Tuesday, October 30, 2012

HOMEWORK


"Learning Teaching" by Jim Scrivener



PPP as a lesson sequence


The most basic and maybe common teaching sequence, that teacher use for all type of classes, is known as PPP, Presentation-Practice-Production.
The PPP model is one way of categorizing/planning main stages of a lesson.
  • First, the teacher presents an item of language in a clear context to get across its meaning. This could be done in a variety of ways: through a text, a situation, a dialogue etc.
  • Students are then asked to complete a controlled practice stage, where they may have to repeat target items through choral and individual drilling, fill gaps or match halves of sentences. All of this practice demands that the student uses the language correctly and helps them to become more comfortable with it.
  • Finally, they move on to the production stage, sometimes called the 'free practice' stage. Students are given a communication task such as a role play and are expected to produce the target language and use any other language that has already been learnt and is suitable for completing it.



Here some examples of classical PPP lesson plans, labeled with the E-S-A stages(Harmer):



  1. Build up a situation or context                 (Engage)
  2. (Present) Introduce the grammar point    (Study)
  3. (Practice) Controlled/restricted practice    (Study or Activate?)
  4. (Produce) Freer practice                          (Activate)



  1. Warm up                                    (Engage)
  2.  Listening or Reading                         (Activate)
  3. Careful listening or reading                    (Activate)
  4. (Present) Highlight the grammar point     (Study)
  5. (Practice) Controlled/restricted practice   (Study or Activate)
  6. (Produce) Freer practice                         (Activate)

Conclusion – my personal opinion and proposal


During Methodology I and II we came around with different models of lesson planning, like SIOP lesson plan , Boomerang and Patchwork Lessons (J. Harmer's "How to teach English").  We have learned that structuring a lesson is complex and should be focused on the teaching objectives, the purpose of the task or topic (grammar or vocabulary) or covering a specific language skill( reading, listening, writing, speaking). Reading about PPP in Jim Scrivener´s “Learning Teaching “and how he refers to the first of three steps in traditional lesson design seems to go back to the very roots of lesson planning.

PPP offers a very simplified approach to language learning. It is based upon the idea that you can present language in neat little blocks, adding from one lesson to the next. However, research shows us that we cannot predict or guarantee what the students will learn and that ultimately a wide exposure to language is the best way of ensuring that students will acquire it effectively. Teachers therefore have to adapt their planning to the necessity and level of their students.  Not every lesson has to be (and cannot be) based on a PPP model. There are also other ways of structuring/using the stages of a lesson.


Overall, I think PPP lesson plans are very limited.  It would be convenient if good lessons only needed 3 key steps, but I think good lessons need a lot more. 
During my research I found a really interesting model that called especially my attention. I would like to share it here with you and don’t hesitate to comment! It is called EDUCARE? Normally used in general education, but I think it is very useful for language learning:

EDUCARE?
Explanation (= clarification of language or skills by the teacher, through reading, through discovery tasks, etc.)
Demonstration (= in ELT, listening to or reading examples of English in use)
Use                (= the more controlled/restricted practice steps, including drills)
Check/correct (= self/peer/teacher correction; tasks to check understanding; CCQs, etc.)
Aide-memoire (= getting handouts, writing summaries of the lesson, etc.)
Review/recycle (= seeing and using the language again, and again, and again)
Evaluate          (= free/realistic/authentic use and consideration of the effectiveness of that use)
?                    (= a chance to ask questions)

The aim is to ensure that over a period of every few classes, with a good degree of flexibility in the exact order, learners should be provided with all of the above.

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