Cambridge CELTA

Abstract

The CELTA course (Cambridge English) offers a receptive skills framework that integrates reading strategies with productive skills, including both speaking and writing (Masduqi, 2008). The framework’s focus on using authentic texts is what drives learners to use whole language from English discourse to develop their own use of genre-appropriate English.  The following example activity from USA Today (Gannet) article about “stay at home dads” will push learners to consider social, economic, and cultural aspects of American culture in a specific context.  An actual lesson plan will go through the stages of receptive skills framework, from orientation to task, blocking lexis, and reading strategies for specific items by skimming for main idea, scanning for details, reading for deeper understanding, and making inferences. Finally, an extension activity to revisit attitudes about fathers in this role is led by students. Interaction at each task is what Nunan (2014) describes as a negotiation for meaning that is supported by an interactionist perspective. A focus on forms (through orientation of new lexis) balances this framework as an example of a lesson rooted in communicative language teaching (CLT) pedagogy.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate middle school pupils’ vocabulary achievement after being taught by using Pictionary Game, so as to determine whether this strategy is effective and can be implemented in the language classroom to enhance the pupils’ vocabulary development. To reach the underlined objectives, the researchers used the qualitative-quantitative method. The population comprised of all first year pupils(182) in Bilal Ibn Rabbah Middle School, Taher-Jijel from which a sample of 58 pupils (24 male pupils and 34 female pupils) was randomly selected. The study relied on three research instruments: an experiment, classroom observation, and a teachers’ questionnaire. First, an experimental study was adopted using the traditional model that consisted of two groups; experimental group and control group. Both groups were pre-tested and post-tested. The experimental group was subject to treatment for five sessions using Pictionary game to teach vocabulary. Second, the teachers’ questionnaire was administered to Thirty (30) teachers from different middle schools in Jijel. Third, classroom observation was conducted with both control and experimental group for the sake of obtaining more data about teaching vocabulary. The final results indicated that middle school teachers of English are aware that vocabulary should be taught by using different strategies and techniques. As far as the results of the experiment are concerned, there was a significant difference in the performance of pupils in the experimental group (M= 13.12, SD=2.98) and the control group (M= 9.86, SD=3.64). That is, there is positive and significant improvement in the pupils’ vocabulary achievement. Thus, Pictionary game proves to be effective in learning and developing English vocabulary and also to sustain the learners’ motivation and interest.

One of my goals in my career was obtaining CELTA course to maximize my chance in updating my teaching skills and provide me with solid knowledge on how to focus on students' needs. Through my journey, I went through some of the ups and down teaching moments, but I will highlight the four areas of my teaching aspects that have effectively developed during the CELTA course.

Determining challenges, in fact, is one of the key tasks required for designing a syllabus. There are plenty of theoretical solutions to such problems, but in practice actions do not really appear to be sufficient to mitigate those serious issues. And if a teacher was not the one to be responsible for developing a specific syllabus, then it is most likely that both the teacher and the students will experience troubles. As materials and syllabus are supportive agents to each other, Dubin and Olshtain view that teachers' participation in designing materials is essential. Due to the development of different kind of syllabuses, accompanied by different approaches of teaching English, designing syllabus has been a difficult task. Integration of syllabuses is highly welcome, but how effective they become is the matter of question. So, facing mounting challenges is a common aspect to syllabus designers before drafting and while designing a syllabus. The success of a syllabus mainly depends on how carefully and practically those obstacles are tackled. Adaptation to the needs and classroom environment is another factor that puts teachers in a challenging situation. Nunan believes that teachers can overcome such situation if they enjoy the flexibility and can bring changes if they feel necessary. However, selecting and grading tasks do not seem to be easy and they at times do not match students' needs and language level; therefore they can be the sources of disinterest. Besides the points mentioned above, there are some hundreds of troublesome situations affecting syllabus design. But still the best outcome can be achieved by engaging the professional syllabus designers, material developers and expert teachers to work together based on the needs and learning styles of the students. Being a person in the field of ELT, I personally experienced a good number of moments when I was stuck to the same point and kept thinking about what I should do to make the syllabus student-friendly and interesting. Choosing teaching approach or method also made me revisit students' needs, expectations, background and other relevant detriments of language learning process. While choosing contents, I often went on inserting authentic materials to confirm the presence of genuine English-but I had to go back and prescribe some structure-based contents by eliminating a few authentic contents. Finally, I want to mention that it is also not easy to satisfy the learners and the authority at the same time.

The scope of this article is Prescriptive Grammar.
Any English user may need a quick reference concerning conditionals in general. However, many users have an incorrect idea that, when we use past perfect in the if clause, it is ALWAYS incorrect to use “would or would not + base form of verb” in the main clause.
Therefore, the objective of this article is:
1. to define CONDITIONAL (IF) sentences in general and their BASICs; and
2. to correct the incorrect idea that, when we use past perfect in the if clause, it is ALWAYS incorrect to use “would or would not + base form of verb” in the main clause. We use this pattern in MIXED CONDITIONAL.
Whether we use “would/wouldn’t + have + past participle” or “would/wouldn’t + base form of verb” depends on whether the event is a Third Conditional or Mixed Conditional event.

In the 3rd CELTA Assignment, candidates are required to use an authentic text for teaching purposes and more specifically for endorsing students' receptive and productive skills.

The article I have chosen for this assignment is called “Lady Gaga to star in Gucci Murder drama for Ridley Scott” and it was published by The Guardian. The article is a sample of authentic material since it has been announced to the public through a well-established news agency. The article provides exciting news and information about a forthcoming film based on a true story, retelling and dramatising fashion’s darkest tale, namely the orchestrated murder of Maurizio Gucci, the former head of the famous Gucci fashion house, who was murdered in 1995 by the accomplices of her ex-wife Reggiani.

I find the topic to be generally accessible and appealing to students due to its mainstream character, including aspects such as mystery, crime, cinema, fashion and Hollywood stars. Besides, the article could be interesting, in that it does not explain much about the story background and why the murder took place, thus igniting student’s curiosity for searching for more information. More importantly, the article is remarkably rich in terms of language acquisition insights, having a significant lexical input for the students to work out while also practicing their reading skills and criticality through considerably well-conceived tasks designed to endorse skimming and scanning sub-skills. Finally, the article can be used for modelling target language, thus providing the groundwork for endorsing students' productive skills through, again, skilfully and properly devised speaking and writing tasks.

General comments: The text chosen would be appropriate to use in class with the Pre Intermediate group. Created an interesting lead-in, and show some reading sub-skills and productive skills with clear reference to background reading. Also provided answers for another teacher and having adapted your second reading task so that it gets learners reading for detail. A True/False task is the most suitable, using statements about the text and synonyms so that learners cannot simply scan the text for answers. Sure keep the questions in the same order as the answers in the text to make the task more easily achievable. ☐ correctly using terminology which relates to language skills and sub-skills ☐ relates task design to language skills practice ☐ finding, selecting and referencing information from one or more sources using written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task criteria © Cambridge ESOL

Part A – Profile of Class The upper intermediate class is made up of few students, all women and all Italian, many of them retired. During the lessons they are responsive, they ask questions and they can work as a group. In general their receptive and productive skills are good, the weaker students can follow the lessons, and the stronger students spur them on, in a way. There is no competition between them and you can feel that everybody is eager to learn as much as possible.

Throughout this course, I have noticed that LP is one of my key strengths. This was confirmed by my tutor in TP3, 4, and 6 when I added activities such as folding paper and photograph, watch, and jacket as realia in my lead-ins. That was beneficial for the students because they associated real-world objects with the topic to acquire new vocabulary related to photography and shopping. By asking students to guess how many times they can fold the paper and then try to fold it was beneficial because it activated their schemata about myths. In this way, they also explored the topic by themselves to see if they can debunk the myth. That was part of kinaesthetic learning, and they enjoyed it.

The aim of this assignment is to investigate the learning context and identify specific areas of language difficulty or weakness in English for a specific learner, to make suggestions for specific language and/ or skill focused activities along with a rationale for the use of these activities with the specific learner outlined.

CAPPELLO CAMBRIDGE CELTA ASSIGNMENT 4 - Lessons from the classroom
                 
*-*This assignment is my original work and I have acknowledged all sources.
Please use it freely as a personal reference for your own assessment writing, do not copy and paste it, be respectable with copyrights. If possible please refer to it in your references' sources.
Thank you and good luck with your CELTA.
©Cyro CAPPELLO Jr
@ ccappello.idf@gmail.com

CAPPELLO CAMBRIDGE CELTA ASSIGNMENT 4 - Lessons from the classroom
                 
*-*This assignment is my original work and I have acknowledged all sources.
Please use it freely as a personal reference for your own assessment writing, do not copy and paste it, be respectable with copyrights. If possible please refer to it in your references' sources.
Thank you and good luck with your CELTA.
©Cyro CAPPELLO Jr
@ ccappello.idf@gmail.com

This assignment is linked to my  experiences and progress in teaching practice, observation of peers,  ‘live’ observations of experienced teachers and the filmed lessons  during Cambridge CELTA Certificate Blended Course at ILC  - Summer/ Autumn 2020 in Paris.
This assignment is linked to my  experiences and progress in teaching practice, observation of peers,  ‘live’ observations of experienced teachers and the filmed lessons  during Cambridge CELTA Certificate Blended Course at ILC  - Summer/ Autumn 2020 in Paris.

Teachers play an essential role in shaping the future generations of a society. Therefore, preparing teachers for this noble profession is of utmost importance. Helping teachers with their initial years in which they meet with the challenges of teaching in a real life situation and encouraging their ongoing development are as important as their pre-service training. While each of these training steps are designed with the necessities of the related contexts, there is a longstanding debate on the best possible intersections of these different phases of teacher training programs. This study, therefore, examines whether an internationally recognized teacher certification course (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages-CELTA), which is designed primarily for pre-service teacher training can be useful as a bridge between pre-service and in-service teacher education. In this qualitative study, the aim is to compare the perceptions of 44 CELTA-holder English language instructors towards CELTA training and its impact on their teaching and learning through an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed that CELTA offers something new to all trainees; however, the gains from the course differ according to trainees' educational background and teaching experience.

Every year, tens of thousands of English language teachers worldwide graduate from the University of Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages (CELTA). Despite the significant impact this pre-service certificate exerts in the English language teaching (ELT) profession, research on Language Teacher Education (LTE) has traditionally relied on studies conducted in academic-based programs at higher education institutions. This mixed methods research investigates what it means for student teachers to learn how to teach and develop as English language teachers in CELTA courses. It also investigates the nature of such learning and development, and the ways in which student teachers learn how to teach and develop as teachers in CELTA. A three-phased “enhanced” exploratory sequential mixed methods research design was employed. In Phase 1, data from semi-structured interviews, course documents, classroom observations, field notes, diaries and a WhatsApp group chat were collected at 2 CELTA programs: one in the US, where the researcher co-taught the course, and the other in Canada. Findings showed that student teachers learned teaching knowledge and skills and that, through this learning, they interacted with teacher educators, peers and ESL students, interactions which influenced and were influenced by their emotions and teacher identity. In Phase 2, these findings were used to develop the teacher learning and development (TLD) Scale. Data collected from CELTA graduates and student teachers (N = 880) from 78 countries were analyzed and a novel TLD construct was identified. In Phase 3, mixed methods synthesis occurred, and findings revealed how, by self-regulating and being regulated by teacher educators and peers through the use of course activities, artifacts and concepts, student teachers internalized teaching knowledge and developed pedagogical content knowledge. Findings also showed how student teachers developed as individuals and teachers by resolving the dialectical contradictions that constituted the moving force for their teacher development as well as the forms of their teacher development. The importance of perezhivanie (commonly translated as “lived experience”) as a lens to explain teacher development in LTE is discussed, and the concepts of teaching knowledge as praxis (TKP) and teacher’s teaching knowledge as praxis (TTKP) are proposed.