Assignment 1: Focus on the Learner

NAME: Ebrahim Mohamed Baligh

I confirm this is my own work. Signature, please.

Assessment criteria. Candidates are assessed on: 1st sub 2nd sub
- showing awareness of how a learner’s/learners’ background(s), previous learning Yes
experience and learning style(s) affect learning

- identifying the learner’s/learners’ language/skills needs No

- correctly using terminology relating to the description of language systems and Partially
language skills

- selecting appropriate material and/or resources to the learner’s/learners’ language No

development (by enclosing or attaching it)

- providing a rationale for using specific activities with a learner/learners No

- finding, selecting and referencing information from one or more sources using written Partially
language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task.
Partially

Yes/No Date 1st marker 2nd marker

PASS

RESUBMISSION Yes 08.06.2023 Hamed Sherif

NEEDED
PASS ON
RESUBMISSION

FAIL ON
RESUBMISSION
Overall Comment:

750 - 1,000 words

1
:Introduction

The class is an interesting mix of people from different walks of life, spanning from mid-teens to late twenties,
who all have Arabic as their first language. Among them are working professionals and university students,
each bringing their unique experiences to the table. With a shared goal of advancing their English skills, this
diverse group is united in their pursuit of linguistic growth. Their current English proficiency falls within the
intermediate range, indicating a solid foundation but room for improvement. Together, they strive to sharpen
their language abilities, recognizing the importance of effective communication in today's world. By engaging
in collaborative learning and dedicated efforts, this class aspires to enhance their grasp of English and unlock
new opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Learning Background:
The students have different motivations for learning English. Some want to learn English to facilitate travel
abroad, while others aim to communicate effectively with foreigners. Many students expressed a need for
confidence in speaking English, recognizing its significance in social and academic contexts. Some have been
studying English since middle school, while others continue their language learning journey at the university
level. However, their previous learning experiences primarily focused on grammar exercises, with limited
emphasis on developing speaking skills.

Learning Style/Preference:
The class exhibits diverse learning styles and preferences. While some students enjoy activities involving
physical movement and collaborative group work, others prefer individualized learning approaches.
Interestingly, some students find multimedia elements, such as watching videos, as a means to make the
classroom experience more engaging and exciting.

Linguistic Needs:
Grammar:
In order to enhance their language skills, the class should prioritize the specific areas of grammar that need
improvement. The correct usage of articles and prepositions is a challenge for many students, resulting in
inconsistent application. Additionally, students tend to heavily rely on the present simple tense, neglecting
other verb tenses. To tackle these issues, it is crucial to provide targeted lessons and enough practice exercises
focusing on articles, prepositions, and verb tenses. Through dedicated instruction and repeated opportunities
to practice, students can develop greater grammatical accuracy, thereby fostering increased confidence in
their English language proficiency.
A number of students grappled with the formation and usage of articles, while others had difficulty with
prepositions. Additionally, one issue that was particularly noticeable was their tendency to rely on the present
simple tense instead of using other appropriate tenses. However, the most prominent issue observed was
their confusion between the use of definite and indefinite articles and their incorrect placement.

Writing:
The writing abilities within the class vary significantly. While some students tend to use simple phrases instead
of constructing full sentences, others demonstrate a near-perfect grasp (good grasp) of written English. The
writing level among the students varies greatly, showcasing a wide range of skills and proficiency within the
group. Addressing this diversity by providing targeted writing instruction, practice exercises, and individualized
feedback can help students improve their overall writing abilities.
Pronunciation:

2
Most students handle pronunciation quite well, but sometimes they hesitate and that affects their accuracy
and confidence. One specific challenge they face is telling the difference between the sounds "P" and "B". They
need to practice this more to improve. By practicing and focusing on this particular area, they can get better at
pronunciation and feel more confident in their language skills. With dedicated effort and practice, they will be
able to enhance their pronunciation abilities and become more proficient overall.

Overall, the class is quite confident when it comes to speaking and actively engages in both open and closed
pair work speaking activities. However, in terms of pronunciation, several students faced challenges in
differentiating between the /B/ and /P/ sounds, leading to confusion. Additionally, another noticeable issue
was their difficulty in distinguishing between the /θ/ sound and the /s/ sound.

3
Type of
Examples Recommendations for Future Action
Error
Grammar: When asked about talking It is common for individuals to mentally translate thoughts
Not using articles about themselves “I have
English course to improve my before expressing them, which can lead to confusion when
Language”. “I work as converting between Arabic and English languages.
alchemist in laboratory”

Arabic usage of articles is different from English and thus

students may struggle when choosing between definite and
indefinite article or overuse the zero article

This can be improved by:

Putting students in pairs, write a sentence containing
a/an and the, e.g. I had an appointment with the doctor. The
car had a flat tire. On a separate piece of paper, write the
sentence out again with gaps for every word except a/an
and the. Pass your gapped sentence to another pair. Fill in
the gaps in the sentence you receive in any way you can, e.g.
There Is an apple on the table. The woman wore a blue hat.
Asking students “where questions” on the following
sentences “There’s a word on a page” so my questions is
going to be “where is the word?” answer will be “on A
page”, then I will follow up with similar questions “the book
on a table”, “where is THE book” etc... The rationale behind
this activity is that the students have struggled with article
usage and this is a great exercise that specifically targets this
problem by allowing the ss to practice article usage in the
form of exercises.

Then I’ll ask the students to write a sentence containing a/an

and the. E.g. “The car had a flat tyre”
700 class rooms activities page 66

Pronunciation A common source of confusion arises from the absence of

They say words like “Blease” the letter "P" in Arabic, which often leads to unintentional
it’s difficult for instead of “Please”, “Bass” mix-ups during translation between the two languages.
students to instead of “Pass”
differentiate
between the sound This can be improved by:
17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt
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of the two letters
“P” and “B”. Doing some listening and speaking activities like the ones in
the book “Tree or Three?
/P/ and /B/

The teacher employs Exercise 1 to enable students to

enhance their listening skills and practice the correct
pronunciation of the /p/ sound. Firstly, they how the sound
is articulated. Then, the students repeat the words
containing the target language as the teacher guides them,
the rationale behind it to help the ss differentiate between
the /p/ and the /b/ sound by listening to it carefully and
saying it out loud.

Tree or Three? Baker, A - Cambridge University Press, page

99 & 100

This happens because students in the class have different

skill levels. Some of them rely on basic English grammar
because they prioritize understanding the meaning rather
than focusing on advanced grammar.

In the first and last example the ss had mistakes with

capitalizing proper nouns such as “English” and “Giza”.
In the second and the third example, it appears that the
students are unable to differentiate between some upper-
and lower-case letters such as E and F.

Skill This can be improved by:

Writing
Asking the learners if they have, or have ever had, a penpal.
“i want to learn english.” Ask some
“I Enjoy summer.” questions about their penpals, for example:
“New giza Is my Favorite city"
What is his or her name?
Where is he or she from?
The attached activity focuses on capitalization and can be
helpful for students who struggle with differentiating
between uppercase and lowercase letters. By rewriting the
sentences as they are, students get practice in recognizing
lowercase letters while also correcting capitalization
mistakes. The rationale behind it that this activity targets
students who have difficulty with capitalization rules and the
17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt
e-mail: [email protected] | Website: www.ihcairoeg.com
 ability to differentiate between upper- and lower-case
letters as it requires them to identify and correct
capitalization errors in the sentences, reinforcing their
understanding of these rules.

http://teach.files.bbci.co.uk/skillswise/en29punc-e3-w-
adding-capital-letters.pdf

Grammar activity – copy and paste the page here.

(Write up the first sentence in this sequence and elicit the others by asking questions with
where, e.g. Where's the page?)
There's a word on a page. The page is in a book. The book is on a table. The table is in a room.
The room is in a house. The house is in a street. The street is in a city ...
In small groups, take turns to add to these sequences in a similar way.
There's a worm in an apple... There's a flea on a dog...
There's a bee on a flower... There's a fish in a pond...
► In pairs, write a sentence containing a/an and the, e.g. I had an appointment with the doctor.
The car had a flat tire. On a separate piece of paper, write the sentence out again with gaps for
every word except a/an and the. Pass your gapped sentence to another pa Fill in the gaps in the
sentence you receive in any way you can, e.g. There is an apple on the table. The woman wore a
blue hat.
Gramma
There was an old lady
I'm going to tell you a nursery rhyme about an old lady who swallowed some animals. It begins
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. Why do you think she swallowed the fly? (Write the
next two lines at the bottom of the board.)
I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
Perhaps she'll die.
What did she do next? (Elicit ideas, and then give the next line of the rhyme: There was an old
lady who swallowed a spider.)
Why did she swallow the spider? (Elicit ideas and then add this line above the two others at the
bottom of the board.)
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die.
What did she do next? (Elicit ideas, and then give the next line of the rhyme: There was an old
lady who swallowed a bird.)
Why did she swallow the bird? (Elicit ideas, and then continue to add the lines of the rhyme

17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

e-mail: [email protected] | Website: www.ihcairoeg.com
above the others, continuing with the same sequence until the rhyme is finished, i.e. She
swallowed the bird to catch the spider. The rest of the sequence is cat, dog, goat, cow, horse. In

17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

e-mail: [email protected] | Website: www.ihcairoeg.com
Pronunciation activity – copy and paste the page here.
Penny starts university next week. Read her "To do' list. Think how she will ask for each of these
things at Computer World.

To do

• repair my laptop

buy a new printer

buy a red pen

buy some staples and some paper clips

Now listen to a conversation in Computer World. Complete the sentences with words from
Exercise 2.

PENNY: Hello, can I buy this printer, please?

SALES ASSISTANT: No problem!

PENNY: And can you repair my ……...

SALES ASSISTANT: No problem!

PENNY: And can I buy ………. staples and ……here?

SALES ASSISTANT: You can buy pens…….and paperclips in The paper …….,next door,

PENNY: Thank you.

SALES ASSISTANT: No problem!

Listen to the conversation again and repeat each line.

All these words have 'p' in the spelling, but do we pronounce it? Listen to the words. Put a tick✓
if you can hear /p/ in the word. Put a cross X if you cannot hear /p/ in the word.

EXAMPLE:

Picture, photo, pepper, sheep, elephant, cup, Christopher, plate, headphones, phone, potato

Now check your answers.

Now listen again to the words spelt with 'ph' in Exercise 6. Repeat them.

17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

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Writing activity – copy and paste the page here.

Lead-in
1 Ask the learners if they have, or have ever had, a pen pal. Ask some questions about their pen
pals, for example:
What is his or her name?
Where is he or she from?
Organizing texts: reordering
2- Write these jumbled sentences on the board:
name my John is
live I at 79 Abbey Road
Senegal from I am
learner a m
15 am
hobbies are my dancing swimming and
Tell the learners to write them out correctly. Remind them that each sentence should begin with
a capital letter and end with a full stop. When they have finished, get them to compare their
answers in pairs.
3- Ask individual learners to read out their answers to the whole class.
Creating texts: responding to a text
4 Put up this letter:
“Dear penpal,
Let me introduce myself.
I'm 21 years old.
My name's Sanjay Jhabvala.
I'm from India.
I'm a poetman
I live at 25 City Road, Delhi
My hobbles are cycling and football.
Write and tell me all about yourself!”
5 Ask the learners to rewrite the letter, putting the sentences in a better order (name, age,
country, address, job, hobbies). Draw the letter layout below on the board and tell them to
follow it.
6 When the learners have rewritten the letter, ask them to write a reply, telling the penpal all
about themselves.

17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

e-mail: [email protected] | Website: www.ihcairoeg.com
17 Boulos Hanna, Dokki, Giza, Egypt
e-mail: [email protected] | Website: www.ihcairoeg.com