Celta - Focus on the Learner
CELTA ASSIGNMENT 1 – FOCUS ON THE LEARNER
Part One Background
The first part of the assignment focuses on the general overview of Entry 1 group who are majority females of South-Asian origin; also a Chinese, African & Arab learners are also enrolled in class. Learners of this group are housewives with little or no previous education background. They would have learnt Urdu or Gujarati in their country.
The ages range between 24 and 45. The majority of learner’s first language speaks Gujarati or Punjabi. They have been learning English between 1-3 years & some less than a year and they all enjoy learning English. Most learners are married housewives and have children.
They are motivated as they have children and would like to keep pace communicating and helping their children with English. Some also would like to find work. They also like to learn English so they can communicate with doctors, school staff and general everyday life. They like watching TV, Reading and using Computers.
From the observation they like listening to the teacher and prefer to learn from pictures, visuals, gestures etc. They prefer the kinaesthetic type of teaching by listening to audio, matching sentences and also interpersonal skills by working in pairs and groups.
However as Adults on the whole tend to be more disciplined, the South Asian learners are very well disciplined, listen and are motivated to learn. However they may struggle to learn coming from the cultural background and education experience.
“The traditional Eastern respect for the teacher and for the written word is still a prominent characteristic of learners from India and the neighbouring countries”[1] Due to the culture, there education is more emphasis on discipline and written work. This may be the reason why learners are shy to speak and difficult for teachers to elicit from learners.
Part Two
From observation during class learners find some difficulty in reading and writing as
Part One Background
The first part of the assignment focuses on the general overview of Entry 1 group who are majority females of South-Asian origin; also a Chinese, African & Arab learners are also enrolled in class. Learners of this group are housewives with little or no previous education background. They would have learnt Urdu or Gujarati in their country.
The ages range between 24 and 45. The majority of learner’s first language speaks Gujarati or Punjabi. They have been learning English between 1-3 years & some less than a year and they all enjoy learning English. Most learners are married housewives and have children.
They are motivated as they have children and would like to keep pace communicating and helping their children with English. Some also would like to find work. They also like to learn English so they can communicate with doctors, school staff and general everyday life. They like watching TV, Reading and using Computers.
From the observation they like listening to the teacher and prefer to learn from pictures, visuals, gestures etc. They prefer the kinaesthetic type of teaching by listening to audio, matching sentences and also interpersonal skills by working in pairs and groups.
However as Adults on the whole tend to be more disciplined, the South Asian learners are very well disciplined, listen and are motivated to learn. However they may struggle to learn coming from the cultural background and education experience.
“The traditional Eastern respect for the teacher and for the written word is still a prominent characteristic of learners from India and the neighbouring countries”[1] Due to the culture, there education is more emphasis on discipline and written work. This may be the reason why learners are shy to speak and difficult for teachers to elicit from learners.
Part Two
From observation during class learners find some difficulty in reading and writing as
Bibliography: Swan M & Smith B, 2001, Learner English, Cambridge University Press Doff A & Jones C, 2001, Language in use, Cambridge University Press ----------------------- [1] Swan & Smith, 2001, pg 241 [2] Swan & Smith, 2001, pg 231 [3] Swan & Smith, 2001, pg 229 [4] Swan & Smith, 2001, pg 233 [5] Swan & Smith, 2001, pg 234 [6] Swan & Smith, 2001, pg 235