LANGUAGE SKILLS RELATED TASKS

Name: Irina Assignment 3: Language skills related tasks

Course: C1/2021 Date submitted: 30/08/2021

In this assignment you will be exploring the area of teaching skills through the use of authentic
materials

The aim of this assignment is for you to:

 Evaluate a piece of authentic material for language skills development.

 Show evidence of your background reading in the topic area (skills).
 Identify the receptive skills and sub-skills that could be practised and developed using an
authentic text.
 Identify the productive skills that could be practised and developed in relation to the same text.
 Design tasks in relation to the selected text with brief rationale for each.

Assessment criteria (from Cambridge English Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines)

Successful candidates can demonstrate their learning by:

Correctly using terminology that relates to language skills and sub-skills.

Relating task design to language skills development.
Finding, selecting and referencing information from one or more sources.
Using written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task.
+-750/1000 words.

Each assignment may COMMENTS

be submitted twice
PASS
1.
RESUBMIT

PASS on
2. Resubmission

FAIL

FIRST MARKER SECOND MARKER

 Level: Upper-intermediate
Source of authentic https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58356716
material:

Part 1 (200 words)

Based on your observations and teaching to date, briefly:
1. Describe your current The group of upper-intermediate students is confident
group’s weaknesses in enough with reading, especially with getting the main idea
reading\listening (with while skimming, though there are some problems when it
direct evidence from TP) – concerns reading for detailed comprehension. It provokes
please refer to sub-skills. debates as they have different answers, which is good for
the lesson, but it illustrates the lack of strengths with this
particular sub-skill.
2. Describe your current The majority of students do not have general problems with
group’s weaknesses in speaking, though during controlled practice when the aim is
speaking and/or writing to use some particular structure, or specific vocabulary
(with direct evidence from related to the topic, as it was with the practice using
TP) – do not base this on different personalities, there are some. Some struggle with
their weaknesses in the right choice, make longer pauses and lose their initial
grammar or vocabulary. fluency.
3. Why would the text The students are women between 17-45, well educated, sensitive
you’ve chosen interest to cultural issues, all mentioned their interest to theatres and
your group of learners? plays, as well as to technologies. Taking their background into
account, the topic chosen, related to technologies and their role in
cultural life, should be interesting and engaging for students.
4. How would specific There are several sub-skills for the task. It is reading for gist
learners’ needs (related to and for detailed comprehension, as these skills need to be
skills development) be developed.
catered for in this lesson?
Part 2 (800 words)

1. How would you generate
interest in the topic of the
text? Why is this important?
2. Which items of vocabulary
from the text would you pre-
teach and why? (Not how!)
I would start with setting the context. ‘Do you know what
AI is? Do you think this technology is beneficial for the
society?’ The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ will be clarified if
necessary. Next step. I invite students to discuss in pairs a
quotation: ‘Robots took the jobs of factory workers.
Artificial Intelligence will take the jobs of office workers.’
Rationale:
According to J. Harmer, ‘Students need to be engaged with
what they are reading’. That’s why the lead-in is an
essential stage of the reading task. It is important as it
helps focus students’ attention on the particular area of
interests and activate their schemata, for more productive
work. ‘We want to activate their knowledge before they
read or listen’ [Harmer, 2010, p.206]
Stage: 5 min. Greeting, setting the questions, pair work
and an open class feedback.
‘Play’, ‘gobble up’, wipe out’, ‘nudge’. These terms are
important for the main idea of the article. I expect
students are familiar with some of them. For words that
are difficult to elicit I will provide the explanation, with
the focus on the meaning/form/pronunciation.
Play:
Gobble up. You gobble something up if you take it fast and
greedy.
 Wipe out. Wipe out something such as a place or a group
of people or animals means to destroy them completely.
Nudge. If you nudge someone, you push them gently,
usually with your elbow, in order to draw their attention
to something.
CCQs: I’m going to the theatre tomorrow to watch this
new widely advertised ______ (play)
I was so stressed, that in the middle of the night I went to
the kitchen, opened the fridge, and did this with all the
food I found. (Gobbled up)
We were sitting at the table with them, when he started to
comment on the lady’s new hairdo. I decided to draw his
attention to the inappropriacy of it and change the topic,
so I _______ him. (nudge)
Rationale: We pre-teach some vocabulary with the
purpose to give student more confidence during the
exposure with authentic materials. In some situations, we
can avoid it, as with stronger students, unknown words
don’t usually lead to misunderstanding
Stage: 5 min CCQs, eliciting, providing, re-eliciting.
3. Describe the first Task1. Reading for gist. Handout 1.
reading/listening task you Rationale: Skimming task or reading for gist helps
would design, stating the students ‘to get a quick idea of the text’. Through ‘a quick
target sub-skill. Attach any look at the text before plunging into it for detail, we help
materials you would hand out them to get general understanding of what it is about.
(and include an answer key). This will help them when they read for more specific
Explain clearly how the task information’ [Harmer, 2010, p.202]
will help your learners Stage: (5 min). Students read the headline of the article
practise the target sub-skill. and discuss that the article is about AI. Then they are
Quote from your background given with 5 headlines for four parts of the article, and
reading. Describe the full they match the headlines with the paragraphs. One is
staging and timing of the extra. Then check in pairs.
activity.
4. Describe the second Task 2. Reading for detailed comprehension. I will use an
reading/listening task you intensive reading task for students to read the text more
would design, stating the attentively and give answers to True-False statements.
target sub-skill. Attach any Handout 2
materials you would hand out
(and include an answer key). Rationale: It will get students deeper exposure to the
Explain clearly how the task original text. They need to read very carefully. ‘We should
will help your learners do our best to offer a mixture of materials and activities so
practise the target sub-skill. they can practice using these skills’ [Harmer, p.101]. This
Quote from your background type of task requires comprehensive understanding, that’s
reading. Describe the full why the students are given 10 minutes for this type of
staging and timing of the reading and 5 min for checking giving proves of their
activity. choices. ‘We may start by having them compare answers
in pairs and then ask for answers in class in general.
Students often appreciate giving paired answers … since
by sharing their knowledge they are also share the
responsibility’ [J.Harmer, p.286]
Stage: 15 min
Students read the text again and answer True/False
questions. While doing it individually, students will be
asked to underline the phrases in the text, which give
them full understanding. ‘When we ask students to give

5. Describe the follow-up
production task (speaking or
writing) you would design –
attach any materials you
would hand out. Explain how
this task will help your
learners practise the target
skill (not language). (Quote
from your background
reading.) Describe the full
staging and timing of the
activity, and the type(s) of
feedback you would manage.
answers, we should always ask them to say where in the
text they found the relevant information. This provokes
the detailed study of the text’ [J.Harmer, p.286] Moreover,
it will help them check the results in pairs and conduct
their debates based on some detail.
Task 3. Follow up activity. Speaking. ‘Discuss
interpretations of, reactions to, feelings about the text.’
[J. Scrivener, p.188]
Rationale: Speaking is a productive skill. This type of a
task will get students time to have freer practice in the
given context, to reflect on their feelings about the text,
their attitude to it. For this group it is especially beneficial
since they enjoy speaking. As the topic is a bit provocative
it boosts the discussion with interesting conclusions. The
questions are made with the purpose to involve student
personally into the topic, since they are asked about their
personal attitude on the matter. The material they read
also contributes into ideas of accepting or refusing
changes that are happening in our society.
Stage: 10-15min
Students are given 4 questions. They discuss in pairs.
They give reasons for and against, they provide some
ideas for further content feedback. After pair works
students share ideas in an open class and as a summing
up idea, they discuss the quotation by Stephen Hawking
about the AI and agree or disagree with it. Some of the
ideas from the text may influence their choice. Brief
language feedback from the teacher finishes the lesson.

References:

J. Scrivener, Learning Teaching, Macmillan, 2005

J. Harmer, How to teach English, Pearson, 2007
J. Harmer, The practice of English language teaching, 4th ed, Pearson, Longman, 2007

Submission checklist:

 I have addressed all areas of the rubric, following the template above.
 I have referred to (and quoted / paraphrased from) my background reading where the
need for this has been indicated.
 I have included tasks to develop two receptive sub-skills and one production skill.
 I have included the expected / desired answers for my receptive skills tasks.
 The production task is directly related to the chosen text and is not language-focused.
 I have attached all the materials and tasks as they are to be presented to the students in
class (including oral instructions where appropriate).
 I have included a rationale for all the tasks.
 I have included a bibliography.
 I have included and respected the word count.
 The work is my own.

Word count: 1075 words

Trainee initials _______________IK______________________

Handouts:
Handout 1
Tech Tent: Can AI write a play?
Is artificial intelligence now so advanced that it could write a play? If so, should we be worried
about where it is heading?
1. London's Young Vic theatre staged a fascinating experiment this week. It attempted over three
nights to get GPT-3, an AI natural language system that has gobbled up vast amounts of text from
the web, to write a play.
It was not meant to do this alone. This was a collaborative exercise involving human writers
Chinonyerem Odimba and Nina Segal, three actors, and director Jennifer Tang.When I went along
on the second night, she was guiding her team and the audience through the process,
demonstrating how GPT-3 worked by getting it to undertake tasks set by us - such as "make up a
Shakespeare sonnet in the style of a reality TV star".
2. They then set about building on a few scenes the AI had written the previous night, prompting it to
build on a scenario involving characters called "Beastman" and "Beastwoman" who appeared to
be in a post-apocalyptic world.
Here's one of the scenes GPT-3 generated:

ACTOR 1: We've been here for years, survived like bats in caves, caves we dug into the earth
ourselves, we filled them with all sorts of junk to give the illusion of survival. The reality is much
different.
ACTOR 2: The world changed dramatically. When the great collision hits us. The sky went dark,
the land cracked, and our species was almost wiped out.

3. Jennifer Tang tells Tech Tent it has been a collaborative process between the humans and the
machine.
"It sometimes loses its way. But that is, I guess, the creative challenge of how we meet the AI and
its content, and nudge it back on course," she says.
And she credits the AI with some almost-human insights: "It is surprisingly good at commenting
on our humanity and our characters that we recognise... and through dramatic conventions that
feel very alive on the stage."
I'm not so sure. Much of GPT-3's dialogue seemed banal and repetitive and the real creativity
came from Jennifer Tang and her team, who made us think about AI. She smiled when I made that
point: "That is reassuring, I'm really glad I might have a job still," she said.
4. "I'm wondering now whether the place that AI has in human creativity is a way to spark ideas
within us."
Prof Michael Wooldridge, a leading expert on AI at Oxford University, agrees that we should not
worry that systems like GPT-3 will make human artists redundant.
"A good human playwright has some insights into the human condition and human emotions and
human relationships and can express those through the medium of the play.
And GPT-3 does not have any of those things and any insights that come out of it are really the
insights on our part that we are attributing to it," he explains.
Task 1:
1. Reading for gist.
Read the article, chose the best headlines from a-e for paragraphs 1-4. One headline is extra.
a. Troubled scenario
b. Artists lose their jobs
c. Surprising discoveries about AI
d. Experimental play
e. What makes a good play?
Answers: 1-d, 2-a, 3-c, 4-e (b is extra)
Handout 2:
Task 2:
Read the statements. Decide if they are True or False. Find and underline the proves in the article.
1. To create a play the AI collects some specific terms from the Internet.
2. The play was supposed to be written by AI system with the support of the theatre team.
3. GPT-3 is a team of writers, actors, and director, who work on the play.
4. The conversation between actors shows us that the creatures were almost destroyed.
5. The AI creates the plays in a right way, and it hardly ever requires any adjustment from the theatre
team.
6. The author of the article doesn’t that AI is good at playwriting.
7. Michael Wooldridge supposes one day all the human artists will be fired as they will not be
needed anymore.
8. Michael Wooldridge suggests GPT-3 provides good insights into the human emotions and
relationships by means of the play.
Answers:
1. F (system has gobbled up vast amounts of text from the web)
2. T (It was not meant to do this alone. This was a collaborative exercise involving human writers)
3. F (AI natural language system)
4. T (our species was almost wiped out)
5. F (It sometimes loses its way. We… nudge it back on course.)
6. T (I'm not so sure. Much of GPT-3's dialogue seemed banal and repetitive and the real creativity
came from Jennifer Tang and her team)
7. F (He agrees that we should not worry that systems like GPT-3 will make human artists
redundant)
8. F (GPT-3 does not have any of those things and any insights that come out of it are really the
insights on our part that we are attributing to it)
Task 3. Follow up. Productive. Speaking.
Talk to your partner and discuss the questions:
1) Do you think the approach when AI creates scenarios for plays is worth doing? Why? Why not?
2) Would you be interested in watching the performance on a scenario written by AI? Why? Why
not?
3) Should we be worried about AI and where it is heading us? Why? Why not?
4) What other areas of implementing AI can you think of? (Driverless cars/paintings/writing
books/medicine etc.) Think of at least two ang give reasons why they may be useful for our
society.
“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race….It would take off
on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological
evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
Stephen Hawking, BBC
Do you agree with Stephen Hawking? Why? Why not?