Presentation review

Hi again teachers!

This new post will be useful as we are going to present a real session of about 30-40 minutes to practice on an interesting topic for students: FASHION.

First of all, to introduce the topic to the class, we consider that the best option is to do a warm-up activiy. It´s important to know the previous knowledge students have about the theme so we, as teachers, can take their ideas into account for next sessions. This warm-up or intoductory activity consists of some questions students will have to answer following their personal thoughts. At this stage, we can support them by wrtiting their different ideas on the board and encouraging them to exchange ideas.

Secondly, students watch a video including some vocabulary they will use later in different activities. Up to this point, vocabulary about clothes is one of our focus, so the video itself forms the first phase included in the three P´s methodology: PRESENTATION. Besides,  we also propose an activity for the second phase: PRACTICE so as they put the vocabulary into practice. In it, suudents have to detect the vocabulary about clothes showed in the video and try to complemet by adding other items or clothes that are not in the video. We can help them by showing some pictures, for example. Finally, the PRODUCTION phase is also included as a final stage. Students will continue building vocabulary talking with their mates and practicing orally with the vocabulary. We will give them a situation in which they have to decide the best option and give a reason for it.

Concerning grammar, as the other focus of our unit, the procedure followed is similar. In this session, apart from vocabulary on clothes, students will also learn about how to speculate in the present using modal vebs of probability.  This time we are not using exactly the order followed with the vocabuary activities. We now want our sudents to think first about the grammar aspect and the possible matching for a series of phrases in order to deduct on their own the possible uses of modal vebs of probabibility. We would help our pupils by guiding them in context with the situations given. Following this activity, now students are given some fedback on how and when to use modal verb of probability based on the facts given: ˋIs it true?ˋ, ˋAm I sure about this?ˋ,ˋIs it possible? Or am I sure it is not possible?ˋ… (Focus on FormS). 

Finally, we want students to be able to produce orally their ideas about different real situations. For this purpose, we will divide students into groups of three (optional) and ask them to speculate using modal verbs about the photos each group will receive. We expect students will improve their speaking skill and fluency. Support by the teacher will only be given to provide some fedback on pronunciation.

Focus on Form and Focus on Forms

1. INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, one of the main issues regarding teaching languages is the methodology that instructors have to follow in order to teach students. This entry will focus on two different approaches: Focus on Form and Focus on FormS instructions. The former is mainly based on linguistic elements. The teacher must guide students so that they achieve learning unconsciously through the practice of the language skills in an inductive way. The latter follows the traditional method of teaching, in which teachers are the center of the learning process. They focus firstly on the explanation of the grammar rules and later on the practice through mechanical activities (Sheen, 2002, p. 303).

2. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOCUS ON FORMS AND FOCUS ON FORM

On the one hand, Graham and Parry (2011) explain the main differences between these two methods as follows:

Focus on forms is the deliberate teaching of grammar in order to produce understanding of the grammar, in the hope that understanding alone will allow the learner to use the form correctly. Focus on form refers to bringing grammar to the attention of learners as a part of communicative language practice (p. 19).

On the other hand, the results of the study that professor Laufer (2006) carried through, showed an empirical support for the efficiency of Focus on Forms because ¨the nature of lexical competence makes it indispensable to vocabulary instruction¨ (p.14). Meanwhile the Form Focused methodology is very important in learning context that ¨cannot recreate the input conditions of the first-language acquisition¨ (p.14). 

3. METHODOLOGIES BEFORE FOCUS ON FORM AND FOCUS ON FORMS

The main methodologies which came before Focus on Forms and Focus on Form approaches are Grammar-based and Communicative Language Teaching, respectively. 

Grammar-based approach mainly focuses on the explanation of grammar rules. Therefore, it does not pay attention to meaning, only to the formal aspects of the language. According to Azar (2007), Grammar teaching has been again studied since the late 1980s and 1990s. 

Both Grammar-based translation and Communicative Language Teaching integrate grammar and communicative skills. As a general rule, Focus on Forms has the aim of introducing grammar components into a Communicative Language Teaching. As Azar (2007) points out "GBT seeks to integrate into a structural syllabus, usually in one class (often called a grammar class) within a larger, varied curriculum."    

On the other hand, Focus on Form Instruction has its origins in Communicative Language Teaching method, which has "its focal point on meaningful interaction through the use of spontaneous speech during pair and/or group work" (Wong & Barrea-Marlys, 2012, p. 61).

4. ANALYSIS OF THE VIDEO

          This video shows in a simple way the two methodologies we are explaining and differenciating through this post. Let´s analyse the video to show the most important features of these two forms of instruction in detail.

           In the first part of the video, we can clearly identify the Focus on FormS instruction. During the first 30 seconds, the teachers explain the rules of the game the students are about to play without giving any kind of explanation on a grammar rule so the students have to play but basing their communication on MEANING. Once the game has started, students ask and answer questions according to the rules of the game. In minute 1:13, a student commits a grammatical error when answering a question and inmediately the teacher asks for repetition of the structure, so the student realizes about her mistake. Later, at the end of the game, exactly from minute 1:48 on, the teachers give some feedback to the student to learn in context about the error make orally. This is a clear example of Focus on FormS technique.

           In the second part of the video, we can identify just from the very beginning (mitute 2:55) the Focus on Form instruction. This fact is easy to detect because if we take a look to the video from the minute 3:04 to minute 3:32, the main focus of the lesson is to learn some grammatical structures supported by a PowerPoint presentation containing written explanations with a controlled reading of the examples by the students. This aspect conforms one of the main characteristics of Focus on Form methodology. In addition, in the video in minute 5:18 and till the end, students are asked to practice with some examples but basing their ideas on the grammar explanations from the PowerPoint, that is to say, on the Form and not the meaning. 

Link of the video

REFERENCES

Azar, B. (2007). Grammar-based teaching: A practitioner’s perspective. TESL-EJ, 11.2, 1-               12. Retrieved from http://www.tesl-ej.org/ej42/a1.pdf

Graham, R., & Parry, K. (2011). The TALL language system: An integrated, research-based approach to ESL instruction. Brigham Young University, United States.

Laufer, B. (2006). Comparing focus on form and focus on forms in second-language vocabulary learning. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 150-165.  Retrieved from http://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cmlr.63.1.149  

Sheen, R. (2002). ‘Focus on form’ and ‘focus on forms.’ ELT Journal, 56.3, 303-305. Retrieved from http://www.eltj.org/ELTJ%20debate%202003/sheen.pdf

Wong, C. C. Y., & Barrea-Marlys, M. (2012). The role of grammar in communicative language teaching: An exploration of second language teachers’ perceptions and classroom practices. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 9.1, 61-75. Retrieved from http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v9n12012/wongcy.pdf