Alex suggested we take notes on this chapter of Planning Lessons & Courses by Tessa Woodward, so I am.

Modes of Learning

Finding out for yourself: “guided learning encounter”

Learner does noticing mostly on their own. But unlike the process of stumbling into an electric fence, this process involves a guide who, rather than subjecting the learner to pure trial and error, can ease the way. “See that wire? Don’t touch it, but put your ear close to it. Can you hear something?” Students have the chance to take risks in a safe environment.

Process:

• Analyze subject matter: which ideas are basic, which are easier/harder to grasp
• To establish what learners already think & know, give students motivating tasks (e.g. a conversation you can listen to)
• Provide interesting materials
• Help students to notice by offering guiding-questions
• Allow time and space for student interaction with stimulus, and stand back
• Be able to answer questions
• Encourage students for their observations about their investigation

Real-life example:

Some of Elka’s teaching has addressed this mode of learning. For the assigned readings, the completion of which can feel like leaping into a shark-infested ocean at night, she gives us guiding questions. In the following class she’ll break us into discussion groups: what did you get from the reading. We’ll synthesize what we’ve picked up, and she’ll often ask us to write a summary a newsprint, post it and present it to the class. (It’s always interesting to see how totally different are the presentations of each group on the same topic.) Then she’ll give us feedback.

Things made plain

This seems to be the inverse of the above. Explaining. The teacher may point out the difference between x and y, e.g.

Process:

Opening: Introduction, linking past to future learning. Arouse interest, define necessary terminology and purpose.

Exposition: Explaining with words, metaphors, images, brainstorming etc. Teacher needs to use students own ideas when possible, and to emphasize key points, pause, repeat, link and summarize as you go along.

Recap: Paraphrase main ideas

Q&A: Pose good questions. Wait. Elicit concrete example and principles and concepts.

Summary: Given by teacher or student or both.

Closing: Questions for next time, or other link forward.

Real-life example:

In Steve West’s linguistics class, he presented information about teaching grammar. To illustrate, he had each of us hold a word from the first line of The Jabberwocky, and arrange ourselves in proper grammatical order. He’d have us rearrange ourselves into different configurations, each time examining what the new order told us about English grammar and teaching it.

Periphery Learning

• Unconscious exposure to the material while concentrating on something else; aka unconscious acquisition, natural learning and learning by osmosis
• Involves getting indirectly familiar with materials
• While concentrating on a story, film, song: new words, patterns, cultural info are simultaneously absorbed.
• PL speeds up and improves performance.
• Using four skills is how you get more fluent in them

Teaching ideas:

• Color coding (e.g. blue means regular, red means irregular)
• Team up disorganized student with better organized one

Applications:

• Posters with past tenses, along with short poems or interesting texts with past tenses
• Have natural listening thread running thru classes: recording of native speech — interesting and funny stuff
• Students interview each about aspects of their lives. Jot down the gist. Focus on content rather than accuracy.

Ideas for Mexico: Pre-record different American accents. Get people focus on their own pronunciation of a certain word. Record entertaining conversations.

Students who do well with peripheral learning tend to me mentally active, tune into and out of class process, have their own mental agenda and can think about many things at once.

Use & Refinement: Conscious practice in various contexts to check what has been learned.

Process:

• Start by giving students a description of task and amount of time they have to do any necessary planning
• Monitor their process, making sure their plan is in good order. You guidance diminishes as their competence increases. This is different from learning in which student gets no help.
• Explain the task that follows up on an earlier lesson, and tie it back and foward
• Example: Read a paragraph at natural speed. Students note stressed words. Pool notes before presentation.
• Students try to retell the story.
• Compare their versions with the original
• Increase complexity of the task till mastery attained.

Summary of Ways of Learning

Any given lesson can (and often does) combine elements of all these. Teacher’s role is as mediator.

“This chapter discusses how to sow the seed. ‘Finding out for yourself’  is like sowing on open ground. ‘Things made plain’  is like sowing in prepared beds and sed trays with clear labels. ‘Periphery learning’  is like those plants that self-seed. ‘Use and refinement’ is like transplanting little seedlings.”

Instructional Sequences (Lesson Plans)

Test, teach, test

Sequence: Discover what learner can do in an area, attempt to teach some things that are lacking, check to see if learning occurred.

First stage students try to remember what they know. Second involves their noticing language features. Third allows use and refinement.

Pre- in- and post-stages for receptive skills

Rests on chronological frame.

• Pre: Whip up student interest and prepare them for task by introducing key words and concepts
• In: The activity: reading, listening or other work on the assigned tasks which are meant to make listening or reading easier
• Post: Evaluation. Discussion of topic. Practice of language encountered in text.

It involves different skills: use and refinement, finding out for yourself (practice in inferring meaning). Global receptive skills are expect to improve as a result.

Presentation, Practice, Production (PPP)

Set time period, with accuracy as central aim. Has opening stage to build enthusiasm and intro topic, followed by exposure to ideas (by finding out or making it plain), and is finished with use and refinement.

Task-Based Learning (TBL)

Many versions. Here’s one:

• Introduce topic or task by brainstorming, using texts, etc. (exposure to new material by someone making it plain)
• Do task in pairs without correction (Use)
• Plan the reporting back (teacher circulates and advises) (Refinement & exposure)
• Reporting back (students present findings to; teacher chairs but doesn’t correct) (Periphery learning)
• Teacher input (Making it plain)
• Language analysis, review, practice. (Find out for selves; use and refinement)

Inexperienced teacher: try two basic instructional sequences

• One that involves students finding out for themselves and then using and refining their understanding
• One that involves you making something plain to your students and then allowing them to use and refine their understanding

If you try these two for a while, you will have solid understanding of most of fundamental ways of learning and teaching. Then you could go on to add periphery learning.

Conclusion

With any lesson plan, its useful to see if you can impose elements of these structures upon it, to understand what you’re doing at the root.