REPORT:

TEACHING ESL-
UPPER INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED

Raymond Winterfield
04/11/2009

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Table of Contents
1.
Table of Contents.................................................................................................................2
Lesson Plan...................................................................................................................24
LANGUAGE OF ‘TRENDS’ ......................................................................................24
Language focus lesson stages and objectives..................................................................................26
Receptive skills focus lesson stages and objectives........................................................................26
Lesson Stage and objective...........................................................................................27

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CLASSROOM TEACHER TALK CASE STUDY

1. Introduction

This study has arisen out of an interest in professional development based on in-class
research, teacher self-reflection and recognition of the practical advantages of continuous
self-development in the area of ESL teaching and learning. It explores the amount, type
and practice of teacher talk in an ESL upper-intermediate to advanced level class at an
international English school for students intending to undertake further bridging courses
at diploma level in the College, for future entry into a full degree-level business studies
course at university. The purpose of this study then, is to provide an analysis of teacher
talk in the classroom in order to extend understanding of the interactional processes
operating in the classroom. (Walsh, p. 65), so that as a result, self-evaluation of teacher
talk (SETT) may also occur on the part of the teacher through critical self-reflection on
current and potential practices involved. The aim is to identify and progress toward
improved practices of teaching and learning in the classroom generally, by changing the
way the teacher talks in class, rather than stop the teacher-talk (TT) completely (Lecture
6, TESOL Methods, University of Adelaide, 2009).

Implicit in the study are a number of underlying questions for analysis. These are:
 What mode of teaching and learning was primarily used in the lesson/excerpt, based
on the work of Walsh (2007) and how is this manifested?
 To what extent did the mode, interaction patterns and language features used facilitate
or hinder learner understanding. In other words, ‘What constitutes appropriate teacher
talk in a particular mode?’ (Walsh, 2007, p. 9)
 To what extent are the teacher’s educational philosophy, attitudes and expectations
indicated in the lesson/excerpt?
 What was the relationship between the teacher’s use of language to pedagogic goals as
indicated by the interactional features of the mode used.

In general, the main body of the study will have the following format:
 A background literature review to put the study in the context of other research on
teacher-talk
 Context and description of the lesson/excerpt
 Research questions and areas of interest in the study
 Methodology used to collect and analyse the data of the lesson/excerpt
 A combined quantitative and qualitative analysis of the lesson/excerpt
 Findings and discussion
 Implications for teaching

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2. Background

There are differing views on the way teacher-talk may facilitate or hinder leaning in the
classroom. The views of Kramsch (1985) and Walsh (2007) can be used to represent
parts of this divergence. In simple terms, Kramsch emphasised the use the target
language for classroom management , ask real questions, not display questions, build/co-
construct the topic with the students, encourage long student turns, treat corrections as
‘pragmatic/interactional adjustments’, respond to meaning,, not evaluation of form, and
reference student contributions throughout talk (Kramsch, 1985). On the other hand,
Walsh (2007) emphasised the need for a number of modes of teacher-student interaction,
‘which acknowledged that meanings and actions are co-constructed through interaction of
the participants, and which facilitated the description of interactional features, especially
of teacher language’ (2007:63). His four modes of ‘managerial’, ‘materials’, ‘skills and
systems’ and ‘classroom context’ are characterised in detail in terms of pedagogic goals
and interactional features (2007:66). These modes can be used by the teacher to either
reflect on TT or to actually use one or more modes of interaction as a guide for teaching
and learning purposes. As we shall see later, the lesson/excerpt has many of the hallmarks
of Walsh’s ‘materials’ and ‘skills and systems’ modes in combination. Where Kramsch,
Walsh and other socio-linguists would agree is probably in the area of effect. As Walsh
puts it when referring to one of his studies, ‘certain interactional features facilitated
learning opportunity, while others appeared to hinder opportunities for learning. That is,
depending on a teacher’s pedagogic goal, choice of language could either construct or
obstruct learning opportunity’. (Walsh, p2007, p. 64). Nevertheless, could there be a
situation where the choice of language used by the teacher in the classroom is less based
on the pedagogic goals and more based on the teacher’s philosophy, attitudes and
expectations of the students, and even based on the simple fact of ‘teacher-style’?

Dwyer (1989, p. 74) is inclined to think so, although all educationalists would agree that
pedagogic goals are still important. In his view though, ‘It seems that we set out to
impose our own definition on the situation by talking most of the time’. His view is that
teachers control talk, control what constitutes knowledge, decisions, relevance of
utterances and talk time (1989:75). He cites the fact that two-thirds of talk in a classroom
is teacher talk. His comments appear to relate specifically to primary and secondary
school settings. Some of what he states could be said to be true for the tertiary sector
also, but in the tertiary setting, there is more flexibility within the class/seminar group
interaction in terms of turn-taking, talk time, decisions and the like. However, what
Walsh states about interactive talk holds true for all sectors of classroom teaching and
learning in that ‘…interactants’ talk is context-shaped by a previous contribution and
context-renewing by subsequent ones; understanding is indicated by the production of the
‘next’ action’ (Heritage, 1997: 162-163 in Walsh, 2007, p. 64). Heritage citation/book not
found) He follows this up by saying interactional patterns vary according to the
instructional activity, that is, that the mode used is ‘made up of specific interactional
features related to instructional goals (2007:64). Dwyer’s contention (1989:75-76) that
teacher talk can hinder learning is summed up as follows:

A new class is not a clean slate passively waiting for a teacher to inscribe his will
on it. It is an ongoing social system with very definite expectations about

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 appropriate teacher behaviour. If these are not confirmed, the pupils will protest
and the renegotiated patterns of behaviours may not prove to be just what the
teacher intended.’

Dwyer’s views about the influence of the teacher's philosophy, attitudes and expectations
as realised through teacher talk, are also found in the work of Rosa Maria Funderburk
Razo (Universidad Juarez del Estado de Duango, 2007). Put quite simply, a teacher’s
pedagogical beliefs have been built up over time and have ‘subjective and objective
dimensions’ (Razo, 2007). She gives two examples of pre-conceptions teachers may
have, for example, the opinion that grammar errors should be corrected immediately and,
that collaboration is more effective than competition. Similarly, it could be said that most
teachers believe that the teacher is a guide and a modeller, who controls, passes control
over to others and then regains it and also, that the teacher is central to interaction within
the classroom (Razo, 2007). As a corollary, classroom interaction has often been seen as
‘the major variable affecting SLA in formal settings’ (Ellis, 1985, p. 141). Razo has
suggested that this is independent of the methodological approach to a lesson. This also
may be seen in the lesson/excerpt under study.

3. Methodology

Whether to follow a quantitative or qualitative methodology emerged during preliminary

collection and collating of the data (video and transcript). There were certain patterns
across the transcript and particular words and expressions (such as ‘OK’) seemed to be
prominent throughout, which seemed to lend themselves to quantitative analysis, while
the language-sequence patterns (e.g. IRF), the vocabulary and expressions used and
structures in other instances seemed to call for some sort of qualitative analysis, also.
Swann says (1994:30), ‘In practice the distinction is not always so clear-cut: a qualitative
approach may lead you to identify certain categories of talk which you then wish to
quantify; a quantitative analysis may suggest something is going on that you wish to
explore in more detail using a qualitative approach.’ In fact, in this study a combination
of both quantitative and qualitative methods appears. It is indeed, a truism that in terms
of the observation, transcription and analysis of the excerpt, ‘…no observation is entirely
free from interpretation: what you focus on and how you describe events will already
depend on an implicit interpretive framework’ (Swann 1994:31).

3.1 Context and description of the lesson

The setting

The setting for the lesson was a classroom of 16 Chinese first year university students
from an university in Wu Xi city located in south-west China. They had come to the
English College as a single class group having been in the same class(es) in China and as
such, there was an unified, close-knit group mentality. The English language levels of
the members ranged from IELTS 4.5 – 6.0. The course was a 13 week course and the
lesson from which the excerpt was taken was conducted in Week 8.

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The context

The lesson aimed to cover the concepts of comparison, contrast and similarity and was
based on a chapter in a suggested resource booklet for this unit. Resources were
generally necessarily multi-varied, although not always listed, because there was not a
class text book in use. The names of a few resources were listed in the ‘curriculum’ but
generally, it was up to the teacher to seek out resources considered appropriate to the
topic. The resource for this lesson was listed, however.

Although the main aim was to practice listening skills with audio support, there were
opportunities for other activities and exercises, including gap-fill, pair work interpreting a
graph or diagram, vocabulary/phrases work, true and false exercises, listening
comprehension questions, and an open-ended questions section. Several of these
activities were undertaken before an after the excerpt recording/transcript of the study.

The 20 minutes of the excerpt itself, was taken from a section of the lesson after several
short listening exercises. For consolidation, and as part of the expectations that the
students should be competent in reading, describing and interpreting graphs, a number of
them were used to this end, whereby the students studied the graph(s) and answered
questions orally in class. Three graphs were read and described, followed by
interpretation by means of a questions-answer activity for each (See Appendix C: Lesson
Plan). The graphs displayed related to:

a. The number of hospital bed per 100 000 inhabitant in a number of countries
b. The number of doctors per 100 000 inhabitants in 1979 in a number of countries
c. The number of televisions per 100 inhabitants in a number of countries.

The students were asked to compare, contrast and see similarities in the graphs covering
the topics as in a.-c. above. The excerpt principally covers an activity whereby, after
listening to an audio session regarding part b. above and discussion of it, students were
then given two countries to compare or contrast, using appropriate ‘compare, contrast or
similarity language’ to explain their interpretation. They could do this individually or in
pairs for later presentation to the class. Typical language utterances ‘expected’ to be
included were ones such as, ‘much lower/ higher than’ etc., ‘considerably better/ higher/
lower/ more/ less than’, a little lower/ higher’ etc., etc.

As can be seen from scrutiny of the transcript and analysis itself, the primary pattern of
interaction was of the Initiate-Response-Feedback (IRF) type, an Initiate-Response-
Evaluation (IRE) type or, some combination or extension of these (e.g. I-R-I-R-F,
IRF/E). In addition, several other interesting language features emerged from closer
viewing and analysis, such as the use of ‘OK’, ‘all right’ and some clichéd expressions.
These will be referred to later.

During the 20 minutes of the excerpt, a digital video camera was located at the front desk
near a computer. Initially, most students knew it was there but since it was not directly in
their line of sight, they seemed to not notice it after a while and continued the lesson in an
apparently natural manner. This may also have been due to the fact that on at least two

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occasions previously, groups had been openly video-ed, using camera and tripod during
class talks and class debates, which were then viewed later for review and discussion
(and for ‘entertainment’?)

Items of interest for later study and analysis came out of the process of transcribing the
video tape. As Swann puts it, sometimes ‘… categories may emerge from close scrutiny
of data… These categories emerged from playing, and replaying, a video-recording of the
interaction. Such categories are not ‘naturally’ present in the data, but will depend upon
your own research interests.’ (Swann, p. 47). The talk was recorded, transcribed and then
given preliminary analysis in a more ‘open-ended way’. Interesting aspects of the data
were noted down for further exploration. ‘What count as interesting aspects will depend
upon the questions the researcher is concerned to investigate, but sometimes points
emerge that are quite unexpected.’ (Swann, p. 47). In the final transcript, a standard
layout of speech was chosen to track the speakers’ contributions and punctuation was
kept simple to reduce the tendency to give the conversation text a particular interpretation
prematurely or as Swann puts it, Beware of ‘premature and impressionistic analysis of the
data’ (Swann, p.39). Very few non-verbal signs or actions were included in the transcript
but some explanations/comments were placed in a ‘Comments’ column.
(See Appendix B: Summary of Language Interactions and Features)
).

4. Analysis of Transcription: Description, discussion and findings

Walsh’s framework of using modes to analyse classroom interaction formed the

background for analysis. Within any classroom verbal interaction, he identifies four
general patterns of utterances, particularly turn-taking, which he calls ‘modes’. His four
frameworks of modes are, the Managerial, Material, Skills and systems, and Classroom
context. During the preliminary collation and interpretation of the transcript, it was noted
that the Materials mode and the Skills and systems mode both seemed to dominate the
conversation text. In general terms the Skills and systems mode provides language
practice in relation to the particular language system (phonology, grammar, vocab,
discourse, language skill (reading, listening, writing, speaking) (Walsh, 2007:73).
These two modes were chosen as the ones upon which to focus attention. Each mode has
two components: the pedagogic goals of the mode and the associated interactional
features. These are set out in the table below.

Table 4.1 L2 Two of Walsh’s four modes of classroom interaction (Walsh, 2007:66)

Mode Pedagogic goals Interactional features

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 To provide language practice around
Materials a piece of material/text
To elicit responses in relation to the
material/text
To check and display answers
IRF pattern predominance
Extensive use of display
Questions
Form-focussed feedback

To clarify when necessary Corrective repair

To evaluate contributions Use of scaffolding

Mode Pedagogic goals Interactional features

Skills and systems To enable the learners to produce Use of direct repair
correct forms
To enable learners to manipulate the Use of scaffolding
target language
To provide corrective feedback Extended teacher turns

To provide learners with practice in Display questions

sub-skills
To display correct answers Teacher echo

Clarification requests

Form-focused feedback

The next step in analysing the text was to determine what instances of the interactional
features the two modes of Materials, and Skills and systems could be found. For
example, nine instances of the IRF pattern were found. IRF patterns could be found at:
Lines: 20-24, L31-33, L41- 51, L66-69, L(98-109), L121-131, L165-184, L203-212,
L212-… etc. Looking at Lines 66-69, a typical example of the IRF pattern appears thus:

T: What’s an inhabitant? [I]

S: A resident. [R]

T: A resident. All right. Good. OK. [F] (and Evaluation, also.)

Meanwhile, there is a variation on the typical IRF pattern, in the form of IRIRF. In Lines
41-51 we find the following verbal exchange:

T: Belgium. So, doctors… I think you said something like… the doctors in… where was
it?... [I]

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S: Denmark [R]

T: Denmark… are… what? … [I]

S: … are slightly less than… than… [R]

T: Belgium? Slightly less than Belgium? Ah… Where’s Denmark? Oh, there. Oh, yes. I
see. Hard to see though. Yes, you are correct… you are correct. Did you hear that
everybody? Jiacinta said… [F]

There were 9 instances of the IRF pattern of classroom interaction, fulfilling one of the
criteria of the two modes chosen for the study and indicating that the teacher was
referring the learner to specific material/text or parts of the text in a lockstep manner and
using the language feature of transitional markers such as, ‘Yes, you are correct’, ‘Did
you hear that, everyone? etc. In another IRF sequence (Lines 66-69), the transitional
markers, ‘All right’, ‘Good’ and ‘OK’ are clearly evident. The Skills and systems mode
is evident in the same IRF sequence in that corrective feedback is provided through
teacher echo of the word, ‘Denmark’ and then finishing the answer for the student with
the words ‘Belgium’ Slightly less than Belgium?, which could also be seen as a form of
scaffolding the learner’s answer to display a response. The teacher’s response became an
extended ‘teacher turn’ as further explanation was given through reformulation or
rephrasing of the learner’s contribution (See lines 46-52). Line 86 is another good
example of the use of transitional markers (‘All right’, ‘A good answer’, ‘Would you
please listen to Ann’s again?’

Meanwhile, clarification requests as found in lines 102-103 for example (Well, missed a
word. What was it? … What was that word you missed?) point to the use of the
Materials and the Skills and systems modes within the 20 minutes interaction of the
excerpt. These clarification requests encourage the learner to reformulate (perhaps with
prompting from the teacher) by rephrasing the response. As articulated by Walsh
(2007:74):

Typically, the interaction in this mode follows a lockstep organisation and the
IRF sequence frequently occurs. Turn-taking and topic selection are determined
by the target language and responsibility for managing the turn-taking usually
lies with the teacher.

And so, it is the case as shown by the selected examples above. The teacher control of
the situation is further shown by the feeding in of ‘essential language as it is needed’ as in
lines 79-81 (T: Yes. A little less doctors…per?...; S: Per…er…one hundred and thousand.
and again in line 114 (T: OK. Again…words to use…’although’. Although sales were
down…) By these types of ‘direct repair’ the teacher is wanting the student to produce
accurate forms by realising that there is a ‘problem’ or more positively, that there is an
alternate way or alternate language form. During the excerpt, there were instances when
the teacher wrote on the whiteboard (WB) to scaffold an expression or sequence of
utterances, partially indicated in lines 55-58. Similarly, an example of writing two

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sentences being made into one on the WB is indicated in lines 106-113 (the word,
‘Although’ was written on the WB and discussed.).

Furthermore, there are also short injections of mode switching, from Materials/Skills and
system modes into Managerial model, as evidenced by the extensive use of explicit
imperatives (direct commands) and implicit imperatives (indirect commands). These are
manifested by utterance like, ‘Finish off the sentence you are on…’, ‘Listen to her’,
‘Read your sentence again and change it’, ‘Look at these two sentences’, etc. and ‘Would
you like to read yours, please?’, ‘Next one, please…’, ‘Can’t hear you’ (‘Speak up!’), etc.
(See Appendices A & B).

Typical of the Skills and systems mode is the use of teacher prompts for language
practice (Walsh, 2007, p. 76). Consequently, there can be found 25 instances of teacher
prompts, usually in the form of questions. An example of this is found at lines 30-31,
(Note that in the transcript there are two instances of lines 30-32) where the teacher says,
‘You mean the other way round, huh?’ Other typical examples occur at lines 169, 204,
208 and 211. These prompts mostly occur when the learner has given his or her
contribution, which is evaluated by the teacher, either for acceptance of the utterance or
for repair of the utterance, usually by reformulation, rephrasing or paraphrasing as noted
earlier. Prompts such as ‘Say this with me, please’, ‘Write it down’, ‘ Look at the word
Ann used’, ‘Don’t forget the…’, ‘Tell me what it shows you’ and the like, usually require
a further response from the student, whether verbal or written, all directed toward further
learner practice of the language features or concepts. Paraphrasing of student responses
aimed at enhancing language practice occur in Lines 30-31, 46-51, L61-66, and L91-95.

The presence and number of teacher ‘encouragement utterances’ are consistent with the
Skills and systems mode of presentation, as a form of evaluating contributions. One can
over-praise students and although it is claimed to be better to respond to meaning, rather
than evaluate the form, the teacher felt the students would benefit from frequent, but
judicious personal encouragement, due to the nature of the students who had come from a
culture of reticence to speak out openly and a reliance on the learning of English in
written form. ‘Affective, cultural, linguistic, educational and situational causes have
been identified as reasons for Asian learners’ reticence in English-speaking settings
(Chen, 2003 in Motteram in Mickan, p. 103). Sometimes, the teacher can make such a
decision based on the developing relationship and class dynamics with the students and
choose to allow teacher/personality style to prevail in some instance, but with constant
review of the practice. There were 15 instances of ‘encouragement utterances’ and some
of these are shown below. Similarly, pronunciation support also aims to encourage
language practice in keeping with the Skills and systems mode (Walsh, 2007, p.76) and 8
instances of pronunciation support for the students occurred in the excerpt (e.g.
‘Belgium’ at line 41; ‘the’ at line 91; and ‘Complacent’/’Comp-la-cent’ at line 155.).

Examples of teacher ‘encouragement utterances’

L38: Good answer! Very good, L47: Yes, you are correct… you are correct, L69: All
right. Good. OK, L72: hmh…hmh…, L81: OK. All right. Good, L86: All right. A

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good answer, L86-87: It was a good answer, L106: All right, L121: Yes, good, L135:
So… good!

A number of other teacher interactional behaviours provide further interesting material

for analysis. These interactions probably fall into the realm of teacher style or perhaps
even teacher idiosyncratic language behaviour, rather than any “Walshian” mode and
perhaps the best that could be said as far as any analysis goes, is that the teacher should
aim to avoid them in the future as in most cases, they do little to enhance learners’
apprehension of the language features being taught and in fact, in some cases, introduce
distractors to the learning process. Teacher repetitions in this study usually did not
reinforce a student’s contribution and during explanations, possibly created confusion in
some cases. There were 7 instances of unnecessary repetition and the following are some
examples of what could be called ‘close-proximity repetitions, i.e. repetitions which
occurred within a very short space of time in an utterance.

[See L92-93: whereas….whereas…whereas… & L47: Yes, you are correct… you are
correct; L55: Try……. Try……; L63-64:…compared to the countries of Europe …
compared to the countries of Europe…; L86-87: Would you please listen to…; Would
you please listen because….; L96-97: Look at these two sentences. Look at these two
sentences; L156-158: Write it down…, write them down…write these things down.]

Related to unnecessary repetitions of course, are teacher clichés, the sometimes annoying,
habitual utterances teachers tack on to the start or end of sentences, (possibly to ‘buy’
thinking time?). Cliches such as ‘all right’ (18 instances) and ‘OK’ (29 instances) and
‘So’ at the beginning of an explanation (20 instances) obviously can be over-used,
although whether they cause a distraction to student learning is a moot point at this
juncture of the study. Nevertheless, to any observer they might be considered
unnecessary. Not withstanding that in general daily conversation, such clichés appear to
be a normal part of conversation and contribute to giving the interactants and the
conversation ‘personality’ and ‘liveliness’, in an academic setting or formal or semi-
formal learning situation, such clichés could be considered distracting and at least
unnecessary. Certainly, their over-use adds nothing to the learning situation.
Finally, in the excerpt there were 48 teacher turns in speaking (including some extended
teacher talk) and 42 student turns in speaking, which is a reasonable ratio, all things
considered. However, as the various language features and interactions have been
covered, such as explicit and implicit imperatives, IRF patterns, ‘encouragement
utterances’, teacher prompts, repetitions and clichés, several things become clear. Firstly,
teacher talk can be influential on the progress of learning. Secondly, unnecessary and
confusing teacher talk (including running commentary, not covered in this study) can be
an inhibitor of the learning process. Thirdly, an examination of the transcript reveals that,
although the teacher’s general philosophy seems to echo Walsh’s implicit philosophy
when he says, ‘Learning outcomes are typically achieved through tightly controlled turn-
taking and topic selection, determined by the teacher’ (Walsh, 2007:78), the similarity
may be only valid for this particular type of activity undertaken in this instance, use of
task-based materials, e.g. describing and interpreting a graph meant that ‘the learners’
attention is directed to features of the more natural-sounding text through the use of
prepared questions.’ (Thornbury, p. 290). In short, a task-based activity does not

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necessarily lend itself easily to a role-play conversation activity in the time available.
Furthermore, the fixation with role-play conversational activities in some circles, still
causes the question of ‘authenticity’ to arise. Student talk, including ‘free’ talk can be
combined with this particular task-based activity through discussion of the trends of a
graph, etc. and indeed, this was done in other parts of the lesson, accompanied by
supporting audio/listening activities. Finally, if a teacher takes the time to record, reflect
and improve their teacher talk in the ESL classroom, then both the learning environment
and the teaching/learning process can be enhanced dramatically.

5. Conclusion

The study was not examining learner reticence to respond, but on the type of language
used by the teacher in a materials and skills/system mode type excerpt of a lesson, to
examine language features for the purpose of providing reflection on how to eliminate
ones which do not contribute to learning opportunities and to consider how to substitute
or modify existing language features for more unambiguous ones and ones which do not
detract from the learning process.

The lesson was not designed to allow for a great deal of personal meaning-making
opportunities. Perhaps it could have. It certainly was not a class-context mode
interaction in the sense of the Walsh framework of modes of interaction. It was an
‘instructional conversation’ (Motteram, 2006, p. 103) An ‘IRF pattern of teacher-student
interaction will provide more opportunities for student learning.’ (Motteram, 2006:103)
because it leads to ‘instructional conversation’. Opportunity for the learner to question
the feedback was somewhat limited, however.

Learner reticence in ESL classrooms has been researched by Motteram and others, e.g.
Chen (2003) and Liu and Littlewood (1997). For future study however, perhaps the
influence and development of personal, teacher self-evaluation of teacher talk on
rectification strategies and the classroom results thereof, could be fruitfully undertaken to
provide an demonstrable example of improvement in professional practice. Such research
may add understanding to the question of to what extent could teacher talk itself
contribute to learner reticence?

6. References

Conlan, C (2008?) Planning and conducting research in the Australian ESL classroom.
1 In EA Journal, Volume 24, No. 1. Perth, Western Australia, Dept of Language and
Intercultural Education, Curtin University of Technology.
Ellis, R. 1985 Understanding second language acquisition, Oxford: Oxford University
2
Press.
Kramsch, C 1985 Classroom interaction and discourse options. Studies in Second
3
Language Acquisition, 7, 169-183.

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 Motteram, J. (2006). Why won’t they talk? An investigation into learner reticence in
ESL classrooms. In P. Mickan, I Petrescu & J. Timoney (Eds), Social practices,
4
pedagogy and language use: studies in socialisation (pp. 7-23). Adelaide: Lythrum
Press.
Razo, R. M. F. (2007). How do our beliefs shape our teacher talk? Powerpoint
presentation, Universidad Juarez del Estado de Durango, Centro Universitario de Auto-
5
Aprendizaje de Lenguas, accessed 02? October, 2009. <www.britishcouncil.org/mexico-
bbelt-memories-rosamariafunderburk-teachertalk-3.ppt>< funderburk_razo@yahoo.com.mx>
Swann, J. (1994). Observing and Recording Talk in Educational Settings. In D.
6 Graddol, J. Maybin and B. Stierer (Eds). Researching Language and Literacty in Social
Context, ( pp. 26-48). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Thornbury, S. & Slade, D. (2006). Teaching conversation: Approach, design, procedure
7 and process. In Conversation: From Description to Pedagogy (pp. 274-325).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Walsh, S. (2007). A framework for analysing classroom interaction. In Investigating
8
Classroom Discourse, (pp. 62-92). London, New York: Routledge.

7. Appendices

Appendix A: Transcript: Upper Intermediate ESL class 20 august 2009 [20 minutes]

Appendix B: Language interactions and features with examples

Appendix C: Lesson Plan

Appendix A:
Transcript: Upper Intermediate ESL class 20 august 2009 [20 minutes]
1 T: Ok. Be prepared to use them. Enjoy using them. Em… See it as a challenge. Considerably
2 more or less… than… So, we are comparing things. (Walks to and from WB). Now, at this
3 point, start to finish off. Try to tie it up. Make them simple sentences… using the comparative
4 or comparison words. (To Stephanie - quietly) Have you finished? (Standing at front waiting
5 for students to finish the written exercise) (Moves to door and opens it a little – room hot.
6 Takes a sheets off OHP and takes them to several students at the back)
7

8 S: [Inaudible talk between teacher and student. Walks back to front of room, over to computer.

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9 Some students talking excessively.)

10 T: Come on… You should be writing. Talk about it later, please, Frances. All right? We’re
11 doing something different at the moment.
12 Ok. Finish off the sentence you are on, even if you haven’t finished and we’ll move on. First
13 one. Damiano? Would you like to read yours, please? And everybody, look at your graph and
14 see if you can see the connection, the link, with what Damiano is saying, that it tallies with the
15 numbers on the graph, and that what he’s saying is true and… think about, because I’ll ask you,
16 what are some of the comparative words or phrases that he used. Damiano, away you go.
17

18 S: So, in Italy, the UK and much of (inaudible answer based on the graph-reading exercise)
19

20 T: Keep going… You did one sentence?

21 S: Ah… another… Compared to USA, … Ah…can see…number of doctors far more…

22 (inaudible answer)...has far more number of doctors…

24 T: Yes, far more. Ok. Very good. All right. Shirley?

25 S: Um…

26 T: Listen to her.

27 S: The number of doctors in Italy is considerably higher than… um… compared to Ireland, the
28 number of doctors in UK is slightly lower than Ireland.

29 T: Ah… … the UK?

30 S: Um…

31 T: UK and Ireland?

32 S: Er…

30 T: You said that the… the numbers of doctors in the UK is slightly lower (S: Um…) than in
31 Ireland? You mean the other way round, huh?

32 S: Ah…
33 T: You could say, you could change it by saying, it’s slightly more… slightly more… OK, very
34 good. All right… Ah…Cathy… Could you read one of your sentences, even if we’ve…very
35 similar. (Noise) Shh… Listen!

36 S: The number of doctors… in … UK…is more… is higher than the numbers of… the numbers
37 in Japan.

38 T: the numbers of doctors in… in Japan. Good answer! Very good. Jiacinta…one, please, just
39 one of your sentences.

40 S: The doctors in Denmark is slightly less that in… (inaudible) … Bel… Belgium. [Student
speaking very softly.]

14
41 T: Belgium. So, doctors… I think you said something like… the doctors in… where was it?...
42

43 S: Denmark

44 T: Denmark… are… what? …

45 S: … are slightly less than… than…

46 T: Belgium? Slightly less than Belgium? Ah… Where’s Denmark? Oh, there. Oh, yes. I see.
47 Hard to see though. Yes, you are correct… you are correct. Did you hear that everybody?
48 Jiacinta said… That the doct …the number of doctors in Denmark will, looking at Denmark
49 there on the graph, is slightly less (emphasised) because it’s just below it. Belgium has so
50 much… Denmark…yeah, quite close. So, the two, but Denmark has slightly less than Belgium.
51 Read one more for me, please…er…Shirley… er…sorry, not Shirley…er… Amy?
52

53 S: Um…comparing… comparing the other countries, Japan had the (inaudible) lowest number
54 of doctors…

55 T: OK, comparing… (moves to WB and writes)… I would use this one please, Amy. Try that
56 one. Try your sentence again using this one, please.

57 S: Compare..ed to (inaudible) the other countries, (T: Yes..) Japan has the lowest of… number
58 of doctors…

59 T: per?….

60 S: … (inaudible)… Um… 900…one thousand…

61 T: Hundred thousand … (inaudible)… OK, would you please listen? This is what she said. She
62 corrected herself and made her sentence better. All right. So, this is what she said: Compared
63 to… (goes to board and points to written text/words there)… compared to other countries of
64 Europe, or...sorry, compared to the countries of Europe, compared to, she started off with that…
65 compared to the countries of Europe, Japan has the lowest number of doctors per…per just
66 means, you know… in...a hundred thousand inhabitants. Inhabitants, we’ve had that word
67 before. What’s an inhabitant?

68 S: a resident.

69 T: A resident. All right. Good. OK. So, read yours for me now, please, Lee. Read one of
70 your sentences.

71 S: Ah… Compared to Neth...Netherlands, USA has more doctors… considerably more… more
72 doctors. (T: hmh..hmh.)

73 T: Say that again, please.. er.. Lee. Say it nice and loud so we can hear it.

74 S: Compared with Netherland, USA has more… a bit more doctors…

75 T: a (inaudible) more?? Here… (lifts graph sheet and points to an area)…

76 S: Ah… No, no…

77 T: Here’s a hundred.. (S: Yes…lower.) OK. Read your sentence again and change it.

15
78 S: ..There will… (inaudible) Netherlands,…USA… has a little bit less doctors.

79 T: Yes. A little less doctors… per?...

80 S: Per...er... one hundred and thousand.

81 T: OK. All right. Good. Ann?

82 S: Um…

83 T: (Looking to another student not paying attention) Thank you, (inaudible).

84 S: … Belg… (T: Belgium)… Belgium is slightly higher than EEC average, whereas… er…
85 US..the USA is a great deal less than EEC average.

86 T: All right. A good answer. Would you please listen to Ann’s again. Read it again, Ann. It
87 was a good answer. Would you please listen because this is… combining a couple of.. of those
88 ones, you know, those words. Way you go. (inaudible) .

89 S: Belgium is slightly higher than EEC average, whereas USA is a great deal less than EEC
90 average.

0:08:35
91 T: Thank you. Don’t forget ‘the’ EEC average… ‘the’. The EEC average. (Writing on WB)
92 And also,… um…this.. look at the word Ann used. (writes on WB) (Ss: ‘whereas’) Yeah,
93 whereas. ‘Where-as…whereas… a good word to use. So, again, that’s a comparative word,
94 isn’t it. All right? ‘Whereas’. You know, this one has this…it’s… so, she’s actually combined
95 several things there, right? You’re… average. It’s higher here. Whereas something else is
96 lower there or whatever you want to say. All right! Excellent! [0:08:45] Now, looking at…
97 er… contrast. Look at these two sentences. Look at these two sentences. Sales were low… last
98 year. We made a good profit. Look at the way they do that in one sentence. Read that sentence
99 for me, will you, Jiacinta? Big loud voice, please… … …. Sales worth…
100

101 S: Sales worth (inaudible) last year made good profit.

102 T: Well, missed a word. What was it? … I didn’t hear it, anyway. What was that word you
103 missed? In the sentence. Down below. The easiest way of expressing this is in one sentence,
104 would be…?

105 S: Oh… Oh…. (laughs)… Sales were low last year, but we made a healthy profit.

106 T: (Writing on WB) All right. So, in this case, we have got one sentence and we’ve joined it
107 with ‘but’ to make a comparison again. Or a similarity or a comparison…OK… Now, this’n
108 time, this time it’s more, well, this case, it’s not actually … a…a…comparison, is it? It’s a
109 contrast. We’re moving on to contrast. So, …ah… so, in this case, sales.. equal low… profits
110 equal high. So far, there’s our contrast. Now, moving on to contrast… contrast words? But.
111 But. (Finishes writing on WB). Look down below. Read the sentence for me, please, Cathy…
112 ‘although’…

113 S: Although sales were down by 10% over the year, we made a good profit.

114 T: OK. Again… words to use… ‘although’. Although, sales were down…. Next one, please, Yi
115 Fu.

16
116 S: (Utterance inaudible)

117 T: OK. (Writes on WB) Despite… despite…all right… it means ‘instead of’ or…or…you
118 know, ‘rather than’. OK. Next one, please…ahh…Shirley.

119 S: In spite of the fact that there were more jobs, unemployment has riven…riven (corrects
120 pronunciation)…(T: Ris…er…risen…risen)… h-mmh.

121 T: (Writing on WB) Yes, good. OK, this one’s quite a long one. Look at it. Say this with me,
122 please. After me…In spite of the fact that..

123 S: (Students repeat in chorus)

124 T: Right. Listen. In spite of the fact that that there are more jobs…

125 S: (Students repeat in chorus)

126 T: unemployment has risen…

127 S: (Students repeat in chorus)

128 T: OK. Again. This time right through. Try to keep together. In spite of the fact that there are
129 more jobs, unemployment has risen. Go!

130 S: (Students repeat in chorus)

131 T: Excellent. All right. In spite of the fact that… So, here’s another one. (Writes on WB) All
132 right? All of these words are contrast words. All right. Next one, please…er… Gary. Big loud
133 voice, thanks, so that we can all hear you.

134 S: Where as inflation went down in Japan in 1978, in all other countries it increased.

135 T: It increased. So, good. Whereas and that was that word we used a while ago. All right?
136 This one here (refers to WB). OK. ‘Whereas. So, you really, in some ways, that’s almost a
137 contrast which you used in the past, whereas one place had so many doctors, the other place had
138 different ones. That’s sort of like halfway between comparing and contrasting in a way, isn’t it?
139 Aha… Next one. Last year, please…er…Daisy.

140 S: Last year production rose by 11%; however, this was not reflected in increased sales.

141 T: (Writing on WB) OK. So, you start off with something…er…info…Ok, info…and…then
142 you, you, you… qualify it…qualify means…er… bring up some new information or you…
143 modify…modify… perhaps you understand what I’m trying to use? To change the…
144 information a bit or change the comment, or change the meaning…or change the purpose of
145 what you want to say. So, in this case, you say something…da, da, da, da, da, da, da…but..or…
146 of course, ‘but’ or ‘however’ and we didn’t put that one up there but put ‘but’ too. But or
147 however… some other thing happened. Other information. In opposition. Opposition. Sort of,
148 change or difference. Different. OK? Different or opposition. We’re saying, OK, this
149 happened. We had low sales but in opposition to that, the profits were good. I guess we
150 charged more (!). We sold less but we put a higher price on it. That’s what they do, isn’t it?
151 OK. Next one, please…um…ahum…let’s see…ah…Meng Yao, please.
152

17
153 S: Last year’s trading figures were very satisfactory. Nevertheless, we mustn’t become
154 complacent…

155 T: …complacent. Compla-cent. Complacent everybody. New word for you. Watch it. Write
156 it down. (Writes on WB) Complacent means too relaxed. We musn’t get too relaxed. Ok?
157 New word. Write it down. You should be writing all these words down in your vocabulary
158 book. What’s the point? All right, if you’re not learning those words, write them down. Ok,
159 and… the others. In contrast to… (Writes on WB)… Just because it’s written there, doesn’t
160 mean that you’re going to remember it from that sheet of paper. You write these things down.
161 I’ve been saying right along the way to learn or one of the ways, only one of the ways, of
162 course, is… that you touch it, you taste it, you feel it, you see it, you do it, you write it, you
163 speak it…whatever. It all then comes to you. (Moves back to WB, having previously moved to
164 face the students more to address them directly) In contrast to… of course, if you’re talking
165 about contrast language, then you are in contrast to. Others, and this one you’re very, very …
166 er…good at, I’ve heard this in your speeches… on the other hand. (Writing on WB) What is
167 the opposite to this?

168 S: On one hand… (Meng Yao)

169 T: On the… (gestures for a response from student(s))…

170 S: One hand… (Ann)

171 T: On the one hand… and of course, it comes from the old days when people didn’t write and
172 they spoke about their negotiations, their business negotiations…. Well, on the one hand, I had
173 this here… but on the other hand, I do this. So I say, on the one hand I could go this way with
174 my business and succeed, but if I, on the other hand go this way, I…it’s more risky. I could.
175 So there is contrast. This is good, maybe but in contrast, this is could be better. Or maybe not.
176 We don’t know. So, there we go… So, again, each of these would be good if you would make
177 a..ah… sort of sentence that would help you to remember it. So, on the contrary, (Writing on
178 WB)… Here’s another one…on the contrary…Ok, on the contrary. All of these…while one
179 thing…comma… the other thing…could be the case. Could be the situation, the case, we say.
180 Ok. (referring to the WB) Um…While one thing is this, on the other hand you could combine
181 these. While one thing is…er…a disaster here…on the other hand, it is a blessing in disguise or
182 something like that, for example, an earthquake. All right? While lots of people died…in the
183 earthquake…on the other hand, the opposite thing, the contrast…many, many…er…
184 government agencies came to help and took an interest in that area. They realised and…or…
185 while the earthquake was a sad thing, while…on the other hand, many new buildings were
186 built… much better than before. See? So you can combine them. (0:17:38) Ok? (inaudible)
187 and compare to again. All right? (Continuing to write on WB) Now, in a way, if I used
188 compared to……. in a way, I could use this as a comparison or a contrast… Compared to…
189 er… India… Australia… ‘s population… is… extremely…small. Now! In a way, you will say
190 that’s like comparing something. And, it is. (Inaudible).. you know. But I haven’t used in this
191 one…look at this one…compared to India, I haven’t used a…er… comparative word like…
192 like…lower than. See? Right? See, when you were making those sentences before, you said
193 things like, the doctors in Ireland…or Japan, was far less or not as many or a great deal less.
194 You used it differently. You were comparing two sets of figures. We’re still comparing but in
195 this case, it’s really like a contrast. I could say…I could change this…In contrast to India,
196 Australia’s population is extremely small. See? So, in this case I can use it both ways. So, this
197 really means… in contrast to… (Continues writing on WB). Ok? In contrast to. So, it’s a little
198 (inaudible). Ok. Er… I think we’ll go over the page. Let’s go over. Right. Now, look at your
199 chart. Look at your chart. It shows that… tell me, what does it show you? Tell me what it
200 shows you.
201
202

18
203 S: (Multiple student responses inaudible)

204 T: The number of…

205 S: Televisions.

206 T: Televisions. Keep going. Can’t hear you.

207 S: (Multiple student responses) per 100 inhabitants…

208 T: In?

209 S: Inhabitants.

210 T: In? Where?

211 S: (Multiple student responses) In… (T: Where?...different?)…different countries.

212 T: Countries. All right. Now this time, tell me in one sentence, what’s it about? This chart.
213 Please…Damiano.

214 S: The number of television per 100 inhabitants in different countries.

215 T: And what was the other word for inhabitants, Shirley? Sorry… Amy?…

216 (0:20:25) [Time taken to transcribe from video is 6 hours.]

19
Appendix B: Language interactions and features with examples

Item Language Comment

Total audible
utterances 48 (Teacher) 42 (Students)

Explicit L1: Be prepared to use them. Enjoy using them; See it as a challenge.
imperatives from L2: start to finish off; Try to tie it up; 32 instances
L10-11: Talk about it later, please!
Teacher L12: Finish off the sentence …; White board used throughout the lesson.
(Direct L13: Look at your graph and see if you can see …
commands) L16: Damiano, away you go.
L20: Keep going …
L26: Listen to her.
L35: Listen.
L50: Read one more for me, please…
L55-56: Try that one. Try your sentence again using this one, please.
L69-70: So, read yours for me now, please, Lee. Read one of your sentences.
L73: Say that again, please…; Say it nice and loud so …
L77: Read your sentence again and change it.
L86: Read it again, Ann.
L91: Don’t forget ‘the’…
L92: Look at the word Ann used.
L96: Look at these two sentences.
L97: Look at the way they…
L98: Read that sentence for me, will you,…
L110: Look down below.
L110-111: Read the sentence for me, please,…
L121: Look at it.
L121: Say this with me, please,
L124: Listen.
L129: Go!
L155: Watch it. Write it down.
L158:…, write them down.
L195: Now, look at your chart.
L196: Tell me what it shows you.
L206: Keep going.
L212: …tell me in one sentence…

20
Implicit L4: Have you finished?
imperatives from L10-11: You should be writing; We’re doing something different at the moment. 24 instances
L13: Would you like to read yours, please?
Teacher L34: Could you read one of your sentences. White board used throughout the lesson.
(Indirect L34: Shh…
commands) L38-39: just one of your sentences.
L55: I would use this one please, Amy.
L81: Ann?
L86: Would you please listen to Ann’s
again.
L87: Would you please listen because this is …
L88: Way you go.
L98: Big loud voice, please…
L114: Next one, please, Yi Fu.
L118: OK. Next one, please…
L128:: This time right through. Try to keep together
L132: Next one, please…
L132-133: Big loud voice, thanks, so that we can all hear you.
L138-139: Next one. Last year, please…er…Daisy.
L149-150: OK. Next one, please…let’s see…Meng Yao, please.
L157: You should be writing all these words down in your vocabulary book.
L195: I think we’ll go over the page. Let’s go over.
L206: Can’t hear you.
L213:P Please…Damiano.

Teacher/Student: Lines: 20-24

I.R.F. / I.R.E. L31-33 9 instances
L41- 51
pattern or L66-69 White board used throughout the lesson.
variation of I.R.F. L(98-109)
L121-131
L165-184
L203-212
L212-…

Note: Some are of an I.R.I. R.F/E pattern. (e.g. L98-109)

Encouragement L24: Yes

utterances by L38: Good answer! Very good. 15 instances

21
Teacher L47: Yes, you are correct… you are correct
L69: All right. Good. OK. White board used throughout the lesson.
L72: hmh…hmh…
L81: OK. All right. Good.
L86: All right. A good answer.
L86-87: It was a good answer.
L106: All right.
L117: OK.
L121: Yes, good.
L128: OK.
L135: So… good!
L141: OK.
L164: Others, and this one, you’re very, very…er…good at, I’ve heard this in your
speeches…
Teacher prompt/ L29: Ah… … the UK?
question prompt L31: UK and Ireland? 25 instances
L30-31: You mean the other way round, huh?
L41: Belgium. So, doctors… I think you said something like… the doctors in… where White board used throughout the lesson.
,was it?...
L44: Denmark… are… what? …
L46: Belgium? Slightly less than Belgium?
L59: per?….
L66: What’s an inhabitant?
L77: Here’s a hundred…
L79: Yes. A little less doctors… per?...
L98: Sales worth…
L103: The easiest way of expressing this is in one sentence, would be…?
L111: ‘although’…
L114: Although, sales were down….
L120: Ris…er…risen…risen
L121-122: After me…In spite of the fact that..
Line 124: In spite of the fact that that there are more jobs…
L135-136: Whereas and that was that word we used a while ago. All right? This one here
(refers to WB). OK. ‘Whereas.
L155: ‘Complacent’ everybody.
L165: What is the opposite to this?
L169: : On the…
L204: The number of…
L208: In…?
L211: Where?...different?...
Paraphrasing Lines 30-31
student response L46-51 4 instances
L61-66
L91-95. White board used throughout the lesson.

22
Pronunciation L41: Belgium
support L84: Belgium 8 instances
L91: the
Lines 122, 124, 126, 128: (In spite of the fact that…) (In spite of the fact that there are White board used throughout the lesson.
more jobs…) (employment has risen.) (In spite of the fact that there are more jobs,
unemployment has risen.)
L155: Complacent. Comp-la-cent…

Teacher L47: Yes, you are correct… you are correct

Repetition: L55: Try……. Try…… 7 instances
L63-64: …compared to the countries of Europe…x2.
exact/near exact L86-87: Would you please listen to…; Would you please listen because…. White board used throughout the lesson.
words in close L92-93: whereas….whereas…whereas…
proximity L96-97: Look at these two sentences. Look at these two sentences
L156-158: Write it down…, write them down…write these things down.

Teacher ‘All right’ (18 instance)

Repetition: ‘OK’ (29 instances) 18 instances
‘So’ (20 instances) (usually as an introduction to an explanation) e.g. Lines 41, 49, 62, 69,
clichés 93, 94, 106, 109, 109, 131, 135, 141, 144, 173, 174, 175, 175, 176, 184, 194. White board used throughout the lesson.

Individual, / Teacher
Group Damiano, Shirley, Cathy, Jiacinta, Amy, Lee, Ann, Yi Fu, Gary, Daisy, Meng Yao/
Stephanie
Involvement/
Speakers (11 students directly involved)

Multiple students simultaneously as a group

(11:16 student involvement)

23
Appendix C: Lesson Plan

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lesson Plan
LANGUAGE OF ‘TRENDS’

Lesson Aims
1. To consider the language we use when talking about trends,
upward and downward
movements which may be very great or very small.

2. Students will practice listening for gist and specific information.

3. Students will interact verbally to check information, seek

clarification and to discuss trends.

4. Students will carry out listening tasks involving graphs and

diagrams related to ‘trends’.

5. Students will activate background knowledge of their own

experience of graphs and
diagrams in their native language to support understanding and
completion of the tasks.

Personal Objectives for This Lesson

To reduce or eliminate the amount of teacher ‘running

commentary’.

Assumptions about Students’ Prior Knowledge/Abilities

Students will have some knowledge of the vocabulary required for
describing and discussing the topic of ‘trends’.

Potential Problems and Appropriate Problem Solving Strategies

Problem: Students may find the teacher speaking too fast for their
level of language expertise.
Solution: Consciously reduce the pace of teacher speech,
especially when giving instructions.
24
Problem: Cueing the appropriate recording of the listening text
may be technically slow.
Solution: Practise with the computer application before the lesson
and note the minute
starting time and pause for later use.

Problem: Available technology may be unfamiliar or

unserviceable.
Solution: Provide back-up equipment and supplies as necessary
( e.g. CD player, etc.).

Target Language with Stress Markers and Phonemics (if necessary)

Whiteboard Plan

slightly lower (higher, etc)

fractionally lower (higher, etc.)

somewhat lower (higher, etc.)

a little lower (higher, etc.)

considerably lower (higher, etc.)

a great deal lower (higher, etc.)

far lower (higher, etc)

much lower (higher, etc.)

similar to

et alia

Reference Material
Text: Kerridge, D. (2001?). Unit 3 Presenting facts and figures.
Australia, Longman.
Audio of Unit 3, ‘Presenting facts and figures’

25
When writing up your Lesson Plan, remember to include the following stages depending on
the type of lesson you are presenting.

Language focus lesson stages and Receptive skills focus lesson stages
objectives and objectives
1. Warmer 1. Warmer

2. Presentation stage 2. Pre-text

• Set context for target language • Set context
• Elicit target language, clarify • Pre-teach vocabulary
• Concept and pronunciation
• Whiteboard Stage, clarify form 3. Text
• Gist task
3. Practice • Detailed task
• Practice: Controlled, accuracy
• Practice: Freer, fluency 4. Post-text
• Students respond to text

26
 Form of Tim Procedure Comments
Lesson Stage and Interact e
objective ion

PRE-TEXT STAGE Discuss the economic crisis:

T  from China perspective
Context setting: to CL  from Australia perspective
introduce the  from World perspective.
concept of trends
via a warm-up • Display & discuss images/photos of
activity, scenes of :
introduction or o stock exchange (e.g.)
discussion to o home owners
arouse the learners’ o hardship
interest in the task; o graphs showing trends,
to introduce the etc.
listening task
associated with Have the students describe possible
S
‘trends’. present or future conditions,
S
implications for people they know in
China. Effects on international
students here in Australia?
T
Individual and whole class feedback.
S
Elicit words known to be in the
listening task.
Model and highlight words, phrases,
sentences elicited from the students.

Common expressions used to

Pre-teaching of describe trends
vocabulary to
facilitate learners’ T S Refer to “graph” and the visual trend
comprehension of line, indicating stability and
the listening task. fluctuation.
Highlight and discuss.
27
  To level out/off
 to remain stable
 to fluctuate
 to reach a peak
 upward and downward movement
TEXT STAGE S Play the recording.
Listening for Listen to the audio ‘Focus on
information/ language 1’
comprehension/gen Complete the extracts.
eral information. S
S Allow the students to write their
answers on the sheet.

T S Students check answers in pairs.

Teacher circulates and monitors.
Feedback
Whole class feedback; check
answers; record on WB & discuss.

Listening for Discuss and highlight intensifiers and

specific intensifiers S softeners used to indicate the extent
and softeners to of change.
indicate the extent
of change. Set specific task. ‘Focus on language
2’.
S S
.
Play the tape and model the first
sentence/answer.
Play the full audio. Individually,
T
students fill in the missing words on
S
the handout sheet.
Feedback Students check answers in pairs.
28
 Teacher monitors and decides
whether it is necessary to play the
audio again. Discuss. (Play audio
again.)

Whole class feedback. Answers

recorded on WB.

Language summary T Rates of change

S  Sales graph
 Population graph
 Discuss most often used
prepositions in the context of
‘trends’ (e.g.):
o from 60% to 80%
S o at (number)
S o by three percent
o of six percent

Audio: Focus on language 3

 intensifiers and softeners.
S
29
 Audio: Focus on language 4
S  Road accident figures
Feedback  Completing extracts

T Feedback:
S  Check and compare answers &
Practice discuss.

S Pair work: Short oral presentation on

S the accident statistics for an EU Short presentations. Pair members
country, based on the graph. share the presentation.
 Refer to table
 Write the trend phrases/numbers
to be used.
 Prepare in pairs - joint oral
Feedback
presentation
Overhead electronic screen.
S  Teacher: circulate & monitor.
S

T Presentations: present information,

Reading S discuss.
comprehension 1
Compare versions with the model
version.

Distribute model version of a

presentation.

Feedback
S Article: ‘Industrial Relations and
Employment in Sweden’ (sic). Using
some of the trend language.
Listening for
Short article: Labour market trends
30
information T (pair activity).
S
True/False exercise.

Reading Feedback:
comprehension 2 S  Check and compare answers &
discuss.

S
Feedback Listening task and completing a
graph: UK road accident victims.

Practice
T Article: Marketing in Wessex. (pair
S activity)
 Complete an interview extract.
 Students to refer to graph for
S information and answers

Feedback Feedback:
 Check and compare answers &
discuss.

Practice:
T  Graphs matching exercise
POST-TEXT S
 Rewriting extracts/sentences
STAGE
 Describing a graph using words
Language task: To like: after that; subsequently;
provide an afterwards.
opportunity for the  Compare with model version.
students to
personalise the text Feedback, answers and discussion.
and practice
speaking for
31
fluency. S
S
A concluding Have the students move into new
speaking activity. pairs.

Distribute blank graph sheets to

students.

Explain:
 Create your own graph on a topic
similar those discussed so far.
 Write a brief description of the
trends indicated in the graph,
using the language of ‘trends’
covered previously.
Feedback and  Describe your graph to the other
Conclusion. person.
 Other person attempts to
T reproduce your graph by listening,
S asking questions and drawing the
graph.
 Compare graphs.
 Swap roles.

Teacher circulates and monitors by

walking around among pairs and
determining that the students
understand the task. Support when
necessary.

Brief whole class feedback. Farewell.

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