TKT UNITS 1-8
UNIT 1 GRAMMAR
In this unit the main purpose is to explain the principal concepts related to grammar and some functions of parts of speech in the language which will have been studied acutely to define and describe language skills and language too. Firstly, grammar studies how word are linked to create sentences. The use of grammar is done all the time, while we read a text, listen to music, write a letter, give an oral lesson, etc. English language considered nine parts of speech in grammar: verbs, nouns, adjectives, determiners, adverbs, prepositions, exclamations, conjunctions and pronouns. They vary depending on the function that they will play in the language. On the other hand, I could say that the best thing that I have learnt in this unit was the grammatical use of the language referring to a particular grammar convey meaning in different ways and lots of times the meaning could change depending on the context. To sum up, grammar and its different forms are a vital part in everybody’s live.
References:
Planning a grammar lesson. (2010). TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/planning-a-grammar-lesson
Nelson, G. (2002). English: an essential grammar. Routledge.
UNIT 2 LEXIS
First, this unit taught me while I was reading it the four kinds of meaning that every word has. The first type is Denotative meaning which refers to the definition of words, e.g. table (a structure made of wooden used mostly to eat). Next, we have figurative meaning, this is the non-literal meaning, e.g. It’s raining cats and dogs. Then, the context, through this is possible to explain the concept of any phrase or word. Finally, the meaning of vocabulary items, it is derived from the formation of words, such as; prefixes (addition of letters at the beginning of the word), suffixes (addition of letters at the end of the word), compounds (words created bounding from more than one word), collocations (words that most of the time goes together), idioms (fixed expression), synonyms (similar definition), antonyms (a contrary definition), false friend (similar words in different languages), homophones (same pronunciation), homonyms (same pronunciation and spelling) and finally varieties of English (diversity of spoken English).
UNIT 3 PHONOLOGY
Firstly, the main topic of this unit is phonology which studies sound features. In some languages there are some symbols mostly difficult to decode which represents phonemic sounds and through them understand how to pronounce a word correctly, e.g. /d/ this phoneme is an unit of sound, no matter the size (smallest). Sounds are divided into:
1. Vowels (a-e-i-o-u)
2. Consonants (b-c-d-f-g-h)
3. Diphthongs (ei)
4. Voiced sounds (book)
5. Unvoiced sounds (five)
Word stress is something important reviewed in this unit because it has a lot of importance at the moment to pronounce English words correctly. As equal as sentence stress that provides rhythm to the language. Into it, there are primary, secondary, contrastive and connected speech. Contractions, rhythm, weak forms, word boundaries, linking and intonation are characteristics of connected stress. Finally, in phonology there is encompassed how speech sounds could change and behave in a determined language.
References:
Blevins, J. (2004). Evolutionary phonology: The emergence of sound patterns. Cambridge University Press.
Chun, D. (2007). Technological advances in researching and teaching phonology. Phonology In Context, 274-299. doi:10.1057/9780230625396_11
UNIT 4 FUNCTION
In this unit is stated that function is the main reason why people communicate, it means that every single message that someone transmits by reading, writing, listening or speaking has a specific purpose. depending on the situation called register (level of formality of the language). Furthermore, it is necessary to consider some important aspects that English language owns, which are: context (surrounded parts around a word which influence in its meaning) exponent (functions expressed and is dependent from the context) and function (reason to communicate). Contrary, exponents could indicate what registers people usually use when communicate. As a result, it is important to indicate these five levels of exponents: informal, formal, neutral, colloquial and appropriacy. An exponent plays an important role in English language because through it are presented lots of functions. However, context can make them vary.
Origins of functions of the language
Functions of the language
References:
Functions. (2018). TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/functions
Ellis, M., & Johnson, C. (1994). Teaching business english (pp. 25-38). Oxford
Origins of functions of the language
Functions of the language
References:
Functions. (2018). TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Retrieved 22 April 2018, from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/functions
Ellis, M., & Johnson, C. (1994). Teaching business english (pp. 25-38). Oxford
UNIT 5 READING
In this unit, the author explains all about one of the language skills which reading. It is imperative to know that reading skills is one of the two receptive skills from the language, i.e. this skill is used by readers to make sense of pieces of written text. Moreover, Reading has some subskills that helps us to understand better texts, they are: reading for detail (to get the definition of every single word) reading for specific information or scanning (get the main idea of the written text), deducing meaning from context (get the meaning of the word by reading other words surrounding it) understand text structures (identify the type of text that you will read), reading for gist or skimming (read for understanding the text globally), inferring (to get the meaning from a text by the register, style, etc.), predicting (use clues before reading to guess what the text is about). To sum up, to understand better written language the use of subskills is necessary and to get a higher comprehension of the text, in this way the reader is able to answer questions and talk about the text.
What is Reading?
Why reading is so hard?
References:
Theories of reading 2. (2018). TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. Retrieved 16 April 2018, from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/theories-reading-2
VanDuzer, C. (1999). Reading and the Adult English Language Learner. ERIC Digest.
UNIT 6 WRITING
Some linguists consider that written language as secondary they say because it is acquired after spoken language, but, is noticeable than in this unit how important are the steps and the necessary process to cope with. There explain about grammatical and lexical patterns that every text has to follow to have coherence and cohesion. Furthermore, in this unit we read about some words used to connect ideas and help to comprehend better the text, they are called linking words. Finally, to know the way or the process that a text suffers, starting by the drafting, editing, publishing helps to understand that every single step is very important to get a good writing.
What is Writing?
Why is writing so hard?
References:
Zamel, V. (1982). Writing: The Process of Discovering Meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 16(2), 195. doi:10.2307/3586792
The case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes: A response to truscott (1996). (1999). Journal Of Second Language Writing, 8(1), 1-11. doi:10.1016/s1060-3743(99)80110-6
What is Writing?
Why is writing so hard?
References:
Zamel, V. (1982). Writing: The Process of Discovering Meaning. TESOL Quarterly, 16(2), 195. doi:10.2307/3586792
The case for grammar correction in L2 writing classes: A response to truscott (1996). (1999). Journal Of Second Language Writing, 8(1), 1-11. doi:10.1016/s1060-3743(99)80110-6
UNIT 7 LISTENING
In this unit, listening is presented as a receptive skill which allows to the listener (receptor) to interpret codes send by others through speaking and understand better the ideas from the transmitter. As in reading, listening also has some subskills which help the listener to understand better the audio, such as: listening for main ideas or the gist of the complete audio. Another one is to notice phonological and sound patterns. These subskills are very useful if someone wants to learn to differentiate similar words (homophones). This skill is very complex and last more than others to be mastered because always is different from L1.
What is Listening?
Active Listening. How to be a great Listener?
References:
Richards, J. C. (1983). Listening comprehension: Approach, design, procedure. TESOL quarterly, 17(2), 219-240
Miller, L. (2003). Developing listening skills with authentic materials
What is Listening?
Active Listening. How to be a great Listener?
References:
Richards, J. C. (1983). Listening comprehension: Approach, design, procedure. TESOL quarterly, 17(2), 219-240
Miller, L. (2003). Developing listening skills with authentic materials
UNIT 8 SPEAKING
Speaking is one of the 4 skills of the language and it is a productive skill. In this unit, this is conceptualized like a set of language policies and rules need to convey orally a message to be understood by a receptor (listener). When someone is learning a secondary language, learning speaking is the main objective to learn that language because it is more important to speak the language to communicate with others. As the rest of language skills, speaking also has some subskills, pronouncing words correctly and the degree of fluency in which the conversation could be made easily and fluently. However, I believe that accuracy is one of the most important speaking subskill. It is impossible to have a conversation without it, imagine a message without accuracy, different listeners will understand it in different ways. So, its interpretation will be wrong or misunderstood. It is so important because even if the message has some grammatical errors if it is accurate, it could be well interpreted by listeners.
What is speaking in tongues?
Basic public speaking tips
References:
Kormos, J., & Dénes, M. (2004). Exploring measures and perceptions of fluency in the speech of second language learners. System, 32(2), 145-164
Shih, R. C. (2010). Blended learning using video-based blogs: Public speaking for English as a second language students. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(6)
What is speaking in tongues?
Basic public speaking tips
References:
Kormos, J., & Dénes, M. (2004). Exploring measures and perceptions of fluency in the speech of second language learners. System, 32(2), 145-164
Shih, R. C. (2010). Blended learning using video-based blogs: Public speaking for English as a second language students. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(6)
ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Teachers are always experimenting with different things, problems and situations during their career. One of them is to deal with student’s achievements and difficulties, and also perceive how students feel about them. This theory is related with that because it presents how students relates their lack of attention with their failures or lack of knowledge or lack of motivation. Also, it explains how students relate their achievement to dedication and effort. It influences student’s behavior because when they feel convinced of that they are able to cope with any situation better than without that influence. On the other hand, when they don’t feel motivated or don’t think that they are capable to do something the result is that they won’t achieve their goals.
Attribution Theory
How it works?
References:
Brown, K. L. (2003). From teacher-centered to learner-centered curriculum: Improving learning in diverse classrooms. Education, 124(1), 49-55
Attribution Theory
How it works?
References:
Brown, K. L. (2003). From teacher-centered to learner-centered curriculum: Improving learning in diverse classrooms. Education, 124(1), 49-55
LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING
To have a class in which the focus of attention is the student is something that has been the main purpose for teachers for years. However, some methods and strategies that are odd and traditionalists has been used in classrooms and in this way, students feel frustrated because this educational environment is not friendly with students, it doesn’t allow students to get their best potential. Lately, some new approaches start to appear in the educational field, but the most remarkable is the learner-centered teaching in which the intention is to recreate a new environment in classrooms in which students are the most important factor, working in peers, cooperating, communicating to choose new topics and create new activities based on their thoughts and ideas. In the book, there is an example which involves some speaking activities which was created by the teacher and students felt more motivated than before because the level of difficulty was lower than before and it was more entertaining. Also, Teacher Talking time (TTT) was reduced and Students talking time (STT) was increased.
Learner centered teaching. An overview
Teacher centered vs learner centered
References:
Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2000). A learner-centered approach to multimedia explanations: Deriving instructional design principles from cognitive theory. Interactive multimedia electronic journal of computer-enhanced learning, 2(2), 12-20.
Weimer, M. (2002). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice. John Wiley & Sons
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