1. PET Writing

2. Aims of the seminar  to provide information about PET writing components  to examine writing tasks and classroom teaching ideas  to discuss student performance and assessment  to introduce the British Council website for English teachers

3. PET Writing Component FormatTask FocusMarks 15 sentence transformations grammatical control / reformulation 5 2short messagescontent and communication 5 3extended writingrange and control 15

4. Targeted Structures  lexical chunks: take time to do something/spend time doing  opposites: quickly/slowly (adverbs)  permission (lack of): could not/not allowed to  expressing possession: There was/It had  parts of speech: The sun shone/it was sunny

5. With this class we looked at:  prepositions e.g....down the river  use of pronouns e.g. Before we left...  verb forms e.g. We cooked...  use of articles e.g....on the boat  use of linkers e.g....and... /...because...  singular / plural e.g. parts  lexical chunks e.g. ‘every day’ (not ‘all days’)

6. Teaching Idea: Dictogloss 1.Write a short text around a topic using PET structures and simple linkers. 2.Read it out loud at a normal speed. Students write down key words. 3.Students reconstruct text in groups. 4.Students compare with original text.

7. Features of Dictogloss  student-centred approach to grammar  flexible - different students / classes notice different features  motivates students – they want to know if their text is right or not, and why  more memorable than a teacher explanation  covers a wide range of grammar and lexis in one lesson – good for exam preparation

8. Writing Part 2  How important is it to include all three content points?  How important is the word limit?  How important is accuracy?

9. Teaching Idea: Peer – Evaluation Checklist 1.Students write a first draft of their message 2.Two students swap texts, read their partner’s text and answer the checklist questions 3.They hand them back and use the feedback to improve the original version

10. Teaching Idea: Functional Language PET writing Part 2 requires knowledge of functional language:  ask...  invite...  suggest...  thank...

11. Writing Part 3  Topic-based (story or letter)  Extended writing: about 100 words  Assessment is based on range, organisation and accuracy

12. Reordered Story During a lifetime there are so many days you could call the most important day of your life. It could be the day you choose which school you are going to, or what job you want to do for the rest of your life. Another important day is when you get married, or when you choose where to live. But most of all, it is a very important day when you give birth to a child. Because I think that changes everything you have been doing until then. Then you have to realise that somebody is more important than yourself.

13. Teaching Idea: Reordering Sentences 1.Cut up good model text into separate sentences and jumble them 2.Students try to recreate correct order 3.Class looks at HOW they decided on order: organisation / linkers / referencing

14. Teaching Idea: Guided Discovery Genre Approach 1.Give out two good model letters 2.Ask students to analyse the texts, looking for common features of this genre 3.Students write their own letter, incorporating these features

15. Advantages of Guided Discovery and Genre Approach  Students work things out for themselves so they are involved and active.  The lesson should be more memorable.  Looking at several model texts helps students recognise typical features of the genre.