FOREIGN LANG TEACHING II

(PRAC.CAMPO I)

Student’s name: GILBER ALBERTO CABRERA HERRERA Date: ___08/02/2022__

OSCAR DAVID CALI GUZMAN
GENARO DE LA ROSA HERNANDEZ

Establishing a Meaningful and Purposeful Context for Language Instruction

In your groups:

A. Answer the following questions:

1. What do you understand by “Context”?
2. What is the difference between content and context?
3. What do they say about Grammar?

B. Go to the “Rehearsing the Practice” section in the chapter and do tasks 2, 4, and 5.

Upload your work to the following Folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mgUecSoHUnEy-af9LpBS4ZIkD69FoZTv?usp=sharing

Answers:
A)

1. What do you understand by “Context”?

Based on the reading, the context has to do with the environments surrounding the student, whether social or cultural,
basically refers to the particularity of a child's class or school site, therefore context plays an important role in planning
lessons and units for carrying out instructions. For teachers, the context is essential because it motivates students to
understand the purposes of instruction and communication in cultural contexts. The context also facilitates the learning
process by making the meanings and functions of language in speech and written texts transparent to students

2. What is the difference between content and context?

To understand these two concepts, it is necessary to understand communication as the description of an

experience or giving instructions.
We have the context as the frame around the content of the communication which allows the speech event to be
correctly understood, properly interpreted, and described in a relevant and precise way; (such as describing
what is being discussed, who is speaking, why they are speaking, and how they are speaking). A reading task
can be taken as an example, in this case, the previous reading, that is, the introduction provides and frames the
context so that the content is understandable and interpreted correctly. If the proper context is not provided, the
content will be difficult to understand

3. What do they say about Grammar?

According to the document, context shouldn't be reduced simply to grammar. For example, in a class, we cannot
say "today's context is the verb to be". This doesn't mean that grammar isn't important. In fact, it is a necessary
tool for students either to make sense of the texts they read or listen to and interpret or to be understood
themselves when they communicate orally or in writing. Grammar doesn't have an instructional purpose and
therefore cannot be the context for language teaching, since the context encompasses a more general view.

The only way that grammar can be the context is if a linguistics course is being taught. Otherwise, grammar is a
tool to be learned in context to enable learners to understand the meaning and usage of grammatical forms.

A problem for teachers is when they work with textbooks, which include many tasks on the topic but when the
grammar is introduced, the topic is lost or the grammar point is not introduced in the context. Anecdotally, one
teacher pointed out that textbooks (only a few) are simply grammar manuals disguised in a superficial context
and the problem is that grammar should never be the starting point for planning instruction.
 FOREIGN LANG TEACHING II
(PRAC.CAMPO I)

The context determines the grammar necessary to achieve a communicative goal. For example, a context related
to vacations, with the question to explore how vacation preferences have changed over the years, may require
the grammatical notion of habitual aspects using the imperfect tense (what used to be). In this sense, the
students could discuss what used to be the vacations. That grammar serves to give meaning to the story.

B)

Task 2. For each of the following speech situations, identify at least two communicative language
functions expressed as a speaking event that could be observed. For example, if the speech situation is a party,
one could observe a self-introduction to a person one does not know, individuals stating likes and dislikes about
recent movies, or discussions about school, jobs, or leisure time activities. Share your language functions in
context with others in your pedagogy class or professional development session.
• In a classroom
• At the mall
• At home watching TV with a friend
• At a job interview
• At the doctor's office

Speech situations Communicative language functions

• In a classroom 1. request and give information on an unknown or poorly
understood academic topic.
2. Say hello and goodbye when entering and leaving the
classroom.
3. Give suggestions and recommendations for solving an
activity when working in pairs or groups.

• At the mall 1. Give and ask for directions to the nearest mall or to find out
where the different malls in the city are located.
2. Ask about the different prices of commercial products and
ask for a discount.
3. Describes the quality, shape and material with which the
garments are made.

• At home watching TV with a friend
1. Discuss and give reasons about the best and worst part of a
horror movie.
2. Suggest or give recommendations about recently released
movies or will be released in days or months.
3. Comparing gender stereotypes about movies.

• At a job interview 1. Describe past experiences about the old job and proposed
future plans or goals.
2. Express weaknesses and strengths that are presented for job
performance.
3. Give basic personal information (name, age, address, e-mail,
 FOREIGN LANG TEACHING II
(PRAC.CAMPO I)

cell phone number, etc.)

• At the doctor's office 1. Describe sensations or discomfort in the body.
2. Comment on the affected body parts.
3. Request information on how to prevent and cure diseases.

Task 4

In this task, it can be noted that contextualization is needed, that although the activity to be carried out is clear,
but, there is a lack of contextualization in terms of not knowing what specific vocabulary is going to be used,
what idiomatic expressions will be used; for this reason, I rate it with 2.

Task 5.
Now develop your own context for a lesson or unit of instruction by identifying:
• The theme or topic
• The inquiry question
• Language functions related to the context (review the S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G Model presented earlier)
• Grammar and vocabulary relevant to the context
• Sample target-language interactions for students to complete in class
• One formative assessment task and one summative assessment task To aid the completion of this task, you may want
to use External Meditational Tool #7 in Appendix 1-A.

TEME OR TOPIC. Exercise

THE INQUIRY QUESTION. Why is it important to exercise?

LANGUAGES RELATED TO THE ✔ Express the importance of exercise in the

CONTEXT. body.
✔ Describe the different types of exercises.
✔ Answer and ask questions about exercises.
✔ Give information about the most useful.
exercises to improve health.
GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY For the realization of sentences on the subject, the
 FOREIGN LANG TEACHING II
(PRAC.CAMPO I)

RELEVANT. simple present and the gerund are used that the
students will be able to work naturally for the last
evaluation.

SAMPLE TARGET-LANGUAGE ✔ Handle the language of the context clearly.

INTERACTIONS.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TASK.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT TASK.
✔ The environment of interaction and
communication between students.
✔ Spontaneity when asking questions
✔ Solve questions and share with the
classmate.
✔ Classroom survey on mental health
exercises.
✔ Create a poster or collage of the theme.
Students will have to make an oral presentation
about the advantages for the body when exercising.