Lessons & Lesson Planning

I. WHAT IS A LESSON? “A type of organized social event that occurs in virtually all
cultures. Lessons in different places may vary in topic, time, place, atmosphere,
methodology and materials, but they all, essentially, are concerned with learning as their
main objective, involve the participation of learner(s) and teacher(s), and are limited and
pre-scheduled as regards time, place and membership.” (Ur 1996:213)

II. DEFINITION OF A LESSON PLAN

A lesson plan is a description of

• the objectives a teacher has for a particular lesson,
• the activities and procedures the teacher will use to achieve them, and
• the materials and resources which will be used during the session.

III. THE PPP MODEL

The PPP model offers by tradition a safe way to language teaching. In this model grammar
constitutes the core. Accuracy is central in the model. Functions constitute the spiral part
that surrounds the core (i.e., grammar) and supplement the EFL language programme.

THE STAGES OF THE PPP MODEL

• Warm-up (Introduction)
• STAGE 1: Presentation (meaningful input, understanding, short-term memory …)
• STAGE 2: Practice (skill automation, long-term memory, authenticity …)
• STAGE 3: Production (authenticity, application & expansion, personal
expression …)
• Follow-up (skills integration, homework)

IV. THE TASK BASED LEARNING (TBL) MODEL

Apart from language knowledge, students need to:

• be exposed to rich comprehensible input in order to use language;

• have opportunities for real language use (i.e., students need to experiment and test
hypotheses through practice in turn-taking and interacting);
• be motivated in order to participate in meaningful tasks;
• experiment with language.

Thus students need chances to reflect on language and to try to systematize what they
know.

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Therefore, the TBL model offers an innovative way to language learning. The focus of the
TBL model is on the task. The class strives for communication and fluency. Language
tasks invite students to plan, report and prepare activities. Students are invited to interact
and produce language naturally. Grammar comes at the end of the lesson as part of
teaching. The students themselves are involved in investigating structures and forms.

The aim of tasks in the Task Based Learning (TBL) model is to help students explore
language, to make them develop an awareness of aspects of grammar, vocabulary and
pronunciation. Students need to assist each other in systematizing what they have observed
and learned about certain features of language. They also need to co-operate with each
other in order to clarify concepts and to notice new things by ordering, listing, classifying
and categorizing them. Students learn by doing!

The TBL model can be used as an alternative model to the PPP model. In the TBL model
we can rely on tasks. Tasks are creative classroom activities which have meaning as their
primary focus. Task–Based Learning is a flexible model of teaching in which students are
free to learn by doing, by experiencing what they already know and by moving ahead,
working on the whole body of language and by being attentive to meaning.

In TBL, learners are invited to practise language based on their experience within a holistic
context - similar to the context L1 learners are exposed to when talking to their mothers,
peers and siblings. The purpose of tasks is to increase relevant exposure of learners to
written and spoken English. This is achieved though interaction in meaningful activities in
which communication is of primary importance. The TBL framework looks like the
diagram below:

THE STAGES OF THE TBL MODEL

• STAGE 1: Pre-Task (Introduction + Instructions)

• STAGE 2: Task Cycle (Task + Planning + Report)
• STAGE 3: Language Focus Tasks (Analysis + Practice)
• STAGE 4: Follow-up Task (Homework)

In this way, the TBL stages as shown above ensure that:

• each stage within the TBL framework supplies the students with a different goal,
and has a very brief report; the focus of each task is always on meaning;
• tasks give students confidence in speaking;
• within a task-based approach, students of different levels can work together more
easily; the less competent ones can learn from the others, and gain confidence from
the support of the small group; and
• the focus on language comes at the end of the lesson.

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 A SKELETON OF THE TBL MODEL

PRE-TASK: Introduction to Topic and Task

• T helps Ss to understand the theme and objectives of the task.

• Ss may do a pre-task.
• T may highlight useful words and phrases.
• Ss can be given time to think how to do the task.
• Ss can hear a recording of a parallel task.
• Ss can read the title or part of a text.

THE TASK CYCLE:

Task (Students are invited to think of a problem)

• The task is done by Ss in pairs or groups.

• T walks round encouraging Ss to participate.
• T helps Ss formulate what they want to say.

Planning

• Ss are asked to tackle the problem and report briefly to the whole class.
• Ss draft and rehearse what they want to say or write.
• T goes round to advise students on language.
• If the reports are in writing, T can encourage peer-editing and the use of dictionaries.

Report

• T asks some pairs to report briefly to the whole class.

• T chairs, comments on the content of Ss reports and rephrases.
• Post-task (eg. listening) – optional
• Ss listen to a recording of native speakers doing the same task.

LANGUAGE FOCUS TASKS

Analysis

• T sets some language-focused tasks (eg., Ss are asked to find words and phrases related to the title
or read the transcript and find words ending in s or ’s and say what the s means or find all the verbs
in the simple past form or underline and classify the questions in the transcript based on the texts
students have read. A concrete example of language work on adjectives and adverbs is illustrated by
the tasks based on the following love letter.
• T starts Ss off, then Ss continue.
• T goes round to help.
• In plenary, T reviews the analysis – possibly by writing relevant language up on the board.

Practice

T conducts practice activities. Ss are involved in choral repetition of the phrases identified or in memory
challenge games (eg., sentence completion; matching the past tense verbs with the subjects or objects they
had in the text; or dictionary reference work on new words) based on the language analysis.

FOLLOW-UP TASKS (optional)

• Ss could repeat a similar oral task.

• Ss can write down on their notebooks useful words and phrases.
• Ss can discuss how they felt about the task and the activities they were engaged in the task cycle
(Willis, 1996).

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 WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN PLANNING A LESSON

1. THE USE OF TEXTS:

Lesson planning can help teachers to think logically through the stages in relation to the
time available. It also keeps teachers on target and acts as a record of what the class has
done. In lesson planning we also need to consider the pedagogic purpose of a (reading) text
in terms of its usefulness as below:

• TALO: Text as a linguistic object (in which the focus is on grammar, vocabulary,
etc.)
• TAVI: Text as a vehicle of information (in which the focus is on communication)
• TASP: Text as a stimulus for production (in which the focus is on writing and
speaking skills)
• TASE: Text as a source of enjoyment (in which the focus is on feelings)

2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

In general terms, an outline of a lesson plan should include:

• Deductive or inductive learning methods. In deductive learning, as used in

grammar-translation methodology, the learners are taught rules and are given
specific information about language from the very beginning of the lesson. They
then apply the rules when they use the language. In inductive learning, more
characteristic of communicative methodology, the learners are left to discover rules
themselves from their experience of using the language throughout the lesson.
• Learning objectives (what students need to know at the end of the lesson)
• Teaching aims (what students need to know according to the curriculum and course
design)
• Time available (40?- 45?)
• Procedures (i.e., the necessary steps that the EFL teacher needs to follow in order
to facilitate the teaching / learning processes).
• Tasks or activities (a sequence/variety of activities and skills practised)
• Evaluation of the tasks/activities
• Making teaching coherent
• Using content worth learning about
• Using the students’ intelligence; and
• Fostering learner autonomy.

3. BEING SPECIFIC:

Your lesson plan needs to be specific in terms of language used and relate to:

• what was previously taught

• your particular unit in the coursebook
• your course design / syllabus for the specific group of learners (be aware of their
aspirations, needs, interests, background, motivation…)

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 • the curriculum specified by the Ministry of Education
• your future lesson plans, and the way students will be evaluated.

4. VARYING LESSON COMPONENTS

• Tempo
• Organization: individual work, pair or group work
• Mode and skill: reception or production, spoken or written language
• Difficulty
• Topic: both language teaching point and non-linguistic content
• Mood: light, fun-based or serious, happy or sad
• Stir-settle: conversations compared with dictations …
• Active-passive

5. EVALUATING LESSON EFFECTIVENESS

• The learners were active, attentive, enjoying themselves

• The class seemed to be learning the material well
• The lesson went according to plan
• The language was used communicatively throughout
• The learners were engaging with the foreign language throughout

6. PRACTICAL TIPS ON LESSON PLANNING

• Be focused in terms of method, purposes & content;

• Don’t be too detailed or too brief;
• Make sure there is adequate skills integration & authenticity
• Prepare more than you need
• Note in advance which component(s) of the lesson to sacrifice in case you run short
of time
• Make sure there is an appropriate combination of closed & open-ended tasks for
Ss of different levels & interests.

References:

Ur, P (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. CUP.

Willis, J (1981). Teaching English through English. Longman.
Willis, J and D. Willis (1996). Challenge and Change in Language Teaching. Heinemann.

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