ACTIVITIES THAT HELP STUDENTS LEARN FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND IDENTIFYING THE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF A LESSON
PLAN
Kipchakova Sanobar
teacher of Samarkand institute of economics and services
Orzikulova Diyora student of Samarkand institute of economics and service
Annotation. This article discusses the ways of identifying different components of a lesson plan and provides some tips for improving language teaching. Also, it describes possible solutions for dealing with the anticipated problems.
Key words. important components, assumptions, anticipated problems, feeling confident, solutions, teaching aids, materials, equipment, procedures, timing, interaction patterns, individually, in pairs, in groups, as a whole class.
A lesson plan is a set of notes that helps us to think through what we are going to teach and how we are going to teach it. It also guides us during and after the lesson. We can identify the most important components (or parts) of a lesson plan by thinking carefully about our learners, what we want our learners to do and how we want them to do it. So, a lesson plan is probably most like a road map or a series of road signs, for example something that shows us where we are going and how we are going to get there - although we may sometimes find that during the journey we have to take a different route!
The main components of a lesson plan show us what the lesson is for (the aims). what the teacher and the learners will do during the lesson and how they will do it (the procedures). other components of the plan, for example, the timing of different stages or the profile of the group help us to think about possible problems and remind us of things we need to remember about the learners.
Here are some ways of a lesson plan that help the teacher: Before the lesson writing down the aims and the procedures for each stage of the lesson helps us to make sure that we have planned the clearest and most logical sequence to enable us to achieve those alms. During the lesson-the plan can also help us to check timing (the amount of time we plan for each stage) and to check that the lesson is following the sequence we decided on and remind us what to do next.
After the lesson-we can keep the plan as a record of what happened, making any changes necessary to show how the lesson was different from the plan. we can then use the plan and notes to help plan the next lesson.
When we plan a lesson, we ask ourselves a number of questions about the lesson plan components.
Lesson plan components: S class profile-who are we planning the lesson for?
S timetable fit-how is the lesson connected to the last lesson and/or the next one?
S main aim(s)-what do we want learners to learn or to be able to do by the end of the lesson?
S subsidiary aims-what else do learners need to be able to do during the lesson to enable them to achieve the main aim?
S stage aims -what is the purpose of each stage of the lesson?
S personal aims-what aspects of our own teaching do we want to develop or improve?
S assumptions-what do we think learners already know or can already do related to the aims? anticipated problems what may learners find difficult in the lesson? what may they not be used to doing? what may they not feel confident about?
S possible solutions-what action will we take to deal with the anticipated problems?
S teaching aids, materials, equipment-what should we remember to take to the lesson?
S Procedures- what are the tasks and activities for each stage?
S Timing-what length of time will we need for each stage?
S interaction patterns-in which ways will learners work at different stages, eg. individually, in pairs, in groups, as a whole class?
S Homework-what further work will learners need to do before the next lesson?
Some lesson plans may not include all of these components, but when we're planning lessons, it's always important to ask ourselves these questions, so all the components together give us a good way of checking that have thought about our learners and about the lesson, and anticipated any difficulties that might arise, for example, we might plan a mingle as a way of practising specific question forms, anticipate that students may find a quick way of completing the task without practising the target language, and work out some extra instructions to remind them what they have to do.
S language teaching classroom
S look carefully at this lesson plan, which aims to introduce and practise language for describing people. then read the points below.
S lesson plan components
S level and number of learners / class profile-24 students at intermediate (b2) level
S timetable fit-students have already worked on simple descriptions of people
S main aim(s)-to extend range of vocabulary for describing people oral fluency practice
S subsidiary aims-students use appropriate language for basic physical descriptions
S assumptions-students can use presnt simple & past simple to describe habits and past events
S anticipated problem-students may be unwilling to repeat the same task in the last stage of the lesson
Possible solution if necessary, suggest that students report descrption from the original partner rather than repeating their own when we make a lesson plan, we need to be sure about the learning rationale (or reasons) for the plan, to ask ourselves how the procedures will help to achieve our main aims and to make sure there are strong connections between the different stages.
We also need to build in variety, how we can use different activity types. language skills and interaction patterns, learners of all ages need variety, but this is especially important for younger learners, who need frequent changes of activity.
A lesson plan can include stages which we can leave out if necessary, we can also include some different possibilities in a lesson plan, e.g. activities for differentiation or an extra activity to use if learners take less time than expected to complete a task, or if we are not sure how well parts of the plan will work.
It's a good idea to keep lesson plans as simple as possible, so notes are better than full sentences, and there's no need to describe every step in great detail however. we may want to write down some important things in a complete form - for example, prompts for drilling, questions to check learners understanding instructions, etc.
A lesson plan can be divided into two parts, these are called background and procedure, and you can see this division in the lesson plan above, the components in the background come from thinking carefully about who our students are what they need and what our aims are. The answers to these questions provide a context that helps us to write the procedure part of the plan.
Also, motivation plays an active role while identifying the most important components of lesson. Motivation is the thoughts and feelings which make us want to and continue to want to do something and which turn our wishes into action and it is very important in language learning. It is one of the key factors that helps make language learning successful.
There are several different factors (things that influence) which can influence motivation. They include:
The usefulness to us of knowing the language well. Many people want to learn a language because it can help them achieve practical things such as finding a (better) job, getting onto a course of study, getting good marks from the teacher, or booking hotel rooms.
Our interest in the target language culture (the culture of the language we are leaming). We might want to get really good at Russian, for example, so that we can read books by famous Russian authors, or understand the world which produced their great artists and composers. This is learning a language because of interest in culture with a capital C.I.E. high culture. Many people are also interested in culture with a small c. They want to learn Japanese, for example, so they can understand Manga comics better, or learn English to read about their favourite celebrities. We may also be interested in the target culture because we actually want to become part of that culture, perhaps because we are moving to the country. In this case we might be interested in aspects of the country's customs and lifestyle, and see the target language as a key to understanding and becoming part of that culture.
Feeling good about learning the language. If we are successful at something that success makes us want to continue doing it and achieve greater things. Managing a to communicate in a foreign language can make us want to communicate more and better. Confidence (feeling that we can do things successfully, learner autonomy/independence (feeling responsible for and in control of our own learning) and a sense of achievement being successful at something we have worked an are all part of feeling good about learning a language. If we think we are good at something we want to do it.
Encouragement and support from others. We may live in a country or family or go to a school where learning a foreign language is highly valued and much encouraged. This helps us to realise the importance of the foreign language and gives us emotional support as we learn. People who live in a country where people can't see the point of learning a foreign language may have little motivation to learn a foreign language.
References
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