Statement of Authorship

I declare that this assignment represents my own work. I have not copied from the work of
other students and I have not allowed or enabled others to copy from my work.
I also understand that if I submit this assignment after the submission date, it may be counted
as a resubmission rather than an initial submission.

Trainee Name: Ahmed Baasid Sheriff Date: 21 March 2021

PART 1 - LEARNER PROFILE

Yury Shpakovsky (‘Y’) is an adult male, 40+ years of age. He is native to and presently resides in
Belarus. He works as a publisher at the local university and is fluent in Russian which is his native
tongue as well as Belarusian.

Y’s extrinsic motivation to learn English stems from his expertise in the publishing sector. He consults
with, amongst others, American companies and consequently considers it prudent to learn English.

Y’s intrinsic motivation stems from his enjoyment and success in consulting arena. He exudes a sense
of commitment to the service of his clients and is successful in the field. Consequently, he believes
effective communication with his English speaking clients both in and out of office is prudent and
enjoyable.

Y’s CEFR level is B2 and is presently classed in the upper-intermediate. He has expressed his
preference for audio and visual stimuli and to engage in common informal dialogue in order to
practice and refine his English in conjunction with structured lessons of which he dedicates three
hours per week as an ESL learner.

PART 2 - STUDENT’S NEEDS

Language
a) Grammatical S: Y is controlled and measured in his use of grammar and is willing to
ability understand the rules.

W: Certain of Y’s grammatical errors relate to tense and time. The

present simple tense is used instead of the past perfect (e.g. “I want
learn better English before end of the year”) and (“how long you teach
English?”)
b) Vocabulary S: Y’s vocabulary is limited although he is able to communicate meaning
successfully on any topical issue with a slight apparent strain when
searching for the correct word.

W: Y sometimes uses words out of context (e.g. “I want to learn to

speak with clients very operative”) and (“police brutality says about
governments intentions”)
c) Pronunciation S: Y does speak with a noticeable Belarusian / Russian accent and his
pronunciation is sometimes flat with sudden highs in pitch.

T: Y sometimes stresses the incorrect syllable (e.g. communicate instead

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 of communicate). During speech there is a noticeable interference from
his native tongue with respect to pronunciation of the double vowel
/oʊ/ (e.g. ‘ /rɒt ˈlɜːnɪŋ/ instead of /rəʊt ˈlɜːnɪŋ/’).
Skills
a) Reading S: Y’s shows capacity to scan read effectively (e.g. he was able to answer
a relevant question successfully in the classroom reading activity1

T: Y is able to read for detail and showed such ability when engage in
activities during the reading exercise.
b) Listening S: Y is able to understand and follow instructions and responds
effectively in breakout rooms during tasks2.

T: Y requires a broader vocabulary to comprehend complex tasks3.

c) Speaking S: Y is capable of effective communication with meaning (e.g. he was
able to communicate his Job description during the interview4 and was
eager to continue common informal dialogue.

T: Y has a limited vocabulary and strains in search of words.

d) Writing S: Y is capable of writing simple sentences composed of a single clause
or clauses strung together with coordinating conjunctions and presents
written responses in an organised form.5

T: Y tends to avoid complex sentences which may prevent his written

expression from being understood as intended (e.g. “I am Y. I am from
Belarus. I hope to improve my English.”)

PART 3 - STUDENT ERRORS

What the student said
I been to South Africa.
How long you teach English?
Grammar
Correction Reason for error
I have been to South Africa.
Incorrect use of the past simple
tense instead of the present
perfect. The Russian language
does not have perfect or past
progressive tenses. One simple
past form is used to refer to
actions denoted by perfect or
present tenses in English.6
How long have you been In Russian there is only one
teaching English? simple present tense and no
present perfect or present
progressive forms.7

1
Roadmap B2, Unit 1, exercise 2a (2), page 6.
2
Roadmap B2, Unit 1, exercise 2 (2), page 86.
3
Roadmap B2, Unit 1, exercise 3, page 86.
4
Interview with student in breakout room after the TP2 session.
5
Parrot, M. (2004). Grammar for English Language Teachers, 2d. ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 445
6
Learner English by Swan and Smith, CUP, 2001, Time, Tense, Aspect, page 152
7
Learner English by Swan and Smith, CUP, 2001, Present Time, B1, page 152

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 Vocabulary / Lexis
What the student said Correction Reason for error
Police brutality says about Police brutality tells/informs us Russian learners of English
governments intentions. about governments intentions. confuse say and tell due to
different rules of usage in the
closest Russian equivalents of
the words.8

Belarusians are very accurate.
Belarusians are very punctual.
Accurate v Punctual. Typical
example of a false cognate, also
known as "false friends", are
Russian words that sound or
look similar to words in English
but have different meaning.9

Pronunciation
What the student said Correction Reason for error
Russian only has 5 or 6 vowels.
English has 20! This means that
Russians often mispronounce
some English double vowels
(/rɒt ˈlɜːnɪŋ/ /rəʊt ˈlɜːnɪŋ/) like/oʊ/10. The sound /ɔː/ is
often replaced by the more
frontal Russian /o/ or
diphthongised into /oʊ/. A
confusion often arises between
the words not, naught and
note11.
Learners may replace /h/ by a
rougher sound (as in ch in
/(achmed)/ /ɑːd/ Scottish loch) due to more
fricative noise produced in the
course of its articulation.12

8
Learner English by Swan and Smith, CUP, 2001, Other Confusions, 3, page 159
9
http://masterrussian.com/blfalse.shtml
10
https://www.speechactive.com/english-pronunciation-accent-reduction-russian/
11
Learner English by Swan and Smith, CUP, 2001, Vowels, 5, page 146
12
Learner English by Swan and Smith, CUP, 2001, Consonants, 7, page 147

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PART 4 - SUGGESTED MATERIAL TO HELP WITH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Arear 1
Description of task Grammar – (Tenses) Past Perfect Continuous

Link to Video of Rebecca from engVid:

https://www.engvid.com/past-perfect-continuous/

a) Y will be given a focused presentation of the past perfect

continuous tense by an ESL teacher in order to cognise and
comprehend the functional aspects.

b) Thereafter two written tasks have been appended hereto and

marked Y1 & Y2, respectively.

 Y1 is a reading and writing (fill in the blanks) exercise

focusing on the past simple and past progressive.
 Y2 is a ‘fill in the blanks’ or ‘choose the correct word’
focusing on the present perfect simple or continuous.
Rationale With due consideration of Y’s learner profile (Part 1 above), Y is a mature
and educated individual, who has expressed his preference for
audio/visual stimuli followed by activities to confirm correct application.

In light of the absence of the above mentioned tense in Y’s native Russian
tongue, the presentation will provide a broad understanding as well as
functional usage which can then be followed up by reading and writing
tasks (exercise Y1 & Y2).

Arear 2
Description of task Pronunciation: Double vowels /oʊ/

YouTube link with Steve Ford:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVUwdH_adz0

Website link:

2. https://www.speechactive.com/english-pronunciation-accent-
reduction-russian/

Rationale 1. In order to hear the correct pronunciation of the above double

vowel an auditory element is necessary. Y can view link 1 which
vocalises the phonetics of the above double vowel.
2. Thereafter Y will engage in an activity (at the bottom of the web
page wherein he may repeat words containing the above double
vowel after hearing the same words repeated in perfect English.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITES
1. http://masterrussian.com/blfalse.shtml
2. https://www.speechactive.com/english-pronunciation-accent-reduction-russian/
3. https://www.engvid.com/past-perfect-continuous/
4. https://busyteacher.org/16381-present-perfect-vs-present-perfect-continuous.html

BOOKS
1. Roadmap B2, Unit 1
2. Parrot, M. (2004). Grammar for English Language Teachers, 2d. ed., Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
3. Learner English by Swan and Smith, CUP, 2001.

VIDEO LINKS
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVUwdH_adz0

APPENDIX
1. Activity Y1 was freely downloaded from website 4 in the bibliography and adapted from the
activity designed by Gerald.kb, and offered freely.

2. Activity Y2 was freely downloaded from website 4 in the bibliography and adapted from the
activity designed by Gerald.kb, and offered freely.

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