LESSON

PLANNING
Lesson Types/Shapes/Stages/Aims


LANGUAGE SKILLS
• Grammar • Reading (receptive)
Is the MAIN focus of the
• Lexis • Listening (receptive)
lesson language or skills?
• Functional language • Speaking (productive)
• Writing productive)

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Is the main aim of the
lesson: Is the main focus of the
1) Clarification lesson listening/reading?
2) Practice (yes or no)
3) Both the above

CLARIFICATION or BOTH YES

PRACTICE NO

Does the target language

See Lesson Shape B Is the main focus See Lesson Shape E
arise out of a reading or
either speaking or
listening text?
(Language Practice) writing? (Receptive Skills)
(yes or no)

NO YES

See Lesson Shape C or D See Lesson Shape F

(Test-Teach-Test (Productive Skills)

or PPP)

YES
NO

See Lesson Shape A

1) Check again
2) Ask your tutor!
(Text-Based / Guided
Discovery)


* Lesson shapes G and H (TBL and Dogme ELT) do not appear on this flowchart. Please
talk to your tutor if you are interested in either of these lesson types.

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 Lesson shape (A) – Text Based Presentation of Language

The language is introduced using a reading or listening briefly first (but this is not the main aim) and then
language from the text is clarified (checking meaning, form and pronunciation) before doing further practice.
The main aim here will usually be: To clarify and provide controlled practice of_____ .

The normal stages here are:


Lead in/ Building context To generate interest in the topic/theme/context of the text or listening
Reading or Listening task To practise reading or listening for______ / To introduce the target language via a text or
listening
Highlighting target language To highlight the target language by use of eliciting/a guiding task/an underlining
activity
Clarifying target language To :
§ Clarify meaning of target language
§ Model and provide controlled practice of pronunciation
§ Highlight form
Language practice To provide controlled/less controlled/freer oral/written practice of _______________

Feedback To establish correct answers/ to deal with results of the task

*You may need to pre-teach some vocab before the reading task.



Lesson shape (B) - Language Practice

This is connected to/follows on from lesson shape A or C. If the aim of the lesson is ‘To provide
controlled/freer practice of_______’ i.e. language that another teacher has taught, then your lesson will follow
on from the previous teacher who would have clarified the language. It will involve different practice stages,
e.g. controlled written practice, controlled oral practice, less controlled written/speaking practice, freer
written/oral practice.

You may not need a lead-in, but if you do, remember that this lesson is the second part of the previous lesson
and if possible, keep the same context. This type of lesson may need some student preparation, e.g. pre-
teaching, controlled practice, group discussion, role preparation. Feedback stages are also important.

Lead in (optional) (See notes above)

Set up To introduce/set up the practice activity
To highlight the (target) language to be used in the activity

Controlled Practice activity To provide controlled/less controlled written/oral practice of _____
(depending on your lesson’s Teacher monitors as Ss do the activity
aims)
Hot error correction could be provided
Free(r) practice activity To provide less controlled/freer oral/written practice of________________
Teacher monitors as Ss do the activity

Feedback and error correction To establish correct answers and/or to deal with results of the task
To provide feedback on use of target language – dealing with errors and problems

* The above is repeated with each practice controlled or free activity. You may need to pre-teach some
items.

2
 Lesson shape (C) – Test-Teach-Test Presentation of Language

The students do an exercise at the start using the target language with no help from the teacher (diagnostic
test). The teacher monitors the task very carefully to see what problems the students have and then clarifies
(checking meaning, form and pronunciation) as necessary – i.e. any new language or items the students had
problems with. For example, if there are 15 pieces of vocabulary in the test, the teacher would not clarify
every item. This followed by further practice (test). The main aim here will usually be: To clarify and
provide controlled practice of_____.

The usual stages here are:


Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson
First Test (diagnostic) To test Ss’ current understanding and identify gaps in vocabulary related to_________

Teach (clarifying) To deal with meaning, pronunciation and form of vocabulary related to ________ - with
emphasis on items Ss did not know or were confused about

Second Test To provide controlled/less controlled written/oral practice of ______
(Controlled practice) To provide less controlled/freer oral/written practice of________________

(Freer practice)
Feedback To establish correct answers and/or deal with results of the task
To provide feedback on use of target language – dealing with errors and problems

*There might not be time to do the second test stage in a 40 min lesson. In the this case, the next
teacher will be doing this as their lesson (i.e language practice as per lesson shape B)


Lesson shape (D) – Present-Practice-Produce (PPP)

Lead in To set topic; personalize; generate interest in lesson

Present: clarify and focus on -To create thematic transition from lead-in
TL -To focus on meaning (timelines, CCQs, etc.)
-To focus on form (part of speech, formulae)
-To focus on pronunciation (sounds, stress, etc.)

Practice -To consolidate key concepts of TL
- To provide a focus of accuracy within context of x

Production To provide an authentic activity in which the TL is naturally generated
To provide a focus on fluency within context of x
Error correction Use this stage to correct students’ output and consolidate key teaching points

3
 Lesson shape (E) Receptive Skills – listening or reading lesson

The lesson can be divided into pre, while and post reading/listening stages. The main aim here will usually
be…..For Ss to practice reading/listening for gist and detail comprehension (for example)

Possible stages here are (choose as necessary):


Pre-reading / listening tasks
Lead in To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic; to encourage Ss to think about content
of the text; To develop oral fluency
(Prediction task) To encourage Ss to predict/ think about content of the text
Pre teach vocabulary To pre-teach/unblock key vocab needed to help students complete the _______ task
While reading / listening tasks
Reading/listening for gist To encourage Ss to listen/skim for gist/general understanding and get an overview of
the text

Reading/listening for detail To practise reading for detailed comprehension and understanding the text in depth

Reading/listening for specific To practise scanning for specific information
info
Post reading / listening tasks To develop oral/written fluency by providing an opportunity to react to the text;
To (further) personalise the topic



Lesson shape (F) Productive Skills – speaking or writing

The lesson can usually be divided into preparation for speaking/ writing and speaking/writing stages. The
main aim here will usually be…..To practise oral/written fluency in relation to______(topic).

Possible stages here are (choose as necessary):

Lead in To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic; to generate interest in the topic/theme of
the lesson
Preparing to write/speak To generate/provide ideas; To provide an opportunity for Ss to brainstorm
ideas/prepare notes/think about what they will say in the subsequent task. (This may
involve Ss reading or listening to something similar to what they themselves will be
producing – i.e. To provide Ss with a model for the task)
(Useful language???) To provide and clarify language which Ss may find useful for completing the
writing/speaking task NB: This is NOT target language. It’s there to HELP them
perform the speaking/writing task, that’s all (i.e. Ss don’t HAVE TO use it)
Speaking/writing task To develop oral fluency through a ________ task; to develop writing skills in relation to
writing _____________
Feedback/error correction on To provide quick feedback on contents/results/outcomes and then to deal with generic
oral/ written task errors


It might be necessary to have a pre-teaching stage during this lesson.

4
Teaching Techniques: MFPA
Below is an example of a meaning and form task which is used to facilitate peer teaching and guided-
discovery. The TL in this example is the difference between ‘used to’ and ‘would’.

Teaching Techniques: MFPA


Controlled Practice:
• Should force students to consider aspects of meaning and form
• Should be staged before freer practice to obviate fossilization of errors
• Recognition is not a legitimate practice task as it provides the teacher no evidence
of the learners’ ability to use the TL. For example, underlining examples of the past
simple in the text is recognition, not practice
• You must adapt material to ensure restricted practice is within the theme of the
lesson
• Creating a short dialogue is one way to establish a context and relationship between
speakers

Task-type Example Is the focus on meaning (i.e.

use) or form (i.e. syntax)?

Gap-fill Task: use ‘used to’ in the following sentences: FORM only
I (play) basketball in high school.

Grammaring (*must Nicole: How have you changed since high school? MEANING and FORM
have context)
Myriam: I basketball every day.

Sentence jumble used to / play / basketball / I / every day. FORM only

.

Sentence I played basketball frequently in high school but not now.

MEANING and FORM
transformation
.

Contrastive I used to / would play basketball. MEANING only

analysis

Spot the mistake I used playing basketball every day. FORM only

Short sentences Students watch a short video clip to write down 3 past MEANING and FORM
habits.
1.
2.
3.