NewConceptEnglishinFlippedAdultEnglishClass

【Abstract】New Concept English（NCE）， widely recognized as one of the most classic， authoritative and systematic teaching materials， enjoys a global popularity among learners of English as a second language. However， these books are taught mostly with grammar-translation approach in China， which fails to tap their full potential in improving adult learners active skills， especially speaking. This conundrum could be solved in the context where flipped classroom is adopted.

【Key words】New Concept English； Flipped Classroom； Adult English Class

【作者簡介】李莹（1990.9- ），女，北京师范大学外国语言文学学院，外国语言和应用语言学硕士研究生。

New Concept English

In China， complementary learning materials related to NCE such as study guide， grammar handbooks， exercise companions， vocabulary booklets are numerous in the market. When adult learners who intend to pick up their English ask around for advice on textbooks， in most cases， NCE is recommended. Besides， differentiated levels of classes in diverse size are provided in private language training centers. It can be clearly seen that NCE occupies an important place in non-traditional academic settings.

This set of instructional materials are acclaimed for its practicality and attractivity. More applauses are given to the second volume called Practice and Progress. In this book， there are 96 texts altogether in four units. All those texts are short stories under different topics， ranging from 80 to 180 words. Despite the continuum of gradual difficulty， the vivid and intriguing account of stories are unlikely to bore the learners. For this reason， a lesson plan concerning one text in this book will be illustrated.

Flipped Classroom

Flipped classroom has attracted increasing attention from scholars and educators in a wide range of fields. It is an emerging teaching approach which inverts the traditional teaching procedures. On the surface， what normally happens in the class is moved to after-class hours and vice versa. More specifically， lectures about basic concepts or principles are recorded by teachers and viewed by students beforehand. In-class time is allocated to exercise or practice. At the core， shifts in teachers role， students role and learning environment come along.

First， teachers cease to acting as a transmitter of knowledge. Instead， they will take up the responsibilities of planning， facilitating and guiding learning. Before the class， they plan which part should be studied by students at home with the video and which part should be focused in class when teachers and students meet in person. During the in-class activities， they implement planned tasks in an orderly fashion， observe the group work and provide guidance when the intervention is necessitated.

Second， students main job is not rushing to note down whats on the blackboard or dictate the teacher verbatim. On the contrary， they should take the initiative to grasp whats on the video as much as possible and engage themselves in the interaction and communication with other students in the classroom.

Third， the learning environment is more flexible and democratic. The individualized style to learn the recorded course enables learners to decide when， where and how to accomplish the task. For example， they could choose to use selvages of their time such as waiting for a bus. The self-tuned pace to view the video lectures allows students to pause， backward， forward or even replay the “teacher” anytime when they feel it necessary. During the interaction in class， collaboration and cooperation immerse learners in a democratic atmosphere where their learning anxiety is lowered but learning enthusiasm is mounted.

Adult English Classes

Adult English classes can not be delivered as those for students in traditional academic settings because adult English learners have distinctive learning needs.

First， adult English classes should give priority to practicing speaking skills. Most of adults pay fees to return to the classroom with one purpose： being able to communicate with English speakers. Generally， it is difficult for them to find partners to practice oral English in their daily life. Without a partner， they will find it difficult to keep it up when no real communication purposes are involved. Therefore， more opportunities should be created for learners to open their mouth and interact with their classmates and teachers so that learners can achieve their goal.

Second， teachers should waste no time in explaining language points which can be easily found in other places such as on the Internet， in the dictionary or in any study guide. Learners spend two or three hours on the trip between home and the studying venue each time for two-hour lesson， not to mention the high fees they have to pay. Considering this， it is quite understandable that they aspire to maximize the return on investment and will file complaints if they encounter any teacher who just reads their PPTs or books word for word. However， without sufficient input （grammatical and lexical resources）， learners would not be able to acquire the language and use it to communicate with others.

These two needs can be served in the flipped classroom where a larger amount of in-class time is devoted to practicing skills and declarative knowledge such as the usage of new words and the rules of grammatical structures is presented in the video lectures.

New Concept English in Flipped Adult English Class

Based on the aforementioned discussion， the flipped teaching model in adult English class using NCE2 can be developed as follows.

The following example is a teaching plan based on the flipped teaching model.

Teaching content： A Private Conversation （lesson 1 in NCE2）

Teaching time： 60 minutes

Class size： 6-10 people

Teaching procedures：

Before the Class

Goals to expose learners to sufficient input and prepare them for output in class

Tasks Students need watch videos at their own pace in their preferred location for many times they want.

Notes 1.Teachers can make their own videos or adapt whats already online （such as the video on http：//www.56.com/u33/v_MTEzNTkzODU0.html）.

2.The proper length of each video is 5 to 15 minutes.

3.Targeted words or grammatical rules in the text are explained in a different context from the text.

In the Class

Step 1 Quiz （5 minutes）

Goals to ensure every one in the class has finished the video in a proper way

to check how much students have learned from the video lessons

Tasks Students will take a quiz before they start formal classes. The teacher marks the quiz on the spot and give them instant feedback. For those whose quizzes have been marked and commented， they can start reading the materials that the teacher has prepared for them. This could be a perfect opportunity for students to develop a habit of reading English. At last， the teacher can recap learners overall performance on the quiz.

Notes Questions on the quiz can take different forms such as multiple choices， matching， phrase or sentence translation.

Step 2 Questions and Answers （8 minutes）

Goals to solve problems that learners have during self study

to stress the significance of active and meaningful learning

Tasks Learners can raise questions they encounter when they are watching the video or studying on their own. The teacher does not respond to those questions until no student in the room knows the answer.

Notes The teacher should take efforts to cultivate an atmosphere of friendly competition and also mutual help and prevent this procedure from being formalistic.

Step 3 Listening （8 minutes）

Goals to help learners practice listening skills

Tasks Learners are asked to listen to the audio at least twice. For the first time， a general question should be proposed and learners are supposed to get the main idea of the short story. For the second time， more specific questions are put on the table and students attention should be diverted to the details.

Notes Possible questions：

1.What did the writer do last week？

2.Where did the writer sit？

3.What did the man and the woman do after the writer turned round at the first time？

4.Did the writer enjoy the play？ Why？

5.How did the writers feeling change from the beginning to the end？

6.Why did the young man say “Its none of your business”？

7. How do you think the writer will feel at the end of the story？

Step 4 Look at Pictures and Retell the Story（5 minutes）

Goals to help learners memorize what they have learned and consolidate that knowledge

Tasks The teacher shows students a series of pictures based on the text in a jumbled sequence. Learners are required to pick one sentence from the text to match the picture as soon as possible. To add more fun to this activity， groups can be formed and compete against each other.

Then， the teacher can hand out the sheet with pictures in the right order. At this time， learners should retell the story individually from the pictures without checking the books.

Notes Pictures on this website can be adapted （deleting the words on them）. http：//likeyoung666.blog.163.com/blog/static/5620490920130194911452/

Step 5 Recounting the Story in a Conversation （8 minutes）

Goals to facilitate the internalization of freshly acquired knowledge

to practice their speaking skills， particularly the communicative competence （how to use English to strike up a conversation， take turns to keep the conversation going）

Tasks Learners need make a conversation with their partners about the story which should happen to another person. This requires them to recount the story from different perspectives instead of in the first person. The teacher can use the following two examples to inspire their students.

Scenario 1：

A and B are chatting during the coffee break. A is about to tell B the funny story that happened to As brother C. Friend is talking to friend B about friend. To create a scene， C could sit in a chair in the front of class with his back to A and B.

A： Yes. After that， he and his friends went to theatre.

B： What did they see there？

A： I did not know.

B： Did they have fun？

A： No.

B： Why？

…….

Scenario 2：

A and B went to the theatre last week. But B was so drunk that he forgot what happened there. A is about to tell B the funny story.

A： I would never go to the theatre with you next time.

B： Why？

A： You dont know？

B： Know what？

A： Last time？

B： Last time？ what？

…….

Notes If learners encounter some problems during the conversation， they are encouraged to use whatever means they have at their disposal to convey their messages. In the end， the teacher should provide feedback and solve the problems the learners have.

Step 6 Replace the Important Information （6 minutes）

Goals to make learners combine their already known（learned on the video courses or anywhere else） and newly learned knowledge（in the class） to further language development

Tasks Learners can take advantage of the skeleton of the text and replace the flesh to turn it into a completely different story.

Notes Possible version：

I went to the cinema last month. I had a seat at the back of the cinema. The movie was very interesting. I did not enjoy it. A handsome man and a beautiful woman were sitting in front of me. They were taking photos. I got very angry. I could not see the screen. I stood up. I looked at the man and the woman angrily. They did not pay any attention. In the end， I could not bear it. I stood up again and yelled “I cant see the picture！” I said angrily. “Its none of my business，” the handsome man said rudely.

Step 7 Guess Whether Its a Real Story （12 minutes）

Goals to enable learners to get rid of the scaffolding and use the language

Tasks Learners are required to tell a story about being annoyed in the public places such as in the library， on the bus， in the park. It can be something which did happen to the teller or something the teller just makes up. The listeners （other learners） have to guess whether it is real by asking more questions.

Notes Possible story

One day， I was reading a book in the city library. Then I heard a woman sing “big big world” in the rest room. I was so angry. I went there and asked her to stop.

Students may ask questions they can think of to help them judge， like “How old is she？” “Did she stop？”

Step 8 Read and Write（8 Minutes）

Goals to practice learners reading and writing skills

Tasks The teacher will hand out a short story under the similar topic. Learners will be instructed to read the story and comment on it within 8 minutes. the remaining time is used for peer or teacher feedback.

Notes The story on this website could be used for the class.

http：//www.tingroom.com/lesson/365gyyjdxgs/93144.html

The length of time for each activity can be adjusted according to the class size and learners proficiency.

Conclusion

From the exemplified teaching plan， it can be seen that prominent features of flipped model can meet adult learners needs in prioritizing output without overlooking input， which infuses new life to these classic textbooks in adult English class.

References：

[1]Bergmann J，Sams A.Flip Your Classroom Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day[J].Christian Education Journal，2012.

[2]徐霞.學习动机及对成人英语教学的启示[J].中国成人教育，2004 （4）：67-68.

[3]Krashen，S.Principles and practice in second language acquisition（Language teaching methodology series）[M].Englewood Cliffs，New Jersey：Prentice-Hall International，1987.

[4]何其莘，王敏，张卫晴.新概念英语，2[M].外语教学与研究出版社， 2005.