DIDACTICS II

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Newsletter 5                                                                         5th August 2001

 

 

Universidad Tecnológica Nacional

Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico

Cátedra de Didáctica Especial del Primer y Segundo Ciclo de la EGB –Segundo Año

Profesores : Omar Villarreal & Andrea Coviella,

                    Marina Kirac, Marisa Caccia and Claudia Alvarez

 

Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Nro 41 - Adrogué

Profesor: Omar Villarreal

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"The most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to himself and to others. This is the basic architecture of a life: the rest is ornamentation and decoration of the structure"

Grayson Kirk

 

 

Dear All,

 

Winter holidays are over. I know that for some of you it was time to toil not to rest. Either because you had to sit for final exams or make-ups.

Due to the University strike, our MAKE –UP has been postponed to:

Wednesday 15th  August . 13:30 hours  (Both Morning and Afternoon Shifts)

 

Keep in touch and we will keep you posted if further changes are necessary.

 

In the meantime here´s some more material for your preparation for the make-up or for revision of the material of our first semester.

Use your time wisely and remember : Times are getting incredibly rough , it is always best to hold hands and stick together.

Lecturers, assistant teachers, graduates, students, administrative staff and maintenance workers, we should all stand as one in defence of the our University

in particular and of the free University system of the whole country in general.

 

A big hug to you all

 

Omar Villarreal

 

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Questions for Reflection prepared by Prof. Marisa Caccia 

 

Moon, Jayne. 2000.  Children Learning English .Oxford:

Macmillan Heinemann. Chapters 5 & 6.   

 

Chapter 5  who has some good news for today?

 

 

1-what are the purposes of teacher talk in the classroom?

2-when can teachers use l1 in the classroom?

3-what are the advantages and disadvantages of using English to teach English?

4-what kind of language and actions should teachers use to introduce different activities?

5-why is pupil's  use of l1 a useful strategy for communicating at a stage  when children do not have enough English to express their own ideas?

6-how can teachers develop classroom interaction strategies?

7-discuss examples a and b  from page 69.  state your opinion.

8-discuss teachers' concerns about communicating with pupils through English.

 

 

Chapter  6   do  you need a hand?

 

 

1-define support and mention its types. provide an example.

2-in what ways would you assess the support needed by students?

3-discuss how to adjust an d reduce support gradually.

 

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Cunningsworth, Alan. 1995. Choosing your coursebook. Oxford : Macmillan

Heinemann.  Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, & 12

 

 

Chapter  1 : selecting coursebooks- the essentials.

 

 

1-what does impressionistic overview refer to?

2-what does  in-depth evaluation mean?

3-what items should you consider in a quick-reference checklist for evaluation and selection?

4-what are the roles of coursebooks?

5-what is the relationship between teacher and  coursebook?

 

 

Chapter 2 : analysing and evaluating coursebooks

 

 

1-how can coursebooks be selected? discuss the different stages.

2-what are the advantages and disadvantages of following the presentation of books very closely and in the exact order?

3-what happens when teachers can select material from different courses?

4-what are you going to take into account when reading the back covers of coursebooks?

5-discuss in-use and post-use evaluation.

6-why is materials evaluation important?

7-what does evaluation for potential and for suitability refer to?

8-choose a coursebook and analyse it taking into account the guidelines for evaluation

 

 

 

Chapter 3 : the coursebook package

 

1-what does coursebook package mean?

2-which are the essential parts of a package  and which are optional?

3-discuss coursebook organization.

 

Chapter 6 : skills

 

 

1-how do coursebooks deal with the four skill?

2-can authentic materials be used at elementary level? what doyou think?

3-how do coursebooks focus on listening?

4-how much emphasis is there on spoken English in coursebooks?

5-what kind of material for speaking is contained in courses?

6-what should you consider when analysing the reading content of a coursebook?

7-discuss widdowson's views on comprehension questions.

8-what type of writing activities are found in coursebooks?

9-why is style important?

10-why are specialized books for skills development useful?

11-how have readers been graded?

 

 

Chapter 8: methodology

 

1-why should learner needs be discussed in coursebooks?

2-mention the general principles that underlie the methodological procedures adopted by courses.

3-define inductive and deductive learning.

4-how can a new item be learnt?

5-how should you teach new vocabulary items? and how much new vocabulary should be presented in each unit?

6-are visuals used as an integral part of teaching material or are they decorative?

7-discuss the student's role.

8-what do sections on study skills focus on?

 

 

Chapter  12 : adapting published materials

 

 

1-why is every learning-teaching situation unique?

2-what does adapting materials involve?

3- why is it  necessary to adapt coursebooks?

4-discuss each area in which a course book may need supplementing?

5-what's the difference between authentic content and authentic material?

6-how can dialogues be made communicative?