5 Features of the course 5.1 Functional grammar...

5 Features of the course 5.1 Functional grammar and language tips These are a regular feature of the 21st Century English for Libya series. Detailed explanations of usage and realistic examples are provided to help the students develop their language competence. The tips are presented in shaded boxes which are integrated into the unit to maximize convenience for student and teacher. 5.2 Round up pages Round up pages at the end of Units 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 allow students and teachers to review what they have done in the unit and go over any problem areas together before the tests. The students work through each point on the page individually or in pairs. The students should be encouraged to think for themselves about what they have achieved and what they need to continue to work on. The teacher should be prepared to answer any questions that the students may have, to write examples on the board or to do oral practice of the points that the students need to revise most. Homework activities The Workbook of 21st Century English for Libya, Preparatory 3 contains a number of projects and extended writing activities. The teacher may decide to ask students to do these independently outside of the lesson so as to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and allow them to explore areas that interest them personally. Vocabulary notebooks A vocabulary notebook gives each student the freedom to record the words they need in the way that works best for them. It is suggested that the students begin a vocabulary notebook at the very start of the course. Various methods of categorizing and arranging vocabulary are possible: the aim is to let the students find their own method of remembering and associating words. It is worth taking the time to show the students how to draw word maps and to use pictures and diagrams to record the meaning of words and the relationships between them, so that they do not write Arabic translations and arrange words in alphabetical order. Finding a personal way of recording vocabulary and ideas is another step on the way to learner independence and is a skill that the students can transfer to other subjects. Using a dictionary To further develop language competence, the students should begin to make more use of monolingual dictionaries when they read and write. This is a habit that needs a lot of encouragement. Students are reluctant to use dictionaries for a number of reasons. One reason is simply that they are not sure how to access all the information that dictionaries contain. This is why the students are shown how to do this in the very first unit of the Preparatory course, then encouraged to practise referring to dictionary entries in Preparatory 3. The students are also shown phonemic script, as this is an essential aid to pronunciation. All the symbols that represent vowel sounds in English are presented by the end of Preparatory 3.