Lesson Shapes and Aims

Each of your TP points will have a main aim and a subsidiary aim. The main aim is stated first. When
planning your own lessons, remember to have both a language aim and a skills aim. Eg. Grammar and
speaking, or reading and lexis. Use the following flow chart to decide which lesson shape to use.

Language main aim Skills main aim

i.e. grammar, lexis or functional i.e. listening, reading, speaking
language or writing

Is there a text to interest the Is the main aim reading or

sts first? listening

YES NO NO YES

See (A) below See (B) below Is the main aim See (D) below
Lesson shape: Lesson shape: speaking or writing Lesson shape:
Language via a text Test Teach Test or Receptive Skills
Situational
presentation (C)

YES NO

Is there a text to Check again or ask

interest the sts / your tutor if not sure!
provide a model?

NO YES

See (E) below See (F) below

Lesson shape: Lesson shape:
Productive Skills Productive Skills

Nicola Harwood
A M E M B E R O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L H O U S E W O R L D O R G A N I S AT I O N

 Lesson shape (A) Teaching language using a reading/listening

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: Sts will be better able to understand and use _____.

The usual stages are

Stage Name Stage aims

Lead in
Reading/Listening for gist and or
detailed comprehension
Presentation of Target Language
Controlled practice
Freer practice
Delayed error correction
To generate interest in the topic/theme/context of the text
To practise reading or listening for______ / To introduce the target
language via a text or listening
To highlight the target language by use of eliciting/a guiding task/an
underlining activity
To :
▪ Clarify meaning of target language
▪ Highlight form
▪ Model and provide practice of the pronunciation
To provide controlled/less controlled oral/written practice of
_______________
To proviced freer oral/written practice of _______________
To provide language feedback on task
NB. Provide feedback on content of task before focusing on errors.

Lesson shape (B) Teaching language using a test-teach-test shape.

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 MFP) as necessary – i.e. any new language or items the students had problems with. For example,
if there are 10 items of lexis in the test, the teacher would not clarify every item. This is followed by further
practice (test). The main aim here will usually be: Sts will be better able to understand and use _____.

The usual stages are

Stage Name Stage aims

Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson
Test (diagnostic) To test Ss’ current understanding and identify gaps in vocabulary
related to_________
Teach (clarifying) To deal with meaning, form and pronunciation of vocabulary
related to ________ NB with lexis, ensure you clarify this as you get
the answers to the first test.
Test (controlled practice) To provide controlled/less controlled written/oral practice of
vocabulary related to _____

Freer practice To proviced freer oral/written practice of _______________

Delayed error correction To provide language feedback on task
NB. Provide feedback on content of task before focusing on errors.

Nicola Harwood
A M E M B E R O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L H O U S E W O R L D O R G A N I S AT I O N

Lesson shape (D) 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: Sts will develop their _____ and _____ reading / listening skills.
Possible stages are (choose as necessary)

Stage Name Stage aims

Pre Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme of the lesson
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
Reading/listening for gist To encourage Ss to listen for gist/general understanding/global
understanding
While
Reading/listening for To practise reading for specific information
specific information
Reading/listening for To practise reading for detailed comprehension
detailed comprehension
Post teach vocabulary To post-teach useful vocabulary from the text NB. Use a task and
remember to clarify for MFP when you get feedback to the task.
Follow up To develop oral/written fluency by providing an opportunity to react to
Post the text;
To (further) personalise the topic
Delayed error correction To provide language feedback on task
NB. Provide feedback on content of task before focusing on errors.

Lesson shape (E) 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: Sts will have developed their fluency on the topic of ______ or Sts will be
better able to write a ______ (type of writing)
Possible stages are (choose as necessary)

Stage Name Stage aims

Lead in
Focus on useful language
Preparing to write/speak
Speaking/writing task
Delayed error correction
To activate Ss’ existing knowledge of the topic; to generate interest in the
topic/theme of the lesson
To provide and clarify language which Ss may find useful for completing the
writing/speaking task NB This could be necessary vocabulary/grammar or
functional language.
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
To develop oral fluency through a ________ task; to develop writing skills in
relation to writing _____________
To provide language feedback on task
NB. Provide feedback on content of task before focusing on errors.

Nicola Harwood
A M E M B E R O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L H O U S E W O R L D O R G A N I S AT I O N

 Lesson shape (F) Productive Skills – speaking or writing using a text TBL
In pure TBL, students would just do the task and then the teacher would work on emerging language to
upgrade their output, possibly with the opportunity to repeat the task. A less pure TBL is to provide students
with a model of native or proficient speakers doing the task or a written model, pull out useful language and
then for the students to use it when they have a go at the task themselves. The main aim here will usually be:
Sts will have developed their fluency on the topic of ______ or Sts will be better able to write a ______
(type of writing)
Possible stages are (choose as necessary)

Stage Name Stage aims

Lead in To generate interest in the topic/theme/context of the text
Model Reading/ To practise reading or listening for______ This first text is often a model for when
Listening for gist and students write their own text or do their own speaking activity.
or detailed
comprehension
Focus on useful To provide and clarify language which Ss may find useful for completing the
language / focus on writing/speaking task NB This could be necessary vocabulary/grammar or
features of text functional language. OR To focus on features of the text such as structure/layout/
paragraphing
Preparing to write/ To generate/provide ideas; to provide an opportunity for sts to brainstorm ideas/
speak prepare notes/think about what they will say in the subsequent task. You may
even have time for students to rehearse their task
Speaking/writing task To develop oral fluency through a ________ task; to develop writing skills in
relation to writing _____________
Delayed error To provide language feedback on task
correction NB. Provide feedback on content of task before focusing on errors.

Lesson Shape (C): Language through a context / situational presentation

The lesson is introduced through a context. The teacher leads the students toward a model sentence. This
sentence includes the target language. The target language has a particular meaning or use; this is the
function of the target language. The language is then clarified for meaning, form and pronunciation before
doing some practice.
The usual stages are:
Stage Name Stage aims
Lead-in To set the context and engage students’ interest
Language Presentation To lead the students towards a model
sentence including the target language
To
• clarify meaning
• highlight form
• model and provide practice of the
pronunciation

Controlled practice To provide controlled oral/written practice of the

target language
Freer practice To provide freer oral/written practice of the target
language

Nicola Harwood
A M E M B E R O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L H O U S E W O R L D O R G A N I S AT I O N

 Delayed error correction To provide language feedback on task

NB. Provide feedback on content of the task
before focusing on errors

Nicola Harwood
A M E M B E R O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L H O U S E W O R L D O R G A N I S AT I O N