Vacations
by Ozlem
Catal
A
Model Communicative Approach Lesson
This
model lesson has a very interesting history. It is truly an international
endeavor. Its author, Ms. Ozlem Catal, is from Eastern Mediterranean
University in Famagusta, Cyprus where she is Senior Instructor in the School
of Foreign Languages, Intensive English Division. Ms. Catal came to San Diego
State University in July 2001 on a Fulbright Scholarship to study English
language curriculum design with the faculty of the School of Teacher Education
and the SDSU American Language Institute. Upon her return to Cyprus, she will
share what she has learned here with her colleagues who teach Turkish
university students to speak, read and write English. We also plan to continue
to elaborate and refine this lesson based on her experiences and feedback from
her colleagues and students. We offer this model lesson as an example of an
integrated approach to instruction and the use of technology in English
language instruction. Congratulations, Ozlem and thank you for this wonderful
experience.
Jill
Kerper Mora
Reading
Passage
Last year I went to Northern Cyprus for a week. It was a
nice experience for me because I haven’t been to a Mediterranean island
before.
I was disappointed at first because
the Ercan Airport was very small and not attractive. Then they took me to my
hotel in Famagusta that was very beautiful and comfortable.
In the morning our representative gave
us some information about Cyprus. He was a well-trained tourist guide with a
sense of humor. He was very friendly and helped us a lot.
After that, we set off for a city tour
with our guide. He showed us many historical places. They were marvelous. I
liked Salamis Ruins the best because I am fond of mosaics and ancient sites.
Then we had our lunch at a cozy
restaurant near the coast. The food was delicious. I selected sheftali kebab
from the menu. It is minced meat with parsley and onions rolled in a membrane
and then grilled.
Next, we went to a place called the
Golden Beach to swim. The beach is on the Mediterranean Sea. The sea was very
clean and the view was fantastic. We swam there for an hour.
Finally, we got back to our hotel
feeling tired but happy. That was my first
day in Cyprus. I will never forget my vacation there.
Comprehension
Questions for the Reading:
Questions
are included that can be answered with information from the reading. Other
inferential or problem-solving questions will require the use of maps,
brochures, etc. or of background knowledge. Some examples are:
When did
you travel to Northern Cyprus?
Where did
you enter the country?
Where was
the hotel you stayed in?
How far
was your hotel from the airport? (Inference/problem-solving)
Task
1
Generate
a concept web based on this model. This concept map
is based on students’ personal experiences and familiar background
knowledge. Teacher and students will generate vocabulary and expressions for
each of the concept categories related to vacations, including who took the
vacation and when, where the vacation spot was, how they traveled there, and
what they enjoyed about the place. Teacher will encourage students to use past
tense verbs and descriptive vocabulary.
Task
2 Personal Information Chart
Create
sentences using the information from the chart. Put several sentences together
for a short oral presentation from selected students. Also, have one student
interview another based on their personal information charts.
|
Name
|
When did you go?
|
Where did you go?
|
What did you like?
|
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
|
Task
3 Sentence Combination
Using
these prompts, have students write to complete each of the sentences. Then
they will combine the sentences into a short narrative using well-developed
paragraphs. They should have a reference of transitional words and expressions
to give a flow and coherence to their paragraphs.
My
Vacation
1.
I went on vacation to…
2.
……..was very beautiful
3.
I was disappointed at first because…
4.
I couldn’t help but like ……….so….
5.
I spent my first day….
6.
I hoped to ….. but…..
7.
I didn’t expect….
8.
However, I enjoyed…
9.
After awhile, I ...
10.
Then I missed …
11.
Next year, I plan on...
12.
Today, I will continue to...
Task
4 Verb Practice
When
students complete the sentence combination exercise and have a completed
narrative, the teacher will generate a list of the verbs used for vacation
activities. Students will sort the verbs according to whether they are regular
or irregular. They will also categorize the verbs according to the
pronunciation of the “ed” endings.
Task 5
Research and Reporting
Using
the links provided on the Internet, students will research a vacation spot in
the United States to write about. The example in this lesson is a vacation in
Hawaii. By following the links, students can take a “Virtual Tour” of the
Hawaiian Islands. They will read the text describing each vacation spot and
select vocabulary and information to use in their own narratives.
Factual
information about each of the states in the USA
Factual
information about Hawaii
Virtual
tour of Hawaii
Hawaiian
vacation packages information
Depending
on the students’ level of proficiency, they will use the information from
their research to:
A.
Write a narrative patterned after the narrative they created in the
sentence combination exercise.
B.
Write a report about the Hawaiian Islands following a report-writing
template.
Task
6 Making a case for a vacation spot
Based
on the information on the vacation spot that students researched, they will
engage in a purposeful communication activity to persuade someone to choose a
vacation to their vacation spot. The teacher may wish to formally present the
grammatical construction for comparing and contrasting (comparative and
superlative forms) and specific vocabulary for description. The students will
also need to know the expressions used in persuasion or, in other words, the
format for making a case. A graphic organizer can be used for this purpose.
Form
a triad, with two students as “persuaders” and a third student as the
person as “decision-maker.” Each of the two students will make a case for
his or her favorite vacation spot. The third student will choose between the
two vacation spots and justify his or her choice. Extension activities
include:
Have
the class rank order the vacation spots selected in the triad activity based
on students’ rationales for their selection.
Evaluation
Products
from this lesson for assessment and evaluation purposes are:
1.
Graphic organizers
2.
Personal information chart
3.
Sentence combination narrative
4.
Research report or narrative
5.
Oral
proficiency and communicative competence are assessed using a
rubric.
Did
the persuader provide relevant information and detail about the vacation spot?
Did the
student use descriptive language effectively
Did the
student show competence in using the comparative and superlative forms?
Did the
student utilize expressions for making a case?
Was the
information provided about the vacation spot motivating and exciting so as to
inspire a desire to visit there
Create
a rubric using these criteria with a rating scale. Students can rate
themselves and/or each other as well as the teacher. Students can describe
specific grammatical forms or vocabulary they wish to improve should they
repeat the exercise.
Click
here for a detailed checklist of grammatical and usage errors
