Designing Materials to Teach Spoken English
April 26th 2008, 10:00am to 4:30pm
In recent years, increased knowledge about spoken English has not been matched by increased knowledge about how to design materials to teach it: this workshop aims to bridge the gap. The workshop has 2 main aims:
- To provide a framework for identifying features of spoken English which are of potential value to learners.
- To provide a framework for using authentic conversations to raise awareness of spoken language.
Throughout the workshop we will be looking at authentic conversations as a source for materials. We will begin by identifying features in the conversations which are typical of spoken language, but not generally covered in coursebooks (and sometimes not even described in grammars). I will then argue that teachers' conversations, particular teachers' anecdotes, are a potentially rich source of material for teaching spoken language and demonstrate how such material can be transformed into effective teaching materials using a principled framework of tasks which focus on both the linguistic and cultural content of the conversations. Participants will have the opportunity to apply the framework to authentic conversations through a 'hands-on' session and to discuss and evaluate the materials they produce. We will close with questions on issues related to the teaching of the spoken language which have arisen during the day.
Ivor Timmis runs the MA in ELT Materials Design at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Workshop limited to 15 people.Event free to TESOL France members.