The Problem

While working as an adult ESL teacher, my students always complained about the difficulty of verb tenses. They particularly despised the perfect tenses. Like many other English language learners, these students struggled to produce the past perfect tense correctly. Examples and standard practice exercises were not getting the job done.

My Solution

I created a micro-learning simulation of a real-world scenario in which the past perfect would come up in conversation. The scenario follows Maria, who lost her phone at the mall and is trying to retrace her steps. The learner plays the friend trying to help her track the phone down. The conversation between the learner and Maria breaks into small separate learning chunks that cover form, meaning, and usage of the past perfect tense. Each learning chunk includes comprehension checking activities with constructive feedback.

My Process

Analysis

In order to supplement my existing knowledge of my students, I conducted thorough context, learner, and instructional analyses. The data from this analysis helped me identify the appropriate delivery format of the instructional intervention and the structure by which learners would interact with the module. The instructional analysis identified instructional objectives and expected performance outcomes.

I also conducted interviews with two of the learners to better understand the needs of the learners. These interviews helped me decide to create a real-world simulation and to focus on the learners’ production of the past perfect.

Design

I used MS PowerPoint to develop a storyboard and screens of the module. The task analysis chart from planning formed the structure of the module. I decided to employ many visuals, such as timelines and graphic images, in order to improve the effectiveness of content delivery. I wrote the story of the real-world scenario with careful consideration of my students’ interests and experiences.

Development

I used Articulate Storyline to create the interactive simulation. I created pre/post-tests and an attitude survey with Google Forms.

Implementation

I piloted the learning module with my students during class time. Before performing the module, I assessed their pre-instructional performance with a pre-test. Then, students completed the module at their own pace independently. I provided little guidance to simulate the module’s use as an asynchronous e-learning device. After they finished the module, students completed a post-test and an attitude survey.

Evaluation

After implementation, I analyzed the data from the pre and post-test results to identify performance improvements with the past perfect. Overall, there were slight to moderate improvements to all skills with the past perfect. The lowest performance occurred with writing the past perfect. I used this data to assign students more writing and speaking activities to produce the past perfect tense.