TOPIC-BASED WORK, PLANNING YOUR WORK,
THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Topic-based work
Why do topic-based work?
Topic-based teaching is not the only way to organize teaching, but it is a useful, helpful, practical and exiting way to teach either all of the time or some of the time. It has some of the reasons why:
v It is easier to relate the lessons to the experiences and interests of pupils, because the content of the lessons automatically becomes more important than the language itself.
v Working on topics can help the learning process.
v Topic-based teaching allows you to go into a subject in depth and brings out reactions and feelings in the pupils which are not always covered in the textbook.
v Working on topics allows you more easily to give a personal or local touch to materials which may not have been produced in your country.
v Topic-based teaching allows you to rearrange your material to suit what is happening generally at the time of teaching.
v The amount of time that you spend on topic can as long or short as you like, depending on how much interest it arouses, how much material you have and etc.
v Since the emphasis in topic-based work is on content, the work in the classroom naturally includes all the language skills as well as guided and frees activity.
How to set topic-based work?
Ø Choosing your topic
Usually the teacher will decide which topic to work on, but if the pupils are interested in a particular subject, and you think they can do it in English, then try to work it into your timetable.
Ø Planning time
§ Ideally, you should decide at the long term planning stage which topic you are going to work on and how long you plan to spend on each topic.
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If you have not done topic-based teaching before, then it is probably best to start off on a very small scale.
If you have not done topic-based teaching before, then it is probably best to start off on a very small scale.Ø Collecting material
Once you have some idea of possible topics, you should start looking for material at once, all sorts of written and spoken texts, pictures, object, cards and ideas. When you find something, make a note of it at once.
Functions and situations
Once you have your topic and a collection of connected materials, work out which situations and functions of the language you want to concentrate on.
For example, you might to take up:
Playing with a pet Asking parents for a pet
Visiting a pet shop Zoos
Favourite pets feeding your pets, and etc.
And use useful functions of the language might be:
Describing Asking for something
Expressing likes and dislikes Future wishes
It is important to decide first what you want them to be able to do by the end of the topic period.
Methods and activities
Familiarity nurtures security, so make use of the full range of what is already familiar to the pupils as well as activities which are in textbook. However, you may find that stepping outside the textbook can lead to much more creative thinking on the part of teachers and pupils alike.
Assessment
Since topic-based work is complete in itself, its gives you and the pupils a good opportunity to assess what you have been doing. The examples of the topic-based work are following:
§ To practice the vocabulary, you can use card games, like find your partner, or memory or food dominoes, and make them to suit your topic:
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§ You can do listening comprehension work like this exercise where pupils have to place the right food in front of the right person as they listen. They cut out the different foods before they start to listen.
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Besides mentioned above the others example of topic-based work are:
§ Stories, songs and rhymes
§ Recipes and making food
§ Friends: what is good friend?, what do you quarrel about, my secret friend, the ideal friend?
§ and etc.