pre course task

Cambridge ESOL CELTA

Pre Course Task

Before you start: Notes and advice

Recommended Reading on Methodology:

Learning Teaching’ by Jim Scrivener (Macmillan, 2005)

or

‘The Practice of English Language Teaching’ by Jeremy Harmer (Longman, )

Required Reading on Grammar:

‘English Grammar in Use’ by Raymond Murphy (CUP)

or

‘Practical English Usage’ by Michael Swan (OUP)

Please purchase/refer to one of the 2 grammar books before the course starts – they will

help you complete the pre-course task.

1. Methodology: Theory and practice

Suggested Reading: An excerpt from ‘Communicative Language Teaching’ from

‘Techniques and Principles in Language teaching’ by Diane Larson-

Freeman (OUP, 2000)

2. Grammar: Parts of speech

English verbs and the tense system

Tenses and form

Tenses and meaning

Error Correction

Punctuation

Suggested Website: http://www.englishpractice.com/ (also has punctuation exercises)

3. Functions: complaints, offers, requests, giving advice, etc.

4. Vocabulary: Easily confused words

Suggested Reading: ‘How to Teach Vocabulary’ by Scott Thornbury (Longman 2002)

5. Phonology: Word and sentence stress

Sounds: The Phonemic alphabet

Suggested Reading: ‘Sound Foundations’ by Adrian Underhill (Oxford: Macmillan, 1994)

Part 1

6. Careers: Websites

Newspapers

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

or call on 0115 969 242

For the teaching of English

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.englishpractice.com/


The pre-course task is designed to introduce you to the language systems of English. These include

the parts of speech and how they fit together, verbs and the tense system, vocabulary and lexical

systems, phonology (sounds, stress and intonation), and so on.

It is vital that you work through the pre-course task thoroughly, and do as much reading around

the subject as possible. The Cambridge ESOL CELTA course at ILS English is designed to train you

to teach the English language and its systems; it is not designed to teach you the English language

and its systems. The difference is subtle, but it is important that you grasp this at the outset.

Having said that, your trainers, tutors and other experienced teachers will be on hand to help you

with any grammar and language points that cause you difficulty. Any experienced teacher will

agree that we ourselves are always learning more about English and the way it works. However, a

basic understanding of the language points covered in this pre-course task is essential for all

trainees.

During this pre-course phase, you will of course be reading up on grammar, vocabulary, phonology

and methods of teaching and learning. It is also a good time to begin building up your materials

library. There are complex rules regarding copyright of articles, filmed extracts and songs which we

will cover on the course. For the moment, make a detailed note of the provenance of everything

you collect.

Pictures:

Of people in groups and alone, landscapes, interiors, sports, hobbies, jobs, buildings, transport,

objects and so on. Stick your pictures onto card or paper to help keep them in good condition.

Articles:

Short articles about topics that are current and/or of interest to all nationalities and ages, ideally

accompanied by a picture, and ideally not too controversial. Photocopy your articles to help keep

them in good condition. Always make a note of the source, including publication date and author.

Videos/DVDs:

Including clear speech and standard accents, or no speech at all, showing short scenes that all

nationalities can relate to. Always make a note of the source of the film extract, including

broadcast date and channel.

Cassettes/CDs:

Of songs that have clear lyrics, are non-offensive and are likely to appeal to all nationalities. Always

make a note of the artist and author of the music.


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1. Methodology: Theory and practice

You have an excerpt from the chapter ‘Communicative Language Teaching’ from ‘Techniques and

Principles in Language teaching’ by Diane Larson-Freeman (Oxford: OUP, 2000). As you will read,

Communicative Language Teaching makes communicative competence the goal of language

teaching.

You will find that during your CELTA course at ILS English, Communicative Language Teaching is

the method that you will be introduced to and that the majority of English language teachers tend

to use in their practice.

Read the lesson outline, and match the principles below with a practice - a specific task or part of

the lesson. For example:

Practice: The teacher distributes a handout that has a copy of a sports column from a recent

newspaper

Principle: Whenever possible, ‘authentic language’ – language as it is used in a real context –

should be introduced.

Lesson outline:

1. The teacher distributes a handout that has a copy of a sports column from a recent newspaper.

2. The teacher tells the students to underline the reporter’s predictions and to say which ones they think the reporter feels most certain of and which he feels least certain of.

3. The teacher gives the students the directions for the activity in the target language.

4. The students try to state the reporter’s predictions in different words.

5. The students unscramble the sentences of a newspaper article.

6. The students play a language game.

7. The students are asked how they feel about the predictions.

8. A student makes an error. The teacher and other students ignore it.

9. The teacher gives each group of students a strip story and a task to perform.

10. The students work with a partner to predict what the next picture in the strip story will look like.

11. The students are to do a role play. They all imagine that they are all employees of the same company.

12. The teacher reminds the students that one of them is playing the role of the boss, and that they should remember this when speaking to her.

13. The teacher moves from group to group offering advice and answering questions.

14. The students suggest alternative forms they would use to state a prediction to a colleague.

15. After the role play is finished, the students elicit relevant vocabulary.

16. For their homework, the students are to listen to a debate on the radio or watch it on television.

Write the best number next to each description of the principle:


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Practice Principle

2Being able to figure out the speaker’s or writer’s intentions is part of being communicatively competent.

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Errors are tolerated and seen as a natural outcome of the development of communication skills, since this activity was working on fluency, the teacher did not correct the student, but simply noted the error, which he will return to at a later point.

15The grammar and vocabulary that the students learn follow from the function, situational context and the roles of the interlocutors.

5Students must learn about cohesion and coherence – the properties of language which bind the sentences together.

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Games are important because they have certain features in common with real communicative events: there is a purpose to the exchange. Also the speaker receives immediate feedback from the listener from whether or not s/he has successfully communicated. In this way they can negotiate meaning. Finally, having students work in small groups maximizes the amount of communicative practice they receive.

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One language function can have many different linguistic forms. Since the focus of the course is on real language use, a variety of linguistic forms are presented together. The emphasis is on the process of communication rather than just mastery of language forms.

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Students should be given opportunities to listen to the language as it is used in authentic communication. They may be coached in strategies for how to improve their comprehension.

12One of the teacher’s main responsibilities is to establish situations likely to promote communication.

4In communicating, a speaker has a choice not only about what to say, but also how to say it.

7 Students should be given an opportunity to express their ideas and opinions.

9Learning to use language forms appropriately is an important part of communicative competence.

13The teacher acts as facilitator in setting up communicative activities and as an advisor during the activities.

11The social context of the communicative event is essential in giving meaning to the utterances.

3The target language is a vehicle for classroom communication, not just the object of study.

10Communicative interaction encourages cooperative relationships among students. It gives students an opportunity to work on negotiating meaning.

1Whenever possible, ‘authentic language’ – language as it is used in a real context – should be introduced.

Table from:‘Communicative Language Teaching’ from ‘Techniques and Principles in Languageteaching’ by Diane Larson-Freeman (Oxford: OUP, 2000)

2. Grammar: Parts of speech


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In order to teach grammar we need to know how to describe parts of speech, because so many

words rely on or are dependent on other words. For example, an adjective doesn’t describe a verb;

it can only describe a noun. If you want to describe a verb, you need to use an adverb.

Please identify the underlined words in the following text:

Erin: What are you (1) looking at?

Tariq: Well, it’s a (2) photograph of something, but (3) I’m not sure what it is.

Erin: Yes, it’s quite(4) abstract (5), isn’t it? It could (6) be one of those (7) things for (8)

unblocking the sink.

Tariq: Oh, you mean (9) a plunger (10)!

1. _Subject pronoun_ 6. __Modal verb___

2. _Indefinite article_ 7. __Determiner______

3. _Conjunction_____ 8. __Preposition_____

4. __Adverb_________ 9. __Verb________

5. __Adjective______ 10. ___Noun________

2. Grammar: English verbs and the tense system:

One of the biggest difficulties for learners is getting to grips with the English verb tense system. By

changing the base verb or the infinitive, we can express a variety of meanings, from time (I eat fish

(every day), I’m eating fish (now), I ate fish (yesterday)) to mood (I must eat fish, I ought to eat

fish) to aspect (I ate a fish, and, A fish ate me!). As a teacher of English, you’ll need to become an

expert in the English verb tense system!

Each verb in English has three parts. The three parts can be the same or different

For example: eat, ate, eaten; hit, hit, hit; dance, danced, danced

These are called the base infinitive, Past Simple, and Past Participle.

Each tense has a name, a form and a (set of) function(s).

Use your grammar book, the Internet or other tool to complete the following tasks:

Write a sentence giving examples of each of the following tenses, their forms and functions.

Example:

Tense name Present Simple:

Form Base infinitive + -s for he/she/it

Examples I love fish.

I go to the bank every Friday.

God is great.

Function We use the present simple to talk about:

- things that are generally or always true

- habits and routines that we always or nearly always follow

- generally accepted truths

a. Present Continuous b. Present Perfect Simple


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c. Present Perfect Continuous d. Past Simple

e. Past Continuous f. Past Perfect Simple

g. Past Perfect Continuous h. Will Future Simple

i. Will Future Continuous j. Going to Future

k. Future Perfect Simple l. Future Perfect Continuous

2. Grammar: Tenses and form

As you have probably noticed, some tenses are formed from more than one word.

‘Have you eaten a sandwich today?’

(Present perfect tense is formed by “have / has + past participle)

We also need to use more words when making a question or a negative.

(statement) (question) (negative)

‘I like sandwiches’ ‘Do you like sandwiches?’ ‘I don’t like sandwiches’

These extra words that we add to our base verbs are called an auxiliary verb, or ‘helping’ verb. The

auxiliary verbs are ‘be’ (am, is, are, was, were), ‘do’ (do, does, did) and ‘have’ (have, has, had), and

when used as auxiliary verbs don’t carry any meaning. The verb that carries the meaning is called

the lexical verb. ‘Be’, ‘do’ or ‘have’ can also be lexical verbs when they hold the meaning. These are

all lexical verbs:

‘I have a red car’ ‘He is English’ ‘I did my homework last night’

Compare with these examples, which are all auxiliary verbs:

‘She is going to London’ ‘He has cut the lawn’ ‘They didn’t come!’

Decide if the underlined verbs ‘be’, ‘do’ and ‘have’ are auxiliary verbs, or lexical verbs.

Example: I had a bad headache yesterday. ‘had’ is lexical

a. I did it without thinking. ___ lexical _______

b. We do some exercise every morning. ____ lexical _______

c. I was hoping for a quick answer. ___auxiliary_____

d. When do you get up each day? ____ auxiliary _____


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2. Grammar: Tenses and meaning

We need all these different tenses as verbs in English carry a great deal of meaning. As well as

knowing the form of each tense, it’s important to know what each tense means. We often show

learners two tenses together so that. by comparison, they will grasp the meaning of each.

Example: She swims on Saturday. She’s swimming on Saturday.

The first tense is present simple (base infinitive + -s), which here is used to talk about

habitual actions or routine. The second tense is present continuous (am / is / are + -ing),

which here is used to talk about an arrangement in the future.

The difference in meaning is that, from reading the first sentence, we know that she swims

every Saturday on a regular basis. The second sentence, however, only tells us that she is

swimming this Saturday.

What would you say to a learner who asked you the difference in meaning between these pairs of

sentences?

Identify the tense and explain the difference in meaning.

a. He’s combing his hair. He always combs his hair.

_ The first tense is present continuous. Here it is used to talk about an action happening

“now”, at the time of talking about it._

_ The second tense is present simple. Here it used to talk about routine or habitual actions,

which happen on regular basis_

b. She speaks Spanish. She’s speaking Spanish.

_ The first tense is present simple. Here it is used to talk about general truths or facts.__

__The second tense is present continuous. Here it is used to talk about an action happening

“now”, at the time of talking about it.____

c. I had breakfast this morning. I’ve had breakfast this morning.

_ The first tense is past simple, which is used here to talk about an action that took place in

the past, generally at a specific point in the time. _

_ The second tense is present perfect, which is used here to talk about an action in the past

(that has a connection to the present). The emphasis here is more on the action (or the

experience) rather than the specific time at which the action took place.___

d. She has written five novels. She wrote five novels.

__ And probably more novels are yet to be written _

__ Probably, she is no longer writing__

e. By this time next year I will have finished college.

By this time next year I will be finishing college.

_ The first tense is future perfect, which is used here to talk about the past in the future. _


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__ The second tense is future continuous. Here it used to express a future idea with a continuous construction.________

f. I’ve been busy all morning: I’ve painted the porch.

I’ve been busy all morning: I’ve been painting the porch.

__In the 1st sentence, the painting is done over with (it has just been completed), where the

emphasis is on the task. In the 2nd sentence, however, the emphasis is on the duration it took to

finish the painting, and the painting might not have been done completely yet._____

g. When we arrived the film had already started.

When we arrived the film started.

_______The film had started before we arrived (missed some of it)_________________

_______Simultaneously (just in time)________________________________________

h. I went to Spain last year. I’ve been to Spain.

__The emphasis here on both the action and time.______________________

__In the second sentence, we are more interested to know whether going to Spain took

place or not, than on when the travelling happened, i.e. the emphasis is on the experience.____

2. Grammar: Error correction (proofreading task)

Read the following paragraph: highlight any corrections that are necessary. Also comment on any

inconsistencies (of style, language, organisation etc) that you find.

It may seem a little ridiculous to think, that people deliberately buy imitations. But, that is most

definatly true of costume jewellery from the 1930s what now sells for hundred’s of pounds and

increasingly popular in America and Europe. The term ‘costume jewellery’ is relatively new, but

such jewellery has been around since the people first decorated themselves with bones and shells.

The Romans, in particular took delight in making imitation jewells from glass and ceramics and

combine them with valueable stones. The eighteenth century saw an improvment with the arrival

of hand cut glass, now refered to as paste’. Besides, the realy exiting revolution in costume

jewellery is attributed to french designer Coco Chanel, who turned away from pure imitation off

previous designs in favour of jewellery made to be valued in it’s own right. She even accomodated

plastics in her designs, producing colors and shapes never seen before. A few years ago, her pieces

could of been brought relatively cheaply, now they are in great demand and consequently

extremely expensive. No way your ever going to find one in a flea market!

From John Potts – Volkshochschule Zurich


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Punctuation usage is overdone in some parts;

Many spelling mistakes;

Language usage is not consistent, i.e. the author uses a combination of formal and informal

language.

2. Grammar/Writing: Punctuation

Correct the punctuation in the following sentences:

1. The teacher gave out a handout with questions, he instructed the students to answer the first

four questions.

The teacher gave out a handout with questions. He instructed the students to answer the first

four questions.

____________________________________________________________________

2. The students seemed interested in the lesson, this showed by the way they asked the teacher

questions.

The students seemed interested in the lesson; this showed by the way they asked the teacher

questions.

______________________________________________________________________

3. It was a grammar lesson students were learning how to form sentences for predictions, using

‘be going to’.

It was a grammar lesson; students were learning how to form sentences for predictions, using

‘be going to’.

_____________________________________________________________________

4. The first was a reading activity, students had to read a text about the film industry.

The first was a reading activity; students had to read a text about the film industry.

____________________________________________________________________

5. However all students understood her instructions and performed the task well.

However, all students understood her instructions and performed the task well.

______________________________________________________________________

6. The teacher gave instructions for the activity to be done in pairs however students worked on

the task in groups instead.

7. The teacher gave instructions for the activity to be done in pairs, however, students worked on

the task in groups instead.

______________________________________________________________________

8. I believe this was due to the teachers friendly approach.

I believe this was due to the teacher’s friendly approach.

_____or teachers’____________________________________________________________


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9. The students didn’t get all the questions right for the listening activity, this was down to their

lack of general knowledge rather than misunderstanding of the text.

The students didn’t get all the questions right for the listening activity. This was down to their

lack of general knowledge rather than misunderstanding of the text.

______________________________________________________________________

10. The students walked around and checked other groups work.

The students walked around and checked other groups’ work.

______________________________________________________________________

11. The teacher uses a lot of ICQ’s throughout the lesson to make sure the class stays attentive,

because of this students make sure they listen the first time.

The teacher uses a lot of ICQ’s throughout the lesson to make sure the class stays attentive.

Because of this, students make sure they listen the first time.

______________________________________________________________________

3. Functions

Identify the function of the following sentences, like this:

Example: Would you like a cup of coffee? = an offer

1. If you help me with my tax return, I’ll take you out for

dinner.

2. Could I borrow your car again tonight?

3. If you say that again, I’ll hit you!

4. How about going to Greece this year for a change?

5. Could you close the door, please?

6. Waiter, this meat isn’t cooked properly.

…a conditional offer…

…a request………………

…a threat…………………

…making a suggestion…

…a request……………

…a complaint……………

4. Vocabulary: Easily confused words

English has many easily confused words. If an intermediate learner asks you to explain the difference in meaning between the following pairs of words, what would you say to her or him?

a. rob / steal

__Rob a person or place_____

__Steal something from a person or a place__________________________________

b. win / beat

__You win a contest, competition, game, etc.________________________________

__You beat (defeat) someone, i.e. an opponent in a competition_____________


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c. boring / bored

___Bored says how someone feels, whereas boring describe the things or people that cause

the feelings, e.g. boredom, monotony, dullness______________________________

d. watch / see

__Watch is used for things that move, e.g. movies, football game, etc. See means to be

aware of surrounding without deliberately looking (focusing) on a given thing.__________

e. borrow / lend

___Borrow something, e.g. money, from someone (take with the intention to return). Lend

is the opposite, where you give something to someone, and expect then to return it to you.___

f. old / elderly

___Old is used for people and things that are old (it can be offensive depending on context).

Elderly is only used for old people (beyond middle ages), and it is a polite way to refer to old

people.________

5. Phonology: Word Stress

Learners need to remember where the stress (the loudest, and/or longest syllable) falls in each

word. If they stress words incorrectly, meaning can be affected, and the learner will be more

difficult to comprehend.

Look at the following words and decide which syllable carries the main stress. Mark the words

accordingly.

Example: photograph

a. photographer d. political g. advert

b. photographic e. referee h. investment

c. politics f. advise i. intoxication

5. Phonology: Sentence Stress

In English, it is possible to change the meaning of a sentence by stressing different words.

“He told me that Julia had borrowed the video.”


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Example: He told me that Julia had borrowed the video.

(That man there told me about Julia and the video.)

He told me that Julia had borrowed the video.

(He told me about the video – he didn’t tell you!)

This sentence can be given many more meanings in this way.

Can you identify four more? What are the different meanings?

Underline the word you want to stress, and write a sentence showing what the stressed sentence

means.

1. He told me that Julia had borrowed the video.

(_It means Julia had borrowed it and no one else._________________)


(__Julia did not lend the video.__________________________)


(___Not the DVD player________)


(___He told me (probably personally, not by email), or maybe changing the intonation of

the whole sentence to make it sound like a question! ________)

5. Phonology: The Phonemic Alphabet

The English spelling system presents a variety of problems for learners. English uses words from different

languages, which all have different spelling systems. This means that learners find it very difficult or

impossible to pronounce new words correctly, especially if the learners have only met the word in written

English. We use a phonemic alphabet to overcome this problem; as each English sound (phoneme) is

represented by a symbol. Thus, learners can read the sound of the word and are able to pronounce the

word.

To familiarise yourself with the phonemic alphabet, try this website:

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources/pronunciation/phonemic-chart

If you would like to download an easy-to-use phonemic alphabet, please try:

http://phonmap.com/

(Please note there is now a charge for this)

What words are written in phonemic script here?

a. /bɜːd/BIRD b. tri:TREEc. /ˈfɑːðə/ FATHER d. /hɪə/ HERE e. mæn f. /ɡəʊ/ GO

(If you have difficulty reading this go to http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonemicTypewriter/phonemicTypewriter.html)


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http://davidbrett.uniss.it/phonemicTypewriter/phonemicTypewriter.html


Please write the following words in phonemic script:

a. please pli:z____ b. yes jɛsc. table ˈteɪbəl d. no nəʊe. chair tʃɛː f. desk dɛsk

6. Careers: Websites

Visit these websites. Have a look at the jobs on offer. Do the websites offer any other services?

http://www.tefl.com/ http:// www.eslemployment.com/

http://www.onestopenglish.com/ http://www.tefl.net/

http://www.jobs.edufind.com/ http://www.eslcafe.com/

Identify two jobs on each website you will be eligible to apply for once you have completed the

Cambridge ESOL CELTA course at ILS English.

6. Careers: Newspapers

The Guardian advertises EFL jobs in Britain and abroad. What days are these jobs advertised?

Tuesdays

Congratulations!

This is the end of your pre-course task. Please check your answers carefully

This is the end of your pre-course task.


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http://www.eslcafe.com/

http://www.jobs.edufind.com/

http://www.tefl.net/

http://www.onestopenglish.com/

http://www.eslemployment.com/

http://www.tefl.com/

pre course task

Documents

class stays attentive

teachers friendly approach

cambridge esol celta

base infinitive

easily confused words

authentic language language

teacher gave instructions

communicative language teaching