TEFL Course Module Practice Question

It seems to me that you first need to define what accuracy means in this context.

eg correct grammar?

eg correct pronunciation?

eg correct vocabulary?

eg correctly expression of ideas?

eg all of the above?

Clive

Hi Clive

Thank you for your assistance.

I believe that it would be vocabulary and pronunciation, perhaps all of the above. Here is what is in the page before the question. It talks about controlled practice where the focus is vocabulary.

As with reading, when we speak there’s a lot more going on than you might realise.

It’s not just about using grammar and vocabulary accurately; we also use an appropriate register (level of formality), self-correct, hesitate, use stress and intonation and use different interactive strategies to ensure that we’re communicating effectively.

This can be anything from asking opinions, clarifying our meaning, turn-taking and agreeing/disagreeing to keep up interaction.

Even native speakers aren’t actually 100% accurate when they speak because of the necessity to talk in real time.

Unlike when we write, we do not have time to properly organise our thoughts, therefore we often make mistakes, interrupt, flit between topics and correct ourselves or clarify meaning.

This lack of preparation time makes speaking in a foreign language especially difficult.

Already your students may not know the necessary vocabulary to speak about a certain topic and then on top of that they may not have the necessary skills to respond immediately to a task.

That’s why you need to develop these skills in your students to ensure they are able to communicate effectively.

Before you start any speaking skills lesson you need to decide if your main aim is fluency, accuracy or both. This will affect how you conduct the lesson, the kinds of activities you will do and how/whether to correct.

Controlled Practice

Examples of controlled speaking practice are scripted role-plays, repetition and drilling.

Whilst they don’t give practice of fluency or interaction, these exercises can be very useful for working on accuracy, pronunciation and word/sentence stress.

They help build learners’ confidence too and motivate them to produce grammatically correct language. They can also be less overwhelming for shyer students so are a great way to lead into freer practice.

Students often find it difficult to transfer the knowledge they have in their heads to what comes out of their mouths, so controlled practice can be a good mid-way point on the road to spontaneous communication.

Through controlled practice, learners can apply what they know passively to active production to ensure that all that passive knowledge isn’t going to waste.

It can sometimes be embarrassing for students when they don’t know what they’re supposed to say and fear making errors, so if they have the language in front of them, it’s more reassuring.

Controlled practice confines the conversation to the target language so it’s a great way to get students to practice a language point sufficiently so that it sticks in their heads.

All the instructions/prompts elicit a particular response and are fully predictable. If you are focusing on the functional language of polite requests for example, you may wish to have students act out a scripted dialogue on the topic so that they can memorise the useful fixed expressions.

Or for a numbers lesson you could put students in pairs and give them a card each with some questions on it e.g. ‘What’s the population of the UK?’ or ‘How high is Mount Snowdon?’

One of the students will have half the answers the other will have the other half and by asking and answering questions they can complete both sets of questions. In this instance, only the target language is being practised and the responses are 100% predictable.

I assumed that the question would relate to the text above as a test to see whether you have understood the section, but as you can see from the incorrect answers, it isn't that. Which is probably why I am confused.

Thanks again.

First, I'm not really qualified to answer such a question; I don't know for sure the correct answer. I just would like to write my perspective, based on my own understanding. As long as you already have tried several times with the same result, I don't think it would be harmful to try with you. After reading the question, I noticed that the choices you chose are different from the ones I would choose. I feel that you strongly stick with some choices that I wouldn't choose. But maybe that because of your depending on what you have studied in that course.

SATeacher

Hi Everyone,

I hope this is in the right place and someone can help me!

I am busy with a TEFL 120 hour course, and I have come across a practice question which I keep getting told is "incorrect".

The question is: Out of the following speaking exercises, which are designed to improve accuracy? Choose all that apply:

The options are:

A. Word and sentence stress
B. Language for asking for clarification politely
C. Informal language for greeting
D. Language for suggesting and recommending
E. Using conjunctions and past tenses in stories
F. Distinguishing minimal pairs of sounds
G. Using intonation to show doubt
H. Taking part in discussions
I. Getting your partner to agree with you
J. Telling stories
Q. Intonation in tag questions
M. Interrupting politely I originally chose: A, D, E, F and then I have tried A, F, H, J and then A & H, then F & J, then F, H, J then A, H, J then B, D, E, H, J then B, D, M then A, E, G and lastly A, B, D, G, E and I have selected them all as well. The next question which is about fluency and has the same selection is correct with H & J which leads me to believe that H & J would not be accuracy at all. Please could someone help me with the correct combination as I understand what accuracy is, but I don't understand why the answers I have tried are all wrong. Thank you.

(A) In some languages, this option is crucial which means that if you don't care about, you would definitely be inaccurate or even misunderstood. So, it has a direct relationship with being accurate. In English, I always thought it's not that important until I found out that it should be considered. So, I would choose this option.

E. Using conjunctions and past tenses in stories.

I would certainly choose this option too. Based on my observation, when I write/read/tell something without using conjunctions and without considering the tense, it would be chaotic and inaccurate. Some times, I have a problem with using the correct tense in English. Imagine if someone reported someone else's speaking in the present while it happened in the past. It would be against accuracy.

G. Using intonation to show doubt.I would choose this option too.

F. I don't understand this concept so, I wouldn't choose it because of that.

Q. Intonation in tag questions. I would choose this option also.

Again, all what I wrote is based on my own understanding. I don't claim to be the answer they want.

Thank you for the input. I landed up skipping the practice question and finishing the certificate, it was just really frustrating to not get it right, but I will keep your thoughts in mind.

SATeacher

Thank you for the input. I landed up skipping the practice question and finishing the certificate, it was just really frustrating to not get it right, but I will keep your thoughts in mind.

Thank you for your update. You skipped the practice without knowing the answer they want?! I'm really curious to know the answer, though. Anyway, congratulation for finishing the certificate. Good luck

MoonriseThank you for your update. You skipped the practice without knowing the answer they want?! I'm really curious to know the answer, though. Anyway, congratulation for finishing the certificate. Good luck

Yeah, I needed to get the certificate finished as I need to earn money. I am also very curious to know the answer, but it seems no one could tell me.

SATeacher I am also very curious to know the answer,

the correct answers are

A. Word and sentence stresses

E. using conjunctions and past tenses in stories

F. Distinguishing minimal pairs of sounds

G. Using intonation to show doubt

Q. Intonation in tag questions

just H and J