Teaching pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary in EFL 3301-JS2919
The course is addressed to prospective teachers of English as a Foreign Language in the Polish educational system and aims at developing their professional abilities of working with the three subsystems of English as well as presenting a spectrum of options systematized from the point of view of each system’s specificity, the age of the learners and their level of proficiency in EFL.
1. Teaching pronunciation in EFL. The role of age and language aptitude; the Critical Period in learning EFL pronunciation; English as an International Language. Production versus comprehension; the role of automatic processes; special problems of Polish learners of EFL; the size of the unit of practice – segmental and suprasegmental units; the learner’s whole person engagement along the life span; discrimination, imitation and transcoding; rhythm and intonation; inter- and intralanguage contrasts; metalanguage clues; the function of music (samples of activities and strategies). Systematizing options in teaching EFL pronunciation to Polish learners.
2. Teaching grammar to develop grammatical accuracy. The role of age versus the so-called good-language learner. Focus on Form. The scope of the problem – input, interaction, feedback. Inter- and intralingual contrasts; the role of precision, the form and its function in discourse comprehension and production; principles of using forms versus rules of grammar; syntax vs grammatical constructions; teaching grammar along the life span; the role of metalingual knowledge; grammar activities for comprehension and production in speech and writing; accuracy as a skill; accuracy in discourse; supplying versus incorporating feedback in accuracy work. Focus on the idiomatic use of English forms. Activities and tasks. Systematizing options in teaching EFL grammar to Polish learners.
3. Vocabulary development in EFL. The scope of the problem along the life span. The lexicon and our concept structure. What does it mean to know a word? The size of vocabulary units: single items, collocations, phrasal verbs, constructions, lexical phrases and idiomatic/formulaic expressions; learning and teaching idioms. Learning EFL vocabulary by studying it and via communication; semanticizing strategies; resources of the whole-person involvement; adjusting vocabulary teaching strategies along the life span; memory and the principles of vocabulary development - organizing and memorizing; lexical inferencing; mnemonics, activities and techniques; presentation; practice, consolidation and revision in vocabulary development, the use of games.
Type of course
Learning outcomes
Students become familiar with the specific problems involved in developing the three language subsystems, they understand the role of age, level of proficiency and individual differences; they are familiar with a spectrum of techniques and strategies of developing these subsystems and they are able to adjust them to the learners’ current needs.
Assessment criteria
Students are evaluated on the basis of their participation in classes, reading assignments, their own designs and activities and three tests during the course. Students present their activities as micro teaching and in the written form.
Bibliography
1. Celce-Murcia, M., D. M. Brinton and J. M. Goodwin, 1996. Teaching Pronunciation. A Reference to Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2. Celce-Murcia, M., D. M. Brinton and M. A. Snow, eds., 2013. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, 4th ed. Boston, MA.: Heinle Cengage Learning.
3. Doughty, C., and J. Williams, eds. 1998. Focus on Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4. Nassaji, H. and S. Fotos, 2011. Teaching Grammar in Second Language Classrooms. Integrating Form-Focused Instruction in Communicative Context. New York: Routledge.
5. Nation, I.S.P., 2008. Teaching Vocabulary. Strategies and Techniques. Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning.
6. Nation, I.S.P., 2001. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7. Scrivener, J., 1994. Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan.
8. Szpyra-Kozłowska, J., 2015. Pronunciation in EFL Instruction. A Research-Based Approach. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Additional materials selected from course books and TEFL handbooks as needed.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: