English Didactics and Preparation for Teaching Practice

Recommended Prerequisites

Completion of the 1st-semester course in English Didactics.

Teaching Methods

Teaching methods include:
- Expository presentations by the teacher
- Study of practical examples of texts and other materials
- Delivery and observation of short sequences within lessons (microteaching)
- Research and presentations by students
- Completion of tasks by students.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, learners should be able to:
- design coherently staged lesson plans with appropriate analysis of language to be taught as well as clearly defined aims, showing clear awareness of the different components of a lesson plan;
- make principled selections and use of pedagogical materials, including teacher resources such as grammars and dictionaries;
- use English appropriately for a range of classroom functions, displaying awareness of common patterns of classroom interaction;
- identify, analyse and provide effective feedback on common learner errors;
- display awareness of a range of assessment types and tasks, and design tasks for classroom assessment;
- microteach a short sequence of classroom activities and provide observational feedback to colleagues.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

The syllabus includes the following topics:
- lesson planning: language analysis for lesson preparation, anticipating problems, defining lesson aims, structuring lesson stages, identifying the different components of a lesson plan, planning individual lessons and sequences of lessons;
- researching teaching materials (including digital resources), and developing criteria for the selection and exploitation of materials, as well as using resources such as grammars and dictionaries;
- analysis of classroom interaction using recorded extracts;
- identification, analysis and correction of common learner errors;
- lesson observation (microteaching): criteria for analysing classroom performance, observation tasks, principles for reflective practice;
- introduction to theory and practice of language assessment, identification of different assessment types and tasks, designing tasks for classroom tests.

Head Lecturer(s)

Celeste Maria de Oliveira Costa Correia Simões

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Oral presentation : 20.0%
Project: 35.0%
Mini Tests: 45.0%

Bibliography

Dudeney, Gavin; Hockly, Nicky & Mark Pegrum (2013). Digital Literacies. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English. Harlow: Pearson Longman.
Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Pearson Longman.
Hughes, A. (2002). Testing for Language Teachers.
Mackay, C. (2019). Learning to Plan Modern Languages Lessons. Understanding the Basic Ingredients. London: Routledge.
Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.
Wajnryb, R. (1993). Classroom Observation Tasks. A Resource Book for LanguageTeachers and Trainers. Cambridge: CUP.
Wallace, M.; Tzong-Ho, Bau; Denis, Fred Simon (1991). Training Foreign Language Teachers: A Reflective Approach. Cambridge: CUP.