CELTA | 2020

Assignment 2
Language related tasks

Name: Siwar Bdioui

1st sub 2nd sub
Assessment Criteria
1. Analysing language correctly for teaching purposes

2. Correctly using terminology relating to form, meaning and phonology when

analysing language

3. Accessing appropriate reference materials ie. give the name of at least one
book that you have used to research the area

4. Using written language that is clear, accurate and appropriate to the task

Yes / No Date 1st marker 2nd marker

Pass

Resubmission Needed

Pass on Resubmission

Fail on Resubmission
Overall Comment

NB: If you need to resubmit an assignment, make sure you hand in the original version and the
resubmitted version. Both versions need to be in your portfolio.

This is my own work. Signed S.BDI

Aim of the assignment
This assignment requires you to research and reflect on aspects of language. The
types of target language considered include grammar, functional language and
vocabulary. You will be asked to analyse meaning, form and pronunciation as you
need to do when planning lessons. Please complete both Section one and Section
two.

Word limit: 750-1000 words

Section one: Grammar and functional language

From box one: Choose one grammatical structures
From box two: Choose one functional language exponent

a) Copy and paste the chosen items in the body of the assignment. Make sure you also copy
and paste the example that comes with it.
b) analyse the meaning of the structure as used in the given context. Give a clear definition of
what it means / the situation it normally expresses. Look at the learner level given and
grade your description accordingly.

c) show an effective way(s) of checking understanding. Write concept-checking questions

(with answers) and/or timelines, to show how you would check learners’ understanding of
the meaning.

d) analyse the form as you would on the board highlighting any aspects of phonology which
would require attention ie. sentence stress, intonation, transcription of any difficult sounds,
features of connected speech, as you would on the board.

e) anticipate any problems students might have with meaning, form and pronunciation at
the given level.

2


Example
Present progressive (continuous) Elementary
Ann: Would you like to go to the movies tonight?
Sue: Sorry. I’m meeting Joe tonight. We’re having dinner.

Meaning
This is a future arrangement. There are thus two aspects of meaning to check: that the time
reference is future and that the event has already been arranged. The latter could be illustrated
by the fact that Sue would possibly have this in her diary and Joe would certainly know about it.

Checking understanding
Is it present or future? – Future.
Is it a definite arrangement? – Yes.
Does Joe know? – Yes.
(possibly) Is it in Sue’s diary? – Maybe.

(iii) & (iv) Phonology and Form (written record on the board)
/aım/ □ □ /ə/
I’│ m │ meeting │ Alan tonight.
JUNCTURE between /g/ and /æ/ = /miːtɪn gælən/
Subject + to be + Verb(ing)

Anticipated problems

I. Meaning
Problem: Ss might have difficulties understanding the future reference, as they probably
studied the Present Continuous for actions happening at the moment of speaking at this
level. Therefore, they might think that Sue is in a meeting with Joe now.
Solution: I’ll ask relevant CCQs (see above).

II. Form
Problem: Ss often forget using the auxiliary verb to be with the –ing verb, e.g. I meeting
Joe, or respectively, they do not use the –ing verb with the auxiliary, e.g. I am meet Joe.
Solution: I will highlight the form on the board and provide relevant oral and written
practice.

III. Pronunciation
Problem: Contracted forms may pose a problem to Ss, e.g. We’re, They’re, as they might
confuse them with where and there.
Solution: I’ll drill in context.

EXAMPLE
3
 Box 1 - Grammatical structures to choose from:
Choose one.
wish clause – complaints Upper Intermediate – B2

e.g. I wish you wouldn’t talk so loud on the phone.

don’t have to (pre-Intermediate – A2)

You don’t have to carry ID in the UK.

Question tags seeking confirmation (Pre-intermediate – A2)

e.g. “You’re not coming, are you?”

Have something done (intermediate – B1)

She had her wedding gown made for her.

Present simple – future forms (intermediate – B1)

The bus to Ankara leaves at 12:15.

Would – past habits (Intermediate – B1)

When I was a child, I would visit my grandparents every weekend.

4
Write your answers in the provided template.

First submission
Grammar point:
Question tags seeking confirmation (Pre-intermediate – A2)
Meaning:
Question tags are statements turned into short questions to seek confirmation because we are
not sure, so we expect the listener to agree. (Panston,2005), and they are commen in
speaking (informal).

Checking Understanding: (CCQs)

Is it a shortened question? Or normal one? Short question
Are we 100% sure of the info? we are almost sure (90%)
Do we want the listener to agree with us or disagree? Agree
Is it a real question? It is not real
Do we know the answer? Yes to confirm
Form:
When the statement is negative, we use positive tag question. When there is an auxiliary, we
use the auxiliary to form it and then we put the subject pronoun concerned. As we have in the
example

/jʊ  ə nɒ ˈkʌmɪŋ, ɑː juː/

“you’re not (-) coming, are (+) you?” elision of /t/ “you’re no coming”

‘re not (negative auxiliary) are (positive auxiliary) the subject of sentence is “you”  “Are
you?”

Phonology:
In this example, we say the question tag with a falling intonation
“You’re not coming, are you?”

Intonation

There is Elision of the /t/ so instead of saying “you’re not coming” we say “you’re no coming”
and “no” and “coming” are stressed

Anticipated problems and solutions:

I. Meaning
Problem: Students may confuse the meaning of tag questions and whether it is real
question or just seeking confirmation.
Solution: use CCQs to make sure that they understood
II. Form
Problem: students may not follow the correct form so instead of writing “you’re not
coming today, are you? They might write “you’re not coming today, do you? Or don’t
you?
Solution: highlight the auxiliary on the board using a different colour and explain that we
are going to play with auxiliaries.
Pronunciation
5
 Problem: The intonation may be challenging for the students. They may use raising
intonation instead of falling intonation (intonation does affect the meaning).
Solution: model and get the students to drill (individually and in group) until they get it
right 😊

Resubmission
1. Grammar point :

Meaning:

Checking Understanding:

Phonology and Form:

Anticipated problems and solutions:

I. Meaning
Problem:
Solution:
II. Form
Problem:
Solution:
III. Pronunciation
Problem:
Solution:

Box 2 – functional exponents to choose from:

Choose ONE.
You’d better…(advice) (Intermediate – B1)

James: I have a feeling that someone’s listening to my calls…

Anna: You’d better be careful what you say, then!
Let’s…(suggestion) (Elementary – A1)

Alice: What shall we do this evening?

Ali: Let’s go to the new burger place.
How about…(suggestion) (Elementary – A1)

Kasia: What shall we do this evening?

Daria: How about going to the new fish restaurant?

I see your point, but… (agreeing and disagreeing) (Intermediate – B1)

6
Jackie: I think we should give the students less homework from now on.
Joe: I see your point, but we’re close the exams and I think they will need it.

First submission

Functional language:
You’d better…(advice) (Intermediate – B1)
Meaning:
 ‘had better’ is used to refer to the present or the future, and it describes actions that we think
people should do in a given situation. (Cambridge online dictionary)

Checking Understanding:
Is it an advice or obligation? advice
Does Ann in her advice refer to the future or the past? future
Does James have to accept the advice? No
Is it better for James to follow the advice? Yes

Phonology and Form:

/juːd ˈbɛtə bi ˈkeəfʊl/

You’d better be careful

Contraction of you had

FORM: Subject + you’d better + bare infinitive

Anticipated problems and solutions:
I. Meaning
Problem: students may not understand the future meaning as ‘had’ is included in the
sentence and they may think that there is reference to the past.
Solution: Put emphasize on the future meaning and ask relevant CCQs to help them to
get the future meaning.
II. Form
Problem: Ss may use infinitive instead of bare infinitive “you’d better to go”
Solution: write the form on the board and ask them to follow the form and come up with
examples to make sure that they understand.
III. Pronunciation
Problem: Students may not pronounce the stress correctly and they may pronounce
careful wrongly as the schwa sound in /ˈkeə.fəl/ or in general is hard for Turkish to
pronounce
Solution: Model the correct pronunciation and show them where to stress using gesture
and get them to imitate and drill.

Resubmission
7
Functional language 1:

Meaning:

Checking Understanding:

Phonology and Form:

Anticipated problems and solutions:

I. Meaning
Problem:
Solution:
II. Form
Problem:
Solution:
III. Pronunciation
Problem:
Solution:

8
Section Two: Vocabulary
From box three: Choose two vocabulary items. ONE phrasal verb from box 3 and ONE
vocabulary item from box 4.

For each of the items you choose, analyse the word or phrase in bold in the following ways:

a) Briefly describe the meaning of the word or phrase. Look at the learner level given and
grade your description accordingly.

b) Briefly describe a context or present a short dialogue which would contextualise the most
common use of the item and which would illustrate this concept for the students. Explain
how you will use this context to convey the meaning.

c) Show how you would check understanding eg. concept questions, clines, synonyms etc

d) Comment on any anticipated difficulties with meaning, form and pronunciation.

e) Show understanding of the form and pronunciation of the item by analysing part of
speech, any other features of form, as well as the features of pronunciation and the
phonemic transcript.

9
Example
manage to (intermediate)

Meaning
With effort to succeed in doing something that is difficult.

Context and Conveying Meaning:

EXAMPLE
Tom and Brett are both studying at university. Yesterday Brett told Tom that he was worried
about the homework that he had to do. Today Tom asks Brett about the homework:
Tom: Well, how was the homework?
Brett: Really difficult but I managed to finish it.

T presents pictures of Brett and Tom and elicits the context. T presents Ss with the dialogue
between Tom and Brett, but with the TL gapped out. Ss work together to come up with the
answer. T elicits the correct answer.

Checking understanding
1. Did Brett finish the homework? – Yes.
2. Was it easy?- No, it wasn’t.
3. Did he have to try hard? – Yes, he did.
4. (perhaps) Is he happy about it? – Yes.

Anticipated difficulties
I. Meaning
Problem: Ss might confuse it with the other meaning of manage, e.g. I manage a
company.
Solution: I’ll ask CCQs (see above).

II. Form
Problem: Ss might use the form in the present, e.g. I manage to…. However, it is most
often used in the past and so this form is appropriate.
Solution: I’ll use the context to highlight the past usage of the structure and ask relevant
CCQs to reinforce that (see above).

III. Pronunciation
Problem: students may find it difficult to hear that the form is ‘managed’ rather than
‘manage’ because of the /d/ following. However, it is most often used in the past and so
this form is appropriate. Students may be tempted to pronounce the -ed as /ed/ once
they know this is a past tense, especially as they may find this consonant cluster
challenging.
/tə/
managed to
Solution: I’ll highlight the phonemic transcription and drill accordingly.

Written record
□
to manage to (do something) (v.)
His homework was difficult but he managed to finish it.
/mænɪʤtə/

10
 Box 3 – phrasal verbs to choose from.
Choose ONE.
Pick up (learn a language) (phrasal verb) (pre- intermediate A2)

Bring up (raise a child) (phrasal verb) (intermediate B1)

Drop off (a thing or a person) (phrasal verb) (pre- intermediate A2)

Call off (to cancel) (phrasal verb) – (upper intermediate)

Please analyse the following items appropriately for the level indicated. Write your answers in the
provided template.

First submission
Phrasal verb:
Call off
Meaning:
to cancel something; to decide that something will not happen

Context and Conveying Meaning:

çatay was driving his car on the way to watch a very important match (galatasaray vs goztepe),
while he was listening to the radio, he heard that they called off the match because of the
weather. Çatay got angry and called his friend:
-have you heard the news?
-No! what happened?
-No match, no match...
-oh, they cancelled the match!!
T shows the students a picture of man wearing a football team T-shirt. And asks:
Where is he going? T tries to elicit answers and then T presents the situation and the dialogue
and elicit TL and then asks Ss CCQs
Checking Understanding:
Did çatay watch the match? no
Did they play the match? No
Was the match cancelled? Yes
What happened to the match? The match was called off
Phonology and Form:
Call off s.th or call s.th off (when we use object pronouns) is a transitive phrasal verb.
In “call off” we stress ‘off’
/kɔːl ˈɒf/
There is a juncture : Call off  ca loff  / kɔː l ɒf /
Anticipated problems and solutions:
I. Meaning
Problem: They may mix the meaning of call off with commonly used meaning of call
11
 (phone) and that may make no sense for Ss
Solution: Set a context so that the Ss will not be lost and focus on the set meaning
II. Form
Problem: Students might forget the proposition and use just ‘call’
Solution: highlight the form on the board and tell them if we drop the preposition of a
phrasal verb, we will end up another meaning, and ask CCQs to make sure they get it
III. Pronunciation
Problem: students may not put the stress where it should be, they may as well struggle
with the connected speech
Solution: model and drill the word individually and in chorus and highlight the stress and
the connected speech on the board using symbols and colours 😊

Resubmission
Vocabulary item 1:

Meaning:

Context and Conveying Meaning:

Checking Understanding:

Phonology and Form:

Anticipated problems and solutions:

I. Meaning
Problem:
Solution:
II. Form
Problem:
Solution:
III. Pronunciation
Problem:
Solution:

Box 4 – vocabulary items to choose from.

Choose ONE.

Fabulous (adj) – (Intermediate – B1)

Increase (noun) – (Upper-intermediate – B2)

12
Infamous (adj) – (Intermediate – B1)

loose (adj) – (elementary – A2)

First submission
Vocabulary item:
Increase

Meaning:
a rise in the amount of something (Cambridge online dictionary)

Context and Conveying Meaning:

The company made a big deal this year and gained an increase of 25% of its annual profit. The
boss is happy and had a meeting with his employees and said:
- Thanks to you, we are glad to announce this year statistics, we had a raise of 25%
comparing to the same period last year.

T shows a picture of businessman in a meeting doing a presentation of histogram and asks them
what you think he is doing, and then T points on the histogram and asks them what you see, it is
going up so that’s means raise
Checking Understanding:
Is it s.th good or bad?
Does the line go up or down?
That means the company gained money or lost money?
Is the profit of this year better or worse than last year?
Phonology and Form:
Increase in this context is a countable noun. The first syllable is stressed.

/ˈɪn.kriːs/

Anticipated problems and solutions:

I. Meaning
Problem: Ss may get confused with increase the verb and increase the noun and they
may not be able to differentiate

Solution: Use CCQs to check their understanding

II. Form
13
 Problem: students may spell the word as they pronounce it and that due to their L1 They
may write “incrise” instead of “increase”
Solution: Show the written form of the word after ECD.
III. Pronunciation
Problem: Ss may mix the pronunciation of increase the verb and increase the noun /s/
and /z/
Solution: model and drill the word and show the phonemic transcription 😊

Resubmission
Vocabulary item 2:

Meaning:

Context and Conveying Meaning:

Checking Understanding:

Phonology and Form:

Anticipated problems and solutions:

I. Meaning
Problem:
Solution:
II. Form
Problem:
Solution:
III. Pronunciation
Problem:
Solution:

Word count (750-1000): 1085

Word count for resubmission: ………………………………….

Bibliography:
Cambridge Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/
Panston, T. (2005). A concise grammar for English language teachers. Ireland: TP publications.

14