Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (ICPNA)

Course Syllabus

Course name:Methodology for EFL TeachersV

Course code:MET5

Course description:

Methodology for EFL Teachers consists of 6 courses (MET1 - MET6), each of which, offers a solid preparation for anyone interested in teaching English as a foreign language. MET5 seeks to provide trainees with the background and skills necessary to address major pronunciation needs. This course also focuses on ways to tackle error correction, test design, testing techniques, using L1, Cuisenaire rods, dictionaries, timelines and fingers.

Class activities and tasks constantly appeal to the trainees’ previous experiences as students and promote critical thinking and reflection. Trainees are involved in analyses, comparisons, discussions, technique demonstrations and demo classes,all of which will allow them to relatetheir educational experienceswith the teaching options they explore so that they canmake informed decisions and apply the theory and research covered in the course in their teaching practice.A more detailed list of the teaching skills/sub-skills developed can be found in the Objectives forms.

Coretraining material:

The core training material for the course is the book “Learning Teaching”by Jim Scrivener and published by Macmillan (ICPNA split edition – 6 parts). You may refer to the internet links for additional information about the book and the author. The structure along each chapterconsists of (1) introductory information to provide background information onthe topic and to clarify relevant specialized terms, (2) a task that stimulates critical thinking and reflection on the topic, and (3) commentary to provide guidance and conclusions, respectively. For trainees’ easier reference, chapter tasks appear shaded in the ICPNA edition books.

Parallel course:

As a plus, the ELT Advantage course “Introduction to Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL)” will offer further specialized preparation for dealing with young learners. The course will be taken by students in parallel manner from mid MET3 to mid MET5 approximately.

Registration:

Access codes for registration will be made available to MET3 trainees through the ICPNA web Portal (student zone- ELT Advantage folder). Trainees should be able to retrieve their access codes on the 4th day of class. Registration for ELT Advantage courses normally do not start till after the first week of the month. Please coordinate with your class for a visit to SAC so that they can all register at the same time with your help. Please do not forget to explain to your trainees how to proceed with the course (mechanics). Give them pertinent advice and tips (printing out their reading materials, quizzes, final exam, getting the certificate, etc.)

Follow-up:

Make sure you discuss the topics covered and make clarifications as neededon the topics covered in the units. Ideally, you will have also taken this course as part of your regular ELT Advantage course requirements for the Academic Department.

Completion:

Upon successful completion, trainees should be able to obtain their respective certificate in the same way you do with the said courses. Remember that ELT Advantage certificates are TESOL-endorsed.

Failing the TEYL course does not entail failing the MET course in progress. You can find a correlation between the TEYL course and the Learning Teaching book in the Virtual assistant, and the Teacher zone in the ICPNA Web portal. A hard copy of the course chapters will be available in the Academic Department in your site. Ask to see the folder if you need it.

Course Themes:

Chapter13–Phonology: the sound of English: This chapter covers major aspects of teaching pronunciation. It discusses issues such as the type of pronunciation to teach,starting points and ideas to teach pronunciation, working with phonemes (consonants and vowels), word-stress, marking stress, finding stressed syllables, prominence, effects of changing stress, the use of connected speech, weak forms, the schwa, stress and unstress, transcribing pronunciation, intonation, and analysing connected speech.

Please keep in mind that for many of the trainees, this may be their first formal experience with the subject. You may find it necessary to build up on their knowledge and awareness of this language system. Feel free to use the Pronunciation Video recommended in the list of materials for this course.

Chapter14–Toolkit 2: focusing on language: This chapter addresses key aspects of error correction (what kind of error, whether to deal with it or not, when to deal with it, who will correct it, and which correction technique to use, and how to correct errors.)Another focus of the chapter lies in discussing testing principles and techniques (3 criteria of a good test, categorizing test questions, common discrete-item testing techniques, how to design discrete/integrative questions, assessing speaking.)Additionally, Chapter 14 deals with using the learner’s first language, community language learning, using Cuisenaire rods, using dictionaries, timelines and fingers to meet different teaching correction purposes.

Learning Objectives:

There are two documents specifying the objectives to be met for each of the methodology courses. One version is for trainees to follow up on their progress on a regular basis and the other for the trainer to record the overall progress of the class and plan actions to be taken along the course.

Make sure you explain to your trainees how to use the forms as soon as they start the course. The forms will also be available through the ICPNA web portal (teacher zone & student zone) and the virtual assistant so that you can use them in class. Please go over the specific forms with your trainees every time a specified objective is met. Remember that trainees assigning themselves a ranking of 3 does not necessarily mean that is the grade they will get.The trainee’s form is meant specificallyfor self-assessment. The ultimate evaluator of their true progress will be the trainer.

Course Advance:

Please refer to the respective Suggested Teaching Scheduleattached. Make sure you read the additional notes provided and proceed accordingly. Remember that the course advance (Suggested Teaching Schedule) will help you maintain a safe pace for the course by giving you a specific number of hours for each chapter, but allowingyou to use flexible time to cover the sub-topics.

Evaluation Criteria (exams, course tasks and class lists):

The two major areas you will be focusing on for assessment and evaluation during the course comprise (1) understanding relevant TEFL concepts and their implications and (2) the ability to apply them to teach English in a Foreign Language context.

In-class ongoing assessment:

For practical reasons, the regular class list will be used until a special one is put together. Based on the quality and quantity of the trainee’s work and/or compliance with the tasks below, kindly assign 5grades as explained below.

* Whenever a grade is not applicable for one of the courses, please assign an additional grade based on

class tasks.Take note that grades are not to be duplicated, instead grades can be assigned per unit or

block of units.

E.g. one grade for thefirst two units and another for the last one. This will allow you to evaluate the

trainees’ skills more accurately.

  1. Class participation in tasks:Along the chapters, trainees will be involved in different tasks (discussions, comparisons, opinions, recognition, reflection, etc.). Please assign an overall grade based on the success in participating in these tasks in class.
  1. Recognition video task:The purpose is to make sure trainees are able to recognizedifferent elements covered in the course in an actual class (you can use the videos/video links available in the next sections). This ability is similar to the receptive skills,in which students may be able to identify the element, but not necessarily be able to produce it. Depending on the MET course, trainees will be asked to recognizeelements, techniques, characteristics, types of behavior, etc. To meet this purpose, on the board you may want to number 3 - 5 items to be identified. Choose the items based on what you have covered in class. Have students check the items on an individual slip of paper with their names on and collect the papers.It is advisable not to grade the first viewing so trainees can become familiar with this task. As time permits, you may show a number of viewings (one for each chapter is the maximum number).
  1. Focused class observation:The purpose is to provide trainees with the opportunity to see a real class within an EFL context. Depending on the topics/skills covered in the current MET course,a relevant observation task must be assigned. Trainees are to observe one entire session.Please make the arrangements with the due Supervisor as they have been doing it with previous methodology courses. These arrangements will be based on the availability of the courses in your site and the specifications in the chart below. Please bear in mind that the purpose is for trainees to benefit from seeing a real class, not to supervise it or evaluate it. A special effort must be made to avoid making the teacher and class observed uncomfortable in any way. Trainees are to be advised accordingly to be the least intrusive they can, but the mostpolite, grateful and understanding. Teachers to be visited may be let known in advance. Trainees can write a short composition(1 or 2 paragraphs) to be filed in their portfolio based on the observation tasks.

  1. Ability to convey message clearly:As trainees engage in varied tasks (discussions, demonstrations, demo-classes, etc.), they will need to demonstrate an acceptable command of the language that can allow them to make themselves understood. Though native-like command of the language is not a requirement, trainees are expected to communicatetheir ideas without any major difficulty in an articulate manner. Please assign a grade based on the overall ability of the trainee to communicate effectively.
  1. Remedial classes/tutoringfor B01 and B02:The purpose is to make sure trainees have the opportunity to work with real students in an EFL context. These are hardly whole classes of 25 individuals, but small groups, instead. Trainees will basically offer support to B01/B02 groups. Please, make the arrangements with the due Supervisor for MET4, MET5 and MET6. Trainees are to teach two sessions, one for B01 and one for B02 depending on the availability of these courses in the site. As it would be logistically difficult to create the conditions for micro-teaching, please assign a grade based on the compliance with this task and the lesson plans, materials and/or reports you can ask the trainees to present before/after their B01/B02 class, respectively.

Written Exams:

Formal written evaluation is done through the official standardized final written exam from the office.The exam focuses on testing (1) knowledge and understanding of the relevant TEFL topics covered and (2) theirpractical application for a class. The exam uses different assessment formats (charts to complete, true-false sections, sample activities from real textbooks to specify class procedures, etc.).

Do not forget to check when you need to administer the exam in the suggested teaching schedule. The date was chosen to give you sufficient time to correct.

Oral Exams:

Oral exams will seek to give you evidence that the trainees are able to (1) plan a coherent class and (2)conduct effective instruction. Please assign a relevant area (pronunciation, grammar, listening, communicative activity, etc.) fortrainees to prepare and give a demo class depending on the aims of the course being taught. Based on thenumber of hours in the Suggested Teaching Schedule, allocate reasonable time for individuals, pairs or smallgroups toperform in front of the class. In MET1, it is compulsory for trainees to work in teams. Trainees must be advised accordingly and with sufficient time in advance so they can prepare themselves. This demo-class is different from what they will have to teach in the remedial classes.

Autonomous Learning Projects (portfolio):

Written products from tasks such as summaries, reflection paragraphs, material design, lesson plans, test items/test designs, collected information from the web, etc. are to be archived in a trainee’s portfolio. This will serveas the evidence of the trainee’s relevant artifacts and ongoing learning progress.Please assign an overall grade based on the quality and quantity for all the work done by the trainee along the course.

Supplementary training material & resources:

To supplement the book and help you meet the course objectives more easily, you may use the materials listed below. Unless specified otherwise, the video materials are not linked to a particular chapter or course. Their choice of use will depend on the tasks designed or selected by the trainer in order to meet the pertinent objectives. You will certainly find the video materials useful to address the ‘video recognition tasks” or you can also use them to support/supplement the topics covered along the book. Make sure your video tasks and not the video itself use the most productive time.

  1. Powerpoint presentation files:

For each of the book chapters, a powerpoint file summarizing the main points has been put together. You can use these files as wrap-up, introductory, or ongoing presentation material.The powerpoint (PPT) files will be available through the Virtual assistant for you to use them in class and the ICPNA Web Portal (teacher zone) so that you can view it in advance and decide how you wish to best use it to meet your course objectives.

  1. Progress Quizzes on line:

In order to facilitate review material and self-progress assessment, progress quizzes on line have been designed for trainees.The quizzes test knowledge and practical application of the TEFL topics covered in the core book. There will be at least 2 quizzes for each of the book chapters. The quizzes make use of true/false, multiple choice and task-based formats.The quizzes are available to trainees through the ICPNA Web Portal (student zone). Please advise your trainees of this valuable resource.

  1. Shaping the Way we teach Videos and Manual:

Created from a joint project between the US government and the University of Oregon, this resource provides you with a set of videos where English classes in the US are shown. These videos have all been digitalized like the World Link videos. Through the Virtual assistant (class computers), you will be able to access them directly as videos, the OregonUniversity website , or the approved Utube links.The official manual will be available to you in the Academic Department in your site. There is also a short guide available through both the ICPNA web portal (teacher zone) and the Virtual assistant.This material is suitable for the video recognition task.

  1. Cambridge Teacher-Training Video and manual:

This video shows different class segments to teach multi skills using the Interchange book series. The manual contains additional activities for TEFL training. This resource is available through the Academic Department in your site in VHS tape format.Feel free to browse through it and please make sure you request the VHS tape and equipment with due time.This material is suitable for the video recognition task.

  1. TEFL Videos:

Each video provides practical, how-to instructions on designing and executing activities in the classroom. A professional teacher guides you through the planning step by step, and then demonstrates it with real students so you can see it in practice-not just theory.These videos are available in DVD format in the Academic Department in your site.Please refer to the quick reference guide available through the Teacher Zone and the Classroom Virtual Assistant. Make sure you request the equipment with due time.

  1. Pronunciation for Success ESL Videos, Workbook and manual: (for MET5)

In each unit on the videos, students from 13 different countries demonstrate problem areas and techniques to help learners improve specific difficulties. The teachers help learners identify incorrect patterns, understand the strategies and steps to solve those problems, and demonstrate improvements.These videos and audio recordings are available in DVD/CD format respectively. The DVDs, CD and accompanyingmanual with additional activities can be found in the Academic Department in your site.Please make sure you check the material in advance and request the DVD/CD equipment with due time. You can use this material to…

  1. Reference books from the Academic Department and local Library

Should you need to look for additional activities or deepen information on the topics covered in the course, you may wish to resort to the relevant books available at the Academic Department in your site and your local library. The book lists (one from the Academic Department and one from the regular site Library) will provide youwith useful information about the specialized literature. In addition, a collection of practical books will be available specifically for the Methodology courses. You can refer to these book lists in the ICPNA Web portal, teacher zone.