Assignment: Experimental Practice

In this assignment you will be researching and writing about a particular lesson type,
teaching procedure or technique which is new for you, and one that you are interested in.
You should relate it to an area of language or skill of relevance to your learners. The
assignment is 2000 – 2500 words in length.

Please note that this is a very different kind of assignment from the Systems and Skills
assignments (TAs 1 to 4). It is a piece of structured Action Research and therefore the
content and approach is different – you are focusing on the process and evaluation of the
experiment (hence the word count weighting towards the evaluation and action plan) and
so, for example, even if the lesson is not successful this does not matter as long as you
are able to draw conclusions about the approach or procedure from the experiment.

Bear in mind that since this is part of the Professional Development Assignment, the
possible marks are Pass or Fail. As a result, do not spend hours on it, making sure it is
perfect in every way, since there is no way this can be reflected in the grade! This might
seem frustrating, but a lack of higher grades makes sense when we consider its Action
Research nature: its true success will be in whether you develop or not as a teacher as a
result of having done it.

Choose one of these areas:

a task-based lesson using a ‘lexical approach’ TPR (Total Physical Response)

CLL (Community Language Learning) a suggestopaedia technique

a silent way approach NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) or multiple intelligences

an activity that promotes ‘noticing’ using a learner-training activity

using a ‘dogme’ approach a grammaticisation activity a ‘live listening’ activity

Using L1 in the classroom using a process writing activity content teaching (CLIL)

It is very important that you choose something that will aid your professional development,
based on Stage 2 of the RA assignment, perhaps. For example, if you see yourself, or
your have been told, as an ‘entertainer’ who perhaps talks too much or whose lessons are
overly teacher-fronted, you could investigate those aspects of the Silent Way where
Gattegno talks about the subordination of teaching to learning, and design a genuinely
learner centred lesson. If you feel your grammar lessons lack variety, you could try a
grammaticisation activity such as a text reconstruction or a dictogloss to extend your
repertoire.

Below is a suggested plan to help you organise your assignment. Word limits are
approximate. There are two important things to note here regarding how this assignment
differs in content from the skills / systems Teaching Assignments:
 there is no separate commentary; information about the criteria for selection of
approach/procedure/techniques in relation to your class are included within the
background essay
 you need to provide a different sort of post-lesson evaluation.
 Plan for Experimental Practice Assignment Essay

Cover page
Including a title, list of contents
(headings with page numbers and any appendices of sample materials)
NB This is not included in the word count
↓
A - Introduction
State your interest in the topic you have chosen. You can refer to classroom experience,
your learners, and Part 2 of your Reflection and Action Plan, as well as your reading here
(2a; 2b; 2e) (A = +/- 300 words)
↓
B - Description
Describe the procedure / technique / approach you have chosen, explaining what it is and the theory behind
it. To do this you will need to research several relevant reference
books and/or articles, and refer to sources in the text.
(2b; 2e) (B = +/- 700 words)
↓
C – Objectives
Identify objectives for the experiment, e.g. “What are the learners’ reactions to TPR? Does it aid their
memory of the target language?”
Make sure your objectives are specific and measurable.
(2c) (D = 100 words)
↓
D – Evaluation plan
Describe how you plan to evaluate the experimental approach/procedure/technique and its effectiveness.
You need to refer here directly to your objectives, showing how you will evaluate them. Look back to the PDA
assignment input for some idea (Day 8). If a colleague is observing you, you could give them specific
observation points relating to the experiment. You could also get feedback from the students, either at the
end of the lesson or afterwards from interviews or a questionnaire (samples of these plus observation points
should be added as appendices).
(2c; 2e) (E = 400 words)
↓
E – Commentary on the lesson
Why have you selected this approach / method / technique as the basis of you experiment? Explain its
relevance to particular contexts and groups of learners, including those in your current class.
(2a; 2b; 2e) (C = +/- 300 words)
↓
F – Lesson Plan
This will use the procedure/ technique you have selected for your assignment. For this assignment, use a
very reduced form of the skills / systems lesson plans. You only need to include the aims
of the lesson, and the lesson procedure pages.
(word count not included in total)

(At this point, you teach the lesson)

G – Post-Lesson Evaluation of the Experiment

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the experiment in relation to the objectives in D above and
drawing on information from data collected. Remember to attach any observation sheets or learner
questionnaires as appendices.
(2d) (H = 300 words)
↓
H – Action Plan for Future Professional Development
Briefly identify ways in which this area could be adapted for inclusion in future work (or
consideration of why this area is not worth further extension or adaptation). You can
refer to different levels and different uses of the approach/procedure/technique. Make
sure your action points are ‘concrete’ and measurable
(2d). (I = 200 words)
↓
Word Count (1f) and Bibliography (1e)
Your bibliography should be arranged in alphabetical order of the authors
(e.g. White, G. 1998 Listening Oxford University Press)
 Examples of good practice
Here are some extracts taken from various sections of past distinction Experimental Practice
assignments.
Example from assignment Comment
(1) Introduction (1) Introduction
I chose… as the focus for my experimental practice because I Clearly specified and
wanted to find out more about the principles and rationale behind an realistic criteria
approach gaining more currency in my workplace. Also, until recently, for selection of experiment
I have been a very ‘grammar focused’
(2) Particular Contexts (2) Particular Contexts
In Poland my students had a high exposure to English and a great Referring to current and
deal of interest in learning ‘real English.’ Furthermore, coming from a other teaching
western educational background, they were already familiar with… In contexts: influence of
Thailand students have very little exposure to teacher and have mother tongue,
started to realise the limitations of this and the need to look for new culture, previous learning
approaches. authentic English outside the classroom and so... Their experiences.
own language is so different from English that…There is a much
higher exposure to English in Penang… My class also come from a
very teacher-centred background…
(3) Particular Contexts and Current Class (3) Particular Contexts and
I collected 12 'Before the class' questionnaires. All said they needed Current Class
to learn grammar to speak more correctly… 9 did not like it because Involving learners in the
it was difficult. …Even most of the ones who claimed to like grammar chosen
felt frustrated and bored. This confirms my perception that they had a approach via a
negative attitude to grammar. …We have to assume that their questionnaire and
understanding of the word 'grammar' is probably the close evaluation of results
decontextualised exercises that they do in their books data prior
and possibly the grammar transformation exercises that they practise to the experiment.
for their FCE exam.
(4) Objectives for the Experiment (4) Objectives for the
a. To see whether contextualising examples of the passive form Experiment
improves learners' understanding of its meaning and use. Clearly focused objectives
b. To see whether learners enjoy the activity. for
c. To see whether it changes their negative attitude to learning assessing the experiment,
grammar. and clearly
d. To evaluate whether the activity gives greater opportunities to distinct from the lesson
learners to draw on their language resources and activate their objectives
knowledge in student-centred tasks, and to see if the students see
the benefit of this more learner-centred approach.
(5) Post-Lesson Evaluation of the Experiment (5) Post-Lesson Evaluation
The most tangible language gain made by students during the lesson of the
appeared to be in terms of their personal vocabularies. The colleague Experiment
who observed my lesson noted that students who took most Detailed insights clearly
advantage of the opportunity to ask questions while preparing their related to the
stories used more accurate and natural language during the task. approach being
The new language was ‘personalised’ – students had asked for it to experimented with,
express their own experiences, and they had an immediate referring to colleague’s
opportunity to put this language to use. observations.
(6) Action Points Related to the Experiment Itself (6) Action Plan for future
I intend to take the following action with reference to… professional development
a. Experiment with the… approach at lowers levels. Reflecting on the
b. Set up a contrast between a PPP lesson and a…lesson and get experiment rather
learner feedback as to which approach they felt was most useful. than just the lesson,
c. Plan… lessons with more well defined planning and reporting showing evidence
stages and investigate the degree of difference in type and level of of research and a personal
language students use in the more formal reporting stage compared evaluation
to the task stage. of this reference.
d. Incorporate post-language focus second tasks to give students
opportunity to use new language.