Class observation using Life Pre-intermediate

Summary

The video shows a pre-intermediate English lesson about transport, focusing on traditional rickshaws in Kolkata. It includes classroom activities and the teacher’s later explanation of her teaching choices.

Main lesson

• Transport gallery activity: Students circulate around pictures of unusual or distinctive vehicles, identify them, and guess where they are used. Examples include a Segway, London black cab, decorated bus, Vespa scooter, tuk-tuk, tram, pedicab, and hand-pulled rickshaw.
• Introducing the topic: The teacher focuses on rickshaws and asks students why people use them and what advantages they might have. Students suggest that rickshaws can be inexpensive, carry shopping, reach places other vehicles cannot, and be useful in traffic.
• Vocabulary development: The class practises words and phrases for describing cities and transport, including:
  • Noisy, lively, crowded, and overcrowded
  • Pollution and polluted, including pollution from vehicle exhaust
  • Pedestrian and pedestrian path
  • Densely populated and sparsely populated
  • Traffic jam and monsoon
• Reading in stages: Students read selected parts of a text about Kolkata rather than tackling the whole passage at once.
  • The first paragraph is used to identify descriptions of the city: it is noisy and lively, has heavy traffic and exhaust fumes, and is densely populated.
  • The second and third paragraphs are used to find arguments in favour of rickshaws. The text says they can make their way through traffic and provide a personal shopping service, including carrying groceries home. It also mentions increased use during the monsoon season.
  • Students support their answers by locating evidence in the text.
  • In the final task, students identify why officials might oppose or want to ban rickshaws: concern for the drivers’ welfare and the difficult nature of their work. The lesson also considers that a ban could remove workers’ livelihoods.
• Pros-and-cons discussion: Students work in groups to list arguments for keeping or banning rickshaws. They then take on roles—such as rickshaw driver, local resident, politician, taxi driver, or foreign tourist—and debate whether Kolkata should keep them.
  • Arguments for keeping them: Rickshaws are relatively cheap and convenient, can use smaller streets, help with shopping and carrying goods, and may be useful when other transport is caught in traffic. Some residents see them as part of the city’s character.
  • Arguments for banning them: Pulling rickshaws can be physically demanding and potentially harmful to drivers. A city seeking to modernize might prefer other forms of transport, although alternatives may not offer the same door-to-door service.
• Feedback and correction: After the role-play, the teacher discusses students’ ideas, notes useful language, and corrects selected grammar or pronunciation errors.

Teaching approach described by the teacher

In her post-lesson reflection, the teacher explains that she:

• Began with a gallery activity to make the topic engaging and activate students’ interest in transport from around the world.
• Broke the reading into smaller sections, matching different tasks to different paragraphs so students could focus on manageable chunks.
• Adapted textbook tasks with visual prompts and speech bubbles to make them more interactive and avoid having students work mechanically through the page.
• Treated the textbook as a resource, with the teacher acting as a facilitator who brings tasks to life and involves learners.
• Supported a pre-intermediate debate by mixing groups, giving students planning time, assigning roles, and arranging them to discuss together.
• Observed the role-play and recorded examples of useful language and errors, then used these for post-task reflection and correction, helping students analyse their own speaking.

Speakers and sources featured

• Sarah Troughear — the teacher leading the class and speaking in the post-lesson reflection.
• Students in the class — several students contribute answers and take part in the group discussion and role-play. Names in the auto-generated subtitles include Muhammad, Yazid, Ko, Audrey, Mita, Sakura/Sakiya, Zakio, and Aldrich; some spellings may be inaccurate.