Sharing Your Knowledge

How to Presentations can provide an excellent opportunity for adult learners of English to share their own knowledge and experiences and learn from each other while practicing some very important skills.  This lesson was taught in an informal ESL Conversation Class over the course of two 90 minute classes using a Task-Teach-Task instructional cycle.  

Task-Teach-Task is a simplified task-based instruction (TBI) framework that focuses on using lead-in tasks (Task 1) to support instructors in diagnosing needs of students and helping learners self-assess their own knowledge.  This formative assessment data is then used by the instructor to provide targeted instruction (Teach) based on the focal language feature(s) elicited by the first task (Task 1) and once again demonstrated in a different task (Task 2).  

This lesson includes many resources which may be adapted for  different contexts.

Task-Teach-Task Lesson Plan
Task1_TaskCards
HowtoPresentation_Handout 
InstructorPresentation_MakingaMealforaLongHikingTrip
HowtoPresentation_FeedbackForm
HowtoPresentations_OptionalActivity_WashingYourHandsProperly 
Student Example 1
Student Example 2

Grammar:  Use of grammar in the context of individual how to presentations
Vocabulary:  Sequence/transition words/phrases; specialized vocabulary related to presentations

Listening: Understanding a how-to presentation; asking follow-up questions related to presentations

Speaking and Pronunciation:  Speaking with clarity and at a reasonable rate; pronouncing specialized vocabulary

Reading: Identifying sequence/transition words in a written how-to presentation; sequencing sentences from a how-to presentation

Writing: Using sequence/transition words and phrases to write a how-to presentation; paragraph structure and organization of ideas/steps

Students will be able to identify something they know how to do in their community, at their work, or in their personal lives and communicate the steps in this process using transition/sequence words.   Students will be able to listen and understand the steps of presentations given by other classmates.

Hajer, A (2015). Portfolio-Based Language Assessment and Language Standards: Enhancing Learning Through Assessment . Presentation at TESOL International Conference 2015: Adult Ed Day.

William, S. (2015, February).  Task-Based Instruction: Building Bridges from Classroom to Real Life. Retrieved from http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/tesolalis/issues/2015-02-06/7.html