System of lessons

Lessons of different types, subject to a definite global aim, can form a system or a topical series of lessons. Within a certain series of lessons, the aims are varied in qualitative and quantitative parameters. At one lesson in the series we may well want our students to increase the storage of language means to express themselves on the topic under study. In the other lesson our aim will be to make them reach a higher degree of performance in communicative skills.

The revision (conclusion) lesson takes a special place in the system. Its purpose is to manifest the progress achieved by students within the series. The lesson is characterised by its informative, cognitive and emotional value. It is the revision lessonthat the teacher bears in mind while defining the objectives of every lesson in the series. The overall aims of the whole system generalise the objectives of particular lessons in a series. Thus, the place of a lesson in the system determines its objectives. E.g., if a revision lesson is aimed at oral communication output production, then the previous ones should take as their purpose practice output as automating new language input in the general topic fragments.

Any lesson is included into a system of classroom activities, laboratory tasks and homework, devoted to the same topic and closely interconnected. If a student fails to accomplish his laboratory tasks or homework, it breaks the integrity of learning. Laboratory work as a part of practical classes system is designed to link acquired and new material. A part of its tasks provides training and revising the material of a previous lesson, while the other part prepares students to comprehend new language input. Thus, it is advisable to combine reading a new passage with pre-text and after-text activities in order to provide speech practice on what has been read and immediate understanding of the passage to follow. Homework presupposes mainly written exercises and silent reading.

15.5. Lesson components: variable and invariable

Like any other speech events, lessons have a recognisable structure. They begin in a particular way, they proceed through a series of teaching and learning activities, and they reach a conclusion. This pattern of structure or organisation is a result of the teacher’s attempts to manage the instructional process in a way which will optimise the amount of learning that can take place in the time available. L. Wong-Fillmore(1985) observes: ‘How classes are organised and how instructional events are structured determine to a large extent the nature of the language that students hear or see in the classroom... Two sets of characteristics appear to distinguish classes that work for language learning from those that do not. The first set relates to the way the classes are structured or are organised for instruction, the second to the way language is used in lessons’.

Research on teaching in mainstream classes has found that when teachers structure their lessons effectively, they:

- Begin a lesson with a short review of previous, prerequisite learning.

- Begin a lesson with a short statement of goals.

- Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step.

- Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations.

- Provide a high level of active practice for all students.

- Ask a large number of questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students.

- Guide students during initial practice.

- Provide systematic feedback and corrections.

- Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork exercises and, where necessary, monitor students during seatwork. (Rosenshine, Stevens, 1986).

The way lessons are organised into sequences and how the momentum of a lesson is achieved is referred to as structuring. The focus will be on three main dimensions of structuring:

- Opening. How a lesson begins.

- Main body. How to sequence the lesson segments and to relate them to each other (Sequencing). How a sense of movement is achieved within a lesson (Pacing).

- Closure. How a lesson is brought to an end.

These three dimensions are the invariable components of a lesson.