|
|
The use of drama as a means of increasing students' engagement in speaking activities
Šmídová, Kristýna ; Müller Dočkalová, Barbora (advisor) ; Uličná, Klára (referee)
This thesis deals with the use of drama techniques in order to improve students' speaking skills. The purpose of the study is to determine whether the use of fictional situations and characters can provide students with the incentive and motivation to speak and help them with their willingness to communicate. The main indicator for this will be the extent to which the students who otherwise rarely volunteer to engage in oral communicative activities speak during a lesson. The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical part first provides a brief introduction to teaching speaking, an overview of reasons why some students might be more reluctant to speak than others, and a summary of recommendations of various authors on the topic of teaching speaking skills and how to increase student talking time. It then further looks into the findings from existing research on communication breakdowns and the use of drama as a motivation for students to speak. The practical part describes an action research project conducted by the author with seventh-grade pupils of a private primary school, where she teaches. The research was motivated by difficulties the author was facing when teaching speaking, when several students in the class were being shy or were repetitively refusing to participate in speaking...
|
|
|
Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence Using the Cooperative Principle
Freiová, Kristina ; Uličná, Klára (advisor) ; Dvořák, Bohuslav (referee)
The following thesis introduces a four-lesson teaching intervention focused on the development of Intercultural Communicative Competence of EFL learners through their exposure to the Cooperative Principle and its four maxims. The main aim is to help the students better notice, interpret and interculturally compare inexplicit communication in English. The Cooperative Principle serves as an organizationally clear framework, which allows for succinct yet quite extensive analyses of implicatures created by speakers of various cultural backgrounds. A quasi-experiment conducted in four groups of students aged 16 to 17 assesses whether the intervention really enhances the Intercultural Communicative Competence of the students, raising their awareness of the influence that culture has on inexplicit communication and language in general.
|
|
|
Using podcasts to teach English to young learners
Hoppejová, Diana ; Müller Dočkalová, Barbora (advisor) ; Uličná, Klára (referee)
This bachelor thesis deals with podcasts as a way of teaching the English language, mainly focused on children aged 5-7 years before the start of their school education. The podcasts are designed to introduce the English language to children with the help of their first language through spoken audio fairy tales without the help of visual aids. The aim of the thesis is to find out whether systematic use of the first language in audio material for beginning young learners can have a positive impact on their motivation and willingness to listen. The aim of the theoretical part was to gain the necessary knowledge to prepare such podcasts effectively. It therefore explores effective ways of teaching English to young learners, the use of stories to teach English, and the role of the first language in foreign language learning. The practical part reports on research conducted among parents of Czech and Slovak children who had not enjoyed listening to English audio materials prior to the research. The parents agreed on testing a series of the author's original podcasts with their children, and observing their reactions. The aim was to verify or reject the hypothesis that even children who otherwise refuse to listen to English audio materials will be motivated to listen to English fairy tale podcasts where...
|
|
|
Effectiveness of teaching synthetic phonics to EFL students
Urbanová, Lucie ; Červinková Poesová, Kristýna (advisor) ; Uličná, Klára (referee)
The effectiveness of teaching synthetic phonics to EFL students Abstract This diploma thesis deals with the effectiveness of systematic and explicit Synthetic Phonics teaching methods in the EFL learning environment. The theoretical part of the text investigates the similarities and differences between teaching Synthetic and Analytic Phonics. Whether synthetic phonics is essential not only for native English speakers, but also for EFL students is examined. Furthermore, it introduces the changes and development in phonics teaching in a historical context. The practical section describes the test preparation and presents how the research methodology was applied. It also examines the data collected from testing four groups of Prague primary school children who have different experience of phonics. Last but not least, the empirical section presents the results of 60 students' readings and analyses their performances concluding with an assessment as to whether explicit Synthetic Phonics teaching instruction helps EFL students in pronouncing words or not. Key words: synthetic phonics, analytic phonics, phonemes, graphemes, pronunciation and articulation, spelling, reading, writing
|
|
|
Effectiveness of teaching synthetic phonics to EFL students
Urbanová, Lucie ; Uličná, Klára (advisor) ; Müller Dočkalová, Barbora (referee)
The effectiveness of teaching synthetic phonics to EFL students Abstract The diploma considers the effectiveness of systematic and explicit Synthetic Phonics teaching methods in the EFL learning environment. The theoretical section examines foreign language methodology - the field of reading acquisition in young learners, especially English language pronunciation. It studies how systematic explicit Phonics approach can help in learning how to read and pronounce words correctly. It explores the similarities and differences between teaching Synthetic and Analytic Phonics, and compares them. Furthermore it discusses whether synthetic phonics is useful not only for native English speakers, but also for EFL students. The practical part focuses on testing two groups of children who have different experiences of phonics. The data were collected in Prague and the Hradec Králové region. There were 62 students tested out of whom 33 were in a control group and 29 were taught using a systematic Phonics approach. A specially designed test consisting of two different activities was applied. It tested word reading, non-word pronouncing and sight word recognition. The aim of the research was to find out whether explicit Synthetic Phonics teaching instruction helps not only native English speakers, but also EFL learners in...
|
|
|
ESP - Developing a Course for Aviation English
Košková, Magdaléna ; Žďárek, Karel (advisor) ; Uličná, Klára (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the development of an ESP (English for specific purpose) course for aviation English. The theoretical part introduces the methodology for ESP course development, the demands on the teacher and other specifics associated with ESP; the practical part focuses on the contents of the course and its evaluation based on the feedback provided by the teacher and the students. In the conclusion the results of the feedback are discussed and the possible solutions suggested.
|
|
|
Image of British Culture in ESOL Textbooks
Loučka, Radek ; Uličná, Klára (advisor) ; Matuchová, Klára (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to analyse the image of British culture in selected ESOL textbooks by evaluating the amount of content associated with it. The objectives are to discover the extent into which the culture is implemented in the selected sample - New English File series - as well as the series' focus on either elite Culture involving the great products of civilisation or culture in terms of behaviours, beliefs, and life patterns, and what the balance of its forms of representation is. Two major intertwined parts are covered within this paper: a specialist literature review and a content analysis, where the latter builds upon the theoretical background established in the former. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
|
|
|
Possibilities and boundaries of using CLIL method in Czech schools
Němečková, Markéta ; Spilková, Vladimíra (advisor) ; Uličná, Klára (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with an innovative method CLIL, which combines the teaching of subject matter with the teaching of a foreign language. The aim of the work is to use action research to verify the possibilities of applying CLIL in first class of chosen state primary school. The action research is a suitable tool to implement a new approach and contributes to improvement of the quality of teaching. The research is focused on the verification of different supporting strategies to create a set of functional scaffolding techniques, which help first graders to overcome the language barriers and achieve the learning objectives. The core of this thesis consists of detailed lesson plans and reflections, in which the used activities and scaffolding are analysed in terms of efficiency. The final part of the thesis includes several recommendations for practice from the perspective of the possibilities and boundaries of using CLIL method in Czech state schools. The research confirmed that the language level of pupils is not a necessary condition of teaching through CLIL and therefore it is possible to use CLIL from first class of primary school. Keywords: foreign language teaching, Content and Language Integrated Learning, action research, foreign language across the curriculum, innovative method.
|
|
|
Teaching English Through English: Giving Instructions at A1-A2 level students
Mertová, Sára ; Uličná, Klára (advisor) ; Žďárek, Karel (referee)
This diploma thesis aims at presenting principles and techniques of giving instructions during English lessons and their practical use. It stresses the awareness of the importance of delivering clear and understandable instructions and of their influence on students' comprehension. Theoretical part of this thesis describes general rules of giving instructions and focuses on instruction techniques suitable for students' learning styles. It also deals with the language of instruction appropriate for A1 - A2 level students. Practical part consists of applying the theoretical principals in practice through an action research. The aim of the practical part is the improvement of the author's instructions. The findings have shown that modifying the language of instruction as well as using various verbal and non- verbal instruction techniques promotes the students' comprehension of instructions. Key words: Language acquisition, comprehensible input, language of instruction, students' comprehension, learning styles, gestures, action research, instructions
|
|
|
Reflective skills of trainee teachers of English language during their teaching practice: Case study
Taušková, Martina ; Žďárek, Karel (advisor) ; Uličná, Klára (referee)
This thesis examines the reflection skills of student English teachers at the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague during their teaching practice. The theoretical part introduces the reflective teaching model and looks into the phenomena of the teacher as reflective practitioner. The empirical part deals with the trainee teacher's reflection and methods, topics, depth and frequency. A significant part of the research also examines the influence of university employees (teacher mentors, supervisors, methodologists) as incentive supporters of the students' professional development regarding reflection. Key words: reflection, reflective cycle, reflective practitioner, trainee teacher, teaching practice, teacher mentor, supervisor, teacher education
|
guest ::
