NAME OF STUDENT: FARIS FARID

COURSE CODE: AIOU 8623

COURSE TITLE: ELEMENTRY EDUCATION

REGISTRATION ID: 0000705984

SEMESTER: 2ND AUTUMN 2024

PROGRAME: B.Ed. (1.5 years)

ASSIGNMENT NO: 1
Question No 1:

Elucidate the role of public and private sector in elementary

education. Discuss the initiatives of government of Pakistan in this
context?

Answer:
Education plays a pivotal role in the rise and fall of the nation‘s especially in the 21st
century importance of education influence much to meet the fast growing challenges. It
is mainly due to the emergence of global competition in education and technology. This
competitive environment is the core need for progress of any country. All countries
including Pakistan have different school systems but when we divide them we find two
major categories of school systems: private and public schools. In Pakistan, private
schools are getting mass acceptance today to ensure sustained progress of the country.

DEFINITION, CONCEPT AND SCOPE OF Elementary EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN:

Education is believed to be an important condition for development. The

difference between developed and under developed countries is of education. Accordin
g to theDeclaration of 1990; education for all, education is a fundamental right for all
people, Women and men, of all ages, throughout the world. Education is the most
powerful tool to help improve the quality of life and eradicate poverty.

Elementary education, in Pakistan is considered from pre-school level to grade

8th.Elementary education is the most important tier in the educational system
which provides Base for the next or future education.

This stage of education has always been given the Prime importance and that the
reason this has been given the priority in all the Educational conferences and policies. It
was set as a target in millennium development Goals to be completed in 2015 which
unfortunately could not be achieved due to flaws of Administrative nature. Elementary
education in Pakistan still demands a very serious Effort to reach at the desired level of
performance compatible to the competitive level in the world. Therefore, re-formulation
of objectives, policies, curriculum, infrastructure, Teacher training, and implementation
system is of paramount importance and need to be Handled at the top most priority to
pace with the world. There has been much talk and debate regarding quality education
in Pakistan.

Ironically, they all revolve around mostly the types, sources and content of education.
Instead of stages, particularly the most crucial and decisive stage i.e., elementary
Education.There has been little progress in recent years in developing new and existing
Programmes for adolescent learners in government schools at elementary level.
Exploratory programmes, counseling programmes, health and physical education
Programmes are being cut back in government schools. The education has been
narrowed down to teaching of rote-skills and transmission of knowledge.

This mere imitation and content centered elementary education has short changed
the area of personnel Development of the learners. This fact of failure of government
elementary education has been put in the back burner in the face of doing.

What is easier and less costly, but the Negation of various ongoing sustained social cha
nges experienced by the emergingLearners has become the practice of the day. These
social changes are:

 The family pattern of a mother at home and a father working is increasingly

changing.
 The suicide rate in teenagers is increasing due to different types of pressures.
 It is estimated that pre and early adolescents spend one third of their waking
Hours in watching television, surfing social websites on internet and playing
Online games.
 75 percent of all advertising is aimed at promoting mobile brands, mobile
Networks and mobile packages.

Lack of a stable home is a big contributor to delinquency. The elementary level is

comprised of the students with most impressionable age Group where various social
changes make indelible prints on their minds. These years represent the last chance for
the students to master basic skills, lasting attitude towards Learning and assertion
of self and individualistic differences. Success at elementary School, or the future life,
can be determined and predicted for this age group.

The associations such as The National Middle School Association, PakistanMontessori

Council, and Pakistan Elementary Teachers Association are striving for
a balanced elementary curriculum by organizing frequent conferences and workshops
for the educators who are engaged in imparting basic education. However, the
government should patronize the associations and educational organizations by
allocating a large part of budget. Moreover, the government educationist and
administrative authorities should make sure that the content is cognitive learning
oriented. It must be diversified and exploratory based on real life situations and
indigenous Experiences. Consequently, it could enhance the development
of problem solving skills and reflective thinking process among the students. This would
also help the students to Acknowledge and appraise their own interests and talents.
The areas of curriculum Concerned with basic skills — logical, sequential and analytical
— should be taught through an entertaining pedagogy.

Other areas of curriculum like social, moral,Emotional, and physical should be develope
d through integrative approach towards prevalent social issues and factors.

In short the elementary level education and knowledge must mirror the immediate
Culture, ethnicity, ideology and local socio-economic groups so that the students can
relate themselves and consolidate their knowledge coupled with critical sense. Besides,
this will assist the student to comprehend what he is and help him realize his concepts,
Responsibilities, identities, abstractions and attitude towards society. Instead of Depart
mentalization of subjects there should be coordination and inter-disciplinary trend
among them. Doubtlessly the teacher‘s role is indispensable in modern pedagogy
where the teacher is more a personal guide, a facilitator of learning, and a coordinator.

The teachers should be trained to practice the methods of Instruction which open
and Individual Directed learning by accentuating modernly designed arrangements,
collaborative work, and respecting individual differences among the students. The list of
do‘s and don‘ts is long.
However, the ground reality demands more implementation than mere suggestions,
Planning, revising, and updating the aspects of elementary education.
For implementation the primary parameter is the following statement: ―TheElementary
education should be projective.‖ To have insightful understanding of this Projective
learning, some factors are inevitable‖.

1. The very first is involvement. In Pakistan the planning regarding elementaryEducation

takes place without involving those who will be most directly affected by
its activation: students, teachers, parents, and the community.
Unluckily, the Assumption which resists this involvement is that the member/actors of
education are Unaccustomed to the jargons related to educational policies and
are unfamiliar with the trends in educational programs. But the fact is that the
elementary education cannot be affectively implemented and maintained
unless it involves the aboveMentioned strata.
Their involvement in initial analysis of student‘s needs (social, Financial, emotional,
physical), in drafting the documents and in providing rationale for effective elementary
education is a must.
2. The second factor for ensuring implementation is commitment and dedication on the
Part of the teachers. Commitment can be interpreted as the tendency to adjust new
Roles (multirole) in the teachers instead of traditional designs. In this regard
teachers‘Sufficient and moral support should be maintained by the higher authorities. A
Problem witnessed in many schools is that teachers‘ behaviors are prone to return to
Traditional patterns if sufficient attention from every perspective not maintained
.Teachers‘ enthusiasm and energy will remain understandably high if they receive such
attention.
3. Thirdly, other important factors are budgeting/funding and resources. The observable
Phenomenon in elementary education is its failure due to absence of substantial
Finances. This stage of education, owning to the foundation, requires more energy and
money to implement productively. For the low budget schools, the private school
System could be the inspiration which partially run on funding by the rich families. If the
community has the chance of involvement in the planning process, it definitely is going
to participate in funding process .Moreover, by doing this the allocation of vast
resources could be ensured as the Common pitfall in realizing the implementation is
exclusively relying upon the teacher Made material, overlooking a consumable material
budget and less update material Acquisition.

Making no provision in this regard is in fact to doom the elementary Education. These
major factors if operated well can eliminate the causes of the failure of the Elementary
School.

Education plays a pivotal role in the rise and fall of the nations especially in the 21st
century importance of education influence much to meet the fast growing challenges. It
is mainly due to the emergence of global competition in education and technology. This
competitive environment is the core need for progress of any country. All countries
including Pakistan have different school systems but when we divide them we find two
major categories of school systems: private and public schools. In Pakistan, private
schools are getting mass acceptance today to ensure sustained progress of the country.

During 1990s and 2000s, private sector emerged as a key provider of education
services in Pakistan both in absolute terms and relative to the public sector. Private
educational institutions are playing key role not only in eradicating illiteracy but also
enhancing the level of students as well as teachers by providing better academic
environment. Private sector contributed significantly in eradicating illiteracy in the
emerging economies. If private schools are properly managed they can uplift
educational standard in Pakistan as well.

The educational landscape of Pakistan has gone through numerous transformations in

the past two decades. Enrollment levels and gender parity index have been on the rise.
The changes in the education sector that have been taking place in Pakistan have
created an environment with numerous opportunities as well as challenges in terms of
policy development. Even though the enrollment in government schools is much bigger
than any other sector, the declining trend in favor of non –state providers is significant.

Education, especially primary education is mostly considered a public service which

should be provided to the citizens without discrimination, irrespective of affordability and
mainly as the government‘s responsibility. This ideology was behind the nationalization
of all education institutions in 1972, which severely interrupted the role of the robust
private sector particularly at the post elementary level.

However, like other services provided by the government, education provision has been
severely constrained by governance, quality and effectiveness.

After the end of nationalization in 1979, Pakistan has witnessed an exponential increase
in the role of private sector service providers. The negative experiences of government
schools have instigated parents to shift children from government to private schools.
Private schools no longer remain an urban or elite phenomenon, but rather poor
households also use these facilities to a large extent, due to their better locations,
reasonable fees, teachers‘ presence and better-quality learning, especially in the fields
of mathematics and language. Even though private schools started off as an urban
phenomenon, more recently they have mushroomed in rural areas as well.

Several characteristics are responsible for making private schooling more attractive to
parents compared to government schools; these include better test scores, better
physical infrastructure, and lower rates of teacher absenteeism. Some of the other
factors are:

1- Income of parents

2- Teacher quality factors influencing school choice:

Parents‘ knowledge of the teacher‘s educational qualifications

Parents‘ opinion of the teacher‘s regularity

Parents‘ rating of the teacher‘s teaching skills

3- Facilities in School

4- Child safety

5- Quality of education

6- School Fee

7- Medium of Instruction

8- Better results

Even if we disregard the debate of whether the learning levels are better in private or
government schools, the fact remains that the learning levels for both types of institutes
remain poor in an absolute sense. The private schools advantage over the public
schools is marginal up if we look at the problems of education in the country holistically
speaking. Therefore, the policy developers should cater to supporting and improving
both the sectors and not either of the two.

The outcomes of private versus public schools‘ debate may be a popular discourse,
however, at a policy Level it is essential to understand that the current education
emergency in Pakistan cannot be confronted with just a single player in the education
sector. Multiple players, other than the government alone are required in the process to
combat the problems. The government needs private sector‘s help to contest the
challenges. Various other challenges including the flood, security issues and
dislocations of citizens due to the regional conflicts in the country also pose major
concerns that the households and state need to plan around in the future. The need of
the hour is a collective action by all the stakeholders, including the households,
government, private sector and the civil society

It can be a better option if the government uses its resources not on increasing the
number of schools but rather on the quality of existing schools. Increasing access to
education for children by increasing the number of schools should be a policy left for the
private sector and the government itself should concentrate on improving the quality of
physical facilities and teachers in the existing schools. By doing this, the benchmark for
the private schools will also increase, thus increasing both access to, and quality of
education.
Question No 2:

Describe in the light of Piaget’s theory the cognitive and intellectual

development of a child at different levels.

Answer:

Jean Piaget‘s theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four
different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding
how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.
Piaget‘s stages are:

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development:

There are four important stages of cognitive development:

(i)Sensorimotor: (birth to about age 2):

This is the first stage in Piaget‘s theory, where infants have the following basic Senses:
vision, hearing, and motor skills. In this stage, knowledge of the world is limited but is
constantly developing due to the child‘s experiences and interactions. According to
Piaget, when an infant reaches about 7–9 months of age they begin to develop object.

Permanence, this means the child now has the ability to understand that objects keep.
Existing even when they cannot be seen. An example of this would be hiding the child‘s
Favorite toy under a blanket, although the child cannot physically see it they still know to
look under the blanket.

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

The infant knows the world through their movements and sensations.
Children learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking,
and listening

Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be seen (object
permanence) They are separate beings from the people and objects around them.
They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them.
During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire
knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child‘s entire
experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses,
and motor responses. It is during the sensorimotor stage that children go through a
period of dramatic growth and learning. As kids interact with their environment, they are
continually making new discoveries about how the world works. The cognitive
development that occurs during this period takes place over a relatively short period of
time and involves a great deal of growth. Children not only learn how to perform
physical actions such as crawling and walking; they also learn a great deal about
language from the people with whom they interact. Piaget also broke this stage down
into a number of different sub stages. It is during the final part of the sensorimotor stage
that early representational thought emerges.

Piaget believed that developing object permanence or object constancy, the

understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, was an
important element at this point of development. By learning that objects are separate
and distinct entities and that they have an existence of their own outside of individual
perception, children are then able to begin to attach names and words to objects.

(ii)Preoperational Stage: (begins about the time the child starts to talk about):

During this stage of development, young children begin analyzing their Environment
using mental symbols. These symbols often include words and images and the child will
begin to apply these various symbols in their everyday lives as they come
across different objects, events, and situations. However, Piaget named it―preoperation
al‖ stage because children at this point are not able to apply specific Cognitive
operations, such as mental math. In addition to symbolism, children start to Engage in
pretend play in which they pretend to be people they are not (teachers, Super heroes).
Some deficiencies in this stage of development are that children who are about 3–4
years old often display what is called egocentrism. However, at about 7 years, thought
processes of children are no longer egocentric and are more intuitive, meaning they
now think about the way something looks instead of rational thinking.

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent
objects.
Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the
perspective of others. While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still
tend to think about things in very concrete terms.

The foundations of language development may have been laid during the previous
stage, but it is the emergence of language that is one of the major hallmarks of the
preoperational stage of development. Children become much more skilled at pretend
play during this stage of development, yet continue to think very concretely about the
world around them. At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with
logic and taking the point of view of other people. They also often struggle with
understanding the idea of constancy.

For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and
then give a child the choice between two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is
rolled into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape. Since
the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece even
though the two pieces are exactly the same size.

(iii)Concrete: (about first grade to early adolescence):

During this stage, children between the age of 7 and 11 use appropriate logic to develop
cognitive operations and begin applying this new thinking to different events they
may encounter. Children in this stage incorporate inductive reasoning, which Involves
drawing conclusions from other observations in order to make a generalization. Unlike
the preoperational stage, children can now change and rearrange mental image sand
symbols to form a logical thought; an example of this is reversibility in which the Child
now has the ability to reverse an action just by doing the opposite.

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete events
They begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a
short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example Their thinking
becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete .

Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a general
principle. While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point in
development, they become much more adept at using logic. The egocentrism of the
previous stage begins to disappear as kids become better at thinking about how other
people might view a situation. While thinking becomes much more logical during the
concrete operational state, it can also be very rigid. Kids at this point in development
tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts. During this stage, children also
become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel.
Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are
unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings,
and opinions.

(iv) Formal operations: (about early adolescence to mid/lateadolescence):

The final stage of Piaget‘s cognitive development defines a child as now

havingthe ability to ―think more rationally and systematically about abstract concepts &
hypothetical events‖. Some positive aspects during this time is that child or adolescent
Begins forming their identity and begin understanding why people behave the way they
Behave. However, there are also some negative aspects which include the
child or Adolescent developing some egocentric thoughts which include the imaginary
audience And the personal fable. An imaginary audience is when an adolescent feels
that the worlds just as concerned and judgmental of anything the adolescent does as
they are, an Adolescent may feel as is they are ―on stage‖ and everyone is a critique
and they are the Ones being critiqued. A personal fable is when the adolescent feels
that he or she is a unique person and everything they do is unique. They feel as if they
are the only ones that Have ever experienced what they are experiencing and that they
are invincible and Nothing bad will happen to them it will only happen to others.

II. Information processing:

The Information Processing model is a way of examining and understanding

theCognitive development of children. This model, conceptualizes children‘s mental
Processes through the metaphor of a computer processing, encoding, storing, anddeco
ding data. By 2 to 5 years of age, nearly all children have developed the skills
toFocus attention for extended periods, recall old information, recognize previously
Encountered information and recreate it in the present.

Memory: most children cannot remember anything in their childhood prior to age 2 or 4-
year-old child can remember what he wore at Birthday party and tell his friend About it
when he returns to school. Between the ages of 2 and 5, long-term memory
Begins to form. Part of longterm memory involves storing information about the
Sequence of events during familiar situations as ―scripts‖. Scripts help children
Understand, interpret, and predict what will happen in future scenarios. For example,
Children understand that a visit to the grocery store involves a series of steps: mom
enters the store, gets a grocery cart, selects items from the shelves, waits in the check-
out line, Pays for the groceries, and then loads them into the car.

Attention:
Between the ages of 5 and 7, children learn how to focus and use their Cognitive
abilities for paying attention and memorizing lists of words or facts. This skill is obviously
crucial for children starting school who need to learn new information, retain it and
produce it for tests and other academic activities. They also develop the capacity to
Process information. This capacity allows them to make connections between old and
new information. For example, children can use their knowledge of the alpha beta and
Letter sounds (phonics) to start sounding out and reading words. During this age,
Children‘s knowledge base also continues to grow and become better organized.

Language:

Children‘s use of language also becomes more mature andcomplicated with

Age. Between ages 4 -5-children‘s ability to understand language at amore complicated
level also develops. Children develop the ability to understand that a
sentence may have Meaning beyond the exact words being spoken. They start tounder
stand the use of basic Metaphors based on very concrete ideas, tailor their speech to
the social situation; for Example, children will talk more maturely to adults than to same-
age peers.

III.Factors that Affect Children Cognitive Development:

(1)Biological factors:

(a)Sense organs:

Sense organs are important as they receive stimuli from

theenvironment. Their proper development helps in receiving correct Stimuli.Defective
sense organs collect defective stimuli and as a result Wrong conceptscan be formed
and the cognitive development will not be perfect.

(b)Intelligence:

Children with low Intelligence Quotient are unable to Receivestimuli properly thus their
cognitive development lags behind.

(c)Heredity

Cognitive development is also influenced by the hereditary Traits; onegets from his
parents.

(d)Maturation:

With the maturation child gets more interaction with hisEnvironment that is necessary
for a good cognitive development
(2)Environment factors:

External influences that affect cognitive development and Are mostly controllable.
They include:

(a)Learning opportunities:

The opportunity a child gets to learn affects the Cognitive development. The more
opportunities he gets the better is the Cognition.

(b)Economic status:

Economic state of the family also helps in the Development of cognition.

Children from better economic status get more Opportunities

an training and it helps in cognitive development.
These children also have better nutritional diets as compared to those who come from
poor backgrounds.

(c)Play:

Play is very important in developing cognition. Through play Activities, the child interacts
with the environment, receives stimuli and Responds to them.
Child playing with toys learns many new experiences, Becomes imaginative and does
drama.

(d)Various types of stimuli (TV, books, and toys):

As child grows, he getsvarious stimuli from environment through his senses.

Stimuli such as Books,television, mobile, computer and learning toys are important in d
evelopingcognitive abilities. These stimuli form concepts and symbols. Experts
recommend that children be exposed to books at an early age and little amounts of
television and computer as this tends to reduce cognitive development.

(e)Family and society:

Children who interact frequently with other people Tend to become brighter and gain
confidence as compared to those who relate with less people.

It is important for children to interact with others as this helps them to build their langua
ge and speaking skills. They are also likely to be read to which makes them learn faster.

Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning process, acting much
like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about
the world. As kids interact with the world around them, they continually add new
knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held ideas to
accommodate new information.

How Piaget Developed the Theory

Piaget was born in Switzerland in the late 1800s and was a precocious student,
publishing his first scientific paper when he was just 11 years old. His early exposure to
the intellectual development of children came when he worked as an assistant to Alfred
Binet and Theodore Simon as they worked to standardize their famous IQ test.

Much of Piaget‘s interest in the cognitive development of children was inspired by his
observations of his own nephew and daughter. These observations reinforced his
budding hypothesis that children‘s minds were not merely smaller versions of adult
minds. Up until this point in history, children were largely treated simply as smaller
versions of adults. Piaget was one of the first to identify that the way that children think
is different from the way adults think.

Instead, he proposed, intelligence is something that grows and develops through a

series of stages. Older children do not just think more quickly than younger children, he
suggested. Instead, there are both qualitative and quantitative differences between the
thinking of young children versus older children. Based on his observations, he
concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently.
Albert Einstein called Piaget‘s discovery ―so simple only a genius could have thought of
it.‖

Piaget‘s stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive

development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget‘s view, early
cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses to
changes in mental operations.

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and reason about
hypothetical problems

Abstract thought emerges

Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues
that require theoretical and abstract reasoning Begin to use deductive logic, or
reasoning from a general principle to specific information. The final stage of Piaget‘s
theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an
understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple
potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around
them.
The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key hallmark of the
formal operational stage of cognitive development. The ability to systematically plan for
the future and reason about hypothetical situations are also critical abilities that emerge
during this stage. It is important to note that Piaget did not view children‘s intellectual
development as a quantitative process; that is, kids do not just add more information
and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older. Instead, Piaget suggested
that there is a qualitative change in how children think as they gradually process
through these four stages. A child at age 7 doesn‘t just have more information about
the world than he did at age 2; there is a fundamental change in how he thinks about
the world.
Question No 3:

Personality development occurs early in life but later years provide an

opportunity for the modification of previously developed trends’.
Discuss.

Answer:
Personality development is the development of the organized pattern of behaviors and
attitudes that makes a person distinctive. Personality development occurs by the
ongoing interaction of temperament, character, and environment.

Description
Personality is what makes a person a unique person, and it is recognizable soon after
birth. A child‘s personality has several components: temperament, environment, and
character. Temperament is the set of genetically determined traits that determine the
child‘s approach to the world and how the child learns about the world. There are no
genes that specify personality traits, but some genes do control the development of the
nervous system, which in turn controls behavior. A second component of personality
comes from adaptive patterns related to a child‘s specific environment. Most
psychologists agree that these two factors—temperament and environment—influence
the development of a person‘s personality the most. Temperament, with its dependence
on genetic factors, is sometimes referred to as ―nature,‖ while the environmental factors
are called ―nurture.‖

While there is still controversy as to which factor ranks higher in affecting personality
development, all experts agree that high-quality parenting plays a critical role in the
development of a child‘s personality. When parents understand how their child responds
to certain situations, they can anticipate issues that might be problematic for their child.
They can prepare the child for the situation or in some cases they may avoid a
potentially difficult situation altogether. Parents who know how to adapt their parenting
approach to the particular temperament of their child can best provide guidance and
ensure the successful development of their child‘s personality.

Finally, the third component of personality is character—the set of emotional, cognitive,

and behavioral patterns learned from experience that determines how a person thinks,
feels, and behaves. A person‘s character continues to evolve throughout life, although
much depends on inborn traits and early experiences. Character is also dependent on a
person‘s moral development .
In 1956, psychiatrist Erik Erikson provided an insightful description as to how
personality develops based on his extensive experience in psychotherapy with children
and adolescents from low, upper, and middle-class backgrounds. According to Erikson,
the socialization process of an individual consists of eight phases, each one
accompanied by a ―psychosocial crisis‖ that must be
solved if the person is to manage the next and subsequent phases satisfactorily. The
stages significantly influence personality development, with five of them occurring
during infancy, childhood, and adolescence.

Infancy
During the first two years of life, an infant goes through the first stage: Learning Basic
Trust or Mistrust (Hope) . Well-nurtured and loved, the infant develops trust and security
and a basic optimism. Badly handled, the infant becomes insecure and learns ―basic
mistrust.‖

Toddlerhood
The second stage occurs during early childhood, between about 18 months to two years
and three to four years of age. It deals with Learning Autonomy or Shame (Will) . Well-
parented, the child emerges from this stage with self-confidence, elated with his or her
newly found control. The early part of this stage can also include stormy tantrums,
stubbornness, and negativism, depending on the child‘s temperament.

Preschool
The third stage occurs during the ―play age,‖ or the later preschool years from about
three to entry into formal school. The developing child goes through Learning Initiative
or Guilt (Purpose) . The child learns to use imagination; to broaden skills through active
play and fantasy; to cooperate with others; and to lead as well as to follow. If
unsuccessful, the child becomes fearful, is unable to join groups, and harbors guilty
feelings. The child depends excessively on adults and is restricted both in the
development of play skills and in imagination.

School age
The fourth stage, Learning Industry or Inferiority (Competence) , occurs during school
age, up to and possibly including junior high school. The child learns to master more
formal skills:
relating with peers according to rules progressing from free play to play that is
structured by rules and requires teamwork (team sports) learning basic intellectual skills
(reading, arithmetic)
At this stage, the need for self-discipline increases every year. The child who, because
of his or her successful passage through earlier stages, is trusting, autonomous, and
full of initiative, will quickly learn to be industrious. However, the mistrusting child will
doubt the future and will feel inferior.

Adolescence
The fifth stage, Learning Identity or Identity Diffusion (Fidelity) , occurs during
adolescence from age 13 or 14. Maturity starts developing during this time; the young
person acquires self-certainty as opposed to self-doubt and experiments with different
constructive roles rather than adopting a negative identity, such as delinquency. The
well-adjusted adolescent actually looks forward to achievement, and, in later
adolescence, clear sexual identity is established. The adolescent seeks leadership
(someone to inspire him or her), and gradually develops a set of ideals to live by.
The Child Development Institute (CDI) rightfully points out that very little knowledge is
available on the type of specific environment that will result, for example, in traits of trust
being more developed in a person‘s personality. Helping the child through the various
stages of emotional and personality development is a complex and difficult task.
Searching for the best ways of accomplishing this task accounts for most of the
research carried out in the field of child development today.
Renowned psychologist Carl Rogers emphasized how childhood experiences affect
personality development. Many psychologists believe that there are certain critical
periods in personality development—periods when the child will be more sensitive to
certain environmental factors. Most experts believe that a child‘s experiences in the
family are important for his or her personality development, although not exactly as
described by Erikson‘s stages, but in good agreement with the importance of how a
child‘s needs should to be met in the family environment. For example, children who are
toilet trained too early or have their toilet training carried out too strictly may become
rebellious. Another example is shown by children who learn appropriate behavior to
their sex lives when there is a good relationship with their same-sex parent. Another
environmental factor of importance is culture. Researchers comparing cultural groups
for specific personality types have found some important differences. For example,
Northern European countries and the United States have individualistic cultures that put
more emphasis on individual needs and accomplishments. In contrast, Asian, African,
Central American, and South American countries are characterized more by
community-centered cultures that focus on belonging to a larger group, such as a
family, or nation. In these cultures, cooperation is considered a more important value
than competitiveness, which will necessarily affect personality development.

Aspects of Personality Development:

The Big 5 theory is quite broad and they have a range of other specific traits. They were
derived from statistical analysis of the traits which tend to occur when people describe
themselves or other people. Sometimes, researchers refer to them as the five-factor
theory or five-factor model.

1. Extraversion:

This trait describes an individual‘s outgoing or social attitude. They are some times seen
as the life of the party and enjoy hanging out with people, going out for social event
sand are generally full of life and energy. Those who are low in extraversion are less
outgoing and prefer to stay by themselves. The introverts have less energy and love to
be quiet. The ones who score high in it enjoy relating with people and are enthusiastic
about life and very action-oriented. These are extroverts. Various types of jobs require
different levels of extraversion and it will be useful in jobs that are related to teaching,
sales and general interaction with people. Each of the Big 5 personality traits is also
made up of at least 6 sub traits. Under extraversion, we have: cheerfulness, excited,
activity level, assertiveness, gregariousness and friendliness.

2. Agreeableness:

This manifests itself in an individual‘s behavior that shows kindness, sympathy,

warmness and consideration for others. Those who score high here are very empathetic
with others and accommodate them. They are also positive minded. The ones that
score low are selfish and lack empathy. They seem to always be in competition with
others and try to manipulate their way through situations instead of co-operating with
others. Those with a high score here tend to desire harmonious living and put aside
their own interests in order to please others. They believe that people are honest and
trustworthy. These individuals will enjoy team building activities and working
harmoniously while those thatscore low would be good scientists, critics or soldiers.

The sub-traits here include: sympathy, modesty, co-operation and trust.

3. Openness:

This describes the open mindedness of an individual. A person who scores high here
will enjoy trying new things. They tend to be imaginative and generally open minded
about everything. Others who score low would be close minded and prefer routine. They
are resistant to change and would be very analytical. Those with an open mind will also
tend to love the arts and think deeply too. An individual with this trait may fit in
advertising, research while those who score low would enjoy jobs that require routine
work. The sub traits here include: imagination, adventurousness, emotionality, artistic
interests, intellect and liberalism.

4. Conscientiousness:

This trait describes how an individual controls, regulates and directs their impulses..
Individuals who score high with this personality trait tend to have a high level of
self discipline. They always follow a plan instead of acting on the spur of the moment.
This makes them successful in their endeavors and able to achieve their goals. They
are seen as responsible and reliable. They may also be workaholics and perfectionists
which may make them boring and inflexible. The sub traits of this aspect include:
achievement-driven, dutifulness, orderliness, self-efficacy, self-discipline and
cautiousness. Individuals with this trait will always
stay focused on their goals regardless of challenges and obstacles because they
believe they will always succeed if they follow their plan. They will be able to fit in across
different occupations. Their need for achievement is the constant driving force.

5. Neuroticism:

This also means emotional stability. It describes an individual‘s ability to stay balanced a
nd stable when faced with tough challenges. One who scores high inneuroticism has
the tendency to experience negative emotions. On the other hand, those who score
high in emotional stability react less emotionally and don‘t get upset easily. They are
usually calm and stable, though it does not mean they experience a lot
of positive feelings. Those who are high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and fe
elthreatened or get into bad moods even in a normal situation. They may also find it
difficult to think clearly when they are stressed.

Those with high emotional stability are preferred in most professions

as they have control over their emotions while those With low stability can be distracted
by deadlines, personal situations and pressure. The sub
traits here include: anxiety, anger, depression, self-consciousness, vulnerability and
immoderation.

Question NO 4:

Explain the inter-relationship of language skills. How does the

classroom environment affect them?

Answer:
The teaching of language is now one of the most important subjects in most of Primary
schools. The implementation of English and Urdu has brought along the need to
establish clear objectives that are different to the ones traditionally assigned to
secondary Schools. While in secondary schools we still find, in many cases, a teaching
based in the Formal aspects of the language, i.e. grammar; primary school teachers
have had to adopt a Different approach as the age of the children make the teaching of
formal aspects not Advisable. As a result of this point of view, the different Educational
Departments have decided to establish, as the main purpose of the language teaching,
the development of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, the
implementation of this approach has not been trouble-free as many teachers insist on
asking their children to understand every single word they listen to or read, or expect
their pupils to write or speak without making the mistakes normally found in the process
of acquiring any Language.

1. Listening:

Listening is the language skill which learners usually find the most difficult. This Often is
because they feel under unnecessary pressure to understand every word. To achieve
the aims related to this skill, the teacher plays an important role that is defined in the
following steps.

1. It is important to help pupils prepare for the listening task well before they hear the
text itself. First of all the teacher must ensure that the pupils understand the Language
they need to complete the task and are fully aware of exactly what is Expected of them.
Reassure the pupils that they do not need to understand every Word they hear.
2. The next important step is to encourage pupils to anticipate what they are going to
hear. In everyday life, the situation, the speaker, and visual clues all help us to decode
oral messages. A way to make things a bit easier to the pupils is to present the listening
activity within the context of the topic of a teaching unit. This in itself will help pupils to
predict what the answers might be.

3. The teacher can help them further by asking questions and using the illustrations to
encourage Pupils to guess the answers even before they hear the text.

During listening, the pupils should be able to concentrate on understanding the

Message so make sure they are not trying to read, draw, and write at the
sameTime. Always give a second chance to listen to the text to provide a new
Opportunity to those who were not able to do the task.

4. Finally, when pupils have completed the activity, invite answers from the
wholeclass. Try not to put individual pupils under undue pressure. Rather than
confirming whether an answer is correct or not, plays the cassette again and allow
Pupils to listen again for confirmation. You may be given a variety of answers, in Which
case list them all on the board and play the text again, so that the class can Listen and
choose the correct one. Even if the pupils all appear to have completed the task
successfully, always encourage them to listen to the text once more and Check their
answers for themselves.

2. Speaking:

First of all, we must take into account that the level of language input (listening) must be
higher than the level of language production expected of the pupils. So we have many
speaking activities used in the first levels that enable pupils to participate with a Minimal
verbal response. However in the last levels, pupils are encouraged to begin to
manipulate language and express themselves in a much more personal way. In primary
schools two main types of speaking activities are used. The first type , songs, Chants,
and poems, encourages pupils to mimic the model they hear on the cassette.

This Helps pupils to master the sounds, rhythms, and intonation of the English
language through simple reproduction. The games and pair work activities on the
other hand, Although always based on a given model, encourage the pupils to begin to
manipulate the Language by presenting them with a certain amount of choice, albeit
within a fairly Controlled situation. In order for any speaking activity to be successful
children need to acknowledge that there is a real reason for asking a question or giving
a piece of information. Therefore, make sure the activities you present to the pupils,
provide a reason for Speaking, whether this is to play a game or to find out real
information about friends in the class.
Once the activity begins, make sure that the children are speaking as much English
as possible without interfering to correct the mistakes that they will probably make.

Try to treat errors casually by praising the utterance and simply repeating it correctly
without necessarily highlighting the errors. And finally, always offer praise for Effort
regardless of the accuracy of the English produced.

3. Reading:

In order to make reading an interesting challenge as opposed to a tedious chore, it Is

important that pupils do not labor over every word, whether they are skimming the text
For general meaning or scanning it to pick out specific information. Other things to keep
in mind are:

1. When choosing texts consider not only their difficulty level, but also their interest or
their humor so that children will want to read for the same reasons they read in their
own language: to be entertained or to find out something they do not already know.

2. As with listening activities, it is important to spend time preparing for the task by using
the illustrations (a usual feature in reading activities for children), pupils‘ own knowledge
about the subject matter, and key Vocabulary to help the pupils to predict the general
content of the text. Discuss the subject and ask questions to elicit language and to
stimulate the pupils‘ interest in the text before they begin reading. Also make sure that
the pupils understand the essential vocabulary they need to complete the task before
they begin to read.

3. While the children are reading the text, move around the class providing Support
if pupils need it.

Where possible, encourage pupils to work out the meaning of vocabulary as they
come across it, using the context and the supporting illustrations.

4. Do not encourage pupils to read texts aloud unless this is to learn a play or recite
a poem. Reading aloud inhibits most pupils and forces them to concentrate on whatthey
are saying as opposed to what they are reading and the meaning is very often lost.

In primary schools, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pupils progress from Writing
isolated words and phrases, to short paragraphs about themselves or about very
Familiar topics (family, home, hobbies, friends, food, etc.)
Since many pupils at this level are not yet capable either linguistically or Intellectually of
creating a piece of written text from scratch, it is important that time is Spent building up
the language they will need and providing a model on which they can Then base their
own efforts. The writing activities should therefore be based on a parallel Text and guide
the pupils, using simple cues. These writing activities generally appear towards the
end of a unit so that pupils have had plenty of exposure to the language and Practice of
the main structures and vocabulary they need. At this stage, the pupils‘ work will
invariably contain mistakes. Again, the Teacher should try to be sensitive in his/her
correction and not necessarily insist on every
Error being highlighted. A piece of written work covered in red pen is demoralizing and
generally counter-productive. Where possible, encourage pupils to correct their own
Mistakes as they work. If there is time, encourage pupils to decorate their written
work and where feasible display their efforts in the classroom. Writing:

The significance of listening skill in effective communication has been recognized for a
century. Rankin (1926) conducted a study and found that listening skill was the most
dominant skill for the mode of human communication. However, there were no more
similar studies until the 1940s. The base of listening inquiry was primarily laid
academically in the late 1940s and the founders (James Brown, Ralph Nichols and Carl
Weaver) of the listening skill were considered as the ―fathers of listening‖ (Vocile, 1987).
Listening skill was taken into the second and foreign language research field in the mid
20th Century and many researchers put listening as the focus of their studies. After half
a century, a professional committee International Listening Association (ILA) was
established in 1979 to develop listening skill (Feyten, 1991). Knowing how to entail
listening instruction and assessment in the school syllabi was the main target of the
pedagogy. Steven (1987) pointed out that many studies provide a focus on either
understanding listening comprehension or listening critically – agree or disagree with
oral input. Similarly, Floyed (1985) defines listening as a process entailing hearing,
attending to, understanding, evaluating and responding to spoken messages. He further
believes that listeners should be active participants in communication process. The
nature/purpose of listening skills varies as the context of communication differs. Wolvin
and Coakley (1988) propose five different kinds of listening.

First, discriminative listening helps listeners draw a distinction between facts and
opinions.

Second, comprehensive listening facilitates understanding oral input.

Third, critical listening allows listeners to analyze the incoming message before
accepting and rejecting it.
Fourth, therapeutic listening serves as a sounding board and lack any critiques, e.g.,
advising.
Finally, appreciative listening contributes listeners to enjoy and receives emotional
impressions. All the varieties of listening help to demonstrate that listening is an active
process rather than a passive product. The authors define the process of listening as
making sense of oral input by attending to the message. Thus, this study adopts the
second definition of listening – understand the oral input mentioned by Wolvin and
Coakley as a tool to evaluate the research assumption. The current study seeks to
delve into the correlation between listening and other skills in International English
Language

Testing System.

Language development involves four fundamental and interactive abilities: listening,

speaking, reading and writing. The attempt has widely been made to teach four macro
skills in second and foreign language for more than 60 years. Berninger and Winn
(2006) emphasize that external and internal environment interacts with functional
systems to extent, which the nature-nurture interaction at birth evolves over the course
of time. The question is how much and how long the basic skill of listening gains
attention in second and foreign language learning while listening is recognized to play a
significant role in primary and secondary language acquisition (Ellis, 1994; Faerch &
Kasper, 1986). In the 1970s, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method was
introduced to develop language learning proficiency. Some prominent researchers
(Asher, 1977; Krashen, 1992) highlighted the significance of listening in the pedagogy.
Krashen (1992) has argued that language acquisition highly depends on the decoding
process of making sense of incoming messages. Language acquisition never occurs
without access to the comprehensible language input (Rost, 1994) because in addition
to visual learning, more than three quarters (80 %) of human learning occurs through
listening direction (Hunsaker, 1990). Returning to language acquisition, Nunan (2003)
suggested that listening is the gasoline that fuels the acquisition process. Thus, the
main reason experts emphasize the significance of listening in language acquisition is
the frequency of listening in language development. However, much of the relevant
research incorporated into listening as an inevitable medium to drive primary and
secondary language acquisition. What is more, none of them focuses on the
relationship between listening skill and other language skills – speaking, reading and
writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The current research study aims to fill
this gap by providing empirical data obtained in a large-scale investigation of 1800
participants taking the international known language proficiency test – IELTS
administered in the capital of Iran, Tehran.

Factors Affecting Language Learning Development:

There are many factors that affect the language learning process, and here we will
classify factors into two factors. That is internal factors and external factors.

1. Internal Factors:
In this case we will talk about physical, psychology, and exhaustion.

A. Physical

B. Health

C. Exhaustion

Learning process can go well with good health. Health means that someone is inGood
condition. If someone wants to learn well, he/she must try to keep his body in good
Condition such as, can share his time to get rest, eat, relaxation, pray, and sport.

(a)Physical Defect:

Someone in physical defect must try harder than others. For them, they can choose a
special school with special rolls.

1 ) Gender

2) Psychology

3) Intelligence

 The ability to meet and adapt to novel situations quickly and effectively.
 The ability to utilize abstract concepts effectively.
 The ability to grasp relationship and to learn quickly. The great intelligence gives
more progress to the learning process.

(b)Attention:

Attention is concentration (mental focus, serious consideration). To get the good Mark in
the subject, the student must pay attention at the lesson; if he/she bored he probably
will fail in that lesson.

(c)Interest:

Interest is persisting tendency to pay attention to and enjoy some activity or Content. If
the lesson is not interesting to the student, the student can‘t learn well.

(d) Aptitude:

Aptitude is the capacity to learn. Everyone has different aptitude. So, it is time for us to
use that aptitude the maximum for our best. The good way is to use the aptitude by
study and practice as much as we can do.
(e)Motive:

Motive is an effective-co native factor which operates in determining the Direction

of an individual‘s behavior towards an end or goal, consciously apprehended or uncons
ciously. The teacher must have good motive to get attention from the students. More
motivated students tend to use more strategies than less motivated students, and
the particular reason for studying the language (motivational orientation, especially as
related to career field) is important in the choice of strategies.

2. External Factors:

External factors can be categorized into three groups, i.e. family factor, school
Factor and social factor.

(I)Family factors:

(a)The way parents educate the way parents have been educated has a big influence
on their children. Because, family is the first and prominent educator.

(b)Relations within family Relations within family mean relations between parent and
their children, Children with their brother and sister, etc. If the family has harmonious
relations it will create successful students.

(c)The Home Atmosphere The best atmosphere is quiet and peaceful. In that situation
children will stay at Home and study well.

(d) Family‘s Economy Children must get the basic requirements such as food, clothes,
books and many other things. All of these requirements can be full filled if his/her family
has enough money.

(e) Parents Understanding sometimes the children have a lot of interest in some
subjects, at that time the Parent must support them.

(f)Cultural Background Rote memorization and other forms of memorization were more
prevalent among Some Asian students than among students from other cultural
backgrounds. Certain other cultures also appeared to encourage this strategy among
learners.

(ii)School Factors:
(a)Teaching Method
 Teachers must have training relevant to their own instructional situations in
threeAreas: identifying students‘ current learning strategies through surveys,interviews,
or other means; helping individual students discern which strategies are most relevant
to their learning styles, tasks, and goals; and aiding students in Developing orchestrated
strategy use rather than a scattered approach.

(b)Curriculum:

Students of different ages and stages of language learning used differentStrategies, wit
h certain strategies often being employed by older or moreadvanced students.

(c) Learning Style:

Learning style (general approach to language learning) often determined theChoice of

English learning strategies.

For example, analyticstyle studentsPreferred strategies such as contrastive analysis, ru

le learning, and dissecting
Words and phrases, while global students used strategies to find meaning (guessing,
scanning, predicting) and to converse without knowing all the words(paraphrasing,
gesturing).

(d)The Relations between Students and Teacher

Teaching learning process happened between teacher and students. The teacher Must
cooperative in his/her class. Building upon a foundation of integrity, teaching as an
ethical profession requires the interaction of six essential behaviors:

 Caring
 Setting high standards
 Providing intellectually challenging learning experiences
 Organizing and managing classes to facilitate learning
 Student centered
 Reflecting

(e)The Relations among Students:

Create good relations with each other is necessary because it can give positive
Influence to their study.

(f) Discipline
Discipline at school is not only for the teacher and the students, but also for everyone in
that area. All the people at school must obey the rule. If nobody ever breaks the rules
the situation will always be under control.

(g) Schedule

Good management of time will have positive impact on teaching-learningProcess.

(h) The School Building:

The size of school should be according to the strength of the students studying there.

(i) Type of Task:

The nature of the task help determine the strategies naturally employed to carry out the
task.

(j)Attitudes and Beliefs:

These are reported to have a profound effect on the strategies learners choose, with
negative attitudes and beliefs often causing poor strategy use or lack of Orchestration of
strategies.

(k) Tolerance of Ambiguity:

Students who are more tolerant of ambiguity use significantly different learning
Strategies in some instances than did students who are less tolerant of ambiguity.

(2) Social Factor:

a)Students Activity in their Society:

We need to limit their society, so it does not disturb their study. We can choose
Activities that help promote their learning, like course, group discussion, etc.

b) Mass Media:

The examples of mass media are movies, theater, radio, television, newspaper,
Magazine, etc. We need to give wise guidance and control as parents and Educators, in
family, school and society.

c) Companionship:

Friends have greater influence at this age. The students make relation with good
Friends. It will have more positive impact than negative.
d) Social Interaction:

Social interaction also impacts their study. Many kinds of people are around them and
they need to choose the right ones.

Question No 5:

Differentiate between role-play and simulation. Discuss the use of

each for making teaching learning process effective at elementary
level.

Answer:
Difference between role-play and Simulations:

There is a difference between simulations (where students act out real-life situations, for
example the student checks in at ―the airport‖, but students do play themselves) and
role plays where students take on different characters. In a role play, for example, one
student may be asked to take on the role of ―an angry landowner‖ in a role play which is
concerned with discussing the possible construction of a new road. Another may be
asked to play the role of the ―road company representative‖. Role plays will thus require
more― imagination‖ on the part of the student to be able to get ―into‖ the role. Some
students will find being asked to play a different person in a role play quite liberating.
Some students who are normally quite shy can open up considerably in a
role play lesson. The teacher, though, must attempt to maintain the ―pretend‖ part of the
simulations and role plays: i.e. the students ARE in an airport and not the classroom.
Teachers can aid this process by use of regalia and other props. Students who don‘t
enter into the ‗fantasy world‘ can ruin it for everyone else.
Teacher intrusion must be kept to an absolute minimum during role plays and
simulations….preferably, zero. We use role plays to allow students to test out learnt
language in as realistic a situation as possible. They are, in a sense, a halfway
house between a sterileclassroom practice activity and the often frightening reality of th
e realworld for students. Students can thus feel free to experiment with their language in
a safe environment. Teacher intrusion is possible if the participating students, for
example, are not understanding at all what they should be doing. Otherwise, teacher
input should be left for the post-activity feedback session. Feedback on what students
have just done is vital. The role-play or simulation
could be videotaped or recorded for example, which would allow a more detailed and th
ususeful analysis of their performances. Students need to see this as an important part
of self-evaluation. If students can learn to appreciate the weaknesses of their
performance ,they will only benefit. A student who says ―he asked me about the ticket
prices and I tripped up over the numbers again – I need to focus on that‖ is one who is
well aware of where future performance needs to improve. The priority in the mind of
the teacher ,though, should remain communicative efficacy. Long feedback sessions of
the mistaken use of the present perfect during the role play can be left for another time.
The more natural setting of a well set-up role play can also be used to introduce the
unpredictability which makes communicating in the real world so daunting for many
foreign language learners. This can be done either with the teacher playing ―rogue‖
characters or handing out a couple of unusual role cards to other students. Teacher
should seek to mix things up if you feel the simulations and role-plays are becoming
too predictable for the class. As we said before, the safe environment offered by role pla
ysmeans a few surprises can quite safely be thrown at students to see how they cope.

There is a difference between simulations (where students act out real-life situations, for
example the student checks in at ―the airport‖, but students do play themselves) and
role plays where students take on different characters. In a role play, for example, one
student may be asked to take on the role of ―an angry landowner‖ in a role play which is
concerned with discussing the possible construction of a new road. Another may be
asked to play the role of the ―road company representative‖. Role plays will thus require
more ―imagination‖ on the part of the student to be able to get ―into‖ the role.
Some students will find being asked to play a different person in a role play quite
liberating. Some students who are normally quite shy can open up considerably in a role
play lesson. The teacher, though, must attempt to maintain the ―pretend‖ part of the
simulations and role plays: i.e. the students ARE in an airport and not the classroom.
Teachers can aid this process by use of regalia and other props. Students who don‘t
enter into the ‗fantasy world‘ can ruin it for everyone else.

Teacher intrusion must be kept to an absolute minimum during role plays and
simulations….preferably, zero. We use role plays to allow students to test out learnt
language in as realistic a situation as possible. They are, in a sense, a halfway house
between a sterile classroom practice activity and the often frightening reality of the real
world for students. Students can thus feel free to experiment with their language in a
safe environment. Teacher intrusion is possible if the participating students, for
example, are not understanding at all what they should be doing. Otherwise, teacher
input should be left for the post-activity feedback session.

Feedback on what students have just done is vital. The role-play or simulation could be
videotaped or recorded for example, which would allow a more detailed and thus useful
analysis of their performances. Students need to see this as an important part of self
evaluation. If students can learn to appreciate the weaknesses of their performance,
they will only benefit. A student who says ―he asked me about the ticket prices and I
tripped up over the numbers again – I need to focus on that‖ is one who is well aware of
where future performance needs to improve. The priority in the mind of the teacher,
though, should remain communicative efficacy. Long feedback sessions of the mistaken
use of the present perfect during the role play can be left for another time.

The more natural setting of a well set-up role play can also be used to introduce the
unpredictability which makes communicating in the real world so daunting for many
foreign language learners. This can be done either with the teacher playing ―rogue‖
characters or handing out a couple of unusual role cards to other students. Teachers
should seek to mix things up if you feel the simulations and role-plays are becoming too
predictable for the class. As we said before, the safe environment offered by role plays
means a few surprises can quite safely be thrown at students to see how they cope.

The Role of the Teacher

The teacher must first of all be convinced of what she is doing. She must have the
conviction that drama can be an effective tool in language teaching. She must have
clear objectives as to her role and the use of dramatic activities in achieving her goals.
She is the one who sets the mood of the class. She must change her attitude towards
her role in the classroom. In the drama classroom she needs to be less domineering
and gradually withdraw. Her main function should be that of an initiator controlling but
not directing the situation. Her rapport with the students is important. The students
should feel at ease and relaxed in the classroom. Certain warming activities can help to
achieve this. This will be discussed later.

Although the teacher is to slowly withdraw from the main scene, she still needs to be in
control of all that is going on in class. She can still do this without appearing
domineering if she has clear objectives and has prepared herself thoroughly. She must
give clear instructions to the students to carry out their various tasks. She must also
have close control of time so that her plans can be carried out accordingly. Thus do not
be over ambitious in the aims of the lessons.

For lower level or weaker classes, there is a need for language preparation before the
class. Lists of words, phrases, functions and sentence types, which are relevant to the
activities to be carried out, have to be prepared before hand. These have to be
presented to the students before the activities so that they can use them as aids/tools in
their tasks.

Role of the Learner:

In recent years there has been a move towards the ―whole-person approach. The
learner thus becomes the centre of focus and at the centre of the language learning
process. This is influenced by the ―effective humanistic approach‖ to language teaching.
With this in mind, language learning must therefore appeal to the language learner
intellectually and emotionally. Stevick (1980), states that language learning must appeal
to the creative, intuitive aspect of personality as well as the conscious and the rational
part.

Drama activities provide opportunities for active student participation. The activities
involve the student‘s whole personality and not merely his mental process. Effective
learning takes place as the student involves himself in the tasks and is motivated to use
the target language. As he uses the language, he becomes more aware of his ability to
use the language and this will hopefully increase his motivation to learn.

In drama activities, the student is encouraged to discuss, evaluate and describe the
activities. He has to explain, interpret and make decisions. The student thus has little
time to be idle or daydream for he is an active participant in the lesson. Students may
take some time to get used to this active role and the teacher may have to slowly but
firmly initiate this change in the role and even attitudes