MODULE 5: PLANNING ACTIVITIES
MODULE OUTCOMES
By the end of this module, students will be able to:
• Differentiate different types of activities in language teaching
• Explain four strands in a balanced language course
• Evaluate the appropriateness of the selecting and sequencing activities
against lesson outcomes.
• Apply principles of a balanced language course to design activities for a
lesson.
CONTENTS
• Types of activities
• Four strands of a balanced language course
REFERENCES
Nation, I. S. P. (2007). The four strands. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1),
1-12.
Richards, J. C. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today. Cambridge University Press.
Robertson, C., Acklam R. (2000). Action Plan for Teachers. British Broadcasting Corporation.
Lesson Planning Page 1
The previous modules introduce how to write SMART lesson outcomes, how to evaluate
textbooks so that teachers can decide to use the activities in the textbook, adapt the activities in
the textbook, or use supplementary materials. After evaluating materials, teachers are supposed
to plan activities in the lesson in order to achieve the stated outcomes. In this module, you will
learn about different types of activities in a lesson and how to select and sequence activities
basing on principles.
1. TYPES OF ACTIVITIES
1.1. CONTROLLED vs. FREE PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
Task 1: Work in pairs. Examine the two activities below. How are they different?
Activity A: Activity B:
Task 2: Work in pairs. One student reads about controlled practice. One student reads
about free practice. Share with your partner about the following issues.
1. What are the features of controlled/ free practice activities?
2. What are some types of controlled/ free practice activities?
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3. What are the most noticeable differences between two types of activities?
Controlled Practice Activities
Once new language has been introduced to the students, they need to have an opportunity to try it
out for themselves. To become familiar with the form and get their tongues and brains around it,
controlled practice activities can be used. These activities focus only on the target language,
giving the students many opportunities to use it.
There are many kinds of controlled practice activities as well as those in grammar and course
books. Here are a few examples.
• Drills • Games
• Gap-fill • Tests
• Sentence completion • Information search
• Quizzes • Dictation
This is an example of a very simple game that we could use in our lesson:
A good way to practice ‘for’ and ‘since’ is with the pointing game. On one piece of paper,
write ‘FOR’ in capital letters. On another piece of paper, write ‘SINCE’. Pin the two pieces
up on opposite of the classroom. Tell the students that they have to point to the correct words
when you say a time, date, or year. For example, if you read out ‘5 years’, they should point
to ‘FOR’. When you have used all the examples, stick the pieces of paper with ‘FOR’ and
‘SINCE’ on the board. Read the time expressions out again. This time they shouldn’t point,
but shout out ‘for’ or ‘since’. As they shout out the words, write the time expressions under
the correct word ‘FOR’ or “SINCE’. Now get the students to use the time expression in other
examples. Divide the students into pairs and tell them to make sentences using the time
expressions and ‘for’ and ‘since’. Tell them to make the sentences true for them. Give an
example of your own to get them started.
Boo Tumber – Lesson plan, Program 4
The activity helps to reinforce the target language by repetition, but it’s done in an
entertaining way for the students and it leads on to students creating sentences about their
own lives. This is another very important feature of teaching and learning. If teachers can
personalize the target language, it can greatly help the learning process.
The purpose of controlled practice is to allow the student to internalize the new language
successfully so that they understand it, they know how and when to use it and they’ve had a
chance to produce it. Ultimately, teachers want students to be able to use the target language
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in appropriate ways in a less controlled and more natural environment. Controlled practice
helps to fix the language in the students’ mind so that this becomes more possible.
By its nature, controlled practice can be very repetitive. Too much repetition can have a
negative effect on the students. They can become bored and lose interest. In order to create
and maintain a good atmosphere for learning, it is important to have variety in the practice
stage and to be sure that activities do not go on for too long.
Free Practice Activities
Controlled practice activities develop students’ accuracy. Free or less controlled activities
work in their fluency. To improve fluency, whether oral or written, students need to have the
chance to activate their language through activities and tasks that encourage them to use a
wide range of English as naturally as possible. Here are a few ideas.
• Role-plays
• Discussions – on subjects of interest to the class.
• Writing activities, such as keeping a diary or writing letters or postcards.
• Projects and tasks – class newspaper for example.
Here is an example of a role-play that we could use in our lesson:
A good way to get students to use the language you have taught them is to perform a role play,
for example, a job interview. In this kind of activity, teacher is responsible for clearly setting up
the situation. You should divide the class into two. One half of the class will be the candidates
for the new job, the other half will be the bosses of the company. You should give the students
time to prepare for the interview. The candidates should think about their character, their
employment history. Meanwhile, the bosses prepare demanding questions with which to
interview the candidates. Once students are ready, you should put them together in pairs, one
boss and one candidate and then allow the interview to proceed. It’s best to set a short time limit
on the activity and you may encourage the students to use the target language, in this case, ‘for’
and ‘since’. However, this isn’t strictly necessary as you really want to see what language the
students can use in that situation.
The activity needs to be very carefully explained and set up because for most of the time the
students will be working without the teacher’s direct guidance. It is the students who will be
writing and asking questions, creating their own real or imagined life histories for the interview.
Some teachers may feel that in activities such as this, they do not have control over the students
and what they are saying. Perhaps they’ll make a lot of mistakes which won’t be corrected. This
is certainly true, but it is not something to worry about. In fact, it’s the main reason for doing this
kind of exercise. It students are only given controlled activities, then all we can know is how
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well they can use language in a controlled way. Most authentic language use is far from
controlled.
During activities such as role plays, the teacher’s job is to monitor the class and activity. It
possible, the teacher should move around the room and listen to the students. Unless asked for
help. It’s better for the teacher not to interrupt students during the activity. If there are particular
errors that are being made, then the teacher can make a note of them and give feedback at the end
of the activity.
After a less-controlled activity, it is usually a good idea to provide some feedback. This could
take the form of simple praise and encouragement. It may include getting some of the more
confident students to ‘perform’ their role plays in front of the class. Or it could involve looking
at some of the serious language errors made by students.
(Robertson & Acklam, 2000)
Accuracy vs. Fluency Activities
The distinction between controlled and free practice activity is similar to that given by Richard
(2005), who groups activities into two kinds: Accuracy vs. Fluency activities. Differences
between activities that focus on fluency and those that focus on accuracy can be summarized as
follows:
Activities focusing on fluency Activities focusing on accuracy
Reflect natural use of language Reflect classroom use of language
Focus on achieving communication Focus on the formation of correct examples
Require meaningful use of language of language
Require the use of communication Practice language out of context
strategies Practice small samples of language
Produce language that may not be Do not require meaningful communication
predictable Control choice of language
Seek to link language use to context
(Richards, 2006)
1.2. MECHANICAL, MEANINGFUL, AND COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICE
Another useful distinction that some advocates of CLT proposed was the distinction between
three different kinds of practice – mechanical, meaningful, and communicative.
Read the extract below and discuss the following questions:
- Some people think that controlled practice is mechanical practice. Do you agree/disagree?
- Some people assume that both meaningful practice and communicative practice are free
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practice. Do you think so?
Mechanical practice refers to a controlled practice activity which students can successfully carry
out without necessarily understanding the language they are using. Examples of this kind of
activity would be repetition drills and substitution drills designed to practice use of particular
grammatical or other items.
Meaningful practice refers to an activity where language control is still provided but where
students are required to make meaningful choices when carrying out practice. For example, in
order to practice the use of prepositions to describe locations of places, students might be given a
street map with various buildings identified in different locations. They are also given a list of
prepositions such as across from, on the corner of, near, on, next to. They then have to answer
questions such as “Where is the book shop? Where is the café?” etc. The practice is now
meaningful because they have to respond according to the location of places on the map.
Communicative practice refers to activities where practice in using language
within a real communicative context is the focus, where real information is
exchanged, and where the language used is not totally predictable. For example,
students might have to draw a map of their neighborhood and answer questions
about the location of different places, such as the nearest bus stop, the nearest
café, etc. Communicative practice refers to activities where practice in using language
within a real communicative context is the focus, where real information is
exchanged, and where the language used is not totally predictable. For example,
students might have to draw a map of their neighborhood and answer questions
about the location of different places, such as the nearest bus stop, the nearest
café, etc.
(Richards, 2006)
Task 3: Decide whether the following are mechanical, meaningful, or communicative
activities.
Superlative adjectives
A. Complete the following sentences with the correct form of superlative adjectives.
1. Tom is ……(tall) student in my class.
2. This is …..(beautiful) castle I have ever seen.
3. Today is …(happy) day in my life because I’ve got so many presents!
B. Complete these sentences with your own information, and add more details.
Then compare with a partner.
1. One of the most inspiring people I’ve ever known is …
One of the most inspiring people I’ve ever known is my math teacher. She
encourages students to think rather than just memorize formulas and rules.
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2. The most successful individual I know is …
3. Of all the people I know …. is the least self-centered.
4. The youngest person who I consider to be a hero is …
5. The most moving speaker I have ever heard is …
6. The most important role model I’ve ever had is …
7. Of all the friends I’ve ever had …. is the most understanding.
8. One of the bravest things I’ve ever done is …
C. Use the superlative form of these adjectives to describe people you know. Write at
least five sentences.
brave honest interesting smart generous inspiring kind witty
D. Group work
Discuss the sentences your wrote in Exercises A and B. Ask each other follow-up questions.
A. My next-door neighbor is the bravest person I’ve ever met.
B. What did your neighbor do, exactly?
A. She’s a firefighter, and once she saved a child from a burning building …
Task 4: Examine the activities in one unit of Tieng Anh 6-12. Can you find examples of
activities that provide mechanical, meaningful, and communicative practice? What types of
activities predominate?
2. BALANCING ACTIVITIES IN A LANGUAGE LESSON
You have learnt that there are different activities with different purposes. When there are too
many types of activities to choose from, how can teachers select and sequence activities in their
lessons? Nation (2007) suggests a principle to follow. The principle of the four strands (Nation,
2007) states that a well-balanced language course should consist of four equal strands – meaning
focused input, meaning focused output, language focused learning, and fluency development.
Each strand should receive a roughly equal amount of time in a course.
1. The meaning-focused input:
It involves learning through listening and reading – using language receptively. It is called
‘meaning-focused’ because in all the work done in this strand, the learners’ main focus and
interest should be on understanding, and gaining knowledge or enjoyment or both from what
they listen to and read. Typical activities in this strand include extensive reading, shared reading,
listening to stories, watching TV or films, or being a listener in a conversation.
This strand only exists if certain conditions are present.
(1) Most of what the learners are listening to or reading is already familiar to them.
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(2) The learners are interested in the input and want to understand it.
(3) Only a small proportion of the language features are unknown to the learners. In terms of
vocabulary, 95-98% of the running words should be within the learners’ previous
knowledge, and so only 5 or preferably only 1 or 2 words per hundred should be
unknown to them.
(4) The learners can gain some knowledge of the unknown language items through content
clues and background knowledge.
(5) There are large quantities of input.
2. The meaning-focused output:
It involves learning through speaking and writing – using language productively. Typical
activities in this strand include talking in conversations, giving a speech or lecture, writing a
letter, writing a note to someone, keeping a diary, telling a story and telling someone how to do
something.
The same kinds of conditions apply to meaning-focused output as apply to meaning-focused
input.
1. The learners write and talk about things that are largely familiar to them.
2. The learners’ main goal is to convey their message to someone else.
3. Only a small proportion of the language they need to use is not familiar to them.
4. The learners can use communication strategies, dictionaries or previous input to make up
for gaps in their productive knowledge.
5. There are plenty of opportunities to speak and write.
3. Language-focused learning
It involves the deliberate learning of language features such as pronunciation, spelling,
vocabulary, grammar and discourse. Typical activities in this strand are pronunciation practice,
using substitution tables and drills, learning vocabulary from word cards, intensive reading,
translation, memorising dialogues and getting feedback about writing. The deliberate learning of
strategies such as guessing from context or dictionary use is also included in this strand. Most of
these language-focused learning activities can have a positive effect on learning and language
use, but it is important that they are only a small part of the course and do not become the whole
course. In total, the language-focused learning strand should not make up more than one-quarter
of the time spent on the whole course.
Just as there are conditions for meaning-focused input and output, there are conditions for
language-focused learning.
(1) The learners give deliberate attention to language features.
(2) The learners should process the language features in deep and thoughtful ways.
(3) There should be opportunities to give spaced, repeated attention to the same features.
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(4) The features that are focused on should be simple and not dependent on developmental
knowledge that the learners do not have.
(5) Features that are studied in the language-focused learning strand should also occur often
in the other three strands of the course.
4. Fluency development:
It involves all the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In this strand, the
learners are helped to make the best use of what they already know. Like meaning-focused input
and output, the fluency development strand is also meaning-focused. That is, the learners’ aim is
to receive and convey massages. Typical activities include speed reading, skimming and
scanning, …
The fluency strand only exists if certain conditions are present.
(1) All of what the learners are listening to, reading, speaking or writing is largely familiar to
them. That is, there are no unfamiliar language, or largely familiar content or discourse
features.
(2) The learners’ focus is on receiving or conveying meaning.
(3) There is some pressure or encouragement to perform at a faster than usual speed.
(4) There is a large amount of input or output.
If the activity involves unknown vocabulary, it is not a fluency activity. If the focus is on
language features, it is not a fluency activity. If there is no push to go faster, it is not a fluency
activity. The fluency strand should make up about one-quarter of the course time. It is time out
from learning new items and is a time for getting good at using what is already known.
Task 5: Work in groups. Examine a vocabulary lesson prepared by teacher A for English
10, Unit 2. Decide whether the activities realize the lesson objectives and whether the
selecting and sequencing of activities are appropriate. Suggest any changes if necessary.
Textbook: English 10, Unit 2, Your Body and You.
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Textbook objectives specified at the beginning of Unit 2, English 10.
Use words and phrases to talk about the human body.
Teacher A’s learning outcomes:
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
Use the words and phrases related to human body to talk about different systems of
human body and their functions.
Teacher A’s lesson plan:
Warm-up:
- Teach some of the words using the glossary, some pictures.
- Prepare some pictures of the body systems or organs for illustration if possible.
ex: blood, heart, spine, stomach, lung, nerves, bones, skull,
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- Lead in: We’re going to learn about ...
Task 1: Matching
a. Ask Ss to match the items in the left column with ones in the right column.
+ Circulatory System : c + Skeletal System :e
+ Digestive System :d + Nervous System :a
+ Respiratory System : b
b. Ask Ss to work in pairs, practise saying the names of the systems. Remind Ss to pay attention
to the stressed syllable(s) in each word
Task 2:
- Tell Ss to work on classifying the words into the corresponding systems.
- Assist Ss to find the right meanings using a dictionary.
More practice: This is an extract from English 8, Unit 2, Life in the Countryside. Work in
groups. Write lesson outcomes for the vocabulary lesson. After that, select and sequence
activities to realize the lesson outcomes.
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