Understanding Learner Needs and Presentation Techniques

Posted on Feb 11, 2025 in Other university degrees and diplomas

Unit 14: Learner Needs

What are Learner Needs?

When a learner learns a foreign language, they have various needs that influence their learning.

  • Personal needs: need for praise, need to become more fluent.

  • Professional needs: learning English to give presentations.

Recognizing and trying to meet learner needs are part of being a good teacher.

Unit 16: Presentation Techniques and Introductory Activities

What are Presentation Techniques and Introductory Activities?

Presentation techniques are the ways used by the teacher to focus learners’ attention on the meaning, use, and sometimes form of new language when introducing it to them for the first time. Introductory activities are activities used by a teacher to introduce a lesson or teaching topic.

Presentation, Practice, and Production (PPP) LessonTask-Based Learning (TBL) Lesson

Aim: For students to learn the difference between countable and uncountable nouns, and when to use a and some with them.

Procedure:

  1. Ask students what food and drinks they like at a birthday party.

  2. Stick magazine pictures of different party foods (mixture of countable and uncountable nouns) on the board.

  3. Ask students the names of the food items and write the names on the board under each picture.

  4. Point out to the students that you can count some nouns, but you can’t count others.

    1. You use a with singular countable nouns.

    2. You use some with uncountable nouns or plural countable nouns.

  5. Ask the students some concept questions, e.g., ‘Which of the food items on the board are countable/uncountable/singular/plural?’

  6. Students do a written gap-fill exercise, filling the gaps with a or some.

  7. Students work in pairs with a worksheet of food and drink items.

Aim: For students to choose food and drink for a birthday party.

Procedure:

  1. Hold a discussion with the students about when their birthdays are, what presents they would like, what good birthday parties they have been to, and what they like to eat and drink at parties.

  2. Put students into small groups and give them a worksheet with pictures, names, and prices of food on it.

  3. Task: Choose the food and drink they would like for a birthday party for ten friends, keeping within a price limit.

  4. The students do the task while the teacher goes around the class listening and answering any questions.

  5. Each group tells the other groups what decisions they have made.

  6. The students ask the teacher questions about any language they needed for the task, and/or the teacher tells the students about any language she noticed they didn’t know as they were doing the task, e.g., the pronunciation of some words, when to use a and some.

  7. Students write a note to their parents saying what food and drink they would like at their birthday party.

Learner Needs
Kind of NeedsReason for Needs

Personal needs

e.g., security, challenge, support, praise, movement, goals, learning expectations, psychological or physical needs

Age

Gender

Cultural background

Interests

Educational background

Motivation

Personality

Learning needs

e.g., specific ways of learning, specific target language subskills, exam strategies, learner autonomy, working at a suitable level

Learning styles

Past language learning experience

Learning gap (gap between learner’s present level and the target level of language proficiency)

Learning goals and expectations

Level of skill and knowledge

Availability of time

Exams

(Future) Professional needs

e.g., specific subskills, specific vocabulary and grammar, specific functions, specific text types

Professional language requirements for employment, training, or education