Celta Pre – Assessment Task

1. Give an example of each of the following tenses (1 sentence each)

Present simple
The earth orbits the sun.
Present continuous
I am preparing my exam.
Past simple
Underground staff went on strike last Monday.
Past continuous
I was reading while he was watching television.
Present perfect simple
I have completed my dissertation successfully.
Present perfect continuous
I have been working at the school since 2008.
Present simple passive
Health and Safety rules are created by the Department of Health.

2.These sentences contain common errors. Correct them and say what rules are broken I am liking that picture: I like that picture- this should be present simple. She learns French since 2 years: She has been learning French for 2 years- period (2 years) should be preceded by for. If he would inherit some money, he would buy a house: If he inherits some money, he will buy a house- usually present tense is used with if. Do you can understand? Do you understand?

There is too much people here: There are too many people here- many is used with plurals f) He asked what do I earn (keep in indirect form): He asked what I earn-when using indirect questions we do not put an auxiliary before subject.

3.How would you explain and illustrate the difference between:

‘since’ and ‘for’: for + period ( eg. It’s been raining for weeks) and since + starting point (eg. It’s been raining since the morning). ‘some’ and ‘any’ : Some is used in affirmative clauses (eg. I want some grapes) any is a non- affirmative word and come in questions and negatives (eg. I haven’t got any grapes). Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous: Present perfect expresses an action which began in the past or has just finished and emphasises the result (what has happened eg. I have written five letters). Present perfect continous expresses that it is still going on and is used to emphasis duration eg. I have been waiting for an hour. Will (future) and going to (future): both possible depending on which aspect you want to emphasise. Going to has emphasis on intention (what are you going to do next year?) – will emphasise fixed arrangements (what will you do next year?) Much / a lot of / many: much is used with singular/uncountable nouns (eg. I haven’t got much time): many is used with plurals ( eg. I have many friends). A lot of is informal and it is the subject that makes the following verb singular or plural ( eg. A lot of my friends are coming)

B.FUNCTIONS
1. Comment on the ranked order of the following ways of asking permission

OK if I go home now?
Can I go home now?
May I go home now?
Do you think I might go home now?

They go from informal to formal.

2 Think of 4 ways of apologising and rank them in a similar way. Which would you teach first and why?

a) Sorry
b) I am sorry
c) I apologise
d) I beg your pardon

I would teach them to use a) Sorry as it is most widely used and the students are likely to need to use it first.

3. The following pairs of sentences have the same grammatical structure but in each case the function is different. Try to paraphrase each sentence to show the distinction

a) Have you got a light? Can I have a light?
Have you got a sister? Do you have a sister?

b) Call me John- My name is John
Call me a taxi- Can you call me a taxi?

c)You must be quiet- Be quiet
You must be hungry- Are you hungry?

C.VOCABULARY
1. Think of the most efficient way of teaching the following items:

Bicycle- Use a flashcard or bingo game with different modes of transport. Behind- Use real context: mention students by name and say who is behind another student. Achievement- Search definition in dictionary then use word in sentence. Exhausted- Use synonyms.

To beg- Search definition in dictionary then use word in sentence. Advertisement- Show students adverts in newspapers or clips of television adverts. Difficult- Fill in the blanks: give students sentences with blanks and options.

2. Can the following words be taught as synonyms? Why/why not?

Large – great : no- large used in quantative reference, great used in reference to degree or quality Tall – high: no- high refers to both height and abstract things, tall refers to height most of the time Begin – start: yes when used as verbs although there are some exceptions (eg. start the car)

D.PHONOLOGY

1.Stress
Mark the main stresses on the following words (E.g. ‘medicine, inform’ation)

Rep’orter Econ’omics
Pref’er‘Comfortable
Ref’use (verb)Intern’ational
‘Photograph
Ec’onomist
‘Preference
Phot’ographer
‘Refuse (noun)

2.Sounds

a) Arrange each of the following words in the column headed by the word with a similar vowel sound

weight, wrong, rich, half, buy, shop, sieve, heart, leave, wife, peach, what, siege, man, sick, pays, blood, band, ton, fast, wait

rift
keep
tight
hat
hate
hot
but
dark

rich
sieve
sick
leave
peach
siege
wife
man
band

weight
pays
wait
wrong
what
stop
buy
blood
ton
half
heart
fast

Can you think of different ways of helping students to improve their pronunciation?

1. Allow students to listen to similar sounding words and circle the word they hear eg. will and well 2. Allow students to watch/ listen to news broadcasts to become familiar with speed of native speakers 3. Allow students to practice reading scripts and offer feedback

3.Sentence Stress

Explain the difference in the meaning of the sentence below depending on how it is said

a.Lisa might have told John- It could be someone else

bLisa might have told John- John may not have been told

c.Lisa might have told John – Lisa might have told someone else

APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND LEARNING

Think of two different learning experiences in your life, one successful and one unsuccessful. State the main reasons for the difference.

Successful experience: This teacher was well organised and lesson was planned well, she was very interactive and was always kept us on our toes and gave many opportunities to practice. There was a lot of repetition so we learnt the topic well, tasks kept changing so we didn’t get bored and we were always provided with positive feedback. The teacher was always there to give extra support when we needed it.

Unsuccessful experience: Teacher was unable to make us connect with subject, very strict and unfriendly, unprepared, no opportunities for class discussion and poor feedback.