Page 161 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Sequencing of Activities

Table 10.2 Example of Designing Learning Outcomes
Stem By the end of the lesson learners will be able to
Action verb name and categorize
Learning food into healthy and unhealthy
Context in a game played in English as a foreign language.

especially evident in content-based and CLIL lessons where it is also useful
to distinguish between teaching objectives and learning outcomes (Coyle,
2005). The teaching objectives refer to the knowledge, skills and understand-
ingwhich areintendedtobetaughtand developed, whilethe focusoflearn-
ing outcomes is on the learners and what they will be able to do and under-
stand after the teacher’s instruction. So, for example, if one of the objectives
of a lesson focused on specific aspects of water is to understand the water
cycle through the medium of English, the learning outcome can be for the
learners to be able to give a small-group power point presentation explain-
ing the water cycle (Coyle, 2005).
We can say that the learning objectives define the learning outcomes and
help the teacher to focus and organise the teaching process. Clear, specific
learning objectives will also help the learners to evaluate their own progress
and take responsibility for their learning (Table 10.2). Finally, in planning and
designing objectives, teachers should follow and refer to the objectives laid
out in the national foreign language curriculum.

Reflection Point
Discuss how you can improve the following objectives. Start with ‘Pupils will
be able to ...’
• Pupils will learn the names of different animal habitats.
• Pupils will listen to a recording in which two people order food in a restau-
rant.
• Pupils will practice English prepositions of place.

Sequencing of Activities
The lesson plan usually gives information on the procedures to be followed
and the sequencing of activities. There are different ways of ordering activ-
ities in the lessons. One of the most well-known lesson structure models is
the so-called Presentation-Practice-Production model (PPP) which is based
on a logical progression from the presentation of new language and con-
trolled practice to free, spontaneous uses of language. Several other alterna-

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