Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction
This paper aims, first, to analyze the unit 1 of the textbook “Teenagers 8”. Then, I
will describe how and why I supplemented the lesson 1 of this unit. I will end on the
2. Coursebook evaluation
that teaching programs should respond to learner’s needs (Johnson, 1989, p.63).
Therefore, the teaching materials used in our English language courses should help
the teacher to achieve his/her students’ needs. Cunningsworth (1984), points out that
“the teacher should formulate objectives with the needs of the learners in mind and
then seek out published materials which will achieve those objectives” (p.2).
For this paper, I decided to analyze the fist unit in the textbook “Teenagers 8” which
is intended for secondary school learners (See appendix A). I based this analysis on
interest and motivation and range of tasks / activities. (2000, pp. 185, 189).
1. Although the book claims to have a communicative approach, it does not provide
activities with an integrated use of language skills. Most of its activities are
2. The book aims to promote a natural use of English, but it does not contain any
authentic material which can challenge the students’ learning process and raise
their motivation.
3. The material shows structural oriented drills with a overt explanations of the rules
which do not give the learners the opportunity to explore the language by
In general, the first unit of the textbook Teenagers 8 lacks: a) real communicative
tasks in which the learners could use their language skills conjointly. b) authentic
texts that can challenge the students’ language skills and can increase their interest
as well. c) creative activities that allow the students to create meaning and language
by themselves.
Bearing in mind the previous ideas, I decided to supplement the first lesson of this
(Nunan, 1991, p. 219 – 223). I added short authentic texts about varied holidays and
I created materials with information gaps to foster the learners’ collaborative work in
order to complete the task successfully. I graded the task according to my students
abilities.
adapt commercial materials, using them as “bridges” to stimulate their thinking and
as the basis for providing the most appropriate classes in their context ( p.152). On
the other hand, Harmer (2001) affirms that textbooks can become “spurs to
creativity” (p.8)
1. A handout with a mind map to activate the students’ schemata, articulate the
collect information and use it again during the class. A model conversation
2. Five multimedia slides with a collage of images that the students downloaded
from Google and Yahoo in a previous class. A table to list the celebrations
Halloween to develop a jigsaw reading activity. (I also included the texts from
the book about Rio de Janeiro’s carnival, The day of dead, Saint Valentine
materials give the learners the “opportunity to use English to a purposeful end
and even at a stage when their range of structures and vocabulary is severely
5. A worksheet with questions to write a comparative text about the form they
When designing the above supplementary material, I took into account the following
4. Lesson plan
Having considered the textbook’s drawbacks in its first unit, my students needs and
my pedagogical objectives, I planned to teach the first lesson of this unit for 8°A
confidence to interact with other students using the target language and do not like
being engaged in writing tasks. On the contrary, they are interested in computers,
activities that give the learners a reason to interact and encourage mutual language
The best way of knowing if a material’s adaptation woks well is by trying out such
material (Wallace, 2000, p. 190) . 8°A students used the following materials for the
The most successful aspect when trying out the adapted materials was that most of
the students accomplished the final objective of writing a comparative text about a
holiday celebration because they could obtain the appropriate information during the
all the lesson stages. Additionally, the quality of students interaction increased in the
classroom because of the confidence that the learners received by using controlled
References
Personal aims:
1. Encourage students’ interaction
2. Foster the learners’ use of English in class.
Assumed knowledge:
8°A students are able to:
a. Identify Wh and yes / no questions.
b. Identify expressions associated with dates such as : in April, on
October 31.
c. Identify expressions associated with places such as : in Colombia, at
home.
d. Identify verbs used to express activities in present tense.
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Meaning
Holiday, day set apart for religious observance or for the commemoration of
some extraordinary event or distinguished person, or for some other public
occasion. Holidays are characterized by a partial or total cessation of work and
normal business activities and are generally accompanied by public and private
ceremonies, including feasting (or fasting), parades and carnivals, or displays of
flags and speechmaking.
Form
Pronunciation
• • • •
• • • •
Materials :
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8°A is an EFL group of beginner learners. They are 40 students aged 13 – 14 who have a 50
minute English class per week at the New’s Technologies room.
The students are able to identify yes/no questions and wh questions using the present and past
tense. They can recognize verbs in present and past in the affirmative and negative forms, but
they still find difficult to use those structures in a written or oral way.
Therefore, it is necessary for them to get involved in a task where they can use all language
abilities to practice those structures in a productive form. They need to be engaged in activities in
which they can use their background knowledge about holidays and festivals in Colombia.
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Procedure Time Tutor’s
Stage Aim APPENDIX
Teacher B
and student activity interacti comme
on nts
Presentatio Activate The teacher divides the class in five big groups and asks a student 10
n students’ from each group to choose an envelope to brainstorm the vocabulary minutes
schemata. considering the students context. The envelopes contain a sentence “ T- S
Colombian holiday in February”, “Colombian holiday in April”, S-S
“Colombian holiday in October”, “Colombian holiday in December”,
“Colombian holiday in November”. They discuss what to write to
complete a mind map in a piece of paper (appendix C). Students
transfer the information to table on the board (appendix D)
The teacher elicits the cultural similarities and differences between
Colombian and other nations celebrations through questions: Which
nations celebrate carnivals, too?, Do they use the same music or
dances?
Practice Read about Students, in groups of 3, sit in their workstations and watch slides 20
holidays. about holidays or festivals in other nations. The teacher asks them to minutes
identify the celebrations and answer if weather we celebrate those T–S
Look for specific holidays in Colombia or not (see appendix E). The teacher asks: What S–S
information. questions should we use to ask for holidays’ information?: the name,
place, date and activities people do. Students write the answers on the
Ask for and give board.
information The teacher divides the class in 8 groups. Each group reads about a
about holidays. different holiday (appendix F). The teacher asks the students to
conduct a survey to 3 different students using a model conversation
and a table to collect the information (appendix G ).
Production Write about a Students ,in pairs, write about a holiday that is celebrated in 20
holiday Colombia and other nation, too. They answer the following minutes
Compare cultural questions to produce a comparative text: S–S
differences. 1st paragraph: What international holiday are you
going to write about?, When is it celebrate it?,
Where?, What activities do people do?.
2nd paragraph: What is the name of the holiday in
Colombia?, When is it celebrate it?, Where did you do
Assign go last year to celebrate it?, What activities did you
homework or your friends do to celebrate it?
The students use the word processor to save the information
(appendix H).
Design a calendar with the information you wrote. Use Word
models for calendars and the image gallery.
PRESENTATION
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COLOMBIAN HOLIDAY(S)
IN ________________
Name: Name:
APPENDIX C
PRACTICE
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Do we
it
?
Holidays in other nations Yes No Colombian name for this holiday
1
2
3
4
5
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Model Dialogue
APPENDIX E
Interview 3 partners. Find out about different holidays and festivals in other nations.
Fill in the table with the information.
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APPENDIX F
WRITING
PAIR WORK ACTIVITY
Compare the way people celebrate a holiday in Colombia and in another country. Use
the information given in the class. Answer the following questions to
produce your text.
1st paragraph: What international holiday are you going to write about?,
When is it celebrate it?, Where?, What activities do people do?.
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PRESENTATION
)
FEBRUARY
APRIL
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
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Halloween is celebrated in
October 31st in all the world.
In United States the children
and the adults dress
costumes. Children say:
“Trick or teat” to ask
candies. Adults celebrate
In my country, Colombia, we
call this holiday dia de las
brujitas or día de los niños. In
Barranquilla it is the Day of the
Angels. Halloween is
celebrated in October 31st in
the evening and the Day of the
Angels is in November 1st in the
morning. Last year I did not
use costume. I went to the
houses and said: “Triqui, triqui
with parties. School dances and neighborhood
parties called “block parties” are popular among
young and old.
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