celta focus on the learner assignment pdf

Focus on the Learner Assignment (1): Detailed Guide with Real Examples

Hi there! In this post, let’s go through the ‘Focus on the Learner’ CELTA Assignment.

I’ve had many questions about this, from people who are preparing for their CELTA or for those who are battling their way through the first few weeks. Fear not – help is at hand!

First, here’s a brief outline of what we’ll talk about in this post.

In short, the post will cover each of the following key points in detail:

Before We Begin: Quick Background Point

It depends, but this assignment is usually set early on in the course, but the deadline can vary – I have heard of students being given this as CELTA assignment 1, but told to submit it after CELTA assignment 2 and 3, for example!

With this assignment coming so early on the CELTA, it can cause people problems since the assignment requires some careful thought about logistics an planning.

This can catch people out, but it doesn’t need to if you are prepared!

Different Types of Focus on the Learner Assignment

Let’s start by looking at the 3 types of  ‘Focus on the Learner’ assignment .

These are the ones that I know about; as I’ve said before, I’m not a CELTA trainer, but I have done the course and I speak to people about CELTA regularly.

The main three types of Focus on the Learner CELTA assignment are:

Assignment Type 1 and 2: Focusing on an Individual or Pair of Learners

For the versions this assignment which focus on an individual or pair of learners , CELTA trainees will usually have to perform an interview with one (or two) learners.

The right questions to ask the student/learner

How to record the interview

Getting the student’s permission, and making sure they understand what they are signing up for (think about this for low-level students – harder than it sounds)

Arranging a time and a place to conduct an interview

Choosing a student who you think will actually turn up

Also, think about what the student will get out of coming to meet you for an interview in their free time. If there is something in it for them, they are more likely to come and meet you outside of class.

Something you can do here is to offer them extra input into their learning as part of your interview , so you need to think of it from that perspective.

Interview Questions for Your CELTA Assignment

If you have to interview two learners, it’s going to be slightly different from just working with one, so think carefully about how you will ask the questions and whether it is best to have them there together or at different times. Your CELTA trainers can likely tell you which they recommend here.

Try to keep interview questions open-ended and avoid asking questions which have just a Yes/No answer.

After all, you will need them to speak so that you can analyse their language!

*I don’t work for ISE Hove and have no contacts there – it’s just a great document!*

My Experience of the Focus on the Learner Assignment

I should add that I had to do the individual learner for mine, and I interviewed a student from Eritrea. His native language was Tigrinya, which I’d never heard of before!

I’d studied Spanish and French for my undergraduate degree but nothing close to an East African language! 

Actually, thinking about it, that was one time where it was really helpful to do my CELTA course at a university – the library had so many books available (as you would expect) and the online journal articles we had access to were very useful – but that’s for another article!

Choosing the Right Students for Your CELTA Assignment – Types 1 & 2

Now, although this might sound a bit unfair, the tutors want you to work out of your comfort zone.

The idea that a basic Japanese sentence is Subject + Object + Verb, rather than Subject + Verb + Object like English blew me away. For more on Japanese, check it this detailed post I’ve just found on Japanese sentence structure (looks interesting!)

However, not everyone will have to do this as it is not always logistically possible.

For example, if you consider an Arabic speaker on a CELTA course in an Arabic-speaking country , with a CELTA course where all the students speak that same language, then it’s highly likely that CELTA trainees there will focus only on students who speak the Arabic language.

Type 3 – Focus on the Learner s : Using a Whole Group or Class

It depends how big the group is, but you will have to do a profile of the group in terms of where they’re from and their language backgrounds.

Key points to consider when writing a group profile include the following:

Do they all speak the same first language?

Are they from many different countries?

Do they have similar reasons for learning?

Is there a mix of ages?

There are all kinds of dynamics that you can pick up on here, largely based on demographic information, which give insight into the students’ learning.

Focus on the Learner: Word Count and Key Points

In terms of what you need to include, here are the main points:

Generally, the first 300 to 350 words should be about learner(s) background .

Then, the next 300 to 350 would be an analysis of the student’s language problems

This will then be followed by another 300-350 word section suggesting activities for them to improve their English .

Learner Background Section

In terms of learner motivation, for example, some people are coming to class to enhance their career or job propsects.

The above appears to be better motivation for language learning than for somebody who’s been forced to go by their parents after school (but not always!).

Other points to cover include a learner’s previous language learning experience.

If you are asked to focus on a group of learners (Type 3), try focusing on students who show difference or contrast to the majority, while also describing the main group of learners.

Needs Analysis Section

Think of a learner’s strengths in terms of the different skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Again, the document by ISE Hove have this covered and have provided a self-assessment grid for learners  to complete themselves (see page 3). It’s simple, but it should work!

Choosing the Right Language Points for Your Assignment

Interestingly, a student recently emailed to ask me the following question:

“How do I know which language points to focus on when writing the Focus on the Learner Assignment?”

What I would suggest is to try to make a note of lots of different points of language during the time you are watching lessons (but not teaching).

For this reason, Swan and Smith’s book Learner English is really useful for this assignment.

 Suggested Activities for Improvement Sections

It depends, but it’s all part of a needs analysis – and you have to think of the interview experience from the perspective of the student , how it will help them

Using Books to Help With CELTA Assignment 1

That way you can give good, educated ideas and suggestions to help the students, which are really practical as well. 

**Top tip: If you are going to buy CELTA books, I’d suggest getting second-hand or used books from Amazon as they are generally very good quality and it can save you a lot of money!)**

Examples of the Focus on the Learner Assignment

Hopefully, you’ll see a range of different ways of tackling this question, and you’ll see the different types of answers to the relevant questions for CELTA assignment 1.

Some appear to also ignore the given word count for CELTA assignment 1 (if I dare call it that!), which I find quite strange but it may be something that your tutors are not too worried about – best to ask them that one!

Think of this as general background reading as your CELTA centre might ask you to cover different points or use a different layout altogether.

Example of  Assignment Type 1: Individual Learner

Example of  assignment type 2: pair of learners, example of  assignment type 3: group of learners, summary  – focus on the learner celta assignment.

So, hopefully, you’ve found the information above useful and now have a better idea of how to approach this CELTA assignment!

PS Here’s a quick summary video over on the CELTA Helper Youtube Channel:

Further Reading on CELTA Assignments

More helpful content for you:, recent posts.

• No category

CELTA Assignment 1 Focus on the Learner (1)

Related documents.

Add this document to collection(s)

You can add this document to your study collection(s)

Add this document to saved

You can add this document to your saved list

Suggest us how to improve StudyLib

(For complaints, use another form )

Input it if you want to receive answer

• ELT Concourse home
• A-Z site index
• CELTA index
• Teacher training index
• Teacher development
• For teachers
• For trainers
• For managers
• For learners
• Language questions
• Other areas
• Academic English
• Business English
• Entering ELT
• Courses index
• Basic ELT course
• Language analysis
• Training to train
• Transcription
• About language

CELTA written assignment: focus on the learner(s)

The purpose of the assignment

The CELTA handbook (5th edition) explains that this assignment allows you to demonstrate that you can:

• show awareness of how a learner’s/learners’ background(s), previous learning experience and learning preferences affect learning
• identify the learner’s/learners’ language and/or skills needs
• correctly use terminology relating to the description of language systems and/or language skills
• select appropriate material and/or resources to aid the learner’s/learners’ language and/or skills development
• provide a rationale for using specific activities with a learner/learners
• find, select and reference information from one or more sources
• use written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task

That's a lot to cover in 1000 words so you need to be concise and stay focused.  This is not the place to discuss general approaches to teaching.

Most centres choose one of two ways to set this assignment:

• You may be asked to focus on a specific learner from one of the teaching practice classes or
• You may be asked to focus on the whole of a teaching practice class.

You may even be given a choice.

Whichever assignment you are set, the considerations are the same but, obviously, more depth will be required in 1. than in 2.

This is in the genre of an Information Report and it has three parts:

• A brief introduction stating the basic information about the learner or the class.  Say what you are doing and who the subject of the investigation is.
• An area-by-area report giving the data you have gathered, noting strengths, weaknesses and needs as you go along.
• sources for language and/or skills development and, if it's needed, personal support
• ideas for language and/or skill focused activities Link this section carefully to the data you have gathered, explaining why you think the ideas will help.

You can combine the second and third areas if that makes sense to you so two structures are possible:

Choose one structure or the other.  Do not mix them up or you'll be incoherent.

• An example of the learner's writing.  The neatest way to get this is to write a short note to the learner saying who you are, giving a bit of background (age, background, personal details etc.) and asking the learner to respond in like manner.  That way, you get the personal stuff you need and an example of how well they can handle the simple language needed to give some personal data (name, age, occupation etc.).
• reasons for learning English
• language learning background
• student’s opinion of their strengths and weaknesses in English
• preferred class and activity types

• You can, of course, gather some of this data by designing a questionnaire.  See the guide to needs analysis to get some ideas.  There is an example of a basic needs analysis form here.
• Record the interview and listen to it again, making notes of consistent errors and the learner's communicative effectiveness.  You can provide a tapescript of some important parts of the interview to exemplify the areas you think need work in the assignment.  You will need the person's permission to do this, of course.
• If recording is not an option, make as many notes as you can on the learner's use of English as you go along.
• Learning style.  The new edition of the handbook (the 5th) has removed any explicit reference to learning styles because the theories that underlie such things have been comprehensibly debunked.  The syllabus now contains reference to learning preferences.  However, for reasons which are slightly obscure, some CELTA centres and tutors are wedded to the idea of learning styles.  Many will let you have a copy of something called a VARK questionnaire to give to the subject.  There is, of course, a guide to learning styles on this site but you should treat the area with great scepticism.  See also the article attempting to debunk the whole concept .

• You need to set out some information about the people in the class: ages, occupations, reasons for learning etc.  See the table above.  The only sensible way to do this with a group of people is via a questionnaire needs analysis.  See the guide to needs analysis to get some ideas.  There is an example of a basic needs analysis form here.
• You can investigate learning preferences but will have to identify from the data any commonalities in the class rather than details of each learner.  See point f., above.
• For the final section of the assignment where you make suggestions, you'll need to be a bit more generalised and identify common aims and needs rather than individual ones. One approach is to identify the two weakest and the two strongest students and identify appropriate activities, resources and aims for them.  That should also cover everyone in between.

• The student is studying English for no apparent  purpose at the moment.  He or she may need the language in the future for some purpose but at the moment that is not clear.  The student may also need the language as part of a general education, for access to English-language websites and for travel and tourism. This student needs General English (a GE learner).
• This student need English to settle and integrate in an English-speaking culture for an indefinite time. This student needs English as a Second or Other Language (an ESOL learner)
• This student needs English for business and commercial purposes either because his/her professional setting demands it or because she/he is intending to study Business and/or Management. This student needs Business English (a BE learner).
• This student intends to study in an English-medium institution such as a university or college. This student needs English for Academic Purposes (an EAP learner).
• This student needs English for a narrow area of concern such as access to written scientific texts, to work in a particular occupation such as the hospitality industry, air traffic control, the merchant marine, the transport industry etc. This student needs English for a Specific Purpose (an ESP learner).
• All of the above can be subdivided into a bewildering range of acronyms including, e.g., EGOP (English for General Occupational Purposes), EGPP (English for General Professional Purposes), ELF (English as a Lingua-Franca, for communication between non-native speakers of English worldwide), English in the Workplace (EiW), English for Professional Purposes (EPP) and so on.

• "I want to learn English to fit into an English-speaking culture and work and socialise." This student has Integrative Motivation (to integrate into a cultural milieu).
• "I want to learn English to use the language in business meetings / to study a subject at university." This student has Instrumental Motivation (using the language as a tool to do other things).
• "I love the language and enjoy learning it and speaking it." This student has Intrinsic Motivation (the pressure to learn comes from within).
• "I have been told to learn English by my employer / parents / sponsor." This student has Extrinsic Motivation (the pressure to learn comes from outside).

Be careful not to be too dogmatic here.  People are complicated and their motivations are often obscure, even to themselves, so try to avoid statements such as

This learner is extrinsically motivated.

Prefer, instead, something a bit more careful such as:

From the data supplied in the short questionnaire, it seems that this learners is aware of the need to learn enough English to be able to function in the workplace but is also keen to access English-speaking websites and understand something of the cultures of English-speaking societies.  She has, therefore, a mix of instrumental and integrative motivation and needs English as a tool as well as for cultural access.

There is a guide to motivation on this site but you do not need all the detail now.  If you would like a simpler guide to motivation which still gives more data than here, there is one in the TKT course materials (new tabs).

Obviously, the suggestions you make will be determined by what you have discovered about the learner(s).

• Why do you suggest it?
• What's its target?
• How will it help?
• Include both ideas for activities and ideas for materials to use and topics to focus on.
• Identify both language structure and skills needs. For example, From the data summarised in point xxx above, I would argue that a priority for this learner / these learners is to enhance his / her / their reading skills because they / he / she identify it as a weakness and this is supported by my observations.  Good reading skills are needed for study in the UK and the majority of these EAP students / this EAP student will be going on to university in the next few months.  Therefore, I suggest using xxxx in class and starting a reading club using xxxx books and resources.  The student(s) will also benefit from a specific focus on both reading for gist and reading intensively so I suggest the following activities will be helpful... or Another area of weakness I have identified in point yyyy above is the student(s)' lack of vocabulary . Therefore, I suggest a specific focus on general academic vocabulary including using yyyy as a resource and spending at least one lesson per day focusing on common academic collocations (such as reasonable to argue, arising from the data, developing the point further etc.).  This will improve the learner(s)' ability to be precise in terms of meaning and use conventional language in academic essays. The class / student will also benefit from work on cohesive devices such as therefore, firstly, finally, because, furthermore etc. as his / her / their writing shows that they avoid or misuse these structures in general (see appendix 2, and the comments in point z).  This will make the learner(s)' writing in particular more accessible, better organised and fluent.

Do not repeat yourself here.  It's not necessary and you don't have enough words to play with. What you do need to do here is identify the main facts and the most important suggestions.  In other words, prioritise .

Before you submit your assignment, here's a quick checklist.  You can have this as a PDF file by clicking here or you can mentally tick things off on the screen.

• learning preferences
• the questionnaire and a summary of the results
• samples of work
• I have identified at least 5 language problems the learner(s) have / has
• I have given examples
• general future work
• specific ideas to deal with the problems I identified

Now assess yourself against the criteria for the assignment.  Here they are again.  Have you been able to:

Your tutors will maintain a record of the work you have done on the written assignments and will grade each of the criteria as follows: NS (Not to Standard), S (at Standard) or S+ (above Standard). You need to aim consistently for S or S+ grades, naturally.

If you have managed to tick all the items, well done.  Submit the assignment and move on.

Contact | FAQs | Copyright notice | ELT Concourse charter | Disclaimer and Privacy statement | Search ELT Concourse

CELTA Focus on the Learner Assignment

Published by awalls86 on february 13, 2021 february 13, 2021.

For more tips and advice about CELTA, click here .

Join my telegram channel for teachers.

Of the four assignments that you need to write for CELTA, the focus on the learner assignment tends to require the most planning. Typically, this assignment consists of finding out about the background and needs of one or more students, identifying problems they have and suggesting relevant activities to help these students. As with other CELTA assignments, the exact details of the assignment will depend on the course provider.

What do you have to do?

• focusing on one particular learner;
• focusing on a pair of learners;
• focusing on a group of students.

Focus on one learner

If you have to focus on one learner (as I had to), you will be expected to meet up with the student and collect data about their background and needs. However, before you do that, you may have the option to choose your victim… sorry, I mean learner.

Assuming you have the choice, you want to pick wisely. I would advise picking a student who:

• speaks a major international language (e.g. Arabic, Spanish, Korean, etc.), and
• you have already noted has specific problems.

The reason for picking a student who speaks a major international language is that the problems these speakers have in English are well-documented. I am however assuming that your students are not a monolingual group. It is not necessary you know their first language, and actually if it is obvious you have picked a learner because you know their language, the CELTA tutors may take a dim view of this.

Once you have chosen your learner, don’t delay to set up an interview with them. You will then want to plan out what you will ask them about (look at the background and needs sections for ideas). Make sure you record the interview so you can listen back to it later. Most mobile phones can deal with this, but you should make sure that it is recording. It is better to have two minutes on the recording of you saying “is it working?” than finding out afterwards it didn’t record.

You should also aim to get a writing sample from the student at the interview. You could ask them to do it ahead of the interview by asking them to write a letter telling you about their experience of learning English and what they would like to do with English in the future.

As the practice students attend CELTA lessons for free, they are usually very amenable to being interviewed. However, if they are not so thrilled at this prospect, you can generally sway them by telling them they will get feedback. If you promise this, do make sure you give it though. These students often come back again and again and so another CELTA trainee will probably use them in their assignment in the future. Don’t make their life more difficult because you promised the student feedback but didn’t give any.

As well as interviewing the learner, you can also make notes when you are observing the group and when you are teaching. Note anything you hear them say wrongly (you can always analyse what the mistake is later) and difficulties they have with skills.

Focus on a pair of learners

As with focusing on one learner, if you have a choice, try to choose students with major international first languages. You still want to set up your interview as soon as possible and prepare your list of questions.

Having a pair of learners gives you an opportunity that you don’t get with just one and it is a rookie error if you don’t take it. Since you have two learners, give them a task to complete together in the interview. This gives you a much more accurate picture of what they struggle with.

In lessons, you still need to note the errors you hear them make and issues that they have with skills. Remember, you are also comparing the students, so you should consider whether these issues are common to both.

Focus on a group

If you are told to focus on a group, you probably won’t get to interview the whole group. Certainly, if you do get any time when you can do this it won’t be long. Instead you might be told to conduct a survey on the group to get this information. This is something that your teaching practice group will need to do together. 

Background and Needs

The first section of your assignment deals with the learners’ background and needs. This can include (this is not an exhaustive list by any means):

• country of origin,
• occupation,
• first language,
• other languages and level,
• how long they have been learning English and how,
• level of education,
• experience of education,
• why they are learning English,
• what they use English for,
• what they would like to use English for,
• what they find easy,
• what they find difficult,
• what activities they like,
• what activities they don’t like,
• their attitude to correction.

It is fairly easy to phrase questions to get answers to these questions in an interview or on a survey. However, remember that if the student is low level you may need to word questions in a way that they can respond easily. With higher level students, you may want to ask these questions in a more open ended way to get them to talk more. You may want to script your questions to save time rephrasing them in an interview.

Once you have this information, you can begin writing it up.

The book Learner English (Smith & Swan) is invaluable here. This book looks at the problems that speakers of certain languages have when learning English. Reading the section that relates to your student(s) therefore will give you plenty of issues to write about.

Your centre will tell you how many issues you need to write about. It may specify that you need to write about issues related to each of the three knowledge areas (grammar, lexis and pronunciation) and the four skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing). Alternatively, it might tell you to pick two key problems that the student should work on. Obviously, the more areas you are required to provide problems for, the less you are required to write for each problem.

If you are only required to choose a couple of problems you will need to:

• pick problems from different knowledge areas or skills (i.e. don’t have two grammar problems);
• explain why you believe this problem is particularly important. This is easy if you can link it to something in their needs – for example, you could justify working on spelling if they have stated that professional writing is high on their priorities.

This can be the trickiest part of the assignment. You know a couple of problems that they have and now you must suggest solutions that will help them to overcome these.

To pass this part, you should ensure your solutions are sufficiently clear, relate to the problem and state why they will help. For example:

Problem: Student confuses /p/ and /b/ phonemes in speech and writing e.g. I bark my car. This is a common problem for Arabic speakers, as the two sounds are allophonic in Arabic.

Solution: A list of minimum pairs containing /b/ and /p/ is included in the appendix, e.g. beach and peach. I would use these to test if the student can actually hear the difference between these sounds. Through regular testing, the student should get better at hearing the difference. When the student can do this, I would use these words to drill the student in producing these sounds.

Assessment Criteria

To pass this assignment, you need to do the following:

• show you are aware how a student’s background, learning experience and preferences affect learning.
• identify the student’s needs.
• correctly use terminology.
• select appropriate material and resources.
• provide a rationale for using these activities.
• find, select and reference information.

If you want to pass this first time around, follow these tips:

• As soon as you meet the students, note all the errors they make or problems they have that you can.
• Share your notes with your teaching practice group and they will likely do the same.
• Choose a student quickly if you need to.
• As soon as you can set up an interview with the student.
• Record the interview (make sure your device is recording).
• Write up the background as soon as possible after your interview.
• Use Learner English to identify problems. If you’re really struggling, you may well get away with saying that your student has a problem that is common to speakers of that language. This should be a last resort however.
• Make sure you have sufficiently different problems i.e. not two grammar problems, or two pronunciation problems.
• Talk to your colleagues when devising solutions. They may be able to suggest some good resources.
• Include the activities in an appendix with a clear note of where you got them.
• You aren’t supposed to explain how the activity is performed, but you can include the teachers’ instructions from the book in the appendix.
• Keep a close eye on the word count.
• If you can, have a relative or friend read your final submission through.

If you follow the advice above, you should be able to complete this assignment without too much fuss.

Don’t Miss A Thing!

Related posts, celta: ordering activities.

For more tips and advice about CELTA, click here. Ordering Activities Join my telegram channel for teachers. Click here A lesson should not just be a collection of activities that are thrown together somehow. Your Read more…

CELTA: Lesson Aims

For more tips and advice about CELTA, click here. Lesson Aims Join my telegram channel for teachers. Click here One of the most important aspects of lesson planning is defining clear aims. A good lesson Read more…

CELTA: Assisted Lesson Planning

For more tips and advice about CELTA, click here. Assisted Lesson Planning Join my telegram channel for teachers. Click here Prior to many of your teaching practice sessions on the CELTA course, you will be Read more…

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• We're Hiring!
• Help Center

Celta Cambridge - Assignment 2 – Focus on the learner Part A profile of the learner

CELTA Cambridge Assignment 2 Focus on Learner

RELATED PAPERS

omae justus

Iman Worsham

Madalina David

Mussarat Shahid

Jose "Jay" Fulgencio

Ismail Thamarasseri

Genta Skura

Theoretical & Applied Science

Xeniya Sklyarenko

Christine Sinclair

[email protected] Finch

The Nature of Learning - Practitioner Guide

Jennifer Groff

Tadesse Beza

Mark Leo Hapitan

The 23rd Annual …

Kathryn Trinder

Dermot Coughlan

Sezab Mahdi

Maarit Mutta

Josip Stjepandic

Selwyn Javier

Titin Rohayati

dafina begaj

Ece Zehir Topkaya

Methodologies and Outcomes of Engineering and Technological Pedagogy

jitendra dixit

Kshithi Singh

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024

• Most Popular
• Explore all categories

celta - focus on the learner assignment

• CELTA - Focus on the Learner Assignment

Upload: simon-bolton

Post on 28-Oct-2014

1.002 views

63 download

Embed Size (px): 344 x 292 429 x 357 514 x 422 599 x 487

Alexandra Smit – Focus on the Learner CELTA IH Rome Spring 2010 Page 1

Alexandra Smit

Focus on the Learner

The students attending the pre-intermediate English language course at International House

are mostly Italian1. The age range is quite varied (early twenties to late sixties) and they

are all very highly motivated and passionate about learning the language2. Most of the

students come from a strong cultural background and have a scholastic knowledge of

English, having learnt the language at school as part of the compulsory curriculum. Those

who don’t, have at least 1 to 2 years experience of learning the language and a number of

them have already attended the course taught by CELTA trainees in previous years.

As for learning styles there is a core group of retired teachers (mainly Italian and Latin) who

I perceive to have a strong linguistic approach. This also emerges from the interviews we

had with them on our first day of training: the majority of students highlighted their

strengths in English as reading and writing. Most of them also enjoy visual arts (during class

interviews there was a high percentage of students who listed going to art exhibitions as a

hobby). The size of the room and the number of students attending class3 makes it difficult

to have a more kinesthetic approach even though a good number of them are passionate

about dancing, sports and regularly pursue these hobbies.4

The students are involved in class activities and there are a few risk-takers who regularly

intervene making lessons very enjoyable and making us teachers feel like we are

contributing to their learning. As the course has evolved I have also noticed that many of

those who appeared shy at the beginning are now more confident and ask questions for

further clarification.

With regards to the skills they want to develop, an overwhelming majority have expressed

the desire to improve their understanding and communication in English and have listed

these as their main aims in English language learning.

It is difficult to assess their feedback on the lessons at this stage, as they have not been

asked this question directly. However, the fact that they clap their hands at the end of

certain sessions (not mine, unfortunately) is indicative of the fact that they are enjoying the

lessons and the activities.

1 except for one student from Peru and one, who only recently joined, from Russia

2 this seems to be confirmed by the high number of students who regularly attend classes

3 Usually around 12 to 15 students

4 J. Wingate, “Multiple Intelligences”, in English Teaching Professional

Alexandra Smit – Focus on the Learner CELTA IH Rome Spring 2010 Page 2

The essay recommended as pre-reading for this5 section is a useful tool to identify and

analyse the types of errors and mistakes that are quite common for native Italian speakers.

Below is a table which lists those I have found to be most frequent:

Error Should Be Error Type Possible reason for error

Is raining It’s raining Grammar The student omitted the subject6. This

error comes from L1 interference as

phrases such as these often omit the

subject or the object.

I walk near at my

I walk near

Grammar This error comes from L1 interference. In

Italian the preposition ‘vicino’ (near)

requires the preposition a (at).

Pronunciation Students overemphasised the stress on

the 2nd syllable and pronounced the ‘e’.

Again, this error comes from L1

interference as Italians seldom stress the

first syllable and tend to pronounce all

letters in a word.

‘hʌri Pronunciation

There is often confusion about how to

pronounce ‘u’ whether it be ‘ʌ’ or ‘ʊ’. In

this situation however it was actually

pronounced ‘æ’, to over-emphasise a

pronunciation closer to ‘ʌ’, so this could

be considered as a slip.

The time was hot The

Vocabulary This error comes from a literal translation

of ‘tempo’ used colloquially in Italian to

mean ‘weather’.

Hannah had an

appointment with

of the relevant Italian lexical item for

5 A. Duguid, “Italian Speakers”, in M. Swan and B. Smith, Learner English: A Teacher's Guide To

Interference And Other Problems, 2002 (1987), CUP,

6 I found this to be quite a widespread type of error.

Alexandra Smit – Focus on the Learner CELTA IH Rome Spring 2010 Page 3

I have previously mentioned that students, during class interviews, have stated their skills’

abilities in English to be stronger in reading and writing. However a number of mistakes and

errors made during speaking practice were replicated in the written piece of homework that

students handed to us. Given this and the students’ desire to be able to speak better I

would recommend having strong focus on productive skills during lessons.

As for receptive skills, I have noticed that listening seems to be the skill that students

struggle mostly with. It could be due to the fact that they might have been less exposed to

English as spoken by native speakers7: they have difficulties with the stress timing of

language and the understanding of weak forms8. Reading comprehension is the skill

students are most successful in although they sometimes have difficulty with vocabulary if

this is unfamiliar.

The error type I have chosen to focus on is the one regarding subject/object omission: one

of the errors that I have found to be widespread amongst the students. The activity chosen

is from Move Ahead Level 1, Macmillian and the activity is 9.1 – “Wow!”. I would put

pictures of the natural wonders of the world used in the activity as well as others on the

board and then would proceed to run it as illustrated by the resource book encouraging

students to describe the places using phrases such as ‘it is the highest mountain in the

world’, ‘it is on the river Zimbezi’, etc. I would use this activity, even though it is an

elementary one, as I believe the class would benefit from further drilling and practice to

avoid making this kind of error.

For the skills activity I have chosen a listening activity from New English File , Pre

Intermediate, OUP, (section 3 -Listening 5.1 CD 2 track 20). It contains 5 different

conversations which take place at a party during which people who meet for the first time

say the wrong things. The first task of the activity would be to identify the names of the

people involved in each conversation. For the second task I would ask students to write

down the ‘wrong things’ said during these conversations, pausing the CD after each

conversation to enable students to write down their answers. I would then ask them to

compare answers with their partners and listen to the script again to check and then have a

plenary feedback session. I’ve attached a script of the conversation at the end of this

assignment. The reason I have chosen this kind of activity is because I believe that students

would benefit from further exposure to native speaking and because of their aim to have a

greater understanding.

7 in order to teach in compulsory education schools you need to have a particular degree or diploma only

obtainable in Italy which means that foreign languages are mostly taught by Italian native speakers

8 A. Duguid, “Italian Speakers”, in M. Swan and B. Smith, Learner English: A Teacher's Guide To Interference And

Other Problems, 2002 (1987), CUP, pg 77

Alexandra Smit – Focus on the Learner CELTA IH Rome Spring 2010 Page 4

Bibliography

A. Duguid, “Italian Speakers”, in M. Swan and B. Smith, Learner English: A Teacher's Guide

To Interference And Other Problems, 2002 (1987), CUP

J. Wingate, “Multiple Intelligences”, in English Teaching Professional, from:

http://celta.wikispaces.com/file/view/Wingate.pdf

celta. · Web viewWritten Assignment 2 - Language Skills-Related Tasks Assignment Written Assignment : Language-related tasks (2.2) Name: Pass Resubmit Assessment criteria met: analyse

CICM Level 5 Diploma Learner Assignment Guidance Booklet

MODEL ASSIGNMENT UNIT 5: STOCK CONTROL FOR RETAIL … · MODEL ASSIGNMENT . UNIT 5: STOCK CONTROL FOR RETAIL BUSINESS . LEARNER ASSIGNMENT BRIEF . Ashley’s General Store is based

What is the IB Learner Profile? Learner Profile Assignment · •The IB Learner Profile is a set of characteristics that all good learners posses. These are qualities that apply both

Young Learner Extension to CELTA - WikispacesExtension+to+CELTA... · to CELTA Young Learner Extension to the Certificate in English to Speakers of Other Languages. Equal Opportunity

yabdilnew.maltepe.edu.tr · "Practical Ideas for the Young Learner Classroom" ... (2002) suggests? This workshop will focus on ... She has both her ESOL and CELTA certificate and

Young Learner Extension to CELTA Cambridge Language …and+Inputs+TRAINEES... · CELTA Seven Idiomas São Paulo, Brazil July 2015. YL ext. to CELTA July 2015 SEVEN Aclimação Rua

Exceptional Learner Case Study - Weeblycarrieelizabethreno.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/7/7/... · Exceptional Learner Case Study (Multi-grade Scenario) This assignment was one that was

FOCUS ON THE LEARNER TEACHING METHODS AN UPPER ... 05 21.pdf · FOCUS ON THE LEARNER TEACHING METHODS ... Intermediate group during an intensive CELTA Course, without having a native

Candidate Record Booklet Young Learner Extension to CELTA 5Extension+5+v1.pdf · Young Learner Extension to CELTA Candidate Record Booklet Young Learner Extension to CELTA 5 ... o

FOCUS ON THE LEARNER TEACHING METHODS AN … 05 21.pdf ·  · 2018-01-25FOCUS ON THE LEARNER TEACHING METHODS ... Intermediate group during an intensive CELTA Course, ... “ After

CELTA Language Skills Related Assignment

CAMPUS FUNDACION CELTA BY CABREIROÁ 2021 - RC Celta de …

Teacher Training Prospectus 2017 6380 course … Teaching to Adults (CELTA). ... - Language analysis and awareness - Language skills : ... planning and assignment writing

Young Learner Extension to CELTA Cambridge Language …and+Inputs+TRAINERS... · Young Learner Extension to CELTA Seven Idiomas ... 2. Tasks: Language Analysis Sheet which accompanies

REAL CLUB CELTA DE VIGO, S.A.D. 2017/2018 Season...sports and commercial complex by Real Club Celta de Vigo, S.A.D. Moreover, the assignment of the in rem surface rights is agreed

YOUNG LEARNERS TEACHER TRAINING - CELTA DELTA€¦ ·  · 2015-01-13T Young&Learner&Teacher&Trainig Index Coursesforschools Seminars&for&schools Online&training Personal&mentoring

CELTAsace.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/21818-celta...• Language skills • Reflection on classroom teaching. The written assignment element of Cambridge CELTA Course Online

Young Learner Extension to CELTA Cambridge Language …and+Inputs+TRAINEES... · YL ext. to CELTA July 2015 ... Mon 6/7/2015 2 456 (45 [x3) The language analysis task should be

Celta 0,28 by Amarelo Etherna.ind - horuss.com.br · Etherna.ind.br by Celta 0,28 Azul Bahia. Etherna.ind.br by Celta 0,28 Azul Bebe. Etherna.ind.br by Celta 0,28 Azul Marinho

Online CELTA course - Language analysis and awareness • Language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing ... The written assignment element of Cambridge CELTA Course Online

CELTA · 2020. 12. 2. · The CELTA course is made up of 120+ hours and is very demanding. It requires a lot of time, motivation and energy. ... If the assignment focuses on the learners,

Preparing for Tomorrow - koreatesol.org · Preparing for Tomorrow Real Ideas for Real Classrooms ... Building Learner Corpora Made Easy ... MA TESOL, CELTA President, Seoul KOTESOL

CELTA - icte.uq.edu.au20V2.pdf · of independent reading, research, assignment writing and lesson preparation. ICTE-UQ offers CELTA on a full-time basis over ... ICTE-UQ CELTA Graduate

Pegaso ModelsAndrea Andrea Romeo Models Pegaso Models ... · Guerrero celta s. III a.c. 19,5 € MMA Guerrero celta. ¿? € Guerrero celta. V a.c. ¿? € Andrea Guerrero celta

CELTA -Lessons from the Classroom assignment

CICM Entry Level 2 Learner Assignment Guidance Booklet

Assignment 3 Instructional Treatment Plan - rvd …€¦ · Assignment 3 Instructional Treatment Plan by Justice Anderson ... The learner should correctly derive competencies 8 out

Download Young Learner YL Extension to Celta Syllabus

CICM Intermediate Level 3 Learner Assignment Guidance Booklet

E-sheep® Learner Guide ·  · 2017-05-30Activity 1: Management differences with individual identification ... Home assignment ... Individual Animal Management Learner Guide Learning

Celta Assignment 1 – Language Related Tasks

Sapp, Kristin- Learner Analysis Assignment

School Catalog CELTA - English Language Schools in … Francisco/School...School Catalog CELTA ... Language Related Task b) Focus on the Learner c) ... You may fail 1 assignment and

Cambridge ESOL CELTA - HAMBURG SCHOOL OF …hamburg.school-of-english.de/pages/wp-content/downloads/CELTA... · 3 CAMBRIDGE ESOL CELTA 1. General Information 1.1 What is CELTA? CELTA