PENTRU OB ȚINEREA GRADULUI DIDACTIC I Coordonator științific: Prof. dr. Michaela Praisler Candidat: Prof. Florina Gheorghiu Palatul Copiilor și… [606439]

UNIVERSITATEA „DUNĂREA DE JOS” DIN GA LAȚI
LUCRARE METODICO –ȘTIINȚIFIC Ă
PENTRU OB ȚINEREA GRADULUI DIDACTIC I
Coordonator științific:
Prof. dr. Michaela Praisler
Candidat: [anonimizat]. Florina Gheorghiu
Palatul Copiilor și Elevilor
Galați
2016

TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH
NON -FORMAL METHODS

3CONTENTS
ARGUMENT
INTRODUCTION5
9
PART 1
1.1.What is creativity? Present day orientations
1.2.Ways of adopting creativity and innovation in teaching and learning
English
1.3.The role of the teacher and principles in teaching creativity
1.4.Creative communication
1.5.The role of education
1.6.Avoiding creativity blockages
1.7.Strategies, methods and aids in modern teaching
1.8.Using questions in teaching creative thinking and learning11
12
14
28
42
43
46
51
PART 2
2.1.Understanding the reading process
2.2.Reading strategies
2.3.The importance of reading through non -formal methods
2.3.1. Pre -reading activities
2.3.2 .During reading activities
2.3.3. After reading activities
2.3.4. Dangers of overusing or underusing a course book
2.4.Reading and writing for creativity
2.5. Why do students need writing skills?
2.6. Thinking of listening
2.7. Speak (up) your mind
2.8. Why use videos in the classroom?
2.8.1.Pre-viewing, viewing and after viewing game -based activities
2.8.2. News on video as authentic material and non -formal method
PART 3
3.1. Empowering creativity through assessment
3.2. Traditional Evaluation versus Modern Evalua tion55
61
65
67
68
69
69
73
75
82
82
87
87
90
92
93

43.2.1. Criteria for evaluation
3.2.2. Comments and recommendations
CONCLUDING REMARKS
REFERENCES
APPENDICES95
98
100
102
107

5ARGUMENT
It is well known that games, as a form of organized play, have a great instructional
potential that can be exploited during foreign language classes in general and literature
classes in particular. Teaching English through non -formal methods means
complementing the more traditional ones and increasing their importance through
creativity, innovation, good organization and preparation, and tolerance –all accessible
via the literary text.
Teachers, today, think more and more of how to meet the needs of students in
this modern world, and how to re -define the concepts of“school”, “teacher”, “learner”
and “curriculum”. The new millennium was rushed in by a dramatic technological
evolution and we are now facing an increasingly diverse, globalized, and complex
society, continually demanding focus on modern teaching and learning strategies.
The main purpose of this study is to reveal students perceptions of using games
in literature and language classes and, starting from the results, to change teachers’
opinions about the usefulness of game -based activities. The present demarche is an in –
depth analysis on how to teach English creatively, and empower students to become
proficient, as well as build self -confidence and critical thinking.
This paper starts from the premise that this path has only seldom been taken
before, and that it is in everybody’s interest to bring a new approach to designing the
modern, meaningful and innovative class, based on well -documented and thoroughly
tested recipes.
The structure is meant to be according to the generally accepted statement that
practice is as important as theory, if not more so. Thus, it contains three parts which
deal with the general problems andoffer solutions tothe study of the English language ,
foregrounding active l earning methods and tasks which may become a valuable tool for
implementing a new way of teaching a foreign language .
The Introduction discusses the present situation of the teaching and learning
process, based on responses to questionnaires offered to teachers of English (see
Appendix A). It highlights our interest in teaching the English language through non –
formal methods for their beneficial effects on students.
Part onegives reasons for studying the English language creatively from several
perspectives –linguistic, cultural and aesthetic, and presents the guidelines of the
research , explaining its hypothesis, objectives, validity of the chosen research goal, as

6well as its expected outcome. It deals with new roles considered fo r both the teacher and
the students:
a)Teacher roles : facilitating learning, leading discussions, asking open -ended
questions, guiding processes and tasks encouraging students to formulate
personal points of view, working with students in the realization of teaching,
andas aneutral, consultant (who mlearners can ask questions);
b)Student roles : cooperative learning, learning in formal and non -formal learning
transfer. Involved in contextualized tasks, students will use the English
language in meaningful commu nication and in natural conditions (they really
communicate and do not use the language in artificially constructed situations).
Parttwofocuses on the stages of developing all thefour skills –reading, writing,
listening and speaking –through the use of non -formal methods, each step being
carefully detailed and exemplified, valued and enriched in the light of personal
experience. It analyses in detail the multitude of techniques, styles and methods
available, while, existing activities arecompared and contrasted, finding a balance
between the arguments for using both traditional and modern teaching strategies.
Presenting aspects of the modern teaching and learning process isaccompanied
by the multitude of strategies for designing the l esson plan: how to promote creativity
through discussion, how to maintain students’ interest and incentive, and how students
can learn to write and communicate themselves more expressively.
Focus islaid on the methods of creating the perfect English class , both learning
valuable and full of creativity and fun. The second part also tackles other techniques
which empower learners to be responsible for their own learning and help them become
more active students: outcome -based, student -centered , problem -based learning and
study case. It deals with the importance of u sing reading and writing skills, with how to
choose the right authentic material for learning ,how to speak and listen actively ,and
with how to use(without abusing) videos in the classroom.
Partthree presents the results of the research carried out throughout a school
year. It is intended to demonstrate whether students who learn using their creativity and
imagination, who bring new ideas and find open -minded solutions can do better not
only in exams or tests, but also in real life situations ,with their performance compared
tothat of young people trained through traditional education.
The stages of the research have involved the following: teaching and revising;
summing up old and new information on thinking the lesson creatively; using the new

7methods in class work and home assignments, to check whether students consider it
helpful, and the amount to which it helps them in fulfilling the ta sks; verifying the
concept in the final test; analysing the results of the tests and of the experiment; and
drawing the conclusion. These implied methods like controlled writing (including
copying, gap -filling, dictation, dicto -composition and changing the narrative
technique/point of view), guided writing (games and activities based on the concept of
advice, answering questions or completing sentences, retelling a joke, a story, a song,
describing pictures, and completing a text , projects and portfolios ),reproducing the
model (parody, making up an adaptation, narrative summary and paraphrase) ,and
imitation (whole stories and place, autobiographical writing).
The main objective of this research is to underline the functions of language and
literature as a means not only of communication, but of accumulating knowledge and
practising creative thinking as well. Another objective is to help teachers and students
become aware of the importance of a foreign language as a communication device and,
at the same tim e, of its cognitive function, which will support the importance of
interdisciplinary relations in the educational process.
Considering these aspects, we point out that we are not interested in abandoning
the traditional methods, but in adapting them to new conditions .Languages play a
decisive role in shaping students’ personality ,developing their skills in a democratic
society in which the most important values are: freedom, justice, eq uality, tolerance and
diversity, and well -designed and stimulating gam e-based activities enable students to
have the leading role and teachers to be facilitators of the learning process.
Teaching English is fun and games ,as well as unconventional activities,
provide a stimulating teaching and learning classroom environment. Whether we are
teaching adults or children, literature or grammar, games will liven up our lesson and
ensure that our students will leave the classroom wishing to return. The English
Cultur e and Civilization Circle can be the right place where teamwork,
communication, leadership, flexibility and responsiveness ,as well as creativity and
innovation , are developed .Here students come to learn and enjoy themselves and are
happy to discover that , in time, through games, they are taught to understand literature ,
become able to read and write any type of discourse, speak fluently and listen actively.
Team -work, adaptability and flexibility, self -confidence and intercultural skills
aremore easily d eveloped when teachers confront students with challenging reading
texts, authentic materials stirring their interest by telling stories, acting and introducing

8them to a different culture.
Children learn best from each other as well as with each other ,and the focus
here is on concrete doing and not learning theory, that is on having fun exploring new
texts, a new world.
It needs to be emphasized that the range of competences gained through non –
formal methods is wide and enables young people to develop very concrete skills such
as communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, digital
competence, learning to learn, social and civic competences ,cultural awareness and
expressi on, providing the young adults of tomorrow with an invaluable tool: becoming
autonomous.

9INTRODUCTION
The Romanian society is undergoing transformation ,and the Romanian education
system is in the process of transition from a centralized to a democratic state in which
the individual decisions matter more than ever. School no longer deals only with the
child's education , it has become a partner in early an dlifelong learning training,
providing people with the necessary information in order for the latter to be integrated
into the labo ur market, where fierce competition determines the selection.
In this context, the modernization of teaching English, althou gh more than
necessary, is a very complex issue which maintains a lively debate around the world.
Generally, the aim is to ensure that students learn foreign languages in the fastest
possible way and without unnecessary stress. The result of this effort is the development
and application of many innovative and reforming teaching methods. The problem has
been given much attention at national levels inall EU member states ,as well as in a
broader international context.
The views on the matter cover a wide range due to differences in orientation,
both theoretical and methodological, andstart the debate in a vast area that includes all
aspects of the educational process involving English language teaching.
Teachers must promote creative teaching, student -centered personality, shifting
the focus from informative teaching to the formative one, aiming at developing new
values, attitudes, feelings, work skills, commun icative and relationship skills.
Being able to reach all goals and acknowledgement from student smeans that ,
the teacher has to handle various teaching techniques before entering the class, and to
decide which ones are suitable for different groups of students and levels.
When we consider teaching academic skills, students can become bored or even
intimidated if the methods we choose are not interesting enough, not appropriate to
their level of knowledge, or related to their interests. Teachers can fail in evaluating
and appreciating their students’ real progress unless they focus on assessing stude nts’
creativity and intelligence. As Alfie Kohn argues “ standardized tests c an’tmeasure
initiative,creativity, imagination, conceptual th inking,curiosity,effort, iro ny,
judgment,commitment, nu ance,good wil l,ethical reflection, or ahost of oth er
valuable dispos itionsandattribut es.Whattheycanmeasureandcount areisolated
skills, specificfacts and fun ctions, the leastinterestingand le astsignificant asp ects of
learning”.(2000: 11) In other words s tudents need to be challenged to think creatively

10and critically and question rather than accept assumptions and stereotypes. (Hinkel
2001)
Literature is so important for children since it immerses the pupil into the world
it depicts and not only this, bu t also for the vast potential of creativity, individuality
and multiple intelligences of learners which can be recognized. Literature reading ,
through non -formal methods, will help students develop real -world skills that are
useful in an academic environment, such as determining the relationship from similar
or contrasting view points and stating an opinion logically and articulately, with
support.
AsTim Caine puts it, the purpose of education is “to help students acquire a
way of thinking and pe rceiving and acting that provides an ongoing platform for being
able to adapt to a changing world”. (2011: 37) Teachers must therefore adapt and
adjust approaches and methodologies according to a modern society so that learners
become well prepared for the future.
Being stimulating for students, non -formal methods will defin itely improve the
learning atmosphere in the classroom and will lead to the development of the skills and
experiences required by the English language syllabus es.

11PART 1
1.1. What is creativity? Present day orientations
Creativity is most important in the teaching and learning process and provides students
as well as teachers with motivation and interest. T eacher sused to be given
straightforward instructions, ask ed to follow the curriculum ensuring that students
wouldn’t disrupt the classroom andmeet the state standards for the subject, and make
sure that students past standardized exams at the end of the year, and provided with a
curriculum, rulebooks, materials and other documents to refer to. The curriculum was
set on lessons based on a script, accompanied with assignments to give, the right time to
give,and what to expect from pupils. It was like a well detailed process, and all the
teacher had to do was to f ollow the instructions in order to succeed. Unfortunately, none
of that considered the real complexities of the teaching process. The students do not sit
quietly, taking down notes. They are tired of the old school approach to learning a
language –now the y want something practical, relevant and useful for their professional
life. Our students are ready to ask questions and are empowered to be partly responsible
and take decisions.
A creative teacher always considers better solutions of doing things ,and no t just
one way of solving a problem, creating new ways and methods for teaching and
learning so as to make the learning process even more valuable.
Together with new technology, newer approaches to teaching and learning have
emerged in recent decade. Outc ome-based learning, student -centered learning, problem –
based learning or case study are some of the techniques that empowered learners to be
responsible for their own learning and help them to become more active students. They
will be allowed to “experimen t” on the language, discover things for themselves, see
what is right and wrong, getting “hands on” experience and not just sit tingand listen ing
as theories say they should be doing.

121.2. Ways of Adopting Creativity and Innovation in Teaching and Learning
English
The modern teacher, who constantly uses non -formal methods, will in fact use a variety
of methodologies and approaches, choosing techniques from each method that they
consider effective and applying them according to the learning context and objectives.
Technology, namely the computer, especially to the young generation who
grows with the technology in their background, can be an effective tool, an agent for
learning, very effectively use dboth in and out of the language classroom. In their
English Culture and Civilization course students feel comfortable because they use
music, literature, films, art, incorporating different types of media in their projects, and
together with their teacher s, they create new teaching and learning philosophies and
contexts, develop new teaching tools and aids –all in order to make learners have fun
and improve their skills. This way, the learner will not have a boring lesson, but an
entertaining ,usefu l,andvery interactive one.
Music canbe an approach to teaching and learning English through fun and
entertaining lessons both within and outside of traditional schools .The students will
simply listen to the lyrics of the music and have fun at the same time. The new
vocabulary can become the tools to be used in the classroom, as classroom assignments,
asaway to describe content, develop classroom activities, and create tools for
empowering pupils.
The project -based learning is another approach to teaching that focuses on
engaging students in exploring real -life situations and challenges, developing their
content knowledge and also the ability to find solutions to problems. This way students,
who may be di sinteres ted in the traditional content, are allowed t o identify problems
and they become willing to solve, thus being creative through the use of non -formal
methods.
The process oriented guided inquiry lessons are part of a learning strategy that
focuses on using the real life experiences of the learner to create knowledge and
considers how students relate to the environment where they are taught. In this process,
the teacher assigns to students, asks a set of questions they can only answer by
exploring the text that was given, and not give the students any answers or fact sto
memorize. The questions that theteacher gives are mainly to provoke students to look
deeply at the text and increase their knowledge.

13Reality pedagogy is a technique that focuses on teachers gaining an
understan ding of student realiti es and th en using this information as the starting point
for instruction. Teachers and students discuss the classroom and both suggest ways to
improve it. Students will have a definite role in how the class operates and what is
taught, they learn content a nd then teach the class, while the teacher has to acknowledge
limitations and build the content expertise with students.
The flipped classroom is another teaching technique pupils love being involved
in. They watch video lectures, and then return to schoo l to engage in exercises and
discussions. They create, collaborate and learn at their own pace, and then apply at
school.
All these modern approaches mentioned in the specialised literature focus on
engaging both the student and the teacher.
When teache rs are given the flexibility they need to engage in methods of
teaching and learning that go beyond archaic models that they are often bound to,
students react differently, and education is improved. These non -formal methods have
been use dto increase stud ent attendance, motivation and content knowledge, the
students’ interest in the subject being taught and the mastery of content.
Today, the language teacher has sound knowledge and experience in the various
techniques and new approaches. Indiscussing the necessity of teacher -student
communication, mention should be made that the teacher plays a crucial role in the
students’ engagement with the class. A 1993 study by Skinner and Belmont discussed
the relationship between students’ motivation and engage ment and the teacher’s
behavio ur with the students. Here, the authors’ research suggests that there is a
reciprocal relationship between the teacher’s behavio ur in terms of his or her
involvement with the students and their learning processes and the stude nts’ emotional
and behavio ural engagement and involvement in the classroom. In this study,
involvement is defined by “the quality of interpersonal relationship with teachers and
peers. Teachers are involved with their students to the extent that they make time for,
express affection toward, enjoy interaction with, are attuned to, and dedicate resources
to their students” (573). Engagement is defined as having both behavio ural and
emotional qualities, in that, children who are engaged show sustained behavio ural
involvement in learning activities accompanied by positive emotional tone. They select
tasks at the border of their competencies, initiate action when given the 10 opportunity,
and exert intense effort and concentration in the implementation of learnin g tasks; they

14show generally positive emotions during ongoing action, including enthusiasm,
optimism, curiosity, and interest. (1993: 572)
According to all this information, the conclusion which may be reached is that
chaos becomes order only through thor ough work ,andteachers think that this is exactly
the case with the teaching process. The teacher has the role of creating order where
information is not clear enough or coming from different sources, some being untrue
and unrealistic, while others, such as media, films, computer games ,can represent real
disadvantage to the teacher or classes of English.
1.3. The role of the teacher and principles in teaching creativity
The teacher is best prepared in the subject he teaches and knows it is impossible to do
everything if only one method is used. The most effective teachers tend to use a
“hybrid” of classic effective teaching and newer cognitive or constructivist approaches
that characterize concepts such as “dynamic structural teaching”. For example,
combining “the best of both direct instruction and communicatively -based classroom
interaction seems to be the most powerful vehicle towards accomplishing effective and
optional instruction”. (Salasar 1992: 31 –32)
AsMax Thompson (2009) suggests , the use of non -formal methods enables the
teacher to focus on the content and language objectives of the lesson and involves the
students actively in meeting the objectives. Lessons are delivered at the appropriate
pace so that the students can learn the material and not become bored with it. They are
engaged in the lesson 90 –100% of the time through well -designed lessons that are
understandable to the students ,create opportunities for students to talk about the
concepts, and include “hands -on”activities that r einforce each lesson.
The teacher proposes a variety of activities and exercises, both written and oral,
to improve the learner’s accuracy, fluency and communicative ability. It is important
that English language learners be provided with high quality, challenging materials
which are coordinated with key goals for standards of learning. The teacher will
develop a wide range of resources in order to give relevant, stimulating, and productive
lessons, where students are also encouraged to be autonomous.
The teacher develops all four linguistic capabilities –reading, writing, listening
and speaking, improves pronunciation using drills, where students repeat the phrases

15spoken by the teacher, and corrects errors immediately if the aim of the activity is to
gain accuracy, but if it is fluency, these errors will be corrected later on.
According to Douglas Brown (2001), teachers and students should both consider
aiming to promote learner autonomy and stress the importance of self -motivation. This
means that the language learners sho uld not expect the teacher to provide everything,
but should take control of their own learning, thus becoming partners in the teaching
and learning process.
This study is presenting the fundamental principles that guide the teaching and
learning process , in order for ourstudy to analys e if these assure the developing of
students’ creativity, and in what way non -formal methods can represent an important
aidin the teaching of the English language.
The principle of communicative approach requires pupils tobeactive in oral and
written communication during the whole process of learning English. Vocabulary
learning techniques include dealing with words used in a variety of situations and
providing multiple exposures . (August, Carlo, Dressler and Sn ow, 2005) Teachers
develop a llthefour skills –listening, speaking, reading and writing –through game –
based learning activities, each of them relying on its own set of tasks that are
characteristic and special. So in explaining a particular language act ivity the teacher
encounters specific problems that should be solved since the development of each
activity demands certain strategies and activities . This technique is based on the
principl eof a differential approach where the teacher offers special atte ntion to every
activity and student as being unique and important.
The principle of an integrated approach refers to pupils who do not acquire
sound, grammatical and lexical items as parts of the language, but they study them in
sentence and dialogue patterns, related to situations. The materials should be attractive
and flexible. (Howard and Major, 2005)
According to Macmillan English Dictionary’s definition, imagination is the
faculty or action of producing ideas, especially mental images of somethin g which is
not present or has not been experienced yet. It is a mental creati ve ability which deals
resourcefully with unexpected or unusual situations . Imagination can help, but without
experien ce and hard work, nothing extrao rdinary can be achieved. And that is also the
case with tal ent. Even the most tal ented and gifted students cannot achieve great
progress if there is not enough work ,and this is the only way information, knowledge
and experience become essential. Experience can be direct, as for the Romanian people

16who study and live abroad, especially in the English speaking countries, or indirect, the
one that can be achieved through a lot of reading, research, listening to lectures, or
watching videos andDVD -s. In both situations the variety of inf ormation is extrem ely
important ,and the teacher of the English language can clearly contribute to developing
creativity since it can take advantage of them both.
The principle of durability deals with the pupil’s ability to memorise grammar
and lexical items for inside and outside classroom assignments and also using creative
presentation based on the teacher’s thorough feedback and motivating assessment. The
pupils’ conscious approach to language acquisition implies thoroughly understanding
the material and not acquiring the information mechanically. The students become
active participants led by their own motivation, desire, interest in the language, and also
by the teacher’s support. The teacher brings more colour and positive emotions to his
class in order to attract pupils’ attention and motivation, thus using the principle of
visualization. The principle of individualization is very important because the teacher
focuses on each student, highlighting his abilities and strengths. The students are
encou raged to gain progress, especially through the use of non -formal methods and self –
assessment or group evaluation. Teachers use cards, selection of tasks, extracurricular
materials for reading activities, group work –all in order to promote discussion .
Considering all these new principles, onecan clearly understand that education
does not only represent a tool for transmitting information and knowledge. The teacher
becomes the students’ partner in the teaching and learning process, co -designing
classes, making decision together and respecting the didactic principles at the same
time. Teachers organize lessons so that pupils are willing to work together and develop
self-esteem, especially when they understand the messages clearly or become actively
involv ed in the reading, writing, speaking and listening processes. Using non -formal
methods the teacher provides creative tasks to enrich classroom work, and they make it
more varied and more enjoyable by tapping into individual talents, ideas and thoughts –
both the learners’ and the teacher’s. The students are presented new and active
experiences due to the non -formal education, empowering their personality, creativity,
flexibility and critical thinking. The teacher anticipates what the students’ main interest s
are, their abilities, and the things they know before designing the activity. In order to be
able to monitor, cooperate and assess, the teacher needs also to observe and work with
the things he hears, sees and goes beyond appearances, too. An efficient a id to help gain
success is the teacher’s portfolio ,which needs to contain the following:

17-Resume;
-Background information on teacher and teaching context;
-Educational philosophy and teaching goals;
-Overview of unit goals and instructional plan;
-Year plans, term plans (The English Culture and Civilization Circle works
according to a curriculum designed by the coordinator teacher, based on four
levels: beginners, intermediate, advanced and performance);
-Students notebooks from different years of study and leve l;
-Didactic materials;
-Lesson plans;
-Group work projects to show ways and strategies of practising the English
language and acquiring information on the English Culture and Civilization;
-Assessment tests and other materials;
-Individual and group worksheets;
-Questionnaires (not only for students, but also for parents, so we know their
level of satisfaction with the way the English language is taught);
-The list of the materials used in the classroom activities;
-List of resources used in unit;
-Videot ape of teaching;
-Student work examples;
-Evaluation of student work;
-Reflective commentary by the teacher;
-Letters of recommendation;
-Formal evaluations. (Botez 1998)
Also, portfolios are special tools for teachers to keep evidence of their growth and
achievement over time. Teachers, encourage students to select examples of their work
to demonstrate how much they learned, and they must do the same.
Intelligence can influence the creative act, enabling and setting new relations,
contributing and assessing t he progress. They must ,though, consider the fact that there
is not clear evidence in the intelligence and creativity tests in this respect. The high rates
of creativity imply a high level of intelligence, or at least medium, but a high level of
intelligence can coincide with lo w creative possibilities. This can be revealed in a study
thatteachers from the English Culture and Civilization Circle have developed with two
groups of 15 students each, one elementary and the other advanced level. For example,

18when dealing with the act ivity, which will be shown later on in this paper, where
students were asked to fin dways in knowing and accepting other people’s culture and
tradition, the elementary level pupils solved the problem d iscovering more re asonable
solutions, revealing their p ractical sense and abilities, being faster, giv ing more
arguments and not just “ yes” or “no” answers to their partner’s questions. On the other
hand, the advanced level students found and discussed the causes of possible problems,
but could not find soluti ons to them and didnot feel that determined, as the first group
of students was, until the teacher sprovided more materials (a song, a video and
pictures).
In order for students to take full advantage of the experience ,and knowledge the
unconscious infor mation they have, teachers may use free association as a method
which involves involuntary acts, on the spot decisions, spontaneous expression, all
determined by specific causes, as in the case of brain storming, when children express
freely everything that comes to their mind in relation with a certain discussed topic .
Another method is synectics (McDonough 2003) which uses analogy in order to
find solutions to problems. This way, the students’ task requires them to find metaphor s,
make comparisons in rela tion with the topic under discussion. This represents higher
level of difficulty, especially at the end of the activity when students decode the
consequences of the highlighted images.
JoMcDonough (2003) believes that when critical thinking, discipline,
conformism are more developed, creativity weakens as they are not that strongly
connected with the essence of free imagination or a climate of freedom, but he also
admits that this objection is only partial as the human mind can be so flexible.
An old N ative American proverb states: I hear: I forget
I see: I remember
I do: I understand
The teacher who has a good and friendly relationship with his students,
encouraging them all the time to ask questions and express opinions and ideas, being
positive and not judging, without any shadow of irony when they make mistakes after
mistakes, and motivating them to satisfy their curiosity and not feel fear or shame,
defin itely stimulates his pupils’ imagination. There are many ways creativity canbe
develop edtheir creativity: ask the students to write a composition describing a simple

19object such as a computer, a castle, their home; we encourage them to ask many
questions as they can on familiar topics such as: Facebook, film, a play etc.
Activity 1: Divide a class into teams of 2 –4 students, each group receives Text
A or Text B. Read the text carefully and fill in the missing spaces, deciding and
choosing the ideas together. Read the text again within your group and then read it
aloud to the other group. Then listen to their story and discover other solution.
Text A
It was a …………………………and the bus was …………………………There was
a tall, handsome man standing ………………………………………………. Siting
……………him there was a ……………………………………. The …………still …………a
long ……………to do. He ………… talking to the …………. He tells ………that he is
very wealthy. ……… pricks ………………up. He talks to her …………………… ………
she looks at him …………………………………………… tells her ……………………and
……………. She ………………… him with tender ………………. Finally he tells her he
…………… a ………….
The man says: ‘……’………………the bus at ………………………then we
………………. ‘…………up and gets ………the bus. ………does not ……………………
……has taken …………………
Text B
……………very hot day ………………………………very crowded. …………………
………………………, …………………………… near the front of the bus.
…………………n ear …………………………beautiful girl. ……man ………had
…………journey …………………begins ……………………girl. …………………her
…………… ………………………. She …………her ears………. ………………………about
his big farm …………………………………with real interest. He ……………… that he is
sad ………lonely. …………looks at ……………………sympathy .………………needs
………wife.
……………………: ‘Let’s get off …………………the next stop ………………can
talk’.She gets ……………………off ………. She ………………look behind her. He
………………her seat!
(Adapted from Team Correcting, Cambridge University Press 1988: 37)
Time: 15 minutes
Level: Intermediate
Aim of the activity: negotiation o f meaning.

20The teacher makes copies of the text but does not give a clue to solving the
exercise; he can only coordinate them, telling to read the text twice. The students who
have Text A have a part of the w hole text, while the other group with Text B have the
other part of the text . Only after they have finished completing the text can they put
texts together and see what and how it could have been done, but in fact, the fun part of
the activity is when they realise they have found different solutions to the same
problem.
Activity 2
Level: Elementary and above
Time: 15 minutes
Task :1.Stand in a circle facing each other in pairs.
2. You have two minutes to discover as much as you can about your partner.
You can ask anything youlike.
3.When the time is up, turn around so that you stand back with your first
partner, and facing a new partner. Describe your first partner to your new
partner .
4.At the end ,stand in the circle and say anything youknow about anyone else in
thegame .
Procedure: Playing this game made students feel there was nothing else but having fun,
but, in fact, it was quite the opposite since they practi sedgrammar structures such as
Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple ;and a few of them used the Past
Continuous Tense to remind the others what their first partner was doing when was first
in front of them; adjectives and adverbs. They communicated only in the English
language showing a good range of vocabulary and grammatical structures . This way,
this activity increases the self -confidence of more hesitant students . It is really useful
because everybody has the opportunity to communicate in the target language clearly
and efficiently, and the ability to express in English is improved and this enables the
learner ’s success not only in school , but also later in every phase of life.
When teachers talk about students’ imagination ,they think about reading,
sharing new experiences with their students and enjoying every opportunity that helps
children enrich it. There is no better way to enlarge and refresh their outlook than
reading . It exposes them to new people, customs, ideas and ways of li ving. It can be the
best opportunity to develop creative thinking and to view life from a fresh perspective.
What can be greater opportunity to communicate in the English language than

21discussing and commenting on the topics read at home or in the classroo m?The teacher
can discuss with students about planning a trip ,as well as reading the books ,and a good
place for finding information is Lonely Planet web-site. The teacher will advis e students
to take photographs and keep a diary in English as they travel.
Playing games and spending fun time with children, taking up hobbies, reading,
self-reliance (i.e. depending more on theability to think and thinking up new ideas),
associating with creative people who are fun to talk to and have a keen sense of interest
in life, all develop creative attitudes and abilities to f ind problems. G ood teachers know
how to motivate and stimulate pupils to be willing to solve these problems so as
something good and new will be found f or them, reaching creativity, hence new
solutions. Creativity is necessary, especially when dealing with problems which involve
finding more than one solution. Gap-spotting or problematization , as ways of
constructing research questions, are likely to prom ote more interesting and significant
ideas. These methods refer to students as being the ones to find the problem, being
invol ved actively in efforts of analy sing and thinking. (Sandberg and Alvesson 2010:
40)
How can schools do this more easily and effic iently for students? Nowadays, it
goes without saying that nothing can be achieved in the education process unless there
is a true sound partnership between teacher and classroom. Therefore ,teachers and
students need to negotiate certain rules in order to assure adequate conditions for the
teaching and learning process. Negotiating does not mean refusing the teacher’s
authority, but implies a balance between the rights and responsibilities of the two. The
tasks will be clearly presented ,and eve ry student will have a responsibility within the
group .

22Figure 1 .Spidergram for: What makes a good language learner ? (Harmer 2007: 89)
Spidergrams are a visual way of making preparation notes for writing an essay. These
mind maps are interesting and fun ways to teach speaking also, as after a content -based
lesson, a discussion can be held for various reasons. The discussion can take place just
sitting comfortably on a carpet, while one student or more, in turns, write on the board,
generating a w eb of ideas beginning with the centre topic, which is represented in
Figure 1, “what makes a good language learner”. These spidergrams, also called cluster
mapping or idea webbing, can be worked individually or in groups. Besides using
imagination, the adv antages of spider diagrams note taking are as follows:
They create an overview, referring to complex topics onto a single page;
Does not permit forgetting ideas;
They give possibility to look over all and pick out the most relevant parts;
They are straight -outmemorable (colours, pictures and simple key words);
Readers never get confuse d;
Theyrepresent agood link between reading and writing skills. (Cook 2013)

23This spider diagram shows that creativity is not only one side, but it implies t he work of
both the teacher and the language learner. The creative teacher will succeed in
developing his learner ability to be creative , but it is also the learner’s interest that helps
the teacher and motivate the student.
The creative process can be re ferred to in many aspects, as Wallas (1926) puts it:
1.Preparation;
2.The work itself;
3.The progress;
4.The assessment.
But this principle has been thoroughly argued, especially by Rossman (1931) who found
the following stages:
1.The need or difficulty revealed;
2.Problematization;
3.Critically examined solutions;
4.New discovered ideas;
5.New ideas tested and accepted.
In searching and finding the right solution to a problem, heuristic strategies of
thinking have the most important role, and also to other qualities of thinking ,such as
flexibility ,which allows us to evaluate and adjust to differe nt situation, roles and
responsi bilities .Rigid thinking, as Lewin (1993 : 58)considers, can be productive
sometimes. It does help us make decisions about things, but is not suited to help us with
our lifestyle. Sometimes it works to be more rigid, to follow specific rules, “but that
does not make us more creative”, he says. Mental agility is also related to our
perceptions, emotions, actions and motivations. The simple change of environment,
attitude or behaviour, feelings like happiness, fear, optimism, mean making a men tal
shift,and this demonstrates. All of us are mentally flex ible, but, according to Lewin ,
with awareness and practice we can become even better at it ,andthere are five steps to
follow , helping the mind and making us feel more creative :
1.Change the context;
2.Try something new;

243.Question thoughts and words;
4.Plan to b e spontaneous;
5.Mix up the way you think. (Levin 1993: 58)
Creativity also refers to:
Adequate motivation, the interest in discovering in producing something
new;
Strong belief, perseverance to overcome great difficulties;
Willing to know, a strong desire.
This can be seen especially when the use of active methods is accompanied by group
activities. This way, following the teacher’s tasks, students s earch for information,
discover leading steps and end in writing the solution or result of the inquiry.
Many experimental studies have shown that the friendlier and the more respect
students show each other in a group, the more success they gain. Positive attitude will
always help pupils:
-Cope more easily;
-Bring optimism to the group;
-Make it easier to avoid worries or negative thinking;
-Feel more successful. (Sasson 2016)
For great success in a project or in any activity, the creative group requires
certain conditions such as positive thinking and optimism, motivation and energy in
trying new things and aiming new goals . The size of the group will be reduced,
preferably to 4 or 5 in each group. It is essentially that the speaking, or any other task,
should be equally d ivided among group members. The group will always prevail, but
only on condition that each member’s valuable abilities are considered. It is also
important how the teacher organizes the group work. Ingroup discussions, teachers will
not form large groups, because there can be students who might avoid participating ,
feeling shyor just not well enough prepared. The members of the group can be either
assigned by the teacher, or the students can make their own choice , but team s should be
reorganized in every speaking activity so that children have the opportunity to discuss

25with all their classmates and learn to be open to different ideas. (Handelsman et al.
2006: 59)
Activity 3
Level: Intermediate
Time: 15 minutes
Aim: Expressing personal opinions in polite ways while disagreeing with others
Task :A. Make groups of three students
B. Listen to the six following short sequences of music
C. As you listen (without stopping the cd), write down any words that
you associate with each piece of music.
1……………………………………………………………
2 ……………………………………………………………
3 ……………………………………………………………
4 ……………………………………………………………
5 ……………………………………………………………
D. Compare your ideas with those of your partner and then with the rest of the
class.
E. Listen to the re cordings again and decide what g enre of music each istaken
from. What are the typical features of each genre? (i.e. what sort of characters,
settings etc. do they have?) (Adapted from O’Connell 1995: 210)
Students are encouraged to ask questions, paraphrase ideas, express support and check
for clarification and better understanding . Each student is involved while the teacher’s
speaking times will be reduced as he steps back only to observe. The teacher will
indicate positive signs for encouragement on a student’s re sponse ,and the mistakes will
be corrected, if possible, at the end of the activity as not to disturb the student from his
speech or from listening to the music. (seeAppendix B)
Here is a list of skills to assess:
-Team roles;
-Cooperative behaviour;
-Time and task management;
-Creative problem solving;
-Use of a range of working methods;
-Negotiation.

26Plainly put, dramatization is a teaching method. Knowledge is power ,and
students love to learn through non -formal methods, especially drama. Their bodies,
mind and emotions are extremely active when they become engrossed in the drama and
all the students, now real characters of the play, become members of a group, all with
the same interests and motivation. Drama in the classroom can be really beneficial.
Since s tudents can create scenes ,develop role -plays and spontaneously us etheir
imagination to learn. Children will not learn when lectured to ov er a significant period
of time, as Dr Bruce Perry (2004: 84) explains, their brain becomes tired after long and
sustained activity. “Learning requires attention. And attention is mediated by specific
parts of the brain. Yet, neural systems fatigue quickly, actually within minutes. With
three to five minutes of sustained activity, neurons become ‘less responsive’; they n eed
a rest” .If the teacher does not actively involve the students in the learning process, their
attention is lost. Richard Courtney (1980: 16) considers drama as “the human process
whereby imaginative thought becomes action ”. He believes that “ drama is based on
internal empathy and identification ”. Courtney believes also that “life is a drama.”
Wilhelm and Edmiston explain drama as, “wondering, ‘What if…?’ and then interacting
with others in a drama world as if that imagined reality was actual”. In the c lassroom,
the teacher uses drama not only as a tool, but also for understanding personalities.
“Asking ‘What if…?’ is not an optional question in the curriculum imagining
possibilities is the core of understanding other people, other times, and other plac es”
(1998: 36 ).Patrick Verrior also believes in the importance of using drama in schools:
“watching children working in drama provides fascinating insights into the richness of
their imaginations, the skill with which they negotiate with one another, thei r present
level of critical thinking, and the sophistication of the language they use” .(1994: 7)
Bolton defines the form of drama the teacher uses at school as “dramatic playing.” In
which both students and teacher play important roles. “Dramatic playing is
characterized by a high degree of spontaneity as teacher and students work to create a
fictional world in which they assume roles to explore issues that are of concern to them”
(1994: 9).Many teachers who adopt drama as a creative teaching method belie ve that it
is the activity of pupils joining a world of imagination, creativity and fun, taking roles in
order to develop and improve new skills. Learning in this way, students become able to
acquire information through new perspectives and also share old experience. “Most
familiar to us in the Western world is the theatre of ancient Greece, which developed
from celebration and dance into a golden age of theatre” .(McCaslin 1998: 271) Drama

27and its characters were highly respected and McCaslin discusses ofits history since the
idea of using this form of art as a way of teaching is not new. “Plato, in The Republic,
advocated play as a way of learning. Aristotle urged education in the arts, distinguishing
between activities that were means and those that were ends” .Many cultures have
found using drama to teach religion to be very successful. “The medieval church taught
through the medium of mystery plays and in doing, helped to restore theatre to its
proper place as a great art form” .(McCaslin 1998: 271)
Drama isused not only to teach but also as a form of entertainment. It was
interesting to watch the play a group of advanced learners, performed at the English
Culture and Civilization Circle. The students created a role -scene, imagining a situation
between William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. For each student to express his
opinion as coherently as possible, about true love, the students did not restrain
themselves from taking information from their textbook, the internet, the history
textbook and also asking their teacher. Instead, they received a short bibliography and
were advised to go to V.A. Urechia Library, to read the recommended material . The
perfo rmance was a success. It was extremely interesting and became the starting point
of a debate which followed the conclusion that love is important for every human being .
Inthe given situation, the Queen was referring to the love for her country and people
while Shakespeare was telling the story of young people in love. At the end of the
activity everybody was proud and happy, and photographs were taken. Later on, the
play took part in a competition called “Having Fun with English”, project which will be
presented at the end of this study , in the Appendices Chapter, and which represented a
way to assess the students’ work.
Unfortunately, cultivating innovation, which definitely bring change and
development in education , also implies making parents understand not to take part in
the pupils’ assignments, as this would not mean supporting them, but only expressing
doubt they could solve, or if they cannot, there will be someone else who will do their
work. This is not our goal. We bring innovation to our classro om, for example project –
based learning, in order to develop the skills of imitative, problem solving and self –
awareness.

281.4. Creative communication
In the English Culture and Civilization Circle, unconventional activities are considered
an important tool in teaching and learning. These activities can offer endless
possibilities for developing the pupils’ communicative skills and abilities in the forei gn
language, and can develop pleasure for literature if they are given the chance to follow
an extensive reading, writing, listening and speaking program. The work at the foreign
language circle is not compulsory, but optional, and is based on communicativ e skills
and on creating initiative.
In promoting communication in the English language, the teacher:
-builds creative thinking through the use of both traditional education and
modern active methods ;
-develops an active attitude towards finding and solving problems;
-draws attention upon the benefits of offering good language acquisition
programs to all pupils;
-motivates students focusing on the advantages of a new language learning
(when the school year finishes and parents and students can express their
wish to continue with their language course);
-uses efficient methods and materials to highlight the advantages of
intercultural and language knowledge;
-takes students to museums, parks, cinemas, exchange experience and ideas
with other schools making new pa rtners;
-highlights the advantages of language learning including study camps and
workshops;
-makes the classroom the most comfortable environment so that students feel
ready and willing to communicate.
The English teacher also knows that planning the lesso n is subject to permanent
changes and adaptations and although it is based on permanent established endings, the
teacher should adapt the activities to individual differences among pupils and specific
situations that may occur during the teaching and learn ing process. Here are seven
important conditions that are necessary to have in mind for a good planning:
1.Realistic: according to the possibilities and limitations of the students, group,
school and community;
2.Concrete objectives and steps;

293.United and coherent principles;
4.Graded objectives and goals;
5.Articulated, ready to make the required adaptation;
6.Dynamic and hypothetical with a wide selection of activities, techniques,
materials, topics and possibilities to make the English language interesting
andnever monotonous for the children.
The teacher of the English language becomes the master of mixing techniques,
activities and materials in such a way that there is created a balance for the whole class.
In order to promote a good communication of the Eng lish language, the teacher knows
even from the start what progress he will achieve and the results at the end of the day.
He will inform his students about the aimed objectives, preparing them not only for
acquiring the information, but also for self -asses sment.
The teacher’s creativity arises curiosity in the classroom, makes students ask
questions and not encourage them to blindly conform. To be able to do that, he needs to
be open to new ideas, to stop thinking about the class and try new, interesting and
exciting things all the time. If teachers, get bored, the pupils will definitely feel the
same, so it isalways fun to do something unexpected, such as, in the middle of a very
intense activity of practicing a grammar structure, playing a song, listeni ng to the lyrics,
dictation writing andfinding and analysing that structure would be both entertaining
and effective, and here is an example:
Activity 4
Level: Advanced
Time: 60 minutes
Task: Listen to the song and fill in the missing words and phrases.
After you have listen to the song twice, write a letter to your best friend starting from
the following lines, including present and past tenses ,using 100 -150 words .
Booze cost me dream lover
Dear Deidre,
I have a problem and I need your help. It all began about two years ago…

30Squeeze –Up the Junction
I never thought it would happen
With me and the girl from Clapham
Out on the ……… common
That night I ain ’t……………
When she dealt out the rations
With some or other passions
I said “…… …… … ……… ”
“Perhaps ”she said. “I may be ”
We moved in to a ……………
With thoughts of our engagement
We stayed in … … …………
Although the room was ………
We spent our time just kissing
TheRailway Arms we ’re missing
But love had got us hooked up
And all our time it took up
I got a job with Stanley
He said I ’d come in handy
And started me on Monday
So I had a ……… on Sunday
I worked eleven hours
And bought the girl some ………
She sa id she ’d seen a doctor
And nothing now could stop her
I worked all through the winter
The weather ……… …… ………
I put away a tenner
Each week to make her ………
And when the time was ready
We had to sell the telly

31Late evenings by the fire
With little ……… inside her
This morning at four fifty
I took her rather nifty
Down to an incubator
Where ……… minutes later
She gave birth to a daughter
Within a year a walker
She looked just like her ………
If there could be another
And now she’s two years older
Her mother's with a …………
She left me when my drinking
Became a proper stinging
The devil came and took me
From bar to street to bookie
No more nights by the telly
No more nights nappies smelling
Alone here in the kitchen
I feel there ’s something missing
I’d beg for some forgiveness
But begging ’s not my …………
And she won ’t write a letter
Although I always tell her
And so it ’s my ………………
I'm really up the junction
Written by Christopher Henry Difford , Glenn Martin Tilbrook
Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

32Answer key:
I never thought it would happen
With me and the girl from Clapham
Out on the windy common
That night I ain’t forgotten
When she dealt out the rations
With some or other passions
I said “you are a lady ”
“Perhaps ”she said. “I may be ”
We moved in to a basement
With thoughts of our engagement
We stayed in by the telly
Although the room was smelly
We spent our time just kissing
The Railway Arms we ’re missing
But love had got us hooked up
And all our time it took up
I got a job with Stanley
He said I ’d come in handy
And started me on Monday
So I had a bath on Sunday
I worked eleven hours
And bought the girl some flowers
She said she ’d seen a doctor
And nothing now could stop her
I worked all through the winter
The weather brass and bitter
I put away a tenner
Each week to make her better
And when the time was ready
We had to sell the telly

33Late evenings by the fire
With little kicks inside her
This morning at four fifty
I took her rather nifty
Down to an incubator
Where thirty minutes later
She gave birth to a daughter
Within a year a walker
She looked just like her mother
If there could be another
And now she ’s two years older
Her mother ’s with a soldier
She left me when my dri nking
Became a proper stinging
The devil came and took me
From bar to street to bookie
No more nights by the telly
No more nights nappies smelling
Alone here in the kitchen
I feel there ’s something missing
I’d beg for some forgiveness
But begging ’s not my business
And she won ’t write a letter
Although I always tell her
And so it ’s my assumption
I’m really up the junction
This fun activity represents ideal material for functional language as it deals with real –
life aspects.
The teacher pushes himself out o f the comfort zone, an even if he finds it
difficult at the beginning, it may be just what he needs in order to be creative. For this,
he teaches new topics, tries new things and new ways to present them, find inspirational

34places or just add more colour t o the old one to make it more attractive and towards
more inspiration. The teacher brings new materials, present new topics, chooses new
things and methods to approach them, discovers places that inspire and influent, or
bring more colour to the classroom, making it more interesting and valuable .Everything
the teacher uses –materials, tasks selected for the unit being discussed, the environment
–helps him in still a sense of wonder in students. This will keep them learning long
after leaving our classro om and also questioning what happens around. Whether it is a
museum or a special corner in the classroom ,wonderful and exciting ideas can come
and offer students opportunities for using their imagination .Being relaxed also helps,
especially the pupils who find it easier to learn at their own pace and not under any
stress or pressure and this is w hythe teacher will constantly adapt his techniques and
methods. The creative teacher is also ready to set aside t eaching, even for a few
moments, in favour of som e interest of the pupils, to talk about their hobbies and then
they return to their work with even more passion and interest. Being creative, the
teacher will move faster, think clearer, have more visions and so will be his classes,
always challenging, full of strength and energy i n their creative journey.
Too much homework can be overwhelming and pupils do not find time to be
creative anymore the teacher sets aside time to think and ensure that students are
effective, creative and spontaneous .Homewor k habits can be the following:
Doweusually …?
-set homework consistently for every class ;
-include homework in our lesson plan ;
-ensure students write down homework instructions ;
-discuss the rationale/aims/ content/”rules” of ‘Homework’ with classes ;
-negoti ate how much homework is feasible/reasonable ;
-set “leftover”/less interesting exercises for homework ;
-set different types of homework, e.g. oral/aural tasks ;
-offer a choice of homework, e.g. Do exercise(s) 1 and/or 2 and/or 3 , or
allow students to choose their own homework activity ;
-set optional extra homework for weaker learners or for those highly
motivated and willing to improve their level of proficiency;
-ensure homework is completed by the specified time;
-mark/collect homework at the start of lessons;

35-mark homework in a variety of ways, e.g. with a marking code, pairs,
groups, supply a copy of answers for self -checking, encourage second
drafting;
-write marks/comments consistently on students’ homework;
-have students mark their own and/or each other’s h omework;
-go over homework with students individually;
-have a cross -school ‘marking policy’
-alter our planned lesson(s) because of homework results;
-treat students in different ways according to their homework performance,
e.g. those who do it more favourab ly than those who don’t;
-set “exams” exercises to be done at home, i.e. that form part of evaluation;
-ask students to repeat a homework exercise;
-re-use previous homework;
-devote sufficient class time to homework;
-keep a register of homework types/marks/pe rformance to include it in the
evaluation;
And, do weview homework as primarily a PROCESS or a PRODUCT?
Less common types of homework
a)Ask students to read ahead orpreview future lessons (this could be especially
useful for weaker students);
b)Set writing activities based on models;
c)Makeuse of reference materials (e.g. from the school library ortheinternet );
d)Use inter -class correspondence and penfriend (particularly on the internet e.g.
www.stolaf.edu ,www.nyt/learning ,www.guardian.co.uk ,www.comenius.com ,
www.eslcafe.com .);
e)Ask students to give presentations on easy readers ,newspaper articles they
have read, or even songs they have listened to;
f)Students can test themselves or a friend on vocabulary items. They can even
organise homework partners to do the activities together;
g)Teachers g et students to memorise sentences related to a grammar structure e.g.
i. If the teacher’s ill, we’ll get a day off
ii. If I were rich, I wouldn’t be here

36iii. If we’d known how awful this talk was going to be, we wouldn’t have
come.
Teachers u se a sentence as a “password” to leave c lass.
h)Get students to re -process words listed in their notebooks e.g. Classifying
words by common sounds, stress patterns etc.
i)Ask students to teach their parents ora friend (e.g. A song, the numbers in
English etc.)
j)Set phone -based tasks (e.g. tell stude nts to phone another member of their class
to find out about how their day went).
k)“Meet a native or a tourist! ”Teachers g et students to devise a questionnaire
and report back on the results.
l)Teach learning techniques or games that the students can use outside class.
m)Encourage students to use authentic materials, (e.g.read a new story and report
back ).
n)Give students a choice over what homework they do. They tell them to do 2 out
of 4 possible exercises, for example.
Oral Homework
Equipment : for this ta skteachers need a blank cassette or cd and acce ss to a tape or a
CDrecorder.
Aims: the aim of this task is to give practice at comparing and contrasting photos.
Students’ performance is also be anal ysedboth in terms of content and pronunciation.
Procedure: Teachers ask students to:
1.Set up the cassette and tape recorder ready to record.
2.Study the two photographs on the other photocopy, which show people doing
different sports.
3.Think about how they could compare and contrast the photographs and decide
whether they ever do them or would like to do them.
4.When they are ready, torecord their ideas andremember that they should talk for
about one minute.
Analysis: now weare going to listen to your reco rding and analyse it by answering the
following questions.
a)Have I answer edthe question, or have I just described the photos?
b)Have I given personal opinions?

37c)Have I kept within the time limits?
d)Is my speaking fairly fluent, or do I sound hesitant and ma ke lots of long
pauses?
e)Does my sentence stress and rhythm sound authentic? Have I stressed words
which carry the important information (i.e. verbs, nouns, adjectives) and not
stressed the unimportant words (i.e. pronouns, articles, prepositions)?
Learners evaluate their own performance using a scoring system specified by the
teacher. There is then an oppor tunity for feedback and evaluation by the teacher. This
may begiven during ‘pronunciation clinics’ (ten or fifteen minute slots when students
can discus s their assignments) ,or during a lesson in which class members have the
opportunity to play or show their completed assignments and receive comments from
their teacher and colleagues.
It is import ant that there is a variety of oral homework assignmen ts,such as
describing tasks (i.e. pictures of places, personal experience), speculating and finding
solutions to a problem, stating opinions (agreeing or disagreeing and giving reasons ),
expressing preferences and giving brief descriptions.
To be creative, the teacher re ads and learns and challenges his mind all the time to
keep it sharp. This ensures not only creativity, a vivid imagination, but also becoming a
better teacher. All this advice will help the teacher answer his own questions, according
to Seml ien and Filimon (2007) : What will I do?
What are the means to do this?
How will I do this?
How do I know that what I need to do has really been
done?
There isa wide range of techniques that can help us become more creative and
achieve better results with our students and if we do little research and experiment to
see what works best with our pupils, the progress will be assured. Here are a few steps
in opening our views and becoming more creative in the use of techniques of teaching
English:
-Research techniques for creating thinking;
-Use the web;
-Understand the process;
-Try new things regularly, (e.g. games, activities, student’s interests);
-Read books on crea tivity; (seeAppendix C)

38-Embrace the interests of students;
-Learn about creative methods; (seeAppendix D)
-Watch videos;
-Find the mentor;
-Listen (students, colleagues, friends, family)
This way he will also grow to love more and more what he does. Reading, studying,
keeping up to date, being a friend to his students constantly remind the teacher how
much he loves his work.
It is important for the teacher to use tactics in the classroom and do whatever he
can, as an innovative manager who inspires h is employees, to keep the children always
focused, never just sitting relaxed on their chairs. The teacher explores all possibilities ,
and if he sometimes fails, failure is part of the creative process. Nobody is judged,
students and teacher work together as a team and even crazy ideas can be a good thing
as long as it may lead the class tothesuccess the teacher wants to achieve .
The teacher promotes good communication of English when he is a model of
creativity, encourages multiple view points, is a goo d listener and leader ,and highlights
diversity. Even if he does not always share the children ’sopinion, he encourages them
to express their point of view, making decisions, bringing new ideas and values from
their cultures, showing them there are no righ t or wrong answers ,and there is more than
one way of doing things. Every student has gifts and abilities and the teacher knows it
and encourages and engages the mto be more imaginative in their activities, be willing
to ask questions and have the same kin d of inquisitiveness.
Reading is important not only for the teacher, but also for his pupils. It is the
teacher’s duty to present the students books as an excellent place to find inspiration,
information and creative ideas and to demonstrate the importanc e of reading. The
teacher brings children –according to their age and level of performance, culture and
interests –magazines, books, comics, newspapers ,and if anyof them are interested
more in searching the internet, he carefully provide sspecial sites for reading , as
presented in Appendix E.They can watch great videos together or at home, as
assignments if these are daring and creative with the lesson. Internet can also provide
students with good materials to start brainstorming .But even when pupils are inspired
by someone else’s ideas, it is best to make them personal , adapting and adjusting,
improving, changing and personalising them.

39The teacher involves the parents’ participation in making decisions. Especially
when children are involved in comm unicative projects, they feel supported and
encouraged to take an active role. Parents can support them with the necessary
materials, organize events (i.e. taking them to workshops, the theatre or to the cinema,
to see a film after the pupils have read and discussed the book with their teacher), and
bring ideas of new projects of promoting communication in the English language. (see
Appendix F)
Pupils will enter the learning situation with both positive and negative attitudes
derived from the society in whi ch they l ive. (Young 1994, Williams et al .2003,
Chambers 1999) Learning and communicating in the English language is a key
influence on learners’ attitudes ,and among these there are:
-Self-esteem;
-Esteem of others towards the pupil who becomes proficient in the use of the
English language;
-Interest in learning and making progress;
-Acceptance of diversity and of multiculturalism;
-Interest in English -speaking film and music;
-Enthusia smabout reading books in English;
-Maturity to reflect on different experiences students share;
-More knowledgeable about topics that interest them. (Hawkins 1996:18)
The English language learning process helps student to communicate who he is
and feel good because of asserting his identity and self -expression of attitudes and
social acceptance. An attitude is “a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings,
and behavio ural tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or
symbols . It is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a par ticular
entity with some degree of favo ur or disfavo ur”.(Hogg and Vaughan 2005: 150)
Students generally know what is good and what is wrong, but for many reasons, their
acts or opinions do not always relay on this. The English teaching process through non –
formal methods, as presented earlier, helps children turn this information and
knowledge into strong beliefs, their real identity. During theEnglish Culture and
Civilization classes ,pupils are empower edtodevelop hobbies, moral conducts , hold in
high e steem, develop ideas, beliefs and concepts the pupil has that guide and are
reflected in on esbehaviour. Attitudes, as Katz (1960) outlines, help pupils to

40communicate and make everybody feel good due to asserted identity. However, students
can also adopt strongly negative attitudes if there is too much stress or pressure.
Activity 5
Task: Pretend you are British and you are very passionate about your language and
country .Imagine further that you are with a group of friends. What would you say if
you were invited to watch a foreign language film or to live in a non -English speaking
country?
The education system believes there is a core list of values and character
education concepts and these can easily be taught through non -formal methods :
accomplishment
cheerfulness
citizenship
cleanliness
commitment
compassion
cooperation
courage
courtesy
creativity
democracy
dependability
diligence
equal ityfairness
frugality
generosity
honesty
hono ur
kindness
knowledge
loyalty
moderation
patience
patriotism
perseverance
productivity
punctualityrespect for
authority
respect for others
respect for the
creator
respect for
environment
respect for health
school pride
self-control
self-respect
sportsmanship
trustworthiness
truthfulness
tolerance
virtue
Figure 2 .List adopted by the State Board of Education (Scerenko 1997)
Activity 6
Aim: To raise culture awareness
Time: 100 minutes
Task: Imagine you are interview inga person from another culture abo ut Holidays. Act
out a short dialogue and express your opinions. At the end of your discussion write an
essay “Culture s and Traditions”, using 150 -200 words. Work in groups and do not
forget to give it a title.
Procedure:
A. Students choose very quickly a few volunteers who imagine they are different
nationality (i.e. some will be English, some will be Romanian).

41B. Ashort play is acted out.
C.The teacher determines a conflict situation between the volunteers in order to
let pupils solve the problem by themselves.
D. The students work in groups and will write an essay on their attitude towards
different cultures and t raditions.
E. The group members will explain their choices in turn, giving arguments and
then each group will read the essay they have written.
F. The teacher supports and motivates students with useful and fun questions:
1.Do all families in your community celebrate the holiday?
2.If all families celebrate the holiday, do they do so in the same way?
3.Are there anyspecial foods eaten at holiday time? If so, what are they?
4.What do people we ar for the holiday?
5.Do people exchange gifts? If so, what kinds of gifts are given and
received?
6.Arethere any specific rituals performed at holiday time?
7.How do people communicate to young children and to people outside
the community what the holiday means?
8.Would you include someone from a different culture in your holiday? I f
so, how would you do this?
9.Is there something you don’t like about the holiday? If so, what is it?
10.Is there something you really like about the holiday? If so, what is it?
This activity is designed for intermediate level students .They use these questions to
interview someone from another country about a holiday they have celebrated. They
practi se present tenses for expressing personal opinions and sharing experiences and
also use conditional sentences to express real and imaginary situ ations. The students can
consider Jewish, Muslim and Christian holidays. This teaches students to respect
differences among people in their community and around the world. This way students
find themselves in the positions of making decisions thinking free ly, questioning other ’s
arguments, using their creativity and knowledge developing strong beliefs towards
dealing with minorities.

421.5. The role of education
Non-formal methods with their open view perspective are exceptionally important for
proper hu man development, as the importance of knowledge in everyday life is. It is far
more than what marks the pupil receives. It is about understanding right from wrong
and having the knowledge you need to succeed in today’s society. Non -formal
education helps t o develop new perspectives and think both creatively and conceptually
about many different subjects. It helps pupil sgrow as individuals since it opens their
minds to many things that haven’t been exposed to before. New, modern methods used
in classroom he lp build social skills, problem solving, decision making skills and
creative thinking skills. They introduce pupils to different cultures, religions and
provide a step to the real world.
Non-formal education and traditional education are to be ta ught toge ther and not
separated as they are notopposed. Together they create the best learning activities in
order to attend the students’ needs, aspiration and interest, with various methods and
approaches always aiming to develop healthy thinking and share new e xperiences.
Christopher Colcough (1993: 68) argues that non -formal methods are about
“acknowledging the importance of education, learning and training”. Paul Fordham
(1993: 9 -40)highlights the value of non -formal education and believes it can be
described as:
Attention to the interests of disadvantage groups;
Focus on certain groups of people;
Attention on certain aims;
Variety of methods and flexible lesson organization.
This only brings uncertainty because teachers cannot separate these two concepts, but
teach pupils using both formal and non -formal approaches. Teachers can coordinate
students and lead discussions through non -formal methods in a regular school, while
non-formal children groups can be formally taught and helped build competencies using
old, traditional methods. What the teacher highlights and assesses is creative thinking
and autonomy.

431.6. Avoiding creativity blockages
Throughout theteaching and lear ning process, teacher and students can encounter
different ways or situations in which creativity that drives new innovation and
competitive spirit becomes even non -existent over a period of time.
The teacher should not, even for a moment, forget about hi s passion for children
and for teaching, and when it is about children, it is about rewarding, encouraging and
making everything seem attractive, fun and interesting. It is about arising curiosity and
children showing interest at the same time. Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson (2009)
challenges the way we are educating our children. He believes that pupils are educa ted
people out of their creativity, and that is because of the way adults have been educated.
There are patterns which teachers cannot brake, feeling tempted not to accept anything
they know is different. There are s igns of hostility. The students who have different
visions, are often looked down on, which discourage and block the creativ ethinking.
They become alienated and are more susceptible to bias -based bullying.
Throughou t the years, teachers have realised that inthe classes with a major ity
number of students who show lack of interest in studying and practi sing, the students
who do have motivation feel marginalized by their classmate sand not as part of their
group, which leads to isolation and superficiality. This situation can be prevent edby
setting fo rth critical thinking methods, problem solving, values -based principles and
methodology and strict rules which are to be respected by bo th students and teacher in
support of understand ing and embracing differences and acting against bias and
unfairness. Students are invited to watch a video which is a companion to Anti-Bias
Education for Young Children and Ourselves , by Luis Derman Sparks and Eduards,
J.O.
In the Romanian society there are a lot of bias incidents, which donotdefine a
school or the entire system, but unless teachers and students fight together against them,
they become real problems affecting the students ’personality.
Afalse mentality refers to lack of tolerance toward any kind of minority. Pupils
can all learn to tolerate and respect each other ,but this depends on education,
experience, andattitudes regarding interaction with other people.
Students need to be taught there is not just one feature that characterises the
human identity. Both human identity and culture of a social group can imply multiple
aspects, some are easy, others are difficult to decode ,and social identity relies on

44symbols and values. They can di ffer from the other members of the group or
community. The teacher issurely able to overcome the obstacles in teaching and
learning creatively, through different active methods and processes. First students are
explained what tolerance refers to ,and why theEnglish Culture and Civilization classes
are interested in developing skills.
Tolerance is about knowledge. It is not about accepting bad behaviour, but
accepting people for who they are, treating them only with respect, and pupils are
reminded of th is consistently. Knowing that everybody is different and needs to be
respected as a human being with rights and responsibilities determines the choice of not
tojudge or interfere , to prevent or stop a person’s or group’s behaviour .Here is a list of
some ideas to help students and teacher set forth a tolerant behaviour:
-To listen to the on eswhose opinions differ from ours;
-Not to consider them our enemies;
-To accept that our opinions can be sometimes wrong;
-Give arguments to our opinions;
-To accept that o ther people’s opinions can be correct etc.
Teachers explain children about tolerance and respect by providing them with
examples of contexts and real life situations. These actions get students accustomed to
these new concepts, teach them to appreciate dif ferences among individuals and never
feel any negative attitude towards it.
Another solution can be problematizing which enables students to develop
thinking abilities and educate creativity. The problematizing process can be reached
when students are coordinate dto acquire, through modern, active methods, new
information and knowledge.
The problematized education can be obtained through permanent dialogue
between students and teacher, which is discovering. The problem -solving situation is
about the co nflict between the old and the new information, where the student stops and
feels incapable of finding a solution. Problem -solving situations have special designed
questions with the role of verifying the knowledge obtained by means of memory
activities. H ere is a concrete example: students are informed about the conflict between
the migrants and the British who do not accept their presence in their country. The
problem -solving situation will generate ideas, develop creative skills and educate higher
thinki ng.

45Democracy is the most familiar concept which leads students to real debates on
its principles and values. Creativity can be blocked by rigid thinking and tendency to
judge. Impulsive expression, which is talking out of turn, not obeying group dynamics
or exerting focused attention are rejected. Of course, these are important life skills, but
asBrown and Yule (1983 )argued , have little to do with imagination . Fifteen years ago,
teachers were presented critical thinking methods and were strongly rejected , but today
they are highly recommended.
This study refers to students and teachers not being influence dby these
blockages, to combining new and old traditional methods and to let creativity and
experience find the right balance to overcome. Here are some of the most common
types of blockages:
The mental block;
Fear of the unexpected;
Fear of being mocked at;
Fear of failing;
Fear of communicating;
Habits that do not work.
The English teacher has everything he needs to develop his students’ creative
skills. Critical thinking is a key factor in le arning and teaching efficiently and training
this type of thinking implies active reading, writing texts, such as worksheets, analysis,
reviews, essays, graphic maps, taking part in debates, competitions, cultural exchange
projects, letter writing, process ing as many inputs as possible. The innovative teacher
and learner are courageous, think critically and realistically about what can be done, or,
on the contrary, is playful and imaginative , with no concerns about what he is creating
or fear the unexpected .

461.7.Strategies ,methods and aids in creative teaching
Creating the right atmosphere is central to educating creativity ,and it is only in the art
of the teacher to choose the right strategy, one which joins literature study to mastery of
language (vocabulary and grammar), to further development of the language skills
(reading, writing, listening, speaking ) and to increased awareness and understanding of
language and literature .
Changes that are meant to be today are difficult ever to come up because English
teachers may feel more secure about the established patterns. However, they should do
it straight away, as James Brodie points out: “The application of old, somewhat
stereotyped procedures to existing situations is not likely to lead to meaningful or
beneficial solutions if only because older procedures have been superseded by
procedures which relate directly to present day needs” (2002:157).
Indeed, solving today’s problems with yesterday’s answers is what has driven to
English teachers into the confusion they are in now. Encouraging an environment of
trust, between teacher and class and among class members, is absolutely crucial. The
main strategies of the teacher will be focused on both atmosphere in the class and the
students’ attitudes, opinions and emotions towards learning the English language,
curbing his impulse to constantly i ntervene and over -correct, instead, appreciate the
creative effort, and communicative intent. “Creative thinking cannot be purchased,
downloaded or guaranteed. It can be fostered with the right environment. Developing
individual conceptual frameworks for u nderstanding and interpreting the world also
means encouraging individuals to have the confidence to question and deconstruct
dogma and traditional view, to possess the courage to make new associations without
fear of the opinions or cynicism of others”. ( Young 1994 :96)
It is best to change the way students are taught, especially to solve a problem:
students do not talk as much as they should , instructions might not be clear enough to
students or they speak their own native language too much. For example, if some
students are not talking during whole -class discussions the teacher might try group work
to see if these students will talk with classmates. If the teacher discovers that s tudents
do not fully understand instructions, the teacher might write them on the board using
different examples and even colours or mind maps . Problem -solving is the usual way
the teachers make decisions about what to change in their teaching. In our expe rience,
some students cannot learn at all unless allowed to be creative and independent . This

47way they feel free to express themselves as well as try new approaches when coping
with the English language. Therefore, non -formal methods should not just be tes ted or
tried, willing to solve a problem at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the
lesson, but constantly, as a means of a valuable tool, which will help both teacher and
students. This can include doing the opposite of what they usually do or t rying
something the class hasnever experienced before. For example, even if the students
understand the instructions, if most of thequestions are from the text, teachers can ask
questions that concern students’ personal opinion on the story or even conne ct them
with the students’ personal experience and views.
The teacher who chooses to develop students’ creativity and imagination can
also use visual, illustrative situations, rephrasing, synonyms, examples or guesswork
making students learn to master the English vocabulary learning and making learning
more meaningful and fun. Choosing this, the teacher relies on active methods of
cooperation and on group -dynamic processes , and the student will not feel alone, there
will be no pressure because there will n ot be an isolated procedure. They learn from
each other and with each other and this openness of non -formal education leads learners
to become active co -designers of their own development and learning process. The ir
engagement promotes democratic conscious ness and commitment. Teachers make
lessons comprehensible by using vocabulary that students understand , giving oral
directions and tasks for writing what they are expected to accomplish ,and this promotes
students success.
Teachers use explicit instructi onal strategies, such as questioning techniques.
These will be permanently supported by hands -on practice, shared at an appropriate
pace and e nunciated clearly. The techniques used focus on higher level thinking which
involves predicting, summarizing, problem -solving, organizing, evaluating and self –
monitoring. All these activities can easily be based on games, and pupils will develop
self-esteem in thei r learning process.
Providing background information on a reading selection is another way
teachers can facilitate successful reading comprehension. Information about the content
of a literary work before pupils read gives them opportunities to gain new k nowledge,
which they can take with them into their reading experience, and this knowledge
facilitates successful comprehension .(Gebhardt 2010: 21-23) There are endless non-
formal methods and traditional approaches that teachers rely on in order to provide
students with background information .

48Some of the most profitable time a teacher can spend in class is on pre -reading
exercises. In one such exercise the teacher determines two to four important issues that
emerge in the text and prepares a question or t wo which require the pupils to search
through their own lives for similar experiences. The questions do not need to be
elaborate; the purpose is simply to let students make free associations . To prepare pupils
forThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for exa mple (present in the English Culture and
Civilization Circle curriculum for advanced learners) ,the class spend little time
discussing their own childhood experiences. For giving students more insight into the
lives, treatment and hopes of slaves in the text ,they are offer edentertaining
assignments :
Activity 7
Task: In groups, work on a small project exploring one or more of the songs below.
Discuss the lyrics and intentions of the song, adding pictures and writing information.
“Deep River”
“Michael Row the Boat Ashore”
“Wade in the Water”
“Many Thousand Gone”
“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Been”
“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”
For example, students can bring water images and crossing of rivers. Theclass
can also post a map of the pre -Civil War United States in the classroom to help students
see the network of rivers, free and slave states and open territories that are a part of the
period they study. (Shlensky 2008)
For the Hemingway story The Old Man and the Sea , the pre -reading questions
are use d:
Do you go fishing?
Are you afraid of the sea?
The selected pre-questions are not always oriented towards the primary thrust of the
story. The purpose of these questions is not to make pupils discuss the most important
issue raised by the text, but merely to take the initial steps that can make them receptive
to the text and can orient them to some of the author’s concerns. Questions also help
pupils rewrite stories, and turn them into dialogues, or to adapt a scene after they have
acted it out, and turn it into narrative. Therefore, students learn to paraphrase, following
events and understanding characters’ behaviour, which helps them in their writing and

49speaking abilities. The pupils also develop their vocab ulary skills when the teacher
determines them to give synonyms or explain whole phrases. The aim of the lesson is
always to make students think and express new ideas based on the texts they read and
understand, and through the use of unconventional activit ies there is no stress or
pressure in the English classes, but only fun and implication.
One other way of getting students to speak is role -playing. Students pretend they
are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles. In role -play activ ities,
the teacher gives information to the learners such as who they are and what they think
or feel. (Harmer 1984: 84) This is a group activity we use in the last example of
Holden’s story (The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger 19 91).
Activity 8
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Task: Get in groups of three: one accused, one accuser, and one judge. In each group
decide together upon a specific accusation and play out a scene, arguing your case with
the pupil playing the judge, asking questions to clarify the accusation and to decide who
is worthy of faith.
Questions for the judge, the accused and the accuser to argue:
-Are you alone? (for example, discussing Holden’s frustrations, always
complaining about dating and lost love);
-Are social niceties always phony? (he doesn’t have the best attitude about
niceties, but he acknowledges that, at times, they can be important);
-How do you feel about reading? (he reads for pleasure, movies, on the other
hand, are a medium he classifies as “phony”);
-What does growing up mean?
-What are the most important things in life? (The Huffington Post 2014)
A different type of approach, which works for texts directed more toward social
issues, is for the teacher to encourage pupils to come up with everything they know
about a particular era. In discussing Charles Dickens or Mark Twain, pupils are asked to
remember what was happening in their own country and in the world in themiddle of
the19th century: What were the important national and international issues at that ti me?
We bring in background information on what was happening at the time in U.S. history,
when discussing about Huckleberry Finn .

50Music helps the teacher because i t stimulates and develops various sensations
and feeling sweet tunes and sounds of the piano or a movement from a symphony can
arouse the pupils ’emotions and makes them experience gentle or more intense feelings,
etc. Poetry itself can be helpful and well -received in a pre -reading activity.
The teacher chooses music and poetry to introduce studen ts new themes or
develop the ones already discussed, aiming to engage the children’s linguistic, social
and cultural abilities in dealing with the concept presented in the text.
Motivating children to read is another priority in the English Culture and
Civilization classes, and leading step towards this is making students express
predictions. Here, children guess what they are going to listen to or read, this offering
them a reaso n to listen or read, as they confirm or reject their predictions. To prepare
students for a reading or for a listening activity and to help them become more
motivated and focused, the teacher develops questions, preparation for answering
questions, as well asread through the questions and discussed pictures.
Activity 9
The teacher asks pupils to think of three (or any number) important things or ideas from
the lesson that day or from the text they have read and then ask again about the most
important thing they learned. The teacher can also play the “grid” game for teach ing
summarizing. Students are given a “grid”of blanks (any number, depending on the age
or level of the student and the level of complexity of the topic), which must be filled
with a word or phrase in order to capture the “gist” of the learning. (Lewis an d
Thompson 2010)
Similar to framed paragraphs, “sentence starters” is another game -based activity
in order to practice summarizing with pupils.
Activity 10
The teacher starts a sentence and has the students finish it. For example:
One thing I learned about …… is ………
Students are encouraged to become as self -reliant as possible, and problem
solving is good strategy for the teacher to use. The children use the information they
already have to discover and explore new territories, testing and f inding new solutions.
They solve conflicts, all with the help of non -formal methods.
For younger children, images and pictures are helpful to organize information
while students can use drawings to help them look at a problem from many different
perspect ives, or even create mind pictures. Other aids ,when teachers use this technique ,

51refer to listing and describing all related relevant information, expressing the problem in
students’ own words ,and finding a solution to the impediments. We can also create a
table of information, work backward s, search patterns, guess and use the objects around,
all in order to organize elements of a problem into recognizable and visually satisfying
components.
All these non -formal strategies will be fun and helpful because they provide
students with opportunities to use their own newly acquired knowledge in meaningful,
real-life activities and assist them in working at higher levels of thinking. Students are
satisfied for taking part in every step of the action, eith er in team, or independently, and
feel more self-reliant.
1.8.Using questions in teaching creative thinking and learning
The teacher must have a clear and explicit understanding of the nature of the challenge
to pupils’ internal representation of knowle dge that a particular question may present. It
is not enough for teachers to know the range of possible answers to a question , but must
also be able to appreciate the level of cognitive difficulty involved in the pupils’ effort
to respond to a particular q uestion.
Inforeign language classes , teachers appreciate the role of questions is especially
important. In such classes there may be few display questions and many referential
questions, which can vary greatly in their cognitive difficulty.
Teachers seem to appreciate two traditional techniques in asking questions: (1)
they try posing a series of highly specific factual questions paralleling the narrative of
the story, or (2) they pose a few large, general interpretative questions. Thes e traditions
produce satisfactory classes. Teachers often start by asking a series of specific factual
questions. For example:
“Who is the story narrated by?”
“Can you n ame the characters in Great Expectations ?”
“In what year did the story occur?”
(Text taken from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 2001 )
Such specific questions can lead to a worthwhile class discussion. But those
questions without a framework create a deceptively successful class which seems both
lively and well prepare d. The teacher asksthe questions; the pupil, especially one with a
quick eye and a steady forefinger, can answer them. Following the sequence of events

52these empower pupils’ understanding of the story .However, the questions encourage
the sort of reading one needs only for detailed comprehension of factual material. They
do not encourage intelligent reading that sees details as important not for themselves,
but for what they contribute to the work and which the sort of intelligent reading
children should p ossess. The questions do not offer students the right reason the text
was assigned for, as for creative intelligent thinking and self -awareness. Although this
technique requires communication from students, it does not meet objectives. Contrary
to specific questions are the interpretative questions where the teacher temporarily does
not focus on details and asks:
“What is the story about?”
“What did the author mean in the story?”
“Is this a good story?” “Do you like the story?”
“How does this story reveal American culture? How does it relate to experiences
in our country?”
The main question technique is similar to the kind of questions we ask friends
about a movie or a book: “Is it good?”, “Should I see it?”, “Should I read it?” That’s the
charm of the approach, but also its weakness. From our friends we want information;
from our pupils we want a discussion that reveals intelligent, comprehensive reading.
Addressed at the beginning of the lesson, the open, general, interpretativ e question
receives a respond , but it does notlead the class to a discussion. Expressing opinions
(i.e. “I am interested in it because it is fun and exciting.”, “I am not fond of it because I
find it disrespectful.”) can invite opposite arguments, but not an informed discussion.
The information the pupil provides doesn’t lead to discussion either. The questions need
to be asked after the students have done enough discussion.
Activity 1 1
Task: Discuss the following topics using the information gained from the text:
1.Describe Pip’s friendship with Joe, Herbert, Wemmick and Magwitch;
2.Explain the significance of crime and punishment in Pip’s narrative;
3.Describe Miss Havisham and her house;
4.Identify Miss Havisham’s influence on Estella;
5.Compare the influence of unrequited love on the lives of Pip and Miss
Havisham;
6.Explain how Miss Havisham, Magwitch and Pip are morally redeemed;
7.Describe the novel’s settings and their significance in Pip’s moral journey;

538.Describe the novel’s elements of suspense and explain how they are
resolved. (Locklear 2016)
Teachers are aware of the fact that the most useful activities are based on a
combination of general and specific questions while cognitive and grammatical are
influenced.
Activity 12
Task 1 When Estella comes to London and Pip drops her at Richmond, he reflects,
“And still I stood looking at the house, thinking how happy I should be if I lived there
with her, and knowing that I never was happy with her, but always miserable.” Discuss:
How can Pip both imagine that Estella will make him happy and know that she will not?
Task 2 Miss Havisham tells Pip that real love is “blind devotion, unquestioning self –
humiliation, utter submission, trust and believe against yourself and against the whole
world.” Discuss if Mis s Havisham’s definition of love applies to Pip’s devotion to
Estella? Why or why not?
These important features of questions are highlighted by a classification of
questions developed by Bloom (1956: 178 -185), and adopted for theuse in English and
American literature classes.
The taxonomy divides questions into five levels of complexity:
(1)literal comprehension;
(2)reorganization;
(3)inferential comprehension;
(4)evaluation;
(5)appreciation .
Activity 13
Task: Discuss Pip’s f riendship with Joe and express opinions and arguments on their
relationship, and appreciate how it influences Pip’s life.
The answers should be brief and sentence fragments are not only acceptable, they
are positively preferable because they are more natural English, provide a good
opportunity to practice conversational English and are more efficient because quicker
for the purpose of the lesson. In literary reading lessons (and in almost all others) it is
wrong to demand answers in sentences with fully expressed parts.
The atmosphere in the classroom is really important. There are no constraints
and i t is better for pupils to remain seated. The teacher does not wait for answers. If the
pupil has nothing to say, he tries somebody else. If nobody ca n answer, the teacher

54rephrases the question or abandons it. He never answers a question himself. The
teacher’s response is only relevant in that it determines the questions he asks.
Literary reading demands intense concentration on the text and is very hard work,
but the teacher alternates the activity with games and fun exercises so no stress is felt.
That is why the teacher must see that the questioning should not go on for more than
twenty -five minutes.
As McGregor puts it, “the art of teachi ng literary reading consists of asking the
right questions and in building skillfully on the pupils’ answers” (2011: 81).
Training can be started by asking the faster readers to make up some questions
about the passage. This keeps them more usefu lly employed than they would otherwise
be and the tactful teacher will reward their diligence by allowing them to ask at least
some of their questions. Thisis also another technique that the literature teacher might
find particularly valuable in training the pupils to ask really searching and subtle
questions.
Activity 14
Level: Advanced
Time: 15 minutes
Aim: Asking and answering questions related to the text .
Task: Let’s simply switch roles; now you ask questions and Ianswer them .
Procedure: The pupils’ questions might also be directed toward their classmates. The
teacher must be prepared to elaborate on the pupils’ questions in order to provide the
required precision and controversy, and also to suggest further questions, should those
of the pupils prove inadequate.
It is true that the success of a literature class depends largely on the pupils who
attend and their reactions to the text. However, it is the teacher who must work quite
hard at the passage with questions at all levels of comprehension in order to make pupils
understand it fully and criticize it sensibly.

55PART II
2.1. Understanding the reading process
Reading and writing are important ways we use language to communicate. Knowledge
is power and reading makes it perfect. Children find heroes and inspira tion in their
favourite stories, and reading is a wonderful way to discover all kinds of new worlds,
new information. The teacher becomes the magician who, with his magic wand which
now becomes the book, leads t he pupil to the great world of imagination and fantasy,
full of good fairies and bad fairies. But who wants to be the bad, ugly and scary fairy.
All teachers want to be the good and loving fairies who bring treasure and leave magic
dust on their children’s hands or be the good conscious on the irchildren’s shoulder,
giving them just good advice and support. Reading can be a fun and imaginative activity
for children and also interesting and reaching students’ curiosity, developing their vivid
imagination, cr itical thinking, self -awareness and motivation skills.
Reading is everything. It is not only the teachers who play a critical role, but also
the parents, to help develop abilities to read and understand, and create the enjoyment of
reading. Parents and ch ildren read together because it is important, but mainly because
it is such a beautiful way to spend time together. They discuss the plot of the story, its
moral values, do voices, act, feel joy, sadness, pride, excitement, willing to read it all
and under stand every step and stage, anxious to see if the ending is just the way they
predicted. They share opinions, ask questions, and comment on the pictures. Then the
child will learn to value reading as it can really open the doors for communication and
for k nowing more. Either if he is at home, sitting comfortably in an armchair or in his
parent’s arms or at school, down on the carpet in the middle of his group of friends,
listening to the teacher’s story and talking to his classmates on the topic, or even te lling
the story he has read at home as assignment and feeling happy and proud about himself,
reading challenges the mind and the heart and makes the child grow a better person with
good, strong and healthy views and beliefs, not only knowing what is good a nd what is
wrong, but actually acting accordingly.
Another wonderful activity is for the pupil to go to the library and find books
about current issues ,or interests in the family or in the child’s life. For example, before
going on a trip to London, he can borrow and read a book a bout the main attractions
there, and while being on the trip he can understand all the information he reads around.

56The student can even bring leaflets, postcards, tickets or maps to school as authentic
materials, and share the experience and tell the stories they remind him of.
SUNDAY 24THAPRIL
LONDON TOUR
A full day tour of London. You will see all the famous sights,
such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, as well as some
extraordinary places that are not so famous. You will hear stories
of the people and events that have shaped the city over the last
2000 years. By the end of the tour you will know almost as m uch
as a‘Londoner’ about this fascinating city.
DEPART: 8.55 AM RETURN: 6.00 PM
COST: £17.00
(Big Ben)
THE COACH LEAVES AT 9.00 AM IN FRONT OF THE
SWAN SCHOOL
BUY A TICKET FROM WILL ON MONDAY OR WEDNESDAY
12.30 -1.30
(London Bus Tour Leaflet: 2016 )

57SOCIAL PROGRAMME –18/04/2016
OXFORD INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL JAN –MARCH 20 16
Sponsored by Hertford College there are many concerts on over the next
two months. The best way to get information about them is to go to
www.dailyinfo.co.uk Oxford’s information website, click on ‘what’s on ’and
then go to concerts. From here there are links to the main site.
TUESDAY 19THAPRIL
FOOTBAL. Every Tuesday we play a game of indoor 5-a-side football with students
from another language school. You should wear ordinary sports shoes and comfortable
clothes. Players of any standard are welcome. Don’t forget that women can play too!!!
MEET FERRY CENTRE 4.50 PM COST: FREE
ASK WILL OR IN THE OFFICE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
WEDNESDAY 20THAPRIL
(Suggestion) CATWEAZLE CLUB .This is Oxford’s acoustic music and poetry
night. Now in its ninth year you can come and hear local people play acoustic music
and sometimes read poetry or tell stories. The atmosphere is always good and you
never know, you might see something really good! It takes place in Northgate Hall,
St Michaels Street , which is the street that leads off Corn market on the right hand
side opposite Burger King. The hall is halfway down on the right hand side.
COST: £3.50 Starts at 8.30 pm
THURSDAY 21STAPRIL
HISTORICAL TOUR OF OXFORD
Come on a tour of Oxford and learn all about this beautiful city and where
everything is. I will explain about the origins of the city, the creation and
development of the University and we will also look at all the main buildings
and I will tell you what they are! Do bring your camera!
Meet: 3.45 Martyr ’s Memorial (opposite Borders Bookshop on Magdalen
St.)
(If it is raining we will rearrange for another day) COST: Free
(Social Programme Leaflet : 2016 )

58Practi sing reading on regular basis and not just from time to time will help the pupil
acquire awide range of vocabulary and manage to cope with new situations (i.e. asking
for direction s, understanding titles in a newspaper, asking for information at the post
office etc.). This can also be good material for the teacher and his class to study and
practice the English language.
When school year is over it is really important for the teacher to give students a
list of books to read and other materials, as well aslinks for good music, good videos to
watch, names and addresses of bookshops to go to or search on the internet , stories
properly chosen for their age and level to listen to, and even to listen to stories or watch
films in English and with the English subt itle,after they h ave read and discussed the
book; internet extracts –current affairs, periodicals, graded articles (internet), short
stories, tales, anecdotes, humorous stories, poem collections, World History and
Geography. (see Appendix H)
BOOKSHOPS
Humanitas Bookshop
45Domnească Street
Galați
Tel: 0236468822Domus Libri Bookstores
171Brăilei Street
Galați
Tel: 0740118384
The English Book Centre
26 Grove Street
Oxford
Tel: 01865514770Waterstones Booksellers
1 Broad Street
Oxford, OX1 3AF
Tel:018657902112
The English Language Bookshop
31 George Street
Brighton, BN2 1RH
Tel: 01273604864Keltic
25 Chepstow Corner
London, W2 4TT
Tel: 01932820485

59Here is some recommended bibliography the teacher may offer students for the summer
holiday:
Current Affairs
Major daily newspapers such as: The Wall Street Journal,
New York Times,
Washington Post,
Los Angeles Times,
Guardian online.UK
Periodicals: Time,
Forbes,
The New Yorker
Complete Collections of Poem s by Rudyard Kipling and Edgar A llan Poe
World History and Geography:
Atlas of the World 2004, 12thEd. New York : Oxford University Press ;
Best, Antony 2008 International History of the 20thCentury and Beyond , London :
Routledge
Theteacher gives students selected reading, according to level of proficiency based on
the number of classes per year and also, if necessary, suggested reading for dyslexics.
A good piece of advice for little children, at home with their parents would be to
read aloud every day because it is special time they spend together, it helps children
learn lots of new words and phrases and is fun. Their voice will be loud or soft adding
more emphasis to the character way of talking or highlighting details in the plot .
At school reading aloud does not help students learn or comprehend. Usually, as
Roger Fowler (1987) considers, reading aloud becomes “word calling”, which is not
productive for the student who is doing it and is boring for the others to listen to.
Inste ad, the teacher will read the students aloud, using inflection and tone to help them
hear what the text is saying.
Students can use the “read and look up” technique. They read a few or more
sentences, once or more if necessary, and then they look away. Th ey can answer
questions or tell what the phrase, sentence or idea says. This technique encourages
students to read for meaning and not for words and is received by students as a fun and
easy activity.

60Activity 1 5
Task: Make groups of four, read the paragraphs and then , in turn, express ideas in
response to your reading.
Teaching reading through non -formal methods together with old traditional ones
is the best way to motivate students read. Here is a list of types of ta sks:
Comprehension Questions
Matching titles / headings / paragraphs or sentences
Multiple choice
Guessing vocabulary from context
Ordering a text
Jigsaw reading A/B/C (each group read something and then share it)
Reading for pronunciation practice
Summari sing text
Reacting to a text
Read between lines e.g. humour in language
Extracting main points
Categorising information (Ur and Wright 1992)
At the beginning of the school year the English Culture and Civilization Circle students
areasked what they want to read, what their interests are,and if they are willing to be
given any recommended reading. This study year, there were nine groups of 15 -25
students each, aged 7 -16 and they expressed their interests as follows: (see Appendix H)
-Comedy books, humour i n language;
-Mystery books;
-Adventure books;
-New information on their hobbies;
-Heroes;
-Fantasy books;
-Comics and magazines;
-Novels on their recommended list;
-“I would read more if I had time”.

61Readers in the classroom
Why use readers?
They are usually stories, so they are interesting and make a change from the
usual reading material.
They encourage a response to the text, not just analysis of it (more authentic).
The language is graded but the story is not! The reader also provides a link
between level reached and receptive ability.
It is proved that extensive reading improves all aspects of language learning.
(Krashen 1993)
People who read in English learn more quickly than those who don’t.
Successful reading leads to more reading, cr eating a “virtuous circle of reading ”.
(Nuttall 1996) The more you read, the better you become at reading ,and the
more you want to read.
Readers grade the language so reading is a positive experience, not something
done with thedictionary.
They are often based on canonical works which the readers wouldn’t be able to
read ungraded. They have the chance to read a classic in English, albeit a
somewhat simplified version and this is a motivating feat ure.
2.2. Reading Strategies
The coordinator teacher of the English and Culture Civilization Circle has always in
mind both non -formal and traditional strategies to develop students reading skills. He
knows that only reading actively will the student be able to remember the information,
always trying to make se nse out of what he reads by seeing how it fits, imagining the
“picture”, planning and using problem solving. Therefore, the teacher gives clear and
easy directions, appropriate to their reading level. Reading, students acquire language
unconsciously becaus e their whole attention is engaged by the activity. It is also
possible to integrate all skills in reading activities. Reading or listening to a situation, a
problem or a question, responding or commenting either through speaking or writing. It
is also imp ortant to keep in mind that, as Professor Linda Little states, “such activities
provide opportunities to practise thinking clearly while focusing on the form
unconsciously. (1999: 59)

62Activity 1 6
Time: 20 minutes
Aim: To understand vocabulary, to categorise information
Level: Advanced
Task: Read the text carefully and find as many uses to the expression “chocolate teapot ”
as possible.
Procedure 1: Students use the context to help determine the meaning of each highlighted
expression. Students s kim the text first and then read it more deeply. Read the text
actively: highlight key words and concepts, use colours and rephrase. Students s kim and
scan the text.
Procedure 2: Students meet new vocabulary, but they guess and predict the meaning
from context .
Activity 17
Time: 20 minutes
Level: Advanced
Aim: Acknowledge information
Task: Read each paragraph once or twice and then tell it to class
Procedure: Students read the paragraphs at their own pace, without the teacher to
interrupt with questions or any help. When they are ready, they shut the book not trying
to use the same words, but rephrasing the idea they have understood.
Whenever the teacher feels his students are getting tired or bored with the activity they
are perf orming, he shifts their attention immediately to something more entertaining for,
at least, a short period of time, and if it is important, go back and re -evaluate the
context. To keep them motivated and active in the reading process, non -formal methods
helpteachers have a relaxed and friendly, yet intense atmosphere, where every student
is involved in the read ing activity in a variety of fun andcreative ways. If any of the
students encounters difficulties in coping with the text, to communicate with the group
and the teacher solves it all. The teacher observes, helps, but does not give the solution.
A good example of a quick and fun learning valuable activity is the dictionary
game which implies reading and discussing.
Activity 18
Level: Advanced
Time: 10 minutes
Aim: Read and discuss

63Task: Here are copies of an English -English dictionary for this game. List on the board,
from your own experience, some possible problems. For example: plan ning for the
future, college work, social life etc. Open the dictionary and without looking, touch a
word on a page, read it and invite a student to give advice for somebody in such a
situation. (Ur and Wright 1992: 15)
Choosing the right moment to let students use a dictionary depends especially on
the teacher’s ta ct. T eachers can see Appendix G and find a list of situations to discuss
whether it is appropriate for students to use a bi -lingual, a learner’s dic tionary or no
dictionary at all .
Here is an example of a dictionary worksheet to familiarize students wi ththe use
of dictionaries at the English Culture and Civilization Circle classes .
Dictionary Worksheet :Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
New Edition …p392–393
Third Edition …p536–537
1.Look at the two headwords for “flock”; flock1and flock2.
What’s the basic difference? ____________ _____________
How do you know?
2.Which of these is correct?
a)“The girls flitted groups at the party”
b)“The girls flitted from group to group at the party”
How did you find out? ____________________________
Which symbol was used to tell you? ____________________
“They did a moonlight flit”
What did they do? __________________________________
3.“You can see a flotsam bobbing up and down in the sea”
Why is this sentence incorrect? __________________________
What symbol gave you this information? ___________________
4.“He was flogging a dead horse”, what does this idiom mean?
________________________________________________
How does the dictionary tell you this is an expression you would only use in
conversion?
________________________________________________________________

64What is the headword for this “dead horse” idiom?
5.You wouldn’t usually say, “She’s such a floozy”, if you thought a woman was
sexually immoral.
Why not? ______________________________________ __________________
6.“It was a complete flop”
What types of events do we often refer to as “a flop”?
Name three ____________ ___________ ____________
What is the style of this phrase? ________________________
7.‘Florid’ what does this mean? ________________ ______________
What are two common collocations? Florid _____________
Florid _____________
8.“She flounced out of the room”
What is the pronunciation of “flounce”?
What are the symbols which help you with this? ___________________
9.Floppy disk –What’s t he stress pattern?
What symbols are used to tell us this? ___________________
10.What’s a floor lamp?
What’s the equivalent in British English? ____________________
What symbols does the dictionary use to tell us it’s American or British
______________________________________
Is there a picture of one in your dictionary? ____________________
(If the answer is “YES” which page is it on? ___________________
(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 1996 )
Activity 19
Level: Beginners
Time: 10 minutes
Aim: Practice in dictionary use, prepare the vocabulary for the next reading passage.
Task: Find out the meanings of as many words written on the board as you can from the
dictionary, in no more than 3 minutes. Check the meanings.
Procedure: The English Culture and Civilization Circle provides pupils with many
English -English dictionaries.
In literature circles, as well as at the English Culture and Civilization Circle,
students come to discuss and respond to questions on a book they are reading or have
recently read. They share thoughts, opinions and experiences to create meaning, make

65connections and associations. They have fun, trying to find the “right paragraph” to
argue or find the page to look at and laugh about a funny picture or idea. Append ix H is
an easy review example which best represents young children’s tastes in reading.
Here is another example of a fun and learning activity:
Activity 20
Level: Pre -Intermediate
Time: 10 minutes
Aim: Quick reading, scanning
Task: Open your textbook, read out a name, caption or sentence that is highlighted on
the open page: can you find the place and tell us the page number? Use no more than
three minutes to give directions and wait for the students to find the right page and
respond. (Ur and Wright 1992: 86)
2.3. The importance of reading through non -formal methods
“Reading is complex” as Frank Smith (1998) explains, “but so are walking, talking and
making sense of the world in general –and children are capable of achieving all of
these, provided the environmental circumstances are appropriate. What is difficult to
describe is not necessarily difficult to l earn”. “Children are not as helpless in the face of
learning to read as often is thought”. ( Smith 2013: 8) Warwick Elley (1989) showed that
vocabulary increases with reading –or with listening to stories. Torrance and Olson
(1985) reported that good reade rs speak in more complex utterances and use a wider
range of metalinguistic words related to thinking and la nguage. David Olson and
Torrance (1985) and Willis (2002 ) argue that learning to read promotes ability to talk
and an understanding of grammar. They discussed evidence that there are much greater
opportunities for learning new words from reading than from conversation or watching
television –popular magazines, for example.
Stephen Krashen (1993 : 9-20) is an advocate of “free voluntary reading” and
reading for pleasure, any genre, including comic books and romances. Krashen believes
in the joined existence of formal and non -formal methods and deplores the fact that
there are not enough libraries, but there are always too many formal tests. Every
occas ion when a child is read to can become a lesson. Henrietta Dombey (1988) also
discussed children’s movement into the nature of stories an dinto reading from hearing a

66story read. Lloyd Eldredge (1990) showed that children read more when they are helped
toread.
Since reading is a meaningful –making activity, it is important to engage
learners with texts that are meaningful to them. Learners need to connect to the text in
some way and have a purpose for reading it. What students read is a great concern for
the teacher of English and when he considers choosing an authentic text he thinks of the
following criteria:
-Level of language
-Topic: Interesting? /Relevant?
-Length
-Is there a lesson there? / Exploit it
-Is it adaptable?
Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using authentic texts:
+
-Students areexposed to natural language
in context
-Show students a different style of writing
-Make a change
-Current / Up -to-date information topics
-Motivat e students. They feel p leased with
themsel ves
-Controversial
-Can meet students ’needs
-‘Survival skills’ –real life materials-
-Full of difficult idiomatic language
-Students can become demotivated /
frustrated
-Time consuming for teacher to prepare
-Is it relevant / useful to students?
-Timetable fit
Adapted from Longman Conference 2005, Brasov, Romania
Reading materials can be:
-Readers (graded)
-Course book texts / extracts
-Internet extracts –current affairs
-Graded articles (internet)
-Short stories / tales / anecdotes
-News articles-Internet / newspapers / magazines
-Comics /Radio / Songs
-Videos / DVD’s /Leaflets / Brochures
-Bills / Tickets / Signs / Tour guides
-Recipes / Adverts
-Original literature (novels)

67Activity 21
Level: Intermediate
Time: 10 minute s
Aim: Vocabulary –recipes; at the supermarket
Task: Make groups of three. You are friends who are planning to have a dinner party.
Each group has £75 to spend. After planning your party, choose one student to present
how you have decided to organize ever ything to the rest of the class. Vote on which
dinner party you would most like to attend.
Variation: The class can also play this activity with materials such as delivery menus,
labels, simple comic strips or postcards.
Teachers help their students become effective readers showing them how to use
strategies and what methods to approach before, duri ng and after reading activities.
When the teacher designs the lesson plan for his class, he considers the following: the
class management and war m-up strategies (i.e. talking about their free time, their habits,
their likes and dislikes about holidays; teamwork activities); the pre -reading activities
will focus on exploiting pictures and discussions (What’s the weather like? What kind
of resort is the one in the picture? What are the people doing? etc.); while –reading
activities imply skimming, scanning, and after reading activities are based on feedback
and assessment.
2.3.1. Pre-reading activities
There are many activities wecan do to activa te learners ’schemata and encourage
interest in the text. Below are some we have tried and found effective.
Guess the story and genre from the cover. Describe characters, setting, title ,and
students ask questions which they would like to be answered on re ading.
Teachers c opy pictures from reader and put them onto one sheet. Students
hypothesize about the social status of the characters based on clothes etc. and the
relationships between the characters.
Teachers take note / letters from reader and ask stude nts to guess about storyline
and relationship between characters.
Teachers m ix the chapter titles up, students order them and think of a possible
story.

68Teachers and students f ind out about the author and / or students put his
biography into chronological order saying which event in his life influenced him
the most. This can be extended to a seamless spoken account of his life, using
discourse markers.
2.3.2. During r eading activities
Learners must be able to read and respond to books, not just answer comprehension
questions. Activities must enable students to respond cognitively, emotionally and
imaginatively.
Draw a family tree and extend it to show relationship between characters.
Role plays between characters.
Summarise chapters, written or spoken.
Story map / timeline / clock showing important events.
Students write missing information, e.g. a letter to a friend saying …
Give the evidence –take a character and using quotations make implications
about them. E.g. I will never agree to that. (he is very stubborn)
Error correction of chapter summary.
Ordering the story, then using a list of cohesive devices to retell it in small
groups.
Quiz on events –true / false
Character interviews.
News articles.
Character snap or pelmanism (students make cards with characters names and
information about them or quotes from text).
2.3.3. After reading activities
Who am I? (character from the reader)
Balloon Debate –keep those characters in the ballo on who are essential to the
story.
Board Game –students devise a board game with squares where wecan move
forward, have to go back and usequestion cards.

69Picture Gallery –collect pictures from reader ,and students add speech bubbles
and explanation of scene.
Re-naming book with a current song title, a current film title, a perfume etc.
Act out from the reader / Role play based on a picture from reader.
Teachers c hange the frame so readers see the story from another point of view.
Campaign for the reader. Students highly recommend reader and try and sell it
to other students. ( It works well if all learners read different texts).
Activity 2 2Teacher’s assignment
Task: Find things you would like to read and bring them to class. Present this with your
own words and make copies for students, if necessary. You can use the library, the
internet and newsstands and bookstores. Give arguments for making your choice.
Students must always be given an explanation for the selected assignment,
whether it is reading and searching for information, or listening actively in order to
write an essay. The theme will offer students a reason and motivation to focus and not
just be told or required to develop an activity. This way students will easily read for
self-awareness and cultural knowledge, and not only for acquiring grammar and
voca bulary structures.
Through non -formal methods, teachers help pupils learn to use alternate
strategies, keep motivated and focused, activate background knowledge of the topic to
predict and anticipate, monitor comprehension and select appropriate tasks which are
flexible and interactive.
2.3.4. Dangers of over using or underusing a course book
The main important form of extra -curricular activities, as everybody knows, is the
English Culture and Civilization Circle . In contrast to the work in class which is
compulsory, extra -curricular work is optional. It gives supplementary opportunities to
the most motivated and interested pupils to have creative initiative not only in
approaching the texts but also in choosing them.
The foreign language teachers are very careful and consider texts which are not to
long and do not require more than one class motivation. As Poe asserted: “If any
literature work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with
the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression –for, if two sitti ngs

70be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and everything like totality is at once
destroyed”. (2003: 176)
Alternating materials helps teachers from dangers of overusing orof underusing
a course book and they can see Appendi x Ion more activities to focus on when
changing it.It is all in the teacher’s talent and implication to design the lesson in such a
way that there is no danger of overusing a course book and to prevent the following
situations:
1.Dangers of overusing a c ourse book
a)It can lead to a boring approach; it becomes predictable, repetitive and less
challenging, sometimes even dogmatic.
b)Materials and teaching points may not be relevant to students’ needs, levels,
interests; the emphasis of the course may not be su itable. The syllabus may not
be relevant to these students.
c)The material may be dated, not relevant or culturally suitable.
d)It can reinforce student expectations about grammar and written form as more
important, lessening the emphasis on communication.
e)Teachers may get mechanical, and stop being resourceful, becoming less
sensitive to or aware of their students’ needs.
2.There can also appear d angers of not using a course book or underusing one and the
teacher needs to consider:
a)There may be a lack of direction in the course, which will be demotivating for
the student who feels he’s not making progress.
b)There may be little or no linkage between the lessons, with no recycling or
referring back to previous language. There is little to contextualize new
language.
c)The syllabus may not be adequate. Important points may be skimped or left out
completely.
d)Students like to refer to something at home, and often feel resentful that they
have bought it and do not use it, or that they have no idea of what their cour se
may contain or where it is going.
e)It’s very hard to produce material that looks as good, and nowadays image
counts for a lot.
f)Itis pretty tiring for the teacher, reinventing the wheel every class!

71Appendix Jreminds teachers that no book is perfect; it hasn’t been written for theclass,
but it is meant to construct the right course for the class. Any course book is only as
good as the teacher using it. Therefore, the teachers uses it sensitively and sensibly. It
should not dictate the syllabus or course objectives , as exemplified in Appendix .
In that respect, here is a list with recommended books for teachers of English to be able
to have many options to choose from.
Reference :Practical English Usage (Swan, Oxford University Press )
English Grammar in Use (Murphy, Cambridge University Press )
–2 levels
How English Works (Swan and Walter, Oxford University Press)
1000 Pictures for Teachers to Copy (Wright, Collins)
Learner English (Swan and Smith, Cambridge University Press )
Longman Advanced Learners English Dictionary
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary
Structures :Grammar Practice Activities (Penny Ur, Cambridge University
Press )
Creative Grammar Practice Activities
The Anti -Grammar Grammar Book
Grammar Games (Rinvolucri, Cambridge University Press )
Grammar in Action
Reward Resource Packs
Vocabulary :English Vocabulary in use (McCarthy and O’dell, Cambridge
University Press )
Phrasal Verbs and Idioms (Workman ,Oxford University Press)–
U–I/Adv
A way with Words resource packs (Redman, Ellis and Mark,
Cambridge University Press )
Eleme ntary/Intermediate/Advanced Vocabulary (Thomas,
Longman)
Idioms Organiser (Wright, L anguage Teaching Publication )
Build Your Vocabulary series (Flower andBerman, Heinle )
Working with Words (Gairns andRedman, Cambridge University
Press )

72Skills : Cambridge Skills for Fluency series
Oxford Skills series
Long man Skills series
Heinemann Integrated Skills series
Reading Games (Hadfield andNelson)
Writing Games (Hadfield andNelson)
Skills Plus (Advanced) (Briggs andDummet, Heinemann)
Everyday Listening and Speaking (Cunningham and Moor,
Oxford University Press )
Speaking : Keep Talking (Klippel, Cambridge University Press )
Conversation (Nolasco andArthur, Oxford University Press)
Conversation Gambits (Keller and Warner, Language Teaching
Publication )
Role -play (Porter Ladousse, Oxford University Press)
Oxford, Cambridge and Lingman Speak ing series
Communication Games (Hadfield, Nelson)
Speaking Personally (Porter Ladousse, Cambridge University
Press )
Talking on Pairs (Bastow andJones, Oxford University Press)
Phonology :Ship or Ship (Baker, Cambridge University Press )
Headway Pronunciation series ( Oxford University Press)
Speaking Clearly (Rogerson andGilbert, Cambridge University
Press )
English Aloud 1 + 2 (Haycraft, Heinemann)
Pronunciation Games (Hancock, Cambridge University Press )
Sounds English
Pronunciation Tasks (Hewings, Cambridge University Press )
Games : Communication Games (Hadfield, Nelson) –3 levels
Pronunciation Games (Hancock, Cambridge University Press )
Vocabulary Games and Activities (Watcyn -Jones, Puffin)
Grammar Games and Activities ( Watcyn -Jones, Puffin)
Clockwise Resource Packs ( Oxford University Press)
Reward Resource Packs (Heinemann)
Grammar Games and More Grammar Games (Rinvolucri,
Cambridge University Press )

73Other: Situati onal English (Hancock, Listen and Speak Publications)
Classroom Dynamics (Hadfield, Oxford University Press)
5 Minute Activities (Ur andWright, Cambridge University Press )
Pilgrims Resource Books series
These are just some recommendations but teachers might find other useful books and
they can also browse in the EFL sections of major bookshops. When buying books
teachers think how useful the book will be i.e. will it go out of date?/can it cover a range
of levels and nationalities?/is it easy to use?/does it have more than a couple of g ood
ideas?
2.4. Reading andwriting for creativity
The relationship between reading and writing have been thoroughly commented and
research findings have been reported to confirm such a concept. Paul O’ Dea reports that
those who read widely are rewarded in several ways, one of which is increased
proficiency in writing, “most clearly seen… in the areas of diction and sentence
structure ”.(1965: 54)
Nathan Blount (2006: 211) summarizes several studies that show a positive
relationship between good writers and good readers. Ingrid Strom (1994: 78) also sums
up research findings that tend to confirm the affirmative relationship between literary
reading and writing, which are, among others, investi gations which show that students
develop higher speaking and writing abilities than the ones who study mechanically. A
well designed lesson integrates all the four skills (i.e. reading, writing, listening and
speaking) as this is the key to improve literac y.And from a practical observable
standpoint, it would seem that all pupils, regardless of ability, would benefit from
greater success in reading. Teachers, therefore, need to i ntegrate reading and writing
fully.
Thus the teacher should help the pupil examine and appreciate what the writer has
done with the text. The pupil should, with the help of the teacher, be able to answer a
number of questions about the author's style: how he is able to achieve the effect he
achieves; why he organize s his m aterials the way he does, or how he makes his writing
present his intention. Such considerations, says Donald Murray (2003:38), will lead the
student to master the three important skills in composition:
-how to organize thoughts;
-how to test those thoughts for logic, and

74-how to express them in clear and concise language.
It is obvious that in order to write successfully pupils need to have a subject over
which they can exercise sufficient control. It therefore seems log ical that increased
reading exercises through both formal and non -formal methods, will enhance pupils'
control over composition topics integrated into the reading programmes.
Through the use of both traditional and non -formal methods, a learning -oriented
approach to literature emphasize slearning about subject matter, learning a language,
and learning how to use writing in order to generate and form ideas. In stressing
learning, it also pays attention to reinforcing grammatical concepts, to training learners
to recognize and use new structures, to imitating models of form, to communicating to
readers, and to developing fluency. Such a perspective perceives writing not as an end
but as a means (Ewig 2014), and everything becomes more enjoy able when teachers
also adopt performance -based and portfolio assessments.
Writing is about thinking. As ArtYoung (2006: 9) explains, in a “writing –to–
learn assignment”, the student “explains the topic to himself”, while in “writing –to–
communicat e assignment”, the student is challenged to explain the matter to others, to
pleas ethe reader. Here is a chart to make the distinction clearer:
Writing and Thinking
Writing To Learn Writing To Communicate
Discovery thinking Critical thinking
Invention: uttered, generated Revision: crafted, clarified
Writer -based prose (explains
matter to oneself)Reader -based prose (explains
matter to others)
Audience: self and trusted others Audience: distant
Personal language in social
communityFormal language of discourse
community
Teacher as facilitator Teacher as professional
Personal knowledge Contextual knowledge
Forms: journals, field notes, rough
drafts, blogsForms: essays, reports, business
letters, web publications
Discovery and Critical Understanding (Young 2006: 10)

75As Young exemplifies, the one -minute essay is the perfect example of a fun and
valuable activity to assign students at the end of the class, and not as a time filler but as
to re-evaluate the lesson that day. It is really important to collect their assignments and
always give them a response, making sure they all read the notes actively and
consciously . Here is a list of techniques of how to correct and make the activity fun and
motivating.
Figure 3.Spidergram for:Techniques of assessing students’ writing assignments in class (Ewig 2014 )
2.5.Why do students need writing skills?
Teachers and students always think about the quality of their writing and whether there
is anything they can do to improve that. Therefore, students need writing skills for:
-Self-expression;
-Practice;
-Specific purposes;
-An extension to reading and speaking;
-Writing opinions;
-Extende d headlines or story beginnings;

76-Reinforcement of aural/oral exercises. A visual record of structure/v ocabulary as
a learning aid, and for future revision.
-Language development. It is argued that the actual process of writing, the
organization of ideas onto paper, aids the learning process.
-Thinking time. Whereas some students can absorb language by readin g and
listening, others need the time to practice and think. This is particularly useful
for those who are less confident in responding more quickly in a speaking
activity.
-Writing as a useful skill. Writing is useful for functional activities such as
letter/e-mail writing, and for examinations. Punctuation, paragraph construction
and register are of importance.
-Testing and personal teacher response. In marking and commenting on students’
progress and individual areas of need, the teacher is able to take th e time to give
specific feedback and encouragement.
Activity 23
Level: Advanced
Time: 30 minutes
Aim: To write a good compare –and–contrast paper.
Task: a)Write a comparative essay. The quotes and facts bellow give you an idea of the
attitude of the British towards their children.
-Our children are our future . -Children grow up so young these days .
-Not in front of the children . -Most English schools still insist on
school uniform .
-Children are not officially allowed to
work until they are sixteen.-Children can be tried in a special court
of law from the age of ten.
-Although children start school at five,
there is little state provision for them.-Children are not allowed in pubs.
-There is now a children’s helpline that
can ring for advice in emergencies.-Many wealthy families in Britain send
their children to boarding school.
b)What does this tell you about attitudes in Britain? How does this compare
with your country? Make n otes as you are discussing this.
This activity brings amusement to the class for the topic itself and students are eager to
discuss how they feel towards the Romanian education system, comparing it to the

77British system, and forgiving more arguments to th eir points of view, the ysearch the
internet for more information. The teacher encourages free discussions so they all feel it
as a game activity, and invites them to take the raw data –the similarities and
differences they have observed –and make it int o a meaningful argument, using the
elements required. The teacher draws an umbrella on the board under which all students
bring details on theme, things connected with education, both in Britain and in Romania
and other historical information. They are all involved building this plan, drawing “the
umbrella” because it is fun and useful for their comparative essay. The teacher reminds
students to think of a reason for this comparisons, its importa nce, the grounds for
comparison, which anticipates the comparative nature of the essay. The teacher supports
the students: Do these two concepts corroborate, complicate, contradict, correct or
debate one another?
Students argument their compare –and–contrast i deas using “while”. They use
the organizational scheme they have learned in previous lessons:
text–by–text to discuss all of A, th en all of B;
point –by–point to alternate A points with comparable B points.
Students use short examples of how they w ould argument their ideas considering the
introduction, the advantages and disadvantages, the conclusion and the grammar and
vocabulary to be used. Students focus on using passives or link words and work in pairs,
individually or in group, discussing and w riting key concepts and connecting words on
the board.
Students and teacher have fun discussing this assignment and play another game
together practicing links and grammatical sentences:
Activity 2 4
Think of a sentence you consider appropriate to write in your essay. Write the
sentence(s) on the board with the words in jumbled order:
a)jobalthough her low is, her hard salary;
b)visit place it’s a. on the other hand , expensive nice to;
c)though carefully I even explained, didn’t she understand;
d)good my sciences at brother am languages I is at while good;
e)problem I while understand your, nothing I there do is can help to you. (Ur and
Wright 1992: 44)

78The students work out and write down the original sentences, and think of similar
sentences. Students retu rn to the comparative essay activity, reconsider the notes they
have made during the discussion and start writing their comparison and contrast paper.
Task: You are leaving in the UK and have been asked to write an article for a local
school about the diff erence between attitudes to children in your country and in the UK.
Write an article of approximately 250 words.
Procedure: Organizing the article and using the notes from the previous discussion,
students divide the ideas into two columns: the UK and thei r country; and into topics.
Students write attitudes and decide how many topics and paragraphs are necessary.
They also consider joining sentences and connective words and phrases, especially the
ones used in the game.
Teachers should master methods and t echniques to turn theory into practice, but
also feel passionate about expressing their thoughts and beliefs in the English language.
It is not all about strategies and steps to follow –but, of course, could not do without –
but also about our wish to com municate in the English language, our need and joy for
reading literature, our love to teach and play with children. Writing can be everything
and here are only a few examples based on ideas covered in Harmer (1998):
-Postcards -A reply to a letter
-Apersonal story (true or not) -A response to a situation: giving
advice to a character in a film or book
extract
-An informal letter (“thank you” letter/letter
to another student/letter to a family member )-Job application
-A book/film review -Advertisement for a product or
holiday
-Instructions for an activity/game, or using a
machine-A proposal for change: formulating an
argument
-A recipe -News report (from headlines)
-A description of a room/view/place/person -Describing a process
– A narrative story, based on
picture/music/student’s own imagination-A response to music
-Sketches to perform -Poems
-Diaries -Mini -presentations

79To practi se vocabulary with any level of students ,or for just a moment of
relaxation, as a non -verbal break, either if it is a pre, during or after reading activity, we
can play the following game which involves reading, writing and listening skills .
Activity 25
Aim: To express personal thoughts through written sentences.
Time: 10 minutes.
Task: You are going to listen to some music. Let your mind feel free to imagine a
colour or more if you like and write why. Write what kind of person the music makes
you think of and why. Write about the place where your imagination and music lead
you. (Ur and Wright 1992)
Activity 26
Aim: Writing skills
Procedure: Students are invite d to keep a diary and allow edto write five minutes each
class. The teachers suggest students t o write about their own school experience, or any
other matters of concern to them. Ur and Wright 1992: 17)
Writing a children’s story can be really enjoying. Students can build up the story
starting from a picture or even draw pictures to show the sequence of actions. Here is an
example of a task:
Activity 27
Task: Read the beginning of the story. How do you t hink it ends? Draw pictures and
write prompts to show the rest of the story, then write the story accordingly. Write 57 –
70 words. When you finish, show the pictures and read your story to your desk mate.
Stories and pla yscan model pupils’ writing because they introduce characters,
topics andthemes, and distinctive styles can be imitated . If they are given sufficient
time, an entire story or play can become a great lesson developing writing, reading,
speaking and listenin g skills. They read one another’s story to check for completion or
suggest ideas, commenting on pictures.
This paper presents easy and fun methods of dealing with the literary text “ The
catcher in the Rye ”. (1991) These examples of tasks and procedures ba sed on non –
formal methods are used to make students feel more comfortable and focused when
approaching literature. When teachers provide writing assignments such as
compositions or essays, they must know that pupils need to be given more than a well –
chosen subject. The teacher may announce that they are going to write about Holden
Caulfield, but , unless they receive a logical explanation, they will not feel comfortable,

80even mig ht lose interest or motivation .Ifhe tells them that Ho lden Caulfield, more than
any other characters, captures the spirit and dilemma of the 20th century alienated
adolescent, the pupils will have the basis for a real discussion. Th ey will not only have a
subject, but also foregrounding arguments. Obviously t he selection of a good thesis
depends a great deal upon the knowledge the pupils have acquired, but also on the way
the teacher present it.
Students and teacher can play “Fact and Fiction”, a 5 minute activity to add
more fun and rhythm to the lesson. (Urand Wright 1992:24)
Activity 28
Time: 5 minutes
Aim: To practice all the skills.
Level: Advanced
Task: Think of a comment based on Holden Caulfield’s story which can be either true
(T) or false (F). Tell it to the class and let the others write or say T or F. At the end of
the activity compare answers and see who was right.
Teaching creatively means to know how to support and help students so they can
create and use their imagination. When students are practising vocabulary (i.e. idioms,
phrasal verbs et c.), they can have fun turning it into games such as blockbusters, writing
or acting short dialogues, imagining different situations or play dominos. These
domino -type activities are played on a special board ,and students work in pairs. The
idiom has to b e matched to a definition. They can also be on other topics such as “jobs”.
Before playing them, or as a pre, during or after a vocabulary lesson, students can revise
words playing the following game.
Activity 29
Aim: Vocabulary review.
Time: 3 minutes.
Task: I will write a list of about ten jobs on the board and you think of a list of ten ideas,
feelings, memories you associate with one of the jobs listed. Each idea must be
described by a single word.
Procedure: The students work in pairs, and they study their neighbour’s list and tries to
guess which job the list refers to . They all have fun when they confirm or reject
solutions.
Teaching Use of English improve both vocabulary and grammar skills. For
example, when they are given multiple choice exercise s,students have to choose the

81only correct one from the four options each time, or cross out the ones they are sure are
incorrect, analysing the text carefully. According to CAE Handbook CEFR Level B2
(2012: 31 -32), the possibilities consider edare:
-word s with similar meanings (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and
prepositions with similar meanings);
-word plus word collocations;
-fixed phrases;
-verb patterns;
-linkers.
After they have chosen their option, they should read the text again to see if it i s right.
But to be able to understand the text and make the right choi ce, it is best if they practice,
and using games makes it much easier. They can play “Ask the audience” and “50/50”,
“Word splash”, “Aha and huh?” (“Aha!” for the right choice and “Huh?” for each
wrong option and following the explanation, and things they have questions about),
“text transformation” (they read the text and try to retell it in order to find the missing
words), jumbled words, “Who wants to be a millionaire? (Havefour jokers who can cut
the wrong options at any time), crosswords, dominos (Palim and Power 1990: 21) ,
“grammar auction”, blockbusters (vocabulary revision questions), and even a
vocabulary notebook. All these activities are good methods to make students have fun
and learn, and they help students to develop their knowledge of lexis at a phrase level.
“Cloze activity” can be a highly scaffolded writing where students are given
keywords from the text, and they must fill in from the given list of words, or if it is from
the lesson, the teacher can give a paragraph about the topic, with blanks. They can also
use “sticky notes” to post on their paper or on the board, with pros and cons.
The vocabulary notebook will be used to keep a record of the new vocabula ry
students meet. They will be taught and helped to use dividers for ordering every
vocabulary items into sections (e.g. fixed expressions, grammar, topics , new words
etc.), and focus on spelling. In this notebook students can also write collocations
becau se they need to know which combinations of words are possible and which are not
(combinations with do, make, have, take etc.), and use colours and drawings to make it
look fun.

822.6.Thinking of listening
Listening is an important part of the teaching and learning process, and teachers spend a
great deal of time thinking how to bring listening into the lessons. If teachers engage
students in listening actively, they will not only focus on understanding info rmation and
decoding the message, as well as enjoying the pronunciation, but also consider the steps
that are to follow as after listening activities.
The teacher starts by actually teaching students to hear actively so they can
understand the whole messa ge. In order to accomplish that, they need to pay attention,
leave aside distracting thoughts or sounds, and always focus. Without practice or if the
material is not appropriately chosen, the student can suddenly lose focus and decide he
doesn’t understand what is being taught or discussed. Some students convince
themselves, while listening, that they are not able to understand spoken English well
and decide not to hear it anymore. This can become a problem and as for any possible
problem, the teacher is th e solution. The teacher can provide an interesting listening
game to keep students’ mind focused and not get bored.
The materials the teacher chooses (considering the accent, the intonation, the
stress, the written materials these listening assignments a re based on etc.), the activities
and methods he decides to use , the moment of the lesson, the environment, the duration
of the activity, or the time of the assignment, will all help students improve their
listening skills. Authentic materials and a wide variety of contexts prepare students for
the types of listening they will need to experience when using the language outside the
classroom.
2.7.Speak (up) your mind
In order for thestudents to know how to speak their min d and not just answer typical
exam type questions, they must be encouraged to experience and experiment with sound
and imagery. Pupils feel afraid when they cannot incorporate lists of words into
meaningful associations. All they need is to be allowed to experiment with their own
thoughts, feelings and ideas. Pupils can use mind maps ,comics, use imagery with
words, generate original expression, use music and draw pictures to tell beautiful
stories.

83
Teachers used to memorise mechanically. Today pupils are more encouraged
and supported to express opinions and share experiences based on group work and
communicative syllabuses which are designed on functions, game -based tasks and role
play activities or other non -grammatical units. Pupils develop communicative skills
practising greetings and introducing themselves or a friend, imagining dialogues or
giving arguments in a debate in real life based situations, all leading to real
communication.
The teacher can start a drawing and ask students what it is going to be. They are
taught there are no right or wrong answers. (Palim and Power 1990: 31)
Activity 30
Teaching pupils that intonation matters, the teacher can invite them to play the
game with intonation, stress and rhythm “He arwhat I say”. (Ur and Wright 1992: 34)
Music and songs can be one effective method to teach and develop all for skills
in a calm and relaxed atmosphere, and the song called “Diamonds are a girl’s best
friend” sung by Marilyn Monroe (www.youtube.com )is a beautiful choice for advanced
learners. They can use it as gap dictation to practise new words as a pre, during or after –
reading activity. Students can listen to the song “24 Hours from Tulsa” sung by Gene
Pitney ( www.youtube.com ), paying attention to the message and draw a picture or a
sequence the music leads their imagination to.
24Hours from Tulsa (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
Gene Pitney
Dearest darling
I had to write to say that I won ’t be home any more
For something happened to me
While I was driving home and I ’m not the same any more
Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
I saw a welcoming light
And stopped to rest for the night
And t hat is when I saw her
Figure 4. Drawing by students of the English Culture and Civilization Circle (2016)

84As I pulled in outside of the small hotel she was there
And so I walked up to her
Asked where I could get something to eat and she showed me where
Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
She took me to the café
I asked her if she would stay
She said, “Okay ”
Oh, I was only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
The jukebox started to play
And night time turned into day
As we were dancing closely
All of a sudden I lost control as I held her charms
And I caressed her, kissed her
Told her I'd die before I would let her out of my arms
Oh, I w as only twenty four hours from Tulsa
Ah, only one day away from your arms
I hate to do this to you
But I love somebody new
What can I do
When I can never, never, never go home again?

85Figure 5. Drawings by students ofthe English Culture and Civilization Circle (2016)
Teachers use music activities in any moment of the teaching process and this can make
the class stimulating and enjoyable. Music can introduce a topic for discussion and arise
students’ interest and attention , making them find f ast and right solutions or end up an
activity in the most attractive way leaving them eager to return. The teacher can
introduce a slight variation to the song and practise Conditionals and sharing ideas.
Activity 31
Task: Discuss these questions using c onditionals and expressing your opinions:
If you weren’t here, where would you be?
If you weren’t here, where would you like to be?
If you weren’t yourself, who would you like to be?
If you weren’t living now, when would you have liked to be?
Procedure: The teacher encourages imagination, even ridiculous ideas.

86Pupils can practise both listening and speaking skills when they use greetings,
meeting an acquaintance, or introducing people, in a talk imagining a dialogue between
a foreign tourist and his Romanian friend, expressing opinions when traveling, in town,
or on holidays , about space or animals, as Tom Hutchinson (1985) present in his book
on projects. .
Warming up the lesson is a process in which students and teacher know each
other, and students become involved in the theme to be learned. Warming up a class and
how to keep the warm -up going is part of role -playing –the ability to listen, understand
and communicate.
Questionnaires are both top -down and bottom -up activities. The first identifies
emotions, understanding meaning of sentences and recognizing the topic, while bottom –
up activities involve intonation, phonemes or different morphological endings.
Activity 3 2
Two sets of 15 questions were designed to gather the students’ pers onal opinion on
habits and daily routines and if reading improve dtheir speaking and listening skills. The
students were divided in pair s, and the questions were for student A and student B to
find out information about the other student’s habits and daily routine and then mark his
or her answer with a cross [x]. These questionnaires were distributed to students for this
study in February after other speaking activities conducted in the class.
Students were ready to listen to their partner’s answer and exp ress their own
opinions. They showed enthusiasm ,motivation andcontribution.
The conclusion of this questionnaire is that students have hobbies ,such as
practising sport s, listening to music, reading, as well as passion for foreign languages.
This activity also proves that students’ engagement in the group work isbased on their
ability to communicate in English , and that questionnaires are a great solution for the
teacher to increase the children’s talking time. (Kessler 1992: 55) They use the lang uage
to communicate and to cooperate and feel the activity is rewarding when their
suggestions are valued, and their contribution is linked to the success of the whole team.

872.8.Why use videos in the classroom?
Many teachers make efforts to encoura ge their students to communicate, using a wide
range of me thods, materials and activities because language learners who use the second
language in authentic communication, have more potential to practise it, acquire higher
levels of language fluency (Derwi ng, Munro, and Thomson 2008) ,and generally
achieve greater language proficiency, and, as a result ,show more improvement in their
communication skills. The beneficial effects of using videos in the classroom are:
-Change of focus from teachers;
-Rich sou rce of authentic language: news, documentaries, songs, adverts, films;
-The relationship between picture and language directs powerful attention, and
picture transcend linguistic limitations;
-Stimulating if used interactively and therefore motivating;
-Can i ntegrate other skills and language work easily;
-A “Friday treat” for the students any day of the week;
-There are m any good published videos with accompanying materials which can
be used as part of a syllabus in conjunction with a course book –practising
structure, function or vocabulary.
Videos are easy to use and can provide instant fun and meaningful lessons.
Activity 33
Deep blue: Discovering the sea –The Great Barrier Reef .(Cambridge University Press
on Vimeo )
Task: Write a short composition based on the images viewed in the classroom in which
you express your opinion on keeping nature safe and clean. Give it an appropriate title
and do not use more than 100 -130 words.
2.8.1. Pre -viewing, viewing and after viewing game -based activities
Teachers of English use video extracts as pre -viewing, viewing and aft er viewing
activities to create atmosphere or to reward students by giving exciting and motivating
materials.
Pre-viewing
-Teachers pre-teach/brainstorm voca bulary associated with theme/character of
the film.

88-Students look at the set of pictures/sentences depicting a sequence of events.
Students order them and then watch to check predictions.
-Teachers p lay the video with sound only (cover the screen) –student s predict
what happens/set the scene or mood. Plenty of prompting may be necessary –
Where? Who? Atmosphere? Smells? Sounds?
-Pair work –students put tape scripted dialogue in order and watch to check.
-Pair work –hand out the tape scripted dialogue with h alf missing. Students
predict what they think is said and then watch to check.
-The teacher uses the pause button to get students to predict what is going to
happen next.
Viewing
-Students can do the activities above.
-The teacher uses the pause button and as ks comprehension questions about what
is going on or what has just happened. This can be done very intensively if
details are important.
-Silent viewing –students produce their own dialogue. The teacher plays again to
compare dialogues.
-Silent viewing –students and teacher work on feelings, gestures, thoughts (e.g.
Does she really agree? Does he sound happy? What is she thinking?).
-Jigsaw viewing –half the class watch while the other half have their backs to the
TV. The teacher pauses and students who vie wed describe what happened. Then
they change over and the other half of class continue watching and then describe
their short extract. Then they all play the whole extract to compare the
descriptions of the video.
-The teacher plays video and students choos e one character and watch the person
in the scene, imagining what the person is thinking. Post viewing students write
down the thoughts of the person in the first person, than read it to other students
who have to guess which person that was.
-The teachers splits the class into A and B. He hands out the tape scripted
dialogue of a scene of two people. Students A have the complete version for one
of the people and students B have the completed version for the other. The
teacher views the extract silently and students have to work in their groups to
complete the dialogue .

89-Teacher and students do intensive intonation and other pronunciation work on
very short sections, rewinding as necessary. They also do work on body
language, facial expression etc., for re -enacting the scene.
-The teacher gives the students key vocabulary. Half the class go out to formulate
questions about the vocabulary and the other half watch and take notes of details
relating to the vocabulary. Post viewing involves pair work interrogation of what
happened regarding key vocabulary.
After viewing
-Role play –students re -enact the scenes after work on pronunciation, gesture,
facial expression etc.
-Role play –the student interviews key characters from the extract –news,
interviews or police interrogation.
-Personalization –What would you have done? Has this ever happened to you?
-Screen test –Quiz –teams with students having to answer questions on the
extract to see who are the most observant.
-Discussion of the situation, the characters o r the moral issues.
-Writing –continue the story from the extract or plan what characters should do
next; write the story of the extract they have just viewed –good for narrative
tenses, linking phrases and sequencing; character description –students cho ose
one character and describe him or her , students the n read or listen to descriptions
and match to characters; write a letter from one character to another; “What did
the newspapers say the next day?” Design the front page.
-Language work –gap fills for past verb forms, prepositions etc.
-Extension of vocabulary.
Adapted from Cao and Philip (2006: 80 -93)
Lots of ideas to bring joy to class and use videos for listening skills . And of
course we can use the video like a tape for listening skills. Some studen ts like to watch
complete films or programs, but it is best to ensure we have tasks to do whether it is a
character profile, comprehension check, vocabulary exercises, listening for particular
information and follow up language or pronunciation work. Appen dixLand M present
more resources for creative teaching and learning . For a successful video lesson the
teacher should always remember to:
Keep it short.

90Exploit the material –the video is another classroom tool; it does not do the
work for the teaching for us.
Keep the tasks manageable so that students can watch the video and not just
focus on the worksheet in front of them.
Cue the tape and check all the equipment is in working order before the
lesson.
Check suitability.
Make sure the news or any docum entary we show is up to date.
Use video for communicative activities, discussion and writing as well as
language study.
Switch off the TV when the students end the activity .
All of the above are important, but the real key to a successful video lesson is a lways to
have an emergency non -video well prepared lesson awaiting.
2.8.2.News on video as authentic material and non -formal method
Teachers work with predictions when they exploit the news on video and bring up to
date information to class, using:
Pre-viewing
-Pair-work –students come up with stories in the news. Teachers can provide
headlines from the newspapers that correspond to the TV news to help prompt
ideas of news items. Feedback.
Viewing –Headlines
-News headlines can be played without the sound. Pair work –students discuss
the stories in the headlines and predict vocabulary. Feedback is provided and
students watch with sound and check predictions.
Pre-viewing
-Pre-teach or check key vocabulary for complete stories. Pair work –students
predict details of the complete news item.
Viewing
-The teacher plays the news in complete and students watch to check predictions.
-The teacher plays again and pauses after each news item for comprehension
questions, gap fill, matching tasks or students could d o a jigsaw watching the

91activity where half concentrate on some stories, and the other half conce ntrate
on others.
Follow up
-Pair work –students prepare to re -tella chosen news item, and report it to the
class as news readers.
-Students look at selected n ewspapers and compare the reporting of the TV news
and that of the newspapers.
-Role play interviews with people connected to one of the news items.
-Information exchange task following jigsaw activity.
The list is compiled from Reinders (2012) , Cao and Phi lip (2006), and is rounded up
by the researcher ’s suggestions as he experienced during the teaching years at the
English Culture and Civilization Circle.
Activity 34
The teacher plays the news and students note down the number of stories and complete
thetable below. Feedback.
Task: Tick which category you think each story falls into. The numbers refer to the
order in which the stories are read by the news reader.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
British
Foreign
Government
Economics
Sport
Show business
Other
Figure 6. Adapted from www.digitalcultureandeducation.com
Students learn new words such as “the score”, “the soundtrack”, “to make
something tongue -in-cheek” (not in a serious way, to have fun of something). They also
learn film genres: horror, thriller, action, silent, science -fiction, fantasy, western, spy,
comedy, slapstick (physical comedy –when one falls and makes everybody laugh),
documentary, historical , dramas, gangsta, romance, war and others. They speak about
the characters, the setting (when and where), and the plot (the story).

92PART III
3.1.Empowering creativity through assessment
The teachers from the English Culture and Civilization Circle stro ngly believe in
showing students that they value creative thinking and praise them for being active and
well prepared. Even if teachers do not always agree with their ideas, students are
reward edand praise dforthink ingcreatively and us ingtheir imaginat ion in bringing
new ideas and finding different, open -minded solutions to problems.
Multiple choice tests are easy to grade, but there is not much room for creative
thinking in the classroom because answers are either wrong or right . Of course, the
stude ntcompletes the assignment, but the teacher values his imagination for using
intuition, making connections and playing with possibilities before choosing the right
answer. Students do not get grades at English Language Circles. They feel rewarded
when the y play guessing and communication games, do role -plays, sing songs, use
group work and all laugh.
Traditional education assesses pupils’ particular achievements while, by non –
formal methods, teachers consider their performance and creativity. Adapting the
instructions and approaching both traditional and innovative methods of education,
teachers are able to discover pupils’ problem in order to correct earlier rather than later.
This way pupil sare encouraged to use their intuition rather than learn mechanically,
relying on cooperative work and not feeling afraid of mistakes, but making them only a
starting point for learning more . (Brown 1994)
Teachers and students do not have much time to spend on each project or
activity, but it is importa nt to save time togivefeedback, comment on strengths, and
makesuggestion for improvement.
Students who join the English Culture and Civilization Circle, aged 9 -17,
develop their learning skills so they become autonomous. The teacher provides practical
classroom activities for improving assessment ,and when he is in the process of
revising, he explains and writes notes, knowing that students read, understand and apply
them on the context of the lesson being taught.
The assessment objectives must alway s tell the minimum performance to be able
to consider if the ywere met, and set the criteria based on which the teacher appreciate s
the “readiness” of the student for the next level or lesson .If more than 50% of students

93have attained or overcome the mini mum standards, which is the minimum number of
correct answers, or the minimum amount of time allowed, teachers appreciate that the
objectives have been met.
The students’ creative work can be integrated in the lesson, contributing to their
success, d uetotheir active participation in problem -solving situations. For each
assigned question, the student is given individual scores. The grade is a score, too,
which reveals the student the importance of the question. The teacher designs the tests,
setting the m inimum and maximum performance standards in order to assess each
learner’s attainment of the objectives.
3.2. Traditional Evaluation versus Modern Evaluation
This paper worked on a comparison ,a natural educational experiment, between the two
types of evaluation using two groups of intermediate level students: the Experiment
Group, using modern evaluation ways and Witness Group, dealing with traditional
evaluation techniques. Both groups consist edof fifteen students in order fo rthe study to
be able to show teachers a new perspective on the success of students learning
techniques. Traditional exercises and lexical patterns , as well as reflective aspects, such
as portfolios and role play were used to demonstrate achievements and progress, as
represented in Figure 7 :
Figure 7.The threefold approach of the linguistic sign as in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign
Language (Murcia 252)

94This study opted to form a single sample (the before and after strategy), on
which an initial assessment was conducted ,and then a modern assessment followed.
Ex. 1. Choose the right variant in the parentheses to complete the letter:
Dear Sir,
I (look/am looking for) currently work in York and (wonder/was wondering) whether
you might have any vacancies.
I (enclose/am enclosing) my CV. I would like to point out that I (have/have had)
considerable experience as a Social Organiser in several well -known hotels and
(can/will be able to) give you the name of referees if you should require them. I (am/am
being) available for an interview during the coming month.
In the hope that you (will consider/will be considering) my application favourable, I
(look/have been looking) forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
Jean Brown 4,5points
(Barghiel 2009: 27)
Ex. 2 .Rephrase and explain the choice of the tense(s) you made as the
counterpart(s) of the underlined forms below:
“No trouble, sir. At what time shall I be back?”
Dorian looked at Campbell. “How long willyour experiment take, Alan?” he said in
a calm indifferent voice. The presence of a third person in the room seemed to give him
extraordinary courage.
Campbell frowned and bit his lip. “It will take about five hours,” he answered.
“Itwill be time enough, then, if y ouare back at half past seven, Francis. Or stay: just
leave my things out for dressing. You can have the evening to yourself. I am not dining
at home, so I shall not want you.”
“Thank you, sir,” said the man, leaving the room.

95“Now, Alan, there is n ot a moment to be lost. How heavy this chest is! I ’ll take it
for you. You bring the other things.” He spoke rapidly and in an authoritative manner.
Campbell felt dominated by him. They left the room together. [.]
“Don’t mind me, Harry, I am irritable, and out of temper. I shall come round
andseeyou tomorrow, or thenext day. Make my excuses to Lady Narborough. I shan’t
goupstairs. I shall go home . I must go home.”
“All right, Dorian. I dare say I shall see you tomorrow at tea -time.”The duchess is
coming .
“Iwill try to be there, Harry,” he said, leaving the room.
(Oscar Wilde, The picture of Dorian Gray , Ch.15 ) 4,5 points
3.2.1. Criteria for evaluation
The following criteria were considered for the test in order to evaluate how well
students completed the task and, thus, how well they have met the standards:
-Accuracy in using grammar;
-Good explanations;
-Make good observations;
-Make good predictions;
-Appropriate conclusion;
-Observations are clear and detailed.
Criteria Limited Acceptable Proficient
made good
observationsobservations are
absent or vaguemost observations
are clear and detailedall observations are
clear and detailed
made good
predictionspredictions are absent
or irrelevantmost predictions are
reasonableall predictions are
reasonable
appropriate
conclusionconclusion is absent or
inconsistent with
observationsconclusion is
consistent with most
observationsconclusion is
consistent with
observations
Adapted from CAE Handbook CEFR Level B2 (2012: 60)

96For the Experiment Group the teacher usedportfolios, role plays, study case,
dramatization, brainstorming etc. as evaluation techniques. The students designed and
carried out experiments, wrote essays and compositions which required them to rethink,
integrate and apply new and old information. They worked in groups to accomplish
tasks, but also should independency, and self -assessment skil ls when working
individually, especially when they interpreted or used maps in finding directions; when
they wrote projects, short stories, poems or gave speeches. Students participated in oral
examinations, performed on stages, at competitions, and develo ped well -designed
portfolios. These portfolios were not just filled with papers. They presented the
student’s efforts, progress and achievement on a theme or more, and with the time
given.
In contrast with the traditional grading system or scores, which h ardly describes
what the pupil has achieved or is actually able to produce, the portfolio they designed
required pupils to take part actively in the selection process and it motivated them
because they showed not only the foreign language circle teacher, but also parents,
teachers at their school, classmates and others what they know and are able to do. This
portfolio is not useful only in class, for evaluation, but it also allows pupils, overtime, to
self-assess their progress and engage in self -reflectio n.
During the experiment students were given adequate time to plan, work, self –
assess and revise. Students consulted with the class, which also led to developing
critical thinking skills.
The context of the experiment varied because students conducted th ese activities
not only in their comfortable class –a place full of books, music, videos, a friendly and
inspiring environment –but also in new and unfamiliar places but with much realism.
The results of thestudies will be presented below:
No. o f
studentsMark
1Mark
2Mark
3Mark
4Mark
5Mark
6Mark
7Mark
8Mark
9Mark
10
15 0 0 1 3 3 1 2 3 1 1
Figure 8. Results of Traditional Evaluation Test

97Figure 9.Traditional Evaluation, Witness Group
The development of the students’ skills in organizing their knowledge and problem –
solving after learning through both traditional and non -formal approaches is represented
in Figure 10, showing the progress which was made after one year of study. This
demonstrates students’ greater achievements and higher desire to be actively involved in
the learning contexts.
No. of
studentsMark
1Mark
2Mark
3Mark
4Mark
5Mark
6Mark
7Mark
8Mark
9Mark
10
15 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 3 4 3
Figure 10. Results of Modern Evaluation Test
Figure 11.Modern Evaluation, Experiment Group0 2 4 6 810 12 14 16No. of studentsMark 1Mark 2Mark 3Mark 4Mark 5Mark 6Mark 7Mark 8Mark 9Mark 10Traditional Evaluation
0 2 4 6 810 12 14 16No. of studentsMark 1Mark 2Mark 3Mark 4Mark 5Mark 6Mark 7Mark 8Mark 9Mark 10Modern Evaluation

983.2.2. Comments and evaluation
The study also proved that themodern evaluation used authentic tasks which
required students to use their knowledge and skills to produce and complete a
performance, while the traditional test only based its tasks on memorising formulas.
The modern evaluation test did not focus primar ily on “mechanical errors” (such
as spelling, grammar and punctuation), but on how students organized their paper and
ideas.
Seeing the two studies, the students from the Experiment Group have obtained
higher marks leading teachers to believe that ,throug h non -formal education, students
will develop creativity and critical thinking. Modern assessment expect students to
demonstrate skills and competences.
This experiment also revealed the high level of creativity, higher in the classes
the teacher used non -formal teaching and assessing methods. When the teacher assesses
the student, he asks himself whether to value the student’s learning conduct or his
progress. Both ways are consider edto be appreciated and that is why teachers donot
only as sign tests, but also highlight students’ strengths so that they can all de velop
abilities and build skills.
Either day –to–day activities (writing notes, dialogues, role plays, mystery
solving games, imitations), or a detail ed analyses of a student’s work help the teacher
identify the student’s learning needs in a clear and constructive way so they can be
addressed.
The assessment teach esthe student how to learn and empower his confidence
that he can rather than lead the student to care more about grades . Therefore, the stress
associated with grading needs to be reduced ,andteachers only do that by providing
positive feedback. Using non -formal methods, teachers can create a friendly
environment is created , commenting, and giving suggestions and not criti cism. This
way they provide students with enough practising activities before assessing and get
them accustomed to the grading system (i.e.assessing students in class using computer
–based tests and activities ).
Non-formal assessments does not use standa rdized tests or scoring patterns.
They use projects and presentations. Students lead experiments and performances such
as singing and acting on a stage, going to debate competitions, and the way the teacher
assesses is seeing them act, interpret, summarize , report, explain, question and doubt,
demonstrate ,collaborate and play. Non -formal methods help students see all of this as

99exciting group work and it all depends on the teacher’s passion for teaching and his
talent, knowledge and work in designing the m ost meaningful activities, continually
adapting and changing them according to the group and individuals.

100CONCLUDING REMARKS
Success is guaranteed by the teacher’s belief in every human being’s dignity and value,
and in each child’s ability and strength, and even if people are different, it is the
teacher’s duty to find the most efficient methods in order to reach the teaching and
learning goals.
In the present study , the analysis on the importance of teaching English
creatively, through non -formal methods, has been outlined based on personal teaching
experience of the researcher, and on the responses that students and other teachers have
shared. The aim of this study has been to propose games and other group work
activities ,and to redesign classes in order to put the student’s personality and interests
first.
This paper shows tha t based on non-formal methods, modern and creative
education together can be considered an important aid and rea ljoyin teaching the
foreign language. These activities provide additional possibilities for developing the
pupils’ skills and abilities as wel l as improve a taste for English and American literature
in the wider sense if pupils are gi ven the opportunity to follow an extensive reading
programme.
The foreign language circle also has the advantage that it gives the possibility of
widening the knowledge of literature by introducing the pupils not only to the narrow
circle of English and American fiction writers ,but also to the “graces of diction and
style” to be found in the great masters of poetry and drama too –all through game –
based ac tivities and student -centered approaches.
A creative teacher will lead to building creativity in students ,and this is because
the teacher is the model for his students, one more reason for the teacher to be
responsible and tak edecisions, in designing his activities, always changing and adapting
them according to his students’ own personality and skills. The teacher keeps his
students actively involved and preoccupied, becoming partners in the teaching and
learning process.
This study shows the excitement and motivation students feel when they work in
groups. They all feel ready to help each other, get the problem solved right and work
well under pressure, which is a valuable piece of knowledge. The need for new, modern
technique s is to make pupils use their imagination and develop creativity and this is
exactly what non -formal methods are doing.

101After the research was carried out, and the final assessment was made , the
students’ satisfaction and performance on class projects has increased, and there has
also been a gradual decline in the number of request for help outside the class. Teachers
need to improve their quality at classroom level as children are the leaders of tomorrow,
so their foundation must be built on solid ground .
At the end of the present endeavour, one may conclude that the impact of this
study derives from the fact that the hypothesis has been verified. The study concluded
that the best way to meet students’ need is to have both modern and traditional method s
of teaching because only together dothey bring about children becoming active
learners.

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107APPENDICES
A.Questionnaire addressed to teachers of English. Learners’ problems with reading
texts
B.Questionnaire addressed to teachers on how and when to correct students’
mistakes
C.Further reading on creative te aching
D.More reading and creative ideas for teacher development
E.Professional development. Useful pu blicatio ns
F.Promoting creative communication in English. School project: “Having fun with
English”
G.Using a dictionary –when is it appropriate? Questionnaire addressed to teachers
H.Easy reader review
I.Changing the course book –so what do we do?
J.Materials analysis wo rksheet
K.Some criteria for choosing our course book
L.ELT and the internet. Resources for use in the classroom
M.Are you a creative teacher? Fixed phrases task
N.Suggested reading for dyslexics

108A
Questionnaire addressed to teachers of English. Learners’ problems with reading
texts
Problems Possible Solutions
1.Students don’t understand the
vocabulary
2. Text is culturally specific. (E.g.
about England)
3. Students are very slow readers.
4. Students are able to do the task
without really comprehending the
text.
These are only a few of the problems the researcher of this paper has
experienced, and a leading step to choosing creative teaching.

109B
Questionnaire addressed to teachers on how and when to correct students’
mistakes
Look at statements 1 -10 and say whether you agree or disagree (or somewhere in
between). Then discuss with your partner or group.
1.Correcting a student doesn’t help at all.
2.It is the teacher’s job to correct.
3.Some mistakes seem m ore “correctable” than others.
4.Students should be encouraged to make mistakes.
5.When a student makes a mistake, they should be corrected immediately.
6.Correcting students too much inhibits students and reduces their confidence.
7.Getting utterances exactly right is very important.
8.There are good and bad ways to correct.
9.Correction is appropriate at certain times of the lesson.
10.Teachers tend to correct more when they are less sure of their own English.
Would you correct students in the following situations? Why? Why not?
1.You have just taught the simple past to a low level group. In the accuracy –
focused pair work practice activity that follows, one of the students says “I go to
London yesterday”.
2.You are eliciting vocabulary from a high level group. One of th e students
suggests the world “sociable”, but pronounces it / sō′sh ə-bəl/.
3.You have recently taught the present perfect to an intermediate class. In the
fluency activity one of the students, working in a group, says “I have break my
leg”.
4.In a group work f luency activity one of the students is trying to say, “it can’t
possibly be the butler”, but has got the structure or pronunciation so horribly
wrong none of the other students know what he’s saying…

110C
Further reading on creative teaching
On this course there has been little time for reading around the subject. Teachers might
now want to look into some areas in more detail. Here are some recommended titles.
Ur, P. (2012) A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press –acomprehensive look at the main issues. A useful
introduction to aspects of theory as well as practice.
Brown, H.D. (1994) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 3rded. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents –More theoretica l and comprehensive
than the above, but very interesting and readable.
Thornbury, S. (1997) About Language .Cambridge: Cambridge University Press –as
the title suggests. Comprehensive and interesting awareness -raising activities for
teachers, with a full key/commentary at the back .
Maley, A. (2010) Advanced Learners .Resource Books for Teachers .Oxford: Oxford
University Press –In-depth books each on separate topics such as learner -based
teaching, drama, cultural awareness, conversation, role -play, newsp apers, video
etc.
Swan, M. (2001) Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers .London: Cambridge
University Press –asabove. Titles include Teaching Listening Comprehension,
Grammar Practice Activities, Testing for Language Teachers. Both these series
contain theory as well as plenty of practical ideas. The OUP series is probably
the more practical.
Lewis, M. (1986) The English Verb .London: Heinle Elt –anexploration of structure
and meaning.
Lewis, M (1997) The Lexical Approach andImplementing the Lexical Approach .
London: Heinle Elt –new non -tense based way of looking at language which is
fast superseding some of the older course book approaches.
Numan D. (1991) Language Teaching Methodology NJ:Prentice Hall –Detailed look at
thesubject.
These are just a few examples of the dozens of books available covering these and other
areas. Teachers can h ave a look in the larger EFL bookshops and see for themselves
what looks useful.

111D
More reading and creative ideas for teacher developmen t
There are a number of general books on this topic. For more reading and ideas, any of
the following:
Hedge, T. (1985) Using Readers in Language Teaching .London: Macmillan Education
Hill, J. (1986) Using Literature in Language Teaching .London: Macmillan Education
McRae, J. (1991) Literature with a small “l”.London: Macmillan Education
Williams, E. (198 9)Reading in the Language Classroom . NJ: Prentice Hall
Or drama specifically:
Wessels, C. (1987) Drama .Oxford: Oxford University Press
The fo llowing book covers the teaching of literature from the point of view of trainers
and teachers and contains ahuge number of tasks for teacher development, with
trainers’ notes and a key, so it can be used very profitably by practising teachers without
supervision for self -or co -operative development. If weare required to teach literature,
this book is strongly recommend ed.
Lazar, G. (1993) Literature and Language Teaching: a guide for teachers and trainers .
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

112E
Professional development. Useful publications
www.elgazette.com
www.onlineMET.com
www.etprofessional.com
www.developingteachers.com
www.iatefl.org
www.onestopenglish.com
www.education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/
www.bogglesworld.com
www.eltj.oupjournals.org
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
www.culturelab_uk.com
www.searchenglish.britishcouncil.org
www.oup.com/elt/global/teachersclub
www.longman.com
www.eltforum.com

113
F
Promoting creative communication in English. School project: “Having fun with
English”
MINISTERUL E DUCAȚIEI NAȚIONALE
INSPECTORATUL ȘCOLAR JUDEȚEAN GALAȚI
PALATUL COPIILOR GALAȚI
STR. MIHAI BRAVU, NR. 28
Tel.Fax 0236/415028
pcgalați@gmail.com
http://palatulcopiilorsielevilor.blogspot.com/
Regulament 2014
Concurs regional
HAVING FUN WITH ENGLISH
10 decembrie 2014
Tema 2014 :WHAT A BEAUTIFUL WORLD !
Ținta strategică a PROIECTULUI
implicarea activă în comunitate prin metode specifice educa ției de tip nonformal
Scopul proiectului:
Dezvoltarea abilităților de comunicare și relaționare prin:
dobândirea unor informații corecte despre cultura universala si cea nationala
dezvoltarea de abilități personale și sociale;
implicarea în activități de timp liber cu caracter artistic, sportiv si tehnic -aplicativ;
Obiectivele specifice ale proiectului:
Dezvoltarea unor abilități de comunicare într -o limbă străină la 30% dintre elevii
implicați în proiect ;
Dezvoltarea capacității de exprimare artistică a emoțiilor și atitudinilor față de
cultura engleză;
Dobândirea unor informații corecte despre culturași civilizația englez ă.
În acest concurs, sunt promovate abil itațile elevilor de relaționare și comunicare în
limba engleză, cunoașterea obiceiurilor și a culturii engleze și constientizarea
importantei dialogului intr -un context european .

114Secțiuni
A.Eseu în limba engleză
B.Scenetă în limba engleză
1.Criterii de selectie
sunt încurajate originalitatea abordării și a prezentării
totodată este indicat ca lucrarea propriu -zisă să aibă între 500 și 1000 de cuvinte.
lucrarea poate conține o imagine relevantă care să susțină conținutul
2.Competente necesare
formularea în scris a u nor opinii referitoare la o temă strict legată de cultura și
civilizația englez ă;
elaborarea unei argumentări scrise;
selectarea și comentarea surselor folosite pentru a susține/combate un punct de
vedere;
creativitate în prezentarea personajelor (pentru scenetă)
3.Evaluarea
Evaluarea se va desfășura în perioada 11 –15 decembrie 2014.
Juriile vor fi formate din specialiști cu experiență științifică și didactică
Criterii de evaluare:
Relevanța conținutului
Corectitudinea științifică
Originalitatea prezentării
Elaborarea argumentării
Selectarea și comentarea surselor folosite pentru a susține/combate un
punct de vedere
Corectitudinea formulării
Materialele vor fi trimise prin posta pe adresa : Palatul Copiilor Gala ți, Str. Mihai
Bravu, nr. 28, Gala ți, 800200, Jud. Gala ți pân ă la data de 5 decembrie 2013.Informa ții la tel.
0236415028 sau pe email –pcgalati@gmail.com .
Coordonator,
Prof. Florina Gheorghiu
Director,

115G
Using a dictionary –when is it appropriate? Questionnaire addressed to teachers
For each of the following situations, teachers discuss whether it is appropriate for
students to use a bi -lingual, a learner’s dictionary or no dictionary at all.
1.When the teacher is teaching new vocabulary.
2.When the students are reading a text for the first time.
3.When students are listening to a text.
4.During a discussion.
5.When students are studying vocabulary in preparation for a text.
6.When students are reading a text at home.
7.When students are do ing free written work at home.

116H
Easy reader review
Answer the questions, tick the b oxes(√)and write your name.
1.What is the title? ___________________ _______________________________
2.Who is it by? ______________________ _______________________________
3.It’s …□a love story
□science fiction
□non-fiction
□a biography
□a thriller
□an adventure
□a mystery
□a detective story
□an autobiography
□a historical book
4.What i s it about? __________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5.What is itlike? ___________________________________ ________________
________________________________________________________________
6.I recommend it. □ I donot recommend it. □
Reviewer’s name _________________________ Date ____________________

117I
Changing the course book –so what do teachers do?
Teachers meet their objectives best when they have evidence the textbook they use
provide students with the most helpful materials and information. Unless they it does so,
teachers decide to change the co urse book and find the best solution to fit both students’
and teacher’s interests.
a) Stimulate interest by -using visuals
-make it a quiz
-personalising
-use an information gap / jigsaw activity
-cut it up for sequencing
b) Relate it to previous lessons
c) Use the pre -stage for other skills; for example, vocabulary becomes dictionary work
d) Use other medium -reading becomes listening
-dictogloss
-computers
e) Set different tasks -selecting
-ordering / sequencing
-filling in grid / chart
-information exchange
-T / F questions
-flow charts
-computer tasks
f) Exploit it for language presentation: structure / vocabulary / phonology / discourse
g) Spot the difference –reading to cassette / video
h) Localise it!
i) Lead on to -testing activities
-discussion work
-personalisation
-roleplay
-student reconstruction
-homework-gapfill
-spot the difference
-matching
-dictagloss
-speaking
-writing
j) Scrap the book material and substitute with authentic material related to same theme
(function)

118J
Materials analysis worksheet
APPROACH
a)Does it concentrate on form or on meaning and use?
b)Are the new items being taught related to or contrasted with language items
taught previously?
c)Is the approach deductive, inductive or ……?
PRESENTATION
a)How is the language presented? Is the context realistic and meaningful?
b)Is this new item relevant to students needs / appropriate to their level?
ACTIVITIES
a)Are there sufficient practice activities?
b)Do they stress form or meaning or is there a balance?
c)Would they require a lot of preparation by the teacher?
d)What kind of interaction do they encourage?
e)Do they link with other areas of teaching (functional langua ge / vocabulary /
pronunciation etc.)?
LAYOUT
a)Is it clear and easy to follow?
b)Does it look interesting?
APPROPRIACY
a)Does the book provide what our students need?
b)Are the topics, contexts, situations interesting and culturally acceptable?
c)Does the book lo ok sui table for the age and level of our students?

119K
Some criteria for choosing our course book
a)Is the material interesting and motivati ng for our students)
*do the aims with students needs
*is it relevant / suited to the learning situation
age & background of the students
length and intensity of course
*is it a good resource for teacher
*is it flexible / does it allow for different learning and teaching styles
*does it look good
*does it contain a variety of elements, have an element of problem solving /
challenging tasks / is it interactive / competitive
b)Does the material cover the main language points appropriate to this level,
remembering students needs?
*does it help students u nderstand target language
*how is the target language presented
*by function / notions / structure / lexis
*deductively or inductively or test -teach -test or ARC
*is it done in easy stages or fast or with a ‘top -down’ approach
*is the syllabus linear or cyclical
*is the language meaning / realistic / not ‘student talk’
c)Is the vocabulary work adequate in range and variety?
*does it use semantic relations / situational relationships / word sets /
collocations / word building / chunking
*does it distinguish between active and passive vocabulary
*does it encourage students to expand their vocabulary independently by
developing their own learning strategies
d)Is there any phonology work
*is it thorough / systematic
*if selective, where is the e mphasis
*is it built on other input
*does it use terminology / phonetic alphabet
*are stress and intonation marked

120*what about cassette
e)Are activities (not jus texercises)
*sufficient in number and range
*varied
*meaningful
*suitable for these particular student s
*communicative
f)Does the book give practice in all 4 skills?
*do the students need this
*what sort of activities are there
*are there pre -& post skill activities
*is there any authentic, semi -authentic material
g)Does the book help the teacher?
*is the TB useful / if so, how
*what ideas does it give for extending activities
*is it useful to less experienced teachers / experienced teachers
*are there clear objectives for each lesson
*is there help planning the lesson / procedure during the lesson
*is the target l anguage well explained
h)are there guidelines to help the teacher evaluate how well the lesson went
Criteria for choosing The Course book. Put these in order of importance
The Teachers’ Book gives you lots of guidance on using the materials.
There is good recycling of language taught
That the book is structurally, functionally or lexically based.
New language is presented in a meaningful context .
The book is flexible enough to allow different learning and teaching styles.
The book is strong on lexis.
The pr actice activities are good and plentiful.
The book has an organised approach to phonology.
The material is visually stimulating.
All the skills are covered appropriately and there is some integrated skills work in a
realistic context.

121Students are encourag ed to communicate with each other in an interactive and
meaningful way .
The book covers the right input for the level and needs of the students.
The supplementary materials are good .
The attitudes expressed in the book are politically and culturally accept able.
The book saves time for the teacher.
What exactly do the underlined words mean to you?

122L
ELT and the internet. Resources for use in the classroom
It is worthwhile exploring the internet for a whole variety of resources for use in the
classroom –visuals/interesting articles/reference materials/back -dated newspaper and
magazine articles and so on. There are some websites set up purely for ELT for ideas,
forums, problems with grammar and teachers’ special lessons . Here are a few to have a
look at for use in the future. Teachers can have a good surf and see what’s out there.
www.onestopenglish.com Resources, tips, news, lesson share grammar help, games,
jobs, links etc .
www.oup.com/elt/global Online ELT magazine –ELT Spectrum work sheets, tips,
articles etc.
http://eleaston.com Source of links to all kinds of materials.
www.eltnewsletter.com ELT newsletter with articles on teaching. Also good links to
other sites.
www.englishclub.net Resources, grammar, vocabulary, speaking, chat, games ,
business, quizzes etc.
www.teflfarm.com Book reviews, ideas, articles, discussion groups etc.
http://eslcafe.com American site with resources etc.
www.eflclub.com Exercises for students, resources and links for teachers.
www.english –
online.org.ukOnline and downloadable exercises for students.
www.hltmag.co.uk Resources for teachers including lesson plans, exercises and
articles.
www.manythings.org A lot of exercises/activities for students.
www.quia.com Create online exercises for students to work on individually
on computers.
www.funbrain.com Create online exercises for younger students.
www .aitech.ac.ip/iteslj Lots of leads to useful ideas including conversation
questions for the EFL classroom.
www.englishlive.co.uk This has a resource centre, on -line and mail order learning
material and practice tests for general and business English.

123www.englishlearner.com A resource site for learners and teachers with a variety of
ideas.
www.freefoto.com A resource for visuals to use in the classroom.
www.esl -images.com An image resource site for all your visuals for the classroom.
www.barrysclipart.com A resource for visuals to use on your hand -outs and in the
classroom.
www.google.co.uk Choose images and this search engine will help you get the
visual you require.
http://puzzlemaker.com Teachers make ex ercises to print out for classroom.

124M
Are you a creative teacher? Fixed phrases task
There are a number of phrases in English containing two words joined by and. The
order of the words is usually fixed:
Examples: here and there ( not‘there and here’), fish and chips ( not‘chips and fish’).
You and your partner have successfully taught the following fixed phrases to your
students:
Fish and chips
Bread and butter
Toast and jam
Cheese and biscuits
Gin and tonic
Salt and vinegar
Whisk y and coke
Jelly and ice -cream
Now you are going to think about tasks you could use to practise the fixed phrases with
your students through non -formal methods. There is no need to design the activities on
paper, but you should be prepared to explain how t hey would work.

125N
Suggested reading for dyslexics
Mark Twain:
Humorous Stories & Sketches (Dover Publications)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Penguin Popular Classics)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Penguin Popular Classics)
Ernest Hemingway:
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Vintage Classics)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Arrow)
The Old Man and the Sea (Arrow)
Charles Dickens:
Oliver Twist (Penguin Popular Classics)
Bleak House (Oxford World’s Classics)
Great Expectations (Penguin Popular Classics)
David C opperfield (Penguin Popular Classics)
Michael Faber:
The Crimson Petal and the White (Canongate)
Under the Skin (Canongate)
Some Rain Must Fall and Other Stories (Canongate)
Flannery O’Connor:
The Complete Stories (Faber and Faber)
Wise Blood (Faber and Fa ber)
Collected Works (Library of America)
Sarah Waters:
Fingersmith (Virago)
Affinity (Virago)
Tipping the Velvet (Virago)
Ruth Rendell:
Collected Short Stories (Arrow)
The Copper Peacock and Other Stories (Hutchinson)
Blood Lines: Long and Short Stories (Random House)
Isaac Asimov:
Robot Dreams (Gollancz)
I, Robot (Collins)
Second Foundation (The Foundation Series)
Robert Rankin:
Knees up Mother Earth (Gollancz)
The Witches of Chiswick (Gollancz)
The Brightonomicon (Gollancz)
Martin Cruz Smith:
December 6 (Pocket Star)
Wolves Eat Dogs (Simon & Schuster)
Gorky Park (Pan)