CELTA Pre-Interview Task [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

Cambridge CELTA Pre-Interview Task Name Tetiana Kushnir Complete this task carefully. It is an important factor in considering your application. CELTA is an intensive four-week course of study. Because of this, candidates need to be fully prepared for the demands of the course and show that they are able to research language structures, a skill required of ESL teachers. Keep in mind that we cover language analysis on the CELTA course, so we do not expect you to be an expert in grammar before the course starts.



To help you please refer to a grammar book such as “Practical English Usage” by Michael Swan (Oxford University Press) or any other grammar reference book you might have at home or find in the library/book store.

Please make sure you proof-read your work carefully as the CELTA course requires a high level of written English. When you have finished, please send it to [email protected]. Retain a copy of this task for your interview.

Part one: Language awareness A. Error correction Each of the exchanges below contains a mistake. In each case: i) write the corrected version in the space provided ii) clarify your correction in simple English to explain the mistake Example Mr. Smith:

“Do you have much experience in the restaurant business?”

Giorgio:

“Yes, I’ve been working as a chef since 10 years.”

1

i) I’ve been working as a chef for ten years. ii) We use ‘since’ before a point in time – for example, since Tuesday, since 1992, since 5 o’clock. We use for before a period of time - for example, for two weeks, for six years, for ten minutes. In this case ‘10 years’ is a period of time, so we need ‘for’. 1. Maria:

“I’d like some informations about your courses.”

Receptionist:

“Certainly, here’s our brochure.”

i) I’d like some information about your courses. ii) We use information, since it’s an uncountable noun and cannot be pluralized. This word is abstract and is a conception. We use the plural form for nouns that one can hold in a hand and can count. 2. Jack: Pierre:

“How do you get to the CELTA center every day?” “I’m walking and then taking the subway.”

i) I walk and then take the subway ii) “every day” indicates a routine, therefore Present Simple ought to be used. Present continuous is used for actions in progress, at the moment of speaking; plans for the future and annoying habits. Neither of the above cited fits.

3. John: Helen: John:

“Did you see the movie on HBO last night?” “Yes I did, it was so a good movie” “Yeah, I think Tom Cruise is such a good actor.’ (Comment on the difference between so and such)

i) Yes I did, it was such a good movie ii) Though often having the same meaning – very, so and such are not interchangeable. The difference lies in the word being modified. Such is used before a noun phrase, whereas so is used before an adjective or adverbs. Thus the reply “Yes I did, it was so good” is also grammatically correct.

4. Carla:

“Can you borrow me $10?”

William:

“Sure. Here you are.”

i) “Can you lend me $10?” 2

ii) This is a typical mistake since lend and borrow are combined into one word in some languages. Similar to teach and learn, it is the same action viewed from opposite perspectives: lend equals to giving to, in contrast borrow equals to taking from.

B. Differences in meaning Comment on the difference in meaning between the following pairs of sentences, and outline how you might teach these differences in meaning. Example: a) Claire is working late again; she’s so passionate about her work! b) Jane is working late again; she’s so obsessed with her work! In the first sentence, the word ‘passionate’ suggests that Claire’s reason for working late is that she is driven by a love for her job and a healthy desire to succeed. In the second sentence, the word ‘obsessed’ suggests that Claire’s reason for working late is that she lacks a healthy balance in her life. She is so fixated on her work that perhaps she doesn’t do anything else, or perhaps other areas of her life are negatively affected. To teach it, I would draw two pictures (or bring in two photographs). The first would be of a person working at her desk in an office. I would show the time with a clock on the wall (showing 9:30 pm). She would have a smile on her face to show that she was happy (and passionate about her work!) For the second sentence, I would have a picture of Jane at her desk in her office, but she would look tired (and a little stressed). The time would still be 9:30pm on the clock. I hope these two examples would show the positive/negative aspects of the two sentences.

3

1. a) She is alone. b) She is lonely. The words alone and lonely convey two different meanings; though both communicate to the reader she is on her own. One might define lonely as feeing alone at heart; conversely alone can be defined as being physically by oneself. To clarify the differences I would give an example for each. Alone: a girl by herself in the woods, feeling scared knowing there’s not a soul nearby. Lonely: a celebrity, who doesn’t feel he/she can entrust anyone, and has no real friends. When a person is extremely lonely, he/she might not feel there’s reason for living, and might give in to foolish actions as to fill the hole inside him/her. I would ask the students of their personal perception - if they feel lonely, when they are alone. To ensure the class understands the meaning I would ask to give examples of behavior of a person who feels lonely. For students with limited vocabulary I would ask yes/no questions, while providing the examples myself. 2. a) What time is it? b) Do you mind telling me what the time is please? The difference is that the first question is used in informal English; in contrast, the following one is used in formal English. We use informal speech when we talk to someone we’re acquainted to very well and in personal conversations. Vice versa, we use formal speech when we talk to people we’re not well familiar with, e.g. in work-related situations. Universally, in formal English speakers are more polite in order to show respect. It tends to be the same case with written English, since the reader cannot interpret the intonation and tone of voice of the writer. I would also note that there are different degrees of politeness, giving the below examples: “May I ask what time it is?” (High degree of politeness, formal) “Do you mind telling me what time is it?” (Even more polite) “Would you mind telling me the time?” (Extremely polite) I would note that “please” is to show politeness and is never excessive. It is usually utilized to show consideration, and helps to distinguish a command from a request, unless coming from a person with higher authority (in such case it is simply a politeness marker).

4

To bring out the contrast I would try to amuse the students, asking them to imagine using phrases “wassup” and “peace out” when speaking to the queen. Then ask to imagine a wife talking to her husband, and saying the following phrases “good evening” and “it’s been a pleasure seeing you, good bye”. To ensure the class understands the meaning I would request to give examples of inappropriate usage of formal and informal English. For students with limited vocabulary I would ask yes/no questions, whilst providing the examples myself. 3. a) If I become president, I’ll lower taxes. b) If I had become president, I would have lowered taxes. Example A is a first conditional, which is used to describe an outcome that is highly likely to happen, if a particular situation, which has a real possibility of happening in the future, takes place. First conditional can also voice superstitions or warnings. The 1st conditional consists of:

if + present simple clause, where the person describes a probable

condition in the future And will (other modal verbs, going to) + base verb, where the outcome is described. The imperative can be used in the main (result) clause instead of “will”. The conjunctions of time [when, before, after, as soon as, until] can be used in the dependent (condition) clause instead of “if”. Example B is a third conditional, which is used to describe a hypothetical circumstance that took place in the past, and the imagined consequence of such a situation. Third conditional can also show regrets or criticism. The 3rd conditional consists of:

if + past perfect (past perfect continuous), where the person is

fantasizing of an unreal and impossible situation in the past And would have (other modal verbs) + past participle (present perfect continuous), where what would have happened is described in case the if cause were real. To clear up possible misunderstanding I’d ask the pupils to come up with their own examples, imagining the undermentioned situations: a) “When I become a parent, I’ll …” and “If I get married, I’ll…” b) “If I had known that… , I would have… ”

5

All words of more than two syllables in English have one specific syllable which is stressed. For example, in the noun ‘record’ (bought in a record store) the ‘stress’—i.e. the louder syllable—is the first syllable: ‘REcord’ Oo. But in the verb ‘to record’ (e.g. ‘Elvis tried to record an album every year) the stress is on the second syllable ‘reCORD’ oO. In the following words, underline the syllable which takes the main stress, then put the word into the correct column below according to the number of syllables and the main stress. examples: momentous computer

banana

hospitality

bystander

menu

superb

burger

independent

ratio

undeniable

photograph

reliable

photographer

photographic oO

Oo

record (verb)

menu

Photograph

superb

record

ratio

(noun)

Ooo

oOo

ooOo

oOoo

ooOoo

Banana

Independent

reliable

Hospitality

photographic

photographe

momentous computer

undeniable

r

bystander burger

D. Sounds Match the underlined sound of the words in column A to a word in column B with a corresponding sound. Note: the sound can correspond to any sound in the words in Column B. For example: advice goes with sip. Beware! The spelling of the sound may be different!

6

Column A

Column B

i.

advice

a. unit

ii.

advise

b. jump

iii.

day

c. eight

iv.

beach

d. though

v.

lodge

e. thick

vi.

thin

f. sip

vii.

breathe

viii.

young

g. week h. zoo

Part two: Approaches to teaching and learning Write a minimum of 250-300 words about what you think constitutes a good language lesson, based on your experiences. If you go online and google “what constitutes a good language lesson”, you’ll get over 55 million results, with each link providing half a dozen tips, aimed for teachers striving to master their professional skills. It goes without saying that being a great teacher is an admirable goal demanding a fair amount of perseverance. The way I see it, with a myriad of educational systems and styles a teacher performs a sort of juggling act, if you will, trying to balance a vast variety of methods and techniques of introducing and exercising a language. In my humble opinion, the key to understanding of what constitutes a good language lesson lies in embracing the fact that, whilst learning a language, there is no such thing as a perfect textbook that would work for all age groups, people of different cultural backgrounds with various aims, language level, and learning capabilities. I believe a good lesson is one with successful results. The way I determine pure success, in respect towards learning a language, is not when the student has understood the subject matter, neither is it when the he/she has memorized it. It is when the student had left the classroom with such inspiration, he/she has continued researching the learned topic autonomously. From where I stand, a determinant of an ultimately fruitful lesson is when the pupil actually draws upon the studied material appropriately, in a real life situation, and outside the classroom. It is important to recognize that each person has his/her own learning pace and the language mentor ought to be sensitive about it. And thus a respectable teacher seeks to tailor the lessons to the class rather than to simply follow the course book. The lesson plan should allow some level of flexibility, in case the educator has to respond to anybody’s emerged needs. Another point is that the educator should demonstrate thorough knowledge of the subject. Although this is something that makes rudimentary sense, the contrary has been known to take place. Learners can feel a 7

teacher’s uncertainty, which may result in undermining their trust in him/her. It is crucial for the educator to be particularly enthusiastic regarding the language they’re teaching. Genuine interest is contagious and I reckon is one of the key factors in language progress. Imagine a lesson as a musical composition. Without the intro (warm-up) jumping straight to the passage (activities), the listener will be disoriented. In a lesson, timing is equally as necessary as it is in a musical piece. It is a sad sight when the teacher has run out of activities for pupils to do. He/She must be armed and ready for varying scenarios, including a possibly leaving out an exercise or two without affecting the subject familiarization. The same as to the process of creating a memorable song, to spike people’s interest a predictable course (task) ought to be avoided. To keep both children and adults interested, I’ve noticed that engaging visual (photos), auditory (songs) and kinesthetic (field trip) senses triples the memorizing effect. The topic of the lesson must be taught as a stand-alone unit, so that after the pupils leave the classroom they would have a feeling they have learned something specific and concrete. It should give a sense of completeness to allow the students replay the learned material at will. Each activity should have an objective. When you share the goal of the lesson and its exercises, you make the students realize the lesson has been planned and has a purpose. There is nothing more irritating than studying a topic without rationale present. When planning a lesson ask yourself: “what are the short- and long-term goals of my students?” Starting a lesson with a warm-up allows the students to engage straight away. I for one, believe that a personalized approach is imperative for overcoming the language barrier. To put the students at ease I always start the lesson with candidly asking simple questions like: “How was your holiday/ weekend/ day so far?” Teachers ought to remember that language learning is a practical skill and the lesson should be centered around the student instead of the characters in the textbook. The amount of teacher talk should be cut down to a minimum. We can safely say that for the most part people learn a new language merely to be able to communicate with other people. It is common knowledge that the best way to learn to do so is through authentic communication and social interactions. Thus although reading and writing skills are pivotal, listening skills have a higher priority in my list, with speaking skills being paramount. Exposing the students to natural, native, everyday speech and imitating language immersion by all means available are the practices I stress on the most. Challenging students with creativity tasks, resorting to lesson planning, course books, media resources etc. should not replace but compliment the teacher.

8

I firmly believe in mutual respect and give students a sense of control regarding the classroom activities. I ask for their feedback and analyze the lessons held. To my way of thinking, a language mentor should encourage a sense of unity among the class, and treat pupils as individuals enquiring about their preferences, wishes, goas and beliefs. Finish the lesson by asking yourself: “Did I meet the students’ needs?”, “Did they enjoy my class?” and “How can I improve?”

9

Disclosure Before submitting your pre-interview task, please read the points below and type your name with the date below. If you have any questions concerning these points, please send your queries to [email protected].

1. I understand and acknowledge that upon commencement of a GRADE CELTA course, the course fee will not be refunded if I decide to withdraw. 2. I acknowledge that the CELTA course is a Pass/Fail course, and that if I receive a 'Fail' grade, the result cannot be changed, and that the course fee will not be refunded. 3. I acknowledge that the GRADE CELTA course requires 100% class attendance, in addition to work outside of scheduled contact hours. As a result, absences, tardiness, incomplete or late assignments may compromise my grade on the course. 4. I confirm that all of the information disclosed in my application is complete and accurate, including any circumstances that may affect my performance on the course. 5. I confirm that the pre-interview task is my own work.

Signature

Name: Tetiana Kushnir

Date: 24 January 2015

10

The Interview Thank you for completing the pre-interview task! Once we have received the pre-interview task we will get back to you to set up a suitable time for an interview. We run most of our interviews during daytime working hours from Monday to Friday. Please complete the following grid to give us an idea of the best time for you. Candidates will be calling into our office for telephone interviews. In-person interviews are held only at the GRADE CELTA centre when a qualified interviewer is available.

What type of interview would you like?

By

In person

telephone/skype*

*Please indicate your skype contact here: ________________________________

During the next two weeks, are there any dates you are not available? If so, when? Which time best suits your schedule Is there any other information that will help us to set up a suitable time for an interview?

11