INTRODUCTION
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At Santa Barbara High School instruction in English as a Second Language is explicit and relates directly to what students should be able to accomplish through the use of English. Instructional approaches and methods should involve the students in learning to perform those behaviors described in the goals and obectives. No one approach is best for all teachers and students. Teachers know and understand that theories and methods of language acquisition are eclectic.
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Units, chapters, and lessons organized around communication objectives that students will be able to accomplish when they have completed a segment. A format in which lessons are organized so that they follow the learning sequence of introduction, presentation, guided practice, application, and evaluation.
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A class period is best made up of a variety of activities and tasks. A single activitiy carried on the entire period tends to result in less overall learning. For example, a class period might include several short tasks involving activities such as:
Working on the input phase of a new unit
Working on the practice stage of a previously introduced unit
Discussing a reading assigment given as homework
Practicing conversations in small groups
Preparing for a writing assignment as homework
The main point is to provide variety of change of pace and frequently to renew students' interest and attention
- The final learning task might include unrehearsed demonstrations designed for students to show that they can use the target language to find out personal information from new acquaintances.
Such tasks might consist of simulations, role playing, briefly cued conversations, problem solving situations, and so forth. The teacher ensures that overall proficiency in using the language is continualy being developed in an expanding and integrated manner. Ideas for outside the class activities are: field trips, pen pal, videotape pal exchanges. Also, Cooperative learning is viewed as a highly effective tool to help with English Language Development.
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created by: Antonio Galaviz 3/10/96.
Last modified 6/21/96.