SHAPE OF A LANGUAGE LESSON

I. PPP MODEL

The lesson is divided into three parts: Presentation, Practice and Production or "PPP" for
short. '

Presentation is where the teacher presents the new language. "New language" can be
new vocabulary, new grammar, a reading text, a listening task, a writing activity. One
common example of presentation is: the teacher extracts some model sentences from a
dialogue and explains the grammar.

In the Presentation stage the teacher does the work.

Practice is where the students are made to practise the new language with the teacher.
The teacher uses different sorts of exercises to make the students practise: drills followed
by pair work is the most common way of organising practice. At this stage practice is
controlled and the teacher emphasises accuracy.

In the Practice stage the teacher and the students do the work.

Production is where the teacher makes the students "produce" the new language they
have learnt on their own (without the teacher). This is usually done with a speaking
activity (for example a game, a discussion, a role-play). In this activity the students must
add the new grammar or vocabulary they have just learnt to the English they already
know. At this stage practice is not controlled by (he teacher. Sometimes this stage of the
lesson is called the Free Practice stage. The students learn to speak by themselves to get
fluency.

In the Production stage the students do the work.

2. Starting and Finishing

At the beginning of the lesson the teacher can use a warm-up to start. A warm-up is a 5-
minute activity which wakes up the students and puts them in the mood for learning
English. Usually it is a fun activity like a game where the students have to stand up or
move around.
At the end of the lesson the teacher gives homework which can either be an extension of
the Practice stage or an extension of the Production stage. If the homework is a written
exercise or to memorise the new words, it is an extension of the Practice stage because it
is for accuracy. If the homework is free writing (a story or a dialogue) it is an extension
of the Production stage because it is for fluency.

3. Correction

During the Presentation stage the teacher does not need to correct the students because it
is the teacher who is talking and giving the correct model. During the Practice stage the
teacher needs to spend a lot of time on correction (during the drills and the pair work)
because it is important that the students are accurate.

During the Production stage it is important for the teacher not to correct the students
directly because this will stop them from becoming fluent. If the students are trying to
speak and the teacher continually interrupts them, saying, "That's wrong" or "Say it
again!" the students become shy and unwilling to speak at length because they are afraid
of making mistakes. So, it is important at this stage for the teacher to use indirect
collection techniques: for example, instead of interrupting the students the teacher makes
notes of their errors and tells them later - either at the end of the lesson or in the next
lesson.

4. Timing

A lot of teachers spend far too much time on the Presentation stage and do not give their
students enough time to practise. But the teacher already knows how to speak English
and should allow more time for the students to speak English in class! Very often,
teachers believe that their job is to make students UNDERSTAND English but this is
only part of their job - after understanding (the presentation stage) students need to be
able to PRODUCE English (the practice and production stages).

In a 45 minute lesson:

Presentation should be clear, simple and quick. It should take NOT

MORE THAN 10minutes!

Practice should include ALL the students and the teacher should spend the-most time on
this stage. It should take about 20 minutes.

Production is sometimes difficult to get going - the students need about 10 minutes just to
understand what they are supposed to be doing and "to start speaking, so allow at least 15
minutes.

5. Pacing

Sometimes it is not possible to fit all three stages into one lesson. Very often teachers will
only have time for presentation and practice in 45 minuses. Then (hay revise the lesson
the next day with more practice followed by the production stage. So PPP takes 2 lessons:
Lesson 1 = .Presentation, Practice. Lesson 2 = Practice, Production.

On the other hand PPP can be used on a very small scale too. Every time you teach a new
word you can use PPP - although it only takes a few minutes. The teacher presents the
new word (elicits the meaning, says it dearly, writes it on the board, gives a translation).
Then (lie teacher gels the students to practise the new word (repetition, pronunciation).
Then the teacher asks the students to produce the new word in a sentence of their own. So
PPP can be a series of lessons or a whole lesson (on a macro level) or part of a lesson (on
a micro level).

6. TTT

"TTT" means Teacher Talking Time. Many teachers spend far too much time talking -
because it is easier for them to talk than for them to get their students to talk. Teachers
like the sound of their own voices too much! Also, when a teacher has not prepared the
lesson, s/he has to talk a lot to fill up the time.

In the presentation stage, because the teacher is doing most of the talking, TTT is about
80%.

In the practice stage TTT is about 40%: the teacher directs the students and Student
Talking Time is controlled by the teacher.

In the production stage TTT is minimal - (the teacher only needs to give instructions and
after that it's the students who do all the work, so TTT is about 5%.
PRACTICE
Complete the following tables using the information from the image and the reading text
below.

PRESENTATION

Main interaction:
…………………………………………………………………………
% of TTT: ……………………………….. % of STT:
…………………………………….
Amount of teacher control:
………………………………………………………………
Amount of correction by teacher:
………………………………………………………..
Accuracy (A) or fluency (F):
………………………………………………………………
Timing:
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Sample activity:
………………………………………………………………………….
PRACTICE

Main interaction:
…………………………………………………………………………
% of TTT: ……………………………….. % of STT: …………………………..
Amount of teacher control:
………………………………………………………………
Amount of correction by teacher:
………………………………………………………..
Accuracy (A) or fluency (F):
………………………………………………………………
Timing:
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Sample activity:
………………………………………………………………………….

PRODUCTION

Main interaction:
…………………………………………………………………………
% of TTT: ……………………………….. % of STT: …………………………..
Amount of teacher control:
………………………………………………………………
Amount of correction by teacher:
………………………………………………………..
Accuracy (A) or fluency (F):
………………………………………………………………
Timing:
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Sample activity:
………………………………………………………………………….