The Importance of Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching Vocabulary.

To know a language means to master its structure and words. Thus, vocabulary is one of the aspects of the language to be taught in school. The problem is what words and idioms pupils should retain. It is evident that the number of words should be limited because pupils here only 2-4 periods a week; the size of the group is not small enough to provide each pupil with practice in speaking; schools are not yet equipped with special laboratories for individual language learning. The number of words pupils should acquire in school depends wholly on the syllabus requirements.

The latter are determined by the conditions and method used.

The vocabulary, therefore, must be carefully selected in accordance with the principles of selecting linguistic material, the conditions of teaching and learning a foreign language in school.

Scientific principles of selecting vocabulary have been worked out. The words selected should be: 1) frequently used in the language; 2) easily combined (nice room, nice girl, nice weather); 3) unlimited from the point of view of style (oral, written); 4) included in the topics the syllabus sets; 5) valuable from the point of view of word- building (use, used, useful, useless, usefully, user, usage).

The first principle, word- frequency, is an example of a purely linguistic approach to word selection. It is claimed to be the soundest criterion because it is completely objective. It is derived by counting the number of occurrences of words appearing in representative printed material comprising novels, essays, plays, poems, newspapers, textbooks, and magazines.

The words selected may be grouped under the following two classes (M. West):

Words that we talk with or form (structural) words which make up the form (structure) of the language.

Words that we talk about or content words.

In teaching vocabulary practical needs both structural words and content words are of great importance. That is why they are included in the vocabulary minimum. The selection of the vocabulary although important is not the teacher’s chief concern. It is only the “what” of teaching and is usually prescribed for him by textbooks and studyguides he uses. The teacher’s concern is “how” to get his pupils to assimilate the vocabulary (prescribed) prescribed. This is a difficult problem and it is still in the process of being solved.

It is generally known that school leavers’ vocabulary is poor. They have trouble with hearing, speaking, reading and writing. One of the reasons is poor teaching of vocabulary.

Difficulties pupils experience in assimilating vocabulary.

Learning the words of a foreign language is not an easy business since every word has its form, meaning, and usage and each of these aspects of the word may have

its difficulties. Indeed, some words are difficult in form (daughter, busy, woman, women) and easy in usage; other words are easy in form (enter, get, happen) and difficult in usage.

The analysis of the words within the foreign language allows us to distinguish the following groups of words: concrete, abstract and structural.

Words denoting concrete things (book, street, sky), action (walk, dance, read), and qualities (long, big, good) are easier to learn than words denoting abstract notions (world, home, believe, promise, honest).

Structural words are the most difficult for Russian – speaking pupils.

Words are elements of the language used in the act of communication.

There are some rules for the teacher in teaching vocabulary.

Rule 1: While teaching pupils vocabulary, introduce words in sentence patterns in different situations of intercourse. Present the words in keeping with the structures to the taught.

Information is composed of 2 kinds of elements: simple (words) and complicated (sentences).

Rule 2: Present the word as an element, i.e., in a sentence pattern first. Then fix it in the pupils’ memory through different exercises in sentence patterns and phrase patterns.

Rule 3: While introducing a word pronounce it yourself in a context, ask pupils to pronounce it both individually and in unison in a context, too.

Rule 4: In teaching words it is necessary to establish a memory bond between a new word and those already covered.

For instance: see – sea; too – two; one – won (in pronunciation); answer – reply; answer – ask; small – little (in meaning); bought – brought; caught – taught; night – right (in spelling); to fight smb. – боротьсяпротивкого-либо; to doubt smth.- сомневатьсявчем-либо; to mention smth – упоминатьочем-либо (similar word combination).

How to teach vocabulary in school.

Presentation of new words.Since every word has its form, meaning and usage to present a word means to introduce to pupils its forms (phonetic, graphic, structural and grammatical), and to explain its meaning and usage.

The techniques of teaching pupils the pronunciation and spelling of a word are as follows:

1) pure of conscious imitation;

2) analogy;

3) transcription;

4) rules of reading.

There are two methods of conveying the meaning of words: direct method and translation. The direct method of presenting the words of a for language brings the learner into direct contact with them, the mother tongue does not come in between, it establishes, links between a foreign word and the thing or the concept directly.

There are various techniques for the use of the direct method. It is possible to group them into

1) visual;

2) verbal.

The first group involves the use of visual aids to convey the meaning of unfamiliar words: these may be: objects or pictures showing objects or situations.

Teaching grammar.

The importance of Grammar in Learning a foreign language.

In order to understand a language and to express oneself correctly one must assimilate the grammar mechanism of the language studied. Indeed, one may know all the words in a sentence and yet fail to understand it, if one does not see the relationship between the words in the given sentence. And vice versa, a sentence may contain one, two, and more unknown words but if one has a good knowledge of the structure of the language one can easily guess the meaning of these words or at least find them in a dictionary.

No speaking is possible without the knowledge of grammar, without the forming of a grammar mechanism. If a learner has acquired such a mechanism, he can produce correct sentences in a foreign language. Paul Roberts writes: “Grammar is something that produces the sentences of a language. By something we mean a speaker of English”.

The most common difficulties pupils have in assimilating English Grammar.

The main difficulty in learning a new language is that of changing from the grammatical mechanism of the native language to that of the new language. Indeed, every language has its own way of fitting words together to form sentences. In English, word order is far more important than in Russian. The word order in Tom gave Helen a rose indicates what was given (a rose), to whom (Helen), and by whom (Tom). If we change the word order and say Helen gave Tom a rose, we shall change the meaning of the sentence.

The English tense system also presents a lot of trouble to Russian – speaking pupils.

The sequence of tenses is another difficult point of English grammar for Russian –speaking pupils because there is no such phenomenon in their mother tongue. Why should he say? She said she was busy when she is busy?

The use of modal verbs in various types of sentences is very difficult for the learner. For example, he should differentiate the use of can and may while in Russian the verb могу covers them both.

Pupils find some specific use of infinitive, participle and gerund constructions difficult.

For example: I saw him run (running). I want you to go there. They were seen to arrive. After finishing their work they went home.

The most difficult point of English grammar is the article because it is completely strange to Russian – speaking pupils.

The use of the articles and other determiners comes first in the list of the most frequent errors. Correct selection of the grammar teaching material is the first step towards the elimination of mistakes.

The content of Teaching Grammar.

Before speaking about the selection of grammar material it is necessary to consider the concept “grammar”, i.e., what is meant by “grammar”. By grammar one can mean adequate comprehension and correct usage of words in the act of communication, that is, the intuitive knowledge of the grammar of the language.

By “grammar” we also mean the system of the language, the discovery and description of the nature of language itself. It is not a natural grammar, but a constructed one. There are several constructed grammars: traditional, structural and transformational grammars.

Traditional grammar studies the forms of words (morphology) and how they are put together in sentences (syntax);

Structural grammar studies structures of various levels of the language (morpheme level) and syntactic level;

Transformational grammar studies basic structures and transformation rules.

Since graduate are expected to acquire language proficiency in aural comprehension, speaking and reading grammar material should be selected for the purpose. There exist principles of selecting grammar material both for teaching speaking knowledge (active minimum) and for teaching reading knowledge (passive minimum) the main one is the principle of frequency, i.e. how frequently this or that grammar item occurs. For example, the Present Indefinite is frequently used both in conversation and in various texts. Therefore it should be included in the grammar minimum. For selecting grammar material for reading the principle of polysemia, for instance, is of great importance. Pupils should be taught to distinguish such grammar items which serve to express different meanings.

For example,

Ing {Gerund, Present Continuous, Participle, Verbal Noun.

Ed {Past Indefinite, Past Participle.

S (es) {Plural of nouns, the 3^rd person singular of Present Indefinite.

How to teach Grammar?

Some General Principles of Grammar Teaching and How to Use them?

Teaching Grammar should be based upon the following principles:

1. Conscious approach to the teaching of grammar. Two means that in sentence patterns teaching points are determined so that pupils can concentrate their attention, on some elements of the pattern to be able to use them as orienting points when speaking or writing the target language.

2. Practical approach to the assimilation of grammar. It means that pupils learn those grammar items which they need for immediate use either in oral or written knowledge.

Rule for the teacher: Teach pupils correct grammar usage and not grammar knowledge.

3. Structural approach to the teaching of grammar, i.e., grammar items are introduced and drilled in structures or sentence patterns.

4. Situational approach to the teaching of grammar. Pupils learn a grammar item used in situations. For example, the Possessive Case may be effectively introduced in classroom situations. The teacher takes or simply touches various things and says This is Nina’s pen; That is Sasha’s exercise book and so on.

5. Different approaches to the teaching of active grammar (grammar for conversation) and passive grammar (grammar for reading).

Types of Exercises for the Assimilation of Grammar.

The following types of exercises may be suggested.

Recognition exercises which are the easiest type of exercises for pupils to perform.

Drill exercises are more complicated as they require reproduction on the part of the pupils.

Drill exercises are those in which pupils have only difficulty to overcome, they should also be graded:

Repetitive drill

(Substitution) substitution. The children are dancing{ in the park, in the garden, in the street.

Completion. Look at the picture. Mike is …

Answering the teacher’s questions.

For example, Teacher: Is Mike getting up?

Pupil: Yes, he is.

Creative exercises

Making statements

Asking question

Speaking about the situation

Speaking on a suggested topic

Making dialogues

Dramatizing the text read

All the exercises mentioned above are designed:

1) to develop pupils’ skills in recognizing grammar forms while auding and reading English texts;

2) to help the pupils to produce sentences of their own using grammar items necessary for speaking about a situation or a topic offered, or writing an essay on the text heard or an annotation on the text read.

Grammar tests.

Tests allow the teacher to evaluate pupils’ achievement in grammar, that is, how each of them has mastered forms, meaning and usage. Tests in grammar may involve: filling in the blanks; opening the brackets; transformation (e.g., make it negative, change into plural, etc). The teacher corrects mistakes and assigns marks.

Teaching listening and speaking.

Language came into life as a means of communication. It exists and is alive only through speech. When we speak about teaching a foreign language, we first of all have in mind teaching it as a means of communication. Speaking exists in 2 (two) forms: dialogue and monologue.

We may represent it as follows:

Oral language {hearing {dialogue

{speaking {monologue

The syllabus requirements for oral language are as follows:

1) To understand the language spoken;

2) To carry on a conversation and to speak a foreign language within the topics and linguistic material the syllabus sets.

The most common difficulties in auding and speaking a foreign language.

Auding or listening and comprehension are difficult for learners because they should discriminate speech sounds quickly, retain them while hearing a word, a phrase, or a sentence and recognize this as a sense unit.

There are 3(three) main factors which can ensure (success) in developing pupils’ skills in auding:

1) Linguistic material for auding;

2) The context of the material suggested for listening and comprehension;

3) Conditions in which the material is presented.

1) Comprehension of the text by the ear can be ensured when the teacher uses the material which has already been assimilated by pupils.

2) The content of the material also influences comprehension. The following factors should be taken into consideration when selecting the material for auding:

The topic of communication;

The type of communication;

The context and pupils’ readiness (intellectual and situational) to understand it;

The way the narrative progresses;

The form of communication: whether the text is a dialogue or a monologue.

3) Conditions of presenting the material are of great importance for teaching auding, namely:

The speed of the speech the pupil is auding. The hearer cannot change the speed of the speaker.

How to teach Oral language.

In teaching oral language the teacher has to cope with two tasks. They are: to teach his pupils to understand the foreign language spoken and to teach them to speak the language.

Techniques the Teacher Uses to Develop Listening.

To fulfill the task the teacher must train his pupils in listening comprehension beginning with the first lesson and throughout the whole period of instruction. These are the techniques the teacher uses for the purpose:

The teacher uses the foreign language:

when giving the class instructions;

when presenting new language material (words, sentence patterns);

when checking pupils’ comprehension;

when consolidating the material presented;

when checking pupils’ assimilation of the language material covered

These are the cases when the target language is used as a means of communication and a means of teaching.

The teacher uses drill and speech exercises for developing listening comprehension.

We can group drill exercises into exercises designed for overcoming linguistic difficulties, and exercises which can eliminate psychological difficulties.

Speech exercises are designed for developing pupils’ skills in listening comprehension in auding. Several groups of exercises may be suggested.:

Exercises which teach pupils to understand texts different in content, form and type.

Exercises which develop pupils’ skills to understand a text under different conditions.

Techniques the Teacher Uses for Teaching Speaking.

There are 2(two) forms of speaking: monologue and dialogue. Since each form has its peculiarities we should speak of teaching monologue and teaching dialogue separately.

In teaching monologue we can easily distinguish three stages according to the levels which constitute the ability to speak: 1) the statement level; 2) the utterance level; 3) the discourse level. 1)No speech is possible until pupils learn how to make up sentences in the foreign language and how to make statements.

2) Pupils are taught how it use different sentence patterns in an utterance about an object, a subject offered. First they are to follow a model, then they do it without any help.

3) After pupils have learned how to say a few sentences in connection with a situation they are prepared for speaking at discourse level.

The three stages in developing pupils’ speaking should take place throughout the whole course of instruction, i.e. in junior, intermediate, and senior forms. The amount of exercises at each level, however, must be different.

There are 3 (three) stages in learning a dialogue: 1) receptive; 2) reproductive; 3) constructive (creative).

1) Pupils “receive” the dialogue by ear first. They listen to the dialogue recorded or reproduced by the teacher.

2) Pupils enact the pattern dialogue. We may distinguish 3 (three) kinds of reproduction:

Immediate. Pupils reproduce the dialogue in imitation of the speaker or the teacher while listening to it or just after they have heard it.

Delayed. After pupils have learned the dialogue at home, they enact the pattern dialogue in persons.

Modified. Pupils enact the dialogue with some modifications in its contents. They change some elements in it.

3) Pupils make up dialogues of their own. They are given a picture or a verbal situation to talk about.

Rule for the teacher: In teaching dialogue use pattern dialogues; make sure that your pupils go through the three stages from receptive through reproductive to creative, supply them with the subject to talk about.

In teaching speaking the problem is what form of speech to begin with, and what should be the relationship between monologue and dialogue.

This problem may be solved in different ways. As to the relationship between monologue and dialogue, it should vary from stage to stage in teaching speaking in schools.

Prepared and unprepared speech.

Pupils’ speech in both forms may be of two kinds: prepared and unprepared. It is considered prepared when the pupil has been given time enough to think over its content and form.

In schools, however pupils often have to speak on a topic when they are not yet prepared for it. As a result only bright pupils can cope with the task. In such case the teacher trying to find a way out gives his pupils a text which covers the topic. Pupils learn and recize it in class.

Evaluating Pupils’ Speech Habits.

Pupils’ speech habits may be evaluated in 2 (two) ways:

constantly, during every lesson when pupils perform various exercises in hearing and speaking.

regularly, after finishing a lesson (a unit of the textbook), a topic studied. The teacher may conduct a quiz.

Mistakes and How to correct them.

It is natural while learning a foreign language that pupils make mistakes. They make mistakes in auding when they misunderstand smth in a text. There is a great variety of techniques at the teacher’s disposal. He selects the one that is most suitable for the occasion.

If a pupil makes a mistake in smth which is familiar to him, it is preferable to correct it at once.

But in order not to confuse the pupil and stop his narration the teacher helps the child with the correct version.

If a pupil makes a mistake in smth which he has not learned yet the teacher corrects his mistakes after he has finished speaking.

The teacher makes note of them and gets the pupils to perform drill exercises after answering question.

Teaching Reading.

Reading as an aim and a means of teaching and learning a foreign language.

Reading is one of the main skills that a pupil must acquire on the process of a mastering a foreign language in school. The syllabus for foreign languages lists reading as one of the leading language activities to be developed. Pupils are to read, with the help of a dictionary, easy texts containing familiar grammar material and 6-8 unfamiliar words per 100 words of the text (in the ten-year school). Therefore reading is one of the practical aims of teaching a foreign language in schools.

Reading is of great educational importance, as reading is a means of communication, people get information they need from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. Through reading in a foreign language the pupil enriches his knowledge of the world around him.

He gets acquainted with the countries where the target language is spoken.

Reading develops pupils’ intelligence. It helps to develop their memory, will, imagination.

Reading is not only an aim in itself, it is also a means of learning a foreign language. When reading text the pupil review1 sounds and letters, vocabulary and grammar, memorizes the spelling of words, the meaning of words and word combinations, he also review 1 grammar and, in this way, he perfects his command of the target language. The more the pupil reads, the better his retention of the linguistic material is. If the teacher instructs his pupils in good reading and they can read with sufficient fluency and complete comprehension he helps them to acquire speaking and writing skills as well.

The Content of Teaching Reading.

Reading is a complex process of language activity. As it is closely connected with the comprehension of what is read, reading is a complicated intellectual work.

There are 2(two) ways of reading: aloud or orally and silently. People usually start learning to read orally. In teaching a foreign language in school both ways should be developed.

How to teach reading?

The teacher can use the whole system of exercises for developing pupils’ ability to read which may be done in two forms- loud and silent.

Reading aloud. In teaching reading aloud the following methods are observed: the phonic, the word, and the sentence methods.

When the phonic method is used, the child learns the sounds and associates them with graphic symbols-letters. In the word method a complete word is first presented to the child. When several words have been learnt they are used in simple sentences. The sentence method deals with the sentences as units of approach in teaching reading. The teacher can develop pupils’ ability to read sentence with correct intonation.

At an early stage of teaching reading the teacher should read a sentence or a passage to the class himself.

Mistakes and How to Correct Them.

In teaching pupils to read the teacher must do his best to prevent mistakes. We may, however, be certain that in spite of much work done by the teacher, pupils will make mistakes in reading. The question is who corrects their mistakes, how they should be corrected, when they must be corrected?

Our opinion is that the pupil who has made a mistake must try to correct it himself. If he cannot do it, his classmates correct his mistake. The following techniques maybe suggested:

The teacher writes a word (e.g. black) on the blackboard. He underlines ck in it and asks the pupil to say what sound these two letters convey. If the pupil cannot answer the question, the teacher asks some of his classmates.

One of the pupils asks: what is the English for «черный»? If the pupil repeats the mistake, the “corrector” pronounces the word properly and explains the rule the pupil has forgotten.

The teacher corrects the mistake himself. The pupil reads the word correctly. The teacher asks the pupil to explain the class how to read –ck-.

The Organization of Teaching.

Planning in F.L.T.

The necessity for planning and the approach to the problem.

An efficient working level of teaching is ensured by systematic and careful planning. The foreign language teacher plans all the kinds of work he is to do: he plans the essential course, the optional course (if any), and the extra-curricular work.

The first step in planning is to determine where each of his classes is in respect to achievements. It is easy for the teacher to start planning when he receives beginners. Though the teacher does not know his pupils yet, his success will fully depend on his preparation for the lessons since pupils are usually lager to learn a foreign language in the 5^th form (or the 2^nd form in a specialized school). Planning is also relatively easy for the teacher who worked in these classes the previous year (or years) because he knows the achievements of his pupils in each class. Planning is more difficult when the teacher receives a class (classes) from another teacher and he does not know the pupils, their proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The teacher asks the previous teacher to tell him about each of the pupils.

He may also look through the pupils’ text-books and the register to find out what mark each of his pupils’ had the previous year. After the teacher has determined the achievement level of his classes, he sketches out an outline of the year’s work. In making up his yearly outline the teacher consults the syllabus, The Teacher’s Book, Pupil’s Book, and other teaching materials and sets what seems to him to be realistic limits to the content to be covered during the course of the year. In sketching out an outline of the term’s work the teacher makes a careful study of Teacher’s Book, Pupil’s Book, teaching aids and teaching materials available for this particular form. Taking into consideration the achievements of his class, he compiles a calendar plan in accordance with the time-table of a given form.

Unit Planning.

The teacher needs two kinds of plans to work successfully: the plan of a series of class-periods for a lesson or unit plan, and the daily plan or the lesson plan for a particular class-period.

In compiling a unit plan, i.e., in planning the lesson of the textbook, the teacher-determines the difficulties of the lesson, namely, phonetic difficulties (sounds, stress, intonation); grammar difficulties (grammar items, their character and amount), the vocabulary difficulties (the amount of new words, their character).

The teacher starts by stating the objective or objectives of each class-period, that is, what can be achieved in a classroom lesson.

The teacher distributes the linguistic material (sounds, words, grammar, etc.) throughout the class-periods according to the objectives of each period, trying to teach new vocabulary on the grammatical material familiar to pupils, and to teach a new grammar item within the vocabulary assimilated by pupils; or he first teaches pupils hearing and speaking on the new material presented, and then pupils use this in reading and writing.

The teacher selects and distributes exercises for class and homework using various teaching aids and teaching materials depending on the objectives of each class-periods.

Careful unit planning helps the teacher to keep pupils’ progress in language learning under constant control and use teaching aids and teaching materials more effectively and, in this way, make his classes worthwhile to all of his pupils.

Planning a class-period.

The daily plan includes 1)what should be achieved during this particular lesson, 2)what material is used for achieving the objectives, and 3)how the objectives should be achieved. The teacher should write his daily plans if he strives for effective and reasonable use of time allotted to his pupils’ learning a foreign language.

However some teachers, including novice teachers, do not prepare written plans. They claim that they can teach “off the top of their heads”, and they really can, but their teaching usually results in poor pupils’ language skills because in this case we have “teacher-dominated” classes when the teacher works hard during the lesson while his pupils remain more “observers” of the procedure. Indeed, when the teacher is standing in front of pupils he does not have much time to think how to organize his pupils’ activity. This should be done before the lesson for the teacher to be able to stimulate and direct pupils’ learning the language. We may state that the effectiveness of pupils’ desired learning is fully dependent on the teacher’s preparation for the lessons. If the teacher is talking, reading and writing a great deal himself during the lesson, he is not ready for it. Therefore we may conclude: to provide necessary conditions for pupils’ learning a foreign language, the teacher should thoroughly plan their work during the lesson which is possible if he writes his daily plan in advance. Consequently, the teacher needs a daily plan to provide a high level of language learning of his pupils.

One lesson may require a detailed plan; for another lesson a brief outline will suffice.

In any case, a workable form for a daily plan should state the objectives, specify the activities (oral practice, reading, writing, etc.), include evaluation techniques, indicate the assignment and determine teaching aids and teaching materials. The plan itself should: 1) be brief, but with sufficient detail to be precise; 2)assign a (number) definite number of minutes to each activity; 3) indicate exactly what words, phrases, facts, items are to be learnt and how; 4) make use of a variety of classroom activity for every pupil.

In the organization and conduct of a foreign language lesson there is always a wide range of possibilities. No two teachers will threat the same topic in the same way.

There are, however, certain basic principles of teaching and learning which should be observed:

Every lesson should begin with a greeting in the foreign language and a brief talk between the teacher and the pupils. Thorough this conversation the lesson may be motivated. The conversation may take place between:

Teacher- Class

Teacher -Pupil on Duty

Pupil on Duty- Class

2 pupils on Duty

There should be a variety of activities at every lesson, including pronunciation drill, oral activities, reading and writing. The success of activity is measured by attention, enthusiasm, and involvement on the part of the pupils.

The lesson should be conducted at a high speed when oral drill exercises are performed. Pupils should not stand up to say a word, a phrase or a sentence.

The lesson should provide a certain sequence in pupils’ assimilating language material and developing habits and skills from perception, comprehension and memorizing.

The lesson should provide time for the activity of every pupil in the class. They must be active participants of the procedure and not the teacher as is often the case when the teacher talks more than all the pupils.

The lesson should provide conditions for pupils to learn. “Language is a skill so it must be learnt, it cannot be taught”. (M.West). The use of language laboratories, teaching machines and programmed instruction creates, necessary conditions for each pupil to learn for himself.

The work done during the lesson should prepare pupils for their independent work at home.

The lesson should be well equipped with teaching aids and teaching materials which allow the teacher to create natural situations for developing pupils’ listening and speaking skills in a foreign language.

The essential Course in the Secondary School.

We distinguish three stages in teaching a foreign language in schools: junior, intermediate and senior. Since every stage has its peculiarities we shall dwell upon each one separately.

Junior stage. This stage involves the 5^th and the 6^th forms. Pupils are eleven and twelve years old. They are usually eager to learn a foreign language: The conditions for language learning are favorable enough: pupils have four periods a week in the 5^th form, and three in the 6^th form. The class, as a rule, is divided into two groups of about twenty pupils.

Proceeding from the aim of foreign language teaching, namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing, as the syllabus sets, the problem arises what to begin with. There are 2 (two) possible solutions:

1) to begin with teaching all the language skills, i.e. oral language (listening and speaking) and written language (reading and writing);

2) to begin with teaching oral language first.

Intermediate stage. This stage includes 7^th and 8^th forms. Pupils are thirteen and fourteen years old. They already have some experience in learning a foreign language. If pupils have had good achievements in language learning, they are usually interested in the subject and work willingly both in class and at home. If their proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing is poor they begin to lose interest in the foreign language. Their desire to learn depends fully on the teacher’s ability to involve each pupil in language activities during the lesson by asking questions which require thinking on the part of the learness, by presenting new facts that may be interesting to pupils etc. (audio – visual materials).

Senior stage. This stage involves the 9^th and 10^th forms. Pupils are at the age of 15 to 17. They can realize the importance of foreign language proficiency in the contemporary world. However their attitude to foreign language learning depends on the achievements they have attained during the previous 4 years of studying this subject (if they meet the syllabus requirements pupils preserve their interest in the foreign language and go on working hard at it);

Testing and Evaluating Pupils’ Achievement.

The importance of Testing and Evaluating Pupils’ Achievement.

Properly organized testing of pupils’ achievements gives the teacher an opportunity to get a clear idea of his pupils’ progress in foreign language learning. Analyzing the result of testing, the teacher will see his shortcomings both in methods and techniques applied and in the progress of each pupil. It allows him to improve his own work. In this connection P.Oliva writes, “A test measures not only the student’s performance but also the effectiveness of the teacher’s instruction. Tests serve a diagnostic function. They show where students have difficulties. They provide information which should lead the teacher to modify his instruction.

Testing and evaluating pupils’ achievements in language learning is of great importance. Pupils get used to working systematically at the target language. Through testing every pupil can show how he can use what he learns, that is his “ready access”, to the knowledge he receives.

Although tests are used for measuring the achievement of the objectives in language learning, they fulfill educational functions as well, namely, each test makes pupils concentrate their attention on certain language material and language skill and thereby mastering it successfully. Since testing is accompanied by the evaluation of the achievement of every pupil this stimulates pupils’ desire to learn. Evaluation is an integral part of teaching; it is a process of determining the extent to which objectives have been achieved.

Testing language skills and language knowledge.

The teacher tests the pupils’ command of the target language, that is, his ability to use it in its two forms, oral and written. Tests have the aims and objectives. They are: 1) aural comprehension; 2) speaking (monologue and dialogue); 3)reading(oral and silent); 4) writing(words sentences, dictation, written reproductions, etc.)

At present the following tests are available: teacher – made tests, ready – made tests (for example, in the Teacher’s book), and standardized tests (made by the department of Education):

Naturally, teacher – made tests are the best because he knows the material his pupils have covered better than anyone else that is why he can administer a test which will correspond to his pupils’ capacities. However, in administering tests he should always keep in mind the items of testing, that is, the syllabus requirements for this particular form.

Evaluating Pupils’ Achievement.

All the suggested tests are easy to evaluate and the marks that the teacher evaluate and the marks that the teacher assigns are objective because tests measure exactly what the pupil has learnt. Marks are assigned on the basis of the work done in a particular class.

It is the responsibility of the teacher t assign marks and to report progress to parents. It is easy to give a pupil a good mark particularly if it in higher than he really expected. But there are more occasions when marks being more disappointment than pleasure. The disappointment than kinds. We may call them “outer” and “inner”. By the first we mean the disappointment of a pupil when he receives a lower mark than he expected and expresses his feelings somehow. By the second we mean the disappointment of a pupil who receives a good mark in the foreign language, but he feels that he does not deserve it, that there is something wrong with the evaluation of his achievement. He knows there are many “fours” and “fives” in class though he cannot say all his schoolmates have a good command of English. This is sometimes the case is our schools. There is a paradox in measuring the achievement of pupils. The less experienced and qualified the teacher is the more pupils have good marks. To serve effectively the purpose of stimulating, directing and rewarding pupils’ efforts to learn, marks must be valid. The highest marks must go to those pupils who have earned them. “Marks must be based on sufficient evidence. They must report the degree of achievement as precisely as possible under the circumstances.

The shortcomings in marks are twofold:

The lack of clearly defined, generally accepted defining of what the various marks should mean, as a result the meanings of marks tend to vary from teacher to teacher, from school to school, which reduces the validity of the marks;

The lack of sufficiently relevant objective as a basis for assigning marks.

The result is marks tend to be unreliable. At the present time the procedures for assigning marks are about as good or as weak as the teachers who apply them.

Since there is no objective approach to measuring the achievement of pupils, the teacher relies upon his induction, the traditions that are observed in school, his personal experience and other chance factors.

Teaching English to Pre-school Children and Children in a Primary School.

The problem how to teach a for language to pre-school children and the children of a primary school has not been solved either in this country or abroad, though some methodologists and teachers have shown an interest in it and there are some books, papers and theses dealing with this problem.

In our country the interest for teaching young children a foreign language was aroused soon after the first schools with a number of subject taught in a foreign language were opened in Moscow and other cities, i.e. in the 50’s. Experience has proved that the earlier the children begin to learn a language, the better they master it. Besides, some teachers, first in Leningrad or St. Petersburg, then in other cities and towns, volunteered and, to instruct children in a foreign language in Kindergartens. The experience and the results they have achieved are described in a number of articles published in “ИЯШ”, “Дошкольноевоспитание”.

It is necessary to distinguish between teaching pre-school children in the kindergarten and teaching children in primary grades in the elementary school, as there are some psychological age characteristics which should be taken into account.

Here are some of them.

1. A child of 5 or 6 easily learns words and sentences of a foreign language and associates them directly with the things, actions etc.

Aims if Teaching

The Ministry of Education of Republic of Kazakhstan has issued a draft program me on foreign languages for Kindergartens.

The aims and objectives of teaching a foreign language according to the programme are: to develop elementary skills in oral language, i.e. talking in a foreign language. Learning a foreign language will stimulate the development of a child’s intellect. As a result of learning a foreign language in the Kindergarten pre-school children should be able:

To understand orders or requests in a for language and little stories on familiar linguistic material within the topics of the programme;

To answer questions and use sentences connected with games and children’s activities;

To recite little rhymes, sing songs, etc.

Content of Teaching.

Preschool children must assimilate about 200 – 250 sentences, these sentences may include 100 – 150 words, learn 8 – 10 rhymes and little songs by heart.

The material is arranged in the following topics:

Greetings, acquaintance, requests;

Games(the names of some toys, some words denoting actions with the toys, sentences the children say while playing);

Words(phrases) and sentences connected with children’s daily activities: washing, playing, laying the table, clearing up, going home;

Holidays, the names of some holidays, some sentences connected with children’s preparation for the holidays.

Pre – school children begin to learn the language at the age of 5 – 6. Children should have 4 periods a week, each lasting 25 – 30 minutes.

Method and Techniques of Teaching Pre-school Children.

In teaching English to pre-school children in the kindergarten the aural – oral method is used since spoken language is the aim, the only means, and the only approach available here. No speech is possible unless the speaker associates a word with the thing it denotes, or a sentence with the thought it expresses directly within the target language so the direct method is most natural here. It must be taken into consideration however, that the use of the method requires a careful, thorough selection of the material for the pupils to assimilate. Its amount for each lesson must be within the children’s ability to retain the linguistic material the teacher introduces. The teacher must strictly follow the rule: “never pass to new material until your pupils have thoroughly assimilated the previous one”.

For example, at the English lesson the teacher tried to apply the direct method. The children were able to answer the teacher questions of the What is it? type.

Teacher: What is it?

Class: It is a book. (a dog, a cat, a pen). The new material the teacher was going to present was a general question: Is it a pen? (a dog, etc)? What did the teacher do? She took a pen and holding it in her hand asked: Is it a pen? Seeing or noticing no response she repeated this question several times which did not help either. So the teacher was obliged to turn to Russian:

Чтоясказала? The children answered at once: Гдеручка? Their answer was logically justified, because they had learned What is it? question and now they naturally expected to learn the question with где?

So the teacher had to translate this question and the question following. Then she asked the children to repeat the question several times. The method did not work because it was applied in the wrong way. The teacher should have done the following if she wanted her pupils to understand the questions of that type directly. She should first ask and answer question herself:

Is it a pen? Yes, it is. It is a pen (She takes a pen).

It is a pencil? Yes, it is? It is a pencil. (She takes a pencil).

The programme on foreign languages for primary schools states:

The aim of the foreign language lessons in primary schools is to develop pupils’ skills in understanding English speech and participating in conversation based on the topics covered. As a result of teaching children should be able:

To understand the teacher’s speech, carry out the teacher’s direction (instruction), understand short oral stories on the material and topics included in the programme.

To ask and answer question on the pictures.

To use the sentences they learned during the lesson and know the isolated words these sentences include.

To recite a poem assimilated orally.

To read words and sentences assimilated orally.

The content of Teaching.

Children must learn about 600 – 800 sentences and phraseological units and 350 – 500 word units.

The following topics are suggested:

1^st and 2^nd forms:

Room.Toys.Meals.Dressing.Going for a walk. (The topics are covered through playing shop and guests).

3^rd form: Family. Seasons.Nature.Animals. (They are covered through playing lotto).

4^th form: School. Sports.Going different organizations. Holidays.(Through playing during the lessons). During the first two years pupils assimilate the language orally.

(It is better to begin studying a foreign language with the 2^nd form. The teacher begins with the 1^st form provided there are pupils who studied the language in the kindergarten).

In the 3^rd and the 4^th forms they are taught to read.

Flashcards and the alphabet in pictures should be widely used for teaching children to read.

The following plan of teaching is suggested:

1^st form: 5 – 20 min., 4 – 5 periods a week; 2^nd form: 25 – 30 min., 4 periods a week; 3^rd, 4^th forms: 40 – 45 min., 4 periods a week;

The group should consist of 13 – 20 pupils. The method and techniques the teacher should use in teaching children of primary school are similar to those applied in teaching pre-school children, i.e., the aural – oral method, and various techniques which can develop pupils’ listening comprehension and speaking. Games should be more complicated, for instance, the teacher can use lotto, dominoes, the game Check your answer and others.

Guessing games can be widely used. Pupils are also given various exercises, connected with the situational use of words and sentence patterns. Various audio – visual aids and materials are to be used. Naturally English or any other foreign language can be taught in kindergartens and primary classes (except those in specialized schools) if parents want their children to learn the language, and they are ready to pay teacher for the lessons. Nowadays there are both a lot of teachers and children who are ready to teach and to learn to mutual benefit.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-05