How lessons change

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Write 500-1000 words on how, in your opinion and experience, lessons change at book three, four and five levels. Compare them to lower levels and try to identify what aproaches and styles are appropriate or simply what you have found works and why.

[Angela McGowan]

As I have already discussed in a previous discussion board, the vocabulary taught in the General English courses are very far different to the vocabulary that is taught in the Business English courses. But also, the vocabulary between the lower level English courses is very different to that of the Higher level English courses.
How the English is used by students at the lower and higher levels also influences how the lessons take form, the approach in terms of the methodology remains central to all lessons, but the style and purpose of the lessons change between the levels.
As an Inlingua Teacher Trainer, I have had the experience of teaching the courses from English 1 to English 3 and the Business courses App 1 and App 2. When you have students from a lower course, especially English 1, students require time to understand the vocabulary, the target language and how the exercises fit into their learning of the units. The lessons at this level are to generate everyday use of general English, without analysis or critical learning.
At English 2, the lessons change again at this level in terms of ability and skills of the students. Students are now able to be introduced to thinking a little deeper about the vocabulary and language they are learning and using. They will be able to generate more ideas and although not at a level of in depth critical ability, they will be more at ease with being introduced to thinking and reflecting on their ideas.
At level 3, certainly from my experience, reflective and critical learning is now a central theme throughout the course and become much wider and deeper. Students show a higher lever of autonomy and ability to analyse the topics as a group and are more reflective in their ability to give feedback to eachother.
English 3 is the highest of the General English Courses I have taught, and even between English 3 and the Business App Courses, the lessons are very different. I immediately experienced a difference in how the vocabulary and target language were presented in the TRP and the context in which it was used. The lessons from my experience in the Higher level Courses become more authentic in terms of experiential learning. The writing sessions become a wider part of the Higher level lessons and become more skill integrated compared to that of the lower level lessons.
I have found that the Higher level lessons are more Focused upon a skills ability approach, in terms of how the students are able to plan the exercises and create more ideas and develop more understanding about the topics and discussions that are taught. For example I will use the Talking Points. In the lower level lessons, the Talking Points generate a nice general discussion between students and they are able to give personal experiences and thoughts and opinions. It isn’t about generating an analysis or a critique.
The Talking Points of the Higher level lessons for example the Business App Courses, generate analysis and critical thinking. The Talking Points are based on Research, therefore students have the opportunity of developing their approach and integrated skills.

[Aida Khaefpanah]

As it has been mentioned, although the base of the inlingua method that is supposed to be applied in the class is an original and a fixed one, there are some noticeable differences between the books, materials and also the approaches the trainers are required to acquire while teaching the lower-level general English book and the higher-level general English books or the business English books.
One of the most distinct differences is that in the higher-level books the amount of focus on the structural part of language and lexical parts of it. And the structure is more practiced in the middle of other tasks rather than a separate one. The trainer needs to fixate mostly on practicing and consolidating the language chunks and a bit more technical and complicated words and vocabulary while in the lower levels the main focus is on simpler words and the approach is to practice them through simpler structures. And at some point, the structures are presented, practiced and used in a more obvious way.
The readings and the listening activities in the higher levels and APP books are more authentic and more interrelated so the trainer can integrate both skills and as a result the learners would have more chance to practice the target language in different contexts. There are more compound nouns, more complex language chunks and more technical vocabulary which are furtherly practiced in the follow up exercises, and the language practice; while the language the learners are exposed to in the lower levels, are much simpler and easier to acquire.
The writing tasks are also more experiential and more practical in the higher levels and business classes based on the learners needs. They can use the target language to practice their writing skills as well as their prior writing skills. Because of their more expanded knowledge of the language, the learners in the higher levels and APP courses get more familiarized with the correct ways and steps of writing from brain storming, to preparing a draft to editing their own work and also giving feed backs on their peers; while in the lower levels they mostly get to learn different types of writing such as letter writing and essay writing and the proper language that can be used other than the target language of each unit.
In addition, in the lower levels the students can learn the target language and use it throughout one session of the class and the consolidation practices seem to have a more obvious result but in the higher levels, due to the complexity of the language and the bigger language chunks as the target language, it takes the learners a bit more time to internalize the new language and put them to daily use. They are also required to have more out of the class exposure and practice and the trainer needs to be a bit more conscious to encourage the learners to use the previously learned language and help them to practice the target language as often as possible.

[Mario Schiavelli]

Starting from the basis that the key principle of a lexical approach is that it should be taught through language where the lexicon is grammatized as the most important starting point, leaving the grammatical aspect of said lexicon in the background. The learning of the lexicon must be the axis on which the teaching of a new language is based. Considering words first, then polywords, and finally collocations, or word partnerships. This should be part of a lesson where emphasis should be placed on clarifying the objectives, eliciting, controlled practices to consolidate the information received so far, and finally, free practices. This can be achieved when we let the learner express himself in realistic contexts with which his motivation is increased and when we trainers encourage to discuss and exchange opinions and points of view. Always in an enjoyable atmosphere.

[Gulli Mammadova]

As said previously, the books and TRPs of lower level and higher level learners are different. Learners’ background also impacts the approach used by the trainer. However, the method remains the same.
I haven’t taught Business English at Inlingua yet. But I’ve had beginners and higher level learners. The maid difference, to my opinion, is that higher level learners don’t need as much context when learning new words. Sometimes even 2-3 lead-in questions are enogh to give the main idea. When teaching beginners I focus not only on teaching words and grammar, but also help them to overcome language barriers and fears of speaking.
Higher level learners are able to speak more fluently and more concious of vocabulary and grammar they use.
They can freely express their opinion. Higher level learners are not afraid to make errors and even if they do, they are able to correct themselves.
I find that not only approach changes but also TRPs. TRPs for lower level learners give more instructions on how to set the context properly, but in those for higher-level learners they rather focus on practice and remembering target language and structures.

[Bettina Gröber]

I want to add some general thoughts about teaching higher level courses, not regarding the language taught/learned.
The range of methods and instruments the trainer has should increase in higher level classes. Thus there is the possibility to choose between different approaches and designs, depending on the subject, but also depending on the students’ specific needs. In addition – and with the same orientation with regard to subject and students – the trainer can act more flexibly in mixing the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing while still working according to the inlingua method.
In my higher level courses I have made positive experiences working in the way described. It is also easier “to fill the gaps” of individual students in certain language and skills areas if the trainer has more possible approaches and instruments at hand in order to adapt lessons and exercices.

[Sarah Helen Baulk]

Reflections on the differences I have noted between lower and higher level courses:
At higher levels:
1) Learners are already more confident with the target language and more willing to experiment and to risk making mistakes;
2) Learners are more independent and rely less on the trainer for modelling and feedback, being prepared also to accept feedback/correction from other learners, as well as already having a greater ability to self-correct;
3) Learners can absorb, internalise and use new vocabulary and grammatical structures much more quickly, often building on an existing language base;
4) Learners can handle longer chunks of language with greater ease and don’t tend to learn words individually, but rather as part of collocations or in context;
5) Learners may, if they have attended lower level Inlingua courses, already be familiar with the Inlingua method and so do not have to overcome some of the initial issues of learners who are new to this method (for example, learners who want to keep their books open all the time, learners who are used to translating everything into L1, learners who try to use their L1 to ask for clarification in the classroom situation);
6) Trainers can adopt a less rigid approach to lesson structure having more freedom to mix skills (listening, reading, writing, etc) as appropriate to a given learning situation or according to specific learner requests:
7) Trainers and learners can enjoy lessons based on more authentic situations/topics than is possible at lower levels.

[Camila Robledo De Bedout]

When teaching the Lower levels of the inlingua method for Spanish one is mainly focused on getting the student to understand basic vocabulary basic structures and basic grammar functions. The lower levels are aimed at slowly introducing language concepts and structures. Teaching business language levels is a bit different students should already come with basic knowledge of the language. Grammar structures and tenses should be pretty much understood. Business-level language courses are aimed at improving vocabulary and sophisticated language use.
One needs to adapt content as always to each student; teaching business-level courses requires you to adapt to a particular profession. Business language learning cannot be the same for an engineer as for a nurse. One must always adapt the content and the language goal to the individual’s needs.
Lower levels also focus on listening a lot more, not to say that in the business levels listening is not important, but at the basic levels rather than listening for understanding of a speech you are listening to understand what words are being said and not what the words mean. Understanding meaning is almost secondary at first.
At the business level production, both at a written and spoken level is to be expected. Focus on perfecting fluidity must be key. A person at the business level is not likely to make rookie mistakes when it comes to grammar structures or using past, present, and future. They need help to fine-tune their language skills and sound professional.

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