TKT Unit 4

Section 1 : Lesson Preparation - Lesson Aims

Section 1:  Lesson Preparation - Lesson Aims

A)  Identifying aims

1. What is an aim?
2. Aims or activities?
3. Main aims or subsidiary aims?
4. Lesson aims or personal aims?

 TKT Examination practice task: Identifying aims

 B)   Selecting aims

1. Selecting lesson aims

2. Selecting personal aims

TKT Examination practice task: Selecting aims

Section 1:  Lesson Preparation - Lesson Aims

 A) Identifying aims 

 1.  What is an aim?

No doubt we would all agree that a teacher should have a clear idea of what they are going to
do in the lesson before they walk into the classroom. The teacher should have an aim. In the
Longman Wordwise Dictionary for pre-intermediate to intermediate students, an aim is
defined as ‘something that you want to do or get’.

 Sometimes aims are also described as learning outcomes.

Here are some possible teacher lesson aims. What do you think of each one?

Teacher 1:  I want to cover the next two pages of the course book because that is

                    what my school has told me I must do in the next lesson.

Teacher 2:  I want to keep the students interested and occupied for the lesson time.

Teacher 3:  I want to keep control of my young learners for the duration of the lesson.

Teacher 4:  I want my students to be able to compare things using comparative  

                    adjectives and to be better at scanning a text for detailed information.

Teacher 5:  I want to teach a lexical set of words connected to education.

Teacher 1’s view may be understandable if her school is very prescriptive about the syllabus
but the two pages of course book must contain language work and/or skills work and the
teacher should be thinking about those, and how the students will find them. It may be that the
material is too easy or too challenging for the students to do in the time.  We should always
teach the students, not the book.

In Teacher 2’s case, it is true that it is an important role of the teacher to motivate the students
but the teacher is not employed as an entertainer! This teacher will find that if students are
learning they will be motivated and she should focus on what they are going to learn in her
aims.

If Teacher 3 teaches very young learners, then class management and discipline might be a
problem but their parents have still paid for them to be young learners, so they need to learn.

Teacher 4 has a very clear idea of her aims and as she is thinking in terms of the students and
what they will do in the lesson, this lesson is more likely to be of real benefit to the students
than the previous three.

Teacher 5 at least has a clear language aim but the teacher is still thinking in terms of what
she will do, not what the students will achieve. This aim would be better as ‘I want the
students to be better able to talk about education’.

In short, lesson aims should always be thought of and written on the lesson plan in terms of
the students, not the teacher, and how the students will have different abilities at the end of
the lesson than they had at the beginning.

2. Aims or activities?

It is important to be clear as to what an aim is (that is, what we want the students to achieve)
and an activity (that is, something we want the students to do). For example, ‘a role play’ is
an activity. Its aim is for students to practise speaking or language. Reading a text is an
activity. Its aim may be for students to develop the skill of reading for gist, or to scan for
specific information, or to give students confidence in reading an authentic text, or possibly
all of these.

3. Main aims or subsidiary aims?

Now that we have made clear what an aim is, we should look at two kinds of lesson aims,
main and subsidiary.

Look at these examples of main and subsidiary aims for the two following lessons. There is
one language lesson and one skills lesson. For each lesson, you have the main aim, the
context (the situation in which the lesson is taught) and, for the language lesson, one example
of the target language.  

What is the difference between main aims and subsidiary aims?

 Main aim
For students to practise reported speech
Context: telephone conversation
complaining about a holiday
Subsidiary aims
Skills: For students to develop the skill of
listening for detail
Grammar: For students to revise the use of tenses

Exponent: You said the hotel was near Vocabulary: For students to consolidate holiday
the beach but it wasn’t lexis

Phonology: Intonation for complaining without

being rude
For students to develop the skill of Grammar:1) For students to consolidate use of
listening for detailed information the passive

  2) For students to consolidate use of present

perfect and past simple in news bulletins
Context: a radio news broadcast
Vocabulary:For students to consolidate lexis
  frequently heard in the news

We can see that the main aim is the most important thing we want the students to achieve in
the lesson.  Possible main aims for language lessons might be:

For students to understand and use new language

to consolidate or reinforce (i.e. to make stronger) language they  already know

to revise language they have learned before

and for skills lessons:

For students to develop the skill of ……

to develop the sub-skill of….. 

Subsidiary aims show the language or skills learners must be able to use well in order to
achieve the main aim of the lesson. In the example above, the main aim is for students to
practise reported speech. The subsidiary aims show the language and skills they will need to
recognise the reported speech in the listening and to use it themselves in the practice, in this
context.

 Now look at these main aims. Can you work out what the subsidiary aims might be? What
will students need to be able to do for the main aim to be achieved?

Main aims Subsidiary aims

For students to be able to use some and any in  
statements and questions
  

Context: a written dialogue about cooking a meal

from food in a fridge

Exponent: There’s some cheese.

Are there any onions?

 
For students to develop the skill of writing a  
formal letter

Context: a job application

For students to be able to use polite set phrases

related to job applications

Exponent: I look forward to hearing from you

For the first lesson, subsidiary aims could include:

 Skills:  For students to read for gist

 Grammar: For students to consolidate there is/there are and un/countable nouns
 Vocabulary: For students  to consolidate food lexis
 Phonology: For students to practise intonation in yes/no Qs

 For the second lesson, subsidiary aims could include:

 Grammar: For students to revise present perfect and past simple for life experiences 
and details
 Style: For students to consolidate polite registers

It can be seen in the last one that there are two main aims: a skills aim and a language aim. In
fact, most lessons have more than one aim.

Subsidiary aims will be worked on throughout the lesson during the various stages.  For
example, in the language lesson above to teach some and any, the subsidiary aim of intonation
will be worked on during two stages: the drilling stage in the presentation and again in the
controlled oral practice stage.

Read the procedure section of the lesson plan below which describes what happens in a lesson
(the stages are in the right order) and answer these questions.
i)             What do you think the main aim of this lesson is?

ii)            What is the context?

Procedure
1) Sts have a part of a picture of a social setting (e.g. a party, a picnic, a conference, a dinner)
They move around the class to find students with the other parts so they make a whole
picture.
2) Students talk about what they find difficult about listening to conversations in situations
like the ones in their picture.
3) Students listen to some recorded conversations and identify where they take place and how
many speakers there are.
4) Students listen again and put the conversations in order.  They go on to focus on the
meaning of the target language phrases (e.g. So, do you live near here? How do you know
Ling?).
5) Students listen and repeat (pronunciation drill) target language phrases and go on to
practise the conversations in groups.
6) Groups devise their own conversations based on a situation they choose, in which they will
have to use English at some time in the future, using at least 6 of the target language phrases.
Groups perform their conversation for another group.
7) Groups give feedback to each other about the conversations, and suggest improvements to
the vocabulary grammar, or the pronunciation.
8) Students discuss what they have learned in the lesson and give feedback to the teacher
about what they have enjoyed and what they still feel they need help with.

Answers

i)        To develop speaking skills for exchanging personal information and “small talk”.

ii)       An informal social setting.

4. Lesson aims or personal aims?

Do you think there are any perfect teachers? Are there any teachers who could not improve
their techniques or their classroom manner in any way? Even those who have been teaching
for a long time would probably agree that they could improve in some way, or certainly they
should try out some new ideas to widen their range of techniques and materials, and keep up
to date.

For these reasons, in addition to lesson aims, teachers should have personal aims, that is,
what they would like to work on personally during the lesson to make them better teachers.
Here are some Examples:

 to do better organised board work

 to remember to ask concept check questions before I drill
 to remember to check instructions
 to try out a test-teach-test approach with a low class
 to make sure all quiet students speak
  to smile more 

B)  Selecting Aims: Now we know what aims are, how do we choose them? 

1. Lesson aims

The teacher may have complete freedom to determine the lesson aims or the school may tell
teachers what the aims should be. It may be that the school follows a syllabus (a list of what is
to be taught and the order it is to be taught in). Some schools apply the syllabus so rigidly that
a particular lesson must be taught on a particular day. In any case, the teacher should consider
two important questions:

 What do my learners already know?

 What do they need to know?

The teacher should bear in mind that appropriate lesson aims will:  focus on the needs of
these particular students. The teacher may need to use some imagination to ensure this
happens if the school tells teachers what to teach from the syllabus. The lesson aim should
never be ‘the next page of the course book’.

The needs of students will vary greatly. For example, adult students in an evening class
learning English for travel will not need writing skills. Students in an English-speaking
environment will have a great and immediate need for the language for polite requests,
whereas students in their own country studying for school examinations may not. Office
workers in England will need vocabulary for office furniture and equipment but secondary
school students will not. Teachers should find out as much as possible about their learners and
their needs as possible in order to select appropriate aims for them.

Be specific not general. For example, ‘for the students to learn present perfect’ is far too
general.  Much better would be ‘for students to be able to use present perfect, with ever/never,
to talk about interesting experiences’. With skills work, ‘to develop students’ reading skills’ is
too general; the teacher does not have a clear idea of the purpose of the lesson. Much better
would be: ‘to give learners practice in predicting content and reading for detailed
information’.

Don’t be too ambitious for the time available. Don’t try to teach too much!  Students will
not take in a great deal of information and they need time to practise as well.

It is also a good idea if the teacher can answer the question: How will I know if I have
achieved my aims?

2. Personal aims

Teachers can decide on these by thinking back over lessons they have taught and considering
what was not very successful, by getting new ideas to try from colleagues or from reading
about teaching generally. You may also get some idea from this course!

If you can get one of your colleagues to observe you, that would also be very helpful.
Teachers often do not realise, for example, how often they say ‘okay’!

Review & Reflection - Lesson Aims

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following terms:

a main aim       a subsidiary aim               a personal aim       a learning outcome      

to achieve         to reinforce         to select             to consolidate      an activity       

a procedure

Reflection

1. For each of your lessons in the coming week, have a definite personal aim, even if it
is very simple (e.g. to smile). Often the same personal aim needs to be repeated over
several lessons before making the expected improvements.
2. Consider how you think about the aims of your lessons. Is it in terms of you, or the
school, or your students?
3. Look at your English Language course teachers’ book, and see if the aims are given
for each lesson, or each unit of work.  Are they expressed from the teacher or student
perspective? Is the aim clear to you? Are the aims appropriate for your students? 
What do you do if they are not?
4. Think about any lessons you have planned and will teach soon.  What are the main
aims? The subsidiary aims? The context? Be sure to think about what the students
will have achieved.
5. For some good ideas about lesson planning see this link:

     http://www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant-tips-lesson-planning.htm

     or download free the first section of this excellent BBC world service    

     publication (Action Plan for Teachers by C Robertson and R Acklam)

     http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Action_Plan.pdf

Section 2 : Lesson Preparation - The Components of a Lesson Plan

Section 2:  Lesson Preparation - The Components of a Lesson Plan

1. Why write a lesson plan?

2. The components of a formal lesson plan.

TKT Examination practice task: Lesson plans

Section 2:  Lesson Preparation - The Components of a Lesson Plan

1. Why write a lesson plan?

Some teachers write very detailed lesson plans for every lesson because their school requires
them to submit the plans to a Director of Studies, but usually teachers write their own, much
briefer, notes when they plan their lessons. 

We can therefore think of ‘a lesson plan’ as anything on a continuum from a few brief notes
(an informal plan) to a very detailed formal document consisting of perhaps several pages (a
formal lesson plan).

If practising teachers, especially experienced ones, do not feel the need (or have the time) to
write formal lesson plans, why do teacher training courses make trainees do it?

Which of these reasons would you accept as good reasons to write a formal lesson plan?

 It helps the teacher to identify lesson aims

 It helps the teacher to anticipate problems that might arise
 It helps the teacher to get the stages of the lesson in a logical order
 It helps the teacher to balance the timings of the lesson
 It focuses the teacher on the materials she needs to choose for the lesson
 During the lesson it reminds the teacher of what comes next
 It gives a useful reference to look back on for long-term planning
 It can be used again if the lesson has to be given again at another time

All of the above are good reasons to write a lesson plan because it will help the teacher.
Writing formal lesson plans is good training for new teachers.   

A formal lesson plan also helps an observer, either a tutor on a training course or perhaps a
school Director of Studies to:

 see that the teacher has thought about the lesson

 try to understand the teacher’s thinking and to help if things go wrong in the actual
lesson

For these reasons training in writing formal lesson plans is very useful for real teaching life.
Even if a teacher does not write everything down, they should at least think about all the
things that are included on a formal lesson plan.

2. The components of a formal lesson plan

Now that we have seen that being able to construct a formal lesson plan is a good idea, even if
we do not do it every day, let us consider what it should contain.

Look at this sample of a formal lesson plan. What information is on it?

Lesson aims: 
 

By the end of the lesson students will be better able to use lexis to talk about jobs and
employment.

 
 

Timetable fit and presumed student knowledge: What do you assume the students already
know?

Some students may know some of the words.

Students have had a job themselves.

 
 

Source of materials/resources: (Remember the source must also be given on handouts for
students)

New English File Intermediate by Oxenden and Latham-Koening (O.U.P) 2006 Unit  5C ‘Job
swap’.

 
 

Personal aims: What do you want to work on/try out?

You need to decide these for yourself!

 
 

Boardwork plan:

1–E
 to apply for a job
 a C.V. 2-B
 to have an interview
 to do overtime 3-H
 to resign
  to get promoted 4-F
 to get sacked
 unemployed 5-A

6–D

7-G

8-C
 
 
Time Procedure
 
Ask students if they have a job and whether they like it. Pairs
discuss what their ideal job would be.
Warmer
 
 10mins.
To engage SS with the
Feedback to the class. Get students to tell you about their
topic
partners.

 
Tell students they are going to learn some words to do with
work and jobs.

Teach the following words. Illustrate meaning, elicit, ask

check questions, drill and re-elicit to write on the board.

to apply for a job

a C.V.
Vocabulary
20 mins.
presentation
to have an interview

to do overtime

to resign

to get promoted

to get sacked

unemployed

 
 Tell students they are going to practise the words they have
just learned.

Show students the handout. Tell them the pictures are in the
right order to tell the story of the young man, Jake.  Tell them
to match a sentence to each picture in the story.

Students do this in pairs.

Feedback to the class. Elicit an answer from a student then

Practice build up a record of answers on the board.

SS will feel more 10mins.  

confident using the
vocabulary Answers:   1 – E

                  2 -  B

                  3 -  H

                  4 -  F

                  5 -  A

                  6 – D

                  7 -  G

                  8 -  C 

 
Ask students to fold under the sentences A – H underneath the
pictures. (Clean the board if necessary so students cannot see
the words and therefore have to remember them.) In pairs
they take turns to tell each other the story of Jake, using the
Further practice of pictures.
  10mins.
the vocabulary
Monitor and check they are using/pronouncing the words
correctly.

 
Speaking and 10 mins. Teach the new words in ex.2c. Illustrate meaning, elicit, ask
personalisation check questions, drill and re-elicit to write on the board.
                    to retire

                   self-employed (adj.)

Assign students a different partner. Pairs ask and answer the

questions in ex.2c.

Monitor for correct use of language.

If time permits, do feedback to the class and ask students

what their partners told them.

The following table shows the sections which are normally found on a formal lesson plan.
Read them and decide:

1. Which sections would you always expect to see on a plan?

2. Which only sometimes?

Lesson plan sections Information in the section

1 Level and number of
Who we are planning the lesson for
learners
2 Main aim(s) of the
What we want the learners to learn or be able to do
lesson
3 Subsidiary aims of the Other things we want students to be able to do in the lesson because
lesson they lead towards the main aim
4 Personal aims Aspects of our own teaching we want to develop or improve
5 Timetable fit How the lesson is connected to the last lesson and/or the next one
What we think the learners already know or can already do, which
6 Assumed knowledge
is relevant to our aims
7 Analysis of target A description of the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target
language language
8 Anticipated language Things that the learners might find difficult with meaning, form and
problems pronunciation
9 Anticipated practical Classroom management difficulties for the teacher (e.g. complicated
problems instructions for a game, or different abilities in the learners)
10 Possible solutions Action we will take to deal with the anticipated problems
11 Teaching aids,
Useful reminders of things to take into the lesson
materials, equipment
12 Board work plan A diagram of where things will be placed on the board
13 Procedures Tasks and activities for each stage
14 Timing The estimated length of time needed for each stage
Ways in which learners work at different stages (e.g. alone, in pairs,
15 Interaction patterns
in groups)
16 Homework
Follow-on work or consolidation of what has been done in class.
 

Sections 7 and 8 would only be there for grammar lessons but all the others would normally
be there. However, also, the school may have a policy of not giving homework or the teacher
may choose not to give homework.

The layout of a formal lesson plan

Formal lesson plans are usually divided into two sections:

                                    1.  the background information

                                    2.  the procedure.

 Below is the background information section of a formal lesson plan. The lesson is a
presentation via listening and has a dialogue in which two Americans meet by chance in
London and discover they have a lot in common. Among other things, they are both working
in London and also went to the same school in the United States (Rosefield High).

 Read the plan and answer these questions:

1)    Are  both the main aims and subsidiary aims appropriately expressed?

2)    Is it a first presentation for the students? How do you know?

3)    Is there any evidence that the teacher understands the target language?

4)    Is there any evidence that the teacher has thought through the whole lesson before writing
this background section?

Number of
Teacher’s name   Jeannie Level  Upper Intermediate
learners  12
Length of lesson  60 mins Start time 1.30pm   
Main aims

For students to review and practise so and

neither/nor + verb inversion to express
agreement with someone.
Subsidiary aims

For students to be able to listen for detailed

information.

For students to have practice in speaking

Personal aims

To manage the time so that students have

plenty of practice

To correct students’ errors effectively

Materials 

Inside Out Upper Intermediate Unit 1 page 6 +

tape

Teacher’s own pictures of America. Own cards

with answers to the tape to stick on the board.
Timetable fit

The following lesson will consolidate this

language and introduce other exponents for
agreeing and disagreeing.
Assumed knowledge

Students will have studied so/neither before

but will need practice in using them.
Possible solutions

 Ask concept check

Anticipated language problems questions

 Students may think that neither indicates  

disagreement
 Students may have difficulty using the  Highlight on the board and
right verb when agreeing do plenty of drilling
 Students may not invert subject and verb  Highlight on my fingers
(eg *So I do) and drill
 Students may pronounce was and can as
strong forms instead of weak forms  

   Highlight on my fingers
and listen carefully when
drilling

Possible solutions
Anticipated practical problems
Demonstrate the game on the board with one student
The instructions for the bingo game are and check the instructions 
tricky to explain
 
Board work plan   Agreeing with someone

  1)  Pictures of America

Vocabulary
 ____________

2)the same
So    am      I          Neither     am         I

       can                 Nor          can

woman man
       do                                do
 
         ↓         was                              was
American
               ______________________________
working here
 
come from California
                    sample sentences
can’t stand the weather

Rosefield High

not a good student

Analysis of target language – Meaning
So, neither and nor express the idea that the speaker is the same in some way as the previous
speaker.

In the form using I, it is spoken language.

Form
So            

Neither      +  verb +  pronoun

Nor

If the verb in the original statement contains an auxiliary, the agreement uses the same
auxiliary

If the verb in the original statement is present or past simple, the agreement uses do, does or
did

If the verb in the original statement is to be, the agreement uses the same tense of be

 
Pronunciation
  ● ●     ● ●

Sentence stress: So do I. Neither can I

Weak forms:  was = /wəz/    can = /kən/

Word linking: intruded /w/ between do and I.

Answers

1. Both the main aim and the subsidiary aims are well expressed because the teacher has
thought of them in terms of what the students will do (not the teacher).
2. It is not the first time students have met this language because the teacher has said students
will review the target language and the assumed knowledge section states that the teacher
either knows or expects (because of the level?) that students have done this before.
3. The analysis section shows that the teacher has a good understanding of the meaning, form
and pronunciation of the target language. This kind of analysis is particularly useful for new
teachers.
4. The teacher has clearly thought the lesson through, and this is seen in the anticipated
practical difficulties section, where the teacher has considered how to set up the practice
bingo game. 
5. Now read the procedure section of the plan, given below, for the same lesson and
answer these questions:
6.  
7. 1)    What kind of presentation does the lesson use? Is it inductive or deductive?
8. 2)    Is the lesson a PPP or a task-based lesson? Does the lesson follow the normal
stages for this kind of lesson? Are these stages logical?
9. 3)    Does each stage move the lesson forward towards the overall aim?
10. 4)    Does each procedure have a clear aim? (We saw in the last section that these
stage aims can also be called subsidiary aims.)
11. 5)    Do the timings seem realistic for each stage?
12. 6)    Has the teacher planned any concept-check questions? For what percentage of
the lesson are the students talking? How did you find out?
13. 7)    Do you think you could teach this lesson if the teacher asked you to? Is there
enough detail in the procedure section for you to know what to do?
14.  

Stage Aim Procedure Time Interaction

Warmer To engage Put pictures of America on the board    
students in the
topic of the CD, Students discuss what they know  5 mins    S ↔ S
which is about about America.
two Americans  
Feedback to the class
   S → SS
Pre-teach SS will not be  Tell students they are going to listen to    
 distracted by two Americans but first they need
unknown words  some words. Teach:  5 mins
Lexis in the listening    T ↔ SS
      on vacation (U.S.)

      High School (U.S.)

      to graduate from High School

      can’t stand sth.

 
Listening For students to Tell students they must 1) write down    
hear the TL in the things that are the same about the
the context of a man and the woman and 2) answer the 10 mins    T  → SS
dialogue Q: Why does the conversation stop?
 
   
 
  Play the CD. Students check in pairs.
Monitor and see if a second play is  
  needed.
 
 
   S ↔  S
Check answers as a class and put the
things that are the same on the board
on cards

 
Presentation For students to Ask: Is the woman American? (Yes)    
understand and
  say the TL          Is the man American? (Yes) 10 mins  T ↔ SS

  The woman says ‘I am American’.

What does the man say? (So am I)
 
CCQ: Are they the same? (Yes)
 
Drill ‘So am I’.
 
 
 
Repeat with the other Examples from
  the tape.

   

 
Board stage To give students Re-elicit the sample sentences and    
a written record write them on the board
  to take away  5 mins  T ↔ SS

 
Controlled  For students to Move the students into pairs facing    
practice practise saying each other.
the TL in a  15 mins   S ↔ S
  communicative SS complete sentences about
way themselves which they think will also
  be true for their partner.

  Ss play the bingo game: read out a

sentence about themselves and if their
partner can respond with so or neither,
the first student can cross off an
expression with so or neither on their
bingo card.

Monitor carefully for correct use of

TL
 Freer For students to Move SS into groups of 3 or 4.    
use the TL with
 practice other language SS discuss their opinions about  10 mins  S ↔ S
that they know London.
 ↕      ↕
 
 S ↔ S

Answers

1) What kind of presentation does the lesson use?

        The course book provides a classic presentation via a tape, which this lesson      

    follows. We looked at this kind of inductive presentation in TKT Unit 3 Section 7 on
Presentation techniques. (It is inductive because students see several   

    Examples first.)

2) Is it a PPP or a task based lesson?

    The lesson is a PPP lesson, which, as you will remember from TKT Unit 3 Section 7,
stands for Presentation, Practice and Production. The language is 

    presented via a CD and then the students practise it.

3) Does each stage move the lesson forward towards the overall aim?

      Yes. There are no irrelevant activities.

4)     Does each procedure have a clear aim? (We saw in the last section that these     

       stage aims can also be called subsidiary aims.)

      Yes. The teacher knows the reason for each stage, and this is expressed in terms  

      of the students.

5)  Do the timings seem realistic for each stage?

This will depend on the class. Five minutes may be a little tight for the warmer if the students
have a lot to say, but otherwise the timings seem realistic. The estimated timings are also in
sensible blocks of 5 or 10 minute blocks.

6) Has the teacher planned any concept-check questions?

    Yes. The teacher has planned very clear concept-check questions to check that   

     students have grasped the idea that the TL means things are the same.

For what percentage of the lesson are the students talking? How did you find out?

The interaction pattern column shows when the teacher is speaking and when the students
are speaking. To save space on the plan, symbols are usually used. You can probably work
out what they mean from the plan but they are:

T → SS:  the teacher is talking to the whole class

T ↔ SS:  the teacher is eliciting from the class

S ↔ S   :  students are working together in pairs

S → SS :  one student is talking to the class

S → S   :  students are working in groups

↓       ↑

S→S

From this we can see that the students are speaking for about 30 minutes (plus a little more
when they check their answers to the CD in pairs) out of 60 minutes.

7)     Do you think you could teach this lesson if the teacher asked you to? Is there enough
detail in the procedure section for you to know what to do?

       This may be difficult to say without seeing the materials, but a good lesson plan   

      should have enough detail for someone else to follow it but not so much detail  
      that it is difficult to find your place if you get lost in the lesson. You will really  

      have to answer this question for yourself.

Review & Reflection - Lesson Plans

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following terms:

to anticipate       interaction patterns    assumptions             assumed knowledge

 timetable fit      to estimate         a  lesson stage   solutions

Related terms from Module 1 that it is important to know for this part of the TKT Test:

a presentation      inductive      deductive     a PPP lesson               a task-based lesson

 concept check questions        to elicit         to drill

Reflection – pause the audio after each question and reflect

One of the aspects of planning that teachers often find most difficult is estimating timings. As
you plan your lessons for the next week, take particular care to estimate timings for each
stage. Did things generally take more or less time than you thought they would? Did you get
more accurate as the week went on?

1.   Again for your lessons for the next week, think about some anticipated problems, both
language and practical, for your class. If you know your class and their language(s) well, you
might be able to do this quite accurately. What about practical problems? Were you accurate
about those? Also, did any unanticipated problems affect your estimated timings of the
lesson? What happened?

Section 3 : Lesson Preparation - Planning a Lesson

Section 3:  Lesson Preparation – Planning a Lesson

A) Planning an individual lesson 

1. What are the features of a good lesson?

2. Stages in planning an individual lesson
3. Planning different kinds of lessons
4. The teacher’s relationship to the plan

B) Planning a sequence of lessons 

1. Why plan a sequence of lessons?

2. Creating a scheme of work
1. Content
2. Sequencing
 1. Principles of sequencing
2. Kinds of sequence
3. Detail
3. Constraints in creating a scheme of work

TKT Examination practice task: Planning a sequence of lessons

Section 3:  Lesson Preparation – Planning a Lesson

 A) Planning an individual lesson

1. What are the features of a good lesson?

When we are planning lessons, what do you consider are the features of a good lesson that we
should try to include? Think of your own ideas first and then see if you agree with the ideas
below.

Essentials of a good lesson:

 The lesson is at the right level of challenge for the students, neither too easy nor too
difficult.

 The students learn something new and appropriate.

 Students should have the opportunity to develop their language skills.

 Students should have the opportunity to use known language.

 There should be a variety of activities, types of interaction and pace.

 The lesson should have clear, logical steps, which all move the lesson forward towards
the main aim.
 The lesson should be clear to the students, with clear checking of meaning and clear
instructions.

 The lesson should be motivating and interesting for the students.

The ideas above are what we can include as we choose what to do in the lesson. Of course,
when we actually give a good lesson there will be other features that are difficult to plan for,
such as creating a good class atmosphere. 

2. Stages in planning an individual lesson

Put the following ideas for planning a lesson into a logical order:Then, drag slide mouse over
tet to reveal answers.
1. After teaching the lesson, identify how well the learning outcomes or aims were achieved

2. Identify the resources and materials you need for the lesson
3. Work out what you and the students will do at each stage of the lesson

4. Identify appropriate learning outcomes/aims for the lesson

5. Identify what the students already know and what they need to know next

Look at the course programme, (or syllabus) and the coursebookcourse book to see what
6. students have covered already and need to cover next

(6-5-4-2-3-1)

Then there are some questions about more details which we should consider when we
are planning:

 Are the materials at the right level for all my learners? Do I need to add help for weaker
learners and/or find extra material (e.g. extension tasks) for stronger ones?

 Have I planned enough for the time available?  Have I got some back-up material in case
students finish earlier than expected?

 Have I planned too much for the time available? What will I leave out if necessary?
 Is there enough variety in the lesson? Are all the practice tasks pen-and-paper tasks? (Bad
idea!) Do students get out of their seats? (Good idea!)
 Have I decided how exactly I will start and end the lesson?
 Have I thought about the organisation of the board?
 What are my personal aims?

3. Planning different kinds of lessons 

In Unit 1 we looked at different kinds of grammar lessons, either for first presentation or
review, and at practice activities. We also looked at principles of teaching receptive skills
(reading and listening) and at the stages a receptive skills lesson usually follows. In addition,
we looked at introductory activities for both kinds of
lessons.                                                         

As we saw, reading or listening lessons follow regular stages.  Grammar lessons also follow
usual stages, though these stages may be a little different depending on whether the grammar
lesson is a PPP (Presentation, Practice and Production) lesson, task-based, test-teach-test
or a guided discovery.

The fact that lessons follow regular stages helps the teacher with lesson planning because it
gives a framework to start from and to follow. Sometimes the pattern of the stages, or
framework, is referred to as the ‘shape’ of the lesson. 

A classic PPP grammar lesson

Here is the basic outline of a typical PPP lesson:

A typical PPP lesson starts with the presentation of new language and then goes on to various
activities to practise the language. Finally, the students are encouraged to produce the new
language themselves, as naturally as possible, be it spoken or written production.

In more detail, a typical PPP lesson starts with an introductory activity to get students
engaged and interested. Once the students are engaged, the teacher will set a context, in which
the target language is presented. This may be in the form of a reading text or  listening
material, for example. The teacher may choose to elicit target language from the student or
present it him/herself. Once the language has been elicited (or given by the teacher), the
teacher will ask concept-checking questions to check that the students have understood the
meaning of the target language. The teacher will then work on the form of the language. If it
is a grammar structure, for example, the form relates to the construction of the grammar point
in the positive, negative and question forms. If the target language is vocabulary, the form
will relate to spelling, part of speech (noun, verb, adjective etc.), collocations etc.

Once students are clear on the meaning of the target language the teacher will do a drilling
activity where students repeat what the teacher says. This drilling is likely to be repeated with
other examples using the target language. Once this audio practice has been done, the teacher
will ask students to practise the new laguage in a controlled way to ensure accuracy. This may
be in the form of a gap-fill activity or a crossword, for example. This type of practice is called
controlled practice because the students are restricted to using the new language as the
exercise/activity dictates.

By now, the students should have had sufficient controlled practice. When the teacher is
confident that they are able to use the langauge correctly in a controlled way, he/she will ask
the students to use the language more freely, without as much control as in the previous steps.
This ‘freer practice’ is so called as students are encouraged to use the language in as natural a
way as possible without the constraints of an exercise from a book. Such ‘freer practice’
activities may include asking the students questions using the target language and seeing how
they respond. Alternatively, asking the students to perform role-plays or to have class debates
related to the topic of the target language (in the case of vocabulary, for example) is likely to
result in successful production of newly learnt target language. It is up to the teacher to
use/design tasks that encourage as much production as possible.

4. The teacher’s relationship with the plan

After having gone to a lot of trouble to create a beautifully organised lesson, should the
teacher insist on sticking to the plan in class?

The answer to this should definitely be ‘No!’ The teacher should always be ready to change
from the plan if it becomes apparent in the class that this would be a good idea. There will be
many factors which affect how the lesson goes on the day, for example, whether the weaker
students are absent, or the stronger ones are absent, whether the students are tired, or even the
weather. Or the teacher might just have misjudged what the students already know. A teacher
therefore needs to be flexible (able to change when necessary).

One of the best pieces of advice a new teacher can have is:
B) Planning a sequence of lessons 

1. Why plan a sequence of lessons?

Do you plan one lesson at once or do you plan a sequence of lessons, that is a series of related
lessons?

Many schools require teachers to plan ahead for a week, a month, a term or perhaps even
longer. A plan for a sequence of lessons like this is sometimes called a scheme of work or a
work plan. Many teachers have to submit schemes of work to their Directors of Studies, in
some cases months in advance.

Even if teachers are not required to hand in schemes of work to their schools, many teachers
would agree that it is better to plan ahead for a sequence of lessons, say for a week at least,
than plan each lesson individually. Why is this ?

Here are some possible answers:

 It gives the lessons a direction.

 Long term goals/aims are easier to identify.
 It allows the teacher to pace the material from the syllabus or the course book so it not
covered too quickly or too slowly.
 It enables the teacher to balance lessons so that, for example, the skills work is spread
or there is not too much grammar at one time. 
 It makes it easier for the teacher to see that there is variety in the lessons (e.g. not
always starting with a conversation and ending with a role play) and in the sequence
(to avoid the ‘If it’s Monday it must be grammar’ kind of timetable).
 It allows the teacher to better incorporate revision and recycling.
 It gives the teacher time to find or create additional materials.
 Having a clear direction gives the teacher confidence.

So for all the above reasons it is a good idea for a teacher to plan further ahead than one
lesson, even if not required to.

2. Creating a scheme of work

A plan for a sequence of lessons is sometimes called a scheme of work.

In creating a scheme of work the teacher will have to choose:

a)  The content of the teaching (i.e. what to teach)

b)  What sequence (the order) to teach it in

c)  How much detail to plan in

We will look at each of these in turn. 

 a) Content
This may be dictated by the school in that there is a syllabus (a list of what is to be taught)
which must be followed. In other schools the course book is the syllabus.

Teachers may or may not have freedom to add to the syllabus or the course book.

Alternatively, teachers may choose their own content, that is create their own syllabus for
their scheme of work in response to their students’ needs.

b) Sequence

i) Principles of sequencing

The order in which the content is taught may be dictated by the syllabus or the course book,
or decided by the teacher but in any case should follow certain principles. What do you think
these principles may be?

Here are some suggestions:

 Teach easy before difficult; move from the known to the unknown
 Have built-in-recycling and consolidation (e.g. teach A then B then AB)
 Have variety (e.g. not a week of skills followed by a week of grammar)
 Have balance (e.g. not a presentation via a listening followed by listening skills then
no listening for three days)

ii) Kinds of sequence

Content and sequence can be based around different kinds of focus.  Language and skills are
included in each but from a different viewpoint. Look at the kinds of sequence given below
and decide

i)   Which kind are you teaching from at the moment?

ii)  Do the sequences appear to follow the principles of sequencing given above?

Grammar-based (structure) sequence

1. revision: past simple

2. revision: present perfect
3. contrast: past simple vs. present perfect
4. read about  a famous person’s life (which will include both tenses)-

Skills-based sequence

1. speaking + vocabulary: describing places

2. reading: choosing a holiday
3. writing: letter to a friend narrating holiday experiences

Project-based sequence

1. reading and listening about free time activities

 2. vocabulary extension: leisure activities
3. class survey and research: sport and entertainment
4. preparation of a poster display to show results of the survey

Topic-based sequence

Topic: celebrities

1. reading: a biography of a celebrity

2. grammar: present perfect and past simple to describe the celebrity’s life
3. vocabulary: luxury lifestyles
4. speaking: Is it good to be famous?
5. writing: a fan letter to a celebrity

Most modern course books seem to follow topic-based sequences as each unit has a different
theme. A grammar based sequence is a more traditional approach. As to whether the examples
follow the principles of sequencing, it seems that they do. They all build on previous work
done, giving opportunities to use grammar and lexis again later. They all have good variety
and a balance of skills.

Of course, a teacher may choose to use different kinds of sequence at different times; a
scheme of work need not always follow the same one.

c) How much detail is needed in a scheme of work?

It can be seen from the examples above that a scheme of work is certainly not as detailed as a
lesson plan. A scheme of work shows what to teach: a lesson plan shows how to teach it.

The detail on a scheme of work will depend on how long it has to be for. It is obviously
easier to predict/guess what students will need and be able to do in the following week than
over several weeks. So the scheme of work should have enough detail to remind the teacher of
what they meant when they planned it but not so much detail that the work will have been
wasted if the content needs to be changed later in response to the students’ needs.

As with individual lesson plans, the teacher needs to be flexible.

3. Constraints in creating a scheme of work

Some teachers have a lot of freedom in choosing what to include in their scheme of work
while others do not because their school is very prescriptive about what to teach. It may be
therefore that a teacher has to follow a syllabus or use a course book that they do not like, or
which they feel is not in the best interests of their particular class. For example, the school
may say that the aim of a course is to get students to pass a traditional written grammar and
essay Examination at the end of term, while the teacher feels that the students will find only
grammar and written work boring and that they should do some skills work too to advance
their general development of English.

In his teaching methodology book Learning Teaching, Jim Scrivener writes:

“There is obviously no single, magic answer to problems of this kind. However, it is often
possible to do what is expected of you, to reach the goals you have been told to reach, to use
the pages of the book you have been told to use, to get students through the tests they need to
pass, to make the end point of the lesson, the day, the course exactly where it is supposed to
be, but still to make the journey there surprising, interesting and exciting.”   

Scrivener (Macmillan) 2005

He advises in the above case of ‘aiming’ for a written Examination that the teacher could still
follow a balanced syllabus including skills work and vocabulary as they may find that the
students make better progress and get better results than students who only studied for the
Examination.

Scrivener further advises: “Be bold!…. Don’t assume that an edict from above closes down
all your options.”

TKT Examination Practice Task                      Planning a Sequence of Lessons

For questions 1 – 5, look at the points in the project work sequence below and fill in the
missing information from the options listed   A – E.
 A Some learners look for information on the internet or in the library and make notes; some
plan surveys to find out information from others using questionnaires.
B Groups exchange their work, check it and make final suggestions for editing.
C In each group learners read each other’s work and make suggestions for editing.
D Groups plan their work and decide how to share tasks.
E Learners plan their writing or carry out survey interviews. 

Project work sequence

Aim: for Learners to produce a Class Magazine

● Explain project aims; whole class decides on list of topics; form interest groups.

i. ________________________________________________________________

ii.________________________________________________________________

iii. ________________________________________________________________

● Learners write their first drafts.

iv. ________________________________________________________________

v. ________________________________________________________________

●Make copies of the magazine for other classes to read.

1 I D

2 Ii A

3 Iii E

4 Iv C

5 VB

Review & Reflection - How to Plan a Lesson

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following terms:

lesson shape      a scheme of work     a work plan    a sequence    

a series       a syllabus    a project    a survey

Reflection – pause the audio after each question and reflect

1. As you plan individual lessons, make a conscious effort to check that you have asked
yourself all the questions in the list of detailed questions given above near the
beginning of this section. Do you normally ask yourself all these questions? Does it
help? Are there any other questions you always ask yourself?
2. Do you use a variety of lesson shapes? Or do you always follow similar stages? Does
your course book always follow the same format? If so, do your students find this
boring or do they find it comforting because it is always the same and they don’t need
to think?
3. What kind of sequence do you follow in your teaching?  Do you like that sequence?
4. If you create a scheme of work try to find another teacher to compare it with.

Section 4 : Lesson Preparation - Choosing Assessment Tasks

Section 4:  Lesson Preparation – Choosing Assessment Tasks

1. Kinds of tests (TKT Unit 3 Section 9)

2. Formal and informal assessment
1. Informal assessment
 2. Formal assessment
1. Kinds of assessment tasks
2. Principles of formal test construction
3. The assessment of skills

TKT Examination practice task:  Preparing assessment activities

2. Formal and informal assessment

All the tests above are formal tests. In Module 1 part 3 we also saw that assessment can be
formal or informal, and that as teachers we are constantly assessing our learners informally
throughout our lessons.

What, then, are the differences between the two kinds of testing, formal and informal?

Formal assessment Informal assessment

Students know they are being Students may not be aware they are being assessed
assessed/tested e.g. in feedback to practice tasks or a revision
‘quiz’
 
 
 
Normal classroom tasks and activities of all kinds
There is often a heavy focus on written are used
work
 
 
Peer and self assessment may be used as well as
The students are assessed by the teacher teacher assessment

   

   

The learners receive grades (Pass/Fail, Not usually graded although the teacher may keep
%, A – F, etc.) some record of the learners’ progress. Students can
also monitor their own progress by keeping a file
  of their work

   

The purpose of the assessment is one of The purpose is to give feedback to the teacher and
the reasons given for the tests above to the student about progress so far and what they
need to work on next
 

a) Informal assessment

As we have seen, teachers do informal assessment of their students’ progress as part of their
normal teaching by observing the students, by monitoring (looking at written work and
listening to speaking activities) and by eliciting feedback on all kinds of classroom tasks
(asking individual students to give answers to see if they have got it right).

The amount of informal assessment the teacher does, however, will vary in different
teaching situations. It will depend on:

The size of the class

It is obviously much easier to assess individuals in a small group than in a large class, where it
may not even be possible to walk round all the desks to see what students have written.

The age of the learners

There will be more informal assessment of young learners because they find formal tests too
abstract.

The frequency of formal tests or Examinations

If the students have frequent formal tests that may be sufficient but if formal tests are rare, the
teacher definitely needs to do a lot of informal assessment to keep in touch with students’
progress.

Many of the ways in which we can assess students’ abilities in language and skills are the
same for informal and formal assessment but it depends on the circumstances under which it
is done. For example, students may complete a gap-fill as controlled practice after a grammar
presentation and feedback on that would be informal assessment. If the students did a gap-
fill under test conditions then it would be formal assessment. We will therefore save further
discussion of assessment task types for the next section on formal assessment.

However, in addition to assessing students’ language abilities, teachers may also wish to
assess motivation and effort. We can do this by observation and talking to students about
their learning. In some schools this is done in the form of individual tutorials, where students
have a short private discussion with their teacher.

b) Formal assessment

i) Kinds of assessment tasks

Look at these two assessment tasks from a formal test. What is the difference between
them?

          Task A: Put a word in the gap:

                                She sat _______ the river and ate her sandwiches.

          Task B: Write a story starting with these words: 

                         Suddenly she heard a noise behind her.   

For Task A, there are a limited number of right answers. The most natural answer is perhaps
by but beside or near would also be acceptable. There are therefore a limited number of right
answers. The marking of this does not depend on the marker’s judgment and anyone with a
list of the acceptable answers could mark it (for example, the school secretary could mark it).
This is an objective test task. Other kinds of objective test tasks are multiple-choice,
matching, true/false, gap-fills or cloze.

 On the other hand, Task B, a composition, has any number of acceptable answers. It requires
the marker to make judgments about it and so needs a teacher to mark it.  This is a subjective
test task. These are more difficult and slower to mark than objective questions but give
students more freedom to show what they know.

II) Principles of formal test construction.

If a school has a policy of giving students formal tests, it may be that the teachers have to
construct the tests themselves or it may be that the Director of Studies constructs the tests and
gives them out to the teachers to administer. If you have never had to construct a formal test
yourself, you will have to draw on your experience of administering tests (and your common
sense!) to do the following task.

Read the following principles of constructing a formal test and decide whether they are true or
false.

1. Tests should contain both subjective and objective test items.

2. Tests should assess what learners have covered and not other material.
3. Tests should be fairly short.
4. Tests should have a variety of tasks.
5. It should be clear in the instructions what students have to do.
6. The layout should be clear with plenty of space.
7. The marking system should be balanced and logical.
8. The test should show students how the marks are allocated.
9. Tests for young learners should not be too abstract.
10. Tests should assess mainly grammar.

Answers:

1. True. It is better if students are allowed the freedom to show what they know from
subjective items but objective tasks are quicker to mark and more likely to be given
the same mark by different markers.
2. This is true for progress and achievement tests but not for placement, diagnostic or
proficiency tests.
3. False. If tests are too short they will not give a representative picture of students’
abilities.
4. True. Students will get bored and demotivated if tasks are all the same and one task
type may favour one learning style.
5. True.
6. True. It is confusing if the layout is not clear and demotivating for students to face a
large amount of material all at once.
7. True. More difficult items should carry more marks than easier items.
 8. Students should know how the marks are allocated so that they know which items to
spend more time on. The easiest way to do this is to show it on the test paper, but this
is not necessary as long as students know in some other way (e.g. their teacher tells
them).
9. True. Great care needs to be taken in constructing tests for young learners so that they
are practical rather than abstract.
10. A teacher may wish to test only her students’ grammar and it is certainly true that tests
often contain a lot of grammar items as they are easy to find and easy to do in a
written format, but to get a whole picture of a student’s abilities we need to test not
only grammar but also all other aspects of language: vocabulary, functions, reading,
listening, writing and speaking. It may be hard to do this all at the same time,
however, and skills tests may be administered at a different time.

iii) The assessment of skills

a) Receptive skills

It is possible to assess reading and listening skills using the same kinds of tasks that we use in
class to help our learners develop their skills. As with language tasks, skills  tasks can be
either objective or subjective:

Reading

True/false – objective                 Questions requiring interpretation – subjective

Listening

Multiple choice – objective        Note taking (main points) – subjective

b) Productive skills

Writing is often assessed using freer, subjective task types such as compositions but some
writing subskills can be tested objectively, for example:

                                             Put the right conjunction in the gap:

                          It was raining __________  we still went swimming.

                                a) although     b) however      c) but

When marking a subjective writing task type, a decision needs to be made as to whether to
mark positively (that is, give credit for good use of language and ignore errors) or to mark
negatively (that is, to deduct marks for errors). It is also possible to balance the two, and
markers should be agreed about what they are going to do.

Assessing speaking is perhaps the most difficult and formal assessment really should be done
by the teacher of another class who is not accustomed to the student’s accent.
However, this may be difficult to arrange. Also, interviewing students, even in pairs or threes,
can be time consuming and in some schools the class teacher just records an impression mark
(say, a mark out of 10) based on the speaking they have heard in class.

If an impression mark is not sufficient, there needs to be some guidance on assessing

students’ speaking and public Examinations with a speaking component have this.

Here is a sample of a possible marking scheme for assessing spoken language to enable the
assessor to place the student in a band. Do you think it seems helpful and reasonable?

 
Accuracy Fluency Pronunciation
 5 Grammatical and lexical Speaks fluently without Very clear; stress and
accuracy extremely high hesitation or searching for intonation help to make
words. meaning clear.

 
 4 Quite accurate; some Some hesitation and Generally clear; reasonable
errors, but meaning is sometimes has to search for control of stress and
always clear. words. intonation.

 
 3 Frequent errors; meaning is Quite hesitant; limited range Frequent errors; not always
not always clear. of vocabulary and structures. clear enough to understand.

 
 2 Very frequent errors; Extremely hesitant; very Very frequent errors; often
difficulty in making limited range of language very difficult to understand.
meaning clear. available.
 

 
 1 Almost unable to communicate

It can be seen that with this system different aspects of speaking are taken into account and
the marking is structured. Markers may need some training in deciding what a student in each
band sounds like but the system should be more consistent than an impression mark.

Reflection - Preparing assessment tasks 

1. In your next week’s teaching, note what kind of informal assessment you do of your
students. In what ways do you assess their

                                  Grammar

                                  Vocabulary

                                  Motivation
                                  Pronunciation?

Are you able to informally assess all your students all the time or is the class too large? If the
class is too large, what do you do about this? Also note what sort of feedback you give to the
students.

2. Read the following questions 1 – 6 about formal testing.

1. If possible look at a formal test from your school. What kind of test is it? Who
constructed it? Do you think it meets the criteria for a good test given above? Does it
test skills as well as language?
2. If you have ever had to construct formal tests, did the school give you any guidance as
to how to do this? Or did you just follow the format of tests the school already had?
Did you feel comfortable with this?
3. If your school has formal tests, how is the marking done? Is there a marking guidance
sheet? Do all the teachers mark together and discuss possible difficulties, especially
with subjective tasks, or does each teacher mark on their own? Do you do any cross
marking? (That is, two or more teachers mark the same test and see if the marks
agree.)
4. How are the results of formal tests given to the students? (Grades, percentages, etc.)
Do students get their tests back? Do they get to find out the right answers? Do you
think this is a good idea?
5. What happens in your school about assessing speaking skills? Do you assess your
students’ speaking? Another teacher? If so, is there any guidance on the marking? Or
do you give impression marks?
6. Do you think that, in general, the system of tests in your school has a positive or
negative effect on your students?

Section 5 : Using Resources - Coursebooks and Reference Materials

Section 1:  Using Resources– Course books and Reference Materials

1. Introduction
2. What kinds of reference resources are available?

TKT Examination practice task: Reference materials for lesson planning.

Section 1:  Using Resources– Course  books and Reference Materials

 1. Introduction 

If you have been teaching for a long time and particularly if you have been teaching from the
same books for a long time, you may feel that you know your material very well and that you
have your lessons already organised so that planning is minimal. A highly experienced
teacher will probably know all the grammar and if they always teach the same kind of
learners, will know them (and their errors) well.
However, most teachers will need to teach something they have not taught before at least
sometimes and new teachers will be teaching something new most of the time. In these cases,
just looking at the course book the students have will not be enough and in order to plan an
effective lesson the teacher will need to consult (that is, look for information in) other books
and resources.

2. What kinds of reference resources are available?

You probably know what the following resources are. How many of them do you have in
your school staff room? How many of them have you consulted in the last week to help you
with your lesson planning?

The teacher’s book which comes with your course book, and gives ideas about teaching the
material, the answers to tasks in the book and, frequently, information about the grammar in
the book. It should also give details of the kind of students the book is written for and the
philosophy behind the book if any (e.g. Lexical Approach, Task Based Learning), both of
which are very important information for the teacher. All teachers, whether recently qualified
or very experienced, need to consult the teacher’s book when planning.

Supplementary materials for teaching which you can use in addition to your course book.
They may provide controlled written practice (e.g. gap-fills) or games or activities (e.g. card
games, board games, mingle drills, role plays) to practise language in a communicative and
motivating way. Alternatively, they may provide material for the development of skills. There
are books containing material for all four skills, at different levels. These supplementary
materials may be published books, or the school may have a collection of materials created
by the teachers themselves. Either way they are very important in adding variety to lessons.

The internet. You are no doubt aware that nowadays there are many websites where teachers
can find ready-made worksheets for all kinds of language. (It has to be said, however, that
some are much better than others and the teacher should look carefully at what exactly is on
them.) The internet is also a source of authentic reading texts and of course pictures.

Grammar books for teachers, which give in-depth information on grammatical structures.

An example would be The Oxford Guide To English Grammar by John Eastwood (OUP).

Grammar books for learners. These are written in easier language than those for teachers
and often also have exercises for the learners to do to practise. They are useful for teachers
too, particularly new teachers. An example would be English Grammar In Use by Raymond
Murphy (CUP).

A bilingual dictionary (ie. one with English and the student’s language.) These are quick to
use but some are not well written and can give misleading information. They should be used
with great care.

A monolingual dictionary (i.e. an English/English dictionary). These usually give better

examples of how words are used than a bilingual dictionary. They are good for learners (if
they have one of the right level e.g. an elementary monolingual dictionary for elementary
learners) as they make students use more English. Advanced monolingual learners’
dictionaries are good for teachers as they help with clear definitions of meaning and therefore
give ideas on how to concept check meaning.
Special focus dictionaries. These cover one particular area e.g. a phrasal verb dictionary or a
collocations dictionary.

A dictionary on CD-ROM. These have many extra features such as practice activities and
audio recordings of pronunciation.

A picture dictionary. As the name suggests, these have only pictures with labels. If you
teach young learners, you probably have one of these but they can be useful for quickly
conveying meaning to adults too.

A language awareness book for teachers. These are not grammar books but aim to help
teachers understand more about English, for example, discourse. Some of them have tasks
that the teacher can do, together with answers and commentaries on these tasks. An example
of this kind of book would be About Language by Scott Thornbury (CUP).

A teaching methodology book. These give practical advice and techniques on how to teach.
Some of them are for specific teaching situations e.g. young learners. Perhaps you referred to
one of these on your initial teacher training course, but they can still provide ideas and new
insights for all teachers, new and experienced. An example would beLearning Teaching by
Jim Scrivener (Macmillan). Note, a book on teaching methodology would not include actual
lesson plans, but rather ideas that can be applied to the lessons that you will plan. 

A book on learners’ errors. There are some books and articles which describe the typical
difficulties learners from a particular language group have, mainly as a result
of interference from L1. for example, Turkish. An example of such a book would be Learner
English  ed. Michael Swan (CUP). Books on learner errors offer explanations as to why errors
are made, not how to correct these errors. The objective is both to help teachers, while
planning lessons, to anticipate what type of errors learners might make as well as to help
teachers to understand the origin of these errors. 

Other teachers. People are a resource too!  Colleagues are a wonderful source of information
on language and advice on materials. Their teaching style may not be yours but they can give
ideas to start from.

Review & Reflection - Reference Materials

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following words:

resources      to consult    the internet   supplementary materials 

bilingual dictionary   monolingual dictionary    picture dictionary   

methodology book

 Reflection

1. Make a list of all the reference materials you have used in your lesson planning in the
last week. Which were the most helpful?
2. Are there any reference materials on the list that you are not familiar with? If so, try to
find one (e.g. a language book for teachers) and see if you find it helpful.
Section 6:  Using Resources– Supplementary Tasks and Materials

1. Kinds of supplementary material

2. Why use supplementary materials?
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using supplementary materials?

 TKT Examination practice task: Supplementary materials

Section 6:  Using Resources– Supplementary Tasks and Materials

 1. Kinds of supplementary material

As we saw in the previous section, the term supplementary materials covers books and
almost any material which a teacher uses in addition to the course book. In the box below is a
list of possible supplementary materials. How many items do you think are in it?

1. Fewer than 10
2. More than 10 
3. More than 20      

Now read and count in the box to find out

grammar practice
listening skills books videos
books

realia reading skills books pronunciation books

writing skills books CD-ROMs fluency practice books

computer
games teacher’s resource books programmes

graded readers vocabulary practise books songs

authentic texts dictionary worksheets speaking skills books

flashcards Examination practice tests    pictures websites

2. Why use supplementary materials?

Many course books are based on a multi-layered syllabus and thus contain grammar,
vocabulary, functions and work on all four skills. Why then would a teacher want to go to the
trouble of finding supplementary material? Think of some reasons first then check below.

Some of the main reasons might be:

 to replace unsuitable material in the course book

 to fill gaps in the course book
 to meet the particular needs or interests of your students
 to give learners extra practice
 to add variety to teaching
 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using supplementary materials?

Think about what possible advantages and disadvantages you have found with supplementary
materials, or what these might be, before you do the task below.

Here are some general comments about a variety of supplementary materials.  For each one,
does it mention an advantage or a disadvantage and how far do you agree with that point of
view?

1. Some grammar practise books have very repetitive exercises. They are all  gap fills
or sentence extensions. 
2. Some games are wonderfully motivating. Students practise the language without even
realising it.
3. Older learners don’t always like playing games.
4. Some games are great fun to do but don’t actually have much language content.
5. The instructions for some games are very complicated.
6. Supplementary reading and listening books usually give a level but the level seems
to mean different things in different books (e.g. elementary level is quite easy in one
book but quite difficult in another).
7. Some of the material in course books is rather artificial. Authentic texts put students
in touch with the real world
8. On websites you can find any kind of language practice you want.
9. Some of the material found on websites is very strangely graded. You find an exercise
on intermediate grammar but it contains advanced lexis.
10. Videos are more realistic than audio tapes and give visual cues to what is happening,
which is what happens in life.
11.  Students can learn about the culture as well as language from videos.  
12.  It is a lot of trouble to organise the video player and then not everyone can see it
properly.
13.  Students love listening to songs in English.
14.  It is often difficult to hear the words in songs and they sometimes contain slang and
incorrect grammar.
15.  Students enjoy working on computers and they can go at their own pace with many
of the programmes.
16.  It can be difficult for the teacher to monitor what students are doing on  computers.

Review & Reflection - Supplementary Tasks & Materials

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following words:  supplementary
materials, graded readers, authentic texts 

 Reflection – pause the audio after each question and reflect

1. Consider the following statements related to supplementary materials. Which one(s)

most accurately reflect your teaching situation?

1. In my school we must use only the course book and no supplementary

materials at all.
 2. My school allows me to use supplementary materials and I would like
to use them but I have such a heavy teaching load I don’t have time to
find or prepare many.
3. My school allows me to use supplementary materials and I would like
to but we don’t have many resources available
4. I used to use a lot of supplementary materials when I started teaching
but now I don’t have the same enthusiasm
5. I work from a course book but use quite a bit of supplementary material
as I find it more interesting, for me as well as my students.
b. Make a list of all the supplementary material you use in one week of teaching (for one
group of learners). Would it be different for a different level?
c. If you do not use many supplementary materials, try to add some. See what effect it
has on the lesson and the motivation of the students.

Section 7:  Using Resources– Teaching Aids

1. Kinds of teaching aids

2. What can aids be used for?
3. Using the board

TKT Examination practice task: Teaching aids

Section 7:  Using Resources– Teaching Aids

We now turn to other aids that the teacher might use to help in the classroom.

1. Kinds of teaching aids

When you teach your students relative clauses, you may give them recognition practice in the
form of a game in which there are descriptions of objects containing which, that or who and
the students have to guess what is being described. This is a similar game but the answers are
all kinds of teaching aid. Which aid do you think it is?

1. A machine which we use to give students listening practice.

2. A large, rectangular object that is attached to the wall of the classroom, usually at the
front. The teacher writes on it, using either chalk or a pen.
3. Cards which are small enough to hold up one after the other and have simple drawings
or single words or phrases on them.
4. A machine which has a screen and a keyboard.
5. A machine with a light in it which can make images larger on a screen
6. A piece of plastic with writing or a picture on it which we use on number 5  above.     
7. Real objects, such as a pear, a corkscrew or a toy, which the teacher can take into the
class to teach vocabulary with or to engage interest.
                  

8. A room in which students can all listen individually on headsets to recordings    and
can also record themselves, as well as being monitored by the teacher.
9. A room in which students can study or do listening practice on their own.
10. A machine that gives students listening practice but also gives them visual   
information.
11. Diagrams that show information.
12. Models of people or animals that you can move by putting your hand in.
13. The person who is at the front of the class.

Did you get the right answers? The aids are

1.  a cassette player or a CD player

2.  the blackboard/whiteboard
3.  flashcards
4. computer
5.  an overhead projector    
6. a transparency  
7. realia
8. a language laboratory
9. a self-access centre 
10. a video or DVD player
11. charts
12. puppets
13. the teacher! You can be an aid too
Aids or materials?

You can see from the above list that the term teaching aids is generally used for

physical objects that help the teacher in some way. (You may have come across the
uncountable noun aid in newspapers in the meaning of sending aid (=help) to poor countries.)
The term materials is generally used for books (though there may be some overlap, especially
in the case of realia or flashcards, which may be considered as both).

2. What can aids be used for?

You may be more familiar with some of these aids than others: for example, if you do not
teach young learners, you may never use puppets, or your school may not have a language
laboratory.A language laboratory consists of room with many computers, each inside an
individual booth. Here, learners have headphones and listen to models of language and repeat
these models. This was a very popular method of learning in the 80´s and 90´s but is less so
nowadays.

You may therefore have to use your imagination to some extent to answer the next question:
What can the various teaching aids be used for? What is their main teaching purpose or use?
What other additional uses can they have?

Think of your own ideas first. Use your imagination as much as you can and think about all
areas of teaching covered so far on the TKT course.

Then look at the ideas below. For each aid the main purpose is given in bold first and other
uses are given below.
CD player

listening practice
presentations of new language via dialogues or stories
practice of new language (students need practice in all four skills)
models for pronunciation work
recording learners’ spoken English for error correction
to create learners’ own dialogues to form a basis for language study (CLL)

Blackboard/whiteboard

a planned written record of vocabulary and grammar

writing up words and ideas that come up in the lesson
drawing or displaying pictures
building up diagrams of either lexis or ideas (spidergrams)
giving a written record of answers to tasks
for learners to write answers
for whole-class compositions

Overhead projector

a quick way of getting prepared written records on to the board

especially useful for a record of answers of long sentences (the teacher still elicits the answer
from the students but then reveals the answer), or tasks such as ‘add adverbs to this narrative’.

building up information by putting one transparency on top of another

displaying pictures, maps and diagrams on transparencies suitable for photocopying
displaying results of group work for the whole class.

Transparencies

making material which is too small to see visible to the whole class
teachers can write on them using special felt tip pens so they can check in advance that board
records are accurate
students can write on them in class and all the learners can see their work
some transparencies go through the photocopier so the whole class can see a page or a picture
from a book
typed sheets can be photocopied on to a transparency so board work is easier to read and takes
less space

Video/DVD

listening practice
for information gap speaking tasks (with one learner viewing and one just listening)
viewing without sound and   guessing the language
pausing and predicting language (saying what you think is coming next)

Flashcards
as prompts for drilling
for teaching individual words or phrases (from drawings)
students stick them on the board to check sorting activities

Computers

grammar exercises
narrative building with a word processor
supplementary materials from the internet
online language tests
using online dictionaries
using CD-ROMS
email exchanges
online communication (chatting)
online newspapers and magazines
project work using the internet

Realia

engaging interest
to teach and revise lexis
to convey a situation for a grammar presentation (e.g  a person’s bag and learners deduce: He
must speak French)
prompts for writing (e.g a story including a necklace, a passport and a doll)

Charts, posters and wall charts

help visual learners

reference for a lexical set (e.g a spidergram of transport)
reference for grammar (e.g irregular verbs)
the phonemic chart shows the sounds of English and can be used for error correction

The teacher

to convey meaning
convey meaning via gestures, facial expression and mime
use self to teach body parts and clothing
using fingers to elicit correction

Review & Reflection - Teaching Aids

For the TKT Test it is important that you know the following words:

an overhead projector     a transparency      flashcards    realia    

charts     a puppet        a language laboratory   to display     

a self-access centre    a video      a blackboard/whiteboard

Reflection Teaching aids               Classroom activities

1. Stand back and look at your board work. Is it as clear, neat and well organised as it
could be? Did you divide it into sections? Did you use different colours? Make a
rough sketch (drawing) of what it actually was and how it might be improved, if
applicable.
2. Think about your last lesson. How long did you spend with your back to the class?
Make a point of standing sideways and turning to the class as much as possible. In
particular, make sure you turn right round to look at the whole class when you pause
in your writing.
3. If convenient in your classroom, get some of the students involved in writing on the
board. See how this affects the class atmosphere. 
4. Practise your board drawing. In a notebook, have a go at drawing the following:

an escalator       a mouse       a whale     Egypt     to overtake     filthy                

5. Make a note of the teaching aids you have used this week. If you have not used many,
try to expand them. If you do not have much time for preparation, your students may
be able to help, for example by creating wall charts for grammar or vocabulary in
groups, or young learners can make their own puppets.