Diploma Level Courses

Course Content

Course Content

The course contains four modules. You can work at your own pace when you have time and therefore have control over how long you will take to finish the course and earn your Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

The course is complete in itself and you do not need to buy any other materials. However, many students, particularly if they are trying for high grades, chose to undertake a certain amount of further reading from the suggested booklist.

You will need approximately 45 hours to complete each module including the assignments. Each module has two assignments that you must complete and send to your tutor by e-mail or post. Your tutor will mark and grade your work. The modules also have self correcting exercises along with the answer key and accompanying notes to help you see your own progress on the course.

You can e-mail or write to your personal tutor as often as you need to. Your tutor will do his or her best to reply to you the same or following day. If your assignment needs to be improved your tutor will make helpful suggestions. You can submit each assignment up to three times without further payment. If after the third attempt your work is still below a pass grade of C a small charge will be made to cover the additional administrative cost of marking your work.
The course includes reading, setting tasks, self-correcting exercises and written assignments. There are 4 modules in this course:

Module One

Objectives

By the end of this module you should:

1. be aware of the nature of language
2. have a knowledge of the different varieties of language
3. understand what constitutes error in language
4. understand how language is acquired
5. know which methodologies can be used to teach English
6. know the principles on which modern language teaching is based

Contents

Introduction: Learners' aims; different teaching situations.

Section A

1. What is language?
2. What is language for? Communication, control, socialization, thought, feelings
3. Language varieties Historical, geographical and social dialect; Register: age, sex, status, role; topic, medium, style
4. Appropriateness and error Communicative competence, mistakes, errors, teaching model.

Section B

1. Second language acquisition; Classical conditioning, creative learning, motivation
2. Second language acquisition Classical conditioning, creative learning, motivation
3. Language teaching methodologies Grammar-translation, direct methods, structural approach, audio-lingual approach, cognitive code, immersion method, lexical approach
4. Language teaching principles Selection, grading, contextualization, repetition, practice Tasks and self -correcting exercises Essays to be submitted Further reading

Module Two

Objectives

By the end of this module you should:

1. be aware of the aids available to the language teacher
2. know many of the techniques for using them
3. know what is involved in developing language skills
4. know how the aids and techniques can be used to do this

Contents

Section A

1. Aural/oral skills: General principles, receptive v. productive skills.
2. Teaching pronunciation: General points, discriminating sounds, producing sounds, stress and intonation.
3. Language drills: Contextualized drills, substitution tables.
4. Question and answer: Ten types and five levels
5. Dialogues, drama and role play
6. Extensive and intensive listening: Stories, comprehension passages, dictation
7. Flashcards and wordcards
8. Exploiting the blackboard
9. Realia
10. Pictures and charts: Magazine picture library, wall charts.
11. Songs and rhymes
12. Games and puzzles
13. Electronic aids

Section B

1. Reading and writing skills: Different learners, reading skills, writing skills
2. Teaching the script: Phonic method, look-and-say method, pre-reading activities, reading activities, letter formation
3. Teaching spelling: Spelling and reading, sound to symbol, symbol to sound
4. Composition from guided to free: Labelling, answers to questions, substitution tables, guided composition, free composition
5. Intensive reading: Progression of reading skills, reading activities.
6. Extensive reading: Readability, graded readers, reading records.
7. Exploiting texts: Using authentic texts, simplifying texts.
8. Integrated skills: The four skills, translation.

Tasks and self correcting exercises
Essays and work to be submitted
Further reading

Module Three

Objectives

By the end of the unit you should:

1. be aware of the factors affecting teaching aims
2. know what is involved in syllabus design
3. have a procedure for evaluating textbooks
4. understand the role of the teacher and have a basis for self-evaluation
5. be aware of the different modes of classroom interaction
6. be able to plan effective lessons
7. have a fund of ideas for planning lessons

Contents

Section A

1. Teaching Aims
   Course aims, sample syllabuses, textbook evaluation.
2. Class organisation
   Role of the teacher, modes of interaction, class layout

Section B

1. Lesson Planning
   Preparation, presentation, practice, testing, revision
2. Sample Lesson Plans
   Tasks and self correcting exercises

Tasks and self correcting exercises
Essays and work to be submitted
Further reading

Module Four

Objectives

By the end of the module you should:

1. have a knowledge of the main concerns of linguistic theory
2. know many linguistic terms and categories
3. be able to approach linguistic texts with confidence
4. have started to relate linguistic theory to the practice of teaching
5. be thinking more clearly about the content of what you teach

Contents

Section A

1. Phonetics and Phonology. The distinction between them, how sounds are made, phonemes, consonants, vowels, stress, rhythm, intonation.
2. Morphology. Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs
3. Vocabulary. Words, morphemes, collocation, meaning, subordination
4. Grammar.Parts of speech, clause, phrase, auxiliary and modal verbs, verb classes, tense systems and uses, complex verb phrases, noun classes, determiners, adjectives, pronouns and proforms, prepositions, conjunctions, conditionals

Section B

1. Applications of Linguistics to Language Teaching Error analysis, phonology, vocabulary selection, sentence complexity

Epilogue
Essays and work to be submitted
Further reading