PPPBrian Long and

Joshua Kurzweil

examine a framework for

learning which is more

liberating than limiting.

l8 . ENCLTSF TEAcHTNG/rOf.r.ridral . |sue 25 octobq mo2 '

a lssue 21 of ETp, Penny Urinvites teachers to look criticallyal profesional liierature andcoderence workshops bY

examidng exactly what is being said,thiddng about supporting widenc€, adthen relating it to their owtr expene!@to evaluate its usefulness. In this article,we ac.ept that iDviradon by focusing ontle often misrepresented Presenta on-Pmctice-Produclion frmework.

ChallengeThere seems to be a message that aploper PPP lesson is self-contained andthat students are ready to move on toanother language area after runnmgthrcugh the three stages. Ur alludes tothis herself in th.,r'!ou cnnot takeldn|uage on boa l tystematicallt bit b,bit, prattl.ting dnd naking perfect anething belote lou pnceed to pructise Md

a

mal.c pe{ect fie next . Yet this isexactly lhe way in which many of uswere trained to view PPP on ourcourses and we sgree with Ur that it isthis view of PPP that needs to bechallensed. We fel thlt PPB wheD seenas a 'way' of leachitrg, is responsible forteachers' dissalisfaction with this modeland their coming to regird t as

The heart of the problen is t}lepopuldly-held belief, which Ur alsotrelreq that PPP is 'esentially a set ofteachirg procedures'. We stronSlydisaelee lt h our belief that PPPrepresents the pmcess and stagesstudenls go throueh wheD theY lednsomething, be it a $ammd Pont, alexical item, a skill, a function oranything else on the syllabus of dEnslish course PPP descdbes howstudents move towards achievingconmunicative goah h lerms of whatihey do in oder ro leam, as well asbeing a guide for reachers in facilitatingth€ leaming process. Ur goes on to saythar shehas become nore awate . ofthe itnpaftance of includinS othet tryesof teachins prc.edurcs: far exMple,lo^ <t commuiicdtive taskt, nhete IMy t%ct to lawuaSe ptubl.ns 6 the:l.one up withoLt atY Pre-Planne.lcotuection to a gdmmuticdl ot lexical

ry//a66 . It is our contention that all offtese can also be described in terns ofthe PPP model. which b€omesextrem€ly flexible when it is used todescribe what students are doitrg,instead of prescribing whatteachers

RestrictionsClearly the ./o,' in the above statementis the teacher. In the second strge jt is abit fuzier ar ro who is PracGrng,although in the third stage the studentsare th€ actors, witi the teacher settingup some kind of fluency activity thatuses the la4uage point ofthe lesson.Tbe above definition also sems to bevery linear, with ihe teacher FesentinS,leading lhe practice and settntrg up theproduction. Training couNe oftenadopt a 'craft model' of training whichfocuses o! being able to do rheseproc€dures 'coirecfly', instead oflearning how to focus on siudenileaming. Participants are waluated onhow th€y iach lessons that follorv thismodel, a etdction which olten

under themlcroscope

Ur defends ihe PPP model, burdoes so in such a way that reveals alingering misunderstanding of it and wefeel that i! is this mispercepiion thathas actually caused the setrtimef,t thait he P at e n tat ion- P ft c t i c e - ? r a.luc I ion

MisconceptionThe wordjns of the nodel its€lfis

iDdicative of the probleDl of why PPP hdbeen so mi$mddsrood. It is usuallv rqdas an edict to the teacher Ur sTites:'You prsent a new iten (gom aticat,lericdl, vhateeet ) . then pnctie it ihconnoLlell contexts, and then invitestudatr to Uatluce theit own wnten orspoken dis@urse 6iry it'

confounds teschen who tn/ 10 design aldson that meets the rcquiremots oftheir cous while at the same rim€trying to be responsive to th€ir studonts'needs The presumption seens to bethai ifthe trainee folows the modelcofe{rtly, the studfrts wiu produceflawless language in the end. Wedisasre€ with this and see it as d overlysinplistic and unrealisti€ peiception ofthe leaming process. We feel that onem thrcud the PPP model d a set ofteaching pro@dures, no rotter how wllthey m exe@ted, will very rely, ifever lead to sucqsfirl lemins for a[ofthe siudents We, and naly teacherswe have spoken with about PPB felt

or otheMise, tha! a thtener is hearing,undeniading dd responding to whatsomeone is sayinS to them).

P is for PresenaationStudents need opportunities to get nNla.8uage, and information about theform, meaning and use of that newlanSuage The presenaatio. of alanSuaSe point requires a kind offoosing or 'noticing' by the teacher butdoes mt piescribe who is actlallypresnting. Students may hm theirowtr qEstions about la.guag€ whichm be the locus of the lessotr or it maybe the tercher's respoDsibility tocontextualise the language point and

narunl to altemate belween presentaiionatrd practice, building up stud€nt!'howledge of itrtonation dd meding,for e:mp1e It also gives the t€acher anopporiuniiy to see what rejoindds thestudenrs already know dd what theyneed to lr,m i! order to use them.

P is for PracticeThe teacher must set up the practicerctivity, but the studetrts @ the oftswho actually do the practisitrg. The keyto a successlul pmciice activity is that itfocuses the students on the form,meaning and use of the language point.Itr Lewis' framework, this is tle pointwhe. individual studerts hlpothesiseabour the languaga They explore thelimirs of its fom, neaning and ule. Inaddition, they are given time at thisstage simply to remember the newlanguage point by working with it orerand orer, which frcm a studentperspective is olpamount importarre

Sample lesson continue.l:

5 The stu.lents begia ||ith a .loze evtcbe,putthg rejoindet in the co ect blahksan.l proctisins the .onretsatiofl tsihgthe cote.t tntotLrliolr

6 Th. leachet says rcally vith tlilferenttuto .rtiol1paxefts dnrl studzrts gressthe lZelinq, eg risw = hap , aboulgood nNs. The studmls then tu thesane 1ctivib, in pai6.

7 Ii pant\ stt.lehts loke tums rcading areftten e while thei patner listentchooses the apptupridte rejoinder mduses the .arrccl pranmciItion.

8 In ?dbs. studetts take tums rca.linq aMntence while thei Wrttet liste6 Mrlrcsponds with what the! think is thecofle.lrejatutlet anl the cofrectintotulion. Sone of the sentences hovebla*s, which the rcadet rtlls in withthei awn infomation-

The studetrb move from controlled tolre€r practice, EalliDg th€ corcctrc.joinders as wefl as pmnunciation andhtoDation, further comitting ftem tomenor/ Thw rc al1 defned as placticeactivifi€s b€cause tlue corDmunicationis not tatitrg place. Sludents are simplybeitrg asked to respond correctly withrejoinders as l}ley work on thejr fom,neaDing and use. Nolice how the teachercatr choose to flip back 3nd Io hbetween presentation and practi@- Forexample, in siage 6 the teacher qucklypresents more information about thepmnunciarion of rejoindels and followsit up wiih a paiflork pracnce.

The presentation stage can be veryinteractive with both the teacher and

students doing the presenting

tlat stdving for a 'perfect PPP'established an ureal dymic atrdunachievable goal ihat ms ultimat€lyresponsible for ou antipathy towds ir.None ofus enjoyed rhe fmstratiotr ofp€Mived per"etual failure.

FlexibilityBy looking at PPP in this light, theteacher no longer stmggles to coDfornto a specific st ofprccedures, butrather looks at the lessotr ftom tlepoitrt ofview of helpiDg the studentsachieve conmunicative goals. In fact,whetr designing a PPP lesson we find itmost €ffective to start with tle student-centred goal and final comuDicativ€task. It is in lhis way that the teachercd best decide tle focus of the presentad practise activities. The PPPframework Fovides teachers with ashared vemacular when discussing theirlessons and the students' leaming. Thiskind ofcommon languase is at thehut of successful haining courses

From PPP to PPUwe refer to PPP as PPU (Use) tohighlight tlat it is the studenrs who areusing tle lanclag€ io communicate. Tounderstand PPU as a description ofleaming we have expanded each stage toencompass a wide vadety of differentt)?es of studetrt and teacher activity. Toiliustmte how these stages might lookiD a lesson, we have given exarnples ofeach from a lesson wirh tbe objecnve ofteaching rejoitrdqs (indicatiotrs, verbal

relate it to the students. Studentsb€.ome active participants in this stage.Th€y catr notice languag€ otr tleir own(ie guided discover, and/or conlributetheir ideas through an eljcitationactivity in which they de presntiry toeach othe! thus peer t€aching. ThisFeseniaiion phase, then, is really themoment when students focus onlansuase in contdL Michael Lewis, inhis own framework 'Observe-

Hnothesise-Experinent', refered tothis stage as'obsering'. while thisvery dcely describes the irdividualleamert etivity, it fails to capture thenature of the etrtire clasrcom dynanic-

(Objective: stldats will be able to usercjaintlets 1o talk dbout holidays)

1 Teachet h^1 d cohte/Natic'h with dstudenl. Teacher Bes rcjoindets,floddihg, a.tbe listering

2 Teachel has a untjelxdtion \)ith thestudert again, stating bla*b,, uswno rejoindeE .,t encourusins noi.res

3 Studerts discus in pais ot nallstoups the.liffercr.e betwea the two

4 Teachet elicitslstudents bninstommorc rejoindeE. Tedchet dehanrtntescoftect pbnuhciation md wites fiercjoindats ofl the boa .

It is cled frcm this qmple that thepresentation stage qn be iDtemctive.with both the teacher ad stud€ntsdoing the presenting. It is also quite

! rs$e 25 oclob€r 2c{,2 . ENGUSH TEACHTNG 'rrl:Nirrdl . l9

PPP under themrcroscope

u is for UseAs Ur states, the teacher now invitessludents to do some kind ofcormunicatiae lask which ftquires udngthe language point. This stage is citicalh that the teacher camot be @rtainihat the students hde in fact leam€dthe language poht until ihey xse itfre€ly to conmunicale This stage helpssludents cotrtextualise and personalisethe ianguase point, which in tuin helpsthem rem€mber it so lhat they can useit unconsciolsly in tle tutue Forreachers, this stage is ako critialbecause it a110ws them 1() assess thedegree to which students hm masteredthe language point, providing then withvaluable feedback for tuiure lessons

It also 3llows th€ teacher to see whatadditional language areas ned to bework€d on. One ofthe rcles of theteacher in the us stage s to obsefl€quiedy how students are anmuntcatugand the languag€ they are using

amlple les son continue*

9 By tha6elve!, rtudens thtuk about dholidd| the! hdte hatl, Ind wtite a

l0 It pais, studehls talk aboul d rccertnatel experi.he, apahtling to akeanothet ||ith rcjoinders

By prcviding the opporturty to userejoiders while talkias about theirholidals, the teacher can see ihe degr6 towhich students have really leamed then.

ErrorsThe rcle ad jmportance of €forc inthe ledning pro@ss cannot beunddestimaled in eiiher t1le plact1ce oruse stages. Codrary to traditionaldogma, it is in fact expected thatstudents will nak€ effors duiing theuse stage. The question is Dot /,et e/students will mate ermN, but raiherwr?, dd lro, th€ teacher chooses todeal with them. Enors de dealt withdifferetrtly in rhe practice ad use stagesand it is how the teacher chooses torespotrd to them thai is qitical in howthey impact the sludents' loaminS-

In the pmcti@ stage, studenls arefocusing or the actual folm, meaningand use ofthe language, and so teachercontrol and itrtenuptioD is moe o!€rt.This is where students lest atrd €xplorethe limits ofwhat has beetr presented-

20 . ENGUSH rEAcHlNcl/o/ersional 'r*ue o.,.obFrm0z'

In the use stagq studetrts arefocued on communicatjns, whichmeans the teacher allows them to matenistakes" or risks changhg the fo@s ofthe actiuty back to languagp andessentiary naking it an unfocus€d

Ulrimately, PPU is about noticingoptions, so teacl'e6 can choose iosuspend the ule &iivity in order to doa mini present and pmctise where onlvn quick fu is rcquned. TheD the useactivity can be resum€d. Howeve! ifstudeDt errors require a morc lengthvplesetriaiion and practice, the teachermigbt choose jllsi to iet the use actwttvrcach its conclusion uninterupted lnthis way, the use activity 8iv€s theteacher raiuable data on what the nqtlesson shonld focu on and whatlanguage n€.ds to b€ Presnted dd/orre presented. The key to working witbPPU is that it olTers options. as teacheresrive to help their students leain

Spirallf t}le us€ activity goes uninterrupted, itcan be seen as a test (as in Test = Use,Teach = hesent md Practisg Test =

Use) and providos the teacher wrhvaluable data on whai otler lancrlageareas the students need to work on Bylookirs at PPU as a cycle. or cyclenwhich the learner keePs runn'ngthrough, both in a single clals as wellas an etrtirc couse, it can be seen as atremendous aid not only in lessonpldning but also in couse design:what Ur relers 10 as a qrdl ry1/4r6'.

FrameworkAlso, by lookins at the PPU framewo*in terms of student actiuty in tbeclassroom, 3n incredible fr@dom isrestored. Teachers are free to vary theirroles wlile setting up activities thatallow students to proceed through tltePPU stages in differing ways in eehidividual class.

We would dgue tbat for studenls toleam in a way that is measumble to theteacher they must in fad go throughthese stag€s in ihe classroom in someform. They must be able to:. add to what theY alreadY I'aow bY

hehg a ldguage Point focused on

. explore $e forn, meaninc and use oftlat new mntent in a controlled wavin oder to undentad its limits and

. use the new laneuag€ point tocomuicate. so making if their own

The teacher needs to be able io assessthe de$ee to which they have masterslthe language point so that tbey canplan future lessons The fmryork canbe cycl€d tlrough in a vdietY ofdiffeEnt ways, depending on thecontenl, coune goals dd studentneeds. Wilhout this PPU leis, learningmay very weli be takins Place. but wecdnot be surc exactlY what it is, or itmxld very we be happening in vte ofour best efods My students mighl notbe leaming anylhidg, they maY haveleamed the wrong thing or iD thewrong way, or I may have rhought iheyleamed sometling that theY in fact

Student learningmen PPU is seen il tems of studentleaming, it bec.mes a lens bY whichteachers can plaN or analyse lessonsWe hde found it an invaluable tool iDhelpins us fiI the saps in our o{nlessons and in guiding trainees towardachieving iheir objectives. Lik*ise, wehave foud that we hde been able tolook at student coursebooks in a lewlight, identi&ing the activities in termsof PPU. This Focess helps ussupplement 5nd modify the activities ncoumebooks so that they help us achievethe leardns objectives. In writing thisarticle. our aim wns to present analtemative way in which to use thePPU framework. It is a way of lookingat l€aming so as to gNe leachers moreoptions rn leson PlaminS we i rte vout; rrt to pnctrse workng with rhePPUmodel by dalysine lesson Phns andcoursebook actMties Ultirotely jts

value wil be tested if and when using thenodel helps you plm lessons which helpvoxr sludenh leam. we hope it proves aslahable to youas rbas toxs P

.lso a i6chd lEirer al