ELT Didactics — English Language Teaching (Qualifying Cycle)
A unit on ELT didactics for the qualifying secondary cycle, built on the official exam content specification for the CRMEF entrance competition (November 2025 session) and the "English Language Guidelines for Secondary Schools" (November 2007): teaching approaches and methods, the learner, teaching language skills and components, assessment, lesson planning, professional ethics, and classroom management.
Objectifs du module
- Master the main language teaching approaches and methods (Silent Way, TPR, Direct Method, Audiolingualism, CLT, CBLT, TBLT) and the standards-based approach (5 Cs).
- Understand learner-related variables: differentiation, motivation, anxiety, self-esteem, learning styles, and multiple intelligences.
- Apply sound principles for teaching the four skills, grammar, vocabulary, and language functions.
- Distinguish types of assessment and testing principles, and design performance-based assessment tasks and rubrics.
- Draft a standards-based lesson plan with clear goals, procedures, and assessment.
- Identify the ethical obligations of the teaching profession.
- Manage a classroom effectively: pair work, group work, and common misbehaviours.
Weighting in the official exam content specification (CRMEF entrance competition, English specialty, didactics of the specialty subject — November 2025 session): 35%, the single heaviest component of the test.
1. Pre-communicative methods
| Method | Core principle and classroom techniques |
|---|---|
| Grammar-Translation Method | Focus on written language, explicit grammar rules, translation between L1 and the target language, memorisation of vocabulary lists. Reading and writing are prioritised over speaking and listening. |
| Direct Method | Target-language-only instruction, no translation, grammar taught inductively through context, emphasis on everyday vocabulary and oral interaction. |
| Audiolingualism | Grounded in behaviourist psychology (habit formation through stimulus–response–reinforcement). Uses dialogue memorisation and pattern drills; grammatical structures are presented in a strict sequence; error is to be prevented, not analysed. |
| The Silent Way (Gattegno) | The teacher remains largely silent to shift responsibility for learning onto learners; uses coloured Cuisenaire rods and sound-colour charts; learning proceeds through discovery, not imitation. |
| Total Physical Response — TPR (Asher) | Learners respond physically to imperative commands before producing language themselves, mirroring first-language acquisition; aims to lower affective stress and build a receptive competence base first. |
| Suggestopedia (Lozanov) | Relies on a relaxed, music-accompanied atmosphere and the teacher's perceived authority to "desuggest" learners' psychological barriers to learning, maximising retention through peripheral learning. |
2. Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
CLT reframes the goal of language teaching as the development of communicative competence rather than mere grammatical accuracy. Canale and Swain (1980) analysed this competence into four components:
| Component | Definition |
|---|---|
| Grammatical competence | Mastery of the language code itself: morphology, syntax, lexis, phonology. |
| Sociolinguistic competence | The ability to use and interpret utterances appropriately in different sociolinguistic contexts. |
| Discourse competence | The ability to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text across genres. |
| Strategic competence | The use of verbal and non-verbal strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication and to boost its effectiveness. |
CLT principles: fluency and meaning take precedence over isolated accuracy drills; authentic materials and real-life tasks are prioritised; learners negotiate meaning through information-gap and opinion-gap activities; the teacher acts as a facilitator rather than a transmitter of knowledge.
3. Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT)
CBLT organises the curriculum around explicit, observable outcomes — "can-do" competency statements describing what learners must be able to accomplish with the language in real-world situations, rather than around grammatical content. Assessment is criterion-referenced against these competencies.
4. Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)
In TBLT, meaning-focused tasks — not linguistic forms — are the unit around which the lesson is organised. Willis's influential three-phase framework structures a TBLT lesson as:
- Pre-task: the teacher introduces the topic and task, and may highlight useful words and phrases.
- Task cycle: learners perform the task (often in pairs/groups), plan how to report their findings, then report back to the class.
- Language focus: learners examine and practise specific language features that arose from the task, closing the cycle with a form-focused stage.
5. The Standards-Based Approach and the 5 Cs
The official Moroccan guidelines for English at the qualifying secondary cycle (November 2007) adopt a standards-based approach, organised around five interconnected areas known as the 5 Cs:
| The 5 Cs | Focus |
|---|---|
| Communication | Learners communicate in oral and written forms through three modes: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication. |
| Cultures | Deeper understanding of one's own and other cultures in terms of perspectives (values, attitudes), practices (patterns of social interaction), and products (books, laws, music, etc.). |
| Connections | Making connections with other subject areas and using English to access and process information for one's own purposes. |
| Comparisons | Gaining awareness of cross-cultural and cross-linguistic similarities and differences. |
| Communities | Extending learning from the EFL classroom to the outside (and increasingly global) world. |
Three types of standards are aligned with the 5 Cs:
- Content standards — statements of what learners should know and be able to do with English.
- Performance standards — indicators of how learners are meeting a given standard and of their progress towards it.
- Proficiency standards — indicators of how well learners should perform.
6. Learner-Centred Approaches
Learner-centred approaches shift the locus of decision-making from the teacher to the learner: needs analysis informs syllabus design, learners are trained towards autonomy, and instruction is differentiated to accommodate individual differences (see Chapter 2). Effective standards-attainment requires teachers to help learners develop the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, produce quality work, and foster connections with their community.
Weighting in the official exam content specification: 20%.
1. Learner differences and differentiated instruction
Learners in the same classroom differ in prior knowledge, pace of learning, cognitive style, and affective disposition. Catering for these differences — differentiating instruction — means varying the content, process, product, or learning environment so that all learners can access the same standards, rather than teaching a single, uniform lesson to a notionally homogeneous class.
2. Motivation
Gardner's socio-educational model distinguishes two broad orientations:
| Type | Definition |
|---|---|
| Integrative motivation | The desire to learn a language in order to identify with, or integrate into, the community that speaks it. |
| Instrumental motivation | The desire to learn a language for a practical purpose: passing an exam, getting a job, travelling. |
A further common distinction is between intrinsic motivation (learning driven by interest or enjoyment in the task itself) and extrinsic motivation (learning driven by external rewards or pressures, such as grades). Teachers sustain motivation through success experiences, relevant and engaging tasks, and constructive feedback.
3. Anxiety
Krashen's Affective Filter Hypothesis holds that negative emotions — notably anxiety, low motivation, and low self-confidence — raise a mental "filter" that blocks comprehensible input from being processed for acquisition, even when the input itself is appropriate. Foreign language classroom anxiety is commonly linked to fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension, and test anxiety. Teachers lower the affective filter by creating a low-stress, non-threatening classroom climate.
4. Self-esteem
Self-esteem refers to the learner's overall evaluation of their own worth and competence as a language learner. Three levels are typically distinguished: global self-esteem (a stable trait), situational self-esteem (self-evaluation in specific contexts, e.g. as a language learner), and task self-esteem (confidence in a particular task, e.g. giving an oral presentation). Positive reinforcement and attainable challenges build task and situational self-esteem.
5. Introversion and extroversion
Introverted learners tend to favour reflection, careful planning, and written or individual tasks, while extroverted learners tend to favour interaction, risk-taking, and oral participation. Neither trait predicts higher proficiency outright; rather, they call for a varied task repertoire (individual reflection tasks alongside pair and group interaction) so that no single learner profile is systematically disadvantaged.
6. Learning styles
| Style dimension | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Visual | Learns best through images, diagrams, written text, colour-coding. |
| Auditory | Learns best through listening, discussion, oral repetition. |
| Kinaesthetic/tactile | Learns best through movement, hands-on manipulation, physical activity (cf. TPR). |
| Field-independent vs. field-dependent | Field-independent learners analyse language items in isolation from context; field-dependent learners rely more on global, contextual cues. |
7. Multiple Intelligences (Gardner)
Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences argues that human cognitive ability is not a single, general faculty but a set of relatively independent intelligences, several of which are directly relevant to language pedagogy:
| Intelligence | Classroom implication |
|---|---|
| Linguistic | Word games, debates, storytelling, reading and writing tasks. |
| Logical-mathematical | Problem-solving activities, sequencing, categorising language data. |
| Spatial | Diagrams, mind maps, videos, visual organisers. |
| Bodily-kinaesthetic | Role-play, drama, TPR-style activities. |
| Musical | Songs, rhythm and chants for vocabulary and pronunciation. |
| Interpersonal | Pair work, group work, collaborative projects. |
| Intrapersonal | Journals, self-assessment, independent reflection tasks. |
| Naturalistic | Topics and tasks connected to the natural world and classification. |
Awareness of these intelligences supports task variety: no single activity type addresses the strengths of every learner, so a balanced lesson draws on several intelligences across its stages.
Weighting in the official exam content specification: 25%.
1. Receptive skills: listening and reading
Both receptive skills draw on an interaction between bottom-up processing (decoding sounds/words to build up meaning) and top-down processing (using prior knowledge and context to anticipate meaning). Effective listening involves discriminating sounds, processing sentence structure, recognising cohesive devices, storing information in short-term memory, and predicting what will be said next. Reading strategies include skimming (reading for gist), scanning (reading for specific information), and reading for detail. Reading is often described as "a psychological guessing game," but guessing alone is unreliable without a threshold vocabulary — good readers combine contextual guessing with adequate lexical knowledge.
2. Productive skills: speaking and writing
Speaking is central to communicative competence: it is trained through the interpersonal mode (two-way, negotiated interaction) and the presentational mode (one-way, planned communication to an audience). Suggested writing genres for the qualifying cycle level include formal/informal letters, emails, reports on projects, film/play/book reviews, and narrative, descriptive, expository, and argumentative texts, closely linked to textbook topics. Both skills should, wherever possible, be integrated with the other three skills to reflect authentic, purposeful communication.
3. Teaching grammar
Grammar is understood not as a frozen set of rules but as a dynamic system with three interacting dimensions: form (morpho-syntax), meaning (semantics), and use (pragmatics). A balanced, discovery-oriented task sequence for teaching a grammar point runs as follows:
- Listening/reading task (learners process a text for meaning).
- Noticing task (learners notice/underline the target structure in the text).
- Consciousness-raising task (learners work out how the structure functions from the data).
- Checking task (learners confirm their understanding of the rule).
- Production task (learners try the structure in their own sentences).
- Contrast strategy (learners contrast the new form with previously learnt ones).
- Free production (learners use the structure accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately in extended discourse).
4. Teaching vocabulary
Knowing a lexical item is a multidimensional and gradual process. Nine dimensions of word knowledge are commonly distinguished: frequency, morphology, semantics (denotation/connotation), semantic boundaries with related words, polysemy, collocation, register, grammatical behaviour, and L1 equivalence. Vocabulary learning proceeds through five stages:
| # | Stage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meeting new words | Learners encounter items for the first time in naturally occurring language. |
| 2 | Establishing previously met vocabulary | Items met earlier are fixed through new contexts and tasks. |
| 3 | Enriching previously met vocabulary | Sensitivity to semantic networks (synonyms, antonyms) is developed. |
| 4 | Developing vocabulary strategies | Learners are equipped with efficient recording and revision techniques. |
| 5 | Developing fluency with known vocabulary | Communicative tasks (role-plays, interviews) consolidate lexical fluency. |
Vocabulary that is periodically recycled — revisited across new contexts rather than merely repeated — is retained far better than vocabulary presented once and abandoned.
5. Teaching language functions
Two types of function are addressed in both speaking and writing tasks:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Social/communicative functions | Making and responding to requests, responding to good/bad news, expressing regret, complaining, apologising, asking for/giving advice, expressing opinion, agreeing/disagreeing, expressing certainty/uncertainty, asking for clarification. |
| Rhetorical functions | Defining, cause and effect, purpose, addition, concessions — functions typically found in academic spoken or written texts. |
A text-based teaching pattern is recommended for functions: (1) noticing instances of the target function in authentic text, (2) practice of its linguistic exponents, and (3) performance of the function in communicative or performance-based tasks such as projects.
6. Integrating ICT in teaching
Information and communication technology broadens access to authentic, up-to-date input (audio, video, interactive resources) and enables project-based work that connects the classroom with the outside world (the "Communities" C of the standards-based approach). ICT use should remain purposeful and integrated with clear learning objectives rather than being an end in itself.
Weighting in the official exam content specification: 5%.
1. Types of assessment
| Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Formative assessment | Ongoing assessment during the learning process, used to give feedback and adjust teaching (assessment for learning). |
| Summative assessment | Assessment at the end of a unit or course to measure overall achievement (assessment of learning). |
2. Types of tests
| Test type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Achievement test | Measures what learners have learnt in relation to a specific course or syllabus. |
| Diagnostic test | Identifies learners' specific strengths and weaknesses before or during instruction. |
| Proficiency test | Measures general language ability, independent of any particular course. |
| Placement test | Sorts learners into levels/groups appropriate to their existing ability. |
3. Principles of testing
| Principle | Definition |
|---|---|
| Validity | The extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. |
| Reliability | The consistency of test results across administrations, raters, or test forms. |
| Practicality | The feasibility of administering, scoring, and interpreting a test given available time and resources. |
| Authenticity | The degree to which test tasks replicate real-world language use. |
| Washback | The effect — positive or negative — that a test has on teaching and learning. |
4. Performance-based assessment
Performance-based assessment measures how learners activate their knowledge and skills to complete authentic, meaningful tasks, rather than testing decontextualised items. It is criterion-referenced (scores show what a testee can do, not a ranking against peers) and relies on explicit scoring rubrics. Two illustrative rubrics from the official guidelines:
| Score | Writing — holistic criteria (excerpt) |
|---|---|
| 5 | Clear organisation with introduction, development, conclusion; smooth transitions; meaning conveyed effectively; precise and varied vocabulary; very few mechanical errors. |
| 3 | Logical organisation but some parts underdeveloped; meaning conveyed but breaks down at times; adequate vocabulary; mechanical errors present but do not impede communication. |
| 0 | No response. |
| Score | Speaking — holistic criteria (excerpt) |
|---|---|
| 4 | Able to communicate on a variety of topics and respond to questions with clear, appropriate answers. |
| 2 | Unable to clarify questions successfully; responds immediately, but answers do not correspond to the task or topic appropriately. |
| 0 | Unable to sustain conversations. |
Alternative forms of assessment complementing performance-based tasks include the journal (ongoing personal record), the portfolio (a purposeful collection of work over the course), self-assessment (a core component of learner autonomy), and peer-assessment (formative and summative, with anonymity and tutor moderation limiting its drawbacks).
Weighting in the official exam content specification: 5%.
1. The merits of lesson planning
Lesson planning is a sign of professionalism, since improvisation is proven counter-productive, especially for novice or under-trained teachers. A written plan: gives both teacher and learners a sense of direction; makes goals explicit to learners; reduces classroom-management breakdowns; lets the teacher anticipate problems and prepare solutions; boosts teacher confidence; and deepens the teacher's understanding of the syllabus.
2. Components of a standards-based lesson plan
| Component | Content |
|---|---|
| Goals and rationale | A succinct statement of why this lesson is being taught. |
| Focus content area | The one or two major skills/strategies, language items, and knowledge targeted by the lesson. |
| Standard(s) addressed | The specific standard(s) the lesson addresses, with a brief rationale. |
| Teaching procedures | The major steps/stages of the lesson, used to plan and think through its flow. |
| Assessment | How the teacher will determine whether the lesson's goals were achieved, including performance indicators (e.g. learners take turns speaking and responding appropriately; learners use conversation skills suited to the interaction type). |
3. Characteristics of lesson objectives
Effective lesson objectives are stated in terms of observable learner behaviour (what learners will be able to do by the end of the lesson), are realistically achievable within the allotted time, and are directly linked to the standard(s) being targeted — not simply a restatement of the textbook's table of contents.
4. Evaluating the components of a lesson plan
Two guiding principles govern the evaluation and adjustment of a lesson plan: variety (a mix of activity types and interaction patterns to sustain motivation and cater for different learner profiles) and flexibility (the readiness to depart from the written plan when the class situation requires it).
5. Long-term (unit) planning
Beyond daily lesson plans, teachers engage in unit planning: deciding the order and timing of the parts of a thematic unit, ensuring continuity and progression in learner proficiency across the sequence. Long-term planning also allows the teacher to prepare supplementary materials, equipment, and tests well in advance, and to launch project work or research tasks before the unit's theme is formally addressed in class.
Weighting in the official exam content specification: 5%.
1. Why ethics matter in education
Teaching is a relationship of trust and asymmetric power between the teacher and the learner. Ethical conduct protects learners from harm, guarantees equal opportunity to learn, and underpins the public legitimacy of the teaching profession. Standards-based education, by making its objectives and criteria for success explicit and consistent for every learner, is itself partly a mechanism for ensuring fairness.
2. Core ethical practices
| Practice | What it entails in the classroom |
|---|---|
| Fairness | Applying the same standards, expectations, and grading criteria to every learner, made explicit in advance (e.g. through shared rubrics). |
| Equity | Recognising and accommodating learner differences (ability, background, learning style) so that every learner has a genuine opportunity to succeed. |
| Empathy | Understanding and responding sensitively to learners' emotional states, anxieties, and individual circumstances. |
| Confidentiality | Respecting the privacy of learners' personal information, grades, and disclosures. |
| Professionalism | Maintaining preparation, punctuality, continuous self-development, and respect for the institution's rules and colleagues. |
| Respect for diversity | Treating learners' cultural, linguistic, and social backgrounds as assets rather than obstacles. |
3. Managing relationships in the working environment
Ethical practice extends beyond the teacher-learner relationship to relationships with colleagues (constructive collaboration, avoiding unfair comparison or gossip), with the administration (transparent, timely communication, respect for institutional procedures), and with parents/guardians (accurate, respectful, and constructive communication about learner progress). Sound classroom management (Chapter 7) is itself, in part, an ethical undertaking: avoiding abuse of power, avoiding excessive use of anxiety-inducing testing, and giving neglected or off-task learners due attention are all listed among the misbehaviours a standards-based teacher must actively avoid.
Weighting in the official exam content specification: 5%.
1. Scope of classroom management
Classroom management covers the multidimensional ways in which learner behaviour, movement, and interaction are organised by the teacher to make teaching conducive to effective learning: lesson planning, managing pair and group work, handling transitions, giving instructions, dealing with disruptive behaviour, and managing space, materials, and equipment. Teachers are expected to avoid misbehaviours such as lack of preparation, non-calculated improvisation, loose group management, lack of task diversity, careless treatment of homework, neglect of off-task learners, abuse of power, and an excess of anxiety-inducing tests.
2. Teacher and learner roles
| Teacher role | Function |
|---|---|
| Facilitator | Supports learning without dominating it; hands over responsibility to learners where appropriate. |
| Manager | Organises time, groupings, materials, and transitions. |
| Assessor | Gives feedback and evaluates learner performance, formatively and summatively. |
| Organizer | Sets up and explains activities, models tasks before learners begin. |
| Counselor | Advises and supports learners individually, particularly regarding motivation and difficulties. |
Learners, correspondingly, are expected to take an active role: participating in pair/group work, taking responsibility for their own learning (see learner autonomy, Chapter 2), and engaging in peer feedback and cooperative tasks.
3. Managing pair work
Pair work increases the amount of learner practice, ensures a high degree of involvement, allows cooperative learning, and enhances motivation. Recommended procedure: divide the class into pairs → explain and model the task → set a time limit → monitor and give help → optionally have a pair perform the task in front of the class. A successful session typically proceeds from open pair work (teacher-supervised) to closed pair work (learners working independently).
4. Managing group work
Group work (typically groups of four to five) proceeds through three phases:
- Moving-in phase: the teacher organises groups and seating, gives instructions, and briefs group leaders.
- Monitoring phase: the teacher circulates, observing without intervening unless asked for help.
- Moving-out phase: groups wind down and report back to the whole class.
Assigning roles within the group (reporter, recorder, timekeeper, dictionary monitor) increases accountability and task focus.
5. Further classroom-management domains
Effective classroom managers also attend to: keeping a suitable pace, limiting teacher talk time, giving appropriate feedback and correction, effective questioning, responding to learner difficulties, using silence and wait time, using gestures and mime, using the blackboard and other teaching aids, ensuring audibility, praising effort, catering for different ability levels, using appropriate classroom language and turn-taking strategies, handling transitions smoothly, and handling discipline problems calmly and consistently.