1 CLASS PROFILE
1.1 LEARNERS’ PROFILE
The class consists of 9 mixed-ability elementary students [A1 / Breakthrough level], aged 11, of whom 6 are female and 3 are male. Eight students are of Greek nationality, whereas 1 student is of Albanian nationality. The Albanian student was born in Greece and has been incorporated into the class with no handicaps, making it difficult to distinguish which his native language really is. Thus, the class is monolingual and has only one language in common, Greek. The students are predominantly monolingual, except for the Albanian student who is bilingual.
Most students are extrovert, open to receiving information and willing to communicate but three students are sensitive and afraid to make mistakes thus hesitant to make an effort for fear they might be laughed at. No one has any obvious learning disability that destructs the learning process and all have a similar background with common traditions, social status and financial power. Additionally, most students are highly motivated to learn English for a number of reasons. They have come to regard it as a lingua franca and through activities on the Net or computer games, they have realized it is a useful tool for them to be able to communicate. Three students are not well motivated since they study English only because it is compulsory and they have lack of interest in it.
1.2 THE TEACHING SITUATION
1.2.1 TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Lessons take place three times a week for 40 minutes each time in the afternoon state primary school so that students fully comprehend items taught during the morning school. English is taught as a foreign language (EFL) and aims at teaching young learners English. This means that this specific teaching situation is an EFL situation. According to Kachru (Sifakis, 2004:38-41),
“all international English language teaching situations are interpreted in terms of three egocentric circles, the inner, the outer and the expanding. More specifically, the inner circle is connected with the native varieties of English, the outer with varieties taught or used as a second language and the expanding circle is connected with varieties taught or used as a foreign language”.
As a result, this specific teaching situation belongs to the periphery of the expanding circle of Kachru.
1.2.2 CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENTS
The students are seated at two big tables facing a blackboard. The classroom is not big enough but the seats are placed in a way that enhances cooperation among students during pair/group work and enables the teacher to move all around the students. There is not a specific desk for the teacher, so she has to move or sit by the students.
1.2.3 AIDS AND MATERIALS
The students in this teaching situation do not have course books. They just have materials given by the teacher (See Appendix 2). The teacher selects material which can be used as an aid to help students fully comprehend a language item already taught during the morning school. Moreover, there are flashcards (See Appendix 2:32), which the teacher can use in order to play games or introduce new vocabulary and grammar. There are task sheets (See Appendix 2:28-31), a cassette player, and realia such as posters and objects from Great Britain.
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE TEACHING PROCESS
2.1 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim of this lesson is to enable students to use “be going to + infinitive” and specifically use it in appropriate contexts when they want to express personal intentions [which are planned] e.g.” I am going to visit museums in Barcelona”.
The objectives are to practise all skills in connection with “be going to”. In other words, the expected outcomes for the students are to be able to use vocabulary about holiday and weekend plans, find specific information through reading an authentic text (advertisement), talk and write sentences about their plans for the next summer.
2.2 ASSUMPTIONS AND ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS
Students are already familiar with the use and the conjugation of the “be going to + infinitive” form and the vocabulary of summer activities from the morning school.
Students are expected to make certain mistakes, regarding the meaning, the grammatical form and the phonology. More specifically, students are expected to translate the form “be going to” as Present Continuous. Also, they have the tendency of omitting the verb “to be” before “going to”. For example, they say “I going to listen a singer”. Finally, “the -ing” form is pronounced “ing” instead of “iŋ”
2.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE LESSON
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