The Distance Delta

LSA 4
Guidelines
The Distance Delta

International House London and the British Council

Unit 8 LSA 4 Guidelines

The Distance Delta

Language Systems or Skills Assignment (LSA 4)

As with LSA 1, LSA 2 and LSA 3, this assignment consists of a Background Essay, Lesson Plan and
Lesson. The Background Essay consists of analysis and research findings of the topic you have
selected, with discussion of problems learners and teachers frequently encounter and suggested
solutions (2000 - 2500 words). In the lesson part you devise a lesson plan related to the topic
you wrote about in the BE, with an accompanying commentary of between 500 and 750 words.
You then teach this lesson, which is assessed by an accredited Delta Assessor. You need to write
a post lesson Reflection and Evaluation based on the key strengths and weaknesses of this
lesson, both in planning and execution. You also need to mention any teaching and learners
progress as evidenced in the lesson and to say how you will consolidate/ follow on from the
learning achieved in this lesson (300-500 words).
For your externally assessed assignment you can choose either Language Systems or Language
Skills, whichever you did not do in Unit 6 (LSA 3). Remember you must have in your Portfolio
two Language Skills, one receptive and one productive, and two Language Systems assignments
focusing on two different areas e.g. Grammar and Phonology.
Whether you choose Systems or Skills, we strongly recommend that your reasons should be
clearly based on the following:

You feel more confident teaching it.

It is relevant to your learners needs and interests at this particular time in their course.

It is something in which you are interested in extending your knowledge and something you
would like to add to your practical teaching repertoire.

It suitably complements the other assignments in your portfolio.

In relation to the last point, look at the balance of your portfolio and make sure there is no
unnecessary overlap of skills / systems in the assignments. For example, if you did a listening
skills assignment where you focused on decoding features of connected speech in a bottom-up
approach, you should not make connected speech the focus of this assignment. Any duplication
like this would be noted by the Moderators at Cambridge English when they review your
complete Portfolio.
In order to meet Delta coursework pass criteria, your coursework must be complete and you
must have at least one whole LSA to pass standard i.e. both BE and LP. Course Participants
whose internal coursework does not meet pass criteria do not take an externally assessed
lesson. In such cases you will be contacted by the course coordinator.

A. Choosing a Topic
The following are guidelines for a Language Systems Assignment (you will not be covering
Grammar as this was done in LSA 1). For skills options, see LSA 2 and 3 Guidelines and also
please refer back to Unit 4 and 6.

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Language Systems: Lexis, Discourse or Phonology

Select from the following topics or contact your Course Tutor if you wish to investigate
something different or are unsure if the scope of your assignment is too narrow or too wide.
Lexis

understanding and using collocations or lexical phrases. You will clearly need to narrow
down your focus to some extent e.g. for collocations, selecting particular combinations or
for lexical phrases, a particular function

understanding and using multi-word verbs

understanding and using affixation

understanding and using a particular class of words with learners of certain levels
(lower/higher levels) e.g. adjectives, compounds, adverbs

understanding and using countable and uncountable nouns

sense relations between words e.g. hyponomy, antonomy etc.

Note that choosing learner-training or ways of storing and retrieving lexis would not be a
suitable topic as this provides no scope for the language analysis section. Instead these aspects
can be covered under the teaching strategies section of whichever topic you choose.
Discourse

understanding and using specified aspects of cohesion in texts (grammatical and lexical) e.g.
understanding and using discourse markers in spoken or written English; understanding and
using reference words in spoken or written English

focusing on discourse features of a particular text type (genre) either spoken or written e.g.
news articles, academic articles / reports, business presentations, meetings, telephoning,
narratives, survival transactional exchanges at low levels etc. including typical ordering,
discourse markers, lexical phrases, grammar, intonation etc. as relevant

Phonology*

understanding and using specified aspects of intonation

understanding and using features of connected speech

understanding and using rhythm and sentence stress (prominence and chunking)

understanding and using word stress patterns

*We would advise against focusing on specific individual sounds only as this tends to lead to a
lesson disconnected from real language use.

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B. Suggested Organisation
Read the following guidelines in conjunction with the Cambridge English specifications and
criteria for this assignment in the Cambridge English Delta Module Two Assessment
Specifications. Numbers and letters refer to the criteria.
Below are two suggested templates to help you organise your Background Essay. Both are
acceptable, it depends on which suits your purposes better. Word limits are approximate.
Cover Page
Give the assignment a clear title e.g. Language Systems - Lexis: Helping lower level learners
with affixation (2a, 2b). State the number of words used, date of submission, candidate name
and centre number (10239) followed by a list of contents. Add a running footer with your
name and essay title and number the pages (1a, 1d, 1e).
Not included in the word count

Introduction
State clearly the scope of your focus within the chosen system (2a, 2b). State briefly your
interest in the topic you have chosen. You can refer to classroom experience, professional
development and / or your reading here e.g. I was interested by my reading of (2c).
150 - 200 words

Analysis
Provide a full analysis of your chosen topic analyzing the language pertaining to the focus of
your system (3a). To do this you will need to research several relevant reference books and/or
articles, and refer to sources in the text. You must demonstrate an understanding of the area
so include comments on the references you used. Relying solely on quotes with no additional
comment does not evidence your understanding (1c, 3a).
700 - 850 words

Issues for Learners

Describe the problems that learners and teachers (when planning/teaching) experience, both
those inherent in the aspect of the system you have chosen for all learners and those
experienced by specific learners or in specific contexts (3b). You should refer to background
reading and your own classroom experience and observation of other languages, of different
cultures, different learning styles and different levels (2c).
500 - 650 words

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Suggestions for Teaching

This section should be overtly linked to the problems outlined in the previous section. Discuss
ways of helping learners and teachers with your topic. This is the part of the assignment
where you need to show how you deal with the problems you have detailed above, your
knowledge of materials and your ability to evaluate the materials in relation to your learners
and teaching issues. Your choice needs to relate to different factors, e.g. level, teaching
context, type of learner/course, revision, practice or introduction. (2e, 4a, 4b)
800 words

Conclusion (Optional)
Summarise what you have learnt from doing this assignment. Refer back to your theoretical
analysis and link it explicitly with your teaching ideas (2e, 4b).
50 - 100 words

Bibliography (1d)
You should include all referenced sources and your bibliography should be arranged in
alphabetical order of the authors surnames e.g.
Lewis, M. 1986 The English Verb LTP
Thornbury, S. 1997 About Language Cambridge University Press

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Alternatively:
Cover Page
Give the assignment a clear title e.g. Language Systems - Lexis: Helping lower level learners
with affixation (2a, 2b). State the number of words used, date of submission, candidate name
and centre number (10239) followed by a list of contents. There should also be a running
footer with the candidate name and essay title. Pages should be numbered. (1a, 1d, 1e)
Not included in the word count

Introduction
State clearly the scope of your focus within the chosen system (2a, 2b). State briefly your
interest in the topic you have chosen. You can refer to classroom experience, professional
development and / or your reading here e.g. I was interested by my reading of (2c).
150 - 200 words

Analysis and Problems

Provide a full analysis of your chosen topic. (3a). To do this you will need to research several
relevant reference books and/or articles, and refer to sources in the text (1c, 1d). You must
demonstrate an understanding of the area so include comments on the references you used.
Relying solely on quotes with no additional comment does not evidence your understanding.
For each section of analysis, follow this with a full description of the problems that learners
and teachers experience, both those inherent in the aspect of the system/skill you have
chosen for all learners and those experienced by specific learners or in specific contexts (3b).
You should refer to background reading and your own classroom experience and observation
of other languages, of different cultures, different learning styles and different levels.
1400 - 1500 words

Suggestions for Teaching

This section should be overtly linked to the problems outlined in the previous section. Discuss
ways of helping learners and teachers with your topic. This is the part of the assignment
where you need to show how you deal with the problems you have detailed above, your
knowledge of materials and your ability to evaluate the materials in relation to your learners
and teaching issues. Your choice needs to relate to different factors, e.g. level, teaching
context, type of learner/course, revision, practice or introduction. (2e, 4a, 4b)
800 words

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Conclusion (Optional)
Summarise what you have learnt from doing this assignment. Refer back to your theoretical
analysis and link it explicitly with your teaching ideas (2e, 4b).
50 - 100 words

Bibliography (1d)
You should include all referenced sources and your bibliography should be arranged in
alphabetical order of the authors surnames e.g.
Lewis, M. 1986 The English Verb LTP
Thornbury, S. 1997 About Language Cambridge University Press

Remember, these are not the only ways to set out your writing; you may prefer to discuss
learner and teaching problems as you discuss the analysis of form, meaning and pronunciation.
It must be clear to the reader, though, that you have a clear awareness of the topic area per se
as well as particular problems posed for different types of learners, learners in general and
teachers. Alternatively, you may prefer to conflate the problems and practical classroom
activities sections, by discussing specific areas of difficulty and then providing solutions for these
difficulties. The important thing to remember is that there should be roughly equal weighting of
words between your analysis, problems and solutions (1e, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b). Refer back to the
relevant section of Unit 1 for guidance.

C. Advice and Checklist

Background Essay
In terms of analysis, it is important to have sufficient depth and breadth so you will need to look
beyond Distance Delta coursework materials and consult a number of resource books. When
looking at these sources, it is not sufficient to simply regurgitate the contents and put together a
cut and pasted assemblage of ideas from the different authors. You need to demonstrate you
understand what you have read and can evaluate it in the light of your professional experience.
So, whenever you make a point, give an opinion and support this with a definition or example.
As well as adding comment, it is perfectly acceptable to challenge a point a writer is making if
you disagree with it, perhaps because you feel it is an over-simplification or hiding the full truth.
Linking within the essay is paramount and your solutions should relate back clearly to your
preceding analysis of the system and any teaching/learner problems that you have mentioned.
They are not three unrelated sections. Numbering a problem and then using the same number
for your solutions section e.g. problem 3.1 which relates to solution 4.1 is a good way to ensure
that there is a link and that the solution truly does address the problem(s) cited.
Being specific about the level and teaching context your solutions are appropriate for is also
important. Teaching context can encompasses anything from the age of the learners to the type

Unit 8 LSA 4 Guidelines

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of class (EAP, business, exam etc.). It is important to demonstrate that each activity is suitable
for the group described and will help remedy the learner problem. We suggest you describe 4 or
5 different classroom approaches or procedures. Finally, you must evaluate each practical
solution and this involves commenting on how and why it helps the learners.

Background Essay Checklist

The assignment is within the word limits of between 2000 and 2500 words (1e).
The assignment is proofread and checked for spelling, punctuation, grammatical
accuracy and phraseology (1a).
Terminology is used accurately and is defined in the text (1b).
Referencing is in accordance with convention: see the Course Guide (1e).
There are no footnotes (1e).
Headings are used to help guide the reader and bullet points are used judiciously (1a,
2d).
Activities are described in sufficient depth and are understandable and reconstructable
(4a).
There is an adequate range of activities.
Send a draft to your Course Tutor.
Read the Course Guide on writing Background Essays.

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Lesson Plan and Lesson

Lesson Plan and Lesson Checklist

The lesson that you plan is clearly focused and reflects your aims (5b). Check this by
sending an outline plan with your draft Background Essay to your Course Tutor.
Your Commentary is between 500 and 750 words (5k).
The Commentary is not a re-run of the lesson procedure. It links the BE to the Lesson
Plan explaining why you have chosen to do what you are doing, not how.
Both the learners characteristics and needs and links to your reading and research are
covered in your Commentary.
Read the Course Guide on the Lesson Plan and Lesson and the previous LSA guidelines.

Post-Lesson Reflection and Evaluation

In this section you need to show that you can reflect on and evaluate three things: your
planning, your teaching and the learners progress as seen in the lesson. You will also need to
show you can effectively identify the key strengths and weaknesses in both the planning and the
execution of the lesson. Some of the points you discuss must relate to the systems focus of the
lesson. For example, if you tried out a new approach to teaching the language area e.g. guided
discovery make sure you say how effective this was in relation to your learners needs and the
aims of the lesson.

Post-lesson Reflection and Evaluation Checklist

Your evaluation is between 300 and 500 words.
The headings Planning and Learner Progress, Strengths and Weaknesses and
Consolidation and Follow-up are used.
How you intend to consolidate/follow on from the learning achieved in the lesson is
clearly stated (10c).
Read the Course Guide on writing your Reflection and Evaluation.

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D. The Conduct of the External Assessment

Below is some useful advice that we strongly recommend you follow as you prepare for your
externally assessed lesson. These suggestions have been made by Delta Course Tutors and
Assessors .
Draft Assignment
We strongly recommend that you submit a draft assignment to your tutor with a maximum of
six questions you would like to ask about either the Background Essay or the Lesson Plan. We
are aware that by this stage of the course, you are feeling tired and under a lot of pressure, but
planning ahead and allowing enough time to write and submit a draft and having sufficient time
to make changes to this draft before your externally assessed lesson will really help you to
perform to your best abilities.
Please note, Cambridge do stipulate that The assignment should be an example of the
candidates unaided work. This does not exclude discussion of an outline with questions from
the candidate, but tutors have to limit their comments to general guidance and cannot
comment on or mark completed drafts of background assignments or give detailed advice on
final lesson plans. So be aware that the feedback you receive on this assignment will be much
less detailed than the comments your Course Tutors made on internally assessed LSAs.
One or Two Weeks before the Lesson

Be organised about the planning and checking of your externally assessed lesson. Do not
leave anything until the actual day or even the day before. Make sure you have allowed
yourself enough time to go back a day or so after you have finished writing the essay, plan
and the materials in order to proofread and check that everything is in the proper order and
that you have not forgotten anything. This needs to be done slowly and quietly, rather than
at the last minute. If you wish and it is possible, ask a colleague to read through your
writing; a fresh pair of eyes may spot something you have missed.

Here is the latest advice from Cambridge English in response to a common problem of
focusing in externally assessed lessons:
Guidance note: maintaining focus

Plan carefully and dont include activities for their own sake, however creative and
interesting you feel they are. If there is a procedure in the plan which doesnt obviously
address one of the main concerns of the lesson, take it out (or amend your aims to allow
for it).

Plan groupings carefully so that you can set them up quickly and get on with your lesson.
Be aware that you may have planned for nine learners but eight may come or you may get
an extra learner at the last minute.

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If your lesson involves worksheets for students to complete, check them by completing one
as if you were a student. Is the layout and spacing helpful? Are the instructions clear? Are
there any typos? Have you unwittingly left out a word/question/sentence?

You may wish to give another colleague one of your activities to do if you are worried about
your instructions/timing/how to set it up etc. You may indeed ask a colleague to try it out
with another class, or do so yourself.

Include completed answers of all your worksheets/carded activities/IWB exercises etc. as

appendices in the pack you give to the Assessor. This is a very useful way of showing
him/her that you have fully prepared your activities and have predicted likely outcomes,
researched the language point sufficiently and hopefully prevented unnecessary confusions.

It may be that in this lesson you need to have the minimum of five students. How you tackle
this depends on you, your teaching situation and your individual learners, but here are two
possibilities. You may decide to tell your students it is imperative they attend class on the
day of your assessed lesson, saying it is you who are being assessed not them. If you feel
there is a danger of not getting the minimum number, perhaps you could see if there are
students in another class of the same level who could be used as emergency stand-by.

Take care not to plan too much for the time, allow space to respond to learners. Tightly
timed lessons which aim at exactly 60 minutes of teaching with a long list of aims are
difficult to manage and can result in a failure to address some of the lessons key objectives.

Assessors clearly recognise that the externally assessed lesson is a stressful event and may
mean you behave unnaturally. Being told to relax and be yourself is rarely helpful. One of
the main weaknesses that oblige assessors to fail a lesson is when the candidate has not
demonstrated their ability to respond appropriately to learner contributions, perhaps as a
result of being too concerned to get through all phases of the lesson.

Note the following guidance from Cambridge English, which relates to this:

Guidance note: listening to your learners

Criteria 6d and 8d require you to demonstrate that you can listen and respond appropriately
to learner contributions and monitor and check students learning and respond as
appropriate The first of these relates to classroom management and the second is focused
on your understanding, knowledge and awareness of language.

Dont be excessively concerned to get through all the phases of the lesson at the
expense of failing to respond to what your learners are doing and saying. Time
management is an important teaching skill to demonstrate but dont forget that Criterion
9a requires you to demonstrate that you can implement the lesson plan and where
necessary adapt it to emerging leaner needs.

Not planning to do too much will also help. If you plan for exactly 60 minutes, you arent
giving yourself much opportunity to respond and adjust. In many lessons, it is also
possible to plan in some optional activities which you can include or omit depending on
how the lesson progresses.

Try to predict what questions will occur during your lesson and prepare your responses.
Spur-of-the-moment responses to tricky language-point questions are harder to get right in
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Before the Lesson

Make sure there will be someone in your institute to meet the Assessor, i.e. your Local Tutor
or a Receptionist.

If the assessor is to observe the last 50/60 minutes of a 90 minute lesson, you may not have
the chance to see him/her before the start of the assessed part of the lesson. It is therefore
a good idea to ask your Local Tutor to let the Assessor know before the day when the
assessed part of the lesson will start. Your Assessor should arrive 30 minutes or more before
you begin teaching the assessed lesson/part of the lesson, so make sure if you cannot see
him/her, that you leave all relevant documentation with the person who will meet them.

In addition to the hard copy for the assessor on the day, ensure your Local Tutor has an
electronic copy of your LSA 4 (BE and lesson plan) correctly labeled to email to the assessor
the evening before the lesson at the latest, as the assessor needs to submit this to
Cambridge along with your report.

Centres should provide a suitable, quiet place for the Assessor to sit and read before the
assessment without interruption.

Assessors should be introduced to and check the identity of each candidate before the
assessment begins. Therefore, candidates must carry photo ID.

If either a candidate or an Assessor fails to arrive, this should be notified to the Cambridge
English Exceptions Unit (+44 (0) 1223 5533535) immediately so that alternative
arrangements can be made.

In the case of the non-arrival of a candidate, a cancellation payment reflecting the costs
incurred will be charged.

Any delay in arrival of the Assessor should be noted on the relevant form (contact
admin@thedistancedelta for this) and sent to Cambridge English Exceptions Unit,
particularly if this did not allow time for the background assignment to be read before the
lesson began.

During the Lesson

If fewer than five students are present in the class at the scheduled starting time, the start
can be delayed for up to 15 minutes. If at that time there are fewer than five students, the
assessment of the lesson should not normally take place and the assessor should leave.

The Assessor should sit at the back of the class so that the lesson is not disturbed in any
way. They will usually ask you where you would like them to sit so have a chair prepared. It
is not generally a good idea to have them sitting in the class or in the front, as this can be
off-putting for the learners.

No one else should be present in the class except for yourself, the students and the Assessor
unless prior arrangement has been made. If the lesson is being used for Assessor induction,
the candidate will have been asked in advance to give permission for a second Assessor to
be present.

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Assessors should not be invited to take part in the lesson but may move around the class at
times if appropriate. For example, they may want to see what is happening in group work or
look at students writing.

If the lesson exceeds the maximum time of 60 minutes, the Assessor should note this and
leave after a further fifteen minutes.

Cambridge English reserves the right to send an inspector to any assessment without notice.

Procedure after the Lesson

The Assessor may exchange pleasantries with you but should not give any indication
whatsoever of the results either to you or the Centre. Please do not ask the Assessor how
the lesson went or try to explain anything. Your opportunity to evaluate the lesson comes
when you write up your post lesson Reflection and Evaluation.

Send an electronic copy of your post lesson Reflection and Evaluation to your Local Tutor
within 24 hours of your teaching the externally assessed lesson so it can be emailed to the
assessor, in addition to the electronic version of your LSA.

You may also comment on the conduct of the external assessment in writing on the form
provided by Cambridge English (please contact [email protected]) if you have
any adverse comments to make. This must be countersigned by your tutor and sent to
Cambridge English Exceptions Unit immediately after the assessment.

Finally, remember that the Assessor is looking for reasons to pass your lesson, so try and
relax, think about your learners and enjoy the lesson!

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