Assignment 3 Language Skills Related Tasks

ASSIGNMENT 3 LANGUAGE SKILLS RELATED TASKS

Candidates can demonstrate their learning by: a) correctly using terminology that relates to language skills and sub-skills b) relating task design to language skills practice c) finding, selecting and referencing information from one or more sources using written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task

Length: 750 – 1,000 words Part A: Receptive skills task design 1. What is your opinion of the text as a piece of authentic material to be used in class? Would this article be suitable for your current TP students? Why/why not? 2. What would you do as a lead in to get the students interested in the topic? What is your rationale? (Refer to background reading). 3. Is there any vocabulary you feel is essential to pre-teach? If there is, list the items and say why you have chosen them. 4. Design a task which provides students with practice in skimming (reading for gist). Include the task and time limit. What is the rationale for getting students to skim? (Refer to background reading). 5. Design a task which provides students with practice in scanning (reading for specific information). Include the task and time limit. What is the rationale for getting students to scan? (Refer to background reading). 6. Design a comprehension task which provided students with practice in reading for detailed understanding. Include the task and time limit. What is the rationale for getting students to read for detailed understanding? (Refer to background reading). Part B: Productive skills task design Design or find an extension activity (for freer practice of productive skills – either speaking or writing) which you could use after the students had read the article. Include your task and your rationale for choosing it. Why use a follow-up task? (Refer to background reading). Please include word count and a bibliography. Recommended Books for this Assignment   

Learning Teaching, Jim Scrivener (Heinemann, 1999) The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer (Longman, 1991) How to Teach English, Jeremy Harmer (Longman, 1999)

Read the following article then answer the questions:

Do not pass go, Do not collect $151 Dargaville When 13 year old Lance Auckett of Pouto, south of Dargaville, was told to clean out his bedroom before the start of the school term, the results had repercussions no-one could have envisaged. When he pulled out a box of school books from under his bed and thumbed through them, out fell a 10,000 yen note. “Mum, do you reckon this is real?” he asked. Lance was then told that the only way to find out was to take it to a bank. At the first bank he went to he asked if the note was real and, if so, how much it was worth. While the teller was speaking to him, the manager telephoned Auckland and was advised not to pay out without sending the note through for verification. Meanwhile, the teller checked the conversion rate and told the boy he could expect to get about $15. He tried another bank and the amount went up to about $49. As his mother was still shopping, Lance and his mate decided to try yet another bank. They were told the note appeared to be real and the teller arranged to have a cheque made out for it, but Lance had one more bank to visit.

At the Dargaville branch of the National Bank he was given the best rate of $151.20, which he accepted. A delighted Lance gave the money to his mother to look after, and they returned to Pouto. During the next couple of weeks he spent some of the money on a tape, a soft drink, and a wedding present. No-one expected the next development. Lance went off to school as usual when he was called into the principal's office, where a police officer was waiting. Lance was asked where he got the note. He told them. At this point his mother was brought back into the picture and asked to contact the National Bank because, on sending the money to Japan, they had discovered it was Japanese Monopoly money – worthless. Now the bank would like its money back and the parents feel they should not be responsible for paying it because the boy had not intended to defraud. He had asked if the note was real. The back declined to comment. (From The Christchurch Press, 11/03/93)