely be colored charts. Charts can be used for teaching structures words,
elements of grammar, guided composition, free composition and many other
forms of language teaching.
 Pictures-Pictures play a very important part in teaching English. They supply
essential background of the language. Pictures help in forming correct association
of ideas in the minds of the students. We can give examples of the picture of
winter in which everything looks desolate and joyless . The dictionary meaning of
winter cannot show what actually happens in winter time. How horrible is winter
time in England can only be known with the help of a picture, not with the help of
a dictionary. Moreover, modern methods of teaching a foreign

38
 language recommend the extensive teaching of words and the background of the
life of people under special historical and geographical conditions.Pictures are
also used for aesthetic training and for direct instructions and direct experiences.
 Dramatisation- Dramatization is also very important and useful device in the
teaching of languages. The lessons in languages are put into life and action. With
the help of dramatization, for instance, if the story of ‘Two friends and a Bear’ is
dramatized, it will infuse life and action in the lesson and the students will show
great interest in the lesson. Thus, audio-visual aids make things more realistic for
students to grasp the lesson and understand it fully.
 Radio-Radio is a very useful aid in the teaching of languages. It brings the idea of
realism and removes the dullness of the lesson. It arouses the interest for the
lesson in the minds of students. But it should be borne in mind that the radio talk
should be within the comprehension level of the students. Students at the
secondary stages, can desire great benefit from radio talks. After listening to the
radio, the whole talk should be discussed in the class under the guidance of the
teachers.
 Linguaphone- Linguaphone is just like a Gramophone. It is used to teach the
children the correct way of pronunciation. A linguaphone can be fitted with a
recording device. In that case, a record of correct pronunciation can be
reproduced at any time for the benefit of students. It can also teach the students
correct grammatical structure Records are used for teach of poetry, correct usage
of words and phrases. First of all, the teacher should listen to its recitation himself
and then explain its points to the students. It is more useful than a radio. It can be
used whenever desired and can be repeated if required. The government should
provide linguaphone records to all schools.
 Tape Recorder-Tape recorder can be used as a means of self correction. A talk
can be first recorded on the tape recorder and then reproduced in the class-room
for discussion. Thus it can prove to be a model for correct pronunciation. It can be
used to record a story, a talk or a play from the radio.
 The teaching aids are in fact, tools in the hand of a teacher. The teacher can use
them whenever he thinks it fit to do so. But he should not depend too much on
them. He should consider them only as tools, and not ends in them.
 Pictures play an important role in teaching English at various stages·. They supply
much of the background of a language. They create correct association of ideas in

39
 the minds of the learners of language. Pictures present to the students background
of the words to be learn. They give a social and historical background of the
people, who speak those words. Hence, pictures play a dominant role in the
teaching of a language, for instance, it is through pictures that we can know the
real meaning of th severity of winter in England and summer in India. Pictures
have a fascinating charm for children. Colored pictures have a special attraction
for children of all age-groups. Broadly speaking, pictures can be divided in two
headings:
 Pictures suitable for aesthetic training-Some good pictures can create aesthetic
sense in the students. They teach them how to love beauty and admire it. They
awaken in children the sense of color shape and form. Students become more
imaginative by looking at pictures. They derive great pleasure by selling attractive
-pictures. Thus, all good pictures are of immense value for imparting aesthetic
training.
 Picture for direct instruction-Good pictures can create suitable atmosphere for
teaching English. They arouse interest for the study of English in the minds of
students. Pictures portray certain aspects of life quite faithfully. At early stages of
teaching English, pictures portraying scenes from Indian life and common scenes,
such as village well, village pond can be made use of. Indian juggler, Indian
bazaar etc. can be very useful as a source of general information for the students.
 Moreover pictures provide sufficient material for vocabulary work. They create
an everlasting impression on the minds of students regarding certain words
associated with the picture.
 Methods of using pictures for language  teaching:
 (1) Direct teaching of the text-book.
 (a) The pupil teacher can base his introductory talk of the lesson on the picture of
a text-book. This picture will invite the immediate attention of the students to the
subject matter.
 (b) Expansion of the taxi can be based upon the picture. After reading from book.
The subject can be easily developed on the bliss; of the picture, for example, after
a lesson on the sunset tht· picture on sun-set can serve as a suitable material for
the expansion of the lesson.
 (c) The lesson can be allotted through pictures, which give a vivid idea of
everything. Some aspects which cannot be expressed by words, pictures present

40
 these aspects very vividly. The thing wretch cannot be brought in the class
room, can be easily illustrated through pictures, such as mountains,  valleys, 
waterfalls,  oceans  etc.
 (d) Pictures can also be very useful for the purpose of recapitulation or revision of
the lesson.
 (e) Some actions, which cannot be performed in the class-room can be portrayed
through pictures, such as swimming, skating.
 (f) Pictures are also a useful method for showing the contrast between Indian and
English life. An English shopping centre is quite different from an Indian market.
This contrast can be easily shown through pictures of Indian and English life
styles.
 (2) Training in imagination-Training in imagination can be given to the students
through pictures, illustrating some stories or actions. By representing a story,
students can be asked to give the details of the situation. The charm of the picture
lies in the fact that it can produce many images at the same time in the minds of
the students. The same picture is read differently by different people. Story
building is a highly imaginative art. Children are good at constructing stories if
they are given some training beforehand. Stories about ‘a house on fire’ or ‘a boat
washed ashore’ can be easily built up af ter seeing a picture on these incidents.
Besides stories, dialogues between two persons shown in a picture can be easily
understood by the students.
 (3) Essay writing-Pictures can help the students in writing an essay on any given
topic. Descriptive and narrative essays can be written on the things shown in the
picture. Mr. Faucett has said very correctly about it, “certain pictures effort
excellent material for an essay.” A view of an aero plane, motor vehicles for the
agricultural farm, good roads, and bad roads contrasted, machinery for scientific
farming, a model ship, an exhibition of handicrafts etc. may assist the students in
writing essay on any one of these topics.
 (4) Letter-writing-Pictures can also provide suitable subjects for letter writing, for
instance, pictures showing natural sceneries, a picture on ‘The Taj Mahal, Agra ‘
can help the children in writing an application to the Headmaster to arrange a
school trip to the Taj.
 A good teaching aid school possesses the qualities given below

41
  (1) It shows the purpose clearly-A good teaching aid shows clearly for what
purpose the teacher wants to show it. It also shows for which stage of the lesson it
has been used i.e. for presentation stage or practice stage.
 (2) Easy to use-A good aid is always easy to use in the classroom.
 (3) Variety of uses-A good aid can be used in many lessons. It can also be used at
various class-levels.
 (4) Invites attention to major points-It is so prepared that it automatically invites
attention to major points in the lesson.
 (5) Related to age and ability levels-A good aid is always related to the age level
of the students for whom it is used. It also suits their mental ability level.
 (6) Suitable-A good aid is suitable to the situation for which it is used.
 (7) Colorful-A good aid is usually colorful in order to attract the students.
 In short, T.V. is a good aid helps the teacher by making his lesson effective and
helps the students by making the lesson interesting.
 For some people, video is just „listening with pictures”43, for others is much more
that that. The use of video conveys the meanings and the moods through gestures
and expressions that can be seen this way. The facial expression of the people
who act in the video matches intonation. In this way, students understand far
beyond the level of verbalization, of just listening to the teacher. Another
advantage of using the video is that the students can look at some situations that
happen in places that are situated far beyond their classroom, for example, if they
want to see how food is prepared in a restaurant in Japan, they can fiind and
watch a video with this topic. Finally, students can create their own video, upload
them on YOU TUBE CHANNEL, and become the „creators/producers” of their
own films. T.V. is a modern teaching aid. It is most suited for teaching language.
Television can help in widening the language experience of the pupils to a
considerable extent. The greatest merit of television as a language aid is that it can
create a far greater variety of situations than the teacher. Children can be exposed
to language situations at a railway station, at a bus stop, at a market place, at a
hotel and at home. Television provides an opportunity to a large number of
pupils to learn from a single experienced source. A good television
programmed can provide a model of correct speech not only to the students and
be a good source of information and a model for the teacher also. Television, of

43
Harmer, Jeremy, Teaching with video, pag. 282
42
 course, is not without its limitations.  Is a unidirectional medium i.e. a one way
communication? Thus it can never replace the class-room teacher who has the
advantage of having direct communication with his students. Television can only
perform „some” duties better than the teacher.
 Broadly speaking, language teaching consists of presentation, practice and
production. Television can handle the first stage i.e. presentation very well, quite
often better than a class-room teacher. But it cannot handle the second stage i.e.
practice or drill due to lack of feedback from the pupils. The attitude of the class-
room teacher towards television is very important. The teacher has to be convinced
that the television is not a threat to their existence. The television is not going to
replace him but to assist him.

2.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using audio-visual aids

The advantages of using the audio-visual aids are huge for the teaching-learning
process, in terms of making it more “effective, durable and realistic.” 44 We shall
enumerate some of the advantages, as follows:
 Clarity: in terms of clarity, visual aids are able to explain various points and
concepts;
 Attention and interest: audio-visual aids can be used by the teacher to attract
attention and create interest for the learning topic that no longer remains boring;
 Best motivators: audio-visual aids motivate our senses and they stimulate interest
in learning. The sense organs are utilized at maximum and facilitate the gaining of
knowledge rapidly and easier that by presenting things verbally;
 Maxims of teaching: audio-visual aids can be used by the teacher to follow the
important maxims of teaching like simple to complex, concrete to abstract, known
to unknown, and learning by doing;
 Fixing up knowledge: audio-visual aids can be used by the teacher to help
students to make associations an recalling ideas. This can help in fixing up the
knowledge, the learning process is influenced by association and recall;
 Meeting the individual differences: one huge advantage is that the teacher can
meet various types of learning, as some students learn better by listening, other
students learn through visual demonstration, while others learn through doing
44
Ibidem, the site.
43
 things. There are many differences among students and these aids help in meeting
them.
 Encouraging activity: the teaching-learning process becomes more stimulating
and active through audio-visual aids; they turn the passive, dull environment of
the classroom into a living one, students become open up more as they forget
about their fears;
 Introducing variety: the traditional techniques concentrate on the teacher’s
activities, who is the main actors while through the audio-visual aids, students
experience something new, interesting and stimulating, improving their learning
capacity;
 Development of scientific attitude: use of audio-visual aids can help students to
develop the observation and analytic spirit, and instead of agreeing to the listened
facts, they experiment them practically;
 Promotion of international understanding: films, slides, radio, television, lefe,
culture and civilization of other countries are available and one of the best ways
to promote understanding and appreciation of the cultural values and ways of
living of different nations of the world.
Talking about disadvantages, first of all I should say that the video materials have
to be of good quality, interesting and not too long nor too short. The students we
are teaching today see a lot of television sa they can tell the difference. Their
attention won’t be caught if we show the a poort quality video. The length of the
video is another issue: if it is too short, 2-3 minutes, the students don’t have the
time to understand the meaning of it. If it is too long and uninteresting, they will
be bored and loose interest after 10 minutes. Teachers should be careful not to
stop the video too many times in order to give explanations and should allow
them to see the end of the story. Otherwise, we may end up in a revolution and
we don’t want that.45

45
Jeremy Harmer, op. cit. pag. 283.
44
 CHAPTER III Pedagogical research

3.1. Introductory notions

The nowadays generation of students is totally different from the generations that
we taught in the past. One reason for this big differences lays in the development of
technology, mobile phones, that has changes their perception of reality and the entire
teaching-learning process. The new role of image that dominates the world of
information, rezulted in a new generation of students that are thinking in pictures and
communicate through pictures. The cousebook that is used by students in the fourth
grade, meaning „Fairyland 4”, by Jenny Dooley and Virginia Evans is full of good
quality pictures that engage students in the study of grammar and vocabulary notions.
They are stimulating and pleasant, making the learning process seem much easier and
efortless. Another advantage of using this coursebook for both students and teachers is
the fact that it is very different, and of a higher quality than the other coursebooks that
students have to study. So, when opening the English cousebook, they enter a beautifully
coloured new world, with nice characters that ease their way, making study seem

45
something natural, free of the usual stress and strugle to understand the knowledge they
are being taught. As a teacher, I belive thet the pictures from the „Fairyland 4” cousebook
are beautiful and of great help in the teaching-learning process. Still, there are many other
open sources that my students always carry, that is the images they are constantly find on
the internet, with the help of their mobile phones.
Photos should provoke a discussion, intrigue, move, and make students laught,
they should surprise student not be too obvoius. The very moment they capture their
interest, we are able to start make conversations with our students. We can ask them to
imagine things that pahhened before or after that photo was taken. It is enough that the
photo is interesting to make them talk withoiut having the necessaru words in their
vocabulary. In this point, the teacher can insert the new vocabulary and some practise
exercises.
We all know that students carry their mobile phones whereever they go, and this
fact should be used by the teacher in a positive way so that students get more knowledge
in an familiar manner. I dont’t want to make my students stick to their mobile phones but
we should all recognize that the new technology, the use of social media, Instagram,
Pininteres, Facebook, have made the profile of the new generation of students. We are
teaching the most visual stimulated generation of students that our educational system
has ever had before. Teachers should use the amount of images/photos thet student have
in their own mobile phones in order to teach English. They will continue using the new
technology anuway, regardless of the advice they are getting from their parents and
granparents not to use phones and live a real social life, au older generation have made. I
belive that the process is unstopable and fortunately, the new strategies for English
teaching have adapted, successfully, to the new techology.
Timothy Gangwer, who is a pioneer in the field of visual learning, describes this
challenge in the following words: „It is hard to ignore that the generation of children now
moving through our educational system is by far the most visually stimulated generation
that system has ever had to teach ... this generation of children needs to be taught the way
they learn best – with visual stimulation accompanied by active learning strategies.... Our
student think in pictures, see in pictures and communicate in pictures.”
A young student in the fourth grade has hundres of photos in the mobile phone
and in on line on a daily basis. They have already leraned to take pictures of themselves
or any other item that they see and find interest in, or to send eachother photos with the
lesson taught during classes. They make and upload you tube materials presenting their
own activities, inside school premises but mostly outside of it.
46
 The role of us, the English teachers is to prepare the new generation of students to
deal with life, in general, and to the new visual world we all are living in today. We are
surrounded by all types of visual stimuli, such as TV commercials, billboards, leaflets,
brochures, Facebook ads, emoticons and many other images. Student use emoticons to
espress their feeling, replacing the words with them. This is the new language and teacher
must accept and use in teh teaching-learning process.
„With technology at our fingertips and global access to everything, we need to
bear in mind that being in possession of kowledge is not enough; what makes a difference
is how effectively we use it.”
Mobile phones are a tool that is permanently at our disposal and we should never
forget to use. There are hundreds of photos in the mobile phones of our students and we
just have to ask them to begin a conversation. It is just this easy! They will answer gladly
at our questions about the new technology.
I have prepared a set of practical activities to teach new vocabulary and asked
students to perform in pairs, to search, compare and express their opinions. During this
time, I used permanent class observation and at the the end of the unit I assesed the
students, applying them a test.

3.2. Aim, objectives and the methodology of research

The aim of the study is to prove that the visual-audio aids contribute to a much
fasters and easier understanding of the new words than with the traditional methods of
teaching.
In order to reach this objective, I chose to use the visual stimuli of images and the
audio stimuli of songs. I believe that the best images are those taken by students
themselves while using their mobile phones outside the clasroom, in their spare time
and when their eyes are caught by beautiful things. It’s interesting to see those
things that they are interested in when they are free from the stress caused by school
chores. This way the teacher understands his students, learns about their
temperament and behaviour.
I also used the Internet sources in order to access You Tube and Instagram. I used
You Tube because of the power of the moving image upon the process of learning. The
students could see demonstration of Romanian traditions during Easter, that of painting
the eggs in Bucovina, a famous region for this anual tradition and also the role of women.
Another You Tube sourse that I used is about Spain, a beautiful European country that is
47
likely to be visited by many of my students as I know they have relatives or sometimes
their parents are working in this country. Speaking about parents and the fact that a
considerable number of them are working abroad, that is the case of 12 children in the
fourth grade that I teach, who stay with their grandparents, uncles and aunts, I believe
that a good topic for them is to present their family and new cousins that live abroad so
they reinforce their feeling of being part of a family.
On the other hand, I included a topic about the chores inside the house that my
students usually do, without enthusiasm. I believe they are at the proper age to overcome
this lack of enthusiasm and become aware of their enourmous potential within their
families.
Besides the audio-visual aids, I also used brainstorming to refresh the already
memorized knowledge. At the end of each vocabulary activity, I used You Tube chanel
again for singing a song; this choice of activity at the end of the English class was done
for the relaxation of students, ending the class with enthusiasm and determine them to
reinforce some vocabulary during the time they spend after classes. My students usually
keep the lyrics of the songs in their memory and sing at home, in the presence of the
other members of the family. It’s a vey nice way to comunicate with the family that have
a chance to find some of the activity the children have done during classes that day.
I chose four vocabulary activities that I believe are both cultural and personal, the
first fills their need to be aware of their nationality, traditions and origin and the second,
more personal, is about their family and things they have to do in their own homes( small
but necesary chores).
In the end I assesed the understanding and memorizing of the new vocabulary by
giving students a test. The results of the test are as follows:

No. of No. of grades 9- No. of grades No. of grades Observations

order 10/VG(very good) 7-9/G(good) 5-7/poor
1. 14 4 2 No student
took a smaller
mark than 5.
Total 20
no of
student
s

48
 STUDENT'S MARKS

1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
TOTAL NO - 20

1st Qtr- represents the students with grades between 9-10

2nd Qtr- represents the students with grades between 7-9
3rd Qtr- represents the students with grades between 5-7

3.3. The hypothesis of research and the variables system

Talking about personal images stimulate the brain and guarantees students
involvement.
3.4. The sample
Practical activity 1: time alowed is 25 minutes per activity;the teacher asks the
students to move their desks in the classroom to make room for 4 pairs of five(5) students
each. Each team will be choosing three photos from their mobile phones and share them
on Instagram to they can be seen very quickly by all students in the classroom. Students
are asked to stay close to eachother and choose a leader among them, in order to
represent the other four members of the team. The leader position will be taken by all of
the students that form that team, as they go on from one activity to the other.
Warm up: the Easter holyday has just finished and it is an excellent
opportunity to ask students to look into their mobile phones and choose three

49
photos that they have taken during Easter, while spending time with their family
and talk about what’s in those pictures.
I also ask students to use the following questions:

1 Who took the photo?

.
2 Who is in the photo?
.
3 Where was it taken?
.
4 What were you doing?
.
5 Did you like it?
.

The answers of team one:Daniel, Marius, Carmen, Ioana and Florin have
selected these three photos about the food they ate at Easter and made up a short
dialogue, as follows:
Daniel: „Who took the photo?”
Marius: „I took it. It’s very funny.”
Carmen: „What’s in the photo?”
Marius: „It’s my Easter dinner.”
Ioana: „Yammy!”
Marius: „I see the “cozonac”. I don’t know the English word for cozonac.” Will you help
me, teacher?
Florin: I know the word in Italian: panetone!
Teacher: „Of course, Marius. Cozonac is a traditional sweet cake filled with cream made
of cacao and ground nuts. In English, we have words like cake, pie, „panetone” in an
Italian word.”

50
 Cozonac Drob
Pască

Ask students to access the internet, You Tube, at the following address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eCEHqoxdCE and follow a recipe, paying attention to
the ingredients; than ask their opinion about it, using the following questions:

What do you think about it?

Have you ever helped your mother to bake?
Do you like it?

Team one answers:

Daniel: „Too difficult!”
Marius: „My mother is good at it! ”
Carmen: „Yummy!”
Florin: „I like it with milk. ”
51
 Ioana: „I help my mother to bake it!”

It’s time for brainstorming!

What are the ingredients for making a traditional cake for Easter?

sugar flour cacao oil eggs butter vanilla Lemon Orange honey
zest zest
 I introduce „Countable and uncountable nouns.” Then, I ask students to put the words
into the correct box:

Countable: Uncountable:

Lemon, eggs, lemon, orange Flour, sugar, cacao, butter,honey, oil

At the end of the class, ask students to listen and sing a song about Saint Patrick’s
Day, accessing the You Tube Channel on the address https://bussongs.com/songs/st-patrick-
s-day-song. I give them the lirics and ask them to sing along, following the lirics:

The story of St. Patrick’s Day

***
The story of St Patrick’s Day
Began so long ago
The lyrics in this song
Will tell you
All you need to know
The seventeenth of March
Is when this joyous holiday
Is celebrated happily
With colourful parades
Dee Lai Dee Dai Dee
Dai Dee Dai Dai Dee
Lai Dee Dai Dee Daiv Hummm Hummm

52
 Patrick was only sixteen when
The pirates captured him
They sold him to slavery
And took him to Ireland

He kept the faith

And made his escape
When he was twenty-two
And made it back to Britain
That was the only home he knew

Patrick had a vision

To return to Ireland
And vowed to teach Christianity
Until the bitter end
Legend says that Patrick used
The shamrock to explain
That the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Are all and one the same.

On this day the Irish dress

In many shades of green
And some are feeling lucky
With the leprechauns they’ve seen
It’s music and fun for everyone
We’ll party and we’ll play
Come one, come all,
Come join along
On this St. Paddy’s Day!

53
 The answers of team two: Adriana, Elena, Ionel, Diana and Constantin have
selected these three photos on Easter eggs and spring flowers, made up a short
dialogue, as follows:

Easter eggs branduse

ghiocei

Adriana: „Who took the photo?”

Elena: „I took it. It’s very corourful.”
Ionel: „What’s in the photo?”
Elena: „It’s the Easter eggs that I painted with my mother.”
Diana: „How did she make the eggs?”
Elena: „She prepared the ..... what’s the word for „vopsea.” Will you help me, teacher?
Constantin: I know the word: red!
Teacher: „Of course, Constantin. Red is a colour but not the English word for „vopsea”
that is „dye.”

Ask students to access the internet, You Tube, at the following address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KHdtv9P7gY/ ouă incondeiate, and follow a short
presentation of the Romanian traditional way of preparing the Easter eggs in Bucovina;
than I ask their opinion about it, using the following questions:

What colours are the eggs?

Did you know about this tradition?
Do you like it? Should we keep the tradition?

54
 Team two answers:
Daniel: „ I see red, yellow and blue!”
Marius: „I always paint the eggs on Easter! ”
Carmen: „Cool!”
Florin: „I like it !”
Ioana: „I always help my mother to pain the eggs!”
It’s time for brainstorming!

What are the colours for painting the traditional eggs for Easter? Do you know other words
related to this activity?

orange pink red yellow green blue violet brown black scarlet
 I ask students to devide the colours into „Easter colours” and the other(they may choose
whatever combination):

Easter colours: Th others:

Red, green, blue,yellow Orange, pink, scarlet, black, violet

At the end of the class, ask students to listen and sing a short and jolly song about
a teapot, accessing the You Tube Channel on the address https://bussongs.com/songs/im-a-
little-teapot Give them the lirics. Ask them to sing along, following the lirics:

I’m a little tea pot

***
I’m a little tea pot
Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up
Hear my shout
„Tip me over
And pour me out!”

55
 Reinforcement and extension activities: Happy Easter!
1. Let’s play! Easter Hop!46

Draw and cut out two large cardboards eggs.

Decorate them with paints, markers, or crayons.
Have each player choose a partner and give each
pair of the players two eggs. To play: in each
pair, there is a hopper and a helper. Starting at
one end of the room, the helper places an egg on
the floor in front of the hopper, who hops onto it
with both feet. The helper then places the other
egg a little way ahead and the hopper jumps onto
it. This continues until the pair gets to the end of
the room. Now players change roles. The first
pair back to the starting line wins.

2. Easter egg holder for family and friends. Students are given the templates and then
they cut a paper roll into a ring and glue the strips of paper around the roll and place
the eggs gently in the ring. It should stand nicely on the table.47

3. Happy Easter Crossword. Complete the Easter crossword, using the following
words: eggs, lamb, chick, basket, ducking, rabbit.48

The answers of team three: Alina, Liliana, Ovidiu, Andreea and Mihai have
selected these three photos on some old and new members of their family and made
up a short dialogue, as follows:

46
Dooley, Evans, Fairyland Teacher’s Resource Pack, Express Publishing, p. 35.
47
Ibidem, p. 36.
48
Ibidem, pag. 38.
56
 my cousin from
Spain my grandparents

mother and father

Alina: „Who took the photo?”

Liliana: „I took it. It’s very colourful.”
Ovidiu: „Who’s in the photo?”
Liliana: „It’s my new cousin.”
Andreea: „Where is he from?”
Liliana:„ He is from Spain”
Mihai: It’s so cool!
Teacher: „Liliana, please introduce your family.”

Exercise: Complete the family tree, using 5-6 words from the following list:

Grandfather grandpa grandmother

grandma father mother
brother sister Aunt
uncle cousin me
dad mum

57
 grandpa and
grandma

father mother

brother sister my cousin

Ask students to access the internet, You Tube, at the following address -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71t3QxqPeoU - 10 amazing facts about Spain and
follow a short presentation of Spain; than ask their opinion about it, using the following
questions:

What do you know about Spain?

Where is Spain?
What is the capital of Spain?
What language do Spanish people speake?

Team three answers:

Alina: „”
Liliana: „”
Ovidiu: „”
Andreea: „”

58
 Brainstorming: Do you know these flags?
 I ask students to identify the countries that are represented by these flags:

SPAIN
GREAT
Do you BRITAIN
know ROMANIA
the flag?
Vocabulary exercise: Match the money to the country in your notebook.

No of Money Country
order
1. Euros and cents
2. Dollars and cents
3. Pounds and pence
4.
5.

At the end of the class, ask students to listen and sing a song about the English
Language alphabet, accessing the You Tube Channel on the address
https://bussongs.com/songs/a-is-for-apple-alphabet-phonics-song. I give them the lyrics and ask
them to sing along, following the lyrics:

A is for apple alphabet phonic songs

***
A is for apple, apple, apple,
B is for ball, ball, ball,
C is for cattle, cattle, cattle,
D is for doll, doll, doll,
59
 E is for eat, eat, eat,
F is for fairy, fairy, fairy,
G is for greet, greet, greet,
H is for hairy, hairy, hairy,
I is for itty, bitty, itty, bitty,
J is for jump, jump, jump,
K is for kitty, kitty, here kitty, kitty
L is for lump, lump, lump,
M is for motion, motion, motion,
N is for nutty, nutty, nutty,
O is for ocean, ocean, ocean
P is for putty, putty, putty,
Q is for queen, queen, queen,
R is for repeat, repeat, repeat
S is for scream, scream, scream,
T is for treat, treat, treat
U is for under, under, under,
V is for vex, vex, vex,
W is for wonder, wonder, wonder,
What we’ll do for X-X-X?
How about X- RAY?Yah!
X-ray’s good! What else starts with an X?
Xilophone!Oh yah!
Y is for yak, yak, yak,
Z is for zoom, zoom, zoom,
Now, let’s go back, back, back
And sing this tune, tune, tune.

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The answers of team four: Aura, Sandu, Cezar, Cosmina and Iulian have selected
these three photos of the chorses they’ve done in their houses and made up a short
dialogue, as follows:

Cleaning
the
house

Aura: „Who took the photo?”

Sandu: „I took it. It’s very funny.”
Cezar: „Who’s in the photo?”
Sandu: „It’s me!”
Cosmina: „What are you doing?”
Sandu: „I’m cleaning the carpet!
Iulian: What’s in your hand?
Silence(everybody is looking at Sandu’s photo of a ................................................... ).
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 Teacher: „Does anybody know the word for the item that Sandu is using to clean the
carpet?” It’s a vacuum cleaner.
Ask students to access the internet, You Tube, at the following address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SesCepncmJ8 and a funny video on Mr. Beam doing
the chores https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlHi_R4y2A and follow a short
presentation of the household chores to do in a house, than ask them to sing a song:

What are the usual activities you do to clean the house?

Vacuum Wash Wash Watch Make Make Make Do the Do my Do the

the the the car the tv the a cake some ironing homework chores
carpet dishes bed tea

What are the rules in the countriyside and in the park?

I love the Do Do Do not Kee Kee Do not use Pu Watch Listen

countrysid not not pick p of p your t out! to the
e and drop mak flower the your skateboard out Some adults
parks! litte ea s gras dog s the things are that
r lot of s on fir hazardous watch
noise the e ! you!
lead

Sing „The Country Song” and ask my students to make a poster about looking after the
countryside(eg. write the lyrics in the middle and decorate it with drawings such as flowers,
trees, etc.):

In the country
In the country
Please take care!
Please take care!
Put out any fires
Pick up all your litter
Don’t make a noise!
Don’t make a noise!49

49
Dooley, Evans, Fairyland Teacher’s Resource Pack, Express Publishing, p. 14.

62
 Put the words into the correct box:

Chores: The others:

Vacuum the carpet Watch the TV

Wash the dishes Make a cake

Make the bed Make some tea

Do the ironing Do my homework

At the end of the class, ask students to listen and sing a short and jolly song about
germs and flues, accessing the You Tube Channel on the address
https://bussongs.com/songs/the-germs-song-wash-your-hands Give them the lirics. Ask them to
sing along, following the lirics:

The Germs song/Wash your hands

Germs can cause a runny nose

Germs form coughs and colds and flues
Don’t spread germs at home and school
Wash your hands, that’s what you do!
Wash, wash, wash your hands
Get them nice and clean
Wash them on top
Wash them below
And fingers in between.
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 Germs can cause a runny nose
Germs form coughs and colds and flues
Don’t spread germs at home and school
Wash your hands, that’s what you do!
Wash your hands, that’s what you do!
Wash your hands, that’s what you do!

Reinforcement and extention activities: FIRST AID KIT. Students make a first aid
booklet, drawing or sticking pictures with different medicines and write a sentence, eg: This is
cough syrup. You should take this when you’ve got a cold.50

TEST PAPER!

NAME: DATE:
CLASS: MARK:
50
Dooley, Evans, Fairyland Teacher’s Resource Pack, Express Publishing, p. 15.
64
 TIME: 30 MINUTES

1. Look, read and underline:

1. UK/USA
2. GERMANY/SPAIN
3. ITALY/GREECE
4. PORTUGAL/MEXICO
5. POLAND/PERU

10

2. Look and complete:

1. ................. the plants.
2. ................. the ironing.
3. ................. the bed.
4. ................. the dishes.
5. ................. the carpet.
6. ................. the floor.
7. ................. tha table.

20

3. Look, read and complete.

1. I love the c _ _ ntr_s_d_!
2. Fruit and v_g_t_bl_s are good for you!
3. Tom is very str_ng!
4. We should _x_rc_s_every day.
5. We shouldn’t eat many sw__ts!
6. My father is a b_k_r.
7. My brother is a m_ch_ _ _ c.
65
 8. I am a ch_f!

20

4. What’s in the cart? Look, read and put a tick or a cross.

1. Watermelon
2. Grapes
3. Lemons
4. Olive oil
5. Green papers
6. Onions
7. Cacao beans
8. Oranges

20

5. Look, read and choose:

1.cheetah or tiger
2. panda or bear
3. snail or tortoise
4. whale or python
5. gorilla or lizard
6. camel or kangaroo

20

CONCLUSION

David Truss, the principle of a school in China made a statement on educational phylosophy
and I share every word of it. It is the essense of wisdom and a kind of guidance light for every

66
teacher. These are the things we should keep in mind every time we begin our lessons and
interaction with our students: „The goal of education is to enrich the lives of students while
producing articulate, expressive thinkers and lifelong learners, who are socially responsible,
resilient, and active citizens of the world. Education is about teaching students, not subjects. It is
about engaging students in their learning, and maximizing the potential of each and every child.
Education is about looking beyond the child’s intellect, and seeing the whole child. Education is
about providing students with opportunities to be challenged and still succeed.
Education is currently going through some dramatic changes. Technology has altered the
way teachers, and students, communicate with and amongst themselves, as well as with the
greater community, and with the world. New ways of communicating and sharing learning are
being developed and explored. There needs to be a transformation from using
technology in schools to using technology for learning. Teachers have to adapt, and be adept at
making a students’ learning experience both meaningful and engaging. Teachers also need to
recognize that technology has created new needs and new definitions of what it means to be
literate in today’s world. However, just being literate is not enough; students must develop their
curiosity, creativity, communication skills and critical thinking.
Teachers and school leaders have a responsibility to be mentors and role models to students.
We have a responsibility to cultivate a sense of community and belonging. The quote, “It takes a
village to raise a child”, rings true in so many ways. Education is a collaborative effort that needs
leadership and a strong vision. Co-operation among all stakeholders is essential. A community is
an essential extension of a school. Relationships between a school and its’ community, whether
educational, entrepreneurial, co-operative or charitable, should not just be encouraged but
pursued.
We must value and foster relationships with parents and family. The power of having all
significant adults working together to raise a child cannot be underestimated. No one
understands more than an educator how valuable parent involvement is in successfully educating
a child. It is vital to keep parents, our partners, informed and actively engaged in their child’s
education. But all parents are not created equally, so we also have a responsibility to educate and
inspire good parenting within our community. And for those children who do not have a
significant adult role model at home, we have an obligation to create opportunities for our
educators to provide caring guidance. Every child that cannot find an adult to connect with in a
school is a child we have failed, and every child we have provided a meaningful relationship
with is a success to be relished. Caring, compassion and empathy are cornerstones to a
meaningful educational relationship. Schools with a strong leadership team, that encourage a
meaningful, common vision, can help students perceive learning as a lifelong journey. In doing
67
so, a school must encourage greatness and loathe mediocrity. Educators must maintain high
expectations and strive to see students excel. Students must be given the opportunity to
maximize their potential and they should be inspired to do so. Every child has the potential to
attain greatness! The job of an educator is to harness a child’s abilities and set them free with the
confidence and the necessary toolbox to succeed.”51

BIBLIOGRAPHY
51
https://www.teachers-corner.co.uk/statement-of-educational-philosophy-david-truss/
68
I. GENERAL WORKS:
1. Yule, George, Oxford Practice Grammar, Oxford University Press, 2006, pag. 2-12;
68-78; 96-100;
2. Turai, Ioana-Maria, Gramatica limbii engleze, Editura Corint, Bucure;ti, 2008, pag.
42-293;
3. Dooley, Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Vocabulary and Grammar Practice, Editura Express
Publishing, 2017, United Kingdom
4. Vereș Grigore, Cehan Anca, Andriescu Iuliana, A Student’s Companion to English
Grammar, Editura Universității Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iași, 1996
5. Ur Penny, A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory,
6. Harmer, Jeremy, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Editura Longman,
Third Edition,
7. Vince, Michael, Advanced Language practice with key, English Language and
Vocabulary, Editura Macmillan, 2003
8. Richard Side, Guy Wellman, Grammar and Vocabulary, Longman, 2004

II. ARTICLES:
1. Nation Paul,
2. Oxford, Rebeca,
3. Nagy, Katalin, Teaching young lerners using songs and games. An overview.
4. Why Closing the Word Gap Matters: Oxford Language Report
III. SCHOOL BOOKS:
1. Dooley, Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Pupil’s Book, Clasa a IV –a, semestrul I,
Editura Express Publishing, 2017, United Kingdom
2. Dooley, Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Pupil’s Book, Clasa a IV –a, semestrul II,
Editura Express Publishing, 2017, United Kingdom
3. Dooley, Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Activity Book, Clasa a IV –a, Editura Express
Publishing, 2017, United Kingdom
4. Dooley, Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Teacher’s Resource Pack, Clasa a IV –a,
Editura Express Publishing, 2017, United Kingdom
5. Dooley, Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Teacher’s Book, Clasa a IV –a, Editura
Express Publishing, 2017, United Kingdom
6. Jenny-Evans, Virginia, Round Up, Clasa a III –a, Editura Pearson Longman,
2007, United Kingdom

69
5. DICTIONARIES:

1. Macmillan English Dictionary, 2002,

2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Editura Pearson Longman,
3. Oxford Word Magic, Editura Oxford University Press, 2009

6. ON-LINE SOURCES:
1. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/
2. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary
3. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/grammar-practice/nouns-countable-and-
uncountable
4. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/grammar-
practice-reference-card-nouns-countable-and-uncountable.pdf
5. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/grammar-
games-nouns-countable-and-uncountable-worksheet.pdf
6. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/grammar-
games-nouns-countable-and-uncountable-answers.pdf
7. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/grammar-
practice-nouns-countable-and-uncountable-answers.pdf
8. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games
9. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/actions-1
10. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/actions-2
11. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/actions-3
12. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/animal-body-parts-1
13. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/animal-body-parts-2
14. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/birds
15. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/birthdays
16. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/bugs-and-insects
17. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/chores-1
18. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/chores-2
19. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/christmas-1
20. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/classroom-actions-1
21. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/classroom-actions-2
22. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/clothes-accessories
23. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/clothes-1
24. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/clothes-2
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25. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/colours
26. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/daily-routines
27. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/describing-1
28. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/dinosaurs
29. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/drinks
30. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/emotions-and-feelings-1
31. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/environment
32. http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/environment
33. https://www.expresspublishing.co.uk/assets/pdf/language_portfolios/INTERNATIO
NAL/fairy_4_portfolio.pdf
34. https://www.teachers-corner.co.uk/category/inclass/testingandevaluation/
35. https://www.teachers-corner.co.uk/category/languageskills/pronunciation/
36. www. need, Importance or uses of audio-visual aids.
37. https://www.teachers-corner.co.uk/statement-of-educational-philosophy-david-
truss/
38. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U1.pdf
39. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U2.pdf
40. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U3.pdf
41. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U5.pdf
42. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U6.pdf
43. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U7_.pdf
44. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U8.pdf
45. https://cdn.macmillanyounglearners.com/macmillanenglish-
public/Mac_Digital_WS_L4_U17.pdf
46. https://elt.oup.com/?cc=ro&selLanguage=en
47. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/young_learners/learn_with_us/?
cc=ro&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
48. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/young_learners/bright_ideas/?
cc=ro&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
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49. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/young_learners/cambridge_english_qu
alifications_young_learners_practice_tests/?cc=ro&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
50. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/young_learners/cambridge_english_qu
alifications_young_learners_practice_tests/?cc=ro&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
51. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/young_learners/cambridge_english_qu
alifications_young_learners_practice_tests/?cc=ro&selLanguage=en&mode=hub
52. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/young_learners/everybody_up_second
_edition/?cc=ro&selLanguage=en&mode=hub

72