ITI DELTA Module Two

The Experimental Assignment

(The second half of your PDA)

The Experimental Assignment is a 1500-2000 word written assignment (no tutor watches any lessons,
though you might want to get a friend in for research purposes rather than assessment purposes –
and they could even do a peer observation at the same time). For this assignment you CHOOSE AN
APPROACH, PROCEDURE OR TECHNIQUE THAT IS NEW TO YOU AND THE GROUP,
TRY IT OUT AND EVALUATE THE RESULTS.

Cambridge say the assignment is important because …

Teachers develop routines during their early years of teaching which enable them to deal with
the complexities of their teaching situation and to plan lessons and respond to classroom
events as they occur. Developing new routines is a challenging and complex process;
numerous contextual and personal factors make it hard for teachers to change their existing
routines and to experiment with alternative practices. This assignment provides a framework
within which candidates can experiment with, what is for them, a new aspect of teaching, and
helps them to reflect on its effectiveness for them and their learners’ learning.

You should end up with a contents page that works like this:

Main assignment (1500-2000 words)

 Commentary (1000 – 1600 depending on the length of the evaluation)
Introduction (reason for choosing focus – how does it fit with your professional
development)
Theory and practice (what it is and why it is said to work)
How it helps learners (what kind of groups is it / isn’t it suitable for ? why ?)
 Evaluation (400-500 words)
Evaluation of lesson: 250–300 words
Future action: 150–200 words.

Appendices (not word counted)

 Objectives for the experiment (3 – 6 measurable, specific objectives for the experiment, not for
the lesson)
 Data gathering tools list (what do you plan to do - how will you find out if the objectives have
been met ? say which tool matches which objective – some may work for more than one).
 Lesson plan including a …
Lesson aim (you should have a systems or skills aim as you usually would, this is
different from the experiment objectives)
Very brief outline of the group – a few notes on number, level, context, not your usual
full profile
Procedure – this should be as detailed as usual with stage aims, key CCQs etc
Materials
 Data
Collated copies of things like student questionnaires, peer observer notes, your journal
reflections, possibly samples of things produced in the lesson (if something like
dictogloss is the focus)

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First you need to choose something to experiment with.
If you were in the session, try to remember which of the following can work well for
this assignment and then go to the end of this document to check if you were right.

TASK ONE
Most of the subjects that follow make a good focus for an experimental assignment.
Five of them don’t and several need a word of caution. Go through the list noting which
ones you think might work and how next to each possibility.

a. The Silent Way k. The Direct Method

b. The Lexical Approach l. using newspapers

c. Using drama m. dictogloss / dictation

d. the phonetic chart n. Community Language Learning

e. Task Based Learning o. using film

f. Multiple Intelligences p. Suggestopaedia

g. using reformulation activities q. using translation activities

h. Dogme r. Cuisenaire rods

i. Total Physical Response s. Neuro-Linguistic Programming

j. a learner centred approach t. using songs

If you have an idea for something different, then great, but it is a good idea to check in
the forums if it is likely to work or not.
There are surprisingly few criteria for this assignment, but the specifications are clear.

DELTA Module Two with ITI Istanbul

Successful candidates must

Main assignment – first 1000-1600 words

1. Introduction
You should start with a 100 - 200 word introduction in which you say why you chose the area.
Keep it short, make sure to say something about how this fits into your vision of your professional
development (something about your R&A). Other things you might mention are reading, the learners
and long term curiosity.

2. What it is and why or how it works

The first 750-800 words is the description of the theory behind the procedure or technique and a
description of how it works in practice. This is where you will show evidence that you have read
about your area. Be sure to refer to several sources when discussing your chosen area – the ideas
in the theory and how it can be put into practice section should not be from just one author (however
good that writer might be).

Write about why people think it works, what is the theory that underlies its development, so if you write
about TPR you will probably talk about how children learn their first language. Or if you choose to
focus on NLP, you will probably say something about models of excellence and psychologists.
You also need to describe how it works in practice, what a typical suggestopaedia classroom would
look like and what the stages of a lesson would involve, or what the possible various stages are if you
use a dictogloss. Some people find it easier to work from the theory to the practice and other people
find it easier to say what the practice is and then say why. Both approaches are possible. If you have
chosen something controversial, you may also want to review some of the criticisms that are often
heard.

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The experiment should fit into one lesson, so if you have chosen one of the very wide areas (NLP
and Suggestopaedia for example both involve a huge range of techniques) you should narrow your
focus in this first section of the assignment. If, for example, you are thinking about doing anchoring (an
NLP technique) to help learners with confidence in fluency or presentations, you would still need a
very brief introduction to what NLP is and where it came from, but you would quite quickly narrow
down to anchoring and what lies behind its effectiveness.

At the end of all that in 400-500 words say briefly why it would suit particular learners or
circumstances and perhaps not suit others.

Appendices content (we will come back to the last bit of the main assignment)
Now think about the things you will put in the appendices – we will come back to the main assignment
in a minute.

Appendix 1a The objectives for the experiment

Objectives need to be short, specific and measurable. They are an important part of how you will
decide whether the experiment was a success or not.

TASK TWO
Four sets of objectives follow.
Two sets are good and two are not so good. Can you say which are which and why ? (none are perfect)

Objectives A
 To test the theory that dictogloss focuses learners’ attention on specific features of language.
 To discover whether the overall aims of a dictogloss activities have been met, from both the teacher’s
and the learners’ perspectives.
 To discover how learners feel about using dictation, particularly dictogloss, in class.

Objectives B
a) To determine whether presenting specific language forms in the context of a coherent text helps
learners to focus on their use.
b) To determine whether the learners enjoyed the activity.
c) To see if the learners realize that dictogloss gives them the opportunity to practise all four skills,
reading, writing, listening and speaking.
d) To see whether dictogloss encourages the learners to engage in meaningful L2 interaction.
e) To evaluate whether students see the value of a learner centred approach, such as dictogloss, in
promoting learner collaboration and learner autonomy.
f) To see if the learners perceive that dictogloss really helps them to improve their English by
helping them to understand grammar in context, and by learning from each other

Objectives C
My objectives during the lesson will focus on:
a. the use of music in an English lesson, to support the presentation of text, read by the teacher
b. the use of matching vocabulary cards to check students understanding of class material.
c. the use of techniques by the teacher to increase both confidence & relaxation in the learning process
d. the percentage of vocabulary retained by the students. (I have chosen vocabulary as it is one of the
simplest areas of English to check for success. Aspects of grammar, for example, will be more
challenging for me to assess.)

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Objectives D
1. Do the learners speak more fluently and worry less about making mistakes during the task stage or do
they feel constricted as they will not have had any advice on what language forms to use prior to the
task stage?
2. Do the learners utilize different types of language in the fluency and accuracy stages?
3. Do the learners find the language focus and the video of native speakers performing the task
useful and would they have preferred to have these stages before performing the task?

Answers are at the end of the document.

Appendix 1b Methods of Evaluation

You must show how you are going to evaluate the experiment.
There must be some way of evaluating each objective mentioned at some point. (Some people put in
an objective then say how they will evaluate it then move on to the next objective. If you choose to do
this you must label the objectives clearly so they are easily and instantly distinguished from the
methods of evaluation). Often though the data that you collect can be used to evaluate more than one
objective so this one to one approach is not as always as useful as it first sounds.

Be careful to keep your perspective to what can be achieved in one lesson. The experiment is not
about whether an approach works over time or not. You might make a comment about some further
fragment of evidence that you saw the following week, but you should not set up evaluation methods
that depend on going back to the subject on later occasions.

TASK THREE

Different objectives will entail different methods of evaluation, but for now, make a list of all the ways you
(and/or others) could collect data from your classroom that might help you with the evaluation.

My list is at the end of the document.

Appendix 2 The plan / procedure

The plan for the experimental lesson goes in the appendices and it will have a very short (one
paragraph) class profile. It will also have normal systems or skills aims, though on this occasion you
do not need to consider whether they fit into the balance of your portfolio. You can have a main aim
that is in the same areas as one in one of your teaching assignments (LSAs). Your procedure will
show the implementation of the technique or approach and will clearly embody what you have
described in the first half of the assignment, showing that you can ‘link theory to practice’.

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Appendix 3 (and 4, 5 …) The data

If you asked someone to watch the lesson, put in their feedback to you (typed or scanned).
If you asked the learners what they thought orally, write in some of the comments.
Iif you gave them a questionnaire, collate their responses.
If you recorded things, script in relevant extracts.
If they created something, could you photograph it ?

Main assignment – last 400-500 words

Evaluation 400 – 500 words

You need to think about two things ...

A post experiment evaluation

Did the procedure or technique live up to your objectives ? Looking at the data you gathered
from various sources and the objectives you wrote, was it a success ?

A post experiment action plan

How will you go on to develop work in this area ?
What else would you like to try ? Other levels, other techniques ?
Is there anything you will adapt as a result of the experiment ?
Or has using it made you realise that it is just not going to work for you or your learners ?
Ever ?

Reading

To give individual reading lists for each area would make this document huge, but here are some
pointers ...

There are direct links on the Moodle for Dogme, translation, NLP and some of the methods you
researched for Module One projects if you did Module One with ITI. Also there is an experimental
reading page in the Moodle. Click on the reading button and scroll right down that page.

Larsen Freeman, D. 1986 Techniques and Principles in Langauge Learning OUP

And
Richards, J, & Rogers, T. 2001 Approaches and Methods in ELT CUP
Both cover a lot of the methods above if you are trying to work out what you want to do – Larsen
Freeman gives little descriptions of what happens in a typical classroom.

For NLP try

Revell, J. & Norman, S. 1997 In Your Hands Saffire Press

For a start on grammaticisation try

Thornbury, S. 2005 Uncovering Grammar Macmillan
Thornbury, S. 1999 How to Teach Grammar Longman

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HLT magazine is heavily into all things alternative – a good source for multiple intelligences and
things like the NLP spelling technique
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/
Use their search facility – it is a bit slow, but usually worth the wait.

Translation
HLT magazine January 2003 is a good place to start.
Deller, S. & Rinvolucri, M. 2002 Using the Mother Tongue First Person Publishing

TBL
Willis, J. 1996 A Framework for Task Based Learning Longman
Or
Willis, D. & Willis, J 1996 Challenge and Change in Language Teaching Macmillan

Key to task one

a. This works well.

b. This can work well. There is some theory to read for the first section of the assignment (Lewis is a good
place to start), but you will need to create your own lesson shape for your experimental lesson, in that
the lexical approach is more about augmenting current classroom practices than about rewriting
syllabuses or classroom activities.
c. If you go with this focus you will need to find reading about whole person learning and psychology
(motivation, memorability etc) to back up what you say.
d. The phonetic chart is more a resource than an approach or procedure, although you might focus on the
Fidel charts that are used for the Silent Way as then you might find enough theory to write about (from
the ideas behind the learners feeling the sounds for themselves rather than hearing them) and within the
Silent Way there is a standard procedure for using the charts, so it can work if you are very clear about
what you want to do.
e. This can work well. It usually works best with the Willis approach to the subject as they lay out a very
clear standard procedure to be followed. If you do task based learning all the time in your institution,
then doing another lesson of the same type would not be acceptable for this assignment, but if you are
curious about the possible differences between what you are implementing as TBL and the Willis
approach, that could be a fruitful focus for an assignment.
f. Multiple Intelligences can work. There is no standard classroom procedure to be found though, so you
would have to create your own approach in practical terms. This is quite do-able though – you could
have a whole lexis lesson and try to cover every intelligence at least twice and then see if the learners
had better retention of the words than usual. Do be sure to mention that there are those who would
suggest learning styles (VAK / MI etc) are not useful or even real
http://www.danielwillingham.com/learning-styles-faq.html /
http://malingual.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/learning-styles-facts-and-fictions.html
g. Reformulation activities are part of the ‘grammaticisation’ approach – grammar through whole language
– and helping learners develop their writing skills. It can work well for an experimental focus if you are
more used to gap fills and sentence level activities to work on grammar (or are using a more traditional
course book). If your curiosity has been piqued by this, read the Thornbury article that is up on an early
Moodle link to get you started.
h. Dogme can work well, but it is also a trap for the unwitting – just because they don’t believe in the

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 formal structure of pre prepared lesson plans, doesn’t mean you don’t have to write one. In fact, it means
you have to write a kind of retrospective ‘what we actually generated’ plan, which shows what you and
the learners achieved in your unstructured lesson – interesting, but no less work than doing it the
standard way round and to my mind rather more.
i. This works well.
j. This works well – you need to show you are giving them considerably more power in some area than
you ever have before. It is quite unstructured though. You will have to create your own approach (and
structure the lesson so they really are making the decisions but they still get some learning out of it).
You should also refer to reading on psychology and autonomy.
k. This works well.
l. Newspapers are a resource, not an approach or procedure. Though you might get an assignment out of
doing something about authentic texts (as there is a debate there about relevance to learners lives,
whether they should always be taken to things step by step etc).
m. Dictogloss works well. Another area where you probably need to start by reading about
grammaticisation and noticing.
n. Community Language Learning works well.
o. Again a resource not an approach or procedure. Though as with reading so listening - you might get an
assignment out of doing something about authentic listening texts (as there is a debate there about
relevance to learners lives, whether they should always be taken to things step by step etc).
p. This works well, though you will certainly need to narrow it down to a couple of techniques in the lesson
and might want to do so after you have covered a general introduction in the background assignment too.
q. This works well. Once again, start reading with grammaticisation or the Thornbury article.
r. These are a resource, not an approach or a procedure. You can’t make it work (I don’t think – always
prepared to talk these things through in the forum)
s. This works fine as long as you don’t try to do the whole thing and make it clear that you are narrowing
down. Narrowing down to see if promoting VAK helps your learners do things more effectively is
popular, but I can remember one very good assignment on the NLP spelling techniques so an even
narrower focus can also work well. Do be sure to mention that there are those who would suggest
learning styles (VAK / MI etc) are not useful or even real http://www.danielwillingham.com/learning-
styles-faq.html / http://malingual.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/learning-styles-facts-and-fictions.html
t. This is a resource rather than an a procedure or technique so you would need to unearth some kind of
theory about creativity and music to make it roll. Crossing sides in the brain ? Unleashing something that
makes learning stick ? Suggestopedia claims the classical music of a certain number of beats per minute
has a beneficial effect, you might try starting there and following leads.

Key to task two

B and D are good. While some individual objectives are better than others, they are reasonably measurable.
The teacher will be able to find ways of evaluating whether or not they have been met.

In A on the whole the objectives are too general – how will they test the theory that it focuses learners
attention on specific features of language ? It is hard to envisage how that could be evaluated - not impossible,
just hard, but the teacher did not have clear and specific methods of evaluation, so the criticism of the
objective stood. In the second objective, equally, what are the aims that should have been met ? In particular,
what aims does a learner have for a dictogloss ? This is oddly phrased and not helpful.

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In C there is a phrasing problem. We know there will be music, but what is it about the music that the teacher
hopes will be achieved ? Only d comes close to being an objective, let alone one that is reasonably quantifiable.

Task three answer key

You can record all or parts of the lesson, audio recordings or video if you have the technology.
You can get someone to watch the lesson.
If you get an observer, you will need to give them guidance on what you want them to watch for –
perhaps a chart or
a questionnaire to fill in.
You can ask the learners what they think about things at various stages of the lesson, informally or via
questionnaires or both.
You can make notes for yourself about what you hear or observe during and / or after the lesson.
You can run mini tests on the learners (checking vocabulary or grammar perhaps).
You can collect copies of things that they do (if they write anything down or create anything in the lesson) to
look at later.

In all cases you need to think it through beforehand - what specifically is it you want to know ?
For observers and students you will need to write focused questions if you want to know more than the fact
that they all quite like it.
If you do use questionnaires or observation checklists, put in a copy and summarise results on it.

The best possible outcome is if you can triangulate your data – that is compare your perspective, the learners’
and an observer’s.

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