Classroom applications of

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Classroom applications of

• DOLACEE in an English module

by Mr Joseph Tsang Chi To (Ying Wa College)
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Teaching Context

• Subject AS Level Use of English
• Level S.6
• A 7-lesson module on domestic violence
• Expected outcome
• students being able to produce a
  problem-solution writing (formal writing).

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Applying Theories from DOLACEE into Classroom
Context
Relationship between Language, Text and Context

• FUNCTIONAL MODEL OF LANGUAGE (Halliday Martin,
  1993)

• Genre
• Learning English through Social Issues
• Making an Argument

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Applying Theories from DOLACEE into Classroom
Context
Relationship between Language, Text and Context

• Register
• Field Domestic Violence (specialized)
• Tenor to scaffold Ss from informal to formal
• Mode from spoken to written

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Applying Theories from DOLACEE into Classroom
Context

• As both the content and language levels are
  demanding for S.6 students, scaffolding is
  provided in different stages of the TL cycle so
  as to equip students with the knowledge of this
  social issue and the level of language and
  vocabulary they require.

• scaffolding through Teaching Learning Cycle
• scaffolding knowledge scaffolding language

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Teaching Plan Activities
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Stage 1 Setting the Context(Lessons 1 2,
double periods)

• Activity 1
• Show poster as a visual aid stimulation
• brainstorming oral discussion

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Stage 1 Setting the Context(Lessons 1 2,
double period)

• Activity 2
• Ss watch an MTV of the song Because of you by
  Kelly Clarkson and do a gap-filling exercise on
  the lyrics of the songs
• discussion on the impact of domestic violence on
  children based on the MTV
• (WS 1)

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Stage 1 Setting the Context(Lessons 1 2,
double period)

• Activity 3
• Focused Listening Task on Domestic Violence
• definition
• causes
• types
• what can be done to combat the problem
• (WS 2)

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Stage 2 Modeling(Lesson 3, single period)

• Activity 4
• speed reading 2 pamphlets from the Social
  Services Department (WS 3 - 4)

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Stage 2 Modeling(Lesson 3, single period)

• Activity 5
• Ss read recent newspaper articles on domestic
  violence (SCMP) to identity the key ideas of each
  paragraph on the right column of the article (WS
  5 , 6 7)

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Stage 2 Modeling(Lesson 3, single period)

• At the end of this stage, students should have
  gathered enough information and ideas on domestic
  violence through different media. (content /
  field).

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Stage 2 Modeling(Lesson 3, single period)

• Different skills like speaking, listening and
  reading are involved.
• Through these, Ss have ample chances to express
  themselves in T1 (informal language),
• With the scaffolding (paraphrasing prompting
  through questioning) of teacher (T2), Ss slowly
  build up expressions and vocabulary to talk
  about the issue in a more formal language (T3).

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Stage 2 Modeling(Lesson 4, single period)

• Activity 6
• Jigsaw sequencing game
• The class (30 students) is divided into 6 groups
  of 5 students.
• Each group is given an essay-structure plan (WS
  8) . T goes over the schematic structure of a
  formal essay with Ss.
• An essay on organ donation is chopped up into
  many parts and put on cards.
• Ss have to put the cards in the right order on
  the a blank plan (WS 9) to re-construct the
  essay.
• Then students compare their work with Ts version.

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Stage 2 Modeling(Lesson 4, single period)

• Activity 6
• sequencing game
• To examine
• schematic structure of a formal argumentative
  essay
• introduction
• body paragraphs
• conclusion
• function of linguistic devices / discourse
  markers used in such a genre
• thesis statement
• topic sentences
• explanation sentence
• concluding statement

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Stage 3 Joint Construction(Lessons 5-6, double
periods)

• Activity 7
• Teacher-student work on writing the essay
• T goes over the writing topic (WS 10) with the
  students and they together identify the key
  stages with the use of the essay-structure plan
  given to them in the previous lesson.
• Students write the first two parts in class
  introduction and body paragraph 1 with the help
  of essay-structure plan

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Stage 3 Joint Construction(Lessons 5-6, double
periods)

• Activity 7
• Teacher-student work on writing the essay
• T invites Ss to share their work with the class
  on a visualiser.
• T and Ss then work together to refine / modify
  the sample work. Here, teacher paraphrases the
  ideas of students to fit them into the right
  field, mode, and tenor of a formal argumentative
  essay.

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Stage 4 Independent Construction(homework)

• Activity 8
• Students continue writing the rest of the essay

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Stage 4 Independent Construction(Lessons 7,
single period)

• Activity 9
• teacher marks the essays of students and revisits
  the schematic structure with WS 11.

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Evaluation of outcomes

• From Teachers perspective
• Planning facilitated activities are linked up
  with a strong theoretical base.
• Schematic Structure provides strong rationale for
  T to focus on organization of an essay
• Joint construction a chance for teacher and
  students to work together, for teacher to
  scaffold students, to lead them along the way

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Evaluation of outcomes

• From Students perspective
• Experiencing the TL cycle, Ss see writing as a
  process, an integration of skills and
  information.
• The jigsaw game was fun and engaging.
• Ss felt strong support with a lot of pre-tasks
  (scaffolding through activities) in dealing with
  a difficult topic and a difficult genre

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Thank You!