TASK 4 – INDIVIDUAL TASK (RELECTIVE WRITING)

For TSLB 3083, one of the sub tasks for our assignment is to carry out a simulated teaching
for about 30 minutes for the teaching activity. Louis, Amin and I were working in one group
and we had chosen to teach singular and plural nouns for our simulated teaching. We also
agreed to take Louis’s lesson plan as it was the best lesson plan amongst us to be simulated.

After we had done our simulated teaching, we also received some constructive
comments and critics from our friends and also our lecturer. There are some strengths that
could be seen during our simulation. For example, our group’s materials are very pleasing to
the eyes and interesting too. A big singular and plural nouns chart and a handmade woven
dice were used in our simulation. The chart was big enough to be seen even from afar so this
really helps for those who sits at the back.

We also have included a game in our closure part as games are proven to be beneficial
towards learning. According to Johnson (2011), Games help people develop a disposition
toward collaboration, problem-solving, communication, experimentation, and exploration of
identities, all attributes that promote success in a rapidly-changing, information-based culture.
This proves that games really help in learning.

Unfortunately, we failed to drill the grammar items that need to be taught the pupils.
Therefore, our lecturer recommended us to drill because drilling is one of the best and most
effective way to teach grammar in ESL classroom. From this simulated teaching, I learned
quite a lot about how to teach grammar. I learned that the choice of material we use can help
us in making our lesson attractive as we all know that grammar can be a heavy subject for the
pupils. It is also important to choose suitable activities so the pupils can learn the grammar
content better. We had chosen the deductive approach in our simulated teaching as we think
this approach can help the pupils to understand better when the teacher explains the grammar
rules first. As said by Ellis (2006), grammar teaching can be conducted simply by exposing
learners to input contrived to provide multiple examples of the target structure. Taking into
account some issues on grammar teaching, it might be a challenge for teachers to make the
pupils understand the grammar content.

Compared to other groups, I also believed that we could use add more music in our
teaching to attract pupils and make them feel relaxed because our group only manage to use
a song during our set induction. Music helps in relaxing pupils as what National Association
for Music Education (2014) proposed, students can fight stress by learning to play music.
Soothing music is especially helpful in helping kids relax. No matter what, this activity of
simulated teaching had taught me a lot about what I can do when it comes to teaching
grammar.
References
Education, N. A. (2014, July 21). Music in a Minuet. Retrieved from 20 Important Benefits of
Music In Our Schools: https://nafme.org/20-important-benefits-of-music-in-our-
schools/
Ellis, R. (2006). Current Issues in the Teaching of Grammar: An SLA Perspective. TESOL
Quarterly, 83-107.
Johnson, L. S. (2011). The Horizon Report 2011 Edition. Texas: The New Media
Consortium.