Checklist for the Background Essay

  Look back at the advice given for your Diagnostic Teaching Assignment and LSA 1 on writing

background assignments to remind yourself about how to do this.

  Proofread the assignment carefully and edit it for spelling, punctuation, grammatical accuracy and

phraseology (1a)

  Whenever your use terminology, make sure it is accurate and you have defined it. For example, if

you referred to ‘transactional listening’, you would need to give a definition (1b)  

  When you make a point or give an opinion, always support it with a definition or example. You need

to demonstrate at all times you fully understand what you have read and what you are writing, and

exemplification is an excellent way of showing this. (1c, 2c)

  You cannot use footnotes in Delta assignments, so make sure you haven’t put any in.

  Your solutions should relate back clearly to your preceding analysis of the skill and learner

problems. They are not three unrelated sections (2d, 2e, 4b)

  When describing your practical classroom solutions, move from the general to the specific, i.e. talk

more generically at first about the types of activities available and then support this by giving

specific examples (2d, 4a)

  Make sure you describe activities in sufficient depth. (4a)

  Ensure that you have given an adequate range of activities. It’s advisable to describe 4 or 5 different

classroom activities, procedures or techniques with specific examples, and relate them to learner

needs (4a, 2e)

  Comment on level(s) and teaching context(s) that each activity is suitable for. Even if your

assignment focuses on advanced learners (e.g. developing discursive writing skills at CAE level). You

might usefully briefly include some mention of lower levels, highlighting why certain

activities/problems are not relevant at higher levels (2b, 3b)

  Make effective use of headings to help guide the reader through your writing and use bullet points

 judiciously (1a, 2d)

Checklist for the Planning and the Lesson

  You need to show that you are doing something beyond simply practising or testing the learners’

abilities. You should be helping them develop their listening and writing skill in some way (7e). It is

not enough to say at the end of the lesson ‘So, do you think that was useful?’ –  students will always

say ‘Yes’, particularly if they know their teacher is being observed!  With this in mind, provide a

stage in the lesson where you can demonstrate development, e.g. by eliciting the sub-skill which

has been focused on after an activity and getting students to discuss in pairs whether they already

use it/ how they could use it in the future

  You must include a commentary (5k) of between 500 and 750 words, which provides a clear

rationale for the lesson plan with reference to the learners’ characteristics and needs and the

reading and research in our background essay. The commentary shouldn’t just be a re-run of the

lesson procedure. It is supposed to link the essay to the lesson. Explain why you have chosen to do

what you are doing, not how.

 

DELTA

Date: ___________Checklist for LSA 2 (Listening or Writing)

 

 

  In your lesson plan make sure you provide a detailed skills analysis.

  Remember this is a skills assignment and not a systems one so make sure the lesson that you plan is

clearly skills-focused (5b). However, for a skills lesson, it is a good idea to have a supporting

systems focus (grammar, lexis, phonology or discourse  – which you should provide an analysis of

meaning/use, form and phonology as appropriate). This will make the lesson balanced. Make sure

that anticipated problems/possible solutions relate to the skills (listening or writing) and the

supporting language focus.

  Look back at your Diagnostic Observation and LSA 1 and note one or two major areas for

development in your teaching. Aim in this LSA to show evidence that you’ve improved in these (you

can put it as a personal aim). Starting to think about and work on these sorts of areas will also

provide material for you when you are writing your Professional Development Assignment (PDA).