Mithodology and planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Mithodology and planning - Essay Example Course ideas The lesson is part of a unit or course that I have taught back in my school. So the idea of the course is not a new thing for me. While designing this course, I focused on the students’ needs in the first place as is explained by Graves (2000). I am going to teach this course to young intermediate female students who are studying English as a compulsory subject among other Arabic subjects in the school. Therefore, on the whole goal of the course is to improve the students’ four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing through a common and lovable topic such as food. Beliefs inherent in planning Since the type of the course is integrated course of the four skills, in each lesson I tried to focus on a specific skill. In this lesson, I tried to concentrate more on the writing skill by teaching students the sequence of words that will make their writing more coherent. Also, I have not just focussed on language but also tried to introduce the culture of English language through my lesson as it is presented by Cruz, Bonissone and Baff (1995). They encouraged teaching the culture of the second language and explained that it will make the abstract form of the language more meaningful. Thus, through this lesson I introduced examples of common food in English culture such as peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate muffins. Moreover, there is a connection between L1 and L2, due to the nature of the human brain. Students tend to translate what they learn in L2 to their L1 (Littlewood & Yu, 2009). Therefore, I tried to bring their previous knowledge about food in their L1 and to use the English language to talk about it. Also, when choosing the activities for my lesson I considered my students’ different learning styles as it is cited in Nunan, (1999).Furthermore, I used different learning strategies, through various activities. The reason for this variation is to keep the students interested all the time and to attract their attention. Also, my role as a teacher through these activities was to direct them with simple and direct instructions and to observe their work. However, I did not correct their errors in a direct way and tried to accept their answers as such in order to encourage them and give them the freedom to participate more. On the other hand, the role of the students was productive and they had a great part in speaking, reading and writing. This facilitates my role as a teacher because I had to observe and direct only. Context The topic of my course and lesson is about food, which is a common topic. Therefore, it can be adapted in any context. H owever, there are some adaptations that could be made according to the context in which this course will be given. For example, kinds of food, types of activities and materials. Also, in my context I have to pay attention on my students’ religious and cultural backgrounds when choosing the topic of my texts. For example, I cannot teach the Muslim students texts that talk about how to prepare a pork sandwich, because eating the pig’s meat is forbidden in Islam. Nevertheless, the number of the students in my real context is vast and there is always lack of materials. However, the most significant element