MODULE 6: PLANNING A LANGUAGE COMPONENT LESSON

MODULE OUTCOMES

By the end of this module, students will be able to

 Explain two different approaches to teaching grammar

 Sequence a grammar lesson appropriately following different approaches
 Explain different views in teaching pronunciation
 Apply the communicative framework in designing a pronunciation lesson.

CONTENTS:

 Planning a grammar
 Planning a pronunciation lesson

REFERENCES

Cotter T. Planning a Grammar Lesson. Retrieved at

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/planning-a-grammar-lesson
Teaching Grammar from texts. ESOL Teaching Task book. Retrieved at
https://www.languages.ac.nz/wp-
content/uploads/2012/08/Unit_4e_Teaching_Grammar_2_Grammar_from_texts.pdf
Gilakjani A. P. (2017). English Pronunciation Instruction: Views and Recommendations.
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8 (6), 1249-1255.
Lesson plans, Retrieved at https://www.englishcurrent.com/pronunciation/pronunciation-lesson-
plan-activity-esl/, and https://esl-lesson-plans.ontesol.com/lesson-plan-ontesol-reviews-teach-
pronunciation/
How to Teach Grammar from Texts. TEFL horizons. Retrieved at
https://teflhorizons.com/blog/2019/7/20/how-to-teach-grammar-text-based
Thornbury S. (2002). How to teach grammar. Longman
A language component lesson may involve teaching grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. In
the previous lesson, you have learnt how to select and sequence activities in a vocabulary lesson
to achieve its outcomes. In this lesson, you are going to learn how to plan an effective grammar
lesson and pronunciation lesson.

I. PLANNING A GRAMMAR LESSON

Task 1: How could you help Jessica? What do you think was wrong with her lesson?

JESSICA’ LESSON:

1. Approaches to teaching grammar

In ELT 2, you have learnt about two main approaches to teaching grammar lesson, namely
inductive approach and deductive approach. Revise what you have learnt about the two
approaches and do the tasks that follow.
Task 2: Match the examples with the appropriate approach.

Two approaches Examples

1. Inductive approach: The students works out the rules of the
grammar point.

2. Deductive approach: The teacher gives the rules of the grammar

point.
Task 3: Below is an extract from a lesson in which past perfect is taught. Work in pairs and
match what the teacher says with its explanation.

1. T: Right. The past perfect. A. Example 1

2. T: The past perfect is formed from the past of the auxiliary B. Rule of use
‘have’, plus the past participle.

3. T: For example, ‘everyone had left’, ‘the film had started’. C. Rule of form

4. T: So, what’s the past perfect of ‘they go’? D. Example 2

ST: ‘They had gone’

T: Good.
5. T: It is used when you are talking about the past, and you want E. Cueing
to refer to an earlier point in the past.

6. T: For example, ‘We were late. When we got to the cinema, F. Check 1
the film had already started.’

7. T: Did the film start after we arrived, at the same time as we G. Illustration
arrived, or before we arrived?

ST: Before
T: Right
8. T: So, it’s like this. [draws] H. Check 2

T: We arrived at this point of time (a). But I need to refer to an earlier

point in the past, when the film started, here (b).
Task 4: Match each stage with its features, techniques and examples.

Stages Features Techniques Examples

1. i. Controlled A. Building up stories a. When teaching the 2nd
Presentation practice is used for on the board, using conditional, teacher
students to practice realia or flashcards, personalises the lesson at this
the target language. miming … stage by giving students a list
of question prompts to ask
others in the class.
Example: do / if / win the
lottery?
2. Practice ii. Less controlled B. Information gaps,
b. When presenting the 2nd
practice is exploited role plays, interviews,
conditional, teacher draws a
to help students use simulations, find
picture of him/herself with
the target language. someone who, spot the
thought bubbles of lots of
differences between two
money, a sports car, a big
pictures, picture cues,
house and a world map, then
problem solving,
introduce the target language.
personalization
"If I had a lot of money, I
activities…
would buy a sports car and a
big house."

3. Production iii. Teacher C. Gap fill exercises, c. Give students lots of

introduces the new substitution drills, sentence halves and in pairs
language in a sentence they try and match the
meaningful context transformations, split beginnings and ends of the
sentences, picture sentences.
dictations, reordering Example: "If I won the
sentences and matching lottery," …. "I'd travel around
sentences to pictures the world."
2. Teaching grammar inductively: Teaching grammar from text.

Read the text about teaching grammar from text and do the tasks that follow.

The text

Most people think of a “text” as a piece of writing: a short article, an email, or even a
poem, for example. But don’t forget that a text can also be an audio text, like a song, a
speech, or a dialogue. Either option will work, but keep in mind that the gr ammar itself
may determine which one makes more sense. The passive voice, for example, is rarely used
in casual conversation, but occurs quite frequently in news reports and newspaper articles.
So if you’re wondering what kind of text to use, consider the grammar you want to teach.
In which situations or contexts does it normally occur? Then choose your text accordingly.

You’ll want to make sure the text is short and fairly simple. If you’re teaching a lesson
that’s anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes, you won’t want to spend much time dealing with
the text itself- you’ll want to get to the grammar as soon as you can. This may seem
obvious, but remember that in a grammar lesson, the main focus is the grammar you’ve set
out to teach. That means you don’t want to have to devote any time to new vocabulary in
the article or other complex grammar that isn’t your target language. So if you’re writing
the text yourself, make sure the vocabulary and structures you use (aside from the
examples of target language you plant in the text) are nice and simple. If you’re using a
text you found in a course book or elsewhere, look it over with a critical eye. Is it longer
than 200 words or so? Does it contain a lot of vocabulary you suspect your students don’t
already know? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, consider this your official
permission to take a hatchet to it. Adapt, adapt, adapt! Cut that thing down and make it
work for you. Just make sure you leave the target language intact!

The text should contain at least a few different examples of the target language. Ideally, it
will include examples in the negative and question form as well, though this isn’t essential.
You just want more than one example so that when you pull them out later in the lesson,
you can help the students notice patterns in meaning and form.

Procedure
 Lead in
Exposure to Target Language (Comprehension work)
Analysis of examples from the text
Clarification
Controlled practice
Free practice

Exposure to Target Language or Comprehension Work

Anytime you give the students something to read or listen to, it’s unfair to ask them to
completely ignore the content and jump right to the grammar instead. The students first
need an opportunity to digest the main idea of the text before they’re ready to analyze the
language within it. So first, give the students a simple task that will help them understand
just the gist of what they’re reading or listening to. For example, you could ask them to
read or listen to the text and choose the correct title from a short list of options. If the text
is a dialogue, you could ask a few general questions about it, such as “What is the
relationship between the speakers? How do you know?” There are many options here; t he
point is that you allow the students to first focus on general comprehension of the text
before bringing up the grammar at all.

Analysis of Examples from the Text

“Analysis of Examples from the Text” is just a fancy way of saying it’s time to shift the
focus to the grammar.

The only purpose here is to shift the students’ focus on to the grammar. This could be as
simple as asking the students to underline all the verbs in the text. Or you could put just the
sentences containing examples of the target language on the board or o n a worksheet and
ask students to identify what the sentences have in common. Again, there are many
options- just make this something concrete and quick that will direct students’ attention to
the grammar you’re about to clarify.
Clarification and Practice

Now you’re ready to move onto the clarification, or “teach” stage of your
lesson. Transition smoothly into this stage by using the same sentences you planted and
pointed out in the text. Again, it’s a big waste of time and material to spend the first t wenty
or so minutes of your lesson on a particular text containing particular examples of
the target language… only to then turn around and work with completely different
sentences in your clarification stage!

Task 5: Put the steps in a text-based grammar lesson in the correct order. Then, match the
key steps with their aims.
Task 6: Now match the correct steps with its activities.

Task 7: Read the following extract of the main activities in a lesson plan to teach the Past
simple tense.

- Does it follow deductive or inductive approach? What stages does the lesson follow?

- What strengths does this lesson plan have?

- What changes would you suggest to improve it?

Learning outcomes: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to use correct verbs of past
simple tense to talk about past incidents.
News article:
Man arrested for being naked in his kitchen.
Police arrested a man because he stood naked inside his home as a 7-year-old boy and his mother
walked by. Twenty-nine-year old Eric Williamson says that it was an accident. “Yes, I didn’t
wear any clothes but I was alone, in my own home and just got out of bed. It was dark and I had
no idea anyone was outside looking in at me,” Williamson said. But the police see it differently.
The woman and her son first saw Williamson standing naked inside his doorway as they walked
along a path outside his home. Then, he followed the two from inside his home and showed
himself again through a large front window.
Officers were out in Williamson’s neighborhood looking for others who might have seen him.
The charge may be up to a year in jail.
Procedure:
Activity 1:
- Ask students to read the news headline, discuss the headline in pairs. After that, teacher elicits
some predictions about the content of the text.
- T asks students to skim the text to confirm their predictions.
- T asks students to read again, answer some questions:
Who was arrested?
Where was he when the mother and her son saw him?
What did the police do?
Activity 2:
- T takes key verbs from the text but write them in bare infinitive form.
(arrest, stand, walk, wear, have no idea, see, follow, show)
- Ask students to turn over the texts and use the verbs trying to retell the stories. T circulates and
listens for correct/incorrect examples of the verbs.
- Hand out a new version of the text with the keys verbs blanked out. Students collaborate to fill
in the gaps correctly.
- Draw students’ attention to meaning and use of the past simple tense using the news articles:
Ask students to find other examples in the text, working individually and then checking in pairs, ask

students to sort them into two groups: regular and irregular.

Activity 3:
- Divide students in pairs/groups some thought provoking headlines and ask them to co-construct
their own reports.
- Ask students to re-tell their stories to other groups.
II. PLANNING A PRONUNCIATION LESSON

1. Views of pronunciation and teaching pronunciation.

Read the following extract about two view of pronunciation. Answer the following questions:

- What is narrow view/ broad view of pronunciation?

- What can be some implications of teaching pronunciation from these two views?

According to Brown (1987), there are two different views of pronunciation. The first view is
called a narrow view which regards pronunciation as the production of the right sounds in the
right order. This view includes learning the individual vowels and consonants. The second view
refers to a broad view which says that pronunciation is an important part of communicative
competence. This view involves all the vowels and consonants, and supra-segmental features like
word stress, sentence stress, and intonation (Morley, 1991). The narrow view of pronunciation
concentrates on individual sounds and the motor skills that are involved in producing them.
Brown (1987) says that they are separate from the acquisition of the communicative aims of
language. As a matter of fact that, Brown does not regard pronunciation as an important
component of communication. In this view, pronunciation is recognized with the production of
individual sounds and somehow with the stress and intonation patterns of the target language.

Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin (1996) declare that the broad view of pronunciation
includes a focus on how pronunciation is really used to communicate. This has been supported
by Pennington and Richards (1986) who express that pronunciation is considered as an important
element of expressing referential meaning and a key component of the interactional system of
communication. Based on this idea, we should not separate pronunciation from communication
and other features of language usage, because sounds are absolutely necessary for
communicating and understanding lexical, grammatical, and sociolinguistic meaning. Therefore,
it can be said that pronunciation consists of a complex interplay between perceptual, articulatory,
and interactional elements.

(Gilakjani, 2017)
Task 8: Work in pairs. One student read lesson plan A. One student read lesson plan B.
Answer the following questions:

- What are the stages of each lesson?

- What do you think are the benefits and problems of each way of teaching pronunciation?

LESSON PLAN A:

Lesson outcomes: After the lesson, students will be able to distinguish between two sounds /r/
and /l/.
Procedure:
Activity 1: Teach mouth positioning.
T uses several techniques to help students pronounce the two isolated sounds correctly.

 opening wide and showing the students how mouth moves

 drawing a mouth on the blackboard and showing the tongue/mouth/lips position
 with the hands: using one hand to represent the upper jaw, and the lower hand to
represent the tongue

Activity 2: Distinguish difference in sounds.

Write the minimal pair list on the blackboard, say one of the words (‘arrive’ for example). Have
students tell T whether the word T uttered is on the left or right column.
alive arrive
belly berry
fly fry
light right
play pray
lair rare

Use a handout or the blackboard, have the students do the same thing in pairs. One should will
say a word on the sheet, and the other must indicate (by pointing or verbally) which word was
said.
Activity 3: Telephone Number Activity

Number ten words in the minimal pair list on the blackboard from 0-9 like this:

(1) alive (2) arrive

(3) belly (4) berry
(5) fly (6) fry
(7) light (8) right
(9) lair (0) rare

Instruct students to relay their telephone number to their partner using the above code. For
example, if their phone number were 212-7898, they would say “arrive alive arrive, light right
lair right”. The other student should listen and write down the number they hear.

When students have had a chance to do it once or twice, pick one or two students to do it in front
of the whole class.
(Adapted from Englishcurrent.com)

LESSON PLAN B:

Lesson outcome:
By the end of the lesson, students will be producing /dʒ/ more accurately and fluently in
roleplaying and storytelling activities.

Materials: Board, markers, minimal pairs and role-play handouts.

Procedure:
Stage 1: Presentation
Step 1: Story telling:
To present the sound through a story. Skills: listening and speaking – Technique: Answer
questions – Interactive pattern: T-S – Time: 5-8 minutes.

T tells students that she is going to tell them a story about a car accident. Before story-telling, T
gives out a copy of the questions and goes over the questions to see if Ss all understand what
they have to listen for.

1. Where was the accident, on a bridge or a highway?

2. What kind of vehicle was it?
3. Who was driving?
4. Was he driving carefully or dangerously?
 5. What was he doing before he drove?
6. Was anyone injured?
7. What happened to the driver?

T tells the story:

Two jeeps crashed on a bridge in January. A man named George John was driving the
larger jeep. He was driving very dangerously because he had been drinking ‘soju*.’ The
other jeep went over the edge, and two kids were injured. Now George is in jail.
*soju is a Korean alcoholic drink.

T checks comprehension of the story and writes down the key words that contain the sound /dʒ/.
At this point, T will not correct the sound /dʒ/.

T: Where was the accident, on a bridge or a highway?

S: A bridge (T writes ‘bridge’ on the board.)

T: What kind of vehicle was it?

S: A jeep (T writes ‘jeep’ on the board.)

T: Tell me, who was driving?

S: George John (T writes ‘George and John’ on the board.)

T: Was he driving carefully or dangerously?

S: Dangerously (T writes ‘dangerously’ on the board.)

T: What was he doing before he drove?

S: Drinking soju (T writes ‘soju’ on the board.)

T: Was anyone injured? (T writes ‘injured’ on the board.)

S: Yes, two kids.

T: What happened to George?

S: He went to jail. (T writes ‘jail’ on the board.)

T: And do you remember when the accident happened?

S: January. (T writes ‘January’ on the board.)

Step 2: Elicitation and systematization on the board.

Skills: listening and speaking; Technique: concept questions and brainstorming words with /dʒ/.
Interactive pattern: T-S – Time: 10 minutes – Aids: the board.
T: [Circles all words containing the letter ‘j’ ] Look at these words (January, jeep, John, soju,
injured, jail.) What letter do they have in common?

S: j

T: That’s right. And how do you say this word? [T points to ‘January’ and corrects student if
necessary.]

S: January.

T: Now, are there any other words that have a different spelling, but have the same sound as ‘j’
/dʒ/ in January?

S: Bridge.
T: Right, so even though it’s spelled ‘dge’, you still pronounce it with the sound in ‘j’. What
other words on the board are spelled ‘dge’.

S: edge.

T: Look at the list and find the other words with this sound, but with a different spelling.

S: George, larger.

The board will look like this:

“j” “dge” “g”

January Bridge George
Jeep edge larger
John
Soju
Injured
jail

T elicits other words with the target sounds and write in the chart above. Possible answers: job,
juice, orange, Jane, gin, just, etc.

T shows the students the following picture or draws it on the board. The profile shows the
articulation of the sound, i.e., how the tongue sits in the mouth. T guides the students with tongue
positioning.
T: First, think of the sound /d/ and put the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth.
(Have them practice /d/ alone first). Now, to make /dʒ/, you have to move your tongue slightly
backwards and quickly release a VOICED puff of air, slowly dropping your jaw. Touch your
throat and feel the vibration. This is a voiced sound.

Step 3: Modeling the new sound- Skills: speaking – Technique: Repetition – Interactive pattern:
T-S/S – Time: 3 minutes

T models the sound again and gets the SS to practice the sound slowing, focusing on the two
tongue positions described above. T goes around and makes sure each individual student
understands how to make the sound.

Stage 2: Practice.
Activity 1: Identifying minimal pairs /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
Skill: Listening and speaking – Technique: skim listening and mechanical drilling. Interactive
pattern: T-S – Time: 5 minutes. Aids: board

T: Listen for the word that contains the sound /dʒ/. Write down 1 or 2 after each minimal pair.
(The students will not see the written words.) For example: 1- H 2- age

Which one contains the sound /dʒ/?

S: Number 2

T: Correct. Now, what about these words? (Note: the correct words are in bold.)

choking joking

Jane chain
chilly Jilly
cheered jeered
T checks answers, models the words and writes the pairs on the board. T gets the SS to repeat
the minimal pairs in turns.
Activity 2: Identifying minimal pairs /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
Skill: listening and speaking- Technique: Circle the right word- Interactive pattern: Pair work

Time: 5 minutes – Aids: handouts with list of words and minimal pairs
T pairs SS up and gives Students A a list of words and Student B a list with minimal pairs.
Student A has to read the words on his/her list and Students B has to circle the words they hear.
In this way, Ss can test each other for which word contains the sound /dʒ/

T checks students’ answers and corrects when necessary.

Activity 3 – Identify the sound in sentences. Skills: reading, listening and speaking- Technique:
circle the right word and repetition – Interactive patterns: individual and pair work – Time: 5
minutes – Aids: handouts with sentences.
T gives the students the following sentences and gets them to read the sentences silently and
underline the /dʒ/ sound. Then they must have their partner correct their paper. Ss will take turns
reading the words aloud. (Peer corrections should be encouraged.)
1. He’s the manager of the travel agency in Chester.
2. Many ginger-haired people live in this village.
3. My trainer at the gym is German.
4. Sam joined the club in July.
5. Lea is jealous of her Japanese friend.
6. The sergeant wears his badge with honour.

Stage 3: Production

Activity 1: Jack’s First day of school

Skill: speaking and listening – Technique: creating a story using pictures – Interactive pattern:
pair-group work – Time: 10 minutes – Aids: Pictures: Jack, orange juice, pajamas, gym, German
class, jacket, jeans, jeep, Jasper Elementary School, jam jar, and jelly beans.

Using the pictures, the students must tell a story about Jack and his first day of school, in pairs.
Then they must share their stories with the class.

Activity 2: Interviews – Skill: speaking and listening – Technique: Roleplaying-

Information gap activity – Interactive pattern: S-S – Time: 15 minutes- Aids: role cards.
T pairs SS up and distributes the handouts for the roleplaying. Student A has to use questions to
find out information about their partners’ job and complete the chart. Student A has information
on his job. Then, they must switch roles.
(Student A’s expected performance- Possible questions:
What is your job? Do you enjoy your job? How long have you worked at your job? Where do
you do your job? What do you do every day?)

Student A’s card:

Job name Like/Dislike Began working Where Everyday
activity

Student B’s card

1-You are a jam taster. You really like your job, but don’t like your manager, Janet. You began
working in July 2006. You work at a store called Janet’s Jams. Every day you get to taste a new
and delicious jam.

2-You are a fudge taster. Your job is enjoyable. You began working for this company in June
2013. You work with your manager in a small fudge making factory. Every day you binge on
chocolate fudge.

3-You are a travel agent. Your job is not enjoyable. You began working in July 2000. You work
in a small office with your manager and two diligent co-workers. Every day you tell people to go
to the Golden Gate Bridge.

4-You are a singing contest judge. You enjoy your job. You began working in January 1999.
You work in a building near a bridge. You judge singers every day.

5-You are a jet pilot. You think your job is great, but it can be dangerous sometimes. You began
working in June 2001. You work on a different jet every two weeks. Every day you manage your
agenda.

(Adapted from Ontesol.com)

2. A framework to teach pronunciation

Read the following extract about a framework to teaching pronunciation. Decide whether
Lesson plan A or B is more communicative. Why?

Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin (1996) present a framework for the sequencing of
activities within pronunciation instruction. Their five teaching stages include description
and analysis, listening discrimination, controlled practice. Keeping such a framework in
mind helps us to plan lessons that move the students forward in a principled way, building
the foundation for more intelligible spontaneous production.

1. Description and Analysis

Initially, the teacher presents a feature showing when and how it occurs. The teacher might
use charts (consonant, vowel, or organs of speech) or he or she might present the rules for
occurrence either inductively or deductively. For example, the teacher can either present
the rules for –ed endings or provide multiple examples and ask the learners to figure out
the rules themselves.

2. Listening Discrimination

Listening activities include contextualized minimal pair discrimination exercises. The

speaker (who may be the teacher or another student) pronounces either sentence a or b.
The listener responds with the appropriate rejoinder.

a. He wants to buy my boat. Will you sell it?

b. He wants to buy my vote. That’s against the law.

In another discrimination activity, the student listens for either rising or falling intonation
in utterances where either is possible.

Using a transcript with a short listening passage, learners can mark the pauses and/or circle
the prominent elements they hear. In general, the listener’s task should be clearly defined
and focused on only one or two features at a time. At this stage, we want to focus learners’
attention directly on a feature that they might not be recognizing yet.

The three final stages, which involve practice and production, actually progress on a
continuum. It is less important to define an exercise as strictly controlled, guided, or
communicative. Rather, it is important to sequence our oral production activities so that
they move forward systematically.

3. Controlled practice

At the beginning, in more controlled activities, the learner’s attention should be focused
almost completely on form. Any kind of choral reading can work if the learner’s attention
is clearly focused on the target feature. Poems, rhymes, dialogues, dramatic monologues –
all of these can be used if the content and level engage a learner’s interest. When
performed with student partners, contextualized minimal pair activities (as mentioned
above) are a combination of controlled practice for the speaker and listening
discrimination for his or her partner.

Instructions: Circle the arrow which corresponds to the intonation you hear at the end of
the utterances, either rising or falling:

Raising Falling
The plane’s leaving.
Sam finished it.
You can’t.

4. Guided practice

In guided activities, the learner’s attention is no longer entirely on form. The learner now
begins to focus on meaning, grammar and communicative intent as well as pronunciation.
Teachers need to develop a continuum of bridging activities, which shift attention
gradually to a new cognitive task while the learner attempts to maintain control of the
pronunciation target. As an example, Hewings and Goldtein (1998, p. 127) make use of a
memory activity while practicing –s endings. Students are instructed to study a picture
containing a number of common objects for one minute (two bridges, three suitcases, four
glasses, etc.). With the picture hidden, they then try to recite the correct number of each
item, while concentrating on pronouncing the plural –s correctly.

5. Communicative practice

In this stage, activities strike a balance between form and meaning. Examples include role
plays, debates, interviews, simulations, and drama scenes. As the activities become
gradually more communicative, the learner’s attention should still be focused on one or
two features at a time. It is overwhelming to suddenly monitor all pronunciation features at
once. Set an objective, which can be different to different learners, and students know it in
advance.
3. Teaching pronunciation in context.

a. In lesson plan B, what kind of context is used to teach pronunciation?

b. Work in pairs. Suggest other kinds of context to teach pronunciation with. Add more ideas to
this box.

Stories