Assignment 1 (750-1000 words) Name: Gisele de Oliveira Castro

Focus on the learner | 1st submission Submitted on: 27 November 2022

Number of words: The trainee:

994 ( ) passed ( ) failed (√) needs to resubmit it by: 07 December 2022

Cambridge ESOL specifies that for this assignment successful candidates can demonstrate their learning by:

Assessment Criteria Tutor’s Comments

1) Showing awareness of how learners’
backgrounds, previous learning experience, Criteria partially met: there are linguistic and conceptual inaccuracies that pose
reasons for learning English, and preferred a strain on the reader. It also contains assumptions outside the scope of this
learning styles affect learning. assignment. Agreed.

2) Identifying the learners’ language/skills

strengths and weaknesses. Criteria partially met: see #1 Agreed.

3) Correctly using terminology relating to the

description of language systems and language
Criteria partially met: see #1 Agreed.
skills.

4) Selecting appropriate material and/or

resources to aid the learners’ language
Criteria partially met. The pronunciation task is inappropriate.
development.

5) Providing a rationale for using specific activities

with learners. Criteria met. Agreed.

6) Finding, selecting and referencing information

Criteria partially met. Some of the arguments do not match the problems they
from one or more sources
were used to justify.
7) Reference Materials
(accessing and acknowledging reference Criteria met, despite not fully complying with the standard set for referencing.
materials and information learned about Agreed.
language)
8) Writing
(using written language that is clear, accurate
Criteria not met: the text needs substantial revision for linguistic, and some
and appropriate to the task; making sure the
conceptual, inaccuracies (highlighted in blue). Too many problems. Please
text is coherent and mostly correct (especially
revise the assignment for contents and for language before submitting it.
spelling and verb agreement); checking the
word limit)

Additional Comments:
Dear Gisele, thank you for your submission. Please, read comments carefully and make the necessary changes for
resubmission.

Statement of Authorship (to be signed by trainee):

I confirm that the work presented in this assignment has been performed and interpreted solely by myself except where explicitly identified to the contrary.
I confirm that this work has not been submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfilment of any other degree or qualification. I also confirm I have not
allowed or enabled others to copy from my work.

Trainee: Tutor 1: MHelena Primon Tutor 2: Elcio Souza

Gisele de Oliveira Castro

Elcio’s color code: Delete, Edit (language or content), Attention, my contribution, my comments.

BR678 | SPOC
Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner | FS
Part A: Profile of the Learner √

Student background √
Student A (SA) is a 48-year-old Brazilian architect and psychologist who studies English for pleasure and business.
His native language is Portuguese, and he has been studying English for two years, although he has some
previous knowledge because he likes to travels abroad. Nowadays he has classes in Brazil in a B1 (CEFR) group,
which reflects his level. √

Motivation √
During the Covid-19 pandemic, SA started to meet some patients through on-line platforms, and few of them
were English speakers. Therefore, SA started to learn English because he needed [???] at work, which shows
extrinsic motivation. Nunan&Lamb (1996:210) state that an extrinsically motivated individual engages in an
activity for the reward that such engagement is likely to bring, which is the case of SA. He also declares that his
knowledge in English has helped him to communicate around the globe. According to McDonough (2007:369)
this shows intrinsic motivation, which works as a source of influence within himself, he does things for his own
sake (of learning). Would it not be extrinsic motivation as the learner stated studying English for professional
reason, as stated? To communicate around the globe is extrinsic.

Learning Preferences √
He enjoys speaking and writing and says that in a writing task he can exercise his creativity. He prefers activities
that involves role-playing, as he feels that he absorbers information about grammar and lexis in practical tasks.
Those are characteristics of a visual and kinaesthetic learner. According to Harmer (2007:89), a visual learner is
stimulated by visual materials, such as pictures, images, and in this case, watching his peers acting a role-play.
He is also kinasthetic (Harmer, 2007:89) since he enjoys tasks which includes moving, touching objects and
playing games. He is really into oral [speaking?] tasks and shows no problem to interact with his peers. Those
qualities suggest one of his cognitive learning preferences is communicative, as Harmer (2007:91) describes as
a person who learns with interaction and communication, is relatively independent, does not like to focus on
structures and prefers oral tasks. He shows some problems in his reading tasks, which is likely to happen since
he does not read much in English outside the classes. He does not have a problem with direct answer tasks, but
he does not appreciates reading for a specific purpose. He prefers freer activities in which use his imagination.
How does it happen when reading a text?

Classroom Behavior √
SA is very enthusiastic and participative. He tries to produce as much as he can, especially in oral tasks,
sometimes even speaking a little bit more than his peers. When working in groups, he tends to be the leader,
and always puts himself as the responsible one what do you mean?, which makes some of his classmates a bit
embarrassed. He is not shy and speaks loud and slightly fast for his level, which causes him to make some
mistakes [such as?]. When it comes to listening and reading tasks, SA seems to be lost and does not pay attention
[to what?] like his classmates. He does not participate much in those activities and, when he does, he struggles
to answer [what?] correctly. He enjoys discussions with the whole class, but does not cherish for individual work.

Strengths & Weakness √

As stated above, SA is good at productive skills and enjoys speaking and writing tasks. He has fluency [ `don’t all
speakers according to their proficiency level?] and a good lexis; his classmates and teacher do not have problem
in understanding him. He is capable of using verbal tenses correctly although mistakes happen. When it comes
to writing, SA is able to organize his ideas cohesively and delivers sufficient writing [what does it mean?], apart
from his spelling and grammar mistakes, for example, using auxiliary verbs incorrectly (using do/does instead of
be). Please separate strengths from weaknesses.
However, SA has some problems with receptive skills. He finds it difficult placing the correct stress on long
sentences, and this affects his listening skills. Do not mix skills and systems – describe them separately. It occurs that he
demonstrates some anxiety with listening tasks, because he struggles to understand long sentences at a normal
pace. He also tends to have problems with written phrasal verbs, and misunderstand [???] the real meaning.
When a phrasal verb is spoken in a context, SA shows no problem to understand [???], but when it is written,
he seems to read each word separately and misses the real meaning.

BR678 | SPOC
Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner | FS
Part B: Problems and Solutions

Grammar Weakness √
Wrong use of auxiliary verbs this has to be mentioned and exemplified in the section above.

• Do is Felipe single? (Is Felipe single?)

• Does she is like to travel? (Does she like to travel?)

Reason: According to Swan&Smith (2001:118), Portuguese questions are marked by the

intonation and not by the use of auxiliaries, and there is no equivalent of auxiliary do by
changes of word order. This explanation does not match the learner’s mistake. This is all true, but it does not justify the
sample mistakes. If we follow this justification, the question would be Felipe is single? Search for the right justification.

Phonological Weakness √
Stress in long words this has to be mentioned and exemplified in the previous section above.

• Sophisticated as /səfɪstɪkeɪ’tɪd/ (Sophisticated /sə’fɪstɪkeɪtɪd/)

• Excellent as /eksələ’nt/ (Excellent /ˈeksələnt/)
Please use the same system to mark the stress in all words. The correct stress is marked right before the stressed syllable, but
the incorrect stress is marked after the incorrect stressed syllable. Both correct and incorrect stress must be marked right behind
their respective stressed syllable.
Reason: Brazilian Portuguese is a syllable-timed language and speakers my find it difficult to
identify the correct stress in English. This is talking about rhythm (not word stress). Portuguese words are
normally stressed on either the next-to last syllable or the last syllable (Swan&Smith
2001:116). So are most English words… Same as previous.

Solutions √

Grammar
By the end of this task, the student will be better at the use of auxiliary verbs in the present simple tense in
affirmative, negative and why? Isn’t his problem in the interrogative form only? interrogative sentences. Harmer (2007:93)
states that one of the keys to sustaining student motivation is to make materials and activities that are relevant
to the student’s lives and interests. As the student does not have a problem with tasks with only one correct
answer (fill in the blanks, for example) and the topic of this task (Seligson&Sili, 2019:53, exercise 4) is something
the student enjoys to talk about (food), this activity will help him to notice the correct place of auxiliary verbs in
English. √
Task is OK although there are very few interrogative items to practice.

Pronunciation √
By the end of this task, the student will be better at pronouncing long words in English with their correct stress.
Harmer (2007:277) declares that concentrating on the sound of words and sentences will make students aware
of where the stress falls and how intonation works, and these will help students to achieve their goal of improved
comprehension and intelligibility. As the student enjoys speaking, to achieve a good result on this task (Hancock,
2003:69, exercise 30.2), he will need to say the words out loud, and it will help him overcome his difficulty. √
This task does not address the learner’s mistake. Task is inappropriate – it does not work on the sample mistakes at all (not even on the stress-imposing
suffix in sophisticated).

References Authors’ surname should be in upper case.

Hancock, M. (2003) English Pronunciation in Use: Self-study and Classroom use. CUP.
Harmer, J. (2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson.
McDonough, S. (2007) Motivation in ELT. OUP.
Nunan, D & Lamb, C. (1996) The Self-directed Teacher – Managing the Learning Process. CUP.
Seligson, S & Sili, R. (2019) English ID starter. Richmond.
Swan, M & Smith, B. (2001) Learner English: A Teacher’s Guide to Interference and Other Problems. CUP

BR678 | SPOC
Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner | FS
APPENDIX A – GRAMMAR ACTIVITY √
Complete the sentences below with do, does, don’t or doesn’t.

Answer Key

BR678 | SPOC
Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner | FS
APPENDIX B – PRONUNCIATION ACTIVITY √
Write the words from the box in the correct part of the table according to the stress pattern

Answer Key

BR678 | SPOC
Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner | FS