Delta Module One Revision Course

Text authenticity refers to the text itself:
a) Designed for non-teaching purposes
E.g., a literary text, a recorded airport announcement or a magazine article
b) Written or spoken for a real-world (i.e., non-teaching) communicative purpose
E.g., to entertain or inform native speakers in certain settings
Learner authenticity refers to the purposes for which the text is used:
a) The original purpose of the text
E.g., to instruct or inform rather than be a vehicle for language development
b) The classroom use to which it is put
E.g., to develop lexical knowledge or awareness of syntax

The text is authentic but the purpose to which it is being put is not.  The text was not designed as an object for language analysis.

A process activity is one in which doing the task is the essential purpose, not its outcomes.
An example is getting learners to think about a time when they were helped by a stranger.
Feedback from a process activity does not have to be explicit or thorough because it is the act of thinking about the topic which is important.
A product task is one in which the learners' progress can be measured and assessed to see if it is safe to go on.
An example is a guided writing exercise in the middle of a lesson in which the learners have to use a target structure.
Feedback to and from the learners needs to be explicit to make sure that the task has been accomplished appropriately and reasonably successfully before moving on.

Context and engagement
Teaching materials designed by the teacher can be specific to the context of the learners.
Contemporariness
Reference to current cultural phenomena, current people in the news (or in the class) and current events can make materials engaging, relevant and lively.
Personalisation and focus
You can make materials specific to your learners in your setting which focus on their needs.

Nuttall, C, 1982, Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language, Oxford: Heinemann (p128)

Real texts:
A letter / email from a friend or relative of yours or one of the learners is immediately more intriguing than something made up in a coursebook.
Objects:
If the aim is to teach vocabulary for things, having real objects such as gadgets or clothing to talk about and describe is motivating and memorable.
Newspapers, brochures and magazines:
can form the basis for a range of reading skills lessons.
Personal items:
can form the basis for anecdote relation, conversation-driven lessons and more.

A VLE is a Virtual Learning Environment and is computer and inter- (or intra-) net based.
Typically the programs:
Give you the ability to present materials via visual, audio or video content
Allow you to separate the learners into groups for specific tasks
Provide ways for learners to submit work and get feedback
Provide reports on levels of participation and involvement

People learn better when they control the pace and type of learning they do.
Learning centres encourage people to take responsibility for their own learning.
Learning centres allow individuals to work at their own pace.

Project and other discovery work inside and outside the classroom to store data and images and find web resources.
As part of dictionary training, to alert learners to the shortcomings of electronic translation and train them in the use of the programs.
To record classroom interactions.
To practise sending and interpreting short text messages.
To bring the learners' world into the classroom.

Needs analyses can provide information about:
    a) the settings in which the subject needs to use English
    b) the skills the learners need to deploy
    c) the sub-skills which are important for them
    d) the level of formal accuracy the learners will need to master
    e) the language functions which are particularly important
    f) the register(s) in which the learners will need to operate
    g) preferred learning procedures and activity types