METHODOLOGY READING LIST AND REVEALED EXAM QUESTIONS

2002-2003

UNIT 2 : Learning and the Learner

Lewis, M. and Hill, J. (1992) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching. LTP. Chapter 1: Basic
Principles 1: Student and Teacher. pp. 70-20.
Halliwell, S. (1992) Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Longman. Chapter 1: Working
with young learners. pp. 3-8.
Brandes D. and Ginnis, P. (1986) A Guide to Student Centred Learning. The Teachers choice.
pp. 7-25.
Harmer, J. (1998) How to teach English, Harlow, Addison Wesley Longman Ltd. Chapter 2. pp. 7-
14, pp. 139-141.

Exam Questions
Interpret the following statement: "Learning is more important than teaching."
Imagine you are at a teacher-parent meeting. One of the parents questions the efficiency of
student-centred teaching. Explain the main principles of this approach and argue for your
position.
Interpret the following statement: "Dont tell students what they can tell you."
Why do you think its important for a teacher to do needs analysis at the beginning of a course?
List some specific ways of carrying out needs analysis.
"A group is made up of individuals."
a/ Explain this statement
b/ Explain in what specific ways students can differ
c/ List some implications for teaching
What are learning styles and strategies? Give a definition and some examples for each one.
What are the most important characteristics of good learners? List at least 5 aspects.
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
Describe the main characteristics and skills which young learners bring to the classroom.
Give a definition of acquisition and learning. Why are these concepts important for language
teachers?

Unit 3: The teacher in Focus

Scrivener, J. (1994) Learning Teaching. Heinemann. Three kinds of teacher. pp. 6-8.
Gower, R. and Walters, S. (1983) Teaching practice Handbook. Chapter 2: The teacher. pp. 7-30.
Medgyes, P. (1996) Native or non-native: Whos worth more? In: Power, Pedagogy and Practice.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 271-282. (originally published in 1993 in ELTJ, pp.30-42)

Exam Questions
What skills and abilities enable the teacher to be a good motivator in class?
Describe some teaching situations where it would be appropriate for the teacher to act as a) an
explainer b) an enabler.
Describe five teacher roles and explain why a teacher might take up these roles.
How can eye contact between the teacher and students vary at different stages of the lesson?
Give a definition of the teachers metalanguage in the classroom.
What is TTT and what are some of the ways of reducing it?
What do you think are the most important ways of building rapport in the classroom? Give
reasons.
What are some of the limitations and some of the advantages of a non-native teacher?

UNIT 4, COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Thompson, G. (1996) Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching. ELTJ Vol.
50/1 January 1996
Nunan, D. (1987) Communicative Language Teaching: Making it work. ELTJ Vol. 41/2, April 1987
Doggett, G. (1986) Eight approaches to language teaching, based on
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986) Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, OUP Oxford

Exam Questions
List the five most important characteristics of the Communicative Approach.
Define the term "communicative competence" and explain its significance within the
Communicative Approach.
Give a definition of "accuracy" and "fluency". What is their significance within a communicative
framework?
Define the term "on-the-spot correction" and "delayed correction". Justify their application.
Explain the significance of skills development within a communicative framework.
What is an information gap activity?
There is no one to one correspondence between form and function. Explain what it means and
give an example.

UNIT 5: Coursebooks and Syllabuses

Grant, N. (1990) Making the Most of your Textbook. Longman.
Chapter 1: Students, teachers and textbooks. pp. 10-18.
Chapter 9: Choosing and evaluating textbooks. pp. 118-129.

Exam Questions
Give an overview of different types of published ELT materials.
Write 5 questions you would want to ask yourself before you choose a coursebook for a particular
group of students
In two columns list some possible advantages and disadvantages of using a coursebook.
Interpret the following statement: "Coursebooks are good servants but poor masters."
(Cunningsworth)
What is the difference between a functional syllabus and a structural one?
What is a multi-dimensional syllabus?
How does the syllabus of a coursebook differ from the syllabus of a course?
What are some ways of involving students in syllabus planning?
Describe three activities in order to demonstrate different ways in which you could use visuals in
the classroom.

UNIT 6, An Introduction to Planning

Harmer,J.(1991)The Practice of Language Teaching.(2nd ed) Longman.
Chapter 5 Teaching the Productive Skills. pp. 30-38
Chapter 12 Planning pp. 256-276.
Scrivener, J. (1994) Learning Teaching. Heinemann.
Chapter 4 Activities and lessons. pp. 30-38
Chapter 5: Planning. pp. 44-59
Ur, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching. CUP. Module 1: Effective presentations pp. 11-18.
Module 15: Planning lessons pp. 213-227.

Exam Questions
When presenting new language to a class, what stages might the teacher follow?
What is a situational presentation? Give a short definition and list three advantages.
What is the difference between overall lesson objectives and stage aims?
What is the role of controlled activities in Communicative Language Teaching?
What are some ways of making drills more meaningful? Describe a drill which focuses on
meaning as well as on practising form.
List some questions you would ask yourself before planning a lesson.
What are the main components of a lesson plan?
What questions would you ask yourself while checking your plan?
Show what the following statement means through a specific example: "Before a freer activity be
sure students have a good command of essential language items."

UNIT 7: Class management

Gower, R. and Walter, S. (1983) Teaching Practice Handbook.
Chapter 3: Classroom management. pp. 31-35.
Townsend, B. - Coping with difficult students. PET
Paine, M. - Groupwork: guidelines for success. MET

Exam Questions
List a number of possibilities for a teacher to ensure that the students understand her instructions
(e.g. when setting up an activity).
What beliefs about learning are reflected by the traditional seating arrangement of sitting in rows?
What roles may the teacher take up during the production phase of a lesson?
Describe five classroom situations which you feel would justify the use of the mother tongue.
What advice would you give to a beginner teacher on the use of the mother tongue?
Give some examples to show how class management and discipline problems may be related.
List some problems which may emerge during pairwork and groupwork. Give ideas for pr-
empting/dealing with each one.
List some ideas for ensuring that students speak the target language during groupwork.
What are some ways in which you can deal with a group of passive students?
Describe some strategies for dealing with disruptive classroom behaviour.

UNIT 8, EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

Ur, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching. CUP. Module 3: Tests. pp. 33-42.
Module 17: Giving Feedback. pp. 242-253
Hughes, A. (1989) Testing for Language Teachers. CUP. pp. 1-6, 9-22.

Exam Questions
List at 5-6 reasons for testing in the language classroom.
What is the ideal relationship between testing and teaching ?
Apart from written and oral tests what other sources of information are there for the teacher about
the students' progress, especially in giving them end term grades? Describe at least two.
What are your main considerations when you prepare a classroom test? List at least 4 criteria you
would use to check the test before giving it to the students.
What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?
What is the purpose of proficiency tests? Name two other test types and describe their purposes.
What is the difference between a norm-referenced and a criterion-referenced testing?
What should the teacher be careful about when using self-assessment?
Suggest a number of task-types for testing grammar. Indicate whether they test form, function or
both.
Describe two ways of testing oral competence in the classroom.

UNIT 9, DEVELOPING LISTENING SKILLS

Ur, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching. Part III, Module 8, pp. 103-120, CUP, Cambridge.
Underwood, M. (1989) Teaching Listening Comprehension. Part 2. pp. 30-93. CUP, Cambridge.
Sheerin, S. (1987) Listening comprehension: teaching or testing? ELTJ Vol. 41/2, April 1987

Exam Questions
List at least 3 advantages and disadvantages of listening to audio tapes as opposed to taking part
in live conversation.
What are authentic materials? What justifies their inclusion in the teaching programme even at
early levels? What are some of the disadvantages?
Describe the steps teachers have to take before they start the tape.
What does the term "gist listening" mean? Why is it important to develop this skill?
What is the difference between extensive and intensive listening?
What are the aims of a) pre-listening, b) while-listening, c) post-listening activities? Illustrate each
by giving an example.
List at least three arguments against the following statement: "Listening is a passive skill."
Give a critical evaluation of the following listening activity:
The teacher gives the students a sheet where there are gaps in the text.
The learners have to listen to the tape and fill in the gaps.
The teacher and students check the answers together.

UNIT 10: DEVELOPING READING SKILLS

GRELLET, F. (1981) Developing Reading Skills CUP pp.3-26
HARMER, J. (1998) The Practice of English Language Teaching Longman Chapter 10.1-10.4
UR, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching CUP Module 10: Teaching reading pp.141-158

Exam Questions
What are the possible purposes of pre-reading tasks?
Give three different techniques for students to predict what a reading passage is about.
Explain the difference between skimming and scanning.
Name three reading activities that develop three different reading subskills. Give an example for
each.
"Reading is a passive skills" Argue for and against this statement.
Give a list (5 items) of difficulties Hungarian students cope with in reading English.
What are the characteristics of efficient reading? List minimum five.
UNIT 11: DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS

BLAIR-KERR, H. (1993) Developing Communication Strategies Practical English Teaching March

1993 TL 16/16
SCOTT, W. A. & YTREBERG , L.H. (1990) Teaching English to Children Longman. Pp. 33-49
UR, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching CUP Module 9: Teaching Speaking pp.120-137

Exam Questions
List some activities which are based on the idea of bridging "gaps".(of information or opinion).
Describe some positive effects of using games in the classroom.
List some steps you might take to encourage a silent class to begin speaking in English.
In what ways does a teacher need to prepare students for a free speaking activity?
Give an example of a personalized speaking activity.
What are some possible benefits of using role-play in the classroom? List at least three.
Give a definition of communication strategies and give two examples.
A student makes the same mistake several times during a free speaking groupwork activity. What
would you do and why?
In addition to on-the-spot correction, what other correction strategies may a teacher use?
Describe a situation for each.

UNIT 12: DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS

HEDGE, T. (1988) Writing OUP. pp.5-15, 19-26, 89-101, 145-153, 161-165
UR, P. (1996) A Course in Language Teaching CUP Module 11: Teaching Writing pp.159-174

Exam Questions
List some text types that secondary and primary school students have to be able to produce.
List some ways of making a writing task realistic.
Briefly describe a communicative writing activity and state what makes it communicative.
Describe the phases of the writing process.
How would you teach students the steps of the writing process?
How could you convey to students the importance of a sense of audience?
"Not all activities which involve writing develop writing skills" Argue for and against this statement.
The writing process is more important than the product Argue for and against this statement.
Define the differences between written and spoken texts. List minimum five.
Describe the difference between the teachers reaction to learner mistakes in a) a grammar
activity in the workbook; b) a composition about some personal experience.

UNIT 13: Focus on Structures

Bolitho, R. and Tomlinson B. (1980) Discover English. Introduction. pp.1-2.
Harmer, J. (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman,
Chapter 6: Introducing new language structures. pp 56-91.
Scrivener,J. (1994) Learning Teaching. Heinemann, Working with Language (pp.114-138.)
Ur, P. (1998) A Course in Language Teaching, Module 6: Teaching Grammar, pp. 75-89.

Exam Questions
Which is more likely to pose problems for Hungarian learners, the form or the function of the
following structures: 'there is', 'simple past', 'present perfect', 'will'?
Answer the question for each structure and give an explanation.
List some functions of the grammar points below.
a).Present Simple, b) Present Progressive, c) Present Perfect
What can make a grammar point difficult for learners? List at least 3 factors.
List the steps of a possible procedure for presenting a new structure?
What is meant by discovery techniques?
What is a substitution drill? Give an example.
What is the difference between overt and covert grammar teaching?
What is meant by presenting language in situations? Give an example.
What is the difference between a 'controlled drill' and a 'free practice activity with a grammar
focus'?
Write at least three concept questions to explain the sentence: 'Tom has been studying since he
came home.' What is the aim of concept questions?
Why is it useful to gather samples of frequent learner errors?
Tom go to school everyday. Describe five different correction techniques you would use to
correct this learner mistake.
What are the main stages of a grammar focused lesson?

UNIT 14: Focus on Vocabulary

Scrivener, J. (1994) Learning Teaching. Heinemann
Chapter 7. pp.73-92.
Ellis, G. and Sinclair, B. (1989) Learning to Learn English. CUP.
Student's Book pp.28-29, Teacher's Book pp.63-65
Ur, P. (1998) A Course in Language Teaching, Module 5: Teaching Vocabulary, pp.60-74.

Exam Questions
What does mastery of a vocabulary item mean? List the six most important aspects.
List the advantages and disadvantages of asking students to translate words between L1 and L2.
What are possible limitations of teaching new words out of context?
There is an inevitable difference between the students' passive and active vocabulary. List 3
implications for teaching.
Suggest several ways of getting across the meaning of new words.
You would like to teach your students the word 'accelerator'. Describe what exactly you would do.
List some advantages and disadvantages of pre-teaching vocabulary before a reading activity
What is the point of recycling vocabulary? Describe three classroom activities.
List three different ways of testing vocabulary and indicate what exactly would be tested?

UNIT 15 WORKING ON PRONUNCIATION

GOWER & WALTERS (1983) Teaching Practice Handbook Heinemann pp. 164-168
LEWIS &HILL (1992) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching LTP Chapter 6
HARMER, J. (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching Longman pp 21-22

Exam Questions
List at least three of the commonest sound problems for Hungarian learners of English and give a
typical example of each area.
List at least five standard techniques for practising English sounds.
Argue for or against the teaching of the phonetic transcription a) in a primary school class of 9-10-
year olds b) in a secondary school class of 14-year olds.
List some standard techniques that can help the teacher indicate the right stress.
List at least three standard techniques the teacher can apply to indicate the right intonation
patterns.
Your students have difficulty in pronouncing the word thermodynamics. They mispronounce the [ ]
and the [ ] and they put the stress on the wrong syllable. What procedure do you follow to correct
the mistakes?
Your students use the Hungarian rise-fall intonation pattern and they put too much stress
on do when they say the question Do you like blue movies?. What procedure do you follow to
correct these mistakes?
What is a) backchaining; b) a minimal pair drill; c) a recognition test?

UNIT 16 COURSE AND LESSON PLANNING

SCOTT, A. W. & YTREBERG, L. H. (1990) Teaching English to Children Longman Chapter 8 pp.
97-107

Exam Questions
Why is it important to do long-term planning? Be specific in your justification.
List three considerations that are important when you are planning a course.
You are going to start teaching an intermediate level class next week. List some of the aims you
would set yourself for the first two weeks.
It is important to plan well-balanced lessons. Explain what this means and give specific
examples of what needs to be balanced.
Explain what project work is and list some of its potential benefits.
List three things that can throw your plan during a lesson and say what you could do in each
case.
Describe a series of activities that would help students to integrate the four skills.
What are some ways in which you can make a text-based activity (for example gap filling) more
meaningful for your learners?
Give three different types of homework and for each one say how it can be linked to what
happens in the classroom.
List three different ways in which you can get feedback from your students.