4.

1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Candidate name:
Criteria 1st Submission 2nd Submission

standard yet
To standard

To standard

standard
Tutor feedback and Tutor feedback

Not to

Not to
resubmission guidance if
necessary
Part A
Comment on the learners’ backgrounds

Comment on the learners’ motivations

Comment on the learners’ learning
preferences
Use written language that is clear,
accurate and appropriate to the task
Grade for part A Double marked (if applicable)
Resubmit

Tutor(s) signature(s) and date: Tutor(s) signature(s) and

Pass

Pass
date:

Fail
Part B
Identify learners’ strengths

Identify one grammar problem with at

least two pieces of evidence
Select one appropriate activity to
address the grammar problem and
provide a rationale
Identify one pronunciation problem
with at least two pieces of evidence
Select one appropriate activity to
address the pronunciation problem
and provide a rationale
At least one of the two activities is
from a published ELT source
Correctly use terminology relating to
language systems and skills
Use written language that is clear,
accurate and appropriate to the task
Overall word count of 750-1000
Overall comments:

Overall grade Double marked (if applicable)

Resubmi

Tutor(s) signature(s) and date: Tutor(s) signature(s) and

date:
Pass

Pass

Fail

NB *Please use the same cover sheet for submitting all parts and resubmissions of your FOL. Thank you!
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Plagiarism declaration

I confirm that this assignment is my own work.

I have fully acknowledged the published/online sources I have consulted

I confirm that this assignment meets the requirements outlined in the Teaching House plagiarism policy
(found in your Teaching House handbook)

Signed ……………………………………………………………… Date

Print name
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

In this assignment, you will focus on the learners that you are teaching on the course.
• Interview all or some of the learners in your group. Find out information about their
background, motivation for learning English, perceived learning needs, etc. Use the grid in
appendix 1 to structure your notes if you like.
• Swap information with your colleagues to gather information about everyone in the class.
• Skim the relevant sections of “Learner English” by Swan and Smith (eds), 2001, Cambridge
University Press. This provides information about problems that speakers of different languages
Gather
usually have with English. This will give you an idea of what errors to look and listen for.
information
• Set the written homework (appendix 2) and work together to make sure everyone in your group
has a scan or copy of the learners’ work.
• Observe your learners during class and read their written work. Identify
• their learning preferences
• their language strengths (skills and systems)
• their language weaknesses (skills and systems)
• Summarize some of the following areas for your learners, filling in the assignment grid
below:
• General background information (first/other languages, age range, occupations,
length of time in this country, general education and language education history,
Write part A of
etc.)
your
• Motivation for learning English and perceived needs in English.
assignment
• Learning preferences and what evidence you have to think these are their
(300-500
learning preferences
words)
• You should write in full, connected prose in this section.
• Attach the cover page to the front of your assignment, write your name on the cover and
sign the plagiarism declaration
• Turn it in on paper by the deadline.
• Write about the language strengths that your learners have. These should be skills related and
systems related. You can also add strengths related to their study habits, learning preferences,
etc. too but you must include skills/ systems strengths.
• Write about one grammar problem learners have (use analysis from "Gather Information"
stage) by filling in the grid below.
• Using the grid below, say what the problem is.
Write part B of • Document at least two instances in which learners showed they have this one
your problem and provide the correction.
assignment • Find one activity that could help your learners with this problem (include the actual
(450-700 activity handout in the appendices) and say why it is helpful for this group of learners
words) in particular.
• Write about one pronunciation problem your learners have (use analysis from "Gather
The total for Information" stage) by filling in the grid below.
parts A and B • Say what the problem is, using phonemes if applicable.
must be 750- • Document at least two instances in which your learners showed they have this one
1,000 words problem and what they should have said.
• Find one activity that could help your learners with this problem (include the actual
activity handout in the appendices) and say why it is helpful for these learners in
particular.
• Make sure you reference your material correctly with author(s), year of publication, title,
publisher and link if relevant. Provide this information in a bibliography as well.
• You may focus on individual learners at this stage of the assignment if you wish.
 Proof read your work.
 Use the same cover page as you did for Part A of the assignment with your tutor comments on
Turn in your
 Make sure you have attached a referenced copy of the actual material that you will use with
assignment
your learner. This does not contribute to your word count.
 Turn it in on paper by the deadline.
Word limit for parts A and B combined: 750-1000 words
CELTA pass criteria: candidates can demonstrate their learning by:
a) showing awareness of how a learner’s/learners’ background(s), previous learning experience and learning style(s) affect learning
b) identifying the learner’s/learners’ language and/or skills needs
c) correctly using terminology relating to the description of language systems and language skills
d) selecting appropriate material and/or resources to aid the learner’s/learners’ language development
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

e) providing a rationale for using specific activities with a learner/learners

f) finding, selecting and referencing information from one or more sources using written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate
to the task
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Now fill in the following grid for your assignment:

Part A- Learners’ backgrounds
Category Write here in prose. Trainer comments
(Please omit (leave blank)
this column (Note, if you are handwriting this assignment, you will need to
from your use more space to reach the word count and the required level
word count) of depth.)
Learners’ The Upper Intermediate class is a multicultural and multilingual
backgrounds class. Primarily, it consists of South American students
(age, (Argentina, Colombia and Brazil) followed by Southeast Asians
occupation, (Indonesia) and few from the European and African contents.
nationality, Interestingly, a number of students no longer reside in their
languages, home country and have chosen to relocate to an English-
education, speaking country, either for work purposes or family, adding
etc.) another twist to the dynamic of the class.

The majority, if not all, of the students have studied English at

school, quite commonly starting at the age of 6. Only a few
have continued formal education in English as an adult, other
than the CELTA online course, with one student having studied
English at degree level. As a result of the constant innovation
of technology, many of the students rely on language
applications, television and music streaming services to self-
teach. There are, however, a strong few that show a keen
interest in reading books.

Learners’ Unsurprisingly, there are a variety of reasons as to why the

motivations students are learning English. As mentioned, several students
have relocated to an English-speaking country, all of which
expressed a desire to improve their social integration and
communication. This suggests that their principal motivation is
integrative. By way of example, one student in particular
(Kyun) explained that she is learning English so that she can
communicate better with her parents-in-law. Extrinsic and
instrumental motivation is apparent across the group also,
with many wanting to improve their English proficiency to be
able to travel more confidently and seek better job prospects.
In particular, one student (Diana) works for a multinational
company, where English is often used as a lingua franca. As
such, Diana has chosen to learn English to help improve her
work opportunities. Unfortunately, there appears to be a lack
of intrinsic motivation, or rather, this was simply not made
clear; possibly because the right questions were not asked.
One student mentioned that they were influenced by their
mother to continue studying English. From this comment
alone, it could be inferred that the student has little or no
personal desire to study the language. This may pose a
challenge for the teacher; however, it is the teacher’s role to
be aware of this and work to incite motivation. Fortunately,
the same student also stated that they “enjoy learning
English”, meaning that intrinsic motivation is present. Overall,
the students seemed to be highly motivated to learn English.
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

The group’s As to be expected, there are many different interests and

learning learning preferences present within the group. This is clearly
preferences illustrated with a comparison of just two of the students.
and rationale Student one explained that, to aid their learning, they enjoy
reading novels and taking notes in class. This suggests that
their learning intelligence is linguistic, meaning that they would
respond well to reading and writing activities. In contrast,
student two prefers to learn through film and music which
implies that their more dominant modalities of intelligence are
spatial-visual and musical. Thus, the student will find visual and
auditory activities more appealing. This simple comparison
exemplifies the importance of a multimodal approach to
learning, to ignite interest and engagement from all of the
students.

Word count
for Part A (375
– 500 words)
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Part B – Learners’ language abilities and needs.

Learner strengths The students have a high level of proficiency in speaking
(skills and systems) and listening, with clear and confident communication
between peers as well as student-teacher interactions.
This level of fluency is greatly aided by the students’
vast knowledge and use of vocabulary. Several students,
however, expressed a need to improve their
understanding of English grammar. One student in
particular (Zaira), stated that they would like to improve
their writing skills, especially their ability to create well-
formed sentence.

Grammar problem A few of the students appear to struggle with

(name of understanding when to use the present perfect (when
structure/language ‘thinking about the past and present together’) and the
point) past simple (when ‘only thinking about the past’) (Swan,
2016, p. 48).

Examples of error (1)

and corrections  ‘I’ve been there last year and when I have time I like
to enjoy there.’
(Write the whole
 ‘I went there last year. and I like to enjoy (going)
sentence so the
there [when I have time].’
context is clear).
Example 1: “We walked
in the Park when man (2) (When asked ‘who has influenced you in your life’)
stopped us. ”  ‘It would be my husband … he helped me a lot # my
Correction
“We were walking in the studies.’
Park when (a) man stopped
 ‘(That) would be my husband … he has helped me a
us. ”
lot (with) my studies.’
Example 2: “They broke
the car as they drive north”.
Correction
“The car (broke down) as they
were driving north”.

Material to help the A suitable activity to help the learners understand when
learner with this to use the present perfect and past simple can be found
problem (full source on page 13 of Hadfield’s (2003) Intermediate Grammar
and appendix where Games- activity 9.
it can be found in this
assignment) See Appendix 1
Justification for The aim of the game is linguistic accuracy, designed
choice and how it will specifically to address the issue of when to use the
be used. present perfect and past simple. It will particularly help
Zaira to improve her ability to form well-structured
Be sure to refer back sentences and ultimately, her writing skills. Although
to the learners’ the game focuses on the students’ weak area
learning preferences, (grammar), it also plays to their strengths (speaking
motivation, strengths skills and vocabulary); meaning that the students are
and weaknesses, likely to find the learning process enjoyable.
interests, etc.
This activity primarily appeals to learners of linguistic
intelligence, as for the most part it involves practicing
speaking. However, the use of images also makes it
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

attractive to visual-spatial learners. Furthermore, the

game covers a variety of topics, which is likely to spark
interest from most, if not all, of the learners, by allowing
them to engage in the activity from a personal
perspective.

Note, this game is intended for a live classroom and will

therefore need to be adjusted for online learning.
Pronunciation Students from Indonesia (Kyun) appear to
problem (use mispronounce phoneme /ð/. This is not surprising since
phonemes) it is quite common for South Asian languages to replace
this fricative constant with the voiced consonant /d/
(Swan & Smith, 2001, p. 230).

Examples of error (1)

and corrections  ‘/dɛn/ (Then) number three’
(write full utterances  ‘/ðɛn/ (Then) number three’
so the context is clear
– use phonemes) (2)
 ‘when /deɪ/ (they) speak I don’t understand /dəm/
Example 1: “I like New
York /beri/ (very) much” (them) as well.’
Correction  ‘when /ðeɪ/ (they) speak I don’t understand /ðəm/
“I like New York /veri/ (very)
much” (them) as well.’

Example 2: “My sister

want to be a /bet/ (vet)”
Correction
“My sister want(s) to be a
/vet/ (vet)”

Material to help the A suitable activity to help South Asian students with
learner with this pronouncing the phoneme /ð/ can be found on pages
problem (full source 155-156 of Baker’s (2006) Ship or Sheep? Student's
and appendix where Book: An Intermediate Pronunciation Course – Unit 4
it can be found in this activity 2.
assignment)
See Appendix 2
Justification for This activity directly addresses the pronunciation
choice and how it will problem by solely focusing on the target sound /ð/.
be used.
Not only does this activity allow students to listen to
Be sure to refer back and repeat the sound, but it also allows them to
to the learners’ associate particular words, and therefore meaning, with
learning preferences, the sound. This can be extremely effective, particularly
motivation, strengths for students that already have a strong repertoire of
and weaknesses, words.
interests, etc.
Kyun, will especially be motivated by this activity, as it
will help her to improve her pronunciation and
ultimately her communication skills to be able to build a
better relationship with her English parents-in law.
Word count: 350 –
500 words
NB Total word count
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

for Parts A and B

must be 750-1000
words
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Reference list

Baker, A. 2006. Ship or sheep? An intermediate pronunciation course. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Hadfield, J. 2003. Intermediate Grammar Games: A collection of grammar games and activities for intermediate
students of English. London: Pearson Longman.

Swan, M. 2016. Practical English Usage. 4th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Swan, M. and Smith, B. 2001. Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems. 2nd ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Appendix 1
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)

Appendix 2
4.1 Focus on the Learner (FOL)