ENGL 0524: Schedule of Topics and Readings
Winter Quarter 1999

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• Class One: January 7 (Th)
  Introduction to the course. Review the syllabus, assignments, and class policies. Brief introduction of students. Consider some basic questions: What does it mean to "know" a language? Is language learning similar to other types of learning? What is the nature of communication? Terminology: Introduction to some key terms. An exercise to overcome any anxiety about technical linguistic jargon. Group discussion: Discuss your best and worst language learning experiences.

• Class Two: January 11 (M)
  Approaches to language teaching are outgrowths of theories of language and theories of language learning. In other words, an instructor's approach to language teaching is based upon his/her views of language and learning. Discussion on the nature of language, including language use and communication: phonetics, vocabulary, grammar, discourse, speech acts, style, register. Begin an historical overview of ESL teaching methodology: Grammar/Translation, Gouin and the Series Method, the Direct Method.
  Video: Managing learning activites: the use of L1
  Readings: Brown: 1, 2, and 4 (p. 56); Larsen-Freeman: 1, 2, 3

• Class Three: January 14 (Th)
  Continue historical overview of teaching methods: the Audio-Lingual Method, structural linguistics, behaviorist learning theory, contrastive analysis. Discussion of ALM principles.
  Video: Mixed proficiency classes
  Readings: Brown: 3, 6, 7; Larsen-Freeman: 4

• Class Four: January 21 (Th)
  Reactions to ALM: transformational grammar, cognitive psychology, studies in child language acquisition, error analysis, the Interlanguage Hypothesis. "Humanistic" approaches to language teaching. Discussion of learner variables: age, motivation, learning styles, and level of proficiency. Teaching pronunciation.
  Readings: Larsen-Freeman: 5, 6, 7, 8

• Class Five: January 25 (M)
  The Natural Approach: learning vs. acquisition, the Monitor Model, comprehensible input, comprehension and production, affective filter, Total Physical Response, the Functional/Notional Syllabus.
  Class discussions of assignment #1.
  Readings: Brown: 4; Larsen-Freeman: 8

• Class Six: January 28 (Th)
  Communicative Language Teaching: the Functional/Notional Syllabus, practice and communicative activities, interaction, pair- and group-work, error correction and feedback, roles of the teacher.
  Teaching vocabulary: form, meaning and use, presentation techniques, lexical sets, review of vocabulary textbooks.
  Readings: Brown: 5, 10, 11, 18; Larsen-Freeman: 9

• Class Seven: February 1 (M)
  Teaching Grammar: When should we teach grammar? grammar presentation techniques, creating meaningful contexts, error correction, the use of authentic materials and textbookds.
  Video: Presenting structures
  Readings: Brown: 18

• Class Eight: February 4 (Th)
  Teaching Listening Comprehension: the interactive nature of listening, types of listening skills, bottom-up processing, top-down processing, transactional language, interactional language, schema theory, characteristics of effective listening comprehension exercises.
  Readings: Brown: 14

• Class Nine: February 8 (M)
  Teaching Speaking Skills: pair-work and small group-work, topic-based and task-based activities, characteristics of a good conversation task, types of conversation tasks, demonstration and evaluation of various speaking activities (information gap, prioritizing, interviews, guessing games, reaching a consensus, problem solving, debates, surveys, creating stories).
  Video: Demonstration of NASA Game.
  Readings: Brown: 10, 11, 15

• Class Ten: February 11 (Th)
  Teaching Speaking Skills: advantages and disadvantages of task-based activities, characteristics of conversation (topic negotiation, turn-taking, repair), interactional routines, direct and indirect approaches to teaching conversation skills, examples of direct instruction. Debating and role play.
  Video: Preparing for role play
  Readings: Brown: 10, 11, 15

• Class Eleven: February 18 (Th)
  Teaching Reading Skills: Reading as an interactive process, top-down and bottom-up processes, schema theory; pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading activities; intensive and extensive reading, skimming, scanning, understanding words in context, silent reading vs. reading aloud, developing reading strategies, evaluating sample reading activities.
  Readings: Brown: 16

• Class Twelve: February 22 (M)
  First day of practice teaching presentations.

• Class Thirteen: February 25 (Th)
  Second day of practice teaching presentations.

• Class Fourteen: March 1 (M)
  Teaching Writing Skills: Differences between speech and writing; types of writing for ESL studens, writing as a thinking process, controlled writing activities, the process approach to composition, pre-writing exercises, responding to students' compositions, cultural issues in ESL writing, organization of an ESL writing class.
  Readings: Brown: 17

• Class Fifteen: March 4 (Th)
  Integrating the Four Skills: Skill integration in CLT, whole language, content-based instruction, models of content-based instruction (theme-based, sheltered, adjunct), English for specific purposes (ESP), English for academic purposes (EAP), practical and administrative considerations.
  Video: Integrating skills
  Readings: Brown: 13

• Class Sixteen: March 8 (M)
  Learning Strategies: Cognitive styles and personality traits in language learning, classification of learning strategies, learner strategy assessment and training. Testing: test validity and reliability, types of test, elicitation techniques, the TOEFL, the Test of Spoken English, oral proficiency interviews.
  Readings: Brown: 12, 19

• Class Seventeen: March 11 (Th)
  Reflective Teaching: Models of teacher training and development, definition of reflective teaching, the process of reflective teaching, classroom observation techniques, action research, case studies. Hand out final exam and course evaluations.
  Readings: Brown: 20, 21, 22

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