English Language Class (Food Service)

Day 1: 8th October 2014
Session 1: 10.30 a.m - 12.30 p.m
Slot: English Language Class (Food Service)
Tutor: Peter Ellis

Classroom Learning Outcomes

By the end of the session, students will have:

• Learned new vocabulary items.
• Demonstrated the ability to use the correct language forms and expressions to describe 'advantage' and 'disadvantage'.

By the end of the session, teachers will have:

• Discussed strategies for differentiation to engage all students.
• Discussed different approaches in teaching vocabulary items in a lesson.
• Discussed on how to create a learner-centred classroom.

Suggested activity

Task: Teaching vocabulary items using differentiation strategies.

1. Teacher lists down few vocabulary items.

e.g: 

·         buffet 

·         self-service

·         counter service

·         plate/ waiter service

·         silver service

Activities can vary to suit students' ability. Teacher can use different materials/ activities for students with different learning abilities and background knowledge.

• picture matching activity
• using word prompts
• match headings to the paragraph (explanation of the vocabulary item)
• gap filling exercises
• role play activity

Example of gap filling exercise After the students have learned about the new vocabulary items, the teacher can move on to describing the advantages and disadvantages of the vocabulary items.  Here, considering the fact that the students are of different levels of learning abilities, teacher can use different sets of worksheets.

Section A

Section B

Note that the two sections focus on the same language function. However, section A is a bit more complex and B is more directive. Teacher can consider using both task sheets for different levels of students.

Outcomes

Students are able to:

• match the new vocabulary items with the correct explanations/ pictures.
• describe the meaning of each vocabulary item using their own words.

Suggestion 

The suggested activities range from simple to more complex tasks. The teacher can incorporate all the four language skills in this lesson. It is important for the teacher to take into account the students' different abilities before using the materials. A simpler task like picture matching exercise can be used first to check students' background knowledge and from there, the teacher can start scaffolding using more complicated tasks to encourage deeper level of learning. 

Some of the tasks like picture matching and prompt words can be combined to enrich students' understanding. Proper guidelines and feedback are important for more complex tasks like role play activity. It is a good activity that can promote students’ active participation in class and in return, teacher can assess student understanding through the role play activity. However, useful language expressions should be provided in order to help the students in completing the task. 

Teaching tips

These activities can be adapted in Job Hunting Skills lesson.

New vocabulary items: terminologies related to Job Hunting.

Activities to consider:

·         gap filling exercise

·         match headings to the paragraph (explanation of the terminologies)

 Language function/ phrases: describing strengths and weaknesses.

Activities to consider:

·         gap filling exercise (as shown in Section A and B)

The teacher can later move on to a role play activity (mock interview) in which students are required to describe their strengths and weaknesses.

Reflection

The lesson focuses on introducing new vocabulary items and how to describe 'advantages' and 'disadvantages'. I personally find it very useful if I were to use these kinds of activities to teach Communicative English 3 (Job Hunting Skills). In that particular topic, we have to teach terminologies that are related to Job Hunting. Some of the terminologies are new to the students. Gap filling activity would be one of the activities that can be used to familiarise them with the new terms. 

The other focus of the topic is also on describing strengths and weaknesses. The same activity we did for describing advantages and disadvantages can be adapted for this lesson. This would enhance the students’ understanding on how to use the correct phrases in describing their strength and weakness. 

I personally find that this slot is very helpful and it has made me realize that there are so many ways to create a learner-centred classroom. If we want to promote autonomous learning, we need to stop spoon-feeding the students and start letting them learn through discovery and peer collaboration.

Prepared by:

Rabiatul Adawiyah bt Abdullah Zawawi

Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah