TESL 0120 - Speaking and Listening - Unit 4 Reflection

Unit 4: Assessment, Lesson Planning and Differentiation

 

As we come to the end of the course and I come to the end of the TESL 
certificate program I can’t help but marvel at the beauty and complexity that 
is human communication. Language is far more intricate, diverse, personal 
and collaborative than I ever realized before I started this program. Language
learners bring their own cultures, life experiences, educational background, 
personal motivations and worldview to the classroom. Teachers in turn bring
their professional training, cultural background, worldview and the demands 
of the program or organization they work for. All of these factors merge together
in the classroom and create a unique micro-community. How can we as teachers 
navigate the sometimes overwhelming complexity and varying demands of our 
classrooms? Principle driven lesson planning, thoughtful assessment and strategic 
differentiation are all ways to stay calm and in control in the face of ever shifting 
classroom demands.  

Clear Objectives? Check. Warm-up? Check. Activating schema? Check. Skill building? 
Check. Skill using? Check. Assessment...check!  I recently watched a YouTube video by 
Matt D’Avella on the power of checklists entitled, “This Productivity System Will Save Your Life”
(D’Avella, 2020). In the video he explains that when faced with overwhelmingly complex tasks 
the simple checklist has succeeded in making them more manageable. Brain surgeons, 
astronauts and pilots all use checklists, perhaps the humble English teacher might benefit as 
well. 

When developing a listening lesson plan here some some elements to include in your 
checklist: Pre-listening (activate background knowledge with activities such as brainstorming,
predicting and the use of visuals/realia), While-listening (help students to notice what’s 
important and focus on certain skills/strategies, activities such as listening for the gist, listening
for detail, inferring, note-taking, dictation and TPR) and Post-Listening (help students 
process the listening task using top-down and bottom up strategies, use activities such as 
checking answers, summarizing main ideas, discussion, comparing information, and 
deconstructing or reconstructing the text). 

When developing a speaking lesson plan here are some of the elements to include in your 
checklist: Activating (grab student’s attention and activate schema, use activities like 
discussion, visuals/realia and question prompts), Acquiring (controlled/structured exposure 
to new vocab/topics, activities like drilling, chanting, milling, surveys,  structured dialogue, 
info gaps, etc), Applying (apply learning in a communicative way: activities include role-plays,
debates, speeches and presentations, and discussions)

Of course in the real-life classroom listening and speaking are often taught within an  
integrated lesson using all 4 language skills however many of the same ideas/checklists 
can be utilized. 

This post has focused on lesson planning however wrapped up in lesson planning is 
assessment and differentiation. A well thought out lesson will be preparing students for an 
assessment, may it be formative or summative. As a LINC instructor I often “work backwards” 
when planning, choosing my real-world-task assessment first and then designing my lessons 
to support and scaffold the skills my students will need to succeed at the assessment. 
Differentiation is also considered while lesson planning. The teacher can prepare different 
group activities or varying degrees of difficulty within the same assignment.  

And with that folks...I finish my last TESL blog post! Cheers to that! Cheers to my classmates
who I’ve learnt from along the way and cheers to continued learning! 

Assignment #4: Speaking and Listening Final Lesson Plan Submission
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14FmGkTa7Kkb7U9T_5xnp6qoNTCIUB-kSbt6FknMHHlY/edit?usp=sharing

References: 

Bark, N. [Illustration of teacher planning] (2020). Retrieved from https://www.noebark.com/esl-plus

D’Avella, M. (2020, February 4). This Productivity System Will Save Your Life [Video]. YouTube. 
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n2vL2I__WY&t=3s 

[Illustration of diverse people] (2019). Retrieved from 
https://www.uscourts.gov/news/2019/05/09/courts-seek-increase-jury-diversity 

[Illustration of people with puzzle pieces] (2020). Retrieved from 
https://www.jing.fm/iclip/u2q8y3o0t4e6y3r5_enterprise-architecture-services-is-a-strategic-planning-team/ 

University of Manitoba. (n.d.). Unit 4: Assessment, Lesson Planning and Differentiation. 
 In TESL 0120 - Teaching in Practice: Speaking and Listening [Class unit content]. 
Retrieved from: https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/347124/viewContent/1736799/View 

TESL 0120 - Speaking and Listening - Unit 3 Reflection

Unit 3: Approaches to Listening Instruction

Can you tell that the above painting is made up entirely of tiny dots of paint?

Pointillism is a painting technique developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in 1886.
Seurat and Signac were Neo-Impressionists branching out from the Impressionists. Their new
technique gathered much attention and garnered much criticism at the time. Now it is a well
known, recognized and appreciated technique in the world of art. Pointillism is a technique of 
painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. A 
pointillist painting may be made up of hundreds of small dots of paint, each with varying 
shades of tone and colour. Upon stepping back from the painting, the viewer can see the 
grander image revealed.  Just how the smaller points of the painting come together to reveal 
an image, the significant key words of speech come together to reveal the meaning of the 
utterance. The listener does not have to listen to and understand every word in order to make 
sense of what the speaker is saying.

English students often fret about not being able to understand every last word in a 
listening sample. They can become overwhelmed, frustrated and bogged down in trying to 
latch on to every word and decode it. It may however be quite freeing and encouraging for 
them to realise that they can learn how to pick out the key words and hone their discernment 
of what’s important information. Automaticity is the ability to recognise which words are 
significant and which can be ignored. Many words such as auxiliary verbs, articles and 
prepositions like the, of, a are the glue which hold a sentence together rather than being the 
content words like nouns and main verbs.  Even though nouns and main verbs may carry the 
weight of meaning, the auxiliaries, articles and prepositions can greatly alter the meaning of a
sentence if misunderstood.  Until students have reached a certain level of competence they 
struggle to discern which are the key words for understanding. My question as a TESL student
is: how can we teach automaticity strategies and scaffold this skill for our students? How do we
help our students automaticity and the ability to recognize which words are significant and 
which ones they can ignore? This is an area I would like to research more. 

A few other interesting points from the unit: 

1. Listening is a skill that can be taught. 

2. Listening is an active skill. Listeners are quiet however their minds are very active 
guessing, predicting, inferring, criticizing and interpreting. Along with all the activity of the mind,
our physical senses are also contributing to the interpretation - watching the body language of 
the speaker, taking in the surrounding smells, sensing the environment around us. All this extra
data helps give us clues as to what the speaker is saying. Our brain is processing a lot!

3. It’s not necessarily easier for students to understand native speakers of English than
foreign speakers of English.  Eg. Monolingual vs. Multilingual classrooms

4. It’s largely true that the skills involved in listening to a foreign language are the same 
as those that we use for listening to our native language. However, there are some 
differences in how we apply those skills. L2 listeners use more “compensation strategies” 
to fill in the gaps. 

5. It’s okay to let students read the script of recordings but perhaps only once they have 
listened to a couple times without the support. Real life doesn’t have transcripts and some say
using a script can produce “divided attention” and a reliance on reading. 

6. It's not that predicting is something that can necessarily be taught but rather something
that can be acquired with practice, repetition, exposure and modelling. As teachers we 
can "teach" predicting by developing lessons that foster the skill of active listening and match 
that with lots of practice and modelling.  

7. 5 main listening skills and strategies: predicting content, listening for the gist, detecting 
signposts, listening for details, and inferring meaning. (Ahmed, 2015)

Unit 3: 15-minute listening activity for blog
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FMJChwonCm7I0Vo-lN60KFxMfzHOOYwZKY-8xzxJNpw/edit?usp=sharing

References

Ahmed, R. (2015, June 18). Five essential listening skills for English learners. Retrieved from 
https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/five-essential-listening-skills-english-learners

Cross. H. (1906). A Pine Groove [Oil on canvas]. Galerie Daniel Malingue, Paris, France. Mural Art 
Library (May 29, 2019). Retrieved from https://my.meural.netgear.com/editorial/184 

Harris, G. (2015). Ear Study. [Oil on board]. Greg Harris Bristol Artist. Retrieved from:  
http://www.greg-artist.com/gallery.html#pic67

Signac, P. (1916). Antibes, the Pink Cloud. [Oil on canvas]. Portland Museum of Art, Maine, U.S.A. 
GoodFon.com (August 10, 2017). Retrieved from 
https://www.goodfon.com/wallpaper/pol-siniak-rozovoe-oblako-antib-kartina-puantilizm-peizazh-m.html 

Wikipedia contributors. (2020, January 10). Pointillism. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pointillism&oldid=935131570

Wilson, J. J. (2008). How to teach listening. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Ltd.

TESL 0120: Speaking and Listening - Unit 2 Reflection

Unit 2: Pronunciation

Pronunciation brings clarity to spoken language. Pronunciation is the precise articulation 
of sounds, the lilting rhythms of intonation and the unique signature of geographical locations 
and the people that inhabit them. Without clear pronunciation, a well meaning speaker of 
English will be sorely misunderstood. They may very well have the correct word usage, the 
correct sentence structure and correct moment to interject their thought but if they cannot 
clearly and correctly pronounce the phrase then their message will not be successfully received.
Here we find the importance and application of pronunciation - understandable spoken language. 
Now the student doesn’t have to have perfect pronunciation in order to communicate however 
they do need to be intelligible. 

During this unit we discussed many different aspects of pronunciation and their effects on 
spoken language, here are some of my take-a-ways from the unit:

Segmentals and Suprasegmentals: Segmentals are also called "phonemes." These are units
of sound that can be analyzed. The individual sounds of the consonants and vowels are 
segmentals. Segmentals can be thought of as “segments of sounds”. Examples of segmentals 
would be the sound the letter /l/ makes or the letter /r/. Suprasegmentals are speech techniques
 that apply to multiple segments. Suprasegmentals are how you say what you say. Examples 
of Suprasegmentals are stress, pitch, intonation, length, tone and tempo. Segmentals and 
Suprasegementalas work together to produce a nuanced and dynamic unit of communication.

L1 Interference: A student’s first language influences how they learn English. Differences in 
alphabet, grammer, verb tenses, punctuation, vocabulary, phonology, etc all contribute to the 
difficulties an English student might experience. For instance an Japanese student may have 
trouble hearing the difference between an /l/ and /r/ sounds simply because those sounds 
don’t exist in Japanese. English has about three times as many vowel sounds as Arabic. It will 
be difficult for Arabic speakers to hear and say words such as ship/sheep or bad/bed. Each 
language group has some trademark difficulties that are common between students. See this 
website to learn about language differences: http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/

My biggest takeaways for this unit were: 

-”The key to successful pronunciation teaching is not necessarily to have them produce all the
 correct sounds but rather to have them listen and notice how English is spoken...the more 
aware they are, the greater chance their own intelligibility levels will rise. “ (Harmer, 2001)

-I asked one of the higher level students what the most helpful thing was in terms of English 
pronunciation learning. She said that learning how to actually move your mouth, lips and 
tongue to make the different sounds and words was the most helpful for her. 

- I asked my Twitter PLN the following question: @Julie_TESL “EAL Teachers: What are your 
experiences with teaching pronunciation in the EAL classroom? Any go-to strategies/activities?”.
 These were some of my takeaways from the responses: listening exercises to increase 
pronunciation awareness, peer feedback, importance of suprasegmentals, high-variability 
phonetic training, practicing stress patterns using authentic sources

References: 

ESL. (2017). The differences between English and Arabic. Retrieved from
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/arabic.htm

Francisco, A. [Illustration of 2 girls speaking] (2018). Retrieved from: 
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-pronunciation/ 

Harmer, J. (2001). Chapter 13: Teaching Pronunciation. In Harmer, J. (Ed.). The practice of English 
language teaching (pp. 34-51). 

Hsu, G. [Illustration of people and the phonetic alphabet] ( 2018). Retreived from 
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-to-improve-your-accent-with-these-5-simple-tricks

Ko, K. [Illustration of people in front of map] (2019). Retrieved from  
https://thebolditalic.com/who-changed-the-pronunciation-of-california-cities-505d1ef369b0

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Assignment #3: Pronunciation Analysis and Activities

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xxz2S1efLXz133vflZn2gurWf_GCf_ihzDxFIP2RwXM/edit?usp=sharing

Unit 2: Pronunciation Activity Design for Forums

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PwXjqT-1VLYbdU7vN9seezFvo-3snkNKZ27t-IrO8Eg/edit?usp=sharing

Unit 2: L1 Interference - Arabic to English - for Forums

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1puXMsyrdJneekpvdcvr6PomFwmzFaOnoG2FVmhc7z9A/edit?usp=sharing

TESL 0120 - Speaking and Listening - Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1: Approaches to Speaking Instruction

Speaking is fundamentally about communication. Interacting with others, expressing yourself 
and conveying messages whether they be transactional or interpersonal in nature. Language is 
the main medium with which we communicate and language is of course accompanied by body
language, tone of voice, eye contact and volume. Verbal exchanges of information are always 
within the context of a relationship, may it be an employee/employer relationship or two classmates. 
The delivery of a message is affected by the relationship between the speakers, we speak differently 
to our boss than we would our spouse. The possibilities of when, where and how to use spoken 
communication are varied and vast. 

 As we delve into the study of how to teach speaking in the classroom we first need to ask what makes
a competent speaker. Does competency mean perfect English grammar spoken with a flawless 
pronunciation? Of course not, we need to consider clarity, meaningfulness, awareness of audience, 
delivery and effectiveness. A competent speaker can take many different forms - as teachers we need 
to allow for this. A competent speaker needs to have some prior knowledge of socio-cultural knowledge,
genre knowledge, discourse patterns, pragmatics (the different purposes of language), grammar, vocab,
phonology and speech conditions (Thornbury, 2005). Speakers can display this knowledge even in the 
smallest verbal exchange all the way to giving a formal speech in front of many people. 

The two main points of interest for me this unit were the conversation around fluency vs. accuracy and 
the topic of correction of spoken errors. 

Fluency vs. Accuracy: These two language goals are two sides of the same coin. If the goal is to 
encourage accuracy then teacher and student are working on correct grammar, pronunciation, sentence
structure, vocabulary, etc.  If the goal is fluency the student is working on flow of speech and how 
effectively they express themselves. If the goal is fluency then the teacher will need to be gracious and
encourage the student to take risks outside their comfort zone. 

The conversation between fluency and accuracy is continued when discussing the correction of spoken
errors. I will admit to feeling confused about how to address spoken errors in the classroom. One camp
seems to suggest that correction should be measured, gentle, forgiving and careful. The other camp 
seems to say that student error should not be ignored and that they need to be addressed directly. Well 
maybe it doesn’t have to be so black and white. Perhaps there is a time for both and a wise teacher 
needs to use discernment in correcting a student. Is the goal fluency? Then give your students the time
 and space to test their wings and develop a flow and don’t forget to encourage... and then encourage 
some more! Is your goal accuracy? Then let your student finish their thought and their re-cast the 
phrase with the correction or point to the visual cue in the room that will prompt a self-correction. 
Oh and don’t forget to encourage! Teacher student relationship is key in error correction. A warm, 
supportive and mistake-allowing relationship is what is needed for students to feel comfortable taking 
risks. 

Competency, fluency vs. accuracy and correction of spoken errors are discussions that caught my 
attention during this unit. All three of these discussions have challenged me and continue to shape 
who I am as a teacher. Onward and forward to the next unit!

References:

Thornbury, S. (2005). How to Teach Speaking, Chapter 2: What Speakers Know, pp. 11-26. 

[“Communication” Illustration] (2020). Retrieved from:  
https://www.shutterstock.com/es/search/multi%20cultural%20family?image_type=illustration

[Photograph of people on couch with speech bubbles] (2020). Retrieved from:
 https://www.masterfile.com/search/en/diverse+people+circle

[Photograph of students sitting in a circle] (2020). Retrieved from:
 https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/group-diverse-people-with-speech-bubble-icon_2570268.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------
 
Speaking Activity mini assignment: 

Purpose: Warm-up and leading into the main objective of the lesson. This a schema primer for a lesson
on the Canadian workplace.

Speech competency focus: Fluency, Vocab and Discourse patterns

Level: CLB level 3+

15 min. Activity: “Speed Dating” Conversations. Have the students sit in chairs across from each 
other in 2 rows - facing each other. Explain that they will have 3 minutes to chat with their partner. 
Tell them you would like them to discuss this question with their partner, “What makes a good employee?”.
When the timer beeps one row will shift one person to the right. The new arrangement of partners will 
have 3 minutes to discuss a new question, “What makes a positive workplace?”. Have the one row shift 
down again and ask, “What makes a good employer?”. This will go on for 2 more rounds. The final 
question will be, “What makes a good co-worker?” and “What are some important values in the 
workplace?”. This activity includes 5 rounds of 3 min. partner discussions. 

Script of error correction role play - CLB 4

The red lines are the lines that I have added. The black lines have been transcribed from the original 
video (see link below).

3 methods of error correction: Re-casting, prompting self-correction, pointing to the poster of the wall to 
remind them of the correct form. 

Interviewer: Thank you for coming! 

Student: Thank you. Thank you for this opportunity give me and so sorry for I quite late. 

I: Haha, oh that’s okay, that’s okay! So how are you today?

SS: I’m good good I’m fine

I: Good, what country are you from?

SS: From Mexico, I’m from Mexico

I: Can you tell me something about Mexico?

SS: Yes, Mexico for me is wonderful country because have a many diversity. Ah, Water, food and have
 many cultures too. Um, it’s so wonderful for me. 

(Ignore errors up until this point for the sake of fluency building and rapport building) 

I: How long have you been in Canada?

SS: Ah, I have long here for 4 years. 

I: Would you like to try that again? Try the past from of live. (Prompt self-correction) ….Oh you’ve lived 
here for 4 years? What do you do here in Canada?

SS: Now I learn English and I hope in future I can find a good job. (ignore errors for the sake of fluency) 

I: What do you do during the week?

SS: This week, last week, I was very relaxing. I was going, I went with  ah my friends in their house 
and have party. Um, I enjoy this time because my friend is from Mexico too and I made together foods 
and something place. I enjoy it. 

I: That sounds nice. You would say, “We made food together”. What do you like to do on weekends?

SS: Um, it’s um ah sometimes it’s different because on Saturday I went to the, to the buy food or clean 
my house, um everything. And Saturday I my husband and me I was relaxing and watch TV, stay in the 
house.  (ignore errors for fluency sake) 

I: Okay good, Tell me what you usually cook?

SS: Usually cook some mix with the vegetable, meat, pork sometime especially food Mexican

I: Mmm, Mexican food is delicious! What do you think about Canadian weather?

SS: Oh I like. Because in summer is the same in my home country. In winter in very different, it’s too 
much cold but I enjoy this time because I never seed, I never see, I never saw snow. I like a this. 

I: Point to poster on the wall that has the different conjugations of “see”. Prompt self correction.  
You were so close there- you would say, “I had never seen snow.” What’s your favourite season?

SS: The favourite season is in summer. (ignore mistake for sake of fluency) 

I: Okay why?

SS: Because I outside I can make different activities in the park and run and walking and the people 
look very happy you know. I have many, the city have many festivals. I can see different cultures. 
 (ignore mistakes for sake of fluency) 

I: What are your hopes and plans for the future?

SS: Ah, for the future. I,  I hope I speak more very well English and find a good job and enjoy everything
 in these Canada. 

I: Oh you mean, “You hope to speak English very well.”, you almost had it! Is there something you 
know how to do and others might not know?

SS: Okay… (mumbles)..... Tamales. 

I: Can you tell me about it and explain how you do it?

SS: Yes ah, The tamales is made when the corn flour. Um, makes some when a special when you 
cook the beef. It (oh sorry).  You can cook special when special (oh sorry) . When special from Mexico. 
You cook in the tamales in the leaves for corn. They called you ah you put the corn in you put the meat 
when the special vegetable. For example, onion, carrot, is chili, tomato and you wrap and next to put in 
boiling water for from 1 hours around. It’s ready for eat it’s so delicious. (ignore mistakes for sake of 
rapport and wanting to end on a positive note)

I: It sounds delicious! 

References: 

Center for Canadian Language Benchmarks, CLB Support Kit Exemplars (Speaking Exemplars)   
Retrieved January 19, 2020 from: https://www.language.ca/resourcesexpertise/for-language-teachers/