module 5 planning of the english language teaching-learning process

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE 

LOJA 

AREA DE LA EDUCACIÓN EL ARTE Y LA 

COMUNICACIÓN 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CAREER 

MODULE 5 

PLANNING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 

TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS 

MODULE COORDINATOR: 

Mg.Sc. Paola Moreno O. 

Lic. Sandra J. Ochoa de Maldonado. 

WORKSHOPS: 

Syntactic Analysis of the English Language by 

Verónica Richtarcikova 

Practice of the English Native Speech by 

Renata Boguckaite 

ACADEMIC YEAR: SEPTEMBER 2010- FEBRUARY 2011 

LOJA-ECUADOR

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LOJA 

Área de la Educación el Arte y la Comunicación 

English Language Career 

A. PRESENTATION 

MODULE 5 PLANNING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LEARNING 

PROCESS, Component of long tern planning of the English language career, has as 

aims and objectives of developing in which methods, techniques as methodological 

strategies must be applied during the teaching-learning process. It focused on the 

training based on a theoretical, research and practical outline, which will be used as a 

foundation to suggest new ideas in order to face, change and improve the problem 

statement of their professional practice. 

It offers a specialized training based on a theoretical, practical and research frame, the 

same that will be used as a base to bring closer to the reality and propose alternatives 

of bettering the problem statement of their professional practice. 

The module in its programming includes processes of study and research. The 

formative process of the module implies the development of three stages: 

 

 

 

The first stage. 

Identification of the problem statement about Planning of the English Language 

Teaching-Learning Process, in the different educational establishments of Loja 

city. 

The second stage. 

Critical Analysis on Planning of the English Language and contrasting of the 

theoretical frame to the reality observed. 

The third stage. 

Definition and alternatives of solution about Planning, which may contribute to 

the improvement of professional practice. 

With the development of each one of the stages and its activities, the students will be 

able to analyze and interpret in a critical way the tangible reality and propose 

alternatives of improvement of the problem statement researched. 

B. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION 

Planning stage about the teaching learning process is an important task that the 

teachers of the English Language carry out daily, so that it is essential that they master 

it, since it is not being used appropriately, due to some problems that the professionals 

of this specialization face, like: 

The lack of management of the lesson planning designing hinders the development of 

Planning of the English language teaching-learning process Páge 2




interactive classes in order to keep students motivated and therefore gets behind the 

improvement of four basic linguistic skills of the English language, and as a limited 

result, it influences in the methodology that the teachers may 

apply in their classes, considering the textbook as the single instrument to teach. 

The planning stage is bounded up with methodology, and some English teachers lack 

of upgraded methodological knowledge, that´s why they keep applying the traditional 

method, in which the teacher is the unique active person in the classroom, and 

students become in just listeners during the whole process, this noninvolvement of 

students holds down the teaching-learning process. 

C. TRANSFORMATION OBJECT 

The planning of the teaching learning process of the English language in the 

educational establishments, in most cases is done in a conventional way, this situation 

is caused by the lack of knowledge that teachers have in related aspects with the 

planning of practice, by the ignorance of elements of macro, meso and micro 

planning. The traditional system has promoted in the students the dismotivation and 

insufficient learning in the development of the four basic linguistics skills. Therefore the 

future teachers of English have to dispose of knowledge about planning in the teaching 

learning process to guide and organize the learning group work and have a technical 

and conceptual mastery about English language. 

D. OBJECTIVES 

 

 

 

 

To analyze the macro, meso and micro planning 

To distinguish the problem statement of the planning in the teaching learning 

process. 

To contrast the obtained information with the theoretical frame. 

To establish alternatives to improve the teaching learning process of the 

English language. 

E. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 

 

 

 

 

 

Use the English language to communicate inside and outside the classroom 

Communicate with native speakers about various themes. 

Express personal points of view as well as feeling by writing. 

Design meso and micro planning formats by including methodologies, 

strategies and techniques to achieve objectives. 

Elaborate didactic material 





F. PROFESSIONAL PROFILE 

Students will be able to understand and comprehend the importance of 

planning as the procedure of teaching by managing the literature as well as the 

use of the language to communicate and interact. Moreover students will be 

aware of the need to face real problems about it and get involved with the need 

of improvement through their contribution. 

G. RESEARCH PROCESS DESCRIPTION 

The research process will be done through three stages: 

Stage 1 

Identification of the problem statement related to the English Language planning in the 

different educational establishments of Loja city. 

Stage 2 

Critical analysis of planning of the English language and contrasting to the theoretical 

frame to the reality observed. 

Stage 3 

Writing about the alternatives of solution about planning which may contribute to the 

improvement of professional practice. 

H. THEORETICAL FRAME 

CONTENTS: FIRST STAGE 

Interesting lives ( respect, self-stem) 

Personal tastes ( honesty, liberty) 

World cultures ( solidarity, tolerance) 

Socializing ( tolerance, liberty) 

Código de la Niñez y adolescencia 

Planning 

Elements of planning 

Planning and preparing a lesson or sequence of lessons 

Identifying and selecting aims 

Identifying the different components a lesson 

Presentation techniques and introductory activities 

Practice activities and task for language and skills development 

Choosing assessment activities 





CONTENTS: SECOND STAGE 

Law and order ( justice, respect, honesty) 

Strange Events ( sincerity, solidarity) 

Problem Solving ( punctuality, responsibility, solidarity) 

Behavior ( respect, sincerity) 

Selection and use of resources and materials 

Selection and use of the course book materials 

Selection and use of supplementary materials and activities 

Selection and use of teaching aids 

Managing the teaching and learning process 

Identifying the functions of learner’s language 

Categorizing learners' mistakes 

CONTENTS: THIRD STAGE 

Material World ( humility, honesty, responsibility) 

Fame ( responsibility, punctuality) 

Trends ( respect, responsibility) 

Careers ( liberty, justice) 

Classroom management. 

Teacher roles 

Grouping learners 

Correcting learns 

Giving feedback 

Elaboration of Didactic material 

I. TEACHING ASSISTANCE AND ACTIVITES RELATING WITH THE 

COMMUNITY 

In order to contribute with the community, students will do internship in some 

schools outskirts of the city. Students are going to work in the unit and lesson 

planning and carry them out during it. Moreover they will be in charge of 

professional improvement workshops which will train teachers from those 

schools to manage better their professional styles. 

J. METHODOLOGY 

The methodology will be developed through: 

 

 

Academic work guide for each stage of the module. 

The work will be orientated towards individual and group reading of the 

theoretical, methodological and technological bases selected for the module, 

that permit the interactive participation and interpret, understand, explain and 

evaluate research, requiring for that analyze, synthesize, and elaborate graphic 

organizers that contribute to socialize the content, to elaborate accrediting 

products and sustain works in each stage. 





 

 

 

 

The development of the research process by means of a permanent tutoring of 

the coordinator of the module. 

To improve their level of learning, the students will use information on the 

internet, laboratory practice and practice with native speakers. 

The workshops and seminaries will have a didactic instrumentation for the 

integration and interdisciplinary work. Meaningful learning, learning strategies 

and the practice of values will be emphasized. 

The activities of the module will be carried out in present modality, from Monday 

through Friday from 16:00 to 21:00 hours. 

Stage 1 

For Identify the problem statement related to the English Language planning in the 

different educational establishments of Loja city, the following activities will be carried 

out: 

 

 

 

 

 

Stage 2 

Study and revision of basic bibliography 

Application of a survey to determine the way of planning, executing and 

evaluating the teaching and learning process of the English language in 

secondary level establishment 

Individual and group work 

Individual and group exposition 

Plenary 

For Critical analysis of planning of the English language and contrasting to the 

theoretical frame to the reality observed, the following activities will be carried out: 

Systematization of information 

Analysis and discussion of the obtained results 

Application of theoretical frame in the construction of the comparison of the 

obtained information 

Presentation and exposition of the written reports 

Stage 3 

For Definition of the alternatives of solution about planning, which may contribute to the 

improvement of professional practice, the following activities will be carried out: 

 

 

 

Elaboration of the proposal based on the theoretical frames studied and 

analyzed. 

Presentation and support of the final report that contain the three moments. 

Analysis and discussion about the present work. 

k. TIMING AND CREDITS 

• First Stage 

From Sep 15th to Oct 29th 

160 Hours 

10 Credits 





• Second Stage 

From Nov 3rd to Dec 17th 

160 Hours 

10 Credits 

• Third Stage 

Jan 3rd to Feb 11th 2011 

160 Hours 

10 Credits 

l. ACCREDITING PRODUCT 

In the first stage, the document that contains the characterization of the problem 

statement about Planning of the English Language Teaching–Learning Process to 

develop the teaching and learning process will be presented. 

In the second stage, the document containing a critical analysis of the problems of 

planning in the teaching and learning process will be analyzed. 

In the third stage the document in which the synthesis of the first two stages and 

alternative proposal to solve this problem will be presented and exposed. 

M. EVALUATION, GRADING AND ACCREDITING 

THE EVALUATION 

It will be permanent, through methodological strategies that allow the critical analysis of 

the academic process to be developed to reorient the activities of the module, tutoring 

the research process and feedback the teaching and learning process. 

ACCREDITATING 

To accredit the module the following parameters will be taken into account: 

a) Research 40% 4 

b) English 40% 4 

c) Support 20% 2 

.......... ...... 

100% 10 points 

GRADING 

The scoring will consist of the sum of all the aspects mentioned earlier to 10 points, 

which will allow the approval or failing according to the General Regulation of the 

University. 





N. PROFESSOR´S STAFF 

Mg. Sc. Paola Moreno O. 

Dra. Sandra J. Ochoa de Maldonado. 

Verónica Richtarcikova 

Jamie Senescall 

O. BIBLIOGRAFÍA 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BROWN H. Douglas. Teaching by principles. Edit Longman. Second edition 

2001 

RICHARDS, Jack and RODGERS, Theodore. Approaches and Methods in 

Language Teaching. 

HARMER, Jeremy. How to teach English. Edit Longman. First Published 

1998 

LINDSAY, Paul. Teaching English Worldwide. 2000 Alta Book Center 

Publishers 

SPRATT, Mary and elt. The teaching Knowledge Test. Cambridge 

University. First Published 2005 

RICHARDS, Jack, Strategic Reading 1. Cambridge University. Published 

2003 

OCEANO, Manual de la Educación 

11. WORKSHOPS 

Didactic Material (3 credits) 

Objective 

Elaborate didactic material that supports the teaching learning process for the 

different levels. 

References 

Flannelboard, magnetboard and adhesive plastic. 

The wallpictures and wallposters 

Picture flash cards. 

Word flash cards 

Authentic printed materials. 

Syntactic Analysis of the English Language (3 credits) 

Objective 

Involve students to analyze the phonetics and morphological structure of 

English language. 





 

Understanding the Word combination in a structure, phrase, clause and 

sentences. 

Reference 

Nominal Nouns and phrasal verbs 

Basic patterns 

Classification ways 

Parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives and Adverb.) 

Modifiers. 

Practice of the English Native Speech IV (3 credits) 

Objectives 

To encourage students to the practice of the English language in real situations 

with native speakers. 

To train students in the use of the English language in a intermediate level with 

the purpose to keep conversations with native speakers. 

References 

• Application of future and imperative expressions in dialogues 

• Delivery and reception of messages. 





P. MATRIX OF THE MODULE 

PERÍOD 

RESEARCH 

PROCESS 

RESEARCH 

STRATEGIES 

THEORETICAL 

REFERENCES 

ACADÉMIC 

STRATEGIES 

PRACTICAL 

ACTIVITIES 

EVALUATION/GRADIN 

ACREDITING 

Sep 

13/14 

Information of general 

aspects related to the 

module 

Starting of the module 

Introducing 

techniques 

General information 

of the module. 

Agreements / 

commitments 

Sep.15 

Oct. 29 

2010 

FIRST STAGE 

Identification of 

the problem 

statement related 

to the English 

Language 

planning in the 

different 

educational 

establishments of 

Loja city. 

Analysis of the 

document. 

Study of the 

information related 

to the research 

theme. 

Organization and 

systematization of 

the information. 

Código de la niñez y 

adolescencia 

Planning 

Elements of planning 

Planning and 

preparing a lesson or 

sequence of lessons 

Identifying and 

selecting aims 

Identifying the different 

components a lesson 

Presentation 

techniques and 

introductory activities 

Practice activities and 

task for language and 

skills development 

Choosing assessment 

activities 

Scanning and 

skimming strategy. 

Pre-instructional 

strategies 

Learning objectives. 

Motivating activities 

Problems 

Co-instructional 

Pair/group work 

Illustrations. 

Brainstorm 

Reports 

Summaries 

Presentations 

Post-instructional 

Graphic organizers 

Review and recycling 

Editing 

Round table 

Build up a graphic 

organizer. 

Beginning Activities 

Warmers. 

Lead-ins. 

Development 

activities. 

Presentations. 

Build up the problem 

statements. 

Definition of the 

problem 

Formulate learning 

objectives. 

Ending Activities 

Explanations of the 

tasks individual / 

group 

Slide Presentations 

Assignments 

Oral quizzes 

Test 

Presentations 

Mind maps 

English language skills 

performance 

Conceptual maps 

Role play 

Dramatizations 

Reports 

Defined problem 

Total number of hours: first stage 160 hours (10 credits) 

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PERÍOD 

RESEARCH 

PROCESS 

RESEARCH 

STRATEGIES 

THEORETICAL 

REFERENCES 

ACADÉMIC 

STRATEGIES 

PRACTICAL 

ACTIVITIES 


ACREDITING 

Nov. 3 

Dec. 17 

2010 

SECOND STAGE 

Critical analysis of 

planning of the 

English language 

and contrasting to 

the theoretical 

frame to the 

reality observed 


document. 








Selection and use of 

resources and 

materials. 


the course book 

materials. 


supplementary 

materials and 

activities. 


teaching aids 

Managing the 

teaching and learning 

process 

Identifying the 

functions of learner’s 

language 

Categorizing learners' 

mistakes 


strategies 



Problems 




Brainstorm 

Reports 

Summaries 

Presentations 




Editing 

Round table 

. 


Warmers. 

Lead-ins. 

Development 

activities. 



statements. 


problem 


objectives. 




group 

Assignments 

Oral quizzes 

Test 

Presentations 

Mind maps 


performance 


Role play 


Report of logical 

analysis of the 

problem. 






PERÍOD 

RESEARCH 

PROCESS 

RESEARCH 

STRATEGIES 

THEORETICAL 

REFERENCES 

ACADÉMIC 

STRATEGIES 

PRACTICAL 

ACTIVITIES 


ACREDITING 

Jan. 3 

Feb. 11 

2011 

THIRD STAGE 


alternatives of 

solution about 

planning, which 

may contribute to 

the improvement 

of professional 

practice. 


document. 








Classroom 

management. 

Teacher roles 




Elaboration of Didactic 

material 


strategies 



Problems 




Brainstorm 

Reports 

Summaries 

Presentations 


Warmers. 

Lead-ins. 

Development 

activities. 



statements. 


problem 


objectives. 

Assignments 

Oral quizzes 

Test 

Presentations 

Mind maps 


performance 


Role play 


Execution of the 

lesson plan 

Reports 

Alternatives of solution 

to the problem 





Editing 

Round table 



group 






First stage 

Contents 

• Código de la Niñez y adolescencia 

• Planning 

• Elements of planning 

• Planning and preparing a lesson or sequence of lessons 

• Identifying and selecting aims 

• Identifying the different components a lesson 

• Presentation techniques and introductory activities 

• Practice activities and task for language and skills developent 

• Choosing assessment activities 

• LOS NIÑOS, NIÑAS Y ADOLESCENTES COMO SUJETOS DE 

DERECHOS 





TITULO I 

DEFINICIONES 

Art. 1.- Finalidad.- Este Código dispone sobre la protección integral que 

el Estado, la sociedad y la familia deben garantizar a todos los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes que viven en el Ecuador, con el fin de lograr su desarrollo 

integral y el disfrute pleno de sus derechos, en un marco de libertad, dignidad 

y equidad. 

Para este efecto, regula el goce y ejercicio de los derechos, deberes y 

responsabilidades de los niños, niñas y adolescentes y los medios para 

hacerlos efectivos, garantizarlos y protegerlos, conforme al principio del interés 

superior de la niñez y adolescencia y a la doctrina de protección integral. 

Art. 2. - Sujetos protegidos.- Las normas del presente Código son 

aplicables a todo ser humano, desde su concepción hasta que cumpla 

dieciocho años de edad. Por excepción, protege a personas que han cumplido 

dicha edad, en los casos expresamente contemplados en este Código. 

Art. 3. - Supletoriedad. - En lo no previsto expresamente por este 

Código se aplicarán las demás normas del ordenamiento jurídico interno, que 

no contradigan los principios que se reconocen en este Código y sean más 

favorables para la vigencia de los derechos de la niñez y adolescencia. 

Art. 4. - Definición de niño, niña y adolescente.- Niño o niña es la 

persona que no ha cumplido doce años de edad. Adolescente es la persona 

de ambos sexos entre doce y dieciocho años de edad. 

Art. 5.- Presunción de edad.- Cuando exista duda sobre la edad de 

una persona, se presumirá que es niño o niña antes que adolescente; y que es 

adolescente, antes que mayor de dieciocho años. 

Art. 6.- Igualdad y no discriminación.- Todos los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes son iguales ante la ley y no serán discriminados por causa de su 

nacimiento, nacionalidad, edad, sexo, etnia; color, origen social, idioma, 

religión, filiación, opinión política, situación económica, orientación sexual, 

estado de salud, discapacidad o diversidad cultural o cualquier otra condición 

propia o de sus progenitores, representantes o familiares. 

El Estado adoptará las medidas necesarias para eliminar toda forma de 

discriminación. 





Art. 7.- Niños, niñas y adolescentes, indígenas y afroecuatorianos.- 

La ley reconoce y garantiza el derecho de los niños, niñas y adolescentes de 

nacionalidades indígenas y afroecuatorianos, a desarrollarse de acuerdo a su 

cultura y en un marco de interculturalidad, conforme a lo dispuesto en la 

Constitución Política de la República, siempre que las prácticas culturales no 

conculquen sus derechos. 

Art. 8.- Corresponsabilidad del Estado, la sociedad y la familia.- Es 

deber del Estado, la sociedad y la familia, dentro de sus respectivos ámbitos, 

adoptar las medidas políticas, administrativas, económicas, legislativas, 

sociales y jurídicas que sean necesarias para la plena vigencia, ejercicio 

efectivo, garantía, protección y exigibilidad de la totalidad de los derechos de 

niños; niñas y adolescentes. 

El Estado y la sociedad formularán y aplicarán políticas públicas sociales y 

económicas; y destinarán recursos económicos suficientes, en forma estable, 

permanente y oportuna. 

Art. 9.- Función básica de la familia.- La ley reconoce y protege a la 

familia como el espacio natural y fundamental para el desarrollo integral del 

niño, niña y adolescente. 

Corresponde prioritariamente al padre y a la madre, la responsabilidad 

compartida del respeto, protección y cuidado de los hijos y la promoción, 

respeto y exigibilidad de sus derechos. 

Art. 10.- Deber del Estado frente a la familia.- El Estado tiene el deber 

prioritario de definir y ejecutar políticas, planes y programas que apoyen a la 

familia para cumplir con las responsabilidades especificadas en el artículo 

anterior. 

Art. 11.- El interés superior del niño.- El interés superior del niño es un 

principio que está orientado a satisfacer el ejercicio efectivo del conjunto de los 

derechos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes; e impone a todas las autoridades 

administrativas y judiciales y a las instituciones públicas y privadas, el deber 

de ajustar sus decisiones y acciones para su cumplimiento. 

Para apreciar el interés superior se considerará la necesidad de mantener un 

justo equilibrio entre los derechos y deberes de niños, niñas y adolescentes, 

en la forma que mejor convenga a la realización de sus derechos y garantías. 

Este principio prevalece sobre el principio de diversidad étnica y cultural. 

El interés superior del niño es un principio de interpretación de la presente 

Ley. Nadie podrá invocarlo contra norma expresa y sin escuchar previamente 





la opinión del niño, niña o adolescente involucrado, que esté en condiciones 

de expresarla. 

Art. 12.- Prioridad absoluta.- En la formulación y ejecución de las 

políticas públicas y en la provisión de recursos, debe asignarse prioridad 

absoluta a la niñez y adolescencia, a las que se asegurará, además, el acceso 

preferente a los servicios públicos y a cualquier clase de atención que 

requieran. 

Se dará prioridad especial a la atención de niños y niñas menores de seis 

años. 

En caso de conflicto, los derechos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

prevalecen sobre los derechos de los demás. 

Art. 13.- Ejercicio progresivo. - El ejercicio de los derechos y garantías 

y el cumplimiento de los deberes y responsabilidades de niños, niñas y 

adolescentes se harán de manera progresiva, de acuerdo a su grado de 

desarrollo y madurez. Se prohíbe cualquier restricción al ejercicio de estos 

derechos y garantías que no esté expresamente contemplado en este Código. 

Art. 14.- Aplicación e interpretación más favorable al niño, niña y 

adolescente. - Ninguna autoridad judicial o administrativa podrá invocar falta 

o insuficiencia de norma o procedimiento expreso para justificar la violación o 

desconocimiento de los derechos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes. 

Las normas del ordenamiento jurídico, las cláusulas y estipulaciones de los 

actos y contratos en que intervengan niños, niñas o adolescentes, o que se 

refieran a ellos, deben interpretarse de acuerdo al principio del interés superior 

del niño. 

TITULO III 

DERECHOS, GARANTIAS Y DEBERES 

Capítulo I 

Disposiciones generales 

Art. 15. - Titularidad de derechos.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

son sujetos de derechos y garantías y, como tales, gozan de todos aquellos 

que las leyes contemplan en favor de las personas, además de aquellos 

específicos de su edad. 

Los niños, niñas y adolescentes extranjeros que se encuentren bajo 

jurisdicción del Ecuador, gozarán de los mismos derechos y garantías 





reconocidas por la ley a los ciudadanos ecuatorianos, con las limitaciones 

establecidas en la Constitución y en las leyes. 

Art. 16.- Naturaleza de estos derechos y garantías.- Por su 

naturaleza, los derechos y garantías de la niñez y adolescencia son de orden 

público, interdependientes, indivisibles, irrenunciables e intransigibles, salvo 

las excepciones expresamente señaladas en la ley. 

Art. 17. - Deber jurídico de denunciar.- Toda persona, incluidas las 

autoridades judiciales y administrativas, que por cualquier medio tenga 

conocimiento de la violación de un derecho del niño, niña o adolescente, está 

obligada a denunciarla ante la autoridad competente, en un plazo máximo de 

cuarenta y ocho horas. 

Art. 18.- Exigibilidad de los derechos.- Los derechos y garantías que 

las leyes reconocen en favor del niño, niña y adolescente, son potestades 

cuya observancia y protección son exigibles a las personas y organismos 

responsables de asegurar su eficacia, en la forma que este Código y más 

leyes establecen para el efecto. 

Art. 19.- Sanciones por violación de derechos. - Las violaciones a los 

derechos de los niños, niñas y adolescentes serán sancionadas en la forma 

prescrita en este Código y más leyes, sin perjuicio de la reparación que 

corresponda como consecuencia de la responsabilidad civil. 

Capítulo II 

Derechos de supervivencia 

Art. 20.- Derecho a la vida.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen 

derecho a la vida desde su concepción. Es obligación del Estado, la sociedad 

y la familia asegurar por todos los medios a su alcance, su supervivencia y 

desarrollo. 

Se prohíben los experimentos y manipulaciones médicas y genéticas desde la 

fecundación del óvulo hasta el nacimiento de niños, niñas y adolescentes; y la 

utilización de cualquier técnica o práctica que ponga en peligro su vida o 

afecte su integridad o desarrollo integral. 

Art. 21.- Derecho a conocer a los progenitores y mantener 

relaciones con ellos.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a 

conocer a su padre y madre, a ser cuidados por ellos y a mantener relaciones 

afectivas permanentes, personales y regulares con ambos progenitores y 

demás parientes, especialmente cuando se encuentran separados por 





cualquier circunstancia, salvo que la convivencia o relación afecten sus 

derechos y garantías. 

No se les privará de este derecho por falta o escasez de recursos económicos 

de sus progenitores. 

En los casos de desconocimiento del paradero del padre, de la madre, o de 

ambos, el Estado, los parientes y demás personas que tengan información 

sobre aquél, deberán proporcionarla y ofrecer las facilidades para localizarlos. 

Art. 22.- Derecho a tener una familia y a la convivencia familiar.- Los 

niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a vivir y desarrollarse en su familia 

biológica. El Estado, la sociedad y la familia deben adoptar prioritariamente 

medidas apropiadas que permitan su permanencia en dicha familia. 

Excepcionalmente, cuando aquello sea imposible o contrario a su interés 

superior, los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a otra familia, de 

conformidad con la ley. 

En todos los casos, la familia debe proporcionarles un clima de afecto y 

comprensión que permita el respeto de sus derechos y su desarrollo integral. 

El acogimiento institucional, el internamiento preventivo, la privación de 

libertad o cualquier otra solución que los distraiga del medio familiar, debe 

aplicarse como última y excepcional medida. 

Art. 23.- Protección prenatal.- Se sustituirá la aplicación de penas y 

medidas privativas de libertad a la mujer embarazada hasta noventa días 

después del parto, debiendo el Juez disponer las medidas cautelares que 

sean del caso. 

El Juez podrá ampliar este plazo en el caso de madres de hijos con 

discapacidad grave y calificada por el organismo pertinente, por todo el tiempo 

que sea menester, según las necesidades del niño o niña. 

El responsable de la aplicación de esta norma que viole esta prohibición o 

permita que otro la contravenga, será sancionado en la forma prevista en este 

Código. 

Art. 24.- Derecho a la lactancia materna.- Los niños y niñas tienen 

derecho a la lactancia materna para asegurarle el vínculo afectivo con su 

madre, adecuada nutrición, crecimiento y desarrollo. 

Es obligación de los establecimientos de salud públicos y privados desarrollar 

programas de estimulación de la lactancia materna. 





Art. 25.- Atención al embarazo y al parto.- El poder público y las 

instituciones de salud y asistencia a niños, niñas y adolescentes crearán las 

condiciones adecuadas para la atención durante el embarazo y el parto, a 

favor de la madre y del niño o niña, especialmente tratándose de madres 

adolescentes y de niños o niñas con peso inferior a dos mil quinientos gramos. 

Art. 26.- Derecho a una vida digna.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a una vida digna, que les permita disfrutar de las condiciones 

socioeconómicas necesarias para su desarrollo integral. 

Este derecho incluye aquellas prestaciones que aseguren una alimentación 

nutritiva, equilibrada y suficiente, recreación y juego, acceso a los servicios de 

salud, a educación de calidad, vestuario adecuado, vivienda segura, higiénica 

y dotada de los servicios básicos. 

Para el caso de los niños, niñas y adolescentes con discapacidades, el 

Estado y las instituciones que las atienden deberán garantizar las condiciones, 

ayudas técnicas y eliminación de barreras arquitectónicas para la 

comunicación y transporte. 

Art. 27.- Derecho a la salud.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen 

derecho a disfrutar del más alto nivel de salud física, mental, psicológica y 

sexual. 

El derecho a la salud de los niños, niñas y adolescentes comprende: 

1. Acceso gratuito a los programas y acciones de salud públicos, a una 

nutrición adecuada y a un medio ambiente saludable; 

2. Acceso permanente e ininterrumpido a los servicios de salud públicos, 

para la prevención, tratamiento de las enfermedades y la rehabilitación 

de la salud. Los servicios de salud públicos son gratuitos para los niños, 

niñas y adolescentes que los necesiten; 

3. Acceso a medicina gratuita para los niños, niñas y adolescentes que las 

necesiten; 

4. Acceso inmediato y eficaz a los servicios médicos de emergencia, 

públicos y privados; 

5. Información sobre su estado de salud, de acuerdo al nivel evolutivo del 

niño, niña o adolescente; 

6. Información y educación sobre los principios básicos de prevención en 

materia de salud, saneamiento ambiental, primeros auxilios; 





7. Atención con procedimientos y recursos de las medicinas alternativas y 

tradicionales; 

8. El vivir y desarrollarse en un ambiente estable y afectivo que les 

permitan un adecuado desarrollo emocional; 

9. El acceso a servicios que fortalezcan el vínculo afectivo entre el niño o 

niña y su madre y padre; y, 

10. El derecho de las madres a recibir atención sanitaria prenatal y postnatal 

apropiadas. 

Se prohíbe la venta de estupefacientes, substancias psicotrópicas y otras que 

puedan producir adicción, bebidas alcohólicas, pegamentos industriales, 

tabaco, armas de fuego y explosivos de cualquier clase, a niños, niñas y 

adolescentes. 

Art. 28.- Responsabilidad del Estado en relación a este derecho a la 

salud.- Son obligaciones del Estado, que se cumplirán a través del Ministerio 

de Salud: 

1. Elaborar y poner en ejecución las políticas, planes y programas que 

favorezcan el goce del derecho contemplado en el artículo anterior; 

2. Fomentar las iniciativas necesarias para ampliar la cobertura y calidad 

de los servicios de salud, particularmente la atención primaria de salud; 

y adoptará las medidas apropiadas para combatir la mortalidad materno 

infantil, la desnutrición infantil y las enfermedades que afectan a la 

población infantil; 

3. Promover la acción interdisciplinaria en el estudio y diagnóstico 

temprano de los retardos del desarrollo, para que reciban el tratamiento 

y estimulación oportunos; 

4. Garantizar la provisión de medicina gratuita para niños, niñas y 

adolescentes; 

5. Controlar la aplicación del esquema completo de vacunación; 

6. Desarrollar programas de educación dirigidos a los progenitores y 

demás personas a cargo del cuidado de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, 

para brindarles instrucción en los principios básicos de su salud y 

nutrición, y en las ventajas de la higiene y saneamiento ambiental; y, 

7. Organizar servicios de atención específica para niños, niñas y 

adolescentes con discapacidades físicas, mentales o sensoriales. 





Art. 29.- Obligaciones de los progenitores.- Corresponde a los 

progenitores y demás personas encargadas del cuidado de los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes, brindar la atención de salud que esté a su alcance y asegurar el 

cumplimiento de las prescripciones, controles y disposiciones médicas y de 

salubridad. 

Art. 30.- Obligaciones de los establecimientos de salud.- Los 

establecimientos de salud, públicos y privados, cualquiera sea su nivel, están 

obligados a: 

1. Prestar los servicios médicos de emergencia a todo niño, niña y 

adolescente que los requieran, sin exigir pagos anticipados ni garantías 

de ninguna naturaleza. No se podrá negar esta atención a pretexto de la 

ausencia del representante legal, la carencia de recursos económicos, la 

falta de cupo, la causa u origen de la emergencia u otra circunstancia 

similar; 

2. Informar sobre el estado de salud del niño, niña o adolescente, a sus 

progenitores o representantes; 

3. Mantener registros individuales en los que conste la atención y 

seguimiento del embarazo, el parto y el puerperio; y registros 

actualizados de los datos personales, domicilio permanente y 

referencias familiares de la madre; 

4. Identificar a los recién nacidos inmediatamente después del parto, 

mediante el registro de sus impresiones dactilar y plantar y los nombres, 

apellidos, edad e impresión dactilar de la madre; y expedir el certificado 

legal correspondiente para su inscripción inmediata en el Registro Civil; 

5. Informar oportunamente a los progenitores sobre los requisitos y 

procedimientos legales para la inscripción del niño o niña en el Registro 

Civil; 

6. Garantizar la permanencia segura del recién nacido junto a su madre, 

hasta que ambos se encuentren en condiciones de salud que les 

permitan subsistir sin peligro fuera del establecimiento; 

7. Diagnosticar y hacer un seguimiento médico a los niños y niñas que 

nazcan con problemas patológicos o discapacidades de cualquier tipo; 

8. Informar oportunamente a los progenitores sobre los cuidados ordinarios 

y especiales que deben brindar al recién nacida, especialmente a los 

niños y niñas a quienes se haya detectado alguna discapacidad; 





9. Incentivar que el niño o niña sea alimentado a través de la lactancia 

materna, por lo menos hasta el primer año de vida; 

10. Proporcionar un trato de calidez y calidad compatibles con la dignidad 

del niño, niña y adolescente; 

11. Informar inmediatamente a las autoridades y organismos competentes 

los casos de niños o niñas y adolescentes con indicios de maltrato o 

abuso sexual; y aquellos en los que se desconozca la identidad o el 

domicilio de los progenitores; 

12. Recoger y conservar los elementos de prueba de maltrato o abuso 

sexual; y, 

13. Informar a las autoridades competentes cuando nazcan niños con 

discapacidad evidente. 

Art. 31.- Derecho a la seguridad social.- Los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a la seguridad social. Este derecho consiste en el 

acceso efectivo a las prestaciones y beneficios generales del sistema, de 


Art. 32.- Derecho a un medio ambiente sano.- Todo los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a vivir en un ambiente sano, ecológicamente 

equilibrado y libre de contaminación, que garantice su salud, seguridad 

alimentaria y desarrollo integral. 

El Gobierno Central y los gobiernos seccionales establecerán políticas claras y 

precisas para la conservación del medio ambiente y el ecosistema. 

Capítulo III 

Derechos relacionados con el desarrollo 

Art. 33. - Derecho a la identidad.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a la identidad y a los elementos que la constituyen, 

especialmente el nombre, la nacionalidad y sus relaciones de familia, de 


Es obligación del Estado preservar la identidad de los niños; niñas y 

adolescentes y sancionar a los responsables de la alteración, sustitución o 

privación de este derecho. 

Art. 34.- Derecho a la identidad cultural.- Los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a conservar, desarrollar, fortalecer y recuperar su 

identidad y valores espirituales, culturales, religiosos, lingüísticos, políticos y 





sociales y a ser protegidos contra cualquier tipo de interferencia que tenga por 

objeto sustituir, alterar o disminuir estos valores. 

Art. 35. - Derecho a la identificación.- Los niños y niñas tienen derecho 

a ser inscritos inmediatamente después del nacimiento, con los apellidos 

paterno y materno que les correspondan. El Estado garantizará el derecho a la 

identidad y a la identificación mediante un servicio de Registro Civil con 

procedimientos ágiles, gratuitos y sencillos para la obtención de los 

documentos de identidad. 

Art. 36.- Normas para la identificación.- En la certificación de nacido 

vivo, que deberá ser emitida bajo la responsabilidad del centro o institución de 

salud pública o privada que atendió el nacimiento, constará la identificación 

dactilar de la madre y la identificación plantar del niño o niña recién nacido o 

nacida. En casos de inscripción tardía se deberá registrar en la ficha 

respectiva la identificación dactilar del niño, niña o adolescente. 

Cuando se desconozca la identidad de uno de los progenitores, el niño, niña o 

adolescente llevará los apellidos del progenitor que lo inscribe, sin perjuicio del 

derecho a obtener el reconocimiento legal del otro progenitor. 

Si se desconoce la identidad o domicilio de ambos progenitores, el niño, niña 

o adolescente se inscribirá por orden judicial o administrativa, con dos 

nombres y dos apellidos de uso común en el país. Se respetará el nombre con 

el cual ha sido conocido y se tomará en cuenta su opinión cuando sea posible. 

La inscripción podrá ser solicitada por la persona encargada del programa de 

protección a cargo del niño o niña o por la Junta de Protección de Derechos. 

Practicada la inscripción, el Jefe Cantonal del Registro Civil pondrá el caso en 

conocimiento de la Defensoría del Pueblo de la jurisdicción correspondiente, 

para que inicie las gestiones extrajudiciales tendientes al esclarecimiento de la 

filiación del niño o niña y posterior reconocimiento voluntario o entable la 

acción para que sea declarada judicialmente. 

Comprobada y resuelta por la autoridad judicial o administrativa competente 

la sustitución, confusión o privación de identidad o de alguno de sus 

elementos, el Registro Civil iniciará de inmediato los procedimientos idóneos 

para restablecerla sin costo alguno para el afectado. 

Los niños y niñas de las comunidades, pueblos y nacionalidades indígenas 

del país, tienen el derecho a ser inscritos con nombres propios del respectivo 

idioma. Las autoridades del Registro Civil tienen la obligación de inscribir estos 

nombres sin ningún tipo de limitación u objeción. 





Art. 37.- Derecho a la educación.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a una educación de calidad. Este derecho demanda de un 

sistema educativo que: 

1. Garantice el acceso y permanencia de todo niño y niña a la educación 

básica, así como del adolescente hasta el bachillerato o su equivalente; 

2. Respete las culturas y especificidades de cada región y lugar; 

3. Contemple propuestas educacionales flexibles y alternativas para 

atender las necesidades de todos los niños, niñas y adolescentes, con 

prioridad de quienes tienen discapacidad, trabajan o viven una situación 

que requiera mayores oportunidades para aprender; 

4. Garantice que los niños, niñas y adolescentes cuenten con docentes, 

materiales didácticos, laboratorios, locales, instalaciones y recursos 

adecuados y gocen de un ambiente favorable para el aprendizaje. Este 

derecho incluye el acceso efectivo a la educación inicial de cero a cinco 

años, y por lo tanto se desarrollarán programas y proyectos flexibles y 

abiertos, adecuados a las necesidades culturales de los educandos; y, 

5. Que respete las convicciones éticas, morales y religiosas de los padres y 

de los mismos niños, niñas y adolescentes. 

La educación pública es laica en todos sus niveles, obligatoria hasta el décimo 

año de educación básica y gratuita hasta el bachillerato o su equivalencia. 

El Estado y los organismos pertinentes asegurarán que los planteles 

educativos ofrezcan servicios con equidad, calidad y oportunidad y que se 

garantice también el derecho de los progenitores a elegir la educación que más 

convenga a sus hijos y a sus hijas. 

Art. 38.- Objetivos de los programas de educación.- La educación 

básica y media asegurarán los conocimientos, valores y actitudes 

indispensables para: 

a. Desarrollar la personalidad, las aptitudes y la capacidad mental y física 

del niño, niña y adolescente hasta su máximo potencial, en un entorno 

lúdico y afectivo; 

b. Promover y practicar la paz, el respeto a los derechos humanos y 

libertades fundamentales, la no discriminación, la tolerancia, la 

valoración de las diversidades, la participación, el diálogo, la autonomía 

y la cooperación; 





c. Ejercitar, defender, promover y difundir los derechos de la niñez y 

adolescencia; 

d. Prepararlo para ejercer una ciudadanía responsable, en una sociedad 

libre, democrática y solidaria; 

e. Orientarlo sobre la función y responsabilidad de la familia, la equidad de 

sus relaciones internas, la paternidad y maternidad responsable y la 

conservación de la salud; 

f. Fortalecer el respeto a sus progenitores y maestros, a su propia 

identidad cultural, su idioma, sus valores, a los valores nacionales y a los 

de otros pueblos y culturas; 

g. Desarrollar un pensamiento autónomo, crítico y creativo; 

h. La capacitación para un trabajo productivo y para el manejo de 

conocimientos científicos y técnicos; e, 

i. El respeto al medio ambiente. 

Art. 39. - Derechos y deberes de los progenitores con relación al 

derecho a la educación.- Son derechos y deberes de los progenitores y 

demás responsables de los niños, niñas y adolescentes: 

1. Matricularlos en los planteles educativos; 

2. Seleccionar para sus hijos una educación acorde a sus principios y 

creencias; 

3. Participar activamente en el desarrollo de los procesos educativos; 

4. Controlar la asistencia de sus hijos, hijas o representados a los planteles 

educativos; 

5. Participar activamente para mejorar la calidad de la educación; 

6. Asegurar el máximo aprovechamiento de los medios educativos que les 

proporciona el Estado y la sociedad; 

7. Vigilar el respeto de los derechos de sus hijos, hijas o representados en 

los planteles educacionales; y, 

8. Denunciar las violaciones a esos derechos, de que tengan conocimiento. 

Art. 40.- Medidas disciplinarias.- La práctica docente y la disciplina en 

los planteles educativos respetarán los derechos y garantías de los niños, 

niñas y adolescentes; excluirán toda forma de abuso, maltrato y 

desvalorización, por tanto, cualquier forma de castigo cruel, inhumano y 

degradante. 

Art. 41.- Sanciones prohibidas.- Se prohíbe a los establecimientos 

educativos la aplicación de: 

1. Sanciones corporales; 

2. Sanciones psicológicas atentatorias a la dignidad de los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes; 

3. Se prohíben las sanciones colectivas; y, 





4. Medidas que impliquen exclusión o discriminación por causa de una 

condición personal del estudiante, de sus progenitores, representantes 

legales o de quienes lo tengan bajo su cuidado. Se incluyen en esta 

prohibición las medidas discriminatorias por causa de embarazo o 

maternidad de una adolescente. A ningún niño, niña o adolescente se le 

podrá negar la matrícula o expulsar debido a la condición de sus padres. 

En todo procedimiento orientado a establecer la responsabilidad de un niño, 

niña o adolescente por un acto de indisciplina en un plantel educativo, se 

garantizará el derecho a la defensa del estudiante y de sus progenitores o 

representantes. 

Cualquier forma de atentado sexual en los planteles educativos será puesta 

en conocimiento del Agente Fiscal competente, para los efectos de la ley, sin 

perjuicio de las investigaciones y sanciones de orden administrativo que 

correspondan en el ámbito educativo. 

Art. 42.- Derecho a la educación de los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

con discapacidad.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes con discapacidades 

tienen derecho a la inclusión en el sistema educativo, en la medida de su nivel 

de discapacidad. Todas las unidades educativas están obligadas a recibirlos y 

a crear los apoyos y adaptaciones físicas, pedagógicas, de evaluación y 

promoción adecuados a sus necesidades. 

Art. 43. - Derecho a la vida cultural.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a participar libremente en todas las expresiones de la vida 

cultural. 

En el ejercicio de este derecho pueden acceder a cualquier espectáculo 

público que haya sido calificado como adecuado para su edad, por la 

autoridad competente. 

Es obligación del Estado y los gobiernos seccionales impulsar 

actividades culturales, artísticas y deportivas a las cuales tengan acceso los 

niños, niñas y adolescentes. 

Art. 44.- Derechos culturales de los pueblos indígenas y negros o 

afroecuatorianos.- Todo programa de atención y cuidado a los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes de las nacionalidades y pueblos indígenas, negros o 

afroecuatorianos, deberá respetar la cosmovisión, realidad cultural y 

conocimientos de su respectiva nacionalidad o pueblo y tener en cuenta sus 

necesidades especificas, de conformidad con la Constitución y la ley. 





Las entidades de atención, públicas y privadas, que brinden servicios a dichos 

niños, niñas y adolescentes, deberán coordinar sus actividades con las 

correspondientes entidades de esas nacionalidades o pueblos. 

Art. 45.- Derecho a la información.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a buscar y escoger información; y a utilizar los diferentes 

medios y fuentes de comunicación, con las limitaciones establecidas en la ley 

y aquellas que se derivan del ejercicio de la patria potestad. 

Es deber del Estado, la sociedad y la familia, asegurar que la niñez y 

adolescencia reciban una información adecuada, veraz y pluralista; y 

proporcionarles orientación y una educación crítica que les permita ejercitar 

apropiadamente los derechos señalados en el inciso anterior. 

Art. 46.- Prohibiciones relativas al derecho a la información. - Se 

prohíbe: 

1. La circulación de publicaciones, videos y grabaciones dirigidos y 

destinados a la niñez y adolescencia, que contengan imágenes, textos o 

mensajes inadecuados para su desarrollo; y cualquier forma de acceso 

de niños, niñas y adolescentes a estos medios; 

2. La difusión de información inadecuada para niños, niñas y adolescentes 

en horarios de franja familiar, ni en publicaciones dirigidas a la familia y a 

los niños, niñas y adolescentes; y, 

3. La circulación de cualquier producto destinado a niños, niñas y 

adolescentes, con envoltorios que contengan imágenes, textos o 

mensajes inadecuados para su desarrollo. 

Estas prohibiciones se aplican a los medios, sistemas de comunicación, 

empresas de publicidad y programas. 

Art. 47. - Garantías de acceso a una información adecuada.- Para 

garantizar el derecho a la información adecuada, de que trata el artículo 

anterior, el Estado deberá: 

a) Requerir a los medios de comunicación social, la difusión de información 

y materiales de interés social y cultural para niños, niñas y adolescentes; 

b) Exigirles que proporcionen, en forma gratuita, espacios destinados a 

programas del Consejo Nacional de Niñez y Adolescencia; 

c) Promover la producción y difusión de literatura infantil y juvenil; 





d) Requerir a los medios de comunicación la producción y difusión de 

programas acordes con las necesidades lingüísticas de niños, niñas y 

adolescentes pertenecientes a los diversos grupos étnicos; 

e) Impedir la difusión de información inadecuada para niños, niñas y 

adolescentes en horarios de franja familiar, ni en publicaciones dirigidas 

a la familia y a los niños, niñas y adolescentes; 

f) Sancionar de acuerdo a lo previsto en esta Ley, a las personas que 

faciliten a los menores: libros, escritos, afiches, propaganda, videos o 

cualquier otro medio auditivo y/o visual que hagan apología de la 

violencia o el delito, que tengan imágenes o contenidos pornográficos o 

que perjudiquen la formación del menor; y, 

g) Exigir a los medios de comunicación audiovisual que anuncien con la 

debida anticipación y suficiente notoriedad, la naturaleza de la 

información y programas que presentan y la clasificación de la edad para 

su audiencia. 

Se consideran inadecuados para el desarrollo de los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes los textos, imágenes, mensajes y programas que inciten a la 

violencia, exploten el miedo o aprovechen la falta de madurez de los niños, 

niñas y adolescentes para inducirlos a comportamientos perjudiciales o 

peligrosos para su salud y seguridad personal y todo cuanto atente a la moral 

o el pudor. 

En cualquier caso, la aplicación de medidas o decisiones relacionadas con 

esta garantía, deberán observar fielmente las disposiciones del Reglamento 

para el Control de la Discrecionalidad de los Actos de la Administración 

Pública, expedido por el Presidente de la República. 

Art. 48.- Derecho a la recreación y al descanso.- Los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a la recreación, al descanso, al juego, al deporte 

y más actividades propias de cada etapa evolutiva. 

Es obligación del Estado y de los gobiernos seccionales promocionar e 

inculcar en la niñez y adolescencia, la práctica de juegos tradicionales; crear y 

mantener espacios e instalaciones seguras y accesibles, programas y 

espectáculos públicos adecuados, seguros y gratuitos para el ejercicio de este 

derecho. 

Los establecimientos educativos deberán contar con áreas deportivas, 

recreativas, artísticas y culturales, y destinar los recursos presupuestarios 

suficientes para desarrollar estas actividades. 





El Consejo Nacional de la Niñez y Adolescencia dictará regulaciones sobre 

programas y espectáculos públicos, comercialización y uso de juegos y 

programas computarizados, electrónicos o de otro tipo, con el objeto de 

asegurar que no afecten al desarrollo integral de los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes. 

Art. 49.- Normas sobre el acceso a espectáculos públicos. - Se 

prohíbe el ingreso de niños, niñas y adolescentes a los espectáculos que 

hayan sido calificados como inconvenientes para su edad. 

Los espectáculos públicos adecuados para la niñez y adolescencia gozarán de 

un régimen especial respecto de los impuestos y contribuciones fiscales y 

municipales, que se reglamentará por las autoridades respectivas. Si se han 

organizado exclusivamente en beneficio de los establecimientos de protección, 

gozarán de exoneración de impuestos. 

En los espectáculos a que se refiere el artículo anterior, serán admitidos en 

forma gratuita y obligatoria los niños, niñas y adolescentes pertenecientes a 

establecimientos de protección. 

Las empresas responsables de los espectáculos deberán ofrecer las 

seguridades necesarias y garantizar las medidas en caso de accidente. 

Capítulo IV 

Derechos de protección 

Art. 50.- Derecho a la integridad personal.- Los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a que se respete su integridad personal, física, 

psicológica, cultural, afectiva y sexual. No podrán ser sometidos a torturas, 

tratos crueles y degradantes. 

Art. 51.- Derecho a la libertad personal, dignidad, reputación, honor 

e imagen.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a que se respete: 

a) Su libertad, sin más limitaciones que las establecidas en la ley. Los 

progenitores y responsables de sus cuidados los orientarán en el 

ejercicio de este derecho; y, 

b) Su dignidad, autoestima, honra, reputación e imagen propia. Deberá 

proporcionárseles relaciones de calidez y buen trato fundamentadas en 

el reconocimiento de su dignidad y el respeto a las diferencias. 





Art. 52.- Prohibiciones relacionadas con el derecho a la dignidad e 

imagen. Se prohíbe: 

1. La participación de niños, niñas y adolescentes en programas, mensajes 

publicitarios, en producciones de contenido pornográfico y en 

espectáculos cuyos contenidos sean inadecuados para su edad; 

2. La utilización de niños y niñas o adolescentes en programas o 

espectáculos de proselitismo político o religioso; 

3. La publicación o exhibición de noticias, reportajes, crónicas, historias de 

vida o cualquiera otra expresión periodística con imagen o nombres 

propios de niños, niñas o adolescentes que han sido víctimas de 

maltrato o abuso; 

4. La publicación o exhibición de imágenes y grabaciones o referencias 

escritas que permitan la identificación o individualización de un niño, 

niña o adolescente que ha sido víctima de maltrato, abuso sexual o 

infracción penal, y cualquier otra referencia al entorno en el que se 

desarrollan; y, 

5. La publicación del nombre, así como de la imagen de los menores 

acusados o sentenciados por delitos o faltas. 

Aun en los casos permitidos por la ley, no se podrá utilizar públicamente la 

imagen de un adolescente mayor de quince años, sin su autorización expresa; 

ni la de un niño, niña o adolescente menor de dicha edad, sin la autorización 

de su representante legal, quien sólo la dará si no lesiona los derechos de su 

representado. 

Art. 53. - Derecho a la privacidad y a la inviolabilidad del hogar y las 

formas de comunicación.- Sin perjuicio de la natural vigilancia de los padres 

y maestros, los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a que se respete la 

intimidad de su vida privada y familiar; y la privacidad e inviolabilidad de su 

domicilio, correspondencia y comunicaciones telefónicas y electrónicas, de 


Se prohíbe las injerencias arbitrarias o ilegales en su vida privada. 

Art. 54.- Derecho a la reserva de la información sobre antecedentes 

penales.- Los adolescentes que hayan sido investigados, sometidos a 

proceso, privados de su libertad o a quienes se haya aplicado una medida 

socio-educativa, con motivo de una infracción penal, tienen derecho a que no 





se hagan públicos sus antecedentes policiales o judiciales y a que se respete 

la reserva de la información procesal en la forma dispuesta en esta Ley, a 

menos que el Juez competente lo autorice en resolución motivada, en la que 

se expongan con claridad y precisión las circunstancias que justifican hacer 

pública la información. 

Art. 55.- Derecho de los niños, niñas y adolescentes con 

discapacidades o necesidades especiales.- Además de los derechos y 

garantías generales que la ley contempla a favor de los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes, aquellos que tengan alguna discapacidad o necesidad especial 

gozarán de los derechos que sean necesarios para el desarrollo integral de su 

personalidad hasta el máximo de sus potencialidades y para el disfrute de una 

vida plena, digna y dotada de la mayor autonomía posible, de modo que 

puedan participar activamente en la sociedad, de acuerdo a su condición. 

Tendrán también el derecho a ser informados sobre las causas, 

consecuencias y pronóstico de su discapacidad y sobre los derechos que les 

asisten. 

El Estado asegurará el ejercicio de estos derechos mediante su acceso 

efectivo a la educación y a la capacitación que requieren; y la prestación de 

servicios de estimulación temprana, rehabilitación, preparación para la 

actividad laboral, esparcimiento y otras necesarias, que serán gratuitos para 

los niños, niñas y adolescentes cuyos progenitores o responsables de su 

cuidado no estén en condiciones de pagarlos. 

Art. 56.- Derecho de los hijos de las personas privadas de libertad.- 

Los niños; niñas y adolescentes que no gocen de su medio familiar por 

encontrarse uno o ambos progenitores privados de su libertad, deberán recibir 

protección y asistencia especiales del Estado, fuera de los centros de 

rehabilitación, mediante modalidades de atención que aseguren su derecho a 

la convivencia familiar y comunitaria y a las relaciones personales directas y 

regulares con sus progenitores. 

Art. 57.- Derecho a protección especial en casos de desastres y 

conflictos armados.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a 

protección especial en casos de desastres naturales y de conflictos armados 

internos o internacionales. Esta protección se expresará, entre otras medidas, 

en la provisión prioritaria de medios de evacuación de las zonas afectadas, 

alojamiento, alimentación, atención médica y medicinas. 

El Estado garantiza el respeto irrestricto de las normas del derecho 

internacional humanitario en favor de los niños, niñas y adolescentes a los que 





se refiere este artículo; y asegurará los recursos, medios y mecanismos para 

que se reintegren a la vida social con la plenitud de sus derechos y deberes. 

Se prohíbe reclutar o permitir la participación directa de niños, niñas y 

adolescentes en hostilidades armadas internas e internacionales. 

Art. 58.- Derecho de los niños, niñas y adolescentes refugiados.- 

Los niños, niñas y adolescentes que soliciten o a quienes se les haya 

concedido el estatuto de refugiado, tienen derecho a recibir protección 

humanitaria y la asistencia necesaria para el pleno disfrute de sus derechos. 

El mismo derecho asiste a sus progenitores y a las personas encargadas de 

su cuidado. 

Capítulo V 

Derechos de participación 

Art. 59.- Derecho a la libertad de expresión.- Los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a expresarse libremente, a buscar, recibir y 

difundir informaciones e ideas de todo tipo, oralmente, por escrito o cualquier 

otro medio que elijan, con las únicas restricciones que impongan la ley, el 

orden público, la salud o la moral públicas para proteger la seguridad, 

derechos y libertades fundamentales de los demás. 

Art. 60.- Derecho a ser consultados.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a ser consultados en todos los asuntos que les afecten. Esta 

opinión se tendrá en cuenta en la medida de su edad y madurez. 

Ningún niño, niña o adolescente podrá ser obligado o presionado de cualquier 

forma para expresar su opinión. 

Art. 61.- Derecho a la libertad de pensamiento, conciencia y 

religión.- El Estado garantiza, en favor de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, las 

libertades de pensamiento, de conciencia y de religión, sujetas a las 

limitaciones prescritas por la ley y que sean necesarias para proteger la 

seguridad, los derechos y libertades fundamentales de los demás. 

Es derecho y deber de los progenitores y demás personas encargadas de su 

cuidado, orientar al niño, niña o adolescente para el adecuado ejercicio de 

este derecho, según su desarrollo evolutivo. 

Art. 62.- Derecho a la libertad de reunión.- Los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes tienen derecho a reunirse pública y pacíficamente para la 

promoción, defensa y ejercicio de sus derechos y garantías. 





Art. 63.- Derecho de libre asociación.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

tienen derecho a asociarse libremente con fines lícitos. Este derecho incluye la 

posibilidad de los adolescentes de constituir asociaciones sin fines de lucro, 

con arreglo a la ley. 

El Estado garantizará y fomentará el ejercicio de este derecho; principalmente 

en materia de asociaciones estudiantiles, culturales, deportivas, laborales y 

comunitarias. 

Se prohíbe cualquier restricción al ejercicio de este derecho, que no esté 

expresamente prevista en la ley. 

Capítulo VI 

Deberes, capacidad y responsabilidad de los niños, niñas y adolescentes 

Art. 64.- Deberes.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen los deberes 

generales que la Constitución Política impone a los ciudadanos, en cuanto 

sean compatibles con su condición y etapa evolutiva. Están obligados de 

manera especial a: 

1. Respetar a la Patria y sus símbolos; 

2. Conocer la realidad del país, cultivar la identidad nacional y respetar su 

pluriculturalidad; ejercer y defender efectivamente sus derechos y 

garantías; 

3. Respetar los derechos y garantías individuales y colectivas de los 

demás; 

4. Cultivar los valores de respeto, solidaridad, tolerancia, paz, justicia, 

equidad y democracia; 

5. Cumplir sus responsabilidades relativas a la educación; 

6. Actuar con honestidad y responsabilidad en el hogar y en todas las 

etapas del proceso educativo; 

7. Respetar a sus progenitores, maestros y más responsables de su 

cuidado y educación; y, 

8. Respetar y contribuir a la preservación del medio ambiente y de los 

recursos naturales. 

Art. 65.- Validez de los actos jurídicos.- La capacidad jurídica respecto 

a los actos celebrados por niños, niñas y adolescentes se estará a lo previsto 

en el Código Civil, a excepción de los siguientes casos: 

1. Los actos y contratos de los adolescentes que no han cumplido quince 

años, son relativamente nulos sin perjuicio de la validez que la ley 

confiera para la celebración de determinados actos; 





2. Las personas que han cumplido quince años, además, tienen capacidad 

legal para celebrar contratos de trabajo según las normas del presente 

Código; y, 

3. Para celebrar los actos y contratos que estén comprendidos en el objeto 

de una organización estudiantil, laboral, cultural, artística, ambiental, 

deportiva o vecinal, de las que sean personeros o legítimos 

representantes en el ejercicio de su derecho de asociación y cuya 

cuantía no exceda a dos mil dólares. 

Los adolescentes podrán ejercer directamente aquellas acciones judiciales 

encaminadas al ejercicio y protección de sus derechos y garantías. Los niños y 

niñas podrán pedir directamente auxilio para la protección de sus derechos 

cuando deban dirigir la acción contra su representante legal. 

Art. 66.- Responsabilidad de los niños, niñas y adolescentes. - Los 

niños y niñas están exentos de responsabilidad jurídica. Por sus hechos y 

actos dañosos, responderán civilmente sus progenitores o guardadores en los 

casos y formas previstos en el Código Civil. 

Los adolescentes son responsables por sus actos jurídicos y hechos ilícitos, 

en los términos de este Código. Su responsabilidad civil por los actos o 

contratos que celebren se hará efectiva sobre su peculio profesional o 

industrial o sobre los bienes de la asociación que representen de acuerdo con 

lo prevenido en el artículo anterior, según sea el caso. 

TITULO IV 

De la protección contra el maltrato, abuso, explotación 

sexual, trafico y perdida de niños, niñas y adolescentes 

Art. 67.- Concepto de maltrato.- Se entiende por maltrato toda 

conducta, de acción u omisión, que provoque o pueda provocar daño a la 

integridad o salud física, psicológica o sexual de un niño, niña o adolescente, 

por parte de cualquier persona, incluidos sus progenitores, otros parientes, 

educadores y personas a cargo de su cuidado; cualesquiera sean el medio 

utilizado para el efecto, sus consecuencias y el tiempo necesario para la 

recuperación de la víctima. Se incluyen en esta calificación el trato negligente 

o descuido grave o reiterado en el cumplimiento de las obligaciones para con 

los niños, niñas y adolescentes, relativas a la prestación de alimentos, 

alimentación, atención médica educación o cuidados diarios; y su utilización 

en la mendicidad. 





Maltrato psicológico es el que ocasiona perturbación emocional, alteración 

psicológica o disminución de la autoestima en el niño, niña o adolescente 

agredido. Se incluyen en esta modalidad las amenazas de causar un daño en 

su persona o bienes o en los de sus progenitores, otros parientes o personas 

encargadas de su cuidado. 

El maltrato es institucional cuando lo comete un servidor de una institución 

pública o privada, como resultado de la aplicación de reglamentos, prácticas 

administrativas o pedagógicas aceptadas expresa o tácitamente por la 

institución; y cuando sus autoridades lo han conocido y no han adoptado las 

medidas para prevenirlo, hacerlo cesar, remediarlo y sancionarlo de manera 

inmediata. 

La responsabilidad por maltrato institucional recae en el autor del maltrato y 

en el representante legal, autoridad o responsable de la institución o 

establecimiento al que pertenece. 

En el caso de los representantes legales, autoridades o responsables de la 

institución o establecimiento, la responsabilidad se hará efectiva de 

conformidad con las disposiciones previstas en la Constitución Política de la 

República, en el Código Civil y demás leyes aplicables. 

Art. 68.- Concepto de abuso sexual.- Sin perjuicio de lo que dispone el 

Código Penal sobre la materia, para los efectos del presente Código 

constituye abuso sexual todo contacto físico, sugerencia de naturaleza sexual, 

a los que se somete un niño, niña o adolescente, aun con su aparente 

consentimiento, mediante seducción, chantaje, intimidación, engaños, 

amenazas, o cualquier otro medio. 

Cualquier forma de acoso o abuso sexual será puesta en conocimiento del 

Agente Fiscal competente para los efectos de la ley, sin perjuicio de las 

investigaciones y sanciones de orden administrativo que correspondan. 

Art. 69.- Concepto de explotación sexual.- Constituyen explotación 

sexual la prostitución y la pornografía infantil. Prostitución infantil es la 

utilización de un niño, niña o adolescente en actividades sexuales a cambio de 

remuneración o de cualquier otra retribución. Pornografía infantil es toda 

representación, por cualquier medio, de un niño, niña y adolescente en 

actividades sexuales explícitas, reales o simuladas; o de sus órganos 

genitales, con la finalidad de promover, sugerir o evocar la actividad sexual. 

Art. 70.- Concepto de tráfico de niños.- Se entiende por tráfico de 

niños, niñas o adolescentes, su sustracción, traslado o retención, dentro o 





fuera del país y por cualquier medio, con el propósito de utilizarlos en la 

prostitución, explotación sexual o laboral, pornografía, narcotráfico, tráfico de 

órganos, servidumbre, adopciones ilegales u otras actividades ilícitas. 

Se consideran medios de tráfico, entre otros, la sustitución de persona, el 

consentimiento fraudulento o forzado y la entrega o recepción de pagos o 

beneficios indebidos dirigidos a lograr el consentimiento de los progenitores, 

de las personas o de la institución a cuyo cargo se halla el niño, niña o 

adolescente. 

Art. 71.- Concepto de pérdida de niños, niñas o adolescentes.- Para 

efectos de este Código, se considera pérdida de niños, niñas o adolescentes, 

su ausencia voluntaria o involuntaria del hogar, establecimiento educativo u 

otro lugar en el que se supone deben permanecer, sin el conocimiento de sus 

progenitores o responsables de su cuidado. 

Art. 72.- Personas obligadas a denunciar.- Las personas que por su 

profesión u oficio tengan conocimiento de un hecho que presente 

características propias de maltrato, abuso y explotación sexual, tráfico o 

pérdida de que hubiere sido víctima un niño, niña o adolescente, deberán 

denunciarlo dentro de las veinticuatro horas siguientes de dicho conocimiento 

ante cualquiera de los fiscales, autoridades judiciales o administrativas 

competentes, incluida la Defensoría del Pueblo, como entidad garante de los 

derechos fundamentales. 

Art. 73.- Deber de protección en los casos de maltrato.- Es deber de 

todas las personas intervenir en el acto para proteger a un niño, niña o 

adolescente en casos flagrantes de maltrato, abuso sexual, tráfico y 

explotación sexual y otras violaciones a sus derechos; y requerir la 

intervención inmediata de la autoridad administrativa, comunitaria o judicial. 

Art. 74.- Prevención y políticas respecto de las materias que trata el 

presente título.- El Estado adoptará las medidas legislativas, administrativas, 

sociales, educativas y de otra índole, que sean necesarias para proteger a los 

niños, niñas y adolescentes contra las conductas y hechos previstos en este 

título, e impulsará políticas y programas dirigidos a: 

1. La asistencia a la niñez y adolescencia y a las personas responsables 

de su cuidado y protección, con el objeto de prevenir estas formas de 

violación de derechos; 

2. La prevención e investigación de los casos de maltrato, abuso y 

explotación sexual, tráfico y pérdida; 





3. La búsqueda, recuperación y reinserción familiar, en los casos de 

pérdida, plagio, traslado ilegal y tráfico; y, 

4. El fomento de una cultura de buen trato en las relaciones cotidianas 

entre adultos, niños, niñas y adolescentes. 

En el desarrollo de las políticas y programas a los que se refiere este artículo, 

se asegurará la participación de la sociedad, la familia, los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes. 

Art. 75.- Prevención del maltrato institucional.- El Estado planificará y 

pondrá en ejecución medidas administrativas, legislativas, pedagógicas, de 

protección, atención, cuidado y demás que sean necesarias, en instituciones 

públicas y privadas, con el fin de erradicar toda forma de maltrato y abuso, y 

de mejorar las relaciones entre adultos y niños, niñas y adolescentes, y de 

éstos entre sí, especialmente en el entorno de su vida cotidiana. 

Las prácticas administrativas, pedagógicas, formativas, culturales 

tradicionales, de protección, atención, cuidado y de cualquier otra clase que 

realice toda institución pública o privada, deben respetar los derechos y 

garantías de los niños, niñas y adolescentes, y excluir toda forma de maltrato y 

abuso. 

Art. 76.- Prácticas culturales de maltrato.- No se admitirá como 

justificación de las prácticas a las que se refiere este capítulo, ni de atenuación 

para efecto de establecer las responsabilidades consiguientes, la alegación de 

que constituyen métodos formativos o que son prácticas culturales 

tradicionales. 

Art. 77.- Protección contra el traslado y retención ilícitos de niños, 

niñas y adolescentes.- Se prohíbe el traslado y la retención de niños, niñas y 

adolescentes cuando violan el ejercicio de la patria potestad, el régimen de 

visitas o las normas sobre autorización para salir del país. 

Los niños, niñas y adolescentes que han sido trasladados o retenidos 

ilegalmente, tienen derecho a ser reintegrados a su medio familiar y a gozar 

de las visitas de sus progenitores y otros parientes de conformidad con lo 

previsto en este Código. 

El Estado tomará todas las medidas que sean necesarias para lograr el 

regreso y reinserción familiar del niño, niña o adolescente que se encuentre en 

la situación prevista en este artículo. 





Art. 78.- Derecho a protección contra otras formas de abuso.- Los 

niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a que se les brinde protección 

contra: 

1. El consumo y uso indebido de bebidas alcohólicas, tabaco, 

estupefacientes y substancias psicotrópicas; 

2. La participación en la producción, comercialización y publicidad de las 

substancias y objetos a que se refieren los numerales 1 y 3; 

3. El uso de armas, explosivos y substancias que pongan en riesgo su vida 

o su integridad personal; 

4. La exposición pública de sus enfermedades o discapacidades orgánicas 

o funcionales, para la obtención de beneficios económicos; y, 

5. La inducción a los juegos de azar. 

Art. 79. - Medidas de protección para los casos previstos en este 

título.- Para los casos previstos en este título y sin perjuicio de las medidas 

generales de protección previstas en este Código y más leyes, las autoridades 

administrativas y judiciales competentes ordenarán una o más de las 

siguientes medidas: 

1. Allanamiento del lugar donde se encuentre el niño, niña o adolescente, 

víctima de la práctica ilícita, para su inmediata recuperación. Esta 

medida sólo podrá ser decretada por el Juez de la Niñez y Adolescencia, 

quien la dispondrá de inmediato y sin formalidad alguna; 

2. Custodia familiar o acogimiento institucional; 

3. Inserción del niño, niña o adolescente y su familia en un programa de 

protección y atención; 

4. Concesión de boletas de auxilio a favor del niño, niña o adolescente, en 

contra de la persona agresora; 

5. Amonestación al agresor; 

6. Inserción del agresor en un programa de atención especializada; 

7. Orden de salida del agresor de la vivienda, si su convivencia con la 

víctima implica un riesgo para la seguridad física, psicológica o sexual 

de esta última; y de reingreso de la víctima, si fuere el caso; 

8. Prohibición al agresor de acercarse a la víctima o mantener cualquier 

tipo de contacto con ella; 

9. Prohibición al agresor de proferir amenazas, en forma directa o indirecta, 

contra la víctima o sus parientes; 

10. Suspensión del agresor en las tareas o funciones que desempeña; 

11. Suspensión del funcionamiento de la entidad o establecimiento donde se 

produjo el maltrato institucional, mientras duren las condiciones que 

justifican la medida; 





12. Participación del agresor o del personal de la institución en la que se 

haya producido el maltrato institucional, en talleres, cursos o cualquier 

modalidad de eventos formativos; y, 

13. Seguimiento por parte de los equipos de trabajo social, para verificar la 

rectificación de las conductas de maltrato. 

En casos de emergencia que aporten indicios serios de agresión o amenaza 

contra la integridad física, sicológica o sexual del niño, niña o adolescente o de 

delito flagrante, las entidades de atención autorizadas podrán ejecutar 

provisionalmente las medidas de los numerales 2 a 9, 12 y 13, y ponerlo en 

conocimiento de la autoridad competente en el plazo máximo de setenta y dos 

horas, para que disponga las medidas definitivas. 

Art. 80.- Exámenes médico legales.- Los exámenes médico legales a 

un niño, niña o adolescente, se practicarán en estrictas condiciones de 

confidencialidad y respeto a la intimidad e integridad física y emocional del 

paciente. 

Salvo que ello sea imprescindible para su tratamiento y recuperación, se 

prohíbe volver a someter a un niño; niña o adolescente víctima de alguna de 

las formas de maltrato o abuso señalados en este título, a un mismo examen o 

reconocimiento médico legal. 

Los profesionales de la salud que realicen estos exámenes, están obligados a 

conservar en condiciones de seguridad los elementos de prueba encontrados; 

y a rendir testimonio propio sobre el contenido de sus informes. 

Los informes de dichos exámenes, realizados por profesionales de 

establecimientos de salud públicos o privados y entidades de atención 

autorizadas, tendrán valor legal de informe pericial. 

TITULO V 

DEL TRABAJO DE NIÑOS, NINAS Y ADOLESCENTES 

Capítulo I 

Disposiciones Generales 

Art. 81.- Derecho a la protección contra la explotación laboral.- Los 

niños, niñas y adolescentes tienen derecho a que el Estado, la sociedad y la 

familia les protejan contra la explotación laboral y económica y cualquier forma 

de esclavitud, servidumbre, trabajo forzoso o nocivo para su salud, su 

desarrollo físico, mental, espiritual, moral o social, o que pueda entorpecer el 

ejercicio de su derecho a la educación. 





Art. 82.- Edad mínima para el trabajo.- Se fija en quince años la edad 

mínima para todo tipo de trabajo, incluido el servicio doméstico, con las 

salvedades previstas en este Código, más leyes e instrumentos 

internacionales con fuerza legal en el país. 

La infracción a lo dispuesto en el inciso anterior, no libera al patrono de 

cumplir con las obligaciones laborales y sociales que le impone la relación de 

trabajo. 

El Consejo Nacional de la Niñez y Adolescencia, de oficio o a petición de 

cualquier entidad pública o privada, podrá autorizar edades mínimas por sobre 

la señalada en el inciso anterior, de conformidad con lo establecido en este 

Código, la ley y en los instrumentos internacionales legalmente ratificados por 

el Ecuador. 

Art. 83.- Erradicación del trabajo infantil.- El Estado y la sociedad 

deben elaborar y ejecutar políticas, planes, programas y medidas de 

protección tendientes a erradicar el trabajo de los niños, niñas y de los 

adolescentes que no han cumplido quince años. La familia debe contribuir al 

logro de este objetivo. 

Art. 84. - Jornada de trabajo y educación.- Por ningún motivo la 

jornada de trabajo de los adolescentes podrá exceder de seis horas diarias 

durante un período máximo de cinco días a la semana; y se organizará de 

manera que no limite el efectivo ejercicio de su derecho a la educación. 

Los progenitores del adolescente que trabaja, los responsables de su 

cuidado, sus patronos y las personas para quienes realizan una actividad 

productiva, tienen la obligación de velar porque terminen su educación básica 

y cumplan sus deberes académicos. 

Art. 85.- Registro de adolescentes trabajadores.- El Ministerio de 

Trabajo llevará un registro de los adolescentes que trabajan por cantones, 

debiendo remitir la información periódicamente a los concejos cantonales de la 

Niñez y Adolescencia. 

El reglamento establecerá la forma de llevar dicho registro y los datos que 

deben registrarse. 

Art. 86.- Excepción relativa a los trabajos formativos realizados 

como prácticas culturales.- La limitación de edad señalada en el artículo 82 

no se aplicará a los trabajos considerados como prácticas ancestrales 

formativas, siempre que reúnan las siguientes condiciones. 





1. Que respeten el desarrollo físico y psicológico del adolescente, en el 

sentido de asignárseles solamente tareas acordes con sus capacidades 

y etapa evolutiva; 

2. Que contribuyan a la formación y desarrollo de las destrezas y 

habilidades del adolescente; 

3. Que transmitan valores y normas culturales en armonía con el desarrollo 

del adolescente; y, 

4. Que se desarrollen en el ámbito y beneficio de la comunidad a la que 

pertenece el adolescente o su familia. 

Art. 87.- Trabajos prohibidos.- Se prohíbe el trabajo de adolescentes: 

1. En minas, basurales, camales, canteras e industrias extractivas de 

cualquier clase; 

2. En actividades que implican la manipulación de substancias explosivas, 

psicotrópicas, tóxicas, peligrosas o nocivas para su vida, su desarrollo 

físico o mental y su salud; 

3. En prostíbulos o zonas de tolerancia, lugares de juegos de azar, 

expendio de bebidas alcohólicas y otros que puedan ser inconvenientes 

para el desarrollo moral o social del adolescente; 

4. En actividades que requieran el empleo de maquinaria peligrosa o que lo 

exponen a ruidos que exceden los límites legales de tolerancia; 

5. En una actividad que pueda agravar la discapacidad, tratándose de 

adolescentes que la tengan; 

6. En las demás actividades prohibidas en otros cuerpos legales, incluidos 

los instrumentos internacionales ratificados por el Ecuador; y, 

7. En hogares cuyos, miembros tengan antecedentes como autores de 

abuso o maltrato. 

El Consejo Nacional de la Niñez y Adolescencia determinará las formas 

específicas de trabajo peligroso, nocivo o riesgoso que están prohibidos para 

los adolescentes, tomando en cuenta su naturaleza, condiciones y riesgo para 

su vida e integridad personal, salud, educación, seguridad y desarrollo integral. 

Capítulo II 

Trabajo en relación de dependencia 

Art. 88.- Formas del contrato de trabajo.- El contrato individual de 

trabajo de los adolescentes se celebrará por escrito y se registrará en el 

Municipio y en la Inspección del Trabajo de la respectiva jurisdicción. 

El patrono tiene la obligación de registrar el contrato de trabajo en el plazo de 

treinta días, sin perjuicio del derecho del adolescente para solicitar por sí 

mismo dicho registro. 

A falta de contrato escrito, el adolescente podrá probar la relación laboral por 

cualquier medio, incluso el juramento deferido. 





Siempre que una persona se beneficie del trabajo de un adolescente; se 

presume, para todos los efectos legales, la existencia de una relación laboral. 

Art. 89.- Derechos laborales y sociales.- Los adolescentes que 

trabajan bajo relación de dependencia, disfrutan de todos los derechos y 

beneficios, individuales y colectivos, que contemplan las leyes laborales, de 

seguridad social y educación; más los derechos específicos contemplados en 

el presente Código. 

Art. 90.- De los aprendices.- En los contratos de aprendizaje constará 

una cláusula sobre los mecanismos de transferencia al adolescente, de los 

conocimientos del oficio, arte o forma de trabajo. Estos contratos no durarán 

más de dos años, en el caso del trabajo artesanal, y seis meses, en el trabajo 

industrial u otro tipo de trabajo. 

Los patronos garantizarán especialmente el ejercicio de los derechos de 

educación, salud y descanso de sus aprendices. 

En ningún caso la remuneración del adolescente aprendiz será inferior al 80% 

de la remuneración que corresponde al adulto para este tipo de trabajo, arte u 

oficio. 

Art. 91.- Trabajo doméstico.- Los adolescentes que trabajen en el 

servicio doméstico tendrán los mismos derechos y garantías que los 

adolescentes trabajadores en general. 

El patrono velará por la integridad física, psicológica y moral del adolescente y 

garantizará sus derechos a la alimentación, educación, salud, descanso y 

recreación. 

Art. 92.- Trabajo formativo.- Los niños, niñas y adolescentes podrán 

realizar actividades de formación que incorporen al trabajo como un elemento 

importante en su formación integral. Estas actividades deberán realizarse en 

condiciones adecuadas para su edad, capacidad, estado físico y desarrollo 

intelectual, respetando sus valores morales y culturales, sus derechos al 

descanso, recreación y juego. 

Los programas que incorporen al trabajo con la finalidad señalada en este 

artículo, darán prioridad a las exigencias pedagógicas relacionadas con el 

desarrollo integral del niño, niña o adolescente, por sobre los objetivos 

productivos. 

Capítulo III 

Trabajo sin relación de dependencia 





Art. 93.- Trabajo por cuenta propia.- Los municipios otorgarán, en sus 

respectivas jurisdicciones, los permisos para que los adolescentes que hayan 

cumplido quince años ejerzan actividades económicas por cuenta propia, 

siempre que no sean de aquellas consideradas como perjudiciales o nocivas o 

que se encuentren prohibidas en este u otros cuerpos legales. 

Cada Municipio llevará un registro de estas autorizaciones y controlará el 

desarrollo de las actividades autorizadas a los adolescentes. 

Los adolescentes autorizados de conformidad con el inciso anterior, recibirán 

del Municipio un carné laboral que les proporcionará los siguientes beneficios: 

acceso gratuito a los espectáculos públicos que determine el reglamento, 

acceso preferente a programas de protección tales como comedores 

populares, servicios médicos, albergues nocturnos, matrícula gratuita y 

exención de otros pagos en los centros educativos fiscales y municipales. 

El Consejo Nacional de la Niñez y Adolescencia dictará el Reglamento para la 

emisión del carné laboral y la regulación de los beneficios que otorga. 

Capítulo IV 

De las medidas de protección y de las sanciones relacionadas con el 

trabajo 

Art. 94.- Medidas de protección.- En los casos de infracción a las 

disposiciones del presente título, los jueces y autoridades administrativas 

competentes podrán ordenar una o más de las siguientes medidas de 

protección a favor de los niños, niñas y adolescentes afectados, sin perjuicio 

de las demás contempladas en este Código: 

1. La orden de separar al niño, niña o adolescente de la actividad laboral; 

2. La inserción del niño, niña o adolescente y/o su familia, en un programa 

de protección; y, 

3. La separación temporal del medio familiar del niño, niña, adolescente o 

agresor, según sea el caso. 

Se adoptarán las providencias necesarias para que la aplicación de estas 

medidas no afecte los derechos y garantías de los niños, niñas y 

adolescentes, más allá de las restricciones inherentes a cada una de ellas; y 

para asegurar el sustento diario del niño, niña o adolescente, de una manera 

compatible con su derecho a una vida digna. 

Art. 95.- Sanciones aplicables por violación a las disposiciones 

referentes al trabajo.- La violación de las prohibiciones contenidas en este 

título, será reprimida con una o más de las siguientes sanciones, sin perjuicio 

de las contempladas en otros cuerpos legales: 





1. Amonestación a los progenitores o a las personas encargadas del 

cuidado del niño, niña o adolescente; y a quienes los empleen o se 

beneficien directamente con su trabajo; 

2. Multa de cincuenta a trescientos dólares, si los infractores son los 

progenitores o responsables del cuidado del niño, niña o adolescente; 

3. Multa de doscientos a mil dólares, si se trata del empleador o cualquier 

persona que se beneficie directa o indirectamente del trabajo del niño, 

niña o adolescente; y, 

4. Clausura del establecimiento donde se realiza el trabajo, en caso de 

reincidencia. 

PLANNING 

The action or process of making plan for something 

THE THREE ELEMENTS OF PLANNING 

Long term plans called key stage plans (Macro-Planning) 

There are different ways of describing long-term plans. For the purpose of these 

materials, a long-term plan is the planned programmed of work for a subject 

across the school, covering one or more key stages. 

Long-term planning for a subject happens in the context of a school's overall 

curriculum plan (the long-term planned program of work in all subjects covering 

every year group in a school). Schools develop their own individual curriculum 

plans to reflect their context and characteristics, as well as their values, aims 

and priorities. 

A long-term plan shows how units of work in a subject are sequenced and 

distributed across years and key stages. Schools make decisions about the 

order and timing of units in a subject, focusing on curriculum continuity and 

progression in pupils' learning. These decisions might change from year to year 

to take into account new initiatives or other changes. Many schools also identify 

opportunities to highlight important links with work in other subjects in their longterm 

plans. 

Medium term plans (unit, topics or enquiries) (Meso-Planning) 

There are different ways of describing medium-term plans. For the purpose of 

these materials, a medium-term plan is a planned sequence of work for a 

subject (or for more than one subject) for a period of weeks, such as a half term 

or term, or for a number of lessons. 

Medium-term planning focuses on organizing coherent units of work. Mediumterm 

plans identify learning objectives and outcomes and indicate the activities 

that will enable these to be achieved. They usually show a sequence of 





activities that will promote progression and some information about the amount 

of time needed to cover the objectives (whether in blocked periods or regular 

lessons over a period of weeks). 

Short term plan, also called lesson-or weekly plans (Micro-Planning) 

There are different ways of describing short-term plans. For the purpose of 

these materials, a short-term plan is a set of activities for a week, a day, or a 

lesson. 

Short-term planning is based on the needs of individual schools and teachers. 

Teachers often use short-term plans to think through the structure and content 

of a lesson and to note information such as key questions, resources, 

differentiation and assessment opportunities, especially where this is not 

already included in the medium-term plan. 

Many teachers use lesson plans selectively, for particular activities or subjects, 

rather than for every lesson. Experienced teachers often work direct from a 

medium-term plan and make notes as and when needed to support their 

teaching. 

LESSON PLANNING AND USE OR RESOURCES FOR 

LANGUAGE TEACHING 

Planning and preparing a lesson or sequence of 

lessons 

Identifying and selecting aims 

How do we identify and select aims? 

Aims are what we want learners to learn or be able to do at the end of a lesson, 

a sequence (i.e. a series) of lessons or a whole course. Aims may focus, for 

example, on a function or a grammatical structure, on the vocabulary of a 

particular topic or on developing a language skill. Aims, especially for younger 

learners, may not always focus on particular areas of language. The aim of a 

lesson may also be listening to a story for pleasure or encouraging a positive 

attitude towards the foreign language. To identify and select the most 

appropriate aims, we need to ask ourselves two questions: 





What do my learners already know? 

What do they need to know? 

The answers to these questions will help us to make sure that the aims are the 

right ones for a particular group of learners at a particular time. 

• Key concepts 

Look at the table. Can you work out what the difference is between main arms, 

subsidiary aims and personal aims? 

Maim aim Subsidiary aims Personal aims 

To practice making 

polite requests in the 

context of 

making holiday 

arrangements. 

Example exponent: 

Could you give me some 

information about 

hotels? 

Grammar: to revise modal auxiliary 

verbs. 

Functional exponents: Could/Would 

you...? 

Vocabulary: to consolidate lexis for 

travel, accommodation. 

Phonology: to focus on intonation. 

Speaking: to give controlled oral 

practice 

To improve 

my 

organization 

of the 

whiteboard; to 

give clearer 

examples. 

A main aim, like the one above, describes the most important thing we want to 

achieve in a lesson or sequence of lessons. For example, we may want 

learners to understand and practice using new language; to reinforce or 

consolidate (i.e. to make stronger) the use of language they already know by 

giving them further practice; or to revise language they have recently learnt. On 

a lesson plan the main aim should also include an example of the target 

language we are planning to teach. 

As well as a main aim, a lesson may also have subsidiary aims. Subsidiary 

aims show the language or skills learners must be able to use well in order to 

achieve the main aim of the lesson. In the example on page 86, the main aim is 

to practice making polite requests; the subsidiary aims describe the language 

and skill that learners will need to make these requests. Stating both main and 

subsidiary aims is a good way of making sure that our lesson plan focuses on 

what we want our learners to learn, or to be able to do. It enables us to see how 

the lesson should develop, from one stage (or part) to the next, building up our 

learners' knowledge or skills in the best possible order. 

In addition to learning aims for the learners, we may also want to think about 

our own personal aims as teachers. Personal aims show what we would like to 

improve or focus on in our own teaching. Like the ones in the table on page 86, 

these might be about improving the way that we handle aids and materials or 





particular teaching techniques, or they might be about our relationship with the 

learners. Here are some more examples: 

• To try different correction techniques 

• To remember to check instructions 

• To write more dearly on the blackboard/whiteboard 

• To make more use of the phonemic chart (a poster with phonemic symbols) 

• To get learners to work with different partners o to get quieter learners to 

answer questions. 

Identifying and selecting aims are the first steps in planning a lesson. Once we 

have decided on the aims, we can design or select the most appropriate 

activities, put them in the best order and choose the most suitable teaching aids 

(things we can use to support our teaching in the classroom) and materials. 

After the lesson, we can look back at this part of the plan to see whether we 

have achieved our aims, i.e. whether we have succeeded in teaching what we 

planned to teach. This also helps us to select the most appropriate aims for 

future lessons. 

• Key concepts and the language teaching classroom 

 

 

 

 

 

The syllabus (I.e. the course programme) and/or the coursebook will give us 

a general direction for planning our teaching. To decide on specific aims for 

a particular lesson, however, we should think about our learners' needs and 

the stage they have reached in their learning. 

We can identify and select appropriate personal aims in a similar way, i.e. by 

looking back at earlier lessons we have taught and thinking about things that 

worked well and things we want to improve. 

We should not confuse aims and procedures. Aims describe what the 

learners will learn or what they will be able to do with the language, while 

procedures - for example, listening to a recording and answering questions 

about it - are what the teacher and learners will do at each stage of the 

lesson. 

Aims should not be too general. 'To teach the past simple' or 'to develop 

learners' reading skills' do not say enough about the purpose of the lesson. 

More specific aims might be 'to introduce and practice the past simple for 

talking about personal experiences' or 'to give learners practice in predicting 

content, scanning for specific information and guessing meaning from 

context'. 

We shouldn't plan to do too much in a lesson. The amount we plan to cover 

will depend on the length of the lesson and the learners' level. 





 

 

Learners also need to know what the lesson is going to be about. It is often 

helpful to announce our aims (or to write them up on the board) at the 

beginning of the lesson, and/or to repeat them at the end. 

Learners of all ages find it helpful to know why they are doing things. For 

younger learners the aims of a lesson can be described in very simple 

language, focusing on the things they will do in the lesson and the language 

knowledge they will take away from it. (For example: ´Today we're going to 

read a story and learn how to describe people in English'.) 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY 

The procedures in the table below show a sequence of activities for a lesson 

with the main aim of developing intermediate students' confidence and skill in 

informal conversation. The subsidiary aims| for the lesson (A-H) are in the 

wrong order. Put them in the right order so that they match the correct 

procedures. 

Procedure 

1 Students move around the classroom to find 

students with matching halves of sentences. 

2 They talk in pairs about what they find difficult 

in listening to informal conversation. 

3 They hear an informal conversation and 

identify speakers, place and situation. 

4 They listen again and fill in missing phrases in 

the transcript. 

5 Repetition drill: students practice key phrases. 

Pairs practice simple two-line exchanges using 

key phrases. 

6 Pairs write and practice their own 

conversation from role cards, using key phrases 

where possible. Several pairs perform and 

record conversations. 

7 Class comment and suggest improvements to 

grammar and vocabulary. 

Subsidiary aims 

A • to give students fluency practice 

• to practice using target language in a 

meaningful context 

B- to develop peer correction skills 

C • to listen for detailed information 

• to focus students' attention on target 


D • to practice gist listening 

• to create a context 

E • to get students actively involved 

• to put students into pairs 

F • to give students confidence in speaking 

through controlled practice 

G • to review the whole lesson 

• to give the teacher feedback 

8 Students discuss what they have learnt. H • to raise awareness of what the lesson aim 

will be 

• to encourage personal involvement 





REFLECTION 

Think about these comments from teachers. Which do you agree with and why? 

1. I often discover what my aims are while I am teaching the lesson. 

Sometimes I only find out when the lesson is over. 

2. Learners don't want to know about aims. They just want to get on with 

the lesson. 

3. My coursebook always tells me what my aims should be. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7 match the stages of the lesson with the subsidiary aims 

listed A-H. There is one extra option which you do not need to use. 

Lesson summaries 

1. Learners put jumbled sections of a text in order. The teacher focuses on 

conjunctions, time expressions, pronouns, etc. learners make notes on a 

similar topic, and then they produce a similar text. 

2. Learners look at a town map and discuss the best route from the station 

to a hotel, and then they listen to a conversation on cassette and 

compare their route with the one on the cassette. 

3. In pairs learners read different text about soldiers duties and they 

exchange information about them. Pair work together to complete lists of 

rules for soldiers, using must, should, doesn´t, don’t, have to. 

4. Learners brainstorm vocabulary and ideas on the topic, and then in 

groups they draft the text for a leaflet to advertise their town to tourist. 

Groups then exchange text to make corrections and / or suggest 

improvements. 

5. Learners listen to a dialogue and identify the tense the speakers use top 

talk about future arrangements. The teacher check understanding. 

Learners do repetitions drills, and then they practice using the structure 

in a guided role play. 

6. Learners work in large groups to brain storm ideas on different roles and 

then form new groups for a role-based discussion. The teacher monitors 

the discussion 

7. Learners match words with pictures and build up word maps, wich they 

compare and develop. Then they work together to produce entries for a 

class dictionary. 





Lesson aims 

A. To practice listening for details 

B. To practice writing for a communicative purpose 

C. To present and provide controlled practice of the present progressive 

D. To revise and practice modal auxiliary verbs 

E. To train learners to learn autonomously 

F. To give learners oral fluency practice 

G. To raise awareness of how to join sentences and paragraphs 

H. To revise and consolidate vocabulary. 

Identifying the different components of a lesson plan 

• How do we identify the different components of a lesson plan? 

Choose the comparison that you think best describes a lesson plan. 

A lesson plan is like ... an instruction leaflet a photograph a story a road map 

a computer program a series of road signs a written summary something else? 

A lesson plan is a set of notes that helps us to think through what we are going 

to teach and how we are going to teach it. It also guides us during and after the 

lesson. We can identify the most important components of a lesson plan by 

thinking carefully about what we want our learners to do and how we want them 

to do it. 

The main components of a lesson plan show us what the lesson is for (the 

aims) and what the teacher and the learners will do during the lesson and how 

they will do it (the procedures). Other components help us to think about 

possible problems and remind us of things we need to remember about the 

learners. So a lesson plan is most like a road map or a series of road signs, i.e. 

something that shows us where we are going and how we are going to get there 

- although we may sometimes find that during the journey we have to take a 

different route! 

Here are some ways a lesson plan helps the teacher. 





Before the lesson 

During the lesson 

After the lesson 

Writing down the aims and the procedures for each stage of the 

lesson helps us to make sure that we have planned the best 

possible sequence to enable us to achieve those aims. 

The plan can also help the teacher to check tinning— the amount 

of time we plan for each stage - and to check that the lesson is 

following the sequence we decided on. 

We can keep the plan as a record of what happened, making any 

changes necessary to show how the lesson was different from the 

plan. We can then use the plan and notes to help plan the next 

lesson. (At this stage, the plan may be more like a photograph, a 

story or a summary, giving us a record of the lesson.) 


A lesson plan can include the following headings. Which ones do you think 

should always appear? Which ones may only appear sometimes? 

Lesson plan headings 

Level and number of 

learners 

Timetable fit 

Main aim(s) 

Subsidiary aims 

Personal aims 

Assumptions 

Anticipated language 

problems 

Possible solutions 

Teaching aids, materials, 

equipment 

Procedures 

Timing 

Interaction patterns 

Homework 

who we are planning the lesson for 

how the lesson is connected to the last lesson and/or the next 

one 

what we want learners to learn or to be able to do by the end of 

the lesson 

other things we want learners to be able to do during the lesson 

because they lead to the main aim 

aspects of our own teaching we want to develop or improve 

what we think learners already know or can already do related to 

the aims 

things that learners may find difficult 

action we will take to deal with the anticipated problems 

useful reminders of things to take to the lesson 

tasks and activities for each stage 

length of time needed for each stage 

ways in which learners work at different stages, i.e. individually, 

in pairs, in groups, as a whole class 

It is usually a good idea to anticipate possible problems and solutions, but in a 





revision lesson we may not need these headings. Also, we may not have 

personal aims for every lesson, and we may not always give learners 

homework! 


Look carefully at this example of part of a lesson plan which aims to introduce 

and practice language for giving advice. Then read the points below. 

Timing Procedure Subsidiary aims 

Aids and 

materials 

Interaction 

pattern 

5 minutes 

Ask students who 

they ask for 

advice if they 

have a problem. 

Warmer/lead-in: to 

get students talking 

and introduce 

the topic 

- Pairwork 

10 minutes 

Discuss typical 

problems for young 

people; elicit 

language to ask for 

and give advice. 

To create context 

To revise modal 

auxiliary verbs 

To elicit/introduce 

vocabulary 

Magazine 

pictures 

Whiteboard 

Teacher → 

whole class 

5 minutes 

Show headlines for 

students to guess 

the content of 

letters to the advice 

page in a teen 

magazine 

To get students 

ready for reading 

To predict content 

To use students' 

own knowledge 

OHP 

Teacher→ 

whole class 

15 minutes 

Students read 

different mini-texts. 

then summarise the 

content of the 

letters. 

To check predictions 

Intensive reading 

To introduce the 

structure 'If I were 

you, I'd...' 

Photocopies of 

six problem page 

letters 

1st group work 

↓ 

2nd group work 

(new groups) 

• When we make a lesson plan, we need to ask ourselves how the 

procedures we have planned will help to achieve our aims and to make sure 

there are strong connections between the different stages. 





• We also need to consider variety/ i.e. how we can use different activity 

types, language skills and interaction patterns. Learners of all ages need 

different activities in a lesson, but this is especially important for younger 

learners. 

• During the lesson we should teach the learners, not the lesson plan! We 

must be prepared, if necessary, to change our plan while we are teaching. If 

we have a dear plan, we will be more aware of what we are changing and 

why. We can include some different possibilities in a lesson plan, e.g. an 

extra activity to use if learners take less time than expected to complete a 

task, and this can help if we are not sure how well parts of the plan will work. 


Some of the teacher's notes for this lesson plan are missing. Put the notes A-E 

in the correct places in the plan. 

Lesson plan headings 

Teacher's notes 

Timetable fit 1 

Main aim(s) 2 

Subsidiary aim(s) 

3 To listen for detail to a model story 

Personal aim(s) 4 

Assumptions 

5 Students can already form tenses accurately 

Anticipated language problems 6 Students may use present tenses 

Possible solution 7 

Procedures 8 

A. To enable students to use past tenses accurately and put events in order in 

simple narratives 

B. Students listen to the model story, then in groups, plan and write their own 

stories 

C. Use gestures to remind students to use past tenses 

D. To follow on from work on past tenses and to prepare for the storytelling 

project 

E. To make sure that board writing is dear and readable 

REFLECTION 


1 Written lesson plans are helpful when you first start teaching, but 

experienced teachers don't need them. I plan all my lessons in my head. 

2 Lesson plans don't help me teach because I always try to respond to 





learners' needs during the lesson. 

3 Writing a lesson plan is the important thing. I always have a written plan, but 

often I don't look at it while I'm teaching. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7 match the stages of the lesson with the subsidiary aims 

listed A-H. There is one extra option which you do not need to use. 

Lesson stages 

1. Check vocabulary from the last lesson. 

2. Introduce the topic and elicit / present new words and phrases. 

3. Learners reorder jumbled paragraphs of a text. 

4. Learners match words in the text with possible meanings. 

5. Learners answer true or false questions. 

6. Learners underline examples of report speech. 

7. Learners exchange text and give feedback. 

Subsidiary 

A. Focus on form. 

B. Deducing meaning from context. 

C. Peer correction. 

D. Check detailed comprehension. 

E. Contextualize and pre-teach vocabulary. 

F. Check learners awareness of text organization (pronouns, linking, etc) 

G. Controlled practice of target structure. 

H. Revise language already learnt. 

Planning an individual lesson or a sequence of lessons 

• How do we plan an individual lesson or a sequence of lessons? 

When we plan an individual lesson, we need to think about its aims, the 'shape' 

of the lesson and the kind of techniques that are most appropriate for a 

particular group of learners. For example, if we are introducing a new 

grammatical structure, we might choose a Presentation, Practice and 

Production (PPP) approach or a Task-based Learning (TBL) approach. Skills 

lessons, too, have regular shapes that we can use to organize lesson plans: for 

example, for receptive skills, we usually plan tasks or activities for learners to do 

before, while and after reading or listening; for productive skills, there is usually 

an introductory stage to set the scene (i.e. to explain the context) and a 

feedback stage after the speaking or writing activity. 

We also need to think about the connections between the aims of the lesson 

and the procedures we will use to achieve those aims. The available materials, 

the length of the lesson and the information we have about our learners will all 





help us to identify possible procedures. But the most important thing is to make 

sure that the materials, tasks and activities we select are the ones that will help 

a particular group of learners to achieve the aim we have identified. 

A sequence of lessons is a number of related lessons that develop language 

knowledge and/or language skills over a period of time. Sequences may 

develop a single topic or language area, or may involve topics or language 

areas that are very closely connected. Here are three examples: 

Structural sequence Integrated skills 

sequence 

1 revision: past simple 1 vocabulary development: 

2 revision: present perfect describing places 

3 contrast: past simple vs. (function: describing) 

present perfect 

2 reading: choosing a 

holiday 

3 writing: letter to a friend 

narrating holiday 

experiences (function: 

narrating) 

Project work 

1 reading and listening 

about free time activities 

2 class survey and 

research: sport and 

entertainment 

3 preparation of a poster 

display to show results of 

survey 

 

Key Concepts 

Planning an individual lesson 

When we plan an individual lesson, we have to ask ourselves a number of 

questions: 

• Will the topic be interesting and motivating for my learners? 

• Are the activities and teaching materials at the right level for all the learners? 

• Have I planned enough for the time available? Do I need any extra material? 

• Have I planned too much for the time available? Are there any stages I can 

cut if necessary? 

• Have I thought about exactly how to start and end the lesson? 

• Does each step in the lesson help to achieve the aim? 

Planning a sequence of lessons 

Look at these three teachers' schemes of work (i.e. outline plans) for a 

sequence of four lessons. What do you think might be the advantages and 

disadvantages of each scheme? 





Scheme A Scheme B Scheme C 

Week 3 Grammar Grammar revision (past Class discussion of advantages and 

Vocabulary tenses) 

disadvantages of living in the city 

Vocabulary (free time Revise and extend vocabulary 

activities) 

Focus on comparative and superlative adjectives 

Practice exercise (from and adverbs; practice exercise 

coursebook) 

Week 4 Listening Check vocabulary 

Reading: personal stories: students order 

Speaking Reading (emails) 

sections of text 

Speaking -fluency activities Focus on text organization 

Writing: students' own stories 

Peer correction (where students correct one 

another) 

Week 5 Reading Quick revision: work from Listening: song -group transcription 

Writing Weeks 3 and 4 

Grammar game (snakes and ladders) to revise 

Listening (e.g. holiday story) work on comparatives and superlatives 

Grammar focus (reported Pronunciation practice: focus on /a/ 

speech) 

Writing (report of story) 

Week 6 Test Speaking (role-play) Review of grammar and topic 

Feedback 

Group work: producing sections of tourist 

brochure for students' town 

A scheme of work helps us plan a sequence of lessons in the best way to cover 

the school syllabus or the units of a coursebook in the time available. It also 

helps us to think about what we want to achieve and what materials we might 

need. It also helps us to include enough variety across our lessons. Teacher 

and learners need dear aims beyond the single lesson and need to see how 

lessons are linked to each other. Here are some of the main advantages and 

disadvantages. 

Scheme Advantages 

A Leaves teacher free to 

respond to learners' 

needs. 

B Quite detailed. Some 

sense of direction. 

C Very detailed. Gives very 

clear sense of direction. 

Disadvantages 

Gives no details of what will happen in these lessons and 

so does not remind the teacher of general aims or what 

materials to prepare. 

Probably the most useful of the three schemes of work. 

Not too much detail or too little, but the teacher will 

probably need to return to it and add more detail week by 

week to turn it into a set of lesson plans. 

Difficult to predict several weeks ahead exactly what 

learners' needs may be, so the teacher will need to return 

frequently to the scheme of work and change it if 

necessary. 





You can see that schemes of work are less detailed than lesson plans. Like any 

individual lesson, a sequence of lessons should have a logical and learningfriendly 

progression and a good balance of approaches and activities. Like a 

lesson plan, a scheme of work helps us to identify our aims and make sure we 

choose materials and procedures that match those aims. 

 

Key concepts and the language teaching classroom 

• It's a good idea to make lesson plans look as simple as possible, so notes 

are better than full sentences, and there's no need to describe every step in 

great detail. However, we may want to write down some important things in 

a complete form - for example, prompts for drilling, questions to check 

learners' understanding, instructions, etc. 

• A lesson plan should be clear and easy to read during the lesson. Different 

colours, boxes, underlining, etc. are useful. It is often helpful to include 

drawings of the way the blackboard (or whiteboard) will look at different 

stages. 

• Variety is very important both in a sequence of lessons and in a single 

lesson. We should avoid always doing the same kinds of things in the same 

order, e.g. always beginning the lesson with a conversation or always 

ending with a role-play. There are several different ways of introducing 

variety into lessons. Here is a list of things we can vary: 

Pace 

quick and fast-moving or slow and reflective 

interaction pattern individual, pairs, groups, whole class 

Skill productive or receptive 

level of difficulty 

non-demanding or requiring effort and concentration 

Content changing from one language point to another; from one 

subject to another 

Mood light or serious; happy or sad; tense or relaxed 

exciting or calming activities 'stirring' (lively and active) or 'settling' (quietening down) 

• Learners may well require more frequent revision than the coursebook 

provides. A scheme of work is a good way to make sure that we recycle 

language (i.e. use it again) and include regular revision activities during a 

sequence of lessons. 

• Coursebook units are often arranged around a specific topic (such as sport 





or relationships), which may be a useful way of linking together a sequence 

of lessons. This kind of sequence gives us the chance to develop particular 

areas of vocabulary, but learners may feel that the lessons are repetitive, so 

we need plenty of variety of texts and tasks. 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES 

1 The lesson summaries 1-6 below are part of a scheme of work to introduce 

and practise language for describing people, clothes and places. Complete 

the scheme of work with the correct summaries (A, B or C) 

A Project work: groups prepare poster displays (magazine photographs) 

Writing: descriptions of people and places (further practice of functional language) 

B Listening: descriptions of people 

Present new vocabulary and check pronunciation: lexical sets for describing people 

(flashcards and board drawings) Writing: descriptions of students in class 

C Video (TV police drama): focus on descriptions of people 

Role-play in pairs: police interviews (practice of new language) → whole-class 

correction 

Scheme of work 

1 ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

2 Reading: descriptions of clothes (from teenage magazine) 

Vocabulary: dictionary work 

Writing: descriptions of people and clothes → peer correction (pairwork) 

3 Vocabulary: descriptions of places and people (photographs) 

Practice exercises (coursebook) 

Speaking: describe-and-draw activity (pairwork) 

Writing: descriptions of places drawn in speaking activity 

4 Vocabulary: pictures of people, clothes and places 

Grammar: comparative and superlative adjectives 

Practice exercises (coursebook) 

Speaking: general knowledge quiz (whole class) 

5. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

6. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 

2 In the scheme of work in Activity 1,which lesson or lessons: 

A. has/have a variety of pace? 

B. use(s) different interaction patterns? 

C. practice (s) receptive skills? 

D. practice(s) productive skills? 

E. increase(s) the level of difficulty? 

F. has/have a change of topic? 

G. has/have a change of language focus? 





H. is/are lively and active? 

I. is/are calm and quiet? 

REFLECTION 


1. The coursebook gives me everything I need to plan a sequence of lessons. 

2. If I do a scheme of work, I don't have to spend so much time planning 

individual lessons. 

3. I want to respond to my learners' needs from lesson to lesson. A scheme of 

work stops me from doing that. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-5, look at the lessons in the project work sequence below and 

fill in the missing lessons from the options listed A-E. 

A. Some learners look for information on the internet or in the library and make 

notes; some plan surveys to find out information from others using 

questionnaires. 

B. Groups exchange their work, check in and make final suggestions for 

editing. 

C. In each group learners read each other’s work, and make suggestions for 

editing. 

D. Groups plan their work and decide how to share tasks. 

E. Learners plan their writing or carry out survey interviews. 

Project work sequence 

Aim: for learners to produce a class magazine 

• Explain project aims; whole class decides on list of topics; form interest 

groups. 

1. ……………………………………………………………………………………… 

2. ……………………………………………………………………………………… 

3. ……………………………………………………………………………………… 

• Learners write their first drafts. 

4. ……………………………………………………………………………………… 

5. ……………………………………………………………………………………… 

• Make copies of the magazine for other classes to read. 





Presentation techniques and introductory activities 

What are presentation techniques and introductory activities? 

Presentation techniques are ways used by the teacher to present (introduce to 

learners for the first time) new language such as vocabulary, grammatical 

structures and pronunciation. Introductory activities are those used by a teacher 

to introduce a lesson or teaching topic. 

KEY CONCEPTS 

Look at the presentation stages (the areas that are shaded) in these 

descriptions of two lessons for elementary-level secondary-school students. 

How are the stages different? 

Presentation, Practice and Production 

(PPP) lesson 

Aim: students learn the difference 

between countable and un countable 

nouns, and when to use o and some with 

them. 

Procedure: 

1 Ask students what food and drink they 

like at birthday parties. 

1. Stick on the board magazine pictures 

of different party foods. (They should 

be a mixture of countable and un 

countable nouns e.g. ice cream, 

sandwiches, cola, fruit, bananas, 

chicken legs, cake, a box of sweets.) 

2. Ask students the names of the food 

items, write the names on the board 

under each picture and then do a 

quick choral drill on the pronunciation 

of these words. 

3. Say students: ‘I’m having a birthday 

party this weekend. I’d like a box of 

sweets and a cake for my party. And 

I’d like some ice cream, some cola 

and some fruit. I’d also like some 

sandwiches, some bananas and 

some chicken legs’. 

4. Say ‘I’d like a box of sweets’, I’d like a 

cake some ice cream’, etc., and ask 

students to repeat each sentence 

chorally. 

Task-based Learning (TBL) 

lesson 

Aim: students choose food and 

drinks for a birthday party. 

Procedure: 

1. Hold a discussion with the 

students about when their 

birthdays are, what presents they 

would like, what good birthday 

parties they have been to and 

what they like to eat and drink at 

birthday parties. 

2. Put students into small groups 

and give them a worksheet with 

the pictures, names and prices of 

lots of party food and drink on it. 

3. Tell the students to do this task: 

choose the food and drink they 

would like for a birthday party for 

ten friends keeping within a price 

limit e g. $10. 

4. The students do the task while 

the teacher goes round the class 

listening and answering any 

questions. 

5. Each group tells the other groups 

what decisions they have made. 

6. The students ask the teacher 

questions about any language 

they needed for the task and/or 





5. Point out to the students that you can 

count some nouns but you can’t 

count others. 

These are called countable and un 

countable nouns. You use a with 

singular countable nouns or plural 

countable nouns. 

6. Ask the students some concept 

questions, e.g. ‘Which of the food 

items on the board are countable/un 

countable/singular/plural?’ 

7. Students do a written gap-fill 

exercise, filling the gaps with a or 

some. 

8. Students work in pairs with a 

worksheet of pictures of food and 

drink like for their party, e.g. ‘I’d like 

some/a……’, while the other student 

takes notes. Then they swap roles. 

the teacher tells the students 

about any language she noticed 

they didn’t know while they were 

doing the task, e.g. the 

pronunciation of some food 

words, the grammar of 

uncountable and countable 

nouns. 

7. Students do a written exercise 

on the new language. 

The introductory stage of a lesson helps students to settle into the lesson and 

focus on its content. There are two kinds of introductory activities: warmers 

and lead-ins. Warmers often used to raise students' energy levels or to make 

them feel comfortable. They are not always connected to the topic of the lesson, 

for example, they could be a quiz, game or pairwork activity. Lead-ins focus 

on the topic or new language of tire lesson. They can also focus motivate 

students and make a link between the topic of the lesson and the students' 

own I (personalization). For example, if in one lesson students are going to 

read a text about Internet, rather than giving them the text immediately, we 

could do one or more lead-in activities such as discussing with students how 

often they use the Internet what they use it what their favorite websites are, 

etc. Or if in another lesson they are going to listen conversation about favorite 

television programmes, the lead-in activities might be making a list of their favorite 

television programmes and discussing them with a partner. These activities; 

probably lead on to teaching relevant vocabulary for the texts and 

comprehension task follow. 

If you look back at the PPP and TBL lessons on page 61 you will see that they 

too include introductory activities. Step 1 in the PPP lesson provides a lead-in to 

the topic, and steps 2 and 3 a lead-in for language needed for the lesson's main 

aim. In the TBL lesson, steps 1 and 2 are lead-ins. 


The two lessons on pages 61-2 show two common and different approaches to 

presenting language items. The lesson on the left is an example of a PPP 

lesson, the lesson on the right a example of a TBL lesson. There are many 

differences between them. 





In the Presentation, Practice and Production (PPP) lesson 

− The lesson has a language aim. 

− The teacher first contextualises the new language, i.e. puts it into a 

situation which shows what it means. (Step 1). 

− The teacher then makes sure that the students remember previously studied 

language needed to practice the new language by eliciting it, i.e. asking 

students to say the language rather than giving it to them, and by doing a 

choral drill (getting the students to repeat as a whole class what he/she 

says). (Steps 2-3) 

− The teacher next presents the new language and the students just listen. 

(Step 4) 

− The students then say sentences including the new language in a very 

controlled or restricted practice activity, i.e. one in which they can use 

only the new language and without making mistakes. (Step 5) 

− The teacher tells students about the grammatical use of the new language. 

(Step 6) 

− The teacher asks the students concept questions, i.e. questions that check 

their understanding of the use or meaning of the new language. (Step 7) 

− The students then carry out another controlled practice activity. (Step 8) 

− The students do less controlled or freer practice (i.e. where they can use 

their own ideas) using the new language. (Step 9) 

You can see that in a PPP lesson the teacher: 

1. presents new language in a context 

2. gets students to practice it in controlled practice activities 

3. asks the students to use the new language in less controlled activities, in a 

communicative way. 

In the Task-based Learning (TBL) lesson: 

The aim of the lesson is for the students to complete a task (an activity in 

which students try to achieve something real, and have to communicate to 

do so). 

The teacher starts by holding a discussion on the topic of the lesson. (Step 

1) 

The teacher then gives the students tasks to do. (Steps 2, 3, 4, 5) 

Then the teacher and students discuss any new or problematic language 

they needed for the task. (Step 6) 

Lastly, the students do an exercise on the new language. (Step 7) 

You can see that in a TBL lesson the teacher: 

1. gives students tasks to do 





2. presents new language after students have needed to use it, and only 

presents language that he/she or the students have identified as needed. 

A PPP approach to presenting new language gives students an opportunity to 

practise language in a safe learning environment where it is difficult to make 

mistakes. It can therefore be quite a confidence-building approach for students. 

But it makes students learn language Items they may not be interested in or 

ready to learn and gives them few opportunities to really use the language for 

communication. The TBL approach, on the other hand, allows students to find 

new language when they want to, and to use language experimentally and 

creatively for real communication, In this way it puts second language learners 

in a situation which is quite similar to the one in which children learn their first 

language. Some learners may find this approach to language learning exciting 

and challenging. Others may wish for more guidance and structure to help 


PPP and TBL are not the only ways of presenting new language. It is also 

possible, for example, to present new language to learners after they have met 

it in a reading or listening text which is first used for comprehension. Another 

possibility is to hold a discussion on a topic and introduce new language in the 

context of the discussion; another one is to give learners a task that requires 

them to use new language, then after the task, present the new language to 

them and then give them another task to practise the new language (Testteach-test). 

Presenting new language involves making various choices: 

When to present the new language? Before (as in PPP) or after (as in TBL) 

learners try to use the new language? 

What and how many language items to present (new grammatical structures, 

new vocabulary, new lexical phrases, new functional exponents, new topics)? In 

PPP the teacher makes this choice; in TBL the teacher and/or the learners 

make the choice. 

What context to present the new language in? In both TBL and PPP new 

language Items are presented in a meaningful context, i.e. one that shows the 

meaning of the new language, and is personalised. 

What aids to use to help create the context, e.g. pictures, video, cassette, a 

worksheet? 

How to show the meaning or use of the new language, e.g. explanation, 

translation, presenting through a situation? 

What aspects of the new language to present, i.e. one, some or all of the 

following: 

meaning/use, pronunciation, grammar, spelling? 





Introductory activities involve the teacher in selecting interesting and relevant 

warmers and lead-ins. The warmers make the students feel comfortable and 

ready for the lesson, and the lead-ins introduce the topic of the lesson and main 

language points needed by the learners le complete the main tasks of the 

lesson. You may not always need to do warmers as learners may arrive at a 

lesson ready to learn. 

The ways you present new language or introduce lessons will depend on your 

learners - their level, interests, age, what language they already know, 

weaknesses and strengths in English and learning styles. They will also depend 

on the resources available to you in your school and the approach to 

presentation used in your course book. 

See Unit 16 for types of activities and tasks, Unit 18 for selecting language for 

lesson, Units 23-25 for resources and materials useful for presentation and Unit 

26 for classroom functions often used by the teacher to present new language. 

FOLLOW – UP ACTIVITY 

Which of these are presentation activities? 

1. The teacher says two new functional exponents and asks the learners to 

repeat them.' 

2. The learners read a newspaper article and do a comprehension task on 

it. 

3. The learners ask the teacher how to say ... in English and the teacher 

tells them. 

4. The teacher points out to learners that in the task many of them 

mispronounced the word station. She asks them to repeat it after her. 

5. The learners have a discussion. 

6. The learners translate a short poem into their own language. 

7. The teacher uses a picture story to create a context for introducing he 

and she. 

REFLECTION 

Think about these comments from teachers. Which do you agree with and 

why? 

1. TBL is close to the way we learn new language in our first language. 

2. Learners prefer a PPP to a TBL approach. 

3. I always present new language in the same way as I was taught at school. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-6, match the parts of a presentation stage with the names 

listed A-G. There is one extra option which you do not need to use. 

Parts of a presentation stage 

Names 





1 went, carne, chose, swam, ate, thought, 

ran 

The teacher tells the learners about a 

wonderful holiday she went on last summer. 

Photos of last summer’s holiday. 

The teacher asks: ‘When am I talking about, 

the past, the present or the future?’ 

The teacher drills pronunciation of new 

words. 

The teacher says: ‘We use the past tense 

to talk about actions in the past that have 

completely finished.’ 

A. concept question 

B. aids in presentation 

C. context for presentation 

D. freer practice activity 

E. language selected for 

presentation 

F. controlled practice activity 

G. explanation of use 

Practice Activities and Task for Language and Skills 

Development 

What are practice activities and tasks for language and skills development? 

These are activities and tasks designed to give learners opportunities to 

practice and extend their use of language, such as new vocabulary, functional 

exponents or grammatical structures, or of the subskills of reading, listening, 

speaking or writing. There are many different kinds of activities and tasks with 

different names and different uses. 

Key concepts 

Here are two writing activities. Can you find three teaching differences between 

them? 

Activity 1 Activity 2 

Complete these sentences about 

yourself with can or can 't. 

1 I.......... swim. 

2 I.......... speak Mandarin. 

3 I.......... play the guitar. 

4 I.......... use a computer 

5 I.......... run very fast. 

Write an invitation inviting your 

friends to your birthday party. 

Invite them. 

Tell them: 

the date 

the time 

the address of the party. 

We can see that both these activities give learners an opportunity to use 

language, but in different ways. 

Activity 1 − is a less controlled/freer 





Activity 2 

− is a controlled/restricted practice 

− activity because learners can only 

use 

certain items of language 

− focuses on accurate use of 


− is a gap-fill exercise. 

practice 

activity because the language the 

learners 

will use is not carefully limited or 

controlled 

− focuses on communicating a 

message 

− is a task. 

The same kinds of differences can also be seen in other activities for speaking, 

writing and learning new language. Drills (guided repetitions), copying words 

or sentences, jazz chants, dictation and reading aloud are other examples of 

controlled practice activities. In freer activities the teacher or the materials do 

not limit the language that learners use. Examples of these are: discussions; 

solving problems through exchanging ideas; sharing or comparing ideas, 

information or experiences; writing emails, stories, letters, invitations or 

compositions. 

Here are six more activities. What skill/subskill/language do they focus on? 

What is the name of the type of activity? 

1. Read the story. Then answer 

these questions: 

a) How old is the girl? 

b) Where does she live? 

c) What is her friend's 

name? 

__________________________ 

2. A. Listen to the tape and 

choose the best answer: 

The children's school is: 

a. near their house 

b. near the shops 

c. opposite the post office 

B. Now listen again. Are these 

sentences true or false? 

a. The school is new. 

b. The classroom is big. 

c. The library has many 

books. 

__________________________ 

3. Look at these pictures and then 

read the story. Put the pictures 

in the correct order. Write the 

correct number (1-6) under each 

picture. 

4. Listen to the tape, and in pairs fill in 

his form: 

Girl’s name: ……….................. 

Girl's address:................................. 

Name of girl's friend: .................... 

___________________________ 

5. Work in pairs. Each of you should 

use one of these role cards. 

A. Your friend has a problem. 

Give him/her the best advice 

you can. 

B. You have a problem. You 

want to go to university, but 

you find studying very 

difficult. Ask your friend for 

advice. 

_____________________________ 

6. Set into groups of four. Find out 

which food your friends like and 

dislike most. Ask: W 

Which food do you like most? 

Which food do you dislike most? 





Here are the answers to the questions above 

Activity Skill/subskill/language Type of activity 

1 Reading for specific Wh-questions (questions beginning with 

Information 

question words: e.g. 

2 Listening for specific 

Information 

3 Reading for detail Ordering 

4 Listening for specific Form filling 

information 

5 Fluency in 

speaking/freer 

practice of new 


which/what/how/when/why) for comprehension 

A. Multiple-choice questions (an activity in 

which you choose the best answer from 

three or more possible answers) 

B. True/False questions (an activity in which 

you decide whether statements are correct 

or incorrect) 

Role-play (an activity in which you imagine that 

you are someone else in a specific situation) 

6 Accuracy in 

speaking/ controlled 

practice of new 


Survey (finding out the opinions of a group on 

one topic) 

We can see that activities can differ in several ways: the skill or subskill they 

focus on; what type they are and what interaction patterns they use. The kinds 

of skills or the language the focus on and the interaction patterns they use are 

not fixed. So for example, multiple -choice questions could be used for reading, 

listening or grammar activities and can be done individually, in pairs or in 

groups. Similarly, form-filling could be used for reading, listening or grammar 

practice, and done individually, in pairs or in groups. 

Activities 5 and 6 both involve learners talking to one another to exchange 

information they don't know. This means they are talking in order to 

communicate, not just to practice language. This kind of activity in which 

learners information on exchange information that only one, of them has is 

called an information gap or a communicative activity. 

An activity may focus on accuracy or communication depending on how it is 

introduced t the teacher or the materials. For example, the survey above is 

focused on accuracy because limits the language that learners use to ask and 

answer two specific questions. If the instructions for the activity were ‘Find out 

about your friends’ likes and dislikes in food’, this would not restrict learners' 

choice of language and the activity would focus on communication 






When selecting activities for practising language or the skills of speaking or 

writing, we need to decide whether to do a controlled practice or a freer practice 

activity, an activity that focuses on accuracy or on communication. 

When choosing activities for developing skills, we need to decide which skill or 

subskill to focus on. 

Lessons usually consist of a series of linked activities. There are several 

different ways of linking activities in lessons. These are just some of them: 

1. PPP: Presentation controlled practice activities freer practice 

activities 

2. TBL: Discussion tasks presentation focus on form 

3. Skills-based lessons: Warmer and lead-in comprehension tasks 

post-task activities 

Example 1: A listening skills lesson 

Lead-in: discussing the topic of the listening and learning any important 

new vocabulary Comprehension tasks: listening to the recorded 

conversation and answering multiple-choice gist questions about it 

listening to the conversation again and completing a form with specific 

information Post-task activities: brief discussion of the topic of the 

conversation. 

You can see that the comprehension activities (for listening or reading) 

start with focusing on more general levels of comprehension before 

moving on to subskills that require paying more detailed or specific 

attention to the text. 

Example 2: A topic-based lesson which develops several skills 

Lead-in: speaking about the topic and doing related language work 

Tasks: listening to recording about the topic reading a text about the 

topic Post-task activities: discussing the topic and/or focus on the 

language of the topic writing a composition about the topic. 

FOLLOW- UP ACTIVITIES 

1. What do these activities aim to develop? Put them into the correct column. 

Communication 

Accuracy 

A. choral drilling of pronunciation 

B. role-play 

C. dictation 

D. discussions 

E. gap-fill exercises 

F. story writing 

G. copying words 

H. repeating new words 

I. describing pictures 





J. learning conversations by heart 

K. problem solving 

2. Which skill (s) could these activities be used to develop? 

A. story completion 

B. form-filling 

C. information gap 

D. true/false questions 

E. role-play 

REFLECTION 

Think about these learners' comments: 

1. I don't like doing lots of different activities - it's confusing. 

2. I like doing a mixture of activities with some focusing on accuracy and 

some on fluency. That really helps me learn. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7, match the descriptions with the teaching activities listed A-H. 

There is one extra option which you do not need to use. 

Descriptions 

Teaching activities 

A. problem solving 

B. a role-play 

C. labeling 

D. choral drilling 

E. form filling 

F. a game 

G. a survey 

H. project work 

1. The teacher says a word and asks all the learners to repeat it together. 

2. The teacher puts learners in pairs and asks one of them to act as a lost 

tourist asking the way, and the other as a local person giving directions. 

3. The learners use maps to work out the best way to get from X to Y 

4. The learners listen to a tape and complete a timetable. 

5. The learners ask all their classmates their opinion about something and 

then note it down. 

6. The learners go to the local museum, the library and the Internet to find 

out about dinosaurs. They then make an exhibition of wall posters about 


7. The learners choose names of objects from a list and write the names 





under pictures of the objects. 

Choosing assessment activities 

 

How do we choose assessment activities? 

Assessment means collecting information about learners' performance in order 

to make judgements about their learning. We may choose to assess, formally 

(through tests and examinations) or informally. We can carry out informal 

assessment during a lesson by monitoring (i.e. listening carefully) and 

observing learners while they are doing ordinary classroom activities. Informal 

assessment is an important way of checking how our learners are getting on, 

but of course we can't assess all our learners all the time during lessons. To get 

more information about the progress of individual learners, we also need to 

carry out formal assessment (e.g. a class test). 

When planning assessment, we need to think first about our reasons for 

assessing learners. Then we can decide when and how often to assess them, 

and choose what methods of assessment we are going to use. 

 

Key concepts 

What are the differences between formal and informal assessment? 

We ran summarise the differences between formal and informal assessment 

under the headings of assessment tasks, marking and purpose: 

Assessment 

tasks 

Marking 

Purpose 

Forma/ assessment 

• tests 

• examinations 

•learners receive grades (%. A-F, 

Pass/Fail, etc.) 

•to assess overall language ability 

(proficiency test) 

•to assess learning at the end of a 

course (achievement test) 

•to assess learning at the end of part 

of a course (progress test) 

•to decide if learners can continue to 

the next level 

Informal assessment 

•normal classroom teaching and 

learning activities 

•homework tasks 

•teacher keeps records of progress 

but does not give grades 

•feedback for the teacher (i.e. to find 

out how successful our teaching has 

been) 

•to help us improve our procedures 

or choose different materials or 

activities for future lessons 

•feedback for learners about what 

they can do and what they still need 

to work on 

 


Formal assessment 





• Formal assessment can consist of tasks with single answers (e.g. multiplechoice 

questions, matching task, true/false questions) that are easy to 

mark. Objective test tasks like these will give us information about learners' 

knowledge of particular language items and specific areas of language skills. 

Some formal assessment makes use of more real-life tasks, such as oral 

interviews, letters and essays, to get information about learners' general 

ability to use spoken and written language. 

• •When we prepare a class test, it is important to include a number of 

different tasks, so that we get a good picture of our learners' strengths and 

weaknesses, and to test the main things we have taught. 

• We need to choose assessment tasks very carefully for young learners, 

making sure that the tasks are familiar and not too difficult or too abstract. 

Informal assessment 

• The amount of informal assessment we do depends on a number of things: 

− the size of the class 

− the age of the learners (informal assessment is especially useful for 

young learners for whom formal test tasks are often too abstract) 

− the language knowledge or skills we want to assess 

− the frequency of formal tests or examinations. 

• It is important for learners to know that we are assessing them, and to know 

how and when we are doing it. 

• To carry out informal assessment of productive skills in larger classes, we 

probably need to assess small numbers of learners in different lessons. We 

can record our opinions on a record sheet or fill in a check list. 

• We can carry out informal assessment of receptive skills by checking 

learners' answers to reading or listening tasks, and taking notes on their 

performance. 

• We can make separate assessments of learners' grammatical and lexical 

knowledge by using language games or quizzes, or by monitoring practice 

activities and making a note of frequent errors. We can then give feedback 

to individuals or to the whole class, or return to the problems later in a 

revision lesson. 

• We may also wish to assess other things such as motivation and effort. We 

can do this by observation and also by talking to learners about their 

learning. 

• It is important to keep records of informal assessment, especially in larger 

classes, so that we have the information we need to report or give feedback 

on our learners' progress. These records can be quite simple, with headings 

for, e.g. grammar, vocabulary, language skills, motivation and general 

progress against each learner's name. 

• We need to plan informal assessment in the same way as we plan our 

teaching. 

Formal and informal assessment 





• We may use some of the same methods for both formal and informal 

assessment (e.g. assessing learners' spoken language in an interview). In 

the case of productive skills, whether the assessment is formal or informal, 

we need to judge learners' performance against clear descriptions of 

different levels of skill. These may be general descriptions of speaking or 

writing, or they may give separate descriptions of different subskills. Here 

are two examples for speaking. They are designed to assess a wide range 

of ability. 

Example 1 

5 Speaks very well-very few errors. 

4 Speaks quite well - some errors, but message is always dear. 

3 Has some difficulties in speaking - frequent errors and not always dear. 

2 Has serious problems in speaking - only very limited ability to communicate. 

1 Almost unable to communicate. 

Example 2 

Accuracy Fluency Pronunciation 

5 Grammatical and lexical 

accuracy extremely high. 

4 Quite accurate; some errors, 

but meaning is always clear. 

3 Frequent errors; meaning is 

not always clear. 

2 Very frequent errors; 

difficulty in making meaning 

clear. 

Speaks fluently without 

hesitation or searching for 

words. 

Some hesitation and 

sometimes has to search 

for words. 

Quite hesitant; limited range 

of vocabulary and 

structures. 

Extremely hesitant; very 

limited range of language 

available. 

1 Almost unable to communicate. 

Very clear; stress and 

intonation help to make 

meaning clear. 

Generally clear; 

reasonable control of 

stress and intonation. 

Frequent errors; not 

always clear enough to 

understand. 

Very frequent errors; often 

very difficult to understand. 


Read the following statements and decide whether they are true (T) or false (F). 

1. We can use homework tasks for informal assessment. 

2. Objective tests have many different possible answers, and this makes them 

difficult to mark. 

3. In the best formal tests learners should only have to do a few different tasks. 

4. It's important for learners to know when we are assessing them informally. 

5. We can sometimes use games and quizzes for informal assessment. 

6. The methods we use for formal assessment are always different from those 

we use for informal assessment. 





REFLECTION 


1. I don't have time for informal assessment. I'm far too busy teaching. 

2. Most of my assessment is informal. It's much better than formal testing as a 

way of finding out what my learners can do. 

3. My learners have regular tests, so I don't need to do much informal 

assessment. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7, match the instructions for the assessment tasks with the 

assessment aims listed A-H. 


Assessment aims 

A. To assess oral fluency 

B. To assess accurate pronunciation 

C. To check knowledge of vocabulary 

D. To check grammatical knowledge 

E. To assess writing skills 

F. To check awareness of stress 

G. To check knowledge of functional 

exponents 

H. To assess gist reading skills. 

Instructions for assessment tasks 

1. Use the notes to make complete sentences. Put the verbs into the 

correct form. 

2. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph 

3. Reply to the advertisement; explain why you are the best person for the 

job. 

4. Find the words in the text which mach the following definition. 

5. Discuss the problem with your partner and try to find the solution. 

6. Choose the most appropriate response for each of the following 

situations. 

7. Listen and underline the word that the speaker says most strongly. 





Second stage 

Contents 

Selection and use of resources and materials 

Selection and use of the course book materials 

Selection and use of supplementary materials and activities 


Managing the teaching and learning process 

Identifying the functions of learner’s language 






SELECTION AND USE OF RESOURCES AND 

MATERIALS 

Unit 5 Consulting reference resources to help in lesson preparation 

 

How do we consult reference resources? 

Reference resources are all the sources of information about language and 

about teaching that we can refer to for help in lesson preparation. They include 

reference materials, such as dictionaries and grammar books, books and 

articles about methodology in teachers' magazines, the teacher's book 

accompanying a coursebook that contains answers and teaching ideas, and 

websites on the Internet. Reference resources may also include people, for 

example, the Head of Department or colleagues who teach foreign languages 

or other subjects. We consult reference resources by knowing where we can 

find the information we need and how to find it. 

Key concepts 

List as many reasons as you can think of for making use of reference 

resources. 

When we are planning a lesson, there are many reasons for using reference 

resources. Some of the main ones are as follows: 

Checking the form and use of grammatical structures 

Some grammar books are written for teachers, with very detailed explanations. 

Others, designed for learners at different levels, use simpler language to give 

essential information about grammatical structures. Grammar books for 

learners can help us to see what information our learners need about 

grammatical structures and can provide us with suitable ways of describing or 

explaining grammar. The easiest books to use are those organised in 

alphabetical order, or which have a detailed index or table of contents. Some 

grammar books also include practice exercises, which teachers (and learners) 

often find useful. 

Checking the spelling, pronunciation and use of lexical items 

The most useful dictionaries for teachers to use themselves are advanced 

learners' dictionaries, which include example sentences, as well as information 

about the form and use of words. Most of these are also available on CD-ROM 

and online on publishers' websites. Bilingual dictionaries (which explain the 

meanings of words in the learner's own language), including electronic 

dictionaries, are useful when learners are looking for a word that they don't 

know in English. But these dictionaries usually give very little information about 

how to use a word, so it's a good idea for learners to check the words they find 

in a monolingual dictionary (i.e. one that explains the meanings of words in 

the language learners are learning). Learner dictionaries, like learner grammar 

books, can help teachers to find the most suitable ways of defining words and 





giving examples of their use. 

Developing your own understanding of language 

There are a number of books for teachers which aim to increase our language 

awareness (our understanding of how language works) and our awareness of 

how to teach language. They often include tasks that we can do by ourselves 

or with a colleague and detailed explanations and comments as well as 

answers. 

Anticipating learners’ difficulties 

Reference materials about learners' errors can help us anticipate particular 

language problems that our learners might have. Many difficulties with 

vocabulary or grammar are the result of interference from LI. Books or articles 

about specific differences between the learner's LI and English can help to 

explain these problems. 

Looking for new approaches to teaching lessons and new classroom 

activities 

If we are looking for new approaches or activities, or if we want to give our 

learners something different from their coursebook, there is a wide range of 

supplementary materials (i.e. materials you can use in addition to or instead 

of your coursebook), focusing on grammar, vocabulary and particular skills. 

There are also very many teacher's resource books with ideas and materials for 

all kinds of lessons. Some of these provide a wide range of activities for extra 

grammar or communicative practice, for example, while others focus on a 

particular type of classroom activity, such as dictation or storytelling. Most of 

these books have very dear indexes, giving information about timing, 

preparation, level, etc. There is also a growing number of free websites with 

articles for teachers on different teaching topics. 

Finding out how to use the material in your coursebook 

Teacher's books provide suggestions about how to use the material in the 

coursebook. Even if the lesson planning ideas in the teacher's book do not suit 

a particular teaching situation, it is still useful to look at these suggestions, as it 

may be possible to adapt them. Some teacher's books include different possible 

ways of planning a lesson, as well as explanations of answers to exercises and 

extra resources (i.e. things teachers can use to support their teaching in the 

classroom), such as homework tasks and activities for further practice. 

Getting advice about particular lessons or teaching materials 

Colleagues who have taught at the same level or used the same teaching 

materials may be able to offer useful advice. As with the suggestions in 

teacher's books, a colleague's approach may not suit us, but may help us to 

think about our own planning. 

 

 


Some grammar books and dictionaries may contain dearer explanations or 





 

 

 

examples. So when checking a language item, we should try to look at more 

than one reference resource. 

Language changes, as new words appear and people stop using some older 

words. Grammatical usage, too, changes slowly over time. One way to keep 

up to date is to use the most recently published grammar books and 

dictionaries. 

Dictionaries on CD-ROM have many extra features, such as practice 

activities, 

We can learn a great deal from other teachers' experiences. Many teachers' 

magazines include regular articles by teachers describing successful 

lessons they have taught. It may be easier to visit websites than to find the 

books and articles we need. There are many sites on the Internet where we 

can find free resources such as lesson plans, worksheets (pages with tasks 

and exercises on them that a teacher gives to learners during a lesson) and 

ideas for teaching. Some sites also offer simple programs for making 

classroom resources, such as crosswords and gap-fill exercises. The best 

way to find these materials is to visit one of the sites that has lists of links to 

useful teaching resources on the Internet. 


Try to find resources 1-10 below. Then decide which type of resource (A-D) 

they are. 

1. A-Z of English Grammar and Usage by Geoffrey Leech, Pearson 

Education Ltd 2001 

2. Cambridge Learner's Dictionary, Cambridge University Press 2001 

3. Discussions That Work by Penny Ur, Cambridge University Press 1981 

4. Planning from Lesson to Lesson by Tessa Woodward and Seth 

Lindstromberg, Pearson Education Ltd 1995 

5. http://wwwruthvilmi.net/hut/LangHelp/Grarnmar 

6. Working with Words by Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman, Cambridge 

University Press 1986 

7. http://www.preschookainbow.org 

8. Motivating High-Level Learners by David Cranmer, Pearson Education 

Ltd 1996 

9. Five-Minute Activities by Penny Ur and Andrew Wright, Cambridge 

University Press 1992. 

10. http://www.puzzlemaker.com 

A. Language reference resources 

B. ideas for planning lessons 

C. resources for teachers and learners producing their own materials 

D. materials for very young learners 

REFLECTION 

1 What were the reference resources you used when you were studying 

English? Do they still help you? 





2 What are the reference resources you use most often when preparing 

lessons? In what ways do they help you? 

3 If you had to go and teach in a place with very few resources, which three 

reference books would you take with you? 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7, match the teachers’ descriptions with the reference 

resources listed A-H. There is one extra option which you do not need to use. 

Reference resources 

A. A language awareness book for teachers 

B. A book to help teachers use one kind of resource 

C. A teachers’ magazine on the internet 

D. A picture dictionary 

E. A learner’s grammar book 

F. A monolingual dictionary 

G. A book about interference from different first 

languages 

H. A bilingual dictionary 

Teacher’s descriptions 

1. Sometimes I just need to check what a word means in my own language 

2. If you teach beginners all the time, it’s good to have a book that helps up 

your own language level. 

3. I want my learners to read English definitions of English words. 

4. It gives me information about rules and usage, written in language I can use 

in the classroom, and there are exercises for learners, too. 

5. My school has just got some new computers, and this book gives me the 

ideas I need about how to use them. 

6. My young learners find it easier to remember new words if they can see 

what things look like. 

7. It has articles by teachers, lesson plans and worksheets you can print out 

and lots of useful links. 

Selection and use of coursebook materials 

 

How do we select and use coursebook materials? 

Coursebook materials are all the materials in a coursebook package that we 

use in the classroom to present and practise language, and to develop 

learners' language skills. 

A coursebook package usually includes a student's book, a teacher's book and 

audio and/or video recordings. The teacher's book often includes the tapescript 

(i.e. the words learners hear) of these recordings. Often there is also a 

workbook or activity book (a book with extra practice material), and there may 





also be a CD-ROM or extra material on a website. 

Teachers often base their selection of teaching materials (coursebook or 

supplementary) on a 'needs analysis', i.e. a study of learners' level, language 

needs and interests, using questionnaires, interviews or diagnostic tests. This 

information helps to build up a class profile (a description of all the learners in 

the class) and shows what they have in common and how they differ from each 

other. The teacher's task is then to select the material that best matches this 

profile. 

Key concepts 

What questions should we ask when selecting teaching materials? 

We may not be able to choose our coursebook, but we can still make choices 

about what materials in it to use. Decisions about whether - and how - to use 

the coursebook or part of it will depend on the answers to a number of 

questions: 

• Is the material visually attractive? Is it visually dear (e.g. using different 

colours, different fonts, headings, etc.)? Does the visual material help 

learners to understand context and meaning? 

• Is it well organised? Can you and your learners follow the 'logic' of the 

material and find your way around the page or the unit quickly and easily? 

• Is it culturally appropriate? Will the context(s) be familiar to learners? 

• Is it suitable for your learners' age and their needs and interests? 

• Will the topics be motivating to suit the age, gender, experience and 

personal interests of your learners? 

• •Is it at the right level? Does it provide a clear enough context and/or 

explanations for learners to understand new language? 

• Does it give learners enough opportunities to use the language? 

If the answer to any of these questions is 'No', then we have two choices: 

• to replace the coursebook material with materials with the same focus/aim 

from another book or resource, such as a teachers' website or 

supplementary materials 

• to adapt the coursebook material, i.e. change it in some way to make it 

suitable for our learners. 

There are a number of ways to adapt material that is not suitable for a particular 

teaching situation. Here are some ideas: 

Strategies Problems Possible solutions 

Extending 

material 

Shortening 

material 

•The task or exercise is too short. 

•The learners need more practice. 

•The task or exercise is too long. 

•The learners don't need so much 

practice. 

. 

•Write extra items, following the same 

pattern. 

•Use as much as you need, but do 

not feel you have to use it all. •Give 

different parts of the text or task to 

different learners. 





Changing the 

form of tasks 

Changing the 

level of the 

material 

Reordering 

material 

Making use of 

all the 

resources in the 

book 

• The task doesn't suit the learners' 

learning style. 

• You want a change of pace. 

• The coursebook often repeats the 

same kind of task 

•The texts or tasks are too easy or 

too difficult. 

•The activities in the units in the 

book always follow the same 

sequence. 

•The learners need to learn or 

practise things in a different order. 

•There is not enough practice 

material in a particular unit. 

•The learners need to revise 

particular items. 

•You want to preview material in a 

future unit. 

•Change the interaction pattern, e.g. 

use a matching task as a mingling 

activity (i.e. one in which learners 

move around the class, in this case to 

find their partners). 

•Make material more challenging, e.g. 

learners try to answer comprehension 

questions before reading. 

•Make material less challenging, e.g. 

break up a long text into shorter 

sections. 

•Change the order of the material, 

e.g. ask learners to cover up a page 

or part of a page, so that they focus 

on what you want them to do first. 

•Use extra material from the book: 

grammar summaries, word lists, lists 

of irregular verbs, etc. 

•Give whole-book tasks, e.g. 

searching through the book for texts, 

pictures, language examples. 


• There may be good reasons for leaving out part of a unit, or even a whole 

unit, but remember that the coursebook is one of the main sources of 

learning (and revision) for our learners. So they may find it confusing if we 

do this too often. 

• The coursebook will normally provide the main content for a lesson, while 

material that needs to be more personalised for the learners will probably 

come from the teacher (or from the learners themselves). When planning 

lessons, think about what the coursebook gives you, and what you need to 

add. For example: 

Coursebook provides: 

Teacher can provide 

additional: 

• situation/context • warmer 

• pictures • instructions 

• dialogues (conversations between two people) and • role-play 

texts 

• tasks and exercises • homework tasks 

• If we plan to reorder the material in the coursebook, we must make sure that 

this is possible, i.e. that a task/exercise does not depend on a previous one. 





• We can change the order of activities in the coursebook in order to introduce 

variety in one of the following areas: pace, interaction pattern, sequence of 

skills practice, level of difficulty, content, mood, etc. 

• We should think about how to make material more attractive and interesting 

for learners and how to bring material 'off the page', e.g. using mime, 

pictures, realia (real objects such as clothes or food), etc. 


1 Select a unit from your coursebook that you haven't used yet and answer the 

questions. 

2 In what way (s) will you need to adapt the material? Make notes. 

REFLECTION 


1. I plan my lessons to respond to my learners' needs, so I never use a 

coursebook. 

2. I always plan my lessons following the suggestions in the teacher's book. – 

3. If use all the material in every unit in the order given in the book. 

4. I use a coursebook, but I change most of it so that learners don't get bored. 

5. I've got a good coursebook and I haven't got time to adapt any of it. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7, match the course book instruction with the activity aims listed 

A-H. 


Coursebook instructions. 

Activity aims 

A. Accurate use of a specific structure 

B. Finding collocations 

C. Reading for gist 

D. Oral fluency practice 

E. Finding connections in a text 

F. Listening for detailed information 

G. Writing a short story 

H. Listening for gist. 

1. Look quickly through the text and choose the picture that matches the 

situation. 

2. Complete the sentences below using one of the following modal verbs. 

3. Play the cassette again and answer the true/false questions. 

4. Underline all the pronouns and draw arrows to show the nouns they refer 

to. 

5. Choose the words that go together. 

6. In groups of three, discuss the problem and decide on the best solution. 





7. Look at the photographs and decide who you think is speaking. 

Selection and use of supplementary materials and 

activities 

 

How do we select and use supplementary materials and activities? 

Supplementary materials are books and other materials we can use in 

addition to the coursebook. They include skills development materials, 

grammar, vocabulary and phonology practice materials, collections of 

communicative activities and teacher's resource materials. Supplementary 

materials may also come from authentic sources (e.g. newspaper and 

magazine articles, video, etc.). Some coursebook packages include 

supplementary materials and activities specially designed to fit the coursebook 

syllabus, and there are also many websites where you can download 

supplementary materials. We select supplementary materials and activities first 

by recognising that we need something more than (or different from) the 

material in the coursebook, and then by knowing where to find the most 

appropriate kinds of material. 

Key concepts 

Make a list of all the reasons you can think of for using supplementary materials 

and activities. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the 

supplementary materials in the box below? 

• a class library of graded readers (storybooks that use simple language) 

• skills practice books 

• teacher's resource books 

• websites 

• videos 

• language practice books (grammar/vocabulary/phonology) 

• electronic materials (CD-ROMs, computer programs) 

• games 

There are various reasons why we might want to use supplementary materials 

and activities. Some of the main reasons are as follows: 

• to replace unsuitable material in the coursebook 

• to fill gaps in the coursebook 

• to provide suitable material for learners' particular needs and interests e to 

give learners extra language or skills practice 

• to add variety to our teaching. 

Coursebooks are organised according to a syllabus, and they are often carefully 

graded (i.e. grammatical structures, vocabulary, skills, etc. are presented in a 

helpful sequence for learning), so that learners' knowledge of the language 





builds up step by step through the book. Supplementary materials and activities 

can provide variety in lessons and useful extra practice, but it is important to 

make sure that they fit into the learners' programme, are suitable for the class 

and match the aims for particular lessons. Here are some of the .possible 

advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of supplementary materials: 

Possible advantages 

Possible disadvantages 

Class library of readers 

• encourages extensive 

reading 

• gives learners confidence 

• language sometimes too 

simple 

• may not be challenging 

Skills practice books • focus on individual skills • may not fit coursebook 

Teacher's resource books • new ideas for lessons • may not suit lesson aims 

Websites 

Video 

Language practice books 

Electronic materials 

• variety of lesson plans, 

teaching materials, other 

resources 

• provides visual context 

•source of cultural information 

• shows body language 

• extra practice • learners can 

work alone without teacher's 

help 

• motivation 

• familiar technology for 

learners 

• sometimes difficult to find the 

right material for the learners 

• equipment may not always be 

available 

• language may not be graded 

• repetitive exercises • little or 

no context 

• difficult for teacher to control 

how learners are working 

• little or no human feedback 

Carries 

• enjoyment 

• language practice 

• may not be suitable for older 

learners 


Selection of supplementary materials and activities 

• Get to know what supplementary materials are available in your school. Use 

a questionnaire or interviews for needs analysis at the beginning of the 

course to find out what you will want to add to the coursebook when you are 

planning your scheme of work. 

• Supplementary language practice materials are not always accompanied by 

teacher's books, and the aims of activities may not be dear. When selecting 

material, therefore, you need to think about exactly how it will replace or 

improve on material in your coursebook. 

• It may be useful to use authentic material (which is not designed for a 

particular level), in order to give learners the experience of working with 

more challenging texts and tasks. 

• The activities in materials designed to develop individual skills often include 

the use of other skills, e.g. learners need to read a text before they carry out 

a listening task, or to do some writing as a follow-up activity after a speaking 

activity. When selecting materials and activities, think carefully about all the 

skills that are required. 

• Many publishers produce materials for practising separate language skills at 





different levels. Teacher's resource books, too, usually list tasks and 

activities according to level. Before deciding to use these materials, 

however, you should check how appropriate the level is for your learners. 

Think about the language they will need to understand or to produce. 

Use of supplementary materials and activities 

• Learners get used to the methodology in their coursebook. If you are using 

supplementary materials with very different procedures, you may need to 

give special attention to instructions. 

• You can adapt many supplementary materials for use with classes at 

different levels. The texts used in these materials may not be graded, but 

you can grade the activities by making the learners' tasks more or less 

challenging. 

• Games and extra communicative activities can provide variety and make 

learning fun. But you need to think about your reasons for using them, so 

that your lesson still has a dear purpose. Older learners may want to know 

why they are doing these activities. 


Here are ten sets of instructions for the kinds of activities you might find in a 

book of supplementary materials. For each one, decide: 

- what level(s) it is suitable for (i.e. elementary, intermediate, advanced) 

- what you think the aims are 

- what materials (if any) the teacher needs to prepare 

- if it focuses on particular language. 

1 In pairs, compare your list of ideas for 

staying healthy. Then agree on the six 

most useful ideas. Next, get together 

with another pair and decide on a group 

list of the six best ideas. Put these 

ideas in order according to their 

usefulness. 

2 Describe the picture to your partner 

so that s/he can draw it. When you 

have finished, compare your pictures 

and discuss the reasons for any 

differences. 

3 Send one member of your group 

outside the classroom to read the next 

sentence. He or she must remember 

the sentence without writing it down, 

then come back and dictate the 

sentence to the group. 

4 Use your dictionary to find as much 

information as you can about your 

word. Discuss with the other students in 

your group how the meanings of your 

words are connected and then explain 

the connections to the class. 

5 Decide which stories are true and 

which are false. Then choose one to tell 

to the rest of the class for them to make 

the same decision. 

6 Read the definition to the class for 

them to guess the word. 

7 Listen to the words on the recording 

and check whether you have underlined 

the correct syllables. 

8 Correct the text so that it matches the 

information in the picture. 

9 Write the next part of the story on the 





computer. When you have finished, 

move to the next computer and 

continue the story you see on the 

screen. 

10 Go to the blackboard and rub out 

one word in the sentence, so that the 

words that are left on the board still 

form a correct sentence. 

REFLECTION 


1. There's more than enough material in my coursebook. I don't have time to 

use supplementary materials. 

2. My students get bored with the same book in every lesson, so I use 

supplementary materials as often as I can. 

3. I'd like to use supplementary materials more often, but I find it difficult to fit 

them into my syllabus. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7, choose which book listed A-G could help a teacher who 

made the following comments. 


Books 

A. The internet and the Language Classroom Gavin Dudeney, Cambridge 

University Press 

B. Developing Listening Skills Shelagh Rixon, Prentice Hall 

C. Sounds Like This Katie Kitching, Belair Publication Ltd. 

D. Simple Speaking Activities Jill Hadfield and Charles Hadfield, Oxford 

University Press. 

E. Elementary Language Practice Michael Vince, Macmillan 

F. Literature in the Language Classroom Joanne Collie and Stephen 

Slater, Cambridge University Press. 

G. Words in Their Places: Graded Cloze Texts and Comprehension 

Exercises Lynn Hutchinson Hodder Arnold. 

Teacher’s comments 

1. L’ve been teaching for a long time, but I really need some fresh ideas for 

teaching grammar to low-level learners. 

2. I’m not sure how to use websites for teaching English. 

3. I’m looking for activities to help my teenage elementary learners develop 

their fluency, but I haven’t got time to do a lot of extra preparation. 

4. I’m interested in using poems and short stories in my language classes. 

5. I want a book that explains pronunciation and gives me some ideas 

about how to teach it. 

6. My learners need lots of extra tasks for reading practice, but I haven’t got 

time to search for supplementary materials at the right level 






How do we select and use aids? 

Aids are the resources and equipment available to us in the classroom, as well 

as the resources we can bring into the classroom. They include cassette 

recorders, CD players, video recorders and overhead projectors (i.e. 

equipment with a light in it that can make images appear larger on a screen), 

visual aids (pictures that can help learners understand), realia and the teacher 

himself/herself! We select and use aids by thinking carefully about the main 

aims and the subsidiary aims of a lesson, and then choosing the most 

appropriate ones. 

Key concepts 

Look at the following list of classroom equipment. What other teaching purposes 

can you think of for each item? 

Classroom equipment 

blackboard/whiteboard 

overhead projector (OHP) 

cassette recorder/CD player 

video recorder 

computer 

language laboratory 

(i.e. a room where learners can 

listen to recordings and record 

themselves) 

A/Iain reaching purpose 

writing up planned vocabulary, grammar examples 

and explanations 

displaying prepared exercises on transparencies 

(plastic sheets) 

listening practice 

listening practice with added visual information 

grammar exercises 

grammar drills 

All of these aids can be used for many different purposes. Some examples of 

these purposes are: 

Blackboard/whiteboard 

Video recorder 

• writing words and ideas that come up during 

the lesson 

•drawing or displaying pictures 

• building up ideas in diagrams, word maps, 

etc. 

• for learners to write answers 

• for whole-class compositions 

•for information gap tasks (with one 

learner viewing and one just listening) 

•viewing without sound and guessing 

the language 

• pausing and predicting the language (i.e. 

saying what you think is coming next) 

• with a camera, filming learners' performance 

Overhead projector 

•displaying results of group work 

• building up information by putting one 

transparency on top of another 

• covering up or gradually uncovering parts of 

the transparency 

• displaying pictures and diagrams on 

Computer 

• narrative building with a word processor 

• supplementary materials for coursebooks 

• online language tests 

• using online dictionaries 

• using CD-ROMs 

• email exchanges 





photocopiable transparencies 

Cassette recorder/CD player 

• presenting new language in dialogues and 

stories 

• giving models for pronunciation practice 

• recording learners' oral performance 

• listening for pleasure 

• online communication (chatting) 

• online newspapers and magazines 

• project work using the Internet 

Language laboratory 

• pronunciation practice 

• extensive listening 

• monitoring and giving feedback to 

individual learners 

•developing speaking skills 

Other aids are: realia, flashcards (cards small enough to hold up one after 

another, with simple drawings or single words or phrases on them), puppets 

(models of people or animals that you can move by putting your hand inside 

them), charts -(diagrams that show information) and the teacher. 

What different uses can you think of for these aids? Here are some of the most 

important uses: 

Realia 

Real objects that we can easily bring into the classroom can be used to teach 

vocabulary, as prompts for practising grammatical structures or for building 

dialogues and narratives, for games and quizzes. Realia also include real texts, 

such as menus, timetables, leaflets, etc. 

Flashcards 

Like realia, flashcards can be used for teaching individual words or as prompts 

for practising grammatical structures. 

Puppets 

Puppets are an excellent resource for teaching young learners. For example, 

we can introduce new language in dialogues between pairs of puppets (or 

between one puppet and the teacher). Children can also make their own simple 

puppets. 

Charts 

We can use posters and wallcharts (drawings or graphs that can be put on the 

wall of a classroom) to display larger, more detailed pictures, or a series of 

pictures telling a story or showing related objects in a lexical set. A phonemic 

chart shows the phonemic symbols and the positions in the mouth where the 

different sounds are made. The teacher can point at the symbols to prompt 

learners to correct their pronunciation. We can also use charts to display 

diagrams, prepared drawings and tables of irregular verbs, or to build up a 

class dictionary. 

The teacher 

The teacher can use hand gestures, facial expressions and mime (actions 

which express meaning without words) to elicit vocabulary items, clarify 

meaning and create context. We can also build up a set of signals, such as 





finger correction, which learners recognise as prompts to correct their own 

mistakes. 


• It is a good idea to divide the blackboard or whiteboard into different 

sections for different purposes, as in this example: 

Reference material (e.g. 

key lexis, model 

sentences, grammar rules, 

etc.) 

Lesson materials (e.g. 

pictures, key grammatical 

structures, dialogues, etc.) 

at different stages of the 

lesson 

Vocabulary notepad for 

noting all new words 

You can include diagrams like this in your lesson plan for different stages of the 

lesson. 

Aids that you can prepare in advance, like charts, flashcards and 

transparencies for the overhead projector, will help you to make sure that 

lesson procedures match your aims. Another advantage is that you can save 

such aids and reuse them in future lessons. 

Make sure that you check any equipment before the lesson. Use the 

counters on cassette recorders and video recorders to make a note of where 

recordings begin, so that you can find the place easily when you rewind. 

If you use computers or the language laboratory, advance preparation is 

essential. You need to plan all your instructions very carefully, as well as the 

sequence of activities for the lesson. 

FOLLOW –UP ACTIVITY 

Which aids do you think these teachers are talking about? 

1. I can prepare lots of material in advance, and I don't have to make lots of 

photocopies. 

2. It gives me a chance to listen to all the learners individually. 

3. Whenever I travel abroad, I collect all kinds of things to use in class. 

4. .I use them as prompts for a dialogue with the whole class, then give 

them out to pairs so they can practise. 

5. I always use one part of it as a kind of notebook for new words. 

6. It gives learners the most realistic kind of listening practice. 

7. This helps with tests, grammar and vocabulary exercises, dictionary 

work, research -just about everything. 

REFLECTION 

1 Think about the aids you use most often. What learner characteristics 

make some aids more successful than others in different classes? 

2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using technical 

equipment in the classroom? (For example, think about planning, 

motivation and technical problems.) 

3 Which aids are the most motivating for your learners? (For example, 

younger learners may learn best through playing games, while teenagers 

may enjoy working with computers. 





PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-7, match the teaching purposes with the aids listen A-H 


Teaching purposes 

AIDS 

A. Realia 

B. OHP 

C. Puppets 

D. Video 

E. Self-access centre 

F. Computer 

G. Phonemic chart 

H. Blackboard/whiteboard 

1. To show learners pictures or answer to tasks prepared before the lesson 

2. To remind learners about pronunciation 

3. For learners to work by themselves and improve their 

4. To give learners listening practice with visual context 

5. To note down new vocabulary items throughout the lesson 

6. To bring small things from the world outside into the classroom 

7. To ask learners to find information for project work independently. 

MANAGING THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS 

PART 1 Teachers' and learners' language for the classroom 

How do we use language appropriately for a range of classroom functions? 

Using language appropriately means we use language in the classroom which 

best suits the learners and the situation. Classroom functions are the purposes 

for which teachers and learners use language in the classroom. For teachers, 

these purposes include, for example, "to manage activities and learning, to 

explain learning points and to move smoothly from one stage of a lesson to the 

next. 

Key concepts 

What are some common classroom functions used by the teacher? Here are 

some classroom functions that are often used by the teacher: 

Instructing. We give instructions (i.e. tell learners what to do) at different 

stages of the lesson, for example at the beginning of an activity. The language 

of instructions is often the imperative, particularly for young learners and for 

beginners, as in 'Open your books at page 12'. For learners at higher levels, we 

might use other language forms,-for example: Tor this activity, you're going to 





work in pairs 

Explaining. We might explain to learners how to do an activity, how to organise 

a project') they are doing, the meaning of vocabulary or why a correction is 

needed. For example, when explaining about project work we might say: 'We'll 

put the project work on the walls so you need to make sure that everything is 

easy to read and that it looks wonderful/ 

Narrating. Narrating is telling a story or talking about something that has 

happened. In the primary classroom we often tell stories to learners. In 

secondary and adult classrooms are may tell stories too, but we might more 

often talk about past experiences and things that have) happened in our lives. 

Eliciting. Eliciting is when we get information from our learners rather than 

giving it them. This information can be about topics or language. For example, 

we can show learner a picture and ask 'What can you see in the picture?' We 

can also ask learners to give us gene information, e.g. what a-certain animal 

eats. 

Prompting learners. Prompting is when we say something to help learners 

think of ideas, or to remember a word or phrase by giving them part of it. For 

example, we could say to learners at the start of a story telling activity ‘You 

could start the story with this picture’, or if a learner can't remember a word, we 

could help them with the first sound, such as com for competition, 

Correcting. We can correct learners by using language to indicate where or 

how they have made a mistake. 

Checking learning. We check learning all the time during our lessons, but we 

do this most often after we have presented new language, and at the end of a 

lesson to give us information for planning the next lesson(s). We can use 

concept questions to check learners' understanding, for example: 'Can anyone 

give me a sentence using this word?' 

Conveying the meaning of new language. When we convey meaning we 

show the meaning of new words or structures. We can do this in a number of 

ways, such as bringing in realia, using mime or by asking concept questions. 

We may want to explain the meaning, to demonstrate it, or in some situations 

where the meaning is very difficult to explain in English, to translate it. 


The language we use in the classroom must be appropriate for the classroom 

function and for the level and age of the learners. For example, we should not 

use language that is too formal with primary learners or language that is too 

babyish with older learners. 

We need to grade our language to suit the language level and age of the 





learners. Grading language means choosing to use classroom language that is 

at or below the language level of the learners. For example, with beginners we 

use simple words and phrases, but with higher-level learners our language can 

be more complex. Grading means that our language is at the right level for the 

learners to understand. 

We need to sequence our language appropriately to provide learners with 

learning opportunities. Sequencing means using language in a logical order. 

This is particularly important for explanations and instructions, for example: 

'Listen. Work with a partner.’ rather than 'Work with a partner. Listen. 

Learners can learn classroom language, just by hearing it again and again. So 

it is important to use the same classroom language for classroom functions at 

the early stages of learning, for example: 'Open your books and look at page 

....We can then build up these phrases to suit the learners' level and age. 

We need to think about the language we are going to use for different 

classroom functions and make sure the language use is appropriate language 

will use the clear. If we do not plan or think about the language we use, we 

might use the LI, or language which is too complex, which would not be helpful 

to learning. 

FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES 

1. Look at the list of classroom functions in Key concepts above, and at the 

activities carried out by a teacher below. At which stage of a lesson might 

you use the different classroom functions? You will find that you can use 

more than one classroom function at each stage. 

Stages of a lesson 

A. Presenting new vocabulary 

B. Telling the class a story and encouraging them to join in 

C. Brainstorming ideas for a writing task with the whole class 

D. Monitoring learners during a controlled practice activity 

E. Giving feedback after a task 

2. Read this teacher's instructions to children on how to make a rabbit (bunny) 

puppet. Which language form does the teacher use for each instruction and 

which conjunctions does she use to sequence the instructions? 

Now watch me first. Take the scissors and cut. Start with the bunny's head. 

OK, be careful. Cut round the head and now his big ears ... his big ears that 

go flop, flop, flop. And up the ear and down again and round his head. 

Then, cut here round the bunny's face and round his shoulder and down 

round his body and now down to his feet. 





REFLECTION 


1. I don't need to plan the language I use for giving instructions. I just think 

of what to say at the time and I know when my learners understand. 

2. My learners speak the same LI as I do. So it's much better to use the 

mother tongue for setting up activities and checking understanding. 

3. I have a collection of different phrases that I use for managing my 

classes. I choose from these phrases when I am planning my lessons. I 

teach different levels, but I find I can use the same language for each 

level. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-5, look at the following situations and three possible things a 

teacher could say. Choose the most appropriate option A, B or C. 

1. In a class of primary children of 9-10 years of age, the learners are finishing 

a pairwork task. The teacher wants to check the answers with the class. 

A. What's the answer to number 1? Hands up, please. 

B. Can any of you possibly tell me what you think might be the answer 

for the first question? 

C. Answer? 

2. In a class of teenagers in their second year of-English, the teacher has just 

presented a new grammatical structure and wants to check that the learners 

understand the meaning. 

A. Does everyone understand? 

B. Who can give me an example sentence? 

C. Please explain the meaning. 

3. A group of businessmen are doing a discussion activity. The teacher notices 

a learner has made a mistake and says: 

A That's wrong. 

B A bad answer. 

C Is that quite right? 

4. In a class of adult learners of mixed levels, the teacher is giving the first 

instruction for a complex group activity. 

A. A You all know what to do so you can start. 

B. B First, get into the groups you were in yesterday. 

C. C Here's the handout for the activity. You can start. 

5. The teacher is telling a story to a class of very young primary learners who 

have only been learning English for one month. 

A. Here is a little boy. Look. One day ... 





B. This is a story about a little boy who used to live in the city. 

C. Stories are very important for you. They will help you learn new 

grammar. 

Identifying the Functions of Learners’ Language 

How do we identify the functions of learners' language? 

The functions of learners' language are the purposes for which learners use 

language in the classroom. These purposes include taking part in tasks and. 

activities, asking questions of the teacher, interacting with each other. Examples 

of the functions of learners' language are asking for clarification from the 

teacher or other learners, and checking information or understanding. 

Key concepts 

Can you think of some common functions of learners' language? 

Read through this description of a lesson. There are examples of learners' 

language functions for each stage. 

Learners' 

functions 

Greeting 


Asking for clarification 

Checking information 

and understanding 

Saying goodbye 

Teacher's and /earners' actions 

The teacher enters the classroom and the learners say 'Good 

morning'. The teacher hands out a reading text and gives 

learners instructions for the reading task. 

The learners check the instructions with the teacher by asking 

'Can you explain that again please? What do we have to do? ’ 

The learners complete the reading task individually. The learners 

check their answers in pairs. They say, e.g. 'What answer do you 

have for number 4? I doesn’t understand the meaning of this 

word. Do you know what it means?' The teacher checks the 

answers. 

The lesson ends. The learners say 'Goodbye' to each other and 

to the teacher. 


Learners need a range of classroom language so that they can interact 

appropriately with each other and with the teacher. The language that learners 

need for interacting with each\ other may sometimes be quite formal, and at 

other times more relaxed, depending on who is in the group. The language they 

need for interacting with the teacher is often neutral or more formal. 

Learners need to know special words and phrases for certain games and 

activities. For example, It's my turn I It's your turn I I’m first I after you I I’ve won, 





We need to teach our learners the language for a range of learners' classroom 

functions. We also need to teach them to understand the language for a range 

of teacher classroom functions. This language is not usually taught in the 

coursebook. When we plan tasks and activities we need to think about what 

language the learners need to do the tasks. If learners do not know how to ask 

for an explanation or clarification, they will use their L1. 

FOLLOW – UP ACTIVITIES 

1. Here are eight examples of learner language. Which function does each one 

express? 

A. Can you say that again, please? 

B. I don't have the same answer. 

C. See you tomorrow. 

D. Is it paged 25 or 35? 

E. What do you think? 

F. Yes, I totally agree with you. 

G. Well, I think this is the best answer. 

H. Hi! 

2. Each of the following sets of exponents A-D expresses one function of 

learners' language, which function does each set express? 

A 

How about starting with number five? 

Let's do this together. 

Why don't we ask one of the other 

groups? 

C 

It's great to see you again. How are 

you? Good morning. 

B 

Can you give an example for number 

4? Can I use this word to talk about 

myself? Does this mean the same 

thing? 

D 

My answer's the same as yours. 

Yes, that's right. 

That's my opinion, too. 

REFLECTION 

Think about these comments from teachers. Which do you I agree with and 

why? 

1. I don't think learners need English for classroom functions. They can use 

their L1. 

2. My learners usually use their LI when they work in groups and when they 

ask me questions. I don't think they know how to say these things in 

English. 

3. I put examples of appropriate language for classroom functions on the 

walls of my classroom to prompt my learners. 

PRACTICE TASK 





For questions 1-5, look at the situations and three possible functions. Choose 

the correct option A, B or C. 

1. A learner does not hear the instructions the teacher gives. He needs to 

A. ask for repetition. 

B. express agreement. 

C. offer an opinion 

2. A learner does not understand the meaning of a new word. She needs to: 

A. express doubt 

B. give advice 

C. ask for clarification 

3. A learner has an idea about how to begin a pairwork activity. He needs to: 

A. make a suggestion. 

B. make a comparison 

C. express disagreement. 

4. A learner thinks she has misunderstood a word. She needs to: 

A. give an example 

B. check meaning. 

C. ask for an opinion. 

5. learner wants to encourage a shy learner in group work. He needs to: 

A. check information 

B. invite him to speak 

C. explain his meaning 


• How do we categorize learners' mistakes? 

Mistakes show problems either with accuracy, i.e. using the correct form of the 

language, or with communication, i.e. sharing information dearly. Learners can 

make oral or written mistakes. Oral mistakes are mistakes learners make when 

they are speaking. They make mistakes in the accuracy of, for example, 

grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary or in the degree of formality of the 

language they use. In written language, learners may make mistakes, for 

example, in grammar, spelling, paragraphing, ordering of information or 

punctuation. Learners' mistakes can be errors or slips. Learners 'are usually 

able to correct slips themselves. 


Oral mistakes 

Look at the following examples of learners' oral mistakes. There are mistakes of 

accuracy (grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary) and appropriacy. Can you 





identify them? 

1. She like this picture. (Talking about present habit) 

2. Shut up! (Said to a classmate) 

3. I wear my suit in the sea. 

4. Do you know where is the post office? 

5. The dog /biit/ me. (Talking about a dog attacking someone) 

6. What /haepan ‘ed/? 

Accuracy 

Examples 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 all contain examples of inaccurate language. 

• In Example 1 there is a grammar mistake. The learner has missed the third 

person s from the verb. The learner should have said 'She likes this picture'. 

• In Example 3 there is a vocabulary mistake. The learner has used suit 

instead of swimsuit. The learner should have said 'I wear my swimsuit in the 

sea'. 

• In Example 4 there is a grammar mistake. The learner has put the subject 

and verb in the wrong order in the indirect question. The learner should have 

said 'Do you know where the post office is?' 

• In Example 5 there is a pronunciation mistake. The learner has used the 

long /ii/ sound when she should have used the short /i/ sound. The learner 

should have said 'The dog /bit/ me'. 

• In Example 6 there is a pronunciation mistake. The learner has stressed the 

final syllable of the word happened, making it into a three-syllable word 

when it is in fact pronounced as a two-syllable word /'haepand/ 

Appropriacy 

Example 2 contains an example of inappropriate language. Although Example 

2 is accurate, there is a problem with appropriacy. It is rude to say 'Shut up!' in 

the classroom. The learner should have said 'Can you be quiet, please?', or 

something similar. 

Written mistakes 

As with oral mistakes, these can also be categorised into slips or errors in 

accuracy or appropriacy, or errors in communication. 

Have a look at this story written by a learner. In the margin, there is a code 

written by the teacher to show different kinds of mistakes. Can you work out 

what the code means? 





My Best Friend 

I going to tell you about my best Friend. Her name is Betty. She is tall and has 

got long hair dark. Her Favourite Food is chocolate and her Favourite drink is 

cola. Her hobbies are writting short stories and looking at TV. At the weekend 

we go shopping in the mall and meet our Friends. Its Fun! 

The teacher has used a correction code to indicate the types of mistakes in 

accuracy that the learner has made. This enables learners to make their own 

corrections. Here is an explanation of the letters and symbols: 

= word missing 

There is a word missing in the first line. The learner has written 'I 

going’ when it should be 'I am going'. 

= wrong word order 

There is a word order mistake in line 2. The sentence 'She is tall 

and has got long hair dark' should be 'She is tall and has got long 

dark hair'. 

= wrong spelling 

There is a spelling mistake in line 3. The word 'writting' should be 

'writing'. 

= wrong vocabulary 

There is a vocabulary mistake in line 4. The learner has used 

'looking at’ When the correct word is 'watching'. 

= punctuation (comma, full stop, etc.) 

The learner has used the wrong punctuation in line 5. The learner 

has written Its' when the correct version is 'It's'. 

Other common categories in a correction code are: 

I/I = good sentence or expression 

|prep | = wrong preposition 

[A] = wrong agreement, for example She like 

? Ask me (I don't understand) 

T wrong verb tense t 

/ too many words 

It makes learners lose motivation if we correct every mistake they make. We 

need to make sure our corrections are appropriate for the level and learning 

style of the learner and for the focus of the task. 


• There are different reasons for the mistakes that learners make. For example: 





they may not have learnt the word or the structure yet; they may be using a 

word or structure from their first language by mistake; they may have been 

introduced to the language but may still need more time to process it or practise 

using it; they may have great difficulty making certain sounds; they may have 

writing or spelling problems in their first language; they may need more time to 

check and edit their writing. The reason why a mistake is made influences the 

way we correct it. 

• There are different techniques we can use to correct oral and written 

mistakes. 

• Mistakes can be a very positive aspect of learning. They show us that 

learning is taking place and that learners are taking risks with the language. 


Here is another example of a learner's writing. Look at the underlined words and 

decide which symbol in the correction code you would use for each one. 

In the post people used, to travel on train or on -foot. Now they usually travel 

by plane and, by car. I like trains. Train are very confortable and, you can to 

read, or talk to your •friends. Planes are -fast and, they were more expensive. 

REFLECTION 


1 It's very difficult to ignore mistakes in spelling or grammar. They seem to be 

the most important thing so I feel I have to correct them. 

2 Learners think we're not doing our job if we don't correct all their mistakes. 

3 It's easier to correct mistakes in accuracy than in communication. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-6, match the examples of learner mistakes in written work with 

the types of mistake listed A-G. 


Learner mistakes 

4 She arrived to the station early. 

5 We listened the music before we went out. 

6 I live in very cheap accommodation near the school. 

7 This is a picture of my uncles sister. 

8 He hurt one of his foot fingers. 

9 He wore a coat black. 

Types of mistake 

A. wrong punctuation 

B. wrong spelling 

C. wrong word order 

D. wrong preposition 

E. word missing 

F. wrong agreement 

G. wrong vocabulary 









Third stage 

Contends 

Classroom management. 

Teacher roles 




Elaboration of Didactic material 





Teacher roles 

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT 

What are teacher roles? 

During a lesson the teacher needs to manage the activities and the learners in 

the classroom in different ways. This means he or she needs to behave in 

different ways at different stages of the lesson. These different kinds of 

behaviour are called 'teacher roles'. 

Key concepts 

Which roles does a teacher use in a lesson? 

Every teacher changes roles during a lesson. These roles will be appropriate to 

the type of lesson, activities, lesson aims and the level and age of the learners. 

At different times we may, for example, act as a planner, an informer, a 

manager, a parent or friend, or a monitor. For example, when learners are 

doing a role-play, one role we have is to make sure that they are doing what 

we want them to do. This is called monitoring. When we present new language 

to the class, our role is to inform and explain to our learners. Here are some 

roles teachers often use. 

Role 

The teacher: 

1 Planner prepares and thinks through the lesson in detail before teaching it so 

that it has variety and there are appropriate activities for the different 

learners in the class. 

2 Informer gives the learners detailed information about the language or about an 

activity. 

3 Manager organises the learning space, makes sure everything in the classroom is 

running smoothly and sets up rules and routines (i.e. things which are 

done regularly) for behaviour. 

4 Monitor goes around the class during individual, pair and group work activities, 

checking learning. 

5 Involver makes sure all the learners are taking part in the activities. 

6 Parent/Friend comforts learners when they are upset or unhappy. 

7 Diagnostician is able to recognise the cause of learners' difficulties. 

8 Resource can be used by the learners for help and advice. 

There are certain roles that we usually use at certain stages of the lesson. For 

example, we are planners before the lesson and may be monitors during group 

work and pairwork activities. Sometimes we take on more than one role at the 

same time. For example, we might monitor and explain if a pair of learners is 

having problems with an activity: we monitor to see how well they are doing and 

we explain to help them do better. There are various names for the different 

roles of the teacher. The ones above are very common. 

 






• We need to choose teacher roles which are appropriate to the age and level 

of the learners, the stage of the lesson and the purpose of the activity. This 

means we need to think about our roles when we are planning lessons and 

be ready to use different roles during our lessons. 

• The correct choice of appropriate teacher roles will help our lessons run 

more smoothly and will make learning and teaching more effective. 

• Some roles are more suitable for young learner classes than for adult 

classes, e.g. parent or friend. 

• Our roles change at different stages of our teaching: 

Before the lesson 

- We are planners of our materials to make sure that the lesson is suitable 

for the learners and for the learning purpose. 

- We are also diagnosticians of our learners' problems. 

During the lesson 

• When we are presenting new language or new vocabulary to the learners, 

we are informers. 

• When we are setting up activities, we are managers. 

• When learners are doing activities, we are monitors, diagnosticians, 

managers and a resource. 

• When there are problems with discipline, we are managers and sometimes a 

parent or a friend. 

After the lesson 

• When we think about how successful the lesson was, what the learners 

understood and were able to do and what they had problems with, we are 

diagnosticians and planners. We look at our scheme of work to check if the 

next lesson is appropriately planned. 

FOLLOW-UP ACTYVITY 

Here are some examples of teacher language at different stages of a lesson. 

What do you think is the teacher's role in each one? 

1 Teacher to a pair of learners doing pairwork: 'How are you doing? Is 

everything OK?' 

2 Teacher to the whole class: 'We add er to make the comparative form of 

one-syllable adjectives.' 

3 Teacher to a young learner: 'Does your finger hurt? Let me have a look.' 

4 Teacher to the whole class: 'Right, everyone stand up and turn to face your 

partner.' 

5 Teacher to the whole class: 'I think I know why you are having problems.' 

REFLECTION 


1 I like my class to be organised and I like to be in control. I think my main 

roles are to inform and manage. That's what the learners want. 

2 I believe that my role is to enable the learners to learn for themselves, so I 





involve everyone and try not to control the learners and the activities too 

much. 

3 I teach young children. Most of the time I am more a parent than a teacher. 

But, in my opinion, the most important teacher roles are planning and 

organising, especially with children. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-5, match the descriptions of the teacher’s roles with the roles 

listed A-F. 


ROLES 

A. An informer 

B. A monitor 

C. A diagnostician 

D. An involver 

E. A planner 

F. A manager 

Descriptions of the teacher´s roles 

1. Before the lesson, she is ……..when she thinks about and prepares what 

she is going to teach. 

2. She is ………….when she presents new language to learners. 

3. She is…………..when she organises group work or pairwork activities 

4. She is…………..when she goes around the class and helps learners 

when they are working on activities. 

5. She is …………….when she encourages all the learners to take part in 

the activities. 

Grouping students 

 

How do we group students? 

Grouping students is using different ways to organise our students when they 

are working in the classroom. We usually organise them to work in different 

ways during each lesson. The groupings we choose depend on the type of 

activity, the students and the aim of the activity. 

Key concepts 

What are the different ways we group students in the classroom? 

There are two different ways in which the teacher can group students in the 

classroom. The first is when she chooses particular interaction patterns for the 

students, i.e. ways in which students work together and with the teacher in 

class. They include open class, group work, pairwork and individual work, and 

the teacher to student(s) and student(s) to teacher. In this table you can see 

examples of different interaction patterns. 





Teaching purpose: Why? Activity: What? Interaction pattern: How? 

Review students' knowledge 

of vocabulary and/or structure 

and the topic or context 

Brainstorming 

1.Groups: students to students 

(Ss ↔Ss) 

2.Feedback: students to 

teacher (Ss-T) 

Check students' 

understanding of new 

vocabulary 

Give students practice in 

scanning 

Bingo game 

Reading and filling in a 

chart 

Whole class: teacher to 

students (T→SS) 

1. Individuals 

2.Pairwork: student to student 

(S ↔ S) 

In our lesson plans we usually use short forms for showing interaction patterns, 

for example T -→ Ss' rather than writing out 'teacher to students'. We use 'S' to 

mean one student, and 'Ss' to mean more than one student. 

The second way in which the teacher groups students is when she decides 

which students will work together in pairs, groups or teams. The teacher 

considers the students' levels, learning styles, learner needs, personalities and 

relationships with others in the class before asking students to work together. 

She needs to think which students will work together best in order to learn best. 

 


When deciding how to group students, we need to consider a number of 

different factors: 

• The teaching aim. It is much easier to choose how to group students when 

we have decided on the aim of the lesson and the aim of each activity. 

• The learning styles of the students. For example, some students prefer to 

work as individuals, others in groups. Students also have different 

personalities and find it easier to work with some partners or groups than 

with others. 

• The ability and level of the students. Most classes are 'mixed ability'/ i-e. 

they include students of different abilities. We can group students for some 

activities so that students of the same ability work together, and for other 

activities so that students of different abilities work together. 

• The personalities of our students. Most of the time students will work well 

together, but sometimes there are students who do not work together 

positively, e.g. when one student is shy and another is quite dominant (i.e. 

always talking and stopping others from taking part). We need to think 

carefully about how to group these students. 

• The class size. With a class of between 20 and 30 students, we can manage 

pair and group work quite easily. With classes of more than 30 students, pair 





and group work are possible, but need more careful planning. 

• The previous experience of the students. When students are not used to pair 

and group work we need to plan how to introduce this way of working. We 

can start by doing short pairwork activities and gradually introduce longer 

and more varied groupings. 

• The activities that we have chosen. For example, a discussion activity can 

be done in groups, a role-play can be done in pairs. But we can also 

choose to do these activities differently, depending on the needs of the 

group and the aims of the lesson. So, for example, a discussion activity can 

be done in pairs or as a whole class, and a role-play can be done in groups. 

• The balance of interaction patterns in a lesson. A lesson where learners are 

doing pairwork for the whole lesson will probably not be successful: learners 

will become bored and there might be discipline problems. A lesson where 

learners are doing individual work for the whole lesson will probably not be 

successful either: learners will lose concentration and become bored. 

Equally, a lesson which is wholly teacher-led is unlikely to be successful: 

learners need a balance of different interaction patterns within one lesson. 

• The group dynamics of the class, i.e. the relationships between the 

students and how students will behave towards each other. 

The first part of a lesson plan from a methodology book for primary learners is 

below. In each activity learners are grouped in different ways: they work as a 

whole class, in groups and individually. 

Time Teacher's activity Pupils' activity 

5-10 

minutes 

10 minutes 

10 minutes 

1. Warmer: brief revision of colours, using a 

team game. 

2. Bring in a goldfish or a picture of a fish to 

introduce the topic to pupils. Discuss the 

fish -what it looks like, its colour, its parts. 

Check who has a fish at home. 

3. Tell pupils you are going to tell them a 

story. In groups pupils predict what the story 

will be. Get feedback from the groups. 

4. Explain the activity, i.e. pupils have to 

colour their fish as the story requests. Give 

out colours and photocopies of a fish 

drawing. 

5. Tell the first part of the story with actions 

and pictures, continue the story with 

instructions for colouring. 

Pupils stand in lines behind flags 

.of different colours. The teacher 

says a colour. Pupils behind the 

flag of that colour put up their 

hands. 

Pupils gather round the tank and 

say what they know about fish. 

They tell each other something 

about their own fish. Pupils talk 

together to try and guess what will 

be in the story. 

Group monitors give out crayons 

and blank sheets. 

Pupils colour in the fish drawings 

following instructions. 

The interaction patterns in the lesson are: 





1 Activity 1: two large groups/teams 

2 Activities 2, 3 and 4: whole class and groups. In Activities 2 and 3 the 

teacher is working with the whole class. The teacher then divides the 

pupils into groups for the prediction activity. 

3 Activity 5: individual work. In this activity the teacher is telling the story 

and the pupils are working on their own, listening and colouring. 


Here is the second part of the same lesson. For each activity, identify the 

interaction patterns and their purpose for the stage of the lesson. 

Time Teacher's activity Pupils' activity 

5 minutes 

5 minutes 

5 minutes 

6. Get the pupils to compare drawings. 

7. Class feedback. Elicit from different learners 

the colours of the little fish. Use sentence 

prompts, e.g. His face is... 

8. Ask pupils what they thought about the story, 

in L1 if necessary. Ask whether the big fish was 

right not to give the little fish colour for his lips. 

Pupils compare drawings in 

pairs. 

Pupils talk about the colours of 

the fish to the whole class, e.g. 

His face is... 

Pupils give their opinions to the 

class. 

REFLECTION 

Which of the following statements do you agree with and why? 

1. I try to have a balance of different interaction patterns in a lesson. 

2. It's best to separate weak/strong or shy/dominant learners into different 

groups or pairs. 

3. The age of learners that I teach makes some interaction patterns difficult. 

4. My learners don't like group work, so I don't do it. 

5. When learners work in pairs or groups, they have more opportunities to 

speak than when they work alone. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1 -6, match the different activities with the most suitable 

interaction patterns listed A, B or C. 

Interaction patterns 

A. pair or group work 

B. individual work 

C. whole-class work 

Activities 

6 Learners do an information-gap-activity with two sets of information. 

7 Learners write their own stories. 

8 Learners decide together how to report their conclusions to the rest of the 

class. 

9 All the learners act out a play for the parents. 





10 Learners do a written test. 

11 Learners take part in a choral drill. 

Correcting learners 

 

How do we correct learners? 

When we correct learners we show them that something is wrong and that they have 

made a mistake. We may also show them how to put their mistake right. When learners 

make mistakes in speaking or writing, we correct these mistakes in different ways. We 

use oral correction techniques to correct oral mistakes and written correction 

techniques to correct written mistakes. We also use different techniques when we 

correct different kinds of mistakes, i.e. errors or slips. 

Key concepts 

What ways can you think of for correcting learners' oral and written mistakes? 

Oral correction 

Here are some ways that we can correct oral mistakes: 

1. Drawing a time line on the board. Time lines show learners the relationship 

between the use of a verb tense and time. This technique is particularly useful 

for mistakes such as 'I have seen that film two weeks ago'. The time line to 

show this mistake might look like this. 

Past Now Future 

x = two weeks ago 

x 

This shows learners that, because the event is in the past and the time is 

specified, they cannot use the present perfect. The correct sentence is 'I saw 

that film two weeks ago'. 

2. Finger correction. This shows learners where they have made a mistake. 

We show one hand to the class and point to each finger in turn as we say 

each word in the sentence. One finger is usually used for each word. 

This technique is particularly useful when learners have left out a word or 

when we want them to use a contraction, for example I'm working rather 

than I am working. We bring two fingers together to show that we want 

them to bring the two words together. 

3. Gestures and/or facial expressions are useful when we do not want to 

interrupt learners too much, but still want to show them that they have 

made a slip. A worried look from the teacher can indicate to learners that 

there is a problem. It is possible to use many different gestures qr facial 

expressions. The ones you use will depend on what is appropriate for 

your culture and your teaching situation. 





4. Phonemic symbols. Pointing to phonemic symbols is helpful when 

learners make pronunciation mistakes, for example using a long vowel 

/u:/when they should have used a short one /u/, or when they 

mispronounce a consonant. You can only use this technique with 

learners who are familiar with the relevant phonemic symbols. 

5. Echo correcting means repeating. Repeating what a learner says with 

rising intonation will show the learner that there is a mistake somewhere. 

You will find this technique works well when learners have made small 

slips which you feel confident they can correct themselves. 

6. Identifying the mistake. Sometimes we need to identify the mistake by 

focusing learners' attention on it and telling them that there is a problem. 

This is a useful technique for correcting errors. We might say things like 

'You can't say it like that' or 'Are you sure?' to indicate that they have 

made a mistake. 

7. Not correcting at the time when the mistake is made. We can use this 

technique to give feedback after a fluency activity, for example. It is 

better not to correct learners when they are doing fluency activities, but 

we can make notes of serious mistakes they make. At the end of the 

activity, we can say the mistakes or write them on the board and ask 

learners what the problems are. 

8. Peer and self-correction. Peer correction is when learners correct each 

other's mistakes. Self-correction is when learners correct their own 

mistakes. Sometimes we need to indicate that there is a mistake for the 

learners to correct it. Sometimes they notice the mistake themselves and 

quickly correct it. Peer and self-correction help learners to become 

independent of the teacher and more aware of their own learning needs. 

9. Ignoring mistakes. In fluency activities we often ignore all the mistakes 

while the activity is in progress, as the important thing is for us to be able 

to understand the learners' ideas and for the learners to get fluency 

practice. We can make a note of frequent mistakes and correct them with 

the whole class after the activity. We often also ignore mistakes which 

are above the learners' current level. For example, an elementary learner 

telling us about what he did at the weekend might make a guess at how 

to talk about past time in English. We would not correct his mistakes 

because the past simple is a structure we have not yet taught him. We 

may also ignore mistakes made by a particular learner because we think 

this is best for that learner, e.g. a weak or shy learner. Finally, we often 

also ignore slips as learners can usually correct these themselves. 

Written correction 

In next unit we will see how we can use a correction code to show learners 

where some of their mistakes are and what kind they are. Other techniques for 

making written corrections are: 





1. Teacher correction. The teacher corrects the learners' mistakes by 

writing the correct word(s), instead of symbols from a correction code. 

2. Peer correction. The learners look at each other's work and correct it or 

discuss possible corrections. 

3. Self-correction. The learners, usually with the help of a guidance sheet, 

look for and correct mistakes in their own work. 

4. Ignoring the mistake. As in point 9 above, sometimes we choose to 

ignore mistakes that learners make. 

 


• In the classroom, we use a mix of teacher correction, peer correction and 

self-correction. Sometimes we need to correct learners. Sometimes we 

indicate to them that there is a mistake and they are able to correct 

themselves or other learners can help them. Sometimes we ignore learners' 

mistakes. We choose what is appropriate for the learning purpose, the 

learner and the situation. 

• The technique we use for correcting mistakes depends on the type of 

mistake the learner has made. For example, we can use echo correction for 

slips, and time lines for errors. 

• We do not correct every mistake our learners make. We correct mistakes 

according to the purpose of the activity, the stage in the lesson, the 

seriousness of the mistake and the learner's needs. It is inappropriate to 

correct all the mistakes learners make, and it can make learners lose 

motivation. When learners are doing a fluency activity, correction after the 

activity would be more appropriate. 

• Some correction techniques are more suitable for certain types of mistake. 

For example, finger correction is useful for pronunciation mistakes and time 

lines are useful for mistakes with tenses. 

• Techniques such as gestures and facial expressions give opportunities for 

peer and self-correction. This is because we show the learners that there is 

a mistake but we do not correct it. 


Look at the following pairs of sentences. Learners often make mistakes and 

confuse the meaning of A and B in each pair. Draw two time lines for each pair 

which dearly show the differences in meaning. 

1 A Cinderella danced with the prince when the dock struck midnight. 

B Cinderella was dancing with the prince when the clock struck midnight. 

2 A I play tennis on Fridays. 

B I played tennis on Friday. 

REFECTION 


1 When learners make mistakes it means that they are not learning. 





2 It is better to correct all the mistakes learners make. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-6, match the teacher’s behaviour with the correction techniques 

listed A-B 

You need to use some options more than once. 

Teacher’s behariour 

Correction techniques 

A. Ignore the mistake 

B. Use self-correction 

C. Draw a time line on the board 

D. Use finger correction. 

1. You have used a correction code to show learners where they have 

made mistakes in their writing. You now ask them to correct their own 

mistakes. You now ask them to correct their own mistakes. 

2. You are working with a class of elementary ten-year-olds who are doing 

a fluency activity. One of the learners is talking with a class about her 

pet. She says: ‘My rabbit eat lettuce. ‘You let her continue talking. 

3. You are doing a controlled practice activity. One of the learners says: ‘I 

have been working last week. ‘You show her a diagram. 

4. A learner is repeating the instructions for a activity and says: Then we 

choose/tri./(three) objects.’ You just listen. 

5. You are focusing on spoken language and the use of contractions. A 

learner says: ‘I am going swimming tomorrow, ‘You want to show her 

where the mistake is. You use your hand. 

6. An advanced learner asks you: ‘Can you borrow me a pencil, please?’ 

You ask him to him to think about what he has said and to try again. 


 

How do we give feedback? 

Giving feedback is giving information to learners about their learning. Feedback 

can focus on learners' language or skills, the ideas in their work, their 

behaviour, their attitude to learning or their progress. Sometimes we give 

feedback to the whole class, at other times we give feedback to small groups or 

individual learners. The purposes of feedback are to motivate learners and to 

help them understand what their problems are and how they can improve. 

 

Key concepts 





Think of three comments you often give to your learners as feedback. What do 

they focus on? Why do you give them? 

Here are some examples of teacher feedback to learners. 

Example Focus Purpose 

Oral: 'Well done. This is much better.' 

Oral: 'Have another look at number 

four. There's a problem with spelling 

and I think there are more than two 

people.' 

Oral: 'Let's look at the new structure on 

the board again. I think some of you 

have misunderstood how we use it.' 

Written: 'What an amazing story! You've 

used adjectives very well this time. Your 

work is much better this time. You have 

tried very hard.' 

Oral: 'You've made good progress in all 

your work this month. Your written work 

is much more accurate.' 

Written: 'B / 70%. Have a look at 

grammar section 5 at the back of the 

coursebook and check again the 

difference in meaning between the past 

simple and the past perfect.' 

Oral: 'You all did the pairwork activity 

quite well but 1 heard too much 

Spanish and not enough English.' 

Progress, 

language and 

ideas 

Language and 

ideas 

Language 

Ideas, 

language, 

attitude and 

progress 

Language and 

progress 

Language 

Language, 

ideas and 

behaviour 

Praising the learner and telling her 

she is doing well; encouragement. 

Telling the learner there is a 

problem with one of the answers 

and that she needs to look at it 

again. 

Inviting learners to look again at 

language that they are having 

problems with. 

Praising the learner on her good 

level of work, and the effort she has 

made and in particular on one part 

of her writing (adjectives). 

Informing the learner of her 

progress; encouragement. 

Giving a grade and informing the 

learner of what the problem was 

with her work and telling her exactly 

what she needs to review and how. 

Encouraging learners but also 

informing them that they did not 

behave appropriately during 

pairwork. 

We can give feedback to individual learners (individual feedback) or groups of 

learners (group feedback). When learners give feedback to one another, this is 

called peer feedback. Feedback can be oral or written. 

Feedback can be linked to formal or informal assessment and can be given to 

learners in the classroom or during individual meetings. We can also write 

regular feedback in the form of comments, grades or marks on a learner's 

record sheet. The learner can keep this sheet in their portfolio or we might keep 

it with our records of their overall progress and achievement. We can use this 

feedback when we make our end-of-course assessment. 

Peer feedback is useful for all learners. The learners who give the feedback 

reflect on the work their classmates have done. The learners who receive 

feedback are given information on how they can improve. The learners are 

often guided by a feedback observation sheet. Young learners, though, are not 





able to give very detailed peer feedback because they are not yet able to think 

about their classmates' work very carefully. Peer feedback can have a positive 

effect on classroom dynamics and can help to train learners in skills they need 

to become autonomous. 

Learners can also give teachers feedback about the lessons, activities and 

materials. They can tell us when they like what they are doing and when they 

are not so interested in the materials or activities, or when they are having 

problems with the language. They can also make suggestions for materials and 

activities to use. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Feedback should be positive. We should tell learners what is good, what 

they are doing well, what they need to do to improve and how. This is 

particularly important for weaker or less confident learners. 

We can give feedback in the classroom during an activity, while we are 

monitoring learners doing pairwork or group work or at the end of or after 

the lesson. 

During feedback we can revisit or recycle language that learners are having 

problems with. 

Learners will need training in how to give feedback to each other. 

We can organise small-group feedback sessions, where the teacher and the 

learners can give and receive feedback on the classes and on their learning. 

Feedback which is particularly personal or sensitive should be given to 

learners in individual meetings and not in front of the whole class. 

It is useful to give learners written or oral feedback after assessment in 

addition to giving them a score - to provide encouragement and guidance for 

how to improve. 


Here are some examples of feedback. For each one identify its focus and 

purpose. 

Feedback Focus Purpose. 

1. You have sat nicely for the whole lesson. 

Well done! 

2. I´m not sure that´s right. Can anyone help? 

3. That was very thoughtful of you to help the order 

group. 

4. This is great, but not all your work has been so 

good this month. Some of it was rather careless. 

REFLECTION 

Do you agree which these teachers´ comments giving feedback? Why? Why 

not? 

1. My learners are only interested in the marks they get for their work. They 

are not interested in my comments. They don´t even read them. 





2. My group of adult learns are always asking me for feedback on their 

levels and want to know how they doing in every lesson. I think it´s very 

difficult for the learners who are making slower progress. They don´t like 

it when I tell them they are doing as well as the others. 

3. When I get my learners to give feedback to each other, they just say 

´That´s fine’ and don´t say any more. 

PRACTICE TASK 

For questions 1-5, match the situations with the kinds of feedback listed A-C. 

1. The teacher notices that all the learners are having problems with the 

new language. She notes the problem down and discusses it later with 

the learners. 

A. Peer feedback 

B. Teacher feedback to the class 

C. Teacher feedback to an individual 

2. A young learner has just finished talking to the class about his hobby. 

The teacher says: ‘Thank you very much. That was very interesting.’ 

A. Feedback on language 

B. Feedback on attitude 

C. Feedback on ideas. 

3. A teenage learner has written a story for homework. The teacher has 

written: This is so much better than last week’s homework. Well done.’ 

A. Specific instructions on what to do 

B. Identifying problems 

C. Encouragement 

4. The teacher writes on the first draft of a learner’s composition: ‘Look at 

this website for more ideas.’ 

A. Feedback on grammatical mistakes 

B. Instructions on planning. 

C. Help with using reference resources. 

5. The teacher is talking to a group of primary –school children at the end of 

a group work activity. She says: ‘You talked a lot today and I was 

pleased to see everyone working so well together.’ 

A. Feedback on pronunciation 

B. Feedback on behavior 

C. Feedback on progress 

FLANNEL BOARD MAGNET BOARD AND ADHESIVE PLASTIC 

Ah three media enable pictures or texts on paper or card to be displayed to the 

class. 





Flannel board: cutout figures (pictures or words) are backed by flannel, rough 

sandpaper or teazlestrip (e.g. Velero) and are placed un a vertical hoard 

covered with flannel or blank - et - like material. 

Magnet board cutout figures have a small piece of strip magnet stuck on the 

back or placed on the front. The surface of the board is zinc nr tinplate metal 

sheet. The figures adhere much better than on the flannelboard. On the other 

hand, the magnetboard is more inconvenient because it is much heavier and 

the magnets can be difficult to acquire and to keep. 

Adhesive plastic: a plastic is widely available which can he torn into small 

pieces and moulded with the fingers into small balls. It can then be used to stick 

paper or card onto most smooth surfaces. In many ways this is the most useful 

of the three media if it is available to the teacher. One well - known versión is 

called Blu - Tack. 

Characteristics and techniques 

All three media: 

1. All three media are essentially for use by the teacher and material 

displayed should be big enough for the whole class to see. 

2. Sentences and scenes can 'grow' or diminish in front of the class as words 

or pictures are added, moved or taken away. 

3. The words and pictures can be handled by the teacher or students before 

being placed on the board or surface. 

4. On the magnatboard, background settings (for example, a street) can he 

drawn on large pieces of paper and placed on the board. Pictures can be 

placed on top of other pictures. 





5. With adhesive plastic no preparation is required and any piece of paper or 

card can be stuck or moved from one position to another. Pictures can be 

placed on top of other pictures including large pieces of paper 

representing settings. 

6. Essentially all three media allow the teacher and .students to simulate in a 

very simple form and with great flexibility, scenes, situations and stores as 

well as diagrams and short texts. Thus a great variety of language can he 

contextualized through the use of these media. 

7. Teachers nervous of drawing on the chalkboard can prepare visuals in 

advance with these three media. 

Presentation and controlled practice 

Characteristics and techniques: showing one or more pictures illustrating objects or 

actions. 

At the most basic level, pictures can he used to introduce the meaning of language 

new to the students or to cue answers to questions or substitutions within sentences. 

Presenting vocabulary 

TEACHER: This is a cat. It's on the table!. Now it's under the table!, etc. 

Vocabulary practice 

The teacher puts a large piece of paper on the hoard (magnet board only) with the 

outline of an elephant drawn on it. He or she then places food inside the elephant. 

Students take it in turns to name the food and then lo list ah the other food the elephant 

has eaten. 

TEACHER: 

STUDENT: 

TEACHER: 

STUDENT: 

What's this? 

It's an apple. 

So, what has the elephant eaten? 

The elephant has eaten a piece of cake, a cabbage, some sugar and an 

apple. etc. 





Open communicative practice 

Characteristics and techniques: the flexibility of being to give students pictures to hold 

which they can then come to the front of the class and stick on the board. 

The students can be divided into pairs or groups. Each student can be given one 

picture and/or word and students take it in turns to place their pictures on the board. 

They must he able to say what connection (heir picture has with the last picture or word 

placed there. If the class like (he idea, the picture can be left on the hoard. 

The activity can be done by having only two pictures which have to be related or by 

telling a story with each successive picture illustrating the next part of the story. 

In this example, the two pictures have been related: 

STUDENT: The ghost has lived in this house for three hundred years. 

Listening comprehension and oral retelling 

Characteristics and techniques: building up a situation, moving pictures to illustrate a 

story. 

These three media lend themselves to the established audio visual approach of using 

pictures Lo illustrate a story or a dialogue. The understanding of the story helps the 

student to understand the meaning of language new to them. The students having 

heard and understood the story then retell it, act out the dialogue and change the 





pictures as required. 

Owing to shortage of space in this book, only three .scenes of the story are illustrate 

below. However, in the classroom the number of intermediary stages is limited only by 

the number of pictures the teacher can get hold of. 

When Ron was a twenty he used to be so nice and so happy. He used to play with his 

teddy bear. And everybody used lo like him......... 

etc. 

When Ron was twenty he was a student. He was poor but he was happy. He used to 

live in a little room and in he winter he used to wear his coat in his room because he 

hadn't got enough money for a heater. He didn't play with his teddy hear anymore but 

he used to keep it with him for luck! etc. 

(Note: the picture of Ron al, twenty can be stuck on top of the picture of Ron as a 

baby.) 

Now he is fifty. He has a car and a big house but he is a miserable man. He is always 

complaining. No one likes him. 

The first few developments in a story are illustrated here. The picture grows and 

changes according to the stage in the story. 

Technical tips 





Magnetboard 

1. Magnetboards can be made easily and cheaply. Hardware shops sell the metal 

plate. Check that magnets stick to it. The metal should be about 1 m by 1.5 m 

depending on how you can cope with the weight. The metal should be 

mounted on a wooden frame or against wooden board. The alternative is to 

use a metal cupboard if there is one convenient. (As mentioned before, some 

whiteboards are already magnetised.) 

2. Magnetic strip can be obtained from refrigerator repairers; it is used as the seal 

on refrigerator doors. Hardware shops or stationers sometimes sell magnetic 

strips or small, flat magnets. 

Flannelboard 

1. Flannel or blanket-like material should be stretched no a board. Because the 

figures do not adhere as well as on a magnetboard it is an advantage lo 

position the board so that it is leaning rather than vertical. 

2. The figures must have a rough surface on the back which adheres to the board. 

Sandpaper or flannel itself will work reasonably well. However, a commercial 

product like flock paper or teazel or Velcro is better. 

Adhesive plastic 

The surface should be free from dust. The chalkboard ought to be sponged clean and 

must be allowed to dry before the adhesive will stick. An alternative a rubber glue 

which peels off when dry and does riot damage 11w surface or the picture. 

Notes for all three media 

1. Pictures can be cut from magazines. Very of ten it is more satisfactory to draw 

them and to colour them with fell tip pens. 

2. Some teachers do not attempt to have individual pictures for alt objects. They 

have a number of symmetrical shapes which they introduce at the beginning of 

each activity as symbols of particular objects. Here are examples of the sort of 

basic shapes which can he used to symbolize different things: 

The advantage of this approach is not only that it is time saving but that some students 

like the challenge to their imagination. 





3. In all cases it is it is advisable to mount the pictures on thin card and to cover 

them with a clear; self adhesive plastic so that they can be used many times. 

WALLPICTURES AND WALLPOSTERS 

Wallpictures and wallposters illustrate screen people or objects and are large enough 

to be seen by all they students. 

1. Produced commercially for language teaching purposes (see Byrne, Dand, Hall, 

D, 1976 Wall pictures for language practice Longman.) 

2. Produced for other educational purposes, for example, a mad safety poster, or 

for commercial purpose unconnected with education, for example, a publicity 

poster. 

3. Produced for the teacher and or student, either drawn or made by collage (see 

page 116). 

Characteristics and Techniques 

1. Wallpictures often show a complicated scene and contain many details. If the 

students cannot see ant the necessary detail or if they are distracted by the 

rest of the pictures then that is clearly a disadvantage. On the other hand, it is 

the very complexity of most wallpictures which make some activities so useful. 

2. The whole class can see the picture. 

3. It is ready to use and can be use more than once. 

4. It can be left on display or taken down. 

Presentation and guided practice 

Characteristics and techniques: a wallpictures like the one illustrated above provides a 

context for language use and a variety of reference for controller! practice in both 

speaking and writing. 

Wallpictures have a traditional role in the presenting of new language, both vocabulary 

and structures, to the students. In the hand draw pictures illustrate above, the teacher 

can introduce many words for people and objects seen in a Street. The scene as a 





whole gives a contexts for this new language and an opportunity to move into 

controlled practice by the student. 

The present perfect tense 

Traditionally, the wallpictures is associated with the present continuous tense. 

However, other tense forms can be introduced and practiced, for example, the present 

perfect. 

TEACHER: (pointing at the man coming out of the shop) This man is coming out of the 

shop. He is got a bag. He's bought something. What has be bought, do you think?. 

And this woman, she's dropped something on the pavement. What has she dropped? 

Having introduced the present perfect, the teacher night write a sentence pattern table 

on the board and ask the students to offer more example based on the picture. For 

example. 

STUDENT A: The cat has climbed the tree. 

STUDENT B: The plane has left the airport 

STUDENT C: the woman has crossed the road 

Might 

Scenes always imply that something has happened before the time and the pictures 

and that something id going to happen afterwards. The teacher can exploit this 

example. 

TEACHER: What night the women have done before her bag broker 

STUDENT: she might have put too many heavy things in it 

TEACHER: What might she do next? 

STUDENT: She might wrap the shopping in her scarf. 

True/False game 

Controlled practice does not always need to be an occasion when the students merely 

articulate the language. Activities can be introduced which make the student thing 

about meaning and want to communicate it. For example the well - known true/false 

game can be used. The teacher (or a student) makes a number of statements some of 

which are true and some of which are false. If this is dome orally then the students can 

correct the teacher when he or she makes a false statement. For example. 





TEACHER: The can is being chased by the dog 

STUDENTS: No! The dog is being chased by the cat. 

(In the pictures, the dog really is being chased by the cat!) 

If the true/false games is done in writing, then the teacher might write a number of 

sentences on the board and ask the student to copy the correct ones and to correct 

and then copy the incorrect ones. 

Once this version of the activity has been done, each student can write a number of 

sentences making some true and some false. The student then read out each others 

sentences if they are true. 

Memory game 

Another well established game which can transform a mechanical exercise into real 

communication is the memory game. The teacher stands with his or her back to the 

picture and tries to describe every think in it. The students correct the teacher 

whenever he or she makes a mistake, a source of great satisfaction to the students. 

Once the students have understood the games they can try it out in pairs or groups for 

themselves with one of then (or possibly two) trying to describe the picture from 

memory. 

Hide and seek 

Prepositions can be practiced with the game of hide and seek. One student imagines 

that he or she is a mouse and is hiding somewhere in the picture. The other students 

try to find out where the mouse is hiding. 

STUDENT A: Are your in the old man's pocket 

STUDENT MOUSE:: No. 

STUDENT B: Are you behind the tree in the park 

STUDENT MOUSE: No. 

Etc, 





Older students might prefer to imagine that they have hidden something in the picture. 

Guided Writing 

You can give students a text with some words or sentences missing. The students 

complete the text by referring to the picture. 

Dialogues 

Characteristics and the techniques; the quality and variety of Information related to a 

theme in both wallpictures on page 44 provides a, context for dialogue and role play. 

The dialogues can be controlled as in the fist example below or open as in second 

example. 

Controlled Dialogue 

Write a model dialogue on the board which one or two pairs of students act out in front 

of class. When you feel that all the students understand the dialogue, ask them to work 

with a neighbor and to device a new dialogue substituting other words for those which 

are underlined, based on the picture. Your dialogue might be like this, 

SMALL BOY: Where are we going now, Mummy? 

MOTHER: We are going to the baker's. 

Students might change the dialogue to: * 

CAT: Where are we going now, Fred? 

DOG: We are going to the park, 

Open Dialogue 

In this example, students have studied the wallpicture of animals on page 44 an have 

invented and written a dialogue which they can then act out for the class or direct 

another pair to act for them. The students have used the pictures of animals on the 

poster as a reference rather than as a setting for their dialogue. 

ANIMAL RIGHTS WOMAN:: 

HUNTER: 


HUNTER: 


You shouldn't kill birds 

Why not? 

Because it is wrong 

But the birds eat the corn 

These birds don't eat corn, they 

eat insect. 





Vocabulary 

Characteristics and Techniques: The pictures can be displayed quickly and is 

complexity can provide a rich source of vocabulary practice. 

The students call out in, say, five minutes ail the words they remember which can be 

related to the pictures. More advanced students can be restricted to certain kinds of, 

words, for example adjectives. One our two students "secretaries" write down all the 

words given by the class on the board. 

As the students call out the words you should make a rapid note of then. (Alternatively 

be ready to cover the board with paper or a cloth). 

When all the words have been written down, give the students a moment to look at 

them and then erase them. Each student then tries to remember all the words and to 

write them down. After five minutes ask the students to work with their neighbor and to 

compile a joint list. After another five minutes ask pairs of students to work together in 

groups of four to compile their final composite list. Tell the students to put their words 

into alphabetical order. See which group remembers the most words. 

Listening comprehension 

Characteristics and techniques: the variety and complexity of information in the wall 

picture mean that students must listen or read very carefully in order to identify what is 

being referred to. 

The teacher describes: 1 a person's appearance in the picture 2 a person's thoughts 3 

an object 4 what the teacher thinks about anything in the picture. The students try to 

say who or what is being described. The description can be easy both conceptually and 

linguistically or be very demanding in both senses. Here is a description intended for 

beginners: 

TEACHER: He is thinking. I must go slowly. It's dangerous/ 

STUDENT A: The man on the motorbike. 

TEACHER: Yes. 

A more demanding example: 

TEACHER: What a wonderful quiet place to retreat to in the lunch break. 

STUDENT B: The Park. 

TEACHER: Yes. 





Free communicative practice 

Characteristics and techniques: the variety and complexity of information offers 

considerable choice of what to talk about. 

Speculation 

With the wallpicture made of magazine pictures-of animals (page 44), the students 

could be asked to identify the animals, to say where they live and lo talk about their 

characteristics. The students can then he asked to discuss broader issues such as, 'the 

relationship between these animals and people', 'animal rights', animals' in history', and 

their own personal associations with these animals. 

Story - telling 

In the picture of the street scene (page 44) there is a great variety of information which 

could provide a basis for story-telling. Students rnight be asked to imagine what one of 

the people is thinking or feeling and to write a short story about him nr her. The story 

could include reference to several places or other people in the picture. 


1. The students al the back of the class must be able to see and recognize the details 

that you want them to see. The only way to ensure this happens is to test it. As a 

general rule details must be about 2 cm in height to be seen the length of the 

classroom. Nevertheless, testing is the only way of being sure. 

2. Teachers and students can make wallpictures by drawing them and/or by sticking 

pictures from magazines, etc. on to the paper. Although the result is, by definition, 

amateurish the students are very likely to appreciate it as much or more than a 

commercially produced picture. 

3. The drawing style used must be almost diagrammatic with clear, simple outlines and 

simple colour - filled shapes rather than a sketchy, impressionistic style which is difficult 

to read. 

4. The easiest way to store wallpictures is o fold them neatly, unless you have access 

to a map rack or shell. 

5. For more suggestions for drawing, mounting and displaying wallpictures 





Picture flash cards 

Picture flash cards are pictures mounted or drawn on cards approximately 15 cm by 20 

cm. They are normally used by the teacher in oral work for cueing responses to 

questions or in more open communicative work for stimulating conversation, storytelling, 

etc. The normal picture card has a picture on one side only. However, both 

sides can be used and the card can be folded or cut to various ways with particular 

teaching purposes in mind. 


1. Picture cards are easy and inexpensive for the teacher lo prepare which means 

that sets of cards related to language teaching points nr lo subject matter can 

be built up over a period of time. 

2. The cards are easy to store and to carry to the classroom so they offer 

considerable flexibility to the teacher in the conduct of the lesson. 

3. The cards can be shown to the whole class nr (o a single student which allows 

the teacher to control who receives the information on them. 

4. Because they hey are held and can be presented at speed or in a leisurely 

manner, the teacher can control the pace, variety and interest of the lesson. 

5. The teacher can show one or two cards al any one lime by hand. However, the 

cards can also be propped on a shelf, for example, at, the bottom of the 

chalkboard. The cards can also be pinned on a board, or stuck to a 

magnetboard or to any smooth surface with adhesive plastic. The student can 

be asked to stand at the front of the class and to hold cards. In this way a great 

number of cards can be displayed. 

6. The cards are used in group work by the students. 





Presentation 

Characteristic and techniques; there is great flexibility in being able to show one or 

several picture cards at key moments. 

Teaching meaning with one picture 

Sometimes it is possible to show a single picture illustrating a new word and expect it 

to be understood. For example, a bicycle: 

Teaching meaning using several pictures 

Usually it is advisable to show several pictures to be sure that the students know what 

you are referring to. For example, in teaching the present perfect continuous: He has 

been swimming. She's been climbing. They’ve been eating. These cards can be shown 

to the class and then propped on a shelf, each reinforcing the others. 

Contrasting meanings 

Sometimes it is helpful to introduce contrasting language items at the same time. The 

two pictures can be placed on either side of the card. In the act of turning the card over 

the contrast is demonstrated. The examples given below are: can/can’t likes/doesn't. 

like, too big/too small: 

Comparing meanings 

Card can also be folded. In the example below, the difference between *hill' and 

'mountain' is demonstrated. Each one may be seen by itself or in comparison with the 

other. 





Presenting meanings of new words in a story 

Sometimes it is essential to introduce the new language within a longer text, perhaps a 

story. The language which is already known to the student leads to an understanding of 

the story and Ibis understanding of the story indicates the meaning of the new 

language. Picture cards can be used to illustrate the story and by making the story 

more readily understood, the new language, in turn, might be understood by the 

student. It is important to say 'might he' because it is often difficult to ascertain just how 

people have responded to and interpreted the information they have received. 

Folding card story 

A miniature story is created simply by folding the paper. By folding the paper into three 

panels, three stages in the story can be illustrated and this, in turn, illustrates three 

tense forms. 

He's going to sit on the cat. He's sitting on the cat. He has sat on the cat. 

Note: If you show one exam pie of this three fold story, you could ask the students to 

produce one of their own for homework. Although it would only involve them in dealing 

with one example of these three tense forms, it would nevertheless he very intensive 

and memorable. They would also be able to show their work to their fellow students 

and more practice would occur. 

Practice 





Characteristics and techniques: a great variety of pictures can be shown at a moment’s 

notice to the student’s one after the other nr the cards can be placed un a shelf. The 

pictures can provide reference for the students as they answer nr ask questions, make 

substitutions or complete sentences. 

TEACHER; (holding op a picture of some apples) I’ve been to the shops. What did I 

buy? 

STUDENT: You bought some apples. 

Alternatively, don't show the picture to the students, so that they must guess what you 

have bought. The language practice the same but the interest is greater and language 

is used more meaningfully. 

Pictures and sentence patterns 

The teacher might wish lo write a sentence model table on the board to guide the 

students and then use picture flash cards to cue variations. Usually this kind of work 

requires the student to think very little about the meaning of what he or she is saying. It 

is possible, however, Lo plan the activity so that the student must give more thought lo 

meaning before speaking. In the example below, the student has a choice of what to 

say based on his or her general knowledge. The teacher writes the model on the 

board. 

TEACHER: (showing a picture of a horse and pointing a student) what about horses, 

Edwina? - - 

STUDENT: Horses can jump but they can’t fly. 





Expressing personal preferences 

The examples above provide a certain amount of practice in the manipulation of the 

language and they do demand some attention to the meaning. However, such practice 

is, by its nature, remote from the way language is used for real purposes. After ah the 

teacher knows very well that horses can jump but not fly! So why should the student 

say this? Simple practice of language points can often be achieved with a closer 

approximation to the use of language in order to communicate an idea. In the example 

below, the student is practicing the use of 'would' but, at the same time, expressing his 

or her own preferences which the teacher could not have predicted. In this sense the 

student is telling the teacher something he or she did not know. A simple practice 

exercise is thus being used for real communicative purposes. 

Two basic sentence should be written on the board I would prefer the orange. 

I don't like either of them 

TEACHER: (showing two pictures of fruit) which would you prefer, or perhaps you don't 

like either of them? 

STUDENT: I would prefer the people 

TEACHER: Fine 





Note: Because the student is being asked to give genuine response, it is only natural 

that you should respond to what he or she says in some way, even it is only to smile 

and to say, 'fine', “good”, “right', etc. 

Mini role plays cued by pictures 

In the above example the students are being asked to express their preferences. 

Pictures provide one way of stimulating and giving reference to such "mini' but real 

conversations. An alternative ¡s to have mini role plays in which the students pretend to 

be a character. What the students say is cued by the picture and might be in response 

to what is said to them. The teacher or another student might provide The other role. 

TEACHER: What are you doing this evening, Roger? (asking the question and then 

showing a picture of a basketball match) 

STUDENT: I'm going to a basketball match. 

TEACHER: That's great! /how interesting/Rather you than me! 

The slow picture reveal 

The card can be put in an envelope and then withdraw a centimeter at a time. As the 

students see more of the picture ask them lo try lo identify what they can see and to 

predict what might appear next in the picture. This gives guided practice in the use of 

descriptive language. 

Open communicative practice 

Characteristics and techniques: the cards can be juxtaposed rapidly. 

Imagining connections 

Show the students any two picture cards together and ask them to imagine a 

connection between them. 





STUDENT: This man is driving home very quickly because he is hungry and wants his 

dinner. 

Story connections 

The example above can be extended into a story with each part of the story cued by 

the next picture (chosen at random). The picture can be propped up on a shelf. 

Alternatively, they can be kept in the teacher's hand, in order. Each student who adds a 

sentence to the story must retell the story so far, cued by the pictures. Here is a 

example. 

The man was driving home very quickly because he was hungry and wanted his 

dinner. He thought about his difficult job and he wished he could live on a desert island. 

He remembered his old friend Bill the Knife. He remembered that Bill loved ice cream. 

Suddenly he saw a dog in the road. 

An alternative to the above example is to show the pictures Lo the students and to ask 

them to write for fur minutes about each one. Insist that the writing links together as 

one story. At the end of time four minutes the students should take it in turns to read 

out their story Lo their neighbors. Ask one or two students to read out their story to the 

class as a whole. 

Flashing a picture 

Flash a picture card at the class at great speed and ask the students what they saw. 

Some will say they saw nothing, others will, amazingly, have seen something. 

Encourage differences of opinion and do not confirm or deny any ideas. Flash the 

picture again and ask the students to tell each other what they think they saw. Continue 

flashing, encouraging differences and debate. Finally show time picture. 






1. The pictures must be clear enough to be seen the length of the classroom and at 

some speed. Magazine photographs may sometimes be too complicated and full of 

irrelevant detail. One way of reducing the distracting detail is to cut away the 

background leaving the main shape. 

2. Line drawings should be simple and not sketchy. The lines should he quite thick, the 

shape should be as suggestive of the object as possible. 

3. Colour should be used to make the shape stand out clearly and to contribute to 

recognition; for example, orange for an orange, yellow for a lemon. Sometimes colour 

can be used to draw attention to a small shape in the picture, for example, a small 

present; the rest of the picture can be drawn with black lines and the present can be 

brightly colored. Just using colors for decorative purposes is probably a mistake in 

language teaching. 

4. Card is expensive. Sometimes cheap ‘cuts' can be obtained free from a local printer. 

Otherwise use food packets or cut up cardboard boxes. 

Word flash cards 

Word flash cards are usually about 8 cm in height and are as long as is necessary for 

the text. They are principality, though not exclusively, used in the teaching of reading 

and writings. 






1. Word flash cards are easy and inexpensive for the teacher to prepare 

2. The cards are easy lo store and to carry to the classroom. 

3. They are easy for the teacher and the student's to handle and to use at the 

appropriate moment They can be head, propped, or stuck to the board A 

number of cards can be displayed al the same time: by asking several students 

to hold them, by stitching them to the board, by clipping them to a wire (see 

technical tips page 118), by propping them on a shelf, by using a sentence 

maker. (See technical tips page 64.) 

Presentation 

Characteristic and techniques the cards can be prepared by the teacher and or 

students and may be handled and the stuck on different surfaces with adhesive plastic, 

sticky tape, pins, etc. 

Labelling classroom objects 

A well-established way of using word cards is for the teacher to stick them on objects in 

the classroom: the door, the cupboard, a window, a desk, etc. The intention is to 

familiarize the student with the written form of the word. 

At the reading practice stage, a game could be played based on true/false in which the 

teacher moves the cards around before the students come into the classroom. The 

students must spot which words are in the wrong place and move them lo the correct 

place. 

Characteristics and techniques: strips of card or paper are easy and cheap to obtain 

and texts can readily be written on them with markers. 

Dialogue sentence cards 

Cards can be made of the sentences, which have become familiar to the students in a 

short dialogue or in a story. These sentences can be shown as the dialogue is being 

spoken and then stuck on the board or held by students. This stage of recognition 

reading is modest to what it offers. 





However, it is a well-tried technique and is particularly helpful to those students who 

are not only learning to read a foreign language but one with a different script. Reading 

practice 

Command cards 

Another will established use of word cards "commands" Commands are written on the 

cards; the teacher show a card to student and the student carries out the command. 

The usual commands are open the door etc. 

However, ore amusing commands could be added to the collection. For example; 

Writing Practice 

Characteristics and techniques; the ease and sped of selecting displaying word and 

many combination. 

Class sentences 

Word cards allow the teacher and class to build sentences and to experiment with the 

addition, the substitution and the subtraction of words within a sentence. The physical 

manipulation of the words can contribute enormously to an understanding of sentence 

construction by some students. (A variety of ways of learning should be offered to the 

class to mach the variety of wals in witch individual student need to learn 

In the first example, successive students take a card, read it out to the class and then 

with the help of the class decide were they should stand in the sentence. 

In the second example, the teachers ask the students to arrange the cards on the 





boars to make a sentence. Here one sentence is truck on the board and another in 

propped on the self at the button the board. 

In the third example, the teacher gives a group of students a set of word cards and 

asks them to stand in alphabetical order. 

Listening 

Characteristics and techniques: the cards are easy and quick to make. They can be 

displayed at the most appropriate moment without technical difficulty. 

Spot the word 

The teacher reads or tells a story and the individual students hold up their cards as 

they hear their word spoken. This is training in intensive listening. The students are 

learning how to concentrate on one word or phrase and to ignore the rest. The word 

might be selected by the teacher to rein force a theme in the subject matter or in the 

language being used. For example the students may have word cards representing the 

various ways in witch narration can be. 

Connected; suddenly then next a few moments later meanwhile just at that moment 

just before. Each student can be asked to not down how many times his or her word 

phrase is used. The frequency of use and the role of the word can then be discussed 

after the story. 

Summarizing a talk 

Card witch summarize key point in talk are most helpful in attracting the interest 

structuring the talk. They are use in drawing attention to key points, in giving variety 

and interest in the talk, in acting as reminders of with the talk Was about once it is over 

and in providing a reference for discussion. 





Teacher (or student) might find this used of word cards helpful in reminding them of the 

order of points they have planned to make. And it also helps the listener to understand 

the general argument of the talk and not to get lost 

The card can be hells up, pinned to soft board, stuck to the board with adhesive plastic, 

or propped along the black board shelf. 

An example of set of key point for a talk might be: 

The same technique can also he used in story telling. Each key creature or object can 

he named no a card: 


1. Although card is stiffer and more durable than paper, paper strips are quite 

adequate. 

2. Printers throw away enormous quantities of 'offcuts'. These are the strips of paper 

cut off the ends of printed sheets. 

3. An alternative to producing individual cards is to have a number of standard length 

cards which are covered in a self - adhesive plastic. A water-based overhead 

projector pen can then be used to write words, which can he wiped off later once 

the activity is over. 

4. To establish a minimum height for the letters, try one out!. That is the best way. 

However, the general guidance is that, letters should be about 6 cm high to be 

seen 10 m away. 

5. Words composed solely of CAPITAL LETTERS are more difficult to read than those 

in upper and lower case letters. We recognize words partly by their overall shape. 

Words made of capital letters all look the same shape, i. e rectangular. 

6. Ways of displaying word cards have been referred to above. A class display 

sentence maker can be made as follows: 

A large sheet of paper is folded as shown above and then staple onto card or 

hardboard. 

Authentic printed materials include anything written and printed in English: 





newspapers, magazines, publicity, technical instructions for equipment, holiday 

brochures, etc. 

Characteristic and techniques 

1. Very often, free material is available to the teacher. 

2. The fact that it is authentic material clearly not produced for schools means that 

students are often motivated by it and curious. 

3. The complexity of the language is a disadvantage only if you expect the students to 

understand every word. It is not the difficulty of the text, which determines which 

proficiency level of students, can use the text, hut the task you give them to do. For 

example, you could give a newspaper article to a first year group of students and 

ask them to find how many words they can recognize. Thus one should be 

exploiting the complexity of the material and showing students that they can often 

make some sense even of difficult material if they look for every possible clue. The 

material should not be used for testing comprehension but for teaching 

comprehension, which means developing a positive and confident attitude to it and 

learning some basic techniques for dealing with a lot of language, which is difficult 

to understand. 

4. The material can usually be photocopied and then stuck onto card for reuse. 

5. The material is often much more expensively produced than educational books 

available to teachers in many countries. 

Newspapers 

Characteristics and techniques: the very fact that the language of newspapers is 

difficult to read is one of the reasons for using them. Students must experience the flow 

of native language use and know how to do their best with it. 

The topicality of newspapers is relevant and so too is the reflection of the culture. Here 





are a few things you can do with most newspapers. 

With your beginners: 

1. Ask them to list all the words they recognize. 

DOZENS of pensioners have been left Out 

in the cold as pans to move into Luxury 

retirement flats have fallen through at the 

last minute. 

Wimpey Homes Hoidngs Ltd.. Opened 

their recently-completed Park field Court 

development in Didsbury two months ago 

for a public viewing. 

2. Ask them lo guess what each article is about either broadly, for example, sport 

answer to you question she or more specifically, for example, the London marathon. 

3. Ask them to identify the different section of the newspaper: the main news, the 

editorial, general features sport, business, advertisement, etc. 

With more advanced students: 

1. Prepare some questions based on different Paris of the newspaper, which do not 

entail the students reading everything in the tail but only in searching for the 

answers to your questions. (Advances students could be asked Lo prepare the 

questions for less advanced students.) For example: 

• How much does the 987 Ford Granada cost and how many miles has it done? 





• What time is Gone With the Windom the television? 

• Who Lost their cat? 

• What did Sarah Raphael say when her pain ting was sold to the Metropolitan 

Museum of Modern Art in New York? 

2. Give the students advertisements from a newspaper showing prices of, for 

example, houses, cars, TVs, etc. and advertisements for jobs showing salaries. 

Ask questions such as: 

• How much do things cost in Britain (or the country of origin of the newspaper)? 

• How do these prices relate to what people earn, judging by the advertisements for 

jobs? 

• How do these prices and incomes relate to those ill your own country? 

3. Cut out several headlines and ask the students to discuss what the article might he 

about. This is a good way of developing predictive reading skills. 

4. Cut out several headlines and articles and ask the student to match them. 

5. Cut ant several photographs and their Captions separately. Ask the student's to 

match them. Ono approach lo this technique is give a photograph to a pair of students 

and to ask them to note down as much as they can surmise from a study of the picture. 

They should then write a short article or caption to go with it before being shown the 

actual one used. 

6. Cut up an article into several pieces and ask the students to sequence the pieces 

correctly. This can be done in various ways. In one version the class is divided in to 

small groups and each is given one section of an article. They study it and try to make 

sense of it. Then the teacher asks each group to read out their piece of the article. The 

groups make notes un the other pieces they hear and try to decide what order they 

should be in. Next there is a class discussion. The pieces can be read and re-read until 

everyone is in agreement. Finally the whole article is read out.

module 5 planning of the english language teaching-learning process

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