Welcome!

As a contemplating teacher, you must be eager to try out what you

have learned as you immerse yourself in the task of educating the future citizens of the
land.

Your primary concern as a beginning teacher is to be able to teach English

effectively using developmentally appropriate classroom practices. This module will
help you understand certain issues affecting language and language learning and
reflect on them. As you go through this module, you sharpen your self-awareness as a
teacher and gain confidence that will enable you to make classroom decisions that will
most benefit the learners.

Brief Description of the Module

Lesson I focuses on teaching listening--what listening is, why we do listening,

and what the different types of listening are. It also provides sample activities for
listening comprehension.

Lesson 2 deals with the nature of the oral communication process, the barriers
to effective communication, and suggestions to improve one’s speaking ability.

Lesson 3 focuses on teaching reading which anchors on the five areas of

reading instruction, namely; phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, vocabulary
and word recognition, fluency, and comprehension. Each of these elements, together
with the development of higher order thinking skills, is vital if children are to become
successful, thinking, and literate adults. Varied strategies are provided that illustrate
effective classroom practices to enable students to read for meaning. It also stresses
the role of reading in the content areas. The sample lesson plans show how these
strategies work to foster active and engaged reading.

Lesson 4 deals with the teaching of writing and how it can be made more
interesting and meaningful to students. It discusses the nature of writing and specifically
explains the writing process. It includes varied activities that will surely encourage
children to generate ideas and organize them into writing. It also gives suggestions for
marking written compositions.

Lesson 5 focuses on assessment, both traditional and authentic. It provides

sample assessment and evaluation instruments for classroom use. Sample tests are
provided to serve as models in constructing language tests.
 OBJECTIVES

This module presents a systematic program of study intended for contemplating

teachers of English. It maintains a consistent link between theory and practice by
providing learning activities to illustrate and test theoretical ideas. As you go through
the different lessons, you will be able to analyze how the different theories of language
are translated into practice.

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Reflect on the different aspects of communication and acquire skills for

effective English instruction;
2. Adopt practical strategies that will enhance the students’ skills in listening,
speaking, reading, writing, and literature;
3. Discuss learners’ problems and needs and come up with developmentally
appropriate strategies to help them achieve success; and
4. Use alternative processes in assessment and evaluation.

At the start of the module, you are to take the preassessment test to see how
much background information and knowledge you have in teaching English.

This module is self-instructional. You can read, analyze concepts and ideas
presented, and reflect on them. The Activities and Self-Check Questions will help you
assess how you progress as you go through the module. If you need help and further
clarification, you can ask the assistance of a mentor or facilitator in your school

Remember, you are to work on this module independently. I shall not be around

to supervise you as you go through each lesson. It is expected that you will make the

most of this module and grow professionally in your desire to become a competent

teacher of English, determined to make a difference.

 CONTENTS

Introduction
Objectives i
Preassessment 1

Lesson 1 Teaching Listening 8

Why Listen 10
The Listening Process 11
How People Listen 13
Choosing the listening texts 15
▪ Integrating Listening with Other Macro Skills 16

Lesson 2 Teaching Speaking 22

The Nature of the Oral Communication Process 24

Barriers to Effective Communication 25
Successful Oral Fluency Practice 27
Oral Communication Strategies 30

Lesson 3 Teaching Reading

Five Areas of Reading Instruction 37
▪ Phonemic Awareness 37
▪ Phonics and Decoding 39
▪ Vocabulary Instruction 40
▪ Fluency 40
▪ Comprehension 42
Profile of a Proficient Reader 3
Three Stages of Teaching Reading Instruction
▪ Prereading Strategies
▪ Activating Prior Knowledge and Building
Background Information
 ▪ Developing Concept and Vocabulary 49

▪ Developing and Motivation Purpose 52

▪ During Reading Strategies 53

▪ Post-Reading Strategies 58

▪ Discussion 58

▪ Engagement Activities 62

▪ Reading-Writing Link 67

▪ Reading Intervention and Remediation 68

▪ Building Literacy: A Classroom Intervention Program 71

Lesson 4 Teaching Writing 76

Principles of Teaching Writing 77

The Process-Oriented Approach to Writing 78

Pre-writing stage 78
▪ Techniques in Prewriting 79
Writing 81
▪ Techniques for Composing and Drafting Paragraphs 81
Revising and Proofreading 82

▪ Techniques for Revising and Proofreading 83

Post Writing 84

Marking Written Composition 89

Lesson 5 Assessment 93

Purposes of Assessment 95
Forms of Assessments 96
▪ Traditional Assessment 96
▪ Non-traditional or Authentic Assessment 96
▪ Some Beliefs that Support the Use of Authentic Assessment 97
▪ Learning Targets 99
 ▪ Types of Learning Targets 99
▪ Authentic Assessment Practices to Try 100
▪ Traditional Testing Compared to Performance Assessment 103
▪ Scoring and Recording Assessment 104
Bibliography 119
Appendices 121
▪ A Lesson Plan in Content Area Reading 121
▪ Sample Cloze Passage 124
▪ YOPP-SINGER TEST OF PHONEME SEGMENTATION 125
▪ SUMMARY OF READING AND WRITING DEVELOPMENT 126
▪ Reading-Response Log 127
▪ Paper - and - Pencil Test 130
 TEACHING LISTENING
INTRODUCTION

Did you know that

▪ your fastest means of communication is listening?

▪ you get more than 40 percent of your information through listening?

▪ you receive messages from any direction, from around corners, and
through some barriers?

Listening is a familiar part of our everyday experience. Actually, most people

spend a large part of their waking hours listening, with varying degrees of attention, to
language and other stimuli.

However, despite the importance of listening it is not given the attention it

deserves in the classroom. Students are not trained to listen attentively and critically
since it is assumed that listening skills will just develop as a matter of course. But that
is contrary to research findings. Due to inability to listen proficiently, communication
breakdown in oral interaction occurs. Because many fail to listen critically,
miscommunication leads to other serious problems.

It is, therefore, important that listening skills be taught to prepare students for
effective functioning outside the classroom.
 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

▪ explain the listening process;

▪ give reasons for doing listening;

▪ differentiate the types of listening;

▪ prepare varied listening activities for listening comprehension.

ACTIVITY 1.1

1. Here are some classroom activities. Decide which are listening activities and
which are not.

a. Learners respond orally to a written exercise.

b. Learners complete a task while listening to a taped conversation.

c. The teacher explains some special arrangement for the following week’s
lesson.

d. A learner asks the teacher a question about the meaning of a word.

e. The teacher conducts a drill with the class.

f. A learner formulates a sentence silently before uttering it.

g. Two learners carry out a pair work activity.

h. The teacher tells a story.

i. The teacher converses with the class before the lesson starts.

j. The class is engaged in a pronunciation exercise focusing on two

contrasting sounds.
 READ

Listening is attending to what you consider important. It is trying to get the

meaning of what you hear. To listen successfully to spoken language, you need to be
able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways
in particular situations. The important thing about listening is getting the message and
interpreting it.

Why listen?

There are five main reasons why people listen.

1. To be able to engage in social rituals - As a social being man usually engages

in social rituals such as exchanging pleasantries, engaging in small talk,
attending meetings, and the like.
2. To get information - In school, students have to listen attentively to get important
ideas from a lecture or from class discussions.
3. To be able to respond to “controls”–There is need for attentive listening to be
able to follow directions and instructions given orally.
4. To respond to feelings – It is necessary to listen with empathy to understand
what a person means and how he or she feels. This occurs when one listens
to complaints or secrets.
5. To enjoy – Listening enables us to share a good laugh with others as when we
exchange jokes. It could also serve as a source of pleasure when we listen to
music and oral interpretations of literary pieces.
 SCQ 1.1

How well did you remember what you read? Answer the following questions
briefly.

1. What is listening?

2. Give at least three reasons for listening. Give examples.

The Listening Process

There are five steps in the listening process (Devito, 1997) as illustrated in the
figure that follows.

2. Understanding
Making sense of what
was said
Deciphering

1. RECEIVING 3. REMEMBERING
Hearing Recalling
Attending Retaining

5. RESPONDING 4. EVALUATING
Answering Judging worth
Giving Feedback Critical review of what
was said

The Listening Process

Figure 1
1. Receiving the speaker’s message. Messages, both verbal and non-verbal, consist
of words as well as gestures, facial expressions, and variation in volume and tone.
The listener takes note of both the verbal and non - verbal elements of the
message.

2. Determining what the speaker means. Understanding takes into consideration the
thoughts that are expressed as well as the emotional tone that accompanies these
thoughts. It likewise includes establishing links between what the listener knows
about the topic and the new information from the speaker.

3. Retaining messages for at least some period of time. The listener actually
remembers not what was said, but what she or he thinks, as recalled, was said. A
listener seldom quotes the exact words of the speaker unless he or she finds a
word, phrase, or something worth quoting.

4. Evaluating or weighing what was said. The listener judges the worth of the ideas
shared by the speaker. He or She assesses them in the light of what he or she
knows about the topic taking into account the logic of the presentation.

5. Sending signals to let the speaker know that he is understood and responding to
him after he has stopped talking. This marks the start of a new cycle where the
listener takes his turn as a speaker.

SCQ 1.2

Rearrange in correct sequence these steps in the listening process.

Evaluating what was said based on what the listener knows about the topic.

Receiving the message sent by the speaker.

Responding to the speaker the moment he stopped talking.

Understanding what the speaker means.

Recalling what the listener thinks was said by the speaker.

 READ

How People Listen

Listening can be classified into several types depending on how you pay
attention to what is being said or heard.

▪ Marginal/passive listening–Also called hearing or auding, the listener

hears the sounds, often in the background but simply ignores them.
Because he or she is engrossed in another task.

▪ Attentive listening–The listener focuses attention and shows interest in

what is being said. He or she takes note of the specifics and how they relate
to the main points made by the speaker.

▪ Critical/analytical listening–In this type of listening one has to decide on

the truth of ideas, pass judgment on claims made and make decisions on
whether to accept what she or he hears, reject it or take it with a grain of
salt.

▪ Appreciative listening–This type of listening gives the listener pleasure

maybe from the humor, or the blending of voices in choric arrangements.
 SCQ 1.3

What follows is a checklist of listening activities. Identify each by checking under the
appropriate column.
Type of Listening
Marginal Attentive Critical Appreciative
Listening Listening Listening Listening
1. Paying attention selectively and
constantly varying the level of
attention while engaged in other tasks
simultaneously.

2. Making judgments about which

content to select for remembering.

3. Interpreting implied information,

attitude and intention.

4. Predicting, comparing what’s heard

with what was predicted, and revising
predictions.

5. Filtering out any other ambient

language or other sounds, but
remaining prepared to filter them in
again as and when necessary.

6. Getting the gist of a talk.

7. Enjoying the music played over the

radio without understanding the
words.

8. Performing actions in response to

instruction given orally.

9. Identifying a general topic or

information given in a listening text.

10. Interpreting music through dance.

11. Rewriting the listening text in different

works: either in the same language
(paraphrase) or in another
(translation).

12. Discussing a problem that is

described orally and writing down a
suggested solution.
 ACTIVITY 1.2

Make a list of as many situations you can think of where people are listening
to other people. These include situations where they may be doing other things
besides listening–speaking but the essential point is that they need to be able to
understand what is said in order to function satisfactorily in the situation.

Choosing the Listening Texts

It is best to select authentic texts, that is, materials that students are expected
to meet and listen to in real life. You can record excerpts of the following texts or read
them aloud at normal speed: advertisements, newscasts, weather reports,
announcements, homilies, doctor–patient consultations, job interviews, etc. Here are
some questions you may consider in choosing listening texts. Make students enter the
answers in the grid that follows:

1. What type of talk is it?

2. Where do you expect to hear it?

3. Who is talking and to whom is he talking?

4. What is the objective of the speaker?

5. What type of listening is called for in the situation?

 Types of Talk Where Speaker Person(s) Objectives Types of
it may addressed of the talk listening
be called for
heard
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Integrating Listening with Other Macro Skills

Most listening activities are not limited to listening. They are often integrated
with the other macro-language skills, namely speaking, reading and writing. In this
listening activity entitled “Taking Note of House Rules”, the students listen to a taped
dialog, but they are asked to picture study (reading), mark with an X the infringement
of the rules (writing) and draw the same scene without the infringements of those rules.
Note that the task in the Pre-listening phase, if done orally would entail speaking skills.
Taking Note of House Rules
Pre-listening

Look at the picture. This is the bedroom of a new boarder. Do you think you
can identify things that are not in their proper places?

While Listening

Judy is a new boarder in the apartment of Aling Luz. Aling Luz is very
selective of her boarders because her apartment is new.

Listen carefully to the house rules given by Aling Luz. Judy must understand
the rules or else she cannot stay there.

Can you identify the rules which have not been followed? Put an X inside the
box of the dialogue to show each rule that was broken.

Note: If a tape is not available, the teacher can just read the script.
Tape script

Judy is a new boarder of Aling Luz, a very meticulous lady. Her room is on the
second floor of a new apartment building.

Judy: Well, it’s a lovely room. Its size is just right for me.

Aling Luz: Oh, yes. It’s a good-sized room and it’s well-furnished.

Judy: Yes, I can see that. Is there anything I should know?

Aling Luz: Well, I don’t allow the cat to go upstairs at all.

Judy: Oh. Not at all?

Aling Luz: Absolutely not. I don’t like cats upstairs. And I don’t allow
people to smoke in the bedroom.

Judy: That’s okay with me. I don’t smoke anyway.

Aling Luz: I don’t allow people to stick up pictures on the wall with tape. You see,
when you take the pictures down, the scotch tape or masking tape
leaves marks on the wall.
Judy: Oh, I see. Can I use thumb tacks instead?

Aling Luz: Oh yes. Something like that. But do not use big nails.
They leave holes on the wall. Then, if you go out, please remember to
close the window.
Judy: Right! I’ll do that.
Aling Luz: And there’s a kettle for you to boil water in. Place it on the floor and not
on the chest of drawers or cabinet.
Judy: I know. It will leave a mark, especially if it is hot.
Is there anything else?

Aling Luz: One last thing – please keep your room tidy. Hang your clothes and see
to it that your books and papers should be on the table or shelf.

Judy: All right, Aling Luz. I’ll try to remember all you told me.
The TQLR Technique (Jocson, 1999)
Text:

The Pains of Anger

Anger causes pain. It is usually expressed in hurting comments, cutting remarks,

and sharp retorts. Many have been wounded by words or actions that have
sprung from a heart filled with wrath. But the greatest pain is felt by the one who
is overcome with anger.

One day as Leonardo da Vinci was painting “The Last Supper “, he became mad
with a certain man. His temper flared and he lashed at him with stinging words.
Resuming his work, he began to brush some delicate lines on the face of Jesus.
But he was so upset that he could not continue.

He laid down his tools and went to look for the man to ask for forgiveness. Only
after he apologized could Leonardo go back and complete the face of Christ.

Like da Vinci we are sometimes prevented from doing work effectively because
of unresolved anger. We can overcome it by being reconciled to the one we have
offended. His forgiveness will heal and relieve us from the pains of anger.

1. Tuning in
You are going to listen to a passage entitled “The Pain of Anger.”
What words can you think of in relation to anger?

death

injury discontentment

quarrel ANGER sorrow

jealousy remorse
hatred
2. Generating Questions
What questions come to your mind as you read the title?

Possible questions try to elicit different question types.

a. How does anger cause pain?
b. Who will feel the pain more, the angry person or the person he is angry
with?
c. Is it just physical pain? Why or why not?
d. Do you think this is true in real life?
e. Can something be done about it?

3. Listening to the text

As the students listen, ask them to check the questions that are
answered. It might be pointed out that all of the above questions were answered
in the text although for some of them, the answers will have to be inferred.

4. Responding to what is heard

Ask the students to give their answers to the questions raised if these
may be deduced from the text. Here are the responses to the questions cited
earlier.

a. It upsets you.
b. The person who is angry.
c. No, it is mental and emotional as well.
d. Yes, it is, as shown in the incident about da Vinci.
e. Yes, something can be done about it. The angry person can reach out to the
person he is angry with.
 POINTS TO REMEMBER

Listening is the act of paying attention to and trying to get the meaning of
what you hear.
There are five main reasons why people listen:
1. To be able to engage in social rituals
2. To get information
3. To be able to respond to “controls”
4. To respond to feelings
5. To enjoy

There are five steps in the listening process:

1. Receiving the message the speaker sends
2. Determining what the speaker means
3. Determining message for at least some period of time
4. Evaluating or weighing what was said
5. Sending signals to let the speaker know that he is understood and
responding to him after he has stopped talking

Listening can be classified into several types:

1. Marginal / passive listening
2. Attentive listening
3. Critical / analytical listening
4. Appreciative listening