CELTA CELTA Assessment & Feedback 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which CELTA written assignment requires trainees to observe and analyze lessons taught by experienced teachers?
- Focus on the Learner
- Language Related Task
- Lessons from the Classroom (Correct answer)
- Skills Assignment
Correct answer: Lessons from the Classroom
The 'Lessons from the Classroom' assignment asks trainees to reflect on observed lessons and identify implications for their own teaching.
Question 2: In CELTA, what does 'Focus on the Learner' assignment require trainees to do?
- Write a biography of one learner
- Analyze a specific learner's language needs and suggest teaching activities to address them (Correct answer)
- Observe a learner's behavior and report it to the tutor
- Create a full syllabus for one learner
Correct answer: Analyze a specific learner's language needs and suggest teaching activities to address them
The Focus on the Learner assignment asks trainees to profile a real learner's language strengths and weaknesses and propose appropriate learning activities.
Question 3: What is the risk of over-praising learners in an EFL classroom, as discussed on CELTA courses?
- Learners may become too confident and stop making errors
- Constant undifferentiated praise loses meaning and fails to guide improvement (Correct answer)
- Other teachers may feel undermined
- Learners will expect grades instead of praise
Correct answer: Constant undifferentiated praise loses meaning and fails to guide improvement
When praise is given for everything equally, it becomes meaningless and no longer functions as useful feedback for learners.
Question 4: When is it most appropriate to use explicit metalinguistic correction such as 'That's wrong — it should be past simple here'?
- During all speaking activities regardless of context
- During accuracy-focused stages when learners are ready to focus on form (Correct answer)
- Only during written exams
- Never — explicit correction is discouraged on CELTA
Correct answer: During accuracy-focused stages when learners are ready to focus on form
Explicit correction is appropriate during accuracy-focused practice stages where drawing attention to form is the lesson goal.
Question 5: Which CELTA assessment criterion specifically relates to a trainee's ability to adapt their lesson based on learner responses?
- Planning
- Monitoring and assessment (Correct answer)
- Language awareness
- Professional development
Correct answer: Monitoring and assessment
Monitoring and assessment criteria require trainees to observe how learners are responding and adjust their teaching accordingly in real time.
Question 6: What does 'error fossilization' mean, and why is it relevant to corrective feedback decisions on CELTA?
- Errors that become permanent habits if not addressed appropriately over time (Correct answer)
- Errors that appear only in writing, not speech
- Errors caused by fossilized teaching materials
- Errors that are too minor to correct
Correct answer: Errors that become permanent habits if not addressed appropriately over time
Fossilization refers to persistent errors that have become entrenched habits, underscoring why strategic error correction matters during language acquisition.
CELTA CELTA Assessment & Feedback 3
Which CELTA written assignment requires trainees to observe and analyze lessons taught by experienced teachers?