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basiltherat
Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 952
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 Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:45 am Post subject: Question for users of Headway |
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How many contact hours do you feel comfortable with in covering a unit of study in the New Headway series. I realize that there are several variables such as class size, trainee ability, nationality of trainees and the such. Also it will clearly depend on the particular book (Foundation needing fewer contact hours, I find, while the Upper Intermediate seems to need more).
Do you think the following sounds reasonable:
Class size: 15-20
Class ability : appropriate for the level
Average Contact hours per unit: Foundation/Elementary = 8 to 10 hours
Pre-Int/Intermediate = 10-12 hours
Upper-Intermediate = 12
These hours would include any additional material supplied where required and WB but not video stuff.
I think the authors' predictions are a little unfair.
Any views ?
Thnx
Basil |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 7:35 am Post subject: |
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If you're teaching Arab students add at least 50% on to the hours you would use to teach Spanish, Italian or French students.
I would reckon around 200 hours a book. |
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Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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I suggest avoiding that retarded text at any cost. Though I think this is true for most ESL/EFL texts.
I create my own material: Great reading and listening stuff. I sometimes even record my own voice reading Poe's short strories and others. |
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carnac
Joined: 30 Jul 2004
Posts: 310
Location: in my village in Oman ;-)
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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Teaching adult Arab students, we allow about 5 hours a day, five days a week per Headway unit in a normal schedule, which permits thorough coverage of the unit plus time for teacher-produced extra materials. Then one week review before three-day exam for every five units. (cumulative)The rationale is that it is necessary to allow TIME for lessons to be assimilated. Not just wham, bam, present perfect.
Recently was forced into a two-units per week accelerated schedule for one particular class of older students, which produced a fifty-percent failure rate. Am having on-going "discussions" (read: kicking and screaming) with administration, point being that producing English speakers is not the same as producing Toyotas. Sigh. And that student personal prestige or family connections is not predictive of language ability.
(Decon, I agree, but there are NO good EFL texts I have seen -all the most readily available are ESL oriented. I have written about this elsewhere.)
Headway is far, far, far from ideal but gives a framework upon which to build. Or in the vernacular, it's "better'n nuthin!" |
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Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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| carnac wrote: |
(Decon, I agree, but there are NO good EFL texts I have seen -all the most readily available are ESL oriented. I have written about this elsewhere.)
Headway is far, far, far from ideal but gives a framework upon which to build. Or in the vernacular, it's "better'n nuthin!" |
I agree with you too. There is very little out there. This is why I like building my own curriculum whenever I'm allowed, which is not often. I believe that a good class must consist of interesting reading, audio and visual materials, having almost nothing to do with grammar.
This is what I did in my last class (Advanced I): I divided the class in half. Each had to read a different article about light pollution and answer 15 to 20 questions. Once done, I paired them with a student from another group as they had to retell the articles to each other. The methodology is much more complicated than this though. There is great deal of pre, while and post activities that have to be done. But you get the gist of it.
Wadya think? |
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dyak
Joined: 25 Jun 2003
Posts: 630
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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| carnac wrote: |
| Recently was forced into a two-units per week accelerated schedule for one particular class of older students, which produced a fifty-percent failure rate. Am having on-going "discussions" (read: kicking and screaming) with administration, point being that producing English speakers is not the same as producing Toyotas. |
I've had to do two units per week of quite a few coursebooks, and it really doesn't work. In fact, the higher the level, the greater the failure rate. It's a shame that 'book politics' often come before student welfare.
| Decon wrote: |
| This is what I did in my last class (Advanced I): I divided the class in half. Each had to read a different article about light pollution and answer 15 to 20 questions. Once done, I paired them with a student from another group as they had to retell the articles to each other. The methodology is much more complicated than this though. There is great deal of pre, while and post activities that have to be done. But you get the gist of it. |
I love this type of class too. Stimulated students producing 90% of the English in the classroom. No grammar with vague contexts. No white-boards drenched in multi-coloured code. Just real English with correction and explanation when needed.
Amen. |
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Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:24 am Post subject: |
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| dyak wrote: |
| Decon wrote: |
| This is what I did in my last class (Advanced I): I divided the class in half. Each had to read a different article about light pollution and answer 15 to 20 questions. Once done, I paired them with a student from another group as they had to retell the articles to each other. The methodology is much more complicated than this though. There is great deal of pre, while and post activities that have to be done. But you get the gist of it. |
I love this type of class too. Stimulated students producing 90% of the English in the classroom. No grammar with vague contexts. No white-boards drenched in multi-coloured code. Just real English with correction and explanation when needed.
Amen. |
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Usually I get a wave of attacks from grammar lovers.
What usually disappoints me though is that students often feel that they are learning something only if there is grammar involved. Only that which is learned objectively is considered knowledge and grammar is passed on as objective knowledge. Being born in a capitalist world we often want something objective for our money's worth. Today I learned the present perfect. I must be learning language. Thus, students sit in a language class sometimes for years stuck in intermediate 1 wasting time, money and energy without ever questioning why.
I really hate to say this but, no client is dumber and blinder than a language student. |
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basiltherat
Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 952
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 5:47 am Post subject: |
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Decon
I can really appreciate wat you say about coursebooks and creating one's own material for your lessons. The problem in many cases is the restrictions placed upon us by our employers who demand that we use a particular coursebook and cover most if not all of the stuff included in it.
Out of choice, i think most of us would prefer to do as you do. Such lessons are especially possible if one is conducting either high level groups or 'conversation' or 'discussion' groups. However, to ignore grammatical points at lower levels, i feel, would be doing trainees a great diservice. I mean, how would they be able to use correct grammar if they dont even know (or cant suss out that) it exists and how/when it is used. I am curious to know how you deal with lower level e.g. foundation level groups. Do you also create your own stuff and base it 90% on trainee talk/work ?
Also, how are your students/trainees tested ? Are there grammar based tasks to complete, for example ?
regards
basil
ps btw, I am no grammar buff. In fact i probably despise dealing with it more than you do  |
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Stephen Jones
Joined: 21 Feb 2003
Posts: 4124
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| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| If we're talking post F | |
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