Notes | Intermediate Reading Skills & Vocabulary Development ( 1st Yr - 2nd Sem )
EN 1211: Intermediate Reading Skills & Vocabulary Development
1). Reading skills: previewing, predicting& understanding complex sentences (10/05hrs)
∙ Make predictions based on the title, sub-titles, students’ knowledge of the topic, the linguistic context, non-linguistic context such as diagrams, graphs, pictures, maps etc.
∙ Encourage to predict before reading, while reading, and after reading (a useful skill
to increase students’ reading speed and enhance their comprehension of the text).
Understanding complex sentences
∙ Focus: practice in seeing how long sentences which have a complicated style, (e.g. a main clause and a number of subordinate clauses) can be simplified ∙ Types of activities:
2). Making inferences - understanding indirectly stated ideas and information
(10/05hrs)
∙ Students are required to interpret or ‘read between the lines’ in order to make inferences. It involves students combining their literal understanding of the text with their personal knowledge and intuitions.
∙ Types of activities: what do you think? E.g. What kind of person wrote this article?
Why do you think so? What evidence is there in the passage for the following statements?
3). Understanding the organization of the text (10/05 hrs)
∙ Focus: practice in recognizing how sentences are joined together to make paragraphs, how paragraphs form the passage, and how this organization is signified.
∙ Types of activities:
∙ Discuss common organizational patterns providing sample texts. e.g. cause effect, sequence of events, describing a process, analogy and contrast, classification, argument and logical organization etc.
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∙ Types of activities:
4). Homonyms: homographs and homophones (10/05hrs)
∙ Homographs: words written in the same way, but have different meanings and may be pronounced differently.
e.g. I live in Kandy.
Your favourite star is performing live on TV tonight (write the two words in phonetic script and show the difference in pronunciation)
∙ Homophones: words with the same pronunciation but with a different spelling and pronunciation
e.g. Read this aloud.
I allowed him to go out. Come
here, I can’t hear you.
∙ Activities:
write the homophones of these words and use them in sentences
There, red, been, sail, by, etc.
Write the words according to the vowel sound. e.g. / u: /. = two
5). Compound words: compound adjectives (10/05hrs)
∙ Compound adjective has two parts. The second part is often a present or past participle
∙ Focus: a large number describe personal appearance (broad-shouldered). Others
describe person’s character. (good-natured, warm-hearted)
∙ There is another group which has a preposition in the second part. (worn-out shoes) There are other useful compound adjectives such as: air conditioned, time- consuming
∙ Types of activities
6). Foreign words in English (British & American words) (05/03 hrs) ∙ Focus: to be familiar with different varieties of English, British, American, Indian, British English words ending in -our, -re and –ise, usually end in -or, -er and –ize in American English. Students find examples. Check answers in a dictionary.
∙ Read a few American stories/poems/ magazines. List common American English words and their British English equivalents.
e.g. sidewalk- pavement, elevator-lift, apartment- flat.
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7). Words related to worldwide problems (05/02hrs)
∙ Focus: becoming familiar with the words connected with disasters/tragedies, verbs connected with these words and words for people involved in disasters ∙ Types of activities:
Finding the meaning and writing them
e.g. The explosion /typhoon/ flood resulted in 300 casualties (dead and injured)
EN 1212: Effective Communication Skills II
Interaction in ‘service’: Jobinterviews, business transactions (10/05hrs) ∙ Focus: Strategies for opening and closing conversations, how to use a neutral Style of speaking-polite and clear speech
∙ Procedure: job interviews –provide a model. Get students to read it and practice
With a partner. Assign different interview situations for different groups. Students prepare the interviews and practise them.
Office talk: over the phone, face-to-face (10/05hrs)
∙ Focus: how to provide information, manage interaction, negotiate meaning ∙ Types of activities:
e.g. your partner is a sales person. Look at the catalogue page, select two items you want to buy and give your order. Make sure your partner takes down the order correctly by confirming the information.
Conducting and participating in meetings (10/05hrs)
∙ Preparing for the meeting; selecting the office-bearers, writing the agenda, minutes
∙ Practicing appropriate strategies for opening and closing
∙ Conducting the meeting with whole-class participation
Planning, organizing and participating in social situations (10/05hrs) ∙ Focus: how to use conversation for both transactional and interactional purposes, in different social settings and for different social encounters. ∙ Types of activities: plan, organize and participate in a variety
entertainment, ‘shramadana’ campaign, picnic etc.
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Interviewing different people (10/05hrs)
∙ Focus: strategies for managing turn-taking in conversation, how to use a casual style of speaking and a neutral or more formal style.
∙ Taking notes, preparing reports/articles and presenting them.
∙ Types of activities:
Planning and organizing debates and participating in them (10/05hrs) ∙ Focus: how to initiate and continue a talk on a topic, how to present counter- arguments
∙ Procedure: 3 groups- a) proponents b) opponents c) judges
Stages:
EN 1213: Listening in English II
Transfer information (05/03hrs)
∙ Listen to the tape/ teacher and fill in the chart.
∙ Types of activities: tracing the route on a map, completing tables/ charts/forms
Retaining relevant points: note taking (05/02hrs)
∙ Focus: identifying relevant points-rejecting irrelevant information
∙ Types of activities: listen to a short text (speech/dialogue) and take down important points. Writing and speaking tasks based on them
Telephone conversations (05/03hrs)
∙ Focus: recognize discourse marks/cohesive devices, understanding different intonation patterns and use of stress which give clues to meaning and social setting.
∙ Types of activities:
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Using songs for listening (05/02hrs)
∙ Provide short lessons on vocabulary and grammar followed with different listening activities; e.g. Fill-in-the-blank task with the past tense verbs they hear.
Problem solving tasks (05/03hrs)
∙ Students hear all the information relevant to a particular problem and then set themselves to find solutions
Story – based techniques (05/02hrs)
∙ Activities: Listen and expand the outline-students listen and write the story while the teacher describes expanding the story as instructed.
e.g. The Unicorn
The husband woke up and looked out of the window.(describe the husband) He saw a unicorn eating a lily in the garden.(describe the garden) and so on….
EN 1214: Language Structure, Linguistics & Usage II (3)
Verbs & verb phrase (15/08 hrs)
∙ Types of verbs: lexical, auxiliary-primary and modal, regular, irregular, transitive, intransitive, stative, dynamic, finite, non-finite
∙ Verb forms: base, -s form, past, -ing form, -ed participle
∙ Activities to be familiar with verb forms
∙ The structure of the verb phrase
∙ Tense, aspect, voice, modality
∙ Label the tense, aspect and voice of the verb phrases.
e.g. was teaching-past tense, progressive aspect, active voice
Active and passive voice (15/07hrs)
∙ Construction-be+ past participle
∙ Negative and question forms
∙ Passive sentences with and without ‘by’. –when we want to say who or what was
responsible for the action we use ‘by’.
We were stopped by the police.
The visitors were driven to the airport.
Adjectives (15/08 hrs)
∙ Characteristics of adjectives
∙ Functions of adjectives:-
∙ Position of adjectives
∙ Adjective phrases
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Adverbs and adverbials (15/07hrs)
∙ Difference between adverbs and adverbials: adverb-word class, adverbial- a clause element
∙ Functions of adverbs
∙ Adverbials: adverbs (quickly), prepositional phrases (with a pencil), noun phrases (this morning)
∙ Semantic classes of adverbials: adverbials of manner/time/ place.
∙ Syntactic classes of adverbials: adjuncts, disjuncts, conjuncts
Linguistics
Varieties of language (06/ 03 hrs)
∙ Formal & informal language
∙ Spoken & written language
∙ Dialects- Social & regional
∙ Registers
∙ Idiolects
Varieties of English (06/ 03 hrs)
∙ British English ( RP)
∙ American English
∙ Standard Sri Lankan English
Supra segmental features (06/ 03 hrs)
∙ Stress- syllables & word stress, sentence stress
∙ Intonation- Falling, rising, rising- falling, falling- rising.
Aspects of connected speech (06/ 03 hrs)
∙ Linking- C+C, C+V, V+V, intrusion
∙ Assimilation- Progressive, Regressive
∙ Elision
Reduced & full forms (strong & weak forms) (06/ 03 hrs)
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EN: 1215 British & American Literature(6)
Poetry(40/20 hrs)
♦ Sylvia Plath -Mirror, Morning Song
♦ T.S Eliot -Morning at the Window
♦ Robert Frost - Mending Wall / Stopping by Woods in a snowy Evening
♦ H.W. Longfellow - Slave’s Dream
♦ Shakespeare - My Mistress eyes
♦ William Blake - Chimney Sweepers 1 / 2
♦ John Keats - Ode to Grecian Urn
♦ Wilfred Owen - DulceEt Decorum Est
♦ Rupert Brooke - Soldier
Short story(25/13hrs)
♦ ‘The old man at the Bridge’ by Ernest Hemmingway
♦ ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce
Drama(25/12 hrs)
♦ ‘King Lear’ or ‘Tempest’ by Shakespeare
EN 1216: Professional Writing II
Linking ideas: clauses and phrases (05/03 hrs)
∙ Activities: Provide sentences with linking words such as: because, so, but, although, in spite of, otherwise, except that, apart from. Get them to underline the linking words. Discuss the function of linking words
∙ Provide more activities.
Develop paragraphs: organizing ideas at inter-paragraph level (05/02 hrs)
∙ Generate ideas using different techniques: brain storming, group/class discussions, reading, illustrations
∙ Guidelines on organization: beginning, developmental Pattern-content (two or three paragraphs), ending, register, key words
∙ Writing drafts, conference with the teacher, revising
Informative writing (10/05 hrs)
∙ Text types: prospectuses, description of
places/people
∙ Focus: conveying information clearly. Consider what the reader wants to know and include relevant details only.
∙ Present materials clearly, appropriate layout, illustrations and organization
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Practical writing (10/05 hrs)
∙ Text types: CV writing, job applications and covering letters
∙ Focus on particulars found in an application form, CV format is different from application form
Letter writing- business letters (10/05 hrs)
∙ Text Types: letters of complaints, letters of orders, banking correspondence
∙ Focus: use formal and impersonal language
Imaginative writing (10/05 hrs)
∙ Text types: poetry, short stories, play lets
∙ Short stories
children playing…
∙ Poetry
∙ Playlets
Persuasive and argumentative writing(10/05 hrs)
∙ Writing skills: giving reasons: e.g. why do people gamble/become vegetarians/keep pets/enjoy watching violet films? (Ref: Language in Use: Upper-Intermediate. Classroom Book.Page40, 50) ∙ Text types
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EN 1217: CALL & Study Skills II
∙ The importance of preparation:
∙ Points to consider: objectives of the presentation, audience, manner, time, length, method, content, structure, notes, rehearsal
∙ Set of equipment: OHP, whiteboard, flipchart, computer, handouts,
∙ Delivering a presentation: beginning, rapport, content, body language, audience, cultural considerations, voice quality
∙ Language: simplicity, clarity, useful expressions that can be used to signpost the various parts of the presentation,
∙ Language for each function: introduction, welcome your audience, introduce subject, outline the structure, give instruction about questions, conclusion.
∙ Presentation itself
∙ Evaluation of presentation-provide an evaluation form
∙ Focus: Help students develop the characteristics of the’ good language learner’ which involve the ability to assess their own performance.
∙ Type of activities: formats for learner evaluation e.g. the following activity requires learners to reflect on what has been learned over a period of time and express it as marks out of 10.
∙ Think about your progress this month. Give yourself a mark out of 10 for these areas; Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing, Pronunciation, Grammar, Vocabulary
∙ Carry out small-scale research projects using available data with 2-4 students to a terminal. Prepare handouts, guide students to relevant data in internet and web- sites.
∙ Organize different information, present them to the rest of the class and write a report.
∙ Focus: equip students with basic skills needed for internet searching on their own and assess the suitability of the website for the intended purpose, e.g. learn to search with Google more effectively. ∙ Procedure: Prepare handouts giving specific guidance as to the topic and particular aspects they should look for. Reporting of findings to the class.
∙ Introduce the idea of using short video clips from websites for creative speaking and writing tasks.
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