Delta 5b

Module Two
Report for the internally-assessed Professional Development Assignment
Candidate name

Centre name

Centre number

Candidate number

Assignment title
(Experimental Practice)

Task-based Teaching for Lower Level Learners

Grade
Pass
Tutor name

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Date:

Assessment Criteria Professional Development Assignment: Reflection and Action

Successful candidates must:
1
present an assignment which:
a) is written in language which is clear, accurate, easy to follow and does not impose a strain on the
reader
b) is cohesive and clearly ordered and in which component parts of the assignment are relevant to the
topic
c) uses appropriate terminology accurately
d) refers to and references key sources
e) contains a bibliography of key sources consulted
f) follows widely accepted referencing conventions
g) respects the word limits of individual stages of the assignment and the overall word limit (2,0002,500
words) and states the number of words used.
Tutor comment and feedback
1a) Your Reflection and Action assignment is usually clear and easy to follow despite quite a lot of grammar
mistakes and spelling mistakes.
1b) It is clearly ordered and all parts are relevant to the topic.
1c) terminology is used accurately.
1d) and 1f) referencing is fine.
1e) a bibliography is included.
1g) You have respected word limits and stated the number of words used.
2

focus on the topic of the assignment by:

a) selecting some key strengths and weaknesses in their teaching practices and providing a rationale for
their selection
b) selecting approaches/procedures/techniques/materials to use to address the issues identified in 2a
c) critically evaluating the effectiveness of the selected approaches/procedures/techniques/materials
d) critically evaluating the effectiveness of methods and/or documents they have selected to gather data
to allow them to focus on their teaching practices
e) providing an appropriate action plan to promote their professional development
f) critically reflecting on their teaching practices and beliefs during the course of this assignment

Tutor comment and feedback

Stage 1

STRENGTHS
Effective monitoring
Your grammar knowledge is very impressive.
Your English is very good.
You elicit well (although there are some exceptions to this below)
Effective use of technology
Effective use of the whiteboard. Clear information, labelling of grammar points etc
Very logically staged (despite some incorrect stage names see below)
Effective monitoring
Indications of time to the students eg One more minute
Varied feedback on answers techniques eg students write on the board.
WEAKNESSES
When you elicit something and dont get an answer, dont give the answer immediately. Otherwise its
in danger of becoming a conversation with yourself
Before asking students to read, always set a reading task.
Beware of typos in your lesson plan eg gramar, ellicits stuent posible nesseary etc
Try a guided discovery approach to presenting grammar.
Avoid tapping on the board.
Dont ask if students understand (Do you get it? Right? Easy? You know award?) Find a way to see
if they have understood.
Occasionally, your questions are a bit vague eg What is this?
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Stage 2
2a) You have listed both strengths and weaknesses in your action plan. You have also provided a rationale for
their selection eg I need to change my concept checking from vague questions, into more specific questions
devised to elicit students understanding.
2b) You have selected procedures to use to address the issues identified in 2a. For example, you say that you
are going to script questions so as to avoid vagueness. You also say you will include a flexi-stage in your lesson
plans to help solve the problem of bad timing.
2e) Your action plan is well-considered in many ways but it would have benefitted from more thought about how
to collect data which could help you to evaluate your progress in weak areas.
Stage 3
2a) you continue to recognise key strengths and weaknesses in your teaching and you are very receptive to
comments made by tutors.
2c) You have not mentioned whether including a flexi-stage helped you with your timing or whether scripting
your questions helped you to avoid asking vague questions. However, you did evaluate the effectiveness of
another of your procedures when you said about your reading I can say that they had a great impact on
improving my teaching, especially with properly staging and naming the lesson plan. These materials have also
helped improve my elicitation and feedback techniques.
2d) You havent evaluated methods for collecting data as you didnt identify any in previous stages.
2e) Once again, your action plan is well-considered but it would have benefitted from more thought about how
to collect data which could help you to evaluate your progress in weak areas.
.
Stage 4
2d) You say I was observed before LSA3 by other teachers, and they stated that my TTT time was reduced and
learners autonomy was addressed. This is the only example I can find of data gathering.
2f) You critically reflect on your teaching practices and beliefs throughout the assignment. An example in stage
four is when you say The use of peer and group correction made collaborative work more enjoyable for
learners, as learners learn from each other more than learning form their teachers, sometimes.

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Assessment Criteria Professional Development Assignment: Experimental Practice

1

present an assignment which:

a) is written in language which is clear, accurate, easy to follow and does not impose a strain on the
reader
b) is cohesive and clearly ordered and in which component parts of the assignment are relevant to the
topic
c) uses appropriate terminology accurately
d) refers to and references key sources
e) contains a bibliography of key sources consulted
f) follows widely accepted referencing conventions
g) respects the word limits of individual stages of the assignment and the overall word limit (2,000 2,500
words) and states the number of words used.

Tutor comment and feedback

1a) There are a number of sentences that are not clear. For example, it is a fact that in TBLT, grammar is
always used as a tool to illustrate meaning. Also, ...this stage helps students to broaden their understanding of
meaning which they have become familiar with during the task. Also, your sudden introduction of the text when
discussing the analysis stage of the task cycle, when you hadnt mentioned a text up to that point.
Also, there are some inaccuracies eg In PDA action pan.. (In the PDA action plan?)
1b) The essay is cohesive and clearly ordered (although I wondered why you had put a commentary at the end
of the background essay. Usually, we put this in the lesson plan. All your points were relevant to the topic.
1c) terminology is used accurately throughout.
1d+1f) You have referred to and referenced key sources conventionally.
1e) You have provided a bibliography of key sources.
1g) You have respected the word limit but not stated the number of words used.
3

focus on the topic of the assignment by:

a) demonstrating understanding of selected approaches/procedures/techniques/materials
b) justifying the selection of the selected approaches/procedures/techniques/materials
c) making appropriate reference to theory, to the characteristics and needs of specific groups of learners,
and to their own professional development to inform their selection of
approaches/procedures/techniques and materials
d) critically evaluating the effectiveness of methods and/or documents they have selected to gather data
to allow them to focus on their teaching practices
e) evaluating their chosen area of experimental practice with reference to the specific group of learners
and their own professional development
f) showing awareness of the links between practice and underlying theory.

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Tutor comment and feedback

3a) You have defined TBL reasonably clearly. Your discussion of the difference between real-life tasks and
pedagogical tasks is interesting. You have summed up Williss Task-based Framework well. However, at one
point, you say ... through this approach they will be able to figure out the target language through a task. In
TBL, there isnt usually any target language!
3b) You have justified your selection of TBL. For example, PPP with this group made them dependent. TBL is
known as a good approach to increase learners independence and enhance their autonomy.
3c) You have made reference to theory throughout. You have also made reference to specific groups of learners
eg pre-intermediate Saudi students. You make reference to your own professional development in listing your
Objectives for the Teacher.
3d) you havent mentioned in your reflection anything about the questionnaires you said you were going to give
to the students and to the observing teacher.
3e) You have evaluated the lesson and referred to the students and you refer to your own teacher development
when you say that TBL will help you to become a less teacher-centred teacher.
3f) Your lesson plan follows a task-based cycle most of the way through. However, you have pre-selected the
type of language that the students will need (necessity in the past). In a pure TBL lesson, you dont pre-select
the language you are going to focus on but It may be that with a pre-intermediate class, you need to do this. I
am surprised, though, that you havent made any reference to this in your background essay or lesson plan.

Overall tutor comment and feedback on the Professional Development Assignment

(Please summarise strengths and weaknesses with reference to the criteria.)
STRENGTHS
(1b) The assignment is generally clearly ordered. (1c) terminology is always used accurately. (1c and 1f)
Referencing is fine. (1e) bibliographies are included. (1g) word limits are respected and number of words are
usually stated. (2a) key strengths and weaknesses are selected and discussed (2b) You have selected
procedures to address your weaknesses. (2e) Your action plan is fine but more thought about data collection
needed (2f) you critically reflect on your progress throughout. (3a) demonstration of understanding of EP topic.
(3b) justifying selection of EP topic. (3c) reference to theory, groups of learners and professional development.
(3e) evaluation of lesson (3f) You have shown awareness of links between practice and theory.
WEAKNESSES
1a) There are a lot of grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes. Usually easy to follow but not always. Some
sentences are unclear. 2c) Some ideas for solving weaknesses in stage two are not mentioned in stage 3. (3e)
You mentioned questionnaires you were going to give students and teachers in stage 2 but there was no
reference to them in stage 3.
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