UNIT 23: Consulting Reference Resources to Help in Lesson Preparation

Reference Resources are all the sources of information about language and about teaching that we can refer to for help in a lesson preparation. When a teacher is planning their classes, they have to take into consideration that reference materials in order to help themselves to develop a good lesson plan. The reference materials we can use as teachers are, dictionaries, grammar books, books and articles in teacher’s magazines about language, supplementary materials and phonemic charts so, it is very important reference resources in order to teach another language. Therefore, there are many reasons to consult reference resources. For example, to look for grammatical structures due that it provides suitable information that our learners need. Another is, to check the spelling, pronunciation and use of lexical terms. In order to do these activities we can make use of bilingual dictionaries which are the ones which have meanings in different languages and the monolingual dictionaries which are the ones which have the meaning in the language the learners are learning. Regarding this, from this unit I learned that, reference resources are very useful tools for the teachers and learners when teaching and acquiring a second language due that it help us to develop our students’ skills. As a future teacher, I consider that I would use all the reference materials available in the classroom since it allow students to have a better understanding of the language they are learning. Also, if there is a grammar structure I may find a clearer explanation and examples in other books and dictionaries. As a conclusion, we have to be careful with the reference resources we use due that some of these may not have relevant information so we have to look first.

References: 
- Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., & Williams, M. Consulting reference resources to help in lesson preparation. The TKT Course Modules 1, 2 And 3, 151-155. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139062398.025

- YouTube,. (2016). Reference Resources. Retrieved 26 January 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEfgw30GhDo