3.3 Structure-Focused Sequences: PPP, TTT, TBL & Guided Discovery

Sequences as planning tools, not a Module 1 lecture

TKT Module 1 asks you to name frameworks. TKT Module 2 asks you to sequence a lesson so a structure can be clarified, practised, and used. Independent OpenExamPrep teaching therefore treats Presentation–Practice–Production (PPP), Test–Teach–Test (TTT), Task-Based Learning (TBL), and guided discovery as planning sequences for a language-systems lesson. You will fill columns: stage aim, procedure, interaction pattern, timing, anticipated problems, materials. You will not write an essay on second-language acquisition history.

The official testing focus for this area includes common sequences, e.g. structures. On the paper that usually means: put stages in a defensible order; match a stage to its purpose; say which sequence a plan extract belongs to; notice when a labelled sequence is the wrong label.

Choose a sequence using three planning questions:

1. Aim — Is the main aim accurate control of a pre-selected structure, a communicative outcome that will throw up language, or a review of language learners may already half-know?
2. Learners — Are they meeting the form for the first time, mixed false beginners, young learners who cannot read discovery questions, or adults who can notice patterns on the page?
3. Time — Is this a 45-minute slot that must finish with production, or a 60–90-minute slot that can hold a full task cycle plus analysis?

Presentation–Practice–Production (PPP)

PPP is a deductive, teacher-shaped sequence. You decide the target structure in advance (for example second conditional for imaginary present advice). The plan order is fixed.

1. Presentation. Create a context (a short situation, picture, or dialogue). Clarify meaning, form, and pronunciation. Interaction is mainly T–class, with concept questions and perhaps choral drill. Typical timing in a 45-minute lesson: 10–12 minutes.
2. Practice (controlled). Learners manipulate the form with limited choice: substitution tables, gap-fills, matching halves, tightly framed oral drills. Interaction often individual work then closed pairs. Timing: 10–12 minutes. Accuracy and monitoring sit here.
3. Production (freer). Learners use the structure with more choice: a dilemma card, an advice clinic, a what would you do discussion. Interaction S–S or groupwork, then plenary. Timing: 12–15 minutes. Fluency and personalisation sit here, still hoping the target form appears.

When to choose PPP. The structure is new, or the class needs a shared model before they speak. Time is tight. The main aim names a specific form (to enable learners to use going to for near-future plans). You need a plan a cover teacher can follow. PPP is honest when the coursebook unit has already chosen the grammar box for you.

PPP trap: freer production before clarification. If the first long speaking stage is a debate that requires second conditional, and only afterwards you notice the form on the board, you are no longer running textbook PPP. You may be running a weak TBL cycle, or you may be asking learners to produce a structure you have not clarified. Module 2 will treat production then presentation as the wrong order for a PPP plan. Delayed clarification can be a different sequence; it is not PPP.

Test–Teach–Test (TTT)

TTT is a diagnostic sequence. You still care about a structure, but you do not assume everyone is starting from zero.

1. Test 1. Learners attempt a task that requires the target language without you teaching that language first: a short gap-fill, a picture description that invites present perfect, a matching of if-clauses. Interaction is often individual (so you see each learner) or closed pairs if you want speech. You monitor and collect evidence. You do not explain the rule during Test 1. Typical timing: 8–10 minutes.
2. Teach. You teach the gaps Test 1 revealed—not a full lecture on everything the grammar chapter contains. If half the class already marks for/since correctly, do not spend twelve minutes on that contrast. Interaction returns to T–class plus focused examples. Timing: 10–12 minutes.
3. Test 2. A similar but not identical task checks uptake. If Test 1 was written, Test 2 might be oral, or a new set of prompts. Interaction S–S or individual, then plenary. Timing: 10–12 minutes.

When to choose TTT. Mixed levels; a review lesson; false beginners; a class that did this last term and may have forgotten pieces. TTT saves time when some learners already can, and it gives you evidence for anticipated problems that are real rather than invented.

TTT trap: a Test that teaches. If Test 1 includes the teacher presenting the rule, a worked example on the board, and a drill before learners try, the stage is Presentation. The sequence has become PPP with extra labels. A genuine first test is a task learners attempt unaided (apart from instructions). Anticipated problem for TTT: Test 1 overruns because the diagnostic has too many items; solution: six rich items, not twenty.

Task-Based Learning (TBL)

For Module 2 planning, use the classroom cycle commonly taught as pre-task → task → planning → report → language focus (the Willis-style cycle candidates meet in ELT training).

1. Pre-task. Topic, useful lexis if needed, task instructions. T–class. 5–8 minutes.
2. Task. Learners do a communicative task with an outcome beyond filling grammar blanks: rank five inventions for a desert island; plan a weekend for a visiting friend; agree a class survey question. S–S or groupwork. Teacher monitors, little on-the-spot correction. 8–10 minutes (more if the lesson is longer).
3. Planning. Learners prepare to report. They may ask for language. Groupwork. About 5 minutes.
4. Report. Selected pairs or groups report to the class. S–T in plenary. About 8 minutes.
5. Language focus. Analysis of language that appeared or that you had ready, then practice. T–class then IW / S–S. 8–10 minutes. This stage is where structures are clarified on a TBL plan.

When to choose TBL. The main aim is a communicative outcome (to agree a weekend plan), and language is drawn from need. Learners can already say something about the topic. You have enough time; a full cycle is uncomfortable in a rushed 40-minute slot, which is a reason to choose PPP instead when the school timetable is unforgiving. TBL suits a sequence of lessons as well as a single long lesson: day one task and report, day two language focus and a repeat task.

TBL trap: no language focus. If the plan ends after a fun ranking task and homework write five sentences, learners may never analyse the structures the task required. Module 2 still expects you to know that the standard classroom sequence includes language focus. TBL trap: calling a gap-fill TBL. A twelve-item grammar gap-fill on second conditionals has a linguistic outcome (correct sentences). It is a language exercise, typical of PPP practice or a TTT test, not a task with a non-linguistic outcome. Pair-checking the gap-fill does not turn it into TBL.

Guided discovery

Guided discovery is usually a way of running the clarification slot, not a whole-lesson brand name of its own. Learners look at well-chosen examples and answer guiding questions to notice form or meaning. Interaction: individual reading of the examples, closed pairs to compare answers, plenary to confirm the rule. Then you still need practice (often PPP-like controlled then freer practice, or a TTT-style second task).

When to choose guided discovery. Learners can read the examples; questions are graded; you want noticing rather than a lecture; the class has enough maturity to talk about language. Avoid as the sole clarification method with very young learners, with a class that has no shared metalanguage unless the questions are extremely concrete (Which word is in the past? Circle it.), or when you only have two example sentences.

Anticipated problem: learners may notice the wrong pattern (they decide would is past of will and stop). Solution: guiding questions that force the imaginary-meaning contrast; a final teacher confirmation in plenary; do not skip the confirmation step.

Compare stages, interaction, and timing

Use this table when you fill a Module 2 plan. Timings assume a 45-minute systems lesson; stretch TBL toward 60 minutes when you can.

Putting sequences on the same plan columns

Whatever sequence you choose, Module 2 still wants stage aims (to clarify the meaning of second conditional), interaction, timing, and anticipated problems that match that sequence.

• In PPP, problems often sit in MFP (learners may use was in If I were you) and in production (learners may avoid the form and tell stories in past simple). Solutions: substitution frame on the board; a task that cannot be completed without at least three would clauses.
• In TTT, a distinctive problem is that Test 1 becomes an accidental teach, or that it takes too long to mark. Solutions: collect two example errors for the Teach stage instead of marking every paper in silence; keep Test 1 short.
• In TBL, a distinctive problem is L1 during the task, or a report that never uses the useful structures. Solutions: a must-report English checklist; language focus ready with examples you overheard; do not skip analysis.
• In guided discovery, a distinctive problem is opaque questions. Solution: write the questions on the plan and pilot them; if learners cannot answer, you still confirm the rule in plenary rather than pretending they discovered it.

Traps in one place

1. Freer production before clarification in a PPP-labelled plan. The order on the page must be presentation then practice then production.
2. TTT Test 1 that teaches. If the teacher explains the rule first, relabel the sequence as PPP.
3. TBL with no language focus. The cycle on a Module 2 plan includes analysis and practice after the report.
4. Calling a gap-fill TBL. Gap-fills practise or test form; they are not communicative tasks with a non-linguistic outcome.
5. Guided discovery with no confirmation. Noticing questions are not a complete clarification if the plenary never establishes the accurate rule.

When you write or read a plan for this exam, name the sequence in a heading line (Sequence: TTT), then make every stage earn its place. That is the Module 2 skill: not recalling a famous acronym, but building a structure-focused lesson that could actually be taught in the time on the page.