A class plan for "Bilingual Sestina"

Level	Number of students	Time	Objectives of the class
• Students from EFL teacher trainee literature courses from IPC.	25 students	1 1/2 hours	Approach the literary text “Bilingual Sestina” by Julia Álvarez. Use the four basic skills. Guide students through a biographical study of Bilingual Sestina. Compare the learning of a language between the students and Julia’s “Bilingual Sestina”.

For this class:

- Enough copies of the poem “Bilingual Sestina”.

- A picture of Julia Álvarez.

- Make a list of words and definitions that may be of trouble for the approaching of the poem: Column A-sestina, soothe, poke, frail, summon, slat and mist; Column B-the definition of each word but not in same order so they can match.

- Prepare material for the students with a short biography of Julia Alvarez and questions that ask about the relation between the author and the poem.

During the class:

- Talk about the students’ learning process of a foreign language: Here are some questions which could guide the conversation. Has it been easy to learn English as a foreign language? What problems have they encountered? What is the difference between acquiring and learning a language? Do you think that learning English would be easier in an English speaking country? Do you anyone who has learnt to speak English in an English speaking country? 15 min.

- The teacher presents the image of Julia Álvarez and asks where they think this person is from? What leads them to think she is from the country they think. 5 min.

- Have the students read the poem and discuss in pairs. 15 min.

- After reading, ask if it is possible that Julia be from the countries they thought. Why? What does the poem deal with? 5 min.

- The students willl be presented the material with the words and definitions and from the context they will match the meanings to the terms. Then the answers are checked. 10 min.

- The students, individually, will read a short biography of Julia Álvarez and associate the text to the author by means of the questions asked in the same sheet exemplifying from the poem. Following, answers are checked as a whole class. 20 min.

- The students will write a paragraph about how they relate this poem to their own experience as a language learner. 20 min.