Second edition

Supplementary materials


1 A book of grammar games

2. 
   A website that helps the teacher make quizzes
   
3. 
   A book of fluency activities
   
4. 
   A collection of poems and songs
   
5. 
   A book practising phonemes
   
6. 
   A collection of graded readers
   
7. 
   A CD-ROM of reading texts and tasks
   

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Unit 26 Seleetion and use of teaching aids How do we select and use teaching aids? Teaching 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 interactive whiteboards, computers, CD players, DVD players and overhead projectors (OHPs) (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, the subsidiary alms and stage aims of a lesson, and then choosing the most appropriate aids. Key concepts Look at the following list of classroom equipment What other teaching purposes can you think of for each item? Classroom equipment	Teaching purpose
board	writing up planned vocabulary, grammar examples and explanations
overhead projector (OHP)	displaying prepared exercises on overhead transparencies (OHTs) (plastic sheets)
CD player	listening practice
DVD player	listening practice with added visual information
computer	grammar exercises
language laboratory (i.e. a room where learners can listen to recordings and record themselves)	grammar drills

* 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 s displaying pictures and diagrams on photocopiable transparencies	-Computer. s narrative building with a word processor ® supplementary materials for coursebooks s online language tests « using online dictionaries « using CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs s email exchanges « online communication (chatting) online newspapers and magazines & project work using the internet viewing and uploading material on the internet
CD player	Language laboratory
s presenting new language in dialogues and	« pronunciation practice
stories	a extensive listening
* giving models for pronunciation practice	э monitoring and giving feedback to
« recording learners’ oral performance	individual learners
? listening for pleasure	& developing speaking skills

Other aids are: real!a, flashcards (cards with words, sounds, sentences or pictures on them, that the teacher shows the class) cue/prompt cards (cards small enough for the teacher to hold up one after another, or for students to use in pair work 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), magazine pictures - and the teacher.
What different uses can you think of for these aids?
Here are some of the most common 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.





living room j- kitchen shower television




Module г


Puppets
Puppets are a11 excellent ((‘source lor 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. (See Unit 3 for an example of a phonemic chart.) 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 in finger correction, which learners recognise as prompts to correct their own mistakes.





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Unit 26 Selection and use of teaching aids

■ Key concepts and the language teaching classroom
It is a good idea to divide the board into different sections for different purposes, as in this example:





You can include records like this in your lesson plan for different stages of the lesson. :; Read these lips arid tick th eones that are im pot Cant for you.


m Think about the best ways to use different aids (e.g. using flashcards to give quick, clear prompts, or using the overhead projector to show corrections to the whole class or for students to use for presentations). Different aids have different advantages and disadvantages. Make sure you choose the best one for your specific teaching purpose and context.
© Aids that you can prepare in advance, like charts, flashcards and transparencies for the overhead projector, will help you to make sure that procedures outlined in lesson plans match your aims. Another advantage is that you can save such aids and re-use them in future lessons.
m Make sure that you check any equipment before the lesson. If you use computers or the language laboratory, advance preparation is essential. It is important to plan all your instructions very carefully, as well as the sequence of activities for using the aids.
© Learners may also make use of a self-access centre, a place with books, worksheets, computers and CDs, where they can study by themselves.
See Unit 24 for the selection and use ofcoursebook materials and Unit 2$ for the selection and use of supplementary materials and activities.


FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY


(See page 242 for answers)


Complete the following comments from teachers about classroom aids, using the words in the box below.

1. 
   I like using the because it gives ail the students a chance to practise
   

their pronunciation, listen to their own voices and improve their pronunciation.

2. 
   The gives me the opportunity to show corrections to the whole class
   

without doing lots of writing on the board.

3. 
   I collect all kinds of wherever I go - restaurants, hotels, railway
   

stations - so I can bring a tit hen tic materials into my lessons.


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Module 2

4. 
   enable me to give prompts for drills without saying anything.
   

s i always keep one [jail ol I lie .'.".'.'h.. lor listing new vocabulary items.

6. 
   The great thing about is that students get the chance to observe body
   

language and facial expressions as well as listening.

7. 
   If you know how to search - and if you have a computer - you can find almost
   

anything on the


board flashcards internet language laboratory О HP realia DVDs





Think about these comments from teachers. Which do you agree with and why?

1. 
   I think the teacher is the best visual aid.
   
2. 
   1 don't like to depend on technology because something can always go wrong. The most: reliable aids are simple, like flashcards and the whiteboard.
   
3. 
   I like using an OHP because you're always in control of what students are looking at, you can add to what you've written and students can use it, too.
   

DISCOVERY ACTIVITIES

1. 
   Think about a lesson you taught recently and the aids you used. Plan the same less'on again, this time using different aids (e.g. the board instead of an OHP) or no aids at all (e.g. reading out a text yourself instead of using a recording). In what ways would these changes make the lesson different? Make notes in your Teacher Portfolio,
   
2. 
   What general advice about aids would you give to a colleague or a trainee teacher? And what specific advice would you give about particular aids?
   
3. 
   For some very useful ideas on the use of aids, look at Chapter 11 of
   

The Practice of English Language Teaching (Fourth edition) by Jeremy Hanner, Pearson Education Ltd 2007; Chapter 3 of Teaching Practice Handbook (Second edition) by Roger Gower, Diane Phillips and Steve Walters, Macmillan 1995; Chapter 10 of Children learning English by Jayne Moon, Macmillan 2000 and Chapter 5 Section 7 and Chapter 16 Section I of Learning Teaching (Second edition) by Jim Scrivener, Macmillan 2005.

4. 
   You can also find some interesting articles on using aids on this website; http://www.teachingengHsh.org.uk/thmk/resourees₍shtml
   
5. 
   Use the TKT Glossary to find the meaning of these terms for aids: board game, rubric, brochure, handout, leaflet, crossword puzzle, dice, flipchart, graph, grid, video clip, wordsearch. Ask colleagues what they have used them for.
   

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Unit 2в Selection and use of teaching aids