Celta Focus on the Learner
Written Assignment
(Focus on Learner)
Background
The learner I have chosen for my focus assignment is a woman of Nepalese origin, she is in her early 30’s and she came to this country over 2 years ago as an economic migrant. She lives with her with family in London and is currently studying ESOL a Greenwich Community College.
Educational Background
The learner I have chosen has a general level of education from her native country, having attended nursery, primary and secondary schools. In her period of education in secondary school, she managed studied the English language for approximately 5 years.
Her Learning Style and Use of the English
Based upon my general observations of her in class and an interview I conducted with her, I discovered that the best style of teaching her is visually. I have noticed that during lessons with which contain visual elements (PowerPoint’s, pictures etc) she would be at the forefront of answering questions and volunteering for exercises. It appears she really enjoys herself and progresses well in these types of lessons as opposed to lessons without visual elements in them.
In terms of her use and command of the English language, I have noticed that generally she can comprehend the gist of what is said to her if the vocabulary is basic and the sentence structure is not too complicated (.i.e. if the language is graded). She can read and write English but with some difficulties (if materials are not graded). During my observations of her and my interview I noticed that she had to areas of difficulties.
1. She had difficulties in differentiating the sounds of the phonemes /s / and /ʃ /
So instead of saying “single - sɪŋ.gl”, she would say – “shingle- ʃɪŋ.gl”
Her problem here is because in her native language(Nepalese – a south Asian Language) there is only one phoneme in the area of /s / and /ʃ /, so many people from Nepal find it difficult to distinguish between the two as stated by Michael Swan in
(Focus on Learner)
Background
The learner I have chosen for my focus assignment is a woman of Nepalese origin, she is in her early 30’s and she came to this country over 2 years ago as an economic migrant. She lives with her with family in London and is currently studying ESOL a Greenwich Community College.
Educational Background
The learner I have chosen has a general level of education from her native country, having attended nursery, primary and secondary schools. In her period of education in secondary school, she managed studied the English language for approximately 5 years.
Her Learning Style and Use of the English
Based upon my general observations of her in class and an interview I conducted with her, I discovered that the best style of teaching her is visually. I have noticed that during lessons with which contain visual elements (PowerPoint’s, pictures etc) she would be at the forefront of answering questions and volunteering for exercises. It appears she really enjoys herself and progresses well in these types of lessons as opposed to lessons without visual elements in them.
In terms of her use and command of the English language, I have noticed that generally she can comprehend the gist of what is said to her if the vocabulary is basic and the sentence structure is not too complicated (.i.e. if the language is graded). She can read and write English but with some difficulties (if materials are not graded). During my observations of her and my interview I noticed that she had to areas of difficulties.
1. She had difficulties in differentiating the sounds of the phonemes /s / and /ʃ /
So instead of saying “single - sɪŋ.gl”, she would say – “shingle- ʃɪŋ.gl”
Her problem here is because in her native language(Nepalese – a south Asian Language) there is only one phoneme in the area of /s / and /ʃ /, so many people from Nepal find it difficult to distinguish between the two as stated by Michael Swan in
Bibliography: Learner English – A teacher’s guides to interference and other problems 2nd Edition, Michael Swan and Bernard Smith, England, Cambridge Press. The Essential English Grammar, I.G.Alexander, Essex, Longman Essential Grammar in Use – Raymond Murphy, Great Britain, Cambridge University Press English Grammar in Use 3rd Edition – Raymond Murphy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Materials to used attached to this assignmen