Assignment 3 ‘Language Skills Related Tasks’

Anna Maria Merletti

Part A – Profile of Class

The upper intermediate class is made up of few students, all women and all Italian, many of
them retired. During the lessons they are responsive, they ask questions and they can work as a
group. In general their receptive and productive skills are good, the weaker students can follow the
lessons, and the stronger students spur them on, in a way. There is no competition between them
and you can feel that everybody is eager to learn as much as possible.

The desire to learn can come from many causes, this group shows a strong integrative
motivation, which is powerful, and as a consequence students are interested and have a positive
attitude.1

Many of the students go to the theatre, museums, concerts and they all like reading. That is
why I chose, as an authentic text, a passage from an epistolary novel2. This text gives students
exposure to real English, it is quite formal in register, but ironic and entertaining; it is something
they can understand without struggling. 3

Part B – Tasks

Pre-text task 1

In the lead-in the teacher tells the students an anecdote about being part of a book club, what
kind of books she enjoyed reading and what happened during the meetings once a month. The
students are asked to discuss their ideas or experiences in pairs. The teacher then asks some students
to share them with the class.

I think it is a pre-text task because it creates interest, the students are engaged, it activates
their schemata and it ends up with a good reason to read.4 It is personal and, since reading is a
common hobby for the class, the students can relate to it and maybe someone is part of a literary
society. Students are far more likely to be engaged in a text if they bring their own feelings and
knowledge to the task.5 The sub-skill practiced is pair-work speaking.

1
J. Harmer, How to Teach English, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000, p 8
2
M. A. Shaffer, A. Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Bloomsbury, 2008. See Appendix.
3 th
J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4 edition, Pearson/Longman 2007, p 283
4 th
J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4 edition, Pearson/Longman 2007, p 288
5 th
J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4 edition, Pearson/Longman 2007, p 283p 287
Pre-text task 2

In this second pre-text task the teacher shows the students some images6 to compare and
contrast. The images show very different kinds of books (e.g. classics v pulp fiction) to generate
debate. The teacher asks her students to imagine they have a literary society and to decide what kind
of books would be read.

I think this is a pre-text task because the students are engaged and they activate their
schemata and the vocabulary7 related to the topic. The sub-skills practiced are pair-work speaking
and comparing and contrasting pictures.

Text Task 1

The students have four minutes to read the text and answer the questions8. They work alone.
The keys are provided at the bottom of the handout which is given folded. At the end of the activity
the students can pair check their answers.

This task is designated to enable students to develop the receptive skill of reading for gist (or
general understanding – often called skimming)9. Using the top-down approach10 the students get
an overview of the passage, without reading every word of it11. Students doing this will be reading
the material in a similar way to how people might read in everyday life. 12 The sub-skill practiced is
reading for gist.

Text Task 2

The students read the text again and they answer alone the T/F/NG questions in the
handout13which is given folded, then they compare their answers with the partner, at the bottom of
the page there are the keys, once they have compared they can check.

This task focuses on meaning, the students are guided towards detailed understanding of the
reading text. They read the text carefully for an intensive and comprehensive understanding. They
are expected to concentrate on the minutiae of what they are reading. 14 Comparing the answers
gives the students a chance to clear up any small comprehension problem before the feedback. 15
The sub-skills practiced are reading for detail and speaking to compare the answers.

6
See Appendix
7
J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4th edition, Pearson/Longman 2007, p 288
8
See Appendix
9 th
J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4 edition, Pearson/Longman 2007, p 283
10
J. Scrivener, Learning Teaching, MacMillian 2011, p 258 and 265 and 266
11
J. Scrivener, Learning Teaching, MacMillian 2011, p 265
12
J. Scrivener, Learning Teaching, MacMillian 2011, p 265
13
See appendix
14
J. Harmer, How to Teach English, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000, p 69
15
J. Harmer, How to Teach English, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000, p 71
Post-text task 1

Role-play

The students work in pairs, each couple is given a set of role cards16 with some information
about some characters described at the end of the passage and some invented. They pick up a card
and in turn they are first the journalist Juliet (interviewer) and then one of the members of the
literary society (interviewee). Based on the short description provided in every role card, the
interviewer has to ask questions and the interviewee answers.

The students are given role cards with background information, to offer them guidance.
Learners are given a little time to think about their role before starting the activity. 17 They produce
a personal response in an activate exercise18 and they can bring their own feelings to the task19. The
sub-skills practiced are responding and initiating, and fluency practice20.

Post-text task 2

Writing activity.

The students are asked to imagine being Miss Juliet Ashton, to whom the letter is addressed.
They have to write the answer to this letter, stating why they wish to tell the story of the literary
society.

In this task the students try to imagine the situation and react to it writing a letter. The
language is produced in a slower way and it is a reflective activity. 21 The sub-skills practiced are
organising information, expressing opinions, focusing, reviewing, drafting.22

16
See Appendix
17
J. Scrivener, Learning Teaching, MacMillian 2011, p 220
18
J. Harmer, How to Teach English, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000, p 26 and 87
19 th
J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4 edition, Pearson/Longman 2007, p 283p 287
20
K. Lackman, Teaching Speaking Sub-skills, K. Lackman and Associates, 2010, p 3
21
J. Harmer, How to Teach English, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000, p 79
22
J. Harmer, The practice of English Language Teaching 3rd edition, Longman, 2001, p 258
Bibliography

 J. Scrivener, Learning Teaching, MacMillian 2011

 J. Harmer, How to Teach English, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000
 J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 4th edition, Pearson/Longman, 2007
 J. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching 3rd edition, Longman, 2001
 K. Lackman, Teaching Speaking sub-skills, K. Lackman and Associates, 2010
 M. A. Shaffer, A. Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,
Bloomsbury, 2008