In this brief excerpt of a feedback session on an online lesson delivered the same day, I talk to Wen and her colleagues about why it's important to keep the language focus short.
Our instinct as teachers is to give information to our students, and we know we should do this in an interactive, fun way. But sometimes that isn't enough, because sometimes--especially when teaching language--less is more. Not for our stronger students, who will probably be fine regardless. But even the liveliest, most engaging language focus will lose the attention of your weaker students if it goes on too long--and it's specifically those learners we want to help.
Wen did an excellent job of clarifying her target language, focusing on highly relevant aspects of meaning, form and pronunciation. In the future, she will reduce the amount of language and time spent in her language focus, and rock her lessons for the rest of the course--and on into her professional practice.
Well done, Wen!
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