Written Assignment 4 – Lessons From The Classroom

NAME SUBMISSION DATE WORD COUNT

Hnin Wut Yee Oo (Snow) 24.8.2021 1000

Candidates are reminded of the Centre’s policy on plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as submitting as one’s own work, irrespective
of intent to deceive, that which derives in part or in its entirety from the work of others without due acknowledgement. It is both
poor scholarship and a breach of academic integrity.

I CONFIRM THAT THIS SUBMISSION IS ALL MY OWN WORK.

SIGNED: Hnin DATE: 24.8.2021

Reserved for the tutor

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (CELTA Syllabus and Assessment Guidelines - Fifth Edition)
st
1 submission 2nd submission

can note their own teaching strengths and weaknesses in different situations in light of feedback from learners,
teachers and teacher educators
can identify which ELT areas of knowledge and skills they need further development in

can describe in a specific way how they might develop their ELT knowledge and skills beyond this course

can use written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task

FIRST SUBMISSION Result PASS RE-SUBMISSION

Tutor comments:

Signed: Date: Double mark:

SECOND SUBMISSION Result PASS FAIL

Tutor comments:

Signed: Date: Double mark:

Referencing
Your assignments need to be written in clear, accurate and academic English with appropriate in text referencing. You should use
mainly indirect quotes, meaning that you paraphrased the text. If specific quotes are used, they should be referenced using

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author(s)’ surname(s), year of publication and page numbers quoted, e.g. (Richards 2001:98). Page numbers are not required if
indirect quotes are used. E.g. Richards (2001).

The bibliography should be presented in alphabetical order of author’s surname. Year of publication, city and publisher should be
included. This should be presented after the assignment and before the appendices, and should only include publications referred
to in the text itself.

Referencing should follow a recognised format throughout the assignment.

Here are examples of references according to the APA Publication Manual, (6th ed., 2009); for more information see
www.apastyle.org or visit https://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm for additional examples.

Single author book

Richards, J.C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Section of edited book

Messick, S. (1989). Validity. In R. Linn (Ed.), Educational measurement. (pp. 13–103). New York: Macmillan.

Journal article
Chapelle, C. (1999). Validity in language assessment. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 19, 254–272.

Edited book
Graves, K. (Ed.) (1996). Teachers as course developers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Electronic source
British Educational Research Association. (1992). Ethical guidelines. Retrieved 22 May, 2016, from:
http://www.bera.ac.uk/guidelines.html

Cambridge dictionary (n.d.) Bamboozle Retrieved 22 April, 2021, from:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bamboozle

*(n.d.) = no date available

Please note that the bibliography is not included in the word count

Plagiarism
Please note that plagiarism includes:

 copying another’s language or ideas as if they were your own;

 unauthorised collusion;
 quoting directly without making it clear by standard referencing and the use of quotation marks and/or layout (indented
paragraphs, for example) that you are doing so;
 using text downloaded from the internet without referencing the source conventionally;
 closely paraphrasing a text;
 submitting work which has been undertaken wholly or in part by someone else.

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 Instructions
Section A (50-70 words)
 give a description of yourself as a teacher as seen through the eyes of your learners. Use the third person, e.g. ‘John is
a calm and patient teacher; he is able to…’

Section B
 indicate specific and well-focused strengths;
 use practical examples to show evidence of each strength;
 respond to all questions.

Section C
 indicate specific and well-focused areas for continued development;
 use practical examples to show evidence of each area for continued development;
 respond to all questions;
 indicate specific and well-focused ways to address each area for continued development;
 refer to TP7 and / or 8.

Section D
 state the name of the colleague (one of your fellow trainees) and more experienced teacher (one of your trainers)
 give practical examples of the specific techniques employed;
 indicate a specific reason.

Section E
 identify a specific area for professional development; please note that each area for professional development must be
different from Section C.
 indicate a specific reason;
 indicate specific and well-focused ways to implement your development plan.

The length of the assignment must be between 750 and 1000 words (+/- 10%). Any submission exceeding the word limit
is an automatic resubmission.

Please write in continuous prose throughout.

Checklist
Overview of yourself as a teacher
3 specific personal strengths, including practical examples and reasons
3 specific areas of continued development, including practical examples, reasons and specific ways to develop
2 specific strengths observed in colleagues (fellow trainees), including specific techniques employed and reasons
1 specific strength observed in more experienced teachers (trainers), including specific techniques employed and
reasons
3 specific personal areas of professional development, including specific ways to develop

Recommendations
Potential Pitfalls
 Not giving clear enough examples of strengths / areas for development
 Not showing awareness of why strengths are important / weaknesses need to be overcome
 Not referring to feedback from tutors, peers and students
 Not providing clear action points for improving your areas for development
 Not referring to specific techniques used by 2 of your peers and also techniques used by experienced teachers you
observed
 Not providing a clear action plan for your development after the course

Ways to shine
 Provide a clear and balanced summary of your teaching and progress on the course
 Show a clear understanding of why your own strengths and those observed in others are important for successful
teaching
 Show a clear understanding of why weaknesses need to be overcome and provide a clear action plan to achieve this
 Provide a clear action plan for your future development beyond the course (you could divide this into long and short term
goals and action plans)

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 SECTION A – Overview

Put yourself in the place of one of the students in your TP lessons. Try to see yourself as a teacher from that students’ point of view,
and write (in the third person) a description/evaluation of your teaching, focusing both on specific aspects of your lessons (e.g.
atmosphere, your personality, your reactions to different students) and on the techniques that you have used which are used by many
teachers (e.g. pairwork).

Snow is an active and friendly teacher who always supportively provides what students don’t know. She can flexibly engage with
students and understand their situation whether they are fine or not. The learning atmosphere is cheerful with funny and interesting
tasks. Although she actively engages with them, sometimes she is hesitant to ask questions and she just gives input deductively. She
sets up the pair works and group works mostly so, she lets them communicate with different students. She always uses P-P-P (Present-
practice-produce) method in every lesson so they can follow everything effectively.

SECTION B – Teaching Strengths

What do you feel are (or will be) the strengths of your own teaching? Refer to feedback from your tutors, peers and students.

Strength 1 Establishing good rapport with learners

I always engage with students well before the lesson, during the lesson and after the lesson.
Examples from your Students are interested in lesson and actively participate in the tasks. As observed by my trainer in
teaching most TPs especially 1,2,3,4, he mentioned that I could build rapport with students effectively as
lessons went well and students enjoyed the lesson.
This is a strength because it can lead to the success of classroom management as I can maintain the
Why this is a strength and
why it is important
student-teacher relationship well. It is important because learners will always trust me and come to
class with enthusiasm to learn.

Strength 2 Monitoring during the task and being ready to help learners when they encounter issues
As noticed by my peer in TP4, he said that he appreciated the way I monitored students in the
Examples from your breakout room and observed them. If students encounter how to use unfamiliar words or meaning, I
teaching provide them what they need by eliciting. When students stay quiet, they are encouraged to speak
out.
Why this is a strength and This is a strength because it can develop giving feedback after monitoring. It’s important because
why it is important students are carefully observed and provided what they need.

Strength 3 Staging lesson procedures well

I can stage lesson procedures according to the frameworks such as text-based or test-teach-test
Examples from your
teaching
lesson. I usually put variety of tasks as unscrambling, filling in gaps and so on in each stage. As
observed by my trainer in TP2 and 4, he appreciated the way I staged logically.
Why this is a strength and This is the strength because it can make lesson-planning efficient. It’s important as students are
why it is important conducted the lessons with a variety of practice in each stage.

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 SECTION C – Areas of Continued Development

What do you feel are the areas for improvement at the moment and how do you think they can be overcome? Refer to feedback from
your tutors, peers and students. Consider how these areas can be addressed in TP7 and / or TP8.

Area 1 Reducing teacher-talking-time

I usually talk more than students and don’t wait for them until they respond in clarification. As
Examples from your students have to generate their ideas, it may take time for them. Another example is that using long
teaching sentence to give instructions as “What we’re going to deal with right now is ….” isn’t appropriate for
learners as mentioned by my trainer and peers in TP 1 and 2.
Why this is an area for This is an area for development because it can lead to teacher-centered and students are unable to
development and how can
developing benefit the
practise their language. By encouraging to use guided discovery task and wait for them patiently,
learners? learners will get more opportunity to express their ideas using language.

Specific ways you can

I will read Chapter 3 of “Learning Teaching” by Jim Scrivener and try to demonstrate instead of giving
develop this area (refer to
TP7 and / or 8) long instructions for TP 7 and TP 8.

Area 2 Asking clear concept-checking-questions

I usually ask CCQs with broad meaning as in “What are the phrases used by the waiter?”. It became
Examples from your
teaching
a vague one and learners didn’t know what to answer. As observed by my peer, I should avoid asking
such kinds of CCQs.
Why this is an area for This is an area to develop because students are checked whether they understand or not. I will
development and how can
developing benefit the
refine the language and form the short sentences that relate to the meaning of the language so that
learners? students develop understanding meaning.

Specific ways you can

develop this area (refer to I will watch asking clear CCQs videos posted in “elttraining” channel on You-tube before TP7 and 8.
TP7 and / or 8)

Area 3 Language analysis and accuracy

Examples from your I analyzed the sayings by separating the words. As observed by my trainer in TP3, I need to work on
teaching analyzing the language.
Why this is an area for
development and how can This is an area for development because I have to provide the correct model of language to learners.
developing benefit the Students can get the correct model of language and apply in real communication.
learners?
Specific ways you can
By reading Chapter 5 of “Learning Teaching” by Jim Scrivener, I will try to learn analyzing all aspects
develop this area (refer to
TP7 and / or 8) of meaning and forms in language.

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 SECTION D – Peer Observations and Application to your own Teaching

What strengths have you noticed in your peers’ teaching that you would like to emulate? What things do you remember from the
observations of your trainers or other experienced teachers that you would like to incorporate into your own teaching? Refer to specific
peers and lessons.

Teacher 1 and strength Phuong - Using guided discovery

Specific techniques Providing learner-centered clarifying meaning and form. E.g.She sets up the task to clarify meaning
employed and form in function lesson and lets students discuss on their own.
Why you would like to
I would like to do clarification more effectively and make sure students understand the meaning and
incorporate this into your
teaching form through discussion instead of eliciting and modelling by a teacher.

Teacher 2 and strength Paul - Demonstrating

Specific techniques Providing a demo so that students can do the task properly. E.g. He uses demonstrations and
employed examples before performing the tasks.
Why you would like to
As I mostly give inaccurate long instructions for tasks, I want to try demonstration to check
incorporate this into your
teaching understanding what to do before performing the tasks.

Tutor or Experienced
Teacher strength
Yuli - Eliciting

Specific techniques Providing the way to generate the language. E.g. He always elicits the meaning and form from
employed students by asking CCQs instead of modelling directly.
Why you would like to
Sometimes, I don’t come up with idea to elicit from students and I just gave explanation deductively. I
incorporate this into your
teaching should know how to check student’s understanding.

SECTION E – Post-CELTA Professional Development Action Plan

Create an action plan for your overall professional development after the course. Say what you’d Iike to achieve and how you intend to
develop your knowledge, skills, and career after the course. Be specific here and do not repeat point points from Section C.

Area for development 1 and I’d like to work on my knowledge of pronunciation in connected speech and intonation so that I
why can model the correct pronunciation.
How you will develop this I will read level 3 of part 1 and 2 in Sound Foundation by Adrian Underhill and I will watch “Teaching
area Pronunciation” videos in “elttraining” channel on You-tube.

Area for development 2 and I would like to consider the specific aims of the lesson plan because the aims I have written are too
why vague.
I will read Chapter 5 in “The Practice of English Language Teaching” by Jeremy Harmer and chapter
How you will develop this
area
6 in Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener so that I can realize student’s needs and give the specific
aims to provide the suitable lesson.

Area for development 3 and I am encouraged to clarify the meaning, form and pronunciation and to give feedback on
why language.
How you will develop this I will attend the conferences and workshops formed by international ELT communities as IATEFL to

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 discuss about the issues of clarification and feedback and to learn how each teacher copes with
area
those areas.

Bibliography (if applicable)

Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning Teaching: The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching (3rd
ed.). Oxford: Macmillan Publisher Limited.
Underhill, A. (2005). Sound Foundation: Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. Oxford: Macmillan

Publishers Limited.

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