At IATEFL this April, I’ll argue that too often we sequence learning in the wrong direction, putting the cart before the horse. This “upside down” sequence is baked into many of the published materials we use, and of course is a format associated with teacher training courses – because it’s trainable! It’s even apparent in the way that lesson aims are described.
Many lessons are like this:
- presentation of language, often from a text
- pattern practice
- the culminating fluency stage, hopefully incorporating the target structure (or vocabulary).
But we know acquisition doesn’t work this way.
What happens if we flip lessons and prioritise fluency?
