, LONGMAN

HANDBOOKS
-for-
LANGUAGE
TEACHERS

Teaching English
through English

Jane Willis
 Contents

Introduction (includng notes to tutors) V

Introductory unit (for non-native speakers)

J
PART CIIE: THELANGUAGEOFTHECLAIIIIROOM:SOCIAL,
P&IIONALAND-TIONALU8Ell
1 Thebeginningofthelesson 6
2 Checkingattendance 13
3 Physical conditions in the classroom 19
4 Getting organised: seating, books, blackboard 25
8 Introducing different stages of the 18SSOO 32
8 Usingvisualaids 39
7 Tape recorders and oth8f electrical equipment 45
8 Dividing the class up: choral, individual and teams 52
9 Dividingtheclassup: pairsandgroups 56
10 Interruptions: latecomers, things lost 63
11 Control and discipline 69
12 Ending the lesson or a stage in the lesson 75

PART 1WO: TEACIIINGTEQIMCIUESANDTHELANGUAG&OF

IN81RUCTIDN
13 ThefirstlessonsinEnglish 64
14 Dialogues for presentation and practice 94
19 Oral practice 104
18 TeachingvocalxJlary 114
17 Oral production 124
18 Listening ski ls 134
19 Reading skills 142
20 Writing practice 156

! 21 Writtenproduction 164
Appendfx A List of language items for Part One: EXPLOITATION Sections 1n
Appendix B Summary of basic student language 178

Appendix C Tapescripts of SAMPLE EXPLOITATION taped materials (Part One! 180

Appendb:D KeytoTEACHINGHINTS 183

Glouary Definitions of specialised terms currently used when talking about English
teaching 185
Sel-blllllography 100
lnduoflNchingokilla 191
lndexoflang_ga_for_ 192
Introduction

1 Who le It for?
This is a practical training course for teachers or intending teachers of English as
a second or foreign language, designed to give them practice in effective use of
classroom English and to extend their language teaching skills and techniques,
with the aim of helping their students1 learn how to communicate successfully in
English.
Non aative-speaker teachers ot En&Jlsh can use the course in many different
ways:
(a) mainly as a language course
(b) as a language and methodology oourse combined
(c) as the basic course leading to the Royal Society of Arn examination, the
Certificate for Overseas Teachers of English (C.O.T.E.)
(d) as a reference book, both for language and ideas for teaching and materials
writing
Native-speaker teachers of'Ebglsh can use it as follows:
(a) mainly as a methodology course, including relevant language work, e.g.
analysing a teaching item, or elicitation techniques
(b) as a basic course leading to the Royal Society of Arts 'Preparatory Certificate
for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language to Adults'
(c) as a preliminary course for experienced teachers wishing to sit the Royal
Society of Arts examination for the 'Certificate in the Teaching of English as
a Foreign language to Adults'
The course can be used flexibly and selectively:
- the twenty-one Units need not be covered in the order they appear
- the practical teaching exercises can be used in conjunction with teaching
materials available locally, whatever the style of textbook or type of syllabus at
present in use in schools or colleges
- this course can be adapted to meet local needs and to suit teaching conditions
everywhere·
- no expensive equipment is necessary, apart from a cassette tape recorder for
non native--speaker teachers to use with the accompanying tape

2 Whllt•rethelllmsofth•courn1
(a) Langnageafnul'
(i) to develop teachers' insights into the fonn and use of English, and to give

1
By students, I mean pupils, i.e. children, as well as adult learners.
• This comse is not a grammar book for teachers. A very useful book to have with you while
using this course would be A Pracdcal English Grammar, by Thomson and Martinet,
Oxford University Press, new edition 1980.
 practice in linguistic analysis necessary for lesson planning and materials
writing
(ii) to help non native-speaker teachers become fluent and accurate in the use of
the specialised and idiomatic forms of the English used when teaching
English
(iii) to give teachers practice in the language skills specific to language teachers,
e.g. providing examples on the same pattern, eliciting panicular structures,
or dealing with errors
(iv) to enable all teachers to use English effectively and imaginatively when
teaching, in the foUowing ways:
- as a means of instruction
- as a means of class organisation
- and as a means of communicating with their students as individuaJs, who
have a life of their own outside the classroom
(v) to show teachers how to exploit genuine situations that occur in the class-
room (e.g. a student arriving late) for meaningful and authentic language
practice, so that students use English for communication and gain confi-
dence in speaking English

(b) Praclicail,...,,..aims
(i) to help teachers to identify the needs of their students, and to plan their
teaching so as to fulfil those needs as far as possible
(ii) to help teachers to evaluate in a constructive way their own methods and
materials, and to give guidance in writing supplementary materials where
necessary
(iii) to encourage teachers to use a wider range of teaching techniques in order to
promote meaningful language practice, thus encouraging and motivating
students to speak and use their English
(iv) to enable teachers to plan and stage their lessons, organise their classrooms
and 'manage'theirstudents in such a way as to promote maximum language
learning and active communication among their students
(v) to help teachers cope with problems like over-large classes, or lack of
equipment

(c) ASIIIDIIW')'oflbeal•oftbecoune
1be most important thing of aU is that by the end of this course, teachers should
be able to teach their students how to communicate in English, not just how to do
grammar exercises or choose ABC or Das the correct answer. To do this,
teachers should aim, not only to teach English in English, but to exploit the
genuine communicative situations that arise in the classroom for meaningful
language practice, and to allow plenty of time for oral produccion activities after
the practice stages of the lesson.

3 Whatd0Nthecouraeconelatof7
The course consists of this book, together with recorded materials on a C90
cassette. The tape is essential for non-native speakers who wish to concentrate
on improving their language.
The book is divided into two parts containing twenty-one Units in all. See list
of Contents, page iii.
Part One, Units 1-12, covers the use of social, personal and organisational
language in typical classroom situations (e.g. enquiring why someone is absent),
and helps teachers to see how these situations can be used for presenting,
 Introduction vii

practising and reinforcing target language.

Part Two, Ualts 13-21, deals with the main areas of methodology, (e.g. oral
practice activities, teaching reading,). and the language and teaching skills
needed for each.
Earll Ulllt is divided into five or six Sections.
The Sections in the Units in Part Two differ slightly from those in Part One,
but generally they progress as follows:
E) •.........,..__
@u intemlvestudy ofa teacher,.•~ dlalogueer a lessoa extract (on tape)
(9 dlssroom Janpage in the form of subsdludoa. tables
""' the exploitation of classroom languqe, and pradke in • variety of teaching skills.
W Taped mat.erlals are available fer tome of these Sections
CJ role play or teadlln&praetke, fellowed by an evaluation session
0 ..........,... ,.,.,., .......
For a detailed breakdown of these Sections, see Section 6 of the Introduction.

4 lethecourwgradecll1
(a) Generally speaking, the earlier Units in each Part arc somewhat easier, and
Part One is less demanding than Part Two.
(b) Less experienced teachers intending to follow the greater part of the coune,
should start at the beginning of each Part; either completing Part One, then
continuing with Part Two, or taking Units from both Parts alternately, i.e.
Unit 1, Unit 13, Unit 2, Unit 14, etc., thus including methodology from the
beginning.
(c) Teachers with some English teaching experience should have no difficulty in
using these Units in any order. after completing Unit 1, as long as the cross
references to other Units are followed up. Unit 1, however, would be best
done first.

s Howlongwlllthecourwtake?
The timing is difficuJt to assess, because it depends on the time available, what
teachers• aims are, how much practice they need and how selective they wish to
be. It is unlikely that any teacher will fmd every Section relevant to his needs;
examination candidates, for example, may need to spend more time on some
aspects than other trainees. Very approximately, it could be estimated that an
average Unit in Part One may take between 3 to 6 hours to cover fully, whereas
an average Unit in Part Two could take between 6 and 12 hours. These estimates
include the minimum role play and teaching practice, and give a total of between
100 to 200 hours for the whole course, including both language and methodol-
ogy. However, the book can be used in other ways, for example:
- a 30 hour methodology course could be based on the Units in Part Two,
omitting all Sections b or b and c.
- alternatively, a 30 hour course on the teaching of reading and writing could be
based on the final three Units completing all relevant materials writing tasks in
Section d, and following up all cross-references to earlier Units.
- a 20 hour language coune could be based on relevant UniU of Part One,
especially those including Exploitation Sections, and the remaining Units
could be used as reference sections for teachers to use on their own, or on a
subsequent course.
 8 TotheUNrofthecoune
If you arc participating in a teacher training course, your tutor will probably
already have selected the areas of this course relevant to your work.
If you arc studying on your own, find at least one, preferably two or three
colleagues to study with you, then you will profit from the pair and group
activities, and learn much more. The tape will give you a lot of help. Try to
arrange to watch each other teaching too and discuss the lessons afterwards.
If you are planning a course remember to be selective, and choose Units and
Sections that are relevant to everyone's needs. Be prepared, too, to make
adaptions both to the language and to the techniques so that they suit your
teaching conditions, and interest your students. Aftow plenty of time for the
practical work and for follow-up discussion.
A detailed account of how to use each Section follows. L denotes mainly
language work, M denotes method work, L + M can be used both for language
and method combined.
Other SYMBOLS used here are repeated throughout the course book, namely:

& work on your own

&& work in pairs

•&I& small groups

T whole class

-•T group discussion before class discussion

~ use the tape

• suitable for written assignment for examination practice

-.-
HowtoUMNChaectlon

--
PartOne PartTwo
....
(These Units can be taken in any order
after completing Unit 1. Omit Unit 7 if
you have no chance of using tape
recorders or t8pe~ materials.)
-
.....-.... ,._....,._ .............
(These Units progress through the
presentation practice and production
stages oforal work, to listening,
reading and writing, They gradually
get more difficult. It is advisable but
The CARTOON b designed to 'set the not essentia1 to take them in the order
scene' for the theme of the Unit. they appear. Cross references to
other Units are included for users who
wish to 'jump around'. Unit 16can
be done at any point.)
The FOCUS page is designed to
indicate tb,e various teaching activities
for which specific language is needed;
in some Units it identifies problem
 Imroduction ill

PartOna PartTwo
areas and offers possible solutions.
Use it as a reference page, especially
during the Preliminary Discussion,
and for Sections c and d.

Preliminary diacuaaion
The aim of this preliminary discussion session is not necessarily to find answers
for all the questions at this stage. It is to share experience, exchange ideas and lo
bring problems to light. It is to be hoped that by the end of the Unit most of the
discussion points you originally find obscure or unanswerable will be clarified or
solved as a result of working through the Unit carefully.

L + M The six or so discussion points normally begin fairly generally, then

focus in on the themes of the Unit. Some are concerned with questions of theory
and methodology, others raise language points, like appropriacy and social
register in language use.
lbey should be taken in order, each discussed first in small groups before
being discussed as a class. The small group work ensures that you all get practice
speaking about teaching English.
The points can be discussed briefty by those of you who are mostly concerned
with language work, or more fully if you are also concerned with theory and
methodology. •
The points marked are suitable for written assignments for those of you
taking TEFL examinations. They should not be written until the Unit has been
completed and revised thoroughly. Some questions need to be reworded slightly
to make them more specific, e.g., 'Discuss two ideas for .. .' rather than 'Discuss
some ideas for .. .'.

Dialogue practice I~ Leaaon extract

These have been recorded on tape so that you can hear and imitate native-
speaker teachers tallcing to their students in a classroom situation.
You should first read the instructions above the scripts; normally they tell you
to play the tape once, straight through, to get the gist, and then play the tape
through again, stopping it after each phrase or sentence so that you can repeat
the teacher's part. Pauses for repetition have not been left on the tape. Stop the
tape yourself (or your tutor wiU stop it for you) while you repeat. Repeating the
teacher's part should improve your pronunciation and help to make you more
fluent. After that you should work in pairs without the script but referring to
relevant aids or teaching materials seeing how much you can remember.
L ThetwoDIALOGUFSareshort L + M The LESSONS, longer than
enough to be practised and learnt the dialogues, are designed to give
thoroughly, comparing your controlled practice in use oflanguage
pronunciation with that of the teacher as well as pronunciation. In some
on the tape. Choose the one relevant Units there are two extracts for you to
to your teaching situation. If you do choo,se from: one set in a school and
not have the tape, try to get a native one in a college. Where the language
speaker to help you with them, and and methodology is appropriate to
correct your pronunciation if either, only one extract has been
necessary. included.
 Part One PartTwo
L+M TheLANGUAGE Read the notes on the left before you
ACTIVITY gives practice in one or begin. These put the extract in its
two specific skills necessary for context, so that you can understand
English teachers. Sometimes there isa the purpose behind what the teacher is
short exercise on tape to accompany it. doing and saying, and know why
Each Unit dea1s with a different skill. certain words are stressed. The
If you feel you need some more foUow up notes also help do this. For
practice, help each other to make up those of you concerned also with
some more examples along the same methodology, the lessons outlined
lines. here can be discussed in detail, with
reference to your own teaching
situation. They could also he adapted
for use in teaching practice if you have
students of a suitable level.

.&or&& M 1be TEACHING HINTS are designed to make you think about the reasons
behind the teacher's actions and choice of words. They may give you some
ideas that you could try in your classes. There is a KEY to the teaching hints
in Appendix D, pages 183-185.

Classroom language
This Section was designed primarily for the non native-speaker teacher of
English, however native speakers could use these sections in conjunction with
the Exploitation Section and Appendix A for some extra linguistic analysis
practice, analysing the forms. meaning and use of suitable teaching items. Just to
read through the tables in Part Two rapidly also gives some idea of how a lesson
can progress.
I have tried to make the language in these tables as comprehensive and as
self-explanatory as possible. As a result I am sure that you will already be
familiar with some of this language. Do not waste time practising" what you can
already use effectively. Begin by skimming through the substitution tables,
identifying what the teacher is trying to do in each case. Practise some of the
language concentrating on pronunciation and fluency. Ask your neighbour to
listen to you critically. Then pick a group of tables which contain idioms or
phrases which are new to you. Make sure you know what they mean and when to
use them, adapt them to suit your teaching situation, and then practise in pairs,
not reading from the tables, but memorising a sentence and saying it as naturally
as possible. Your partner should act the role of the class, and ask questions or
react in a manner typical of your students. You should add your own ideas, if you
can, to create a meaningful classroom conversation. Try to use, where
appropriate, the intonation and stress patterns that you heard on the tape in
Section b. Practise from one table or set of tables until the patterns come
naturally to you.

Sometimes possible student responses c.enain setsoftables, e.g. those

are suggested in brackets but you will applying to one technique, or those
be able to think of many other things progressing through stages of a lesson,
your students will need to say. Make should be practised consecutively if
and keep a list of these, forreference, they are to make sense. Make specific
then you can gradually teach them to references to your teaching materials
your students when the opportunity wherever necessary. Some Units
arises. contain over 20 tables. Do not try to
practise all of them in one session. You
The language tables in Part One are
 Introduction xi

PartOne PartTwo
followed by an exercise called TEST can use them in conjunction with
YOURSELF. You can do this in pairs, Sections d and e, practising tables
orally, testing each other, or you can relevant to that particular activity.
write down what you think is suitable You can always go back to the tables
then look back through the tables to later and use them for reference.
checkyourwork.

Exploitation (;) Teaching skills

L Unitsl,2,3,6,7,10and12 L + M The aimsofthisSectionare
contain Exploitation Sections, with threefold: to give you opportunities
recorded material. (i) to think about the purpose behind
The Exploitation Sections give the many of the teacher activities we all do
opportunity for less controlled without really thinking why, e.g.
practice in classroom language, before asking questions
the free oral production required in (ii) to practise the specialised
Sectione. language skills needed by an English
teacher, e.g. eliciting, correcting,
The aim of this Exploitation work is to checking understanding
give you practice in recognising and (iii) to write material and prepare
using the opportunities for genuine visual aids to supplement your present
communication in English that arise in text books where necessary. If there
the classroom. are enough of you together you can
All these situations can be used to pooJ your work and produce a
present, practise or reinforce complete set of materials after each
particular structures or language items session; these you can have duplicated
commonly used in these so you can all take them away with you
circumstances. Practice is given in and use them in your schools or
identifying these structures, and colleges with no further preparation.
analysing them for teaching later on. In some Units this section is quite long
Appendix A contains more ideas for because of the differing needs of
language items that can be practised in different levels of students. Select the
these situations activities or tasks which seem most
The taped material consists of extracts relevant to your teaching situation
from an EFL lesson recorded live and and/or those which you know least
unrehearsed at Selly Oak Colleges in about and therefore need to practise.
Birmingham. The students from
Very often the Teaching Practice in
various overseas countries were new
Section• is based on one of the tasks
to Britain, and had had about
in this Section, so it is a good idea to
200 hoursofintensive tuition in
look ahead at the Teaching Practice
English by the time the recordings
PLANNING before you make your
were made. The teacher had taught
selection from Section d.
the class only once before. The
extracts are not for intensive practice,
as were the scripted dialogues in
Section b. They should be considered
as a target performance, purely to
illustrate the kind of
teacher~tudent and
student~tudent interaction which
can take place meaningfully in a
classroom. The willingness and the
ability to communicate arc more
important than accuracy at this stage.
 f
'

Part One PartTwo

Units4,5,8, 9and 11 include a variety
oflanguage teaching activities
workshops. These should be adapted
to suit your own teaching situation.

GAMES In some Units, a game is suggested at this point. These are for both
native speakers and non-native speakers. As well as giving practice in specific
language skills relevant to teaching English, they should provide some
light-hearted fun and entertainment. lbey can aU be adapted if necessary and
can be usedatany stage in this course, not solely in the particular Unit where
they are found. Some can be played many times and still remain fun. An Index of
games can be found on page 192 at the end of the book.

Q Roleplay Q Teaching practice

In this Section, you have the opportunity to put together the language and skills
that you have been practising in Sections a-d, and actually use them in
situations similar to those you wiD meet in your own classroom. The practical
work is planned in groups, executed, then discussed and evaluated; the Unit
ends, as it began, with discussion.
Full instructions are given in each Unit The instructions under the heading
so that you can read them and carry PLANNING may need some
out the Activity without help from adaptions to meet your particular
your tutor. needs, so ask your tutor if in doubt.
Plan, watching the time carefully, to
The use of'character' cards or 'role
allow plenty of time for the teaching
play' cards can make the Activity
and the follow up.
more interesting, and more realistic.
These cards are given out, face down Ideally, teaching practice should be
to each person acting in a student's with genuine students, so that there
role. Then when the 'teacher' begins are about three teachers to each group
to teach he will have nonnal classroom of ten or more students. The 'teaching'
problems to deal with. Choose typical can be shared out as suggested in the
student characteristics for the cards, instructions, one teacher teaching
and change cards round each time you while the others observe, making
change 'teachers'. notes which cover the points to be
discussed in the Evaluation later, and
any other interesting ideas or language
queries.
If genuine students are not available,
you can 'teach' each other. This is
called peer teaching.
Using role play cards for teachers
playing the partsofstudents, see the
cards illustrated here (you will need to
adapt these to suit your lessons) you
can simulate real teaching conditions
fairly well. By planning your lesson
with one group and then teaching it to
members of other groups, you benefit
from each others' experience. Before
you begin 'teaching', take care to put
 Introduction xiii

PartOne PartTwo
your'dass' in the picture; i.e. explain
what 'level' they are to act for your
lesson, what they have just learnt and
can do well and so on. 'Students'
should remain as 'students• during a
peer taught lesson and resist the
temptatioo to interrupt even if things
are going wrong. Everything can be
discussed later, during the Evaluation
session. Take notes of things you want
to bring up in the discussion.

The FOLWWUP and EVALUATION session is slightly different for each Unit.
Basically it is a time to discuss constructively the previous activity, and also to
look back at the whole Unit, to discuss how far the aims of the Unit have been
fulfilled and how far fhe problems raised in Section a solved.
Keep all the notes you take during the Evaluation session, your discussion
notes, lesson plans, copies of materials produced, lists of ideas for games, new
techniques, visual aids and so on, that you get together during the course, so that
you can use them again when teaching in your school or college. They should
save you a lot of preparation time in the future.
Try to observe as many other teachers teaching as you can. In your schools or
colleges, try to sit in on each other's classes, even if only for ten minutes at a time.
It's all good experience.
In the GLOSSARY at the end of this book you will find a list of words which
are used in a specialised way when talking about Teaching English as a Foreign
Language. Words which are marked thus• the first time they appear in the text
are included in the Glossary. The ELTterms which are not in the Glossary can
normally be found in a standard dictionary. Some words that are not actually in
the book appear in the Glossary; this is because they appear in the basic books
on TESFL• that are recommended in the Further Reading Sections, and
because they may come in useful at the Discussion Stage of each Unit.

7 WhatnactlydoNlt mNn, "Teaching Engl■hthrough Engll■h'?

U,ing-lndle.-...,
Teaching English through English means speaking and using English in the
classroom as often as you possibly can, for example when organising teaching
activities or chatting to your students socially. In other words, ii means establish-
ing English as the main language of communication between your students and
yourself; your students must know that it does not matter if they make mistakes
when they are talking, or iftbey fail to understand every word that you say. They
must recognise that if they want to be able to use their English at the end of their
course they must practise using it during their course. At the early stages it may
be difficult both for you and for them, so a lot of praise and encouragement will
be needed and correction of mistakes should be kept to a minimum or your
students will lose confidence and give up. (Ideally, correction should only occur
during the presentation and practice stages of the lesson, if they are getting the
main teaching point wrong.) Remember that the main aim of learning a language
is to learn to communicate in that language; if you understand what a student
says despite his mistakes, then he has communicated successfully. Encouraged
by his success, he will try again, gain more practice, and his mistakes will
gradually disappear. Students will not want to practise if they are afraid of
making mistakes which result in interruptions and corrections; then they may
never learn how to communicate in English.
Gradinuour Enalish
You can make it easier for your elementary students if you introduce your
classroom language slowly, as suggested in Unit 13. With students who have
learnt some English before, it is a good idea to try at first to keep mainly to the
vocabulary and structures that they have already covered in their previous work.
When they have got used to hearing and understanding these, and perhaps using
some of them for themselves, you can introduce other useful phrases. You can
also introduce items that you will be teaching them soon, so that they will be
familiar with the 'new' item when you come to teach it. (For more on this, see
Unit 5, Section d, and the Introductory Unit.)
Occaslonally L 1 may sdD be useN.
You may not be able to speak English a// the time, however, unless you have a
multi-lingual class or more advanced students. There are times when it is
preferable and more economical as far as time is concerned to drop English fora
few seconds and use the students' own language. For example:
(;) If ;t would take , long time to expla;n the me,nmg o, u,;e of, now won! m
English, you could give it to them in L1, i.e. in the students' own language.
You would then need to make sure that plenty of examples are given in
English so that students can practise it and remember it.
(ii) You might find it quicker to explain the aims of your lesson or of the next
activity in L', just to make sure that everyone knows what they are learning
and when they can use it. For example, it is very difficult to explain clearly in
English that you are going to teach ways of making suggestions. A quick
explanation in their own language would save time and make students more
relaxed, confident and ready to learn.
(iii) As a check of your students' understanding, after the presentation stage,
you could ask them, 'How would you say that in your language?' If most get
it right, it will boost their confidence and help reinforce their learning. If
some get it wrong you will realise in time to save the situation. This helps
particularly the weaker students: the shy adults who do not like to admit
they have not understood, or the children who do not realise they have not
been understanding correctly.
(iv) You might ask an early intermediate class to discuss in L1, in pairs, the main
ideas of a reacfmg passage, but only where the aim of your lesson is to
improve their reading skills, e.g. reading for the main points, where subse-
quent discussion in their own language, in pairs, might help them develop
this skill.
As a general rule, it is probably a good idea if you only aUow your students to
speak in their own language if you give them pennission to do so. You then have
to make clear when they must stop speaking L' and return to English, for
example:
T: How can you say that in your language?
S: (answers correctly in L')
Ss: (Begin speaking L 1)
T: Yes, good, it's ____ , isn't it? OK, then back to English. How can we say
that in English? ...
Danger signal!
If your students begin speaking in their own language without your permission,
regard this as a danger signal. Are they bored? Are they not sure of what they are
doing or why they are doing it? It generally means that something is wrong with
the lesson, and a change of activity is what's needed.
I
;

Introduction w

I.oan,q _ _ .......
If you are teaching English overseas, learning English through English in your
lessons, in a classroom with an English atmosphere, is, for your students. the
next best thing to going to Britain or an English speaking country and learning
English there.
If you are in Britain, your students will already have recognised the need to
communicate in English and will be happy to do so in the classroom.
Do not, however, expect immediate results. It may take time foryourstudents
to improve. But by the end of their course you should have produced students
who can not only pass their enms but who can also communicate in English,
This is what this course, Teaching English through English aims to help you to
do.
Finally, remember the English proverb: 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try
again'. A lot of teachers have done, and it has worked.
The best of luck!

Notes to tutors and organisers of teacher

training courses
1 How you use this course will depend on your particuJar aims and objectives,
the length and intensity of the teacher training courses you run and the
specialised needs of the teachers who attend. Teaching English through English
was designed to be as flexible as possible and is intended to be used in conjunc•
tion with the English textbooks and teaching materials available locally. You
should make sure that teachers bring to each session the books and visuals they
use or will use in class as well as Teaching English through English. If the courses
you organise are divided between Language and Methodology, you could use
Part One of Teaching English through English as a basis for Language Work, and
Part Two as a basis for Methodology, concentrating on the FOCUS Page in
conjunction with Sections•• d and •· Teachers could study Section b on their
own with the tape if they have access to a cassette player, and use c for reference.
1bere are in fact many different ways of using this course; it is purely a
question of selecting and adapting the material to meet your needs. See page vii
of Introduction.
2 1he teacber·trainina metlolology suggested in Teaching English through
English reflects a sound English teaching methodology in many aspects. If you
follow the Sections of each Unit through in order, you will find the same
controlled progression from controlled to free as you should find in any sound
English lesson: Section a presents the themes and topics of the Unit, Sections b
and c present and offer controlled practice in classroom language, Section d
allows for freer practice while Section epresents the chance for free production.
Your role, as tutor, also changes throughout the Unit; in the early Sections you
control the activities, and can insist on accuracy and use of socially appropriate
language. By Section • you should have gradually withdrawn your guidance,
except perhaps for some help at the planning stage, so that the teachers are on
their own for the role play and teaching practice. As you sit back and watch this
happening you can diagnose areas where remedial help with language or tech-
niques is needed in the future.
The mixture of individual, pair and group work should add variety to the
training sessions as well as ensuring maximum participation. Teachers will gain
experience in the organisation of group and pair work, and be familiar with the
advantages it offers, so that they will be able to handle group and pair work with
confidence in their own English lessons.
 r

3 Uslag the taped material. For Section b, the DIALOGUE PRACTICE and
LESSON EXTRACI'S, the length of the utterance you expect your teachers to
Intro•
repeat will depend on their level of attainment in English. You· might find it
easier to mark in, thus/, in your book, the places where you will stop the tape for For non-lllltlv<
them to repeat, before you play it to them in class. Insist on non-ragged choral
repetition, and check individuaJ pronunciation sometimes, just as they should do
when attemptir,
when teaching a class. classrooms- or
When teachers are practising the language from Section c in pain, you may have nevertaugl
need to replay the dialogue to remind them of acceptable intonation or stress Native apaak,
patterns, so keep the tape and cassette player on hand.
It is to teachers' advantage if they can have their own personal copy of the tape
to practise at home or in their own time. Obviously this may not always be
possible.
For Section d, in Part One, EXPWITATION, treat the SAMPLE EX-
PLOITATION dialogue in the same way as you would an intensive listening
comprehension exercise. (See Unit 18 on LISTENING.) This way teachers wiU
be able to learn by watching your methods. Observing and listening to someone
teach makes more impact than just talking about it. (The tapescripts are in
Appendix C.)
4 MlsullaneollS orpaisatlonal tasks for tulol'S w:11. include:
(a) organising, where possible, classes of students for teaching practice, for Part
Two of the course; this may include grading and testing them and supplying
textbooks for them
(b) supplying materials for making visual aids, i.e. card, paper, glue, sticky tape,
drawing pins, felt pens, rulers, scissors, boxes for storage, magazines, pic-
tures, etc. Also blackboards or firm card covered in sheets of paper in lieu of
a blackboard, chalk etc.
( c) organising rooms with extra blackboards for group work
(d) organising a small library of English Language Teaching books, especially
those recommended in the Further Reading SectioM. Your nearest British
Council Office may be able to help with this, if you are overseas
(e) laying on some system of duplicating to make multiple copies of materials
produced by teachers in Part Two, Section d, Teaching Skills, so they can
each have copies of everything
NB The services of a secretary and a typewriter will be useful if you are
concentrating more on the methodology side and the production of sup-
plementary materials
(f) planning the course and time tabling. If you have genuine students for
teaching practice, who come at a regular time each day, make sure that there
is plenty of time allowed so that a good lesson can be prepared.
5 To find out more about the Royal Society ef Arts qualilkations ( C-ertificate for
Overseas Teachers of English etc.) write to: The Assistant Secretary, RS.A.
Examinations Board, ( C.O. T .E. Scheme), Murray Road, Orpington, Kent, BR5
3RB, or ask at your nearest British Council Office.
NB You would need to apply for details of the scheme at least nine months
before you were planning to begin a course leading to this examination.
6 There are a variety of Dims on English teacbln& available from the British
Council. Some of them may be suitable for your teachers. Contact your nearest
British Council Office or write to The Head, C.I.S. (C-entral Infonnation Ser-
vice), The British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SWl, giving details of
your teaching situation.
Introductory unit
For non-native speaker teachers. especially those who have had difficulties
when attempting to introduce English as the main language of communication in their
classrooms-or who have never taught English m ainly in English before-or t hose w ho
have never taught English at all before now
Nativ•speaker teachers. turn to Unit 1.

Read
& R ead the fol lowing few pages, bearing in mind the discussion poin1s (a) and (b)
on page 3. The wo rds marked • are used in a specialised way and should be
checked in the Glossary at the back of this book.

Why use English?

The language used as the main language for communication in the classroom,
d uring a n English lesson can be fairly extensive and very idiomatic, particularly
at 'inte rmediate•• and mo re 'advanced'" levels* of learning. l n a beginners'
class, gesture a nd tone of voice• are at first more important than 1hc actual words
o r phrases used to tell students what to do and how to do it. But if beginners get
used to hearing nothing but English spoken during their English lesson, they will
very soon understand and later learn to say words like 'good', 'altogether' etc. So
as well as learning the specific language items• that a re actually being taught in
t he lesson, they will also be practising unconsciously a number of language
skills", learning how to listen, to pick out key words* a nd beginning to think in
English for themselves, thereby reducing the amou nt of interference• from L'".
their mo ther tongue. So at t he e nd of the year, a class taught English mainly in
English, will have learnt how to liste n to the flow of English, to infer points from
intonation* and stress*. They will be familiar with using the language for
two-way communicatio n, asking as well as answering questions; they will have
had extra practice in the structures• they have been taught, they will have
acq uired patte rns• and lexis• they have not specifically been taught, owing to the
repetitive nature of classroom situations. They will learn to recognise 'advanced'
structures at an early stage. This will be a great help to them later when they are
'w'ould ~ou cl asked to produce* these structures themselves. Language is much better learnt
uour hMks through real use than through pattern drills and exercises.
.Jpteos-tr
How do I start using English?
E ve n with a class of beginners starting their first English lesson, it is possible to
teach entirely in English. O n the other hand a cla s in its second or third year of
E nglish which is used to receiving all expla nations and instructions in the native
language ( L1 ) is likely to resent the intrusion of English into the English class and
ma ke a fuss. First they must be won over and persuaded of the value of classroom
English. Pe rhaps the best introduction is to appeal to their pride. Now that they
have acquired some knowledge of English. they can use this knowledge in the
classroom. But the students will o nly accept this argument if it can be shown to
wo rk. For example the instruction 'Would you close your books please?' should
at this s tage be accompanied by a clear demonstration . The teacher should pick
up a book from his desk a nd close it as he gives the instruction. If only a few
students understa nd and obey, they should be praised - 'Good. you've closed
your books'. At this stage other students, perhaps a bit slower. will have
2 Introductory Unit

understood and obeyed. If there are still students who do not understand, the
instruction can be rephrased•, (and the demonstration can be repeated), perhaps
in a simpler form - 'Please close your books'. The teacher should not get angry
with students who do not understand. Praise and encouragement are much more
valuable tools for the teacher than anger and punishment, particularly when

---·
students are being asked to do something new.

Ali, I want 4ou Whenever a new classroom item is introduced, it should be accompanied by
to collect tf\e. gesture or demonstration to make the meaning as clear as possible. When the
books. teacher says 'I want to collect your exercise books' he can pick up the first
student's book and hold his hand out for the second. When it is handed to him he
says 'Good. I want to collect all your exercise books'. As he goes round the class
he may say 'I'm collecting your books', then perhaps ask a student 'What am I
doing?' After this has been done on several occasions he may say 'You've done
an exercise for homework. It's in your exercise books. What do you think I want
to do?' As he holds out his hand for the first book perhaps a student will offer
'You want to collect our books', In this way both comprehension and production
can be reinforced•. At this stage many of the students still depend on gesture as
an aid to comprehension. Before long however, the language will be enough. At
the end of the lesson the teacher simply says 'I want to collect your books' and
the words themselves are sufficient to make the students pick up their books and
offer them to the teacher. A simple extension of this at a later stage would be
'Ali, I want you to collect the books', picking up the first two books and handing
them to Ali. The next stage might be 'I want Ali to collect the books', and so on.
It is often said that the best way to learn English is to go to Britain or America
where you can hear people use the language. This is certainly true. Unfortu-
nately many of our students do not have the chance to go to Britain or America,
but they should have the chance to hear their teacher use the language in the
classroom and to use it themselves.

Praise before correction

Neither teacher nor students should worry too much about small mistakes. The
important thing is that students should understand and be understood. If a
student asks the question 'You want collect our books1' he should be corrected
but first and more important, he should also be praised- 'Good, Well done. Yes,
I want to collect your books. You ask the question again so everyone can hear it-
Listen. "Do you want tocolleaour books?" Now you ask. Good'. In this way the
form of the question has been corrected but the student has been given full credit
for making himself understood. This method increases student motivation•, he
will now be keen to try again and not nervous of making mistakes.

To pt your shldents taUdna:

In early Units, in brackets after the substitution tables and sentence patterns, are
the answers the students should be encouraged to make. The teacher will have to
say them first, gesturing to show that that is what the class should say. For
example, even in a class where the present pedect tense has not been taught, the
teacher asks, 'Have you finished that exercise?' The class will soon understand
'finished'. Then the teacher can nod, gesture towards someone who has finished
and say 'Yes, I have', until he can say it. Then the class can say it, too, if they have
finished and they should be praised. After several repetitions of this in following
lessons, the class will respond automaticaJly without needing the help of the
teacher's gestures. They should be especially praised for this.
The same technique• can be used in getting the pupils to speak English in
other circumstances. When a student arrives late, the teacher should stop him
 Introductory Unit 3

using LI by gesturing and giving the necessary words, e.g. 'I'm sorry I'm late', two
or three times, until he can say it, too. Then the teacher can reply 'Good, but
don't be late again. Sit down.' or something else that includes some praise.

How to penuade your students to speak English

By the end of a year, students should have quite a good idea of how to
communicate using English, as well as a far better understanding of spoken
English. The teacher may need to explain this in the mother tongue to a class that
is against the idea. He could also add that they will probably also do better in
their exams and that they will be able to speak a little to any English speaking
people they happen to meet.
It will be some time before the class responds naturally in English. Don't
worry. Every time they say something relevant to the lesson in L1, say it sk>wly in
English and make them repeat it. Praise them, tell them how clever they are and
after a few weeks some students will try things out for themselves.

Discuss
In class, in small groups of 3 or 4, discuss the following questions. Take turns,
within your groups, at being the 'chainnan' who asks the question and who must
make sure that everyone has a chance to speak.
(a) Whatadvantapsaretberelausin&F.ngllshasthemain . . . . .otcommuni-
catlon in the classroom? Diseusa than.
(b) What difficulties might you face, ll!liDa only EJtalisb,
(I) with children or teenage leamen?
(U) whit adalt learners?
Makeallst.
(c) How can you overcome the8e dlfflcultles? (Add to lbe Ust you made in 2.)
1blnk back to:,our teachina and/or learning experience,
(d) What Is said in this lntnMl.udory Unit aboutcorredin& stadenls' errors In oral
F.nglilh? Do you qne?
(e) Can you remember hew you fell wbenyoa flnt bexan leunlng Eagls)I? How
11d your flrsl teacher teach yon? What acdYltlM d.d be use In class? How did
he comict you?
After your group discussions, choose a 'reporter' from your group, and report
your findings to your tutor and the .whole class.
In pairs, discuu the basic aims of this course, as explained in Section 2 of the
Introduction to this course, on page v.
After hlmiDtl: this Introductory Unit, yo11 sltould proceed to Unit 1, then Unit 13,
Were you try any other Units,
Part One
The language of the
classroom: social, personal,
organisational
Unit 1 The beginning
of the lesson
The aims of this Unit are 1 to help teachers to exploit opportunities for conversation in
English at the beginning of the lesson 2 to help teachers to get their students to relax
and accept English as a viable means of communication in the classroom
You will need a set of role play* cards enough for one per teacher
See Introduction, page xii and also Unit 13 'The First Lessons in English '

Preliminary discussion
Discuss in pairs first, then as a class.
1 Do you teach children, teenagers or aduJts? Do you thJnk you shouJd talk to
teenagers and aduJts in the same way as you talk to chJldren in the ~room?
2 What do you usually do when you enter the classroom to begin an English
lesson?
3 Row long do your students' usually take to settJe down and 'tune in•• to
English? Why?
4 What do you usually say at the beginning ofan EngUsh lesson? And what do you
expect your students to say?
S How can a short, Informal chat at the beginning or the lesson help your students
to do well in English?
6 What could you talk about in English during the first few minutes to give
students some practice in genuine communication in English?

' By 'students·, I mean both pupils, i.e. school children, and ad ult learner.;.
6
r
I Unit 1: T he Beginning of the Lesson 7

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Listen to the dialogues on tape without looking at your scripts and rind out what
the teacher is talking about in each case.
Then listen again, this time repeating the teacher's part. Speak as fluently• as
you can, noticing where the stress comes in each group of words. Be careful not
to stress too many words when speaking clearly for beginners. If you do, it will
not sound natu ral. and later on, your class will have difficulties understanding
no rmal English.
[ffl] (a) At school T:' Good afternoon, everybody.

n====,,
Q flfij Ss: Good afternoon, Miss White.
T: We ll, how are you all, today?
Ss: Fine, thank you. and you?
T : Very well, thank you. And what about
O wall you, Marian? How are you?
M: I'm well, thank you, Miss White.
T: Good.

~<. ---
"' ~ Miss White, the teacher, has just entered
the room.

TEACHING HINT The teacher asked Marian, individually, after she had asked
the whole class how they were. Why do you think she did this?
(h) At college
T : I went to the cine ma last night. Did
any ofyou go? ... No? ... Well,
what did you do, ... e r .. . Mr Zand?
Mr Z: . . . er ... I . . . e r ... television.
T : Oh, you watched television, did
you? Which programme?
MrZ: ... cowboys ... American film.
T : A Western? With cowboys? Who
else watched that?
Ss: Yes, I did . A nd me. Very good
film.
T : I'm glad it was good. Right, I want
you to ask yourneighbour what he
did after college yesterday evening.
The teacher has just greeted his class and is Yo u can say, ' What did you do ... .'
now trying to get them 10 chat in English. In twos.come on, ' What did . .. .'

.&or&& TEACIIlNG IIlNT Why does the teacher name the student he wants to amwer
the question AFTER he has asked it? And why do you think he asks his students to
ask their neighbours a question?

2 Language activity
Directing students' attention
[ffl] At certain times during your lessons, for example at the start of a different
activity or a new stage in the lesson, you will need to call all your students to
attention and make sure they are listening. Native speaker teachers commonly
use words like, 'OK', 'Right', ' Now',• Alright'. These words are sometimes called
'ma.rker' wo rds because they mark places in classroom dialogue when something
new is going to ha ppen. (Fo r mo re expressions of this type, see Part One, Unit 5,
'T = Teacher, Ss = Stude nts, S = Stude nt; other letters, like M here, stand for a name
a lready mentio ned in the dialogue.
8 Unit I: The Beginning of the Leuon

Section c, 11) There is no need to say 'Pay attention'. It is not important which
of those words you use; more important is the way you say it. It is the tone of your
voice and your intonation that commands the students' attention.
Listen to these words on the tape and repeat them. Notice whether they have a
falling or rising intonation. Mark each word \ if falling, and I if rising. One
word is the odd one out. Which one? Why?
Alright ... Fine ... Now ... OK ... Right ... Now then ... Right everyone.
Now listen to the extract on the tape and pick out all the 'marker' words.

8 Classroom language
You will need to select and adapt the language suggested in these Sections
throughout this book to suit your own students, bearing in mind their age,
interests. backgrounds, everyday life and so on.
The language you use at the beginning of the lesson and the topics of
conversation will also depend on what day of the week it is, the time of day and
whether or not anything particularly interesting has happened recently. For
example, on the last day of the week, you might get your students to talk about
their plans for the weekend; ifit is the lastdassofthe day, you could get them to
tell you about their most interesting lesson of the day.
Bearing all this in mind, read through the classroom language suggested
below. The teacher's language ison the left, in tables, and in brackets(... ) on the
right are some sample student responses. Ignore anything which is not appro-
priate to your teaching situation; add your own suggestions wherever you can.
See ~ow many different sentences you can make from each table. Remember to
say them in a natural way.
Then work in pairs. one of you being the teacher, the other taking the
students' roles, and try to develop some of the topics of conversation which you
think are suitable for your classes. See if you can keep a conversation going for
one minute (or maybe two). Remember, your aim in_dass is to show your
students that English can be used for communication purposes and that it is not
just another textbook subject to be studied and not used.

Greetings

I everybody.
morning aas.ss. Mr Short.
Good afternoon girls. (Good afternoon, Miss Smith.)
evening girls and boys. Mrs Black.
children.

2 How are you all

Are you all well today? (Fine, thanks, and you?)
How are you this evening? (Very well, thank you.)

Beginning a chat

J did you have a good

Well, did you enjoy the weekend?
did anyone do anything interesting during the holiday?
 Unit I: The Beginniogofthe Le$$0n 9

• What did you do

last night?
yesterday after school?
Tell me what you did at the weekend?
in the holidays?

' Can you tell us

more about that?
football
Cowd whatthe programme was like?

""""
• Oh, you've got a new
.I
shirt
,.,.
hairstyle.
book.
oo.
It's very nic:c. (Thank you.)

T■ldngtumatotpHk

' Just a minute

Waitas«ond
Not you again
""""'·
Kumah,
Mr Zand,
,ou•.-e just said something.
Jet someone ea. have a tum.
,....,,.said a lot today.
Yes,Ali?
Go on, Miss Adberg.

8
OK,can)'Ou
....
"1k to
""""otho,
yovfriood about _ __
your neighbour

Introducing younelf It's a good idea to do this if it is the first time you have
met a class and they don't know you.

' l'Djust
introduce myself.
ten you a bit about myself.
Myoame•·_ _ _ _ ,.,.,,, _ __

II ro= from, _ __
livein, _ __
have been working kl

II And what about you?

Can you introduce · 1 yourselves?

your neighbour to me?

See Part Two, Unit 13 for more about the first lesson with a new class.

Tntyoul'Nlf
&or.&.& After you have practised the classroom language above check your teaming by
doing the exercise below. Possible answers can be found in the tables but try to
do this without looking. You couJd either write the answers down or do this
orally, in pairs, testing each other.

What couJd you say to your class if •••

(a) it was the first time that you had met them
(b) one of your students had had her hair cut
(c) one of the boys had a smart new shirt on
 IO Unit I: The Beginning oflhe Lesson

(d) one or two students kept answering all the time, giving others no chance to
speak
(e) you wanted to start an informal conversation about what students had done
over the weekend
(f) a student told you he had played football, and you wanted to get him to talk
more
(g) another student told you his family had had visitors at the weekend and you
wanted to find out more about them, etc.
(h) you wanted your students to find out from each other what they had been
doing during the holidays, so that they could tell you what their friends had
done
(i) and what should your students say to you after you have said 'Good Morning
Class 5'? Is 'Good Morning, Mrs' acceptable?
Exploitation
1 Unexploited dialogue 2 Poulb ilitiea for exploitation*
Mr Short has just entered the What did the students in Mr Short's
classroom. It's the first lesson after the class (see JI) actually say?
weekend. He misses a lot of chances to What could he have done to get them
get his students talking. What are to talk more?
they? A few ideas he could have used are
found in the 'bal.loons' below. Draw
lines to link each 'balloon' to the part
•n -
" - ~ Good morning.
Ss: Good morning.
T: How are you?
of the dialogue he could have
expanded. One line is done for you.
Ss: Very well, thank you.
T: Did you have a good weekend?
Ss: Yes.
T: Did you play football?
Ss: Yes. ...,__.---=-- , _. o·
T: Good. Have you done your
homework?
trove{ a~ Id anyone
Ss: Yes. the lMee,,,, YWhere at
T: OK, can you collect it, Kumah. .
S · v. "end?
res / ·
while I take the reg':is~te; r_.
?-=-===s===::===:::..,~ T: Oh d '. ----- Went torn .
th. . , td you 7 \A ll,., Yv1ffage.
e Journey t·k· vvi ,at Was
S: I e?
T:-And-What-fi ____ -----------
When you a~ . appened
~ s : --- rivect the.re .7
-------
..._.__ _ _ _ _ _ _33 Oral practice
In groups of3 or 4.
Taking turns to be the ' teacher', practise expanding the dialogue in 1, using the
ideas in the 'balloons', adapting them to suit the interests of your students. Use
the English from Sections b and c in this Unit too. Each 'teacher' could take one
'balloon' to start with. See Appendix A for a list of teaching points that could be
based on this part of the lesson.
 Unit I: The Beginningofthe Lesson 11

4 8ampleexploltatlon'
Listen to the class on the tape. It's the same class as the one you listened to earlier
in this Unit, in Section b, 2, For details and background information about the
teacher and students recorded for this tape, please refer to the Introduction,
page ix.
What you hear in this extract is the very beginning of the lesson, as the
students walk into the classroom and see the recording equipment in action.
They are naturally a bit shy of being recorded and the teacher has to work hard to
warm them up and put them at ease.
- Notice the way in which the teacher rephrases and repeats her questions.
- Why do you think she does not attempt to correct the student who tells the class
about Mohammad being ill?
(If you're not sure about the answer to this question, read the Introductory Unit,
which begins on page 1.)

9 Age.,.toplay
THE CONVERSATION GAME1
In groups of3. One person says something to begin a conversation, e.g. 'I saw a
dreadful accident this morning/last month'. (NB it's easier if you think of
something that really happened.)
The other two people have to ask questions about it to keep the conversation
going as long as possible, without any silences. The conversation doesn't have to
stick to the first topic only; it can develop along any lines that occur naturally to
the spcaken. Time yourselves, and see which person's topic lasted the longest.
A COMPETITION version is fun to play. Each group begins at the same time
with a similar topic set by one person who 1hen becomes the referee for that
particular round, e.g. 'I love going to ... for the weekend/holidays' OR 'Why
don't we make some plans for the next school/class outing'.
The group thal continues the longest without a pause of more than an agreed
time, e.g. 5 or 10 seconds, is the winner.

Role play
1 Activity
Retlnnlngthelw.
Read and cany out the following instructions.
- Arrange your chairs to make separate groups of five or six people, each like a
mini classroom. Use a spare chair as the teacher's desk if there aren't enough
tables for each group.
- Give out the role play cards, face down. Do nol look at each others'. Whoever
gets the card which says 'teacher' acts the teacher's role first then passes it on
at the end of his tum.
- The remaining people act the role of students, intermediate level, and should
behave according to the characteristics on their cards.
- Begin your role play at the point where the teacher enters the classroom and
greets the students. You, as teacher, should spend about two minutes getting
them to chat in English.
- End your role play as you pick up the register" to call their names.

'lbe tapescript for this and future SAMPLE EXPLOITATION Sections are included in
Appendix C for those or you with oo racilities to use the tape.
1 I am indebted to Donn Byrne for the inspiration for this game, which is based on his game

called 'Conversation Gambits', in his book Ttaehing Oral English, Longman, 1976.
eJinnilll or the Lesson

- Remember your aim at this stage in the lesson is to setde the class down and
get a friendJy conversation going that involves all the students. Do not worry if
they make mistakes at this stage. Encourage them to speak and give them time
to answer. You could also ask them to ask each other about what they did last
night or after class, while you listen.
- While you are acting the role of students, if you think your teacher has made a
mistake in English or used a form or expression that does not sound appro•
priate•, do not interrupt the lesson. Instead, note down what you thought was
wrong and check it out,after the role play session, with your tutor. It is very
important for the teacher to use appropriate and accurate English when he is
teaching.
- Take tums playing the role of the teacher, changing all the role play cards and
thinking of something different to say about yourselves each time.

2 Folowupandevaluation
(a)Inyourgroups
Choose a chairman, preferably someone who did not get a tum as teacher. It
is his (or her) job to see that everyone gets a chance to speak in the group
discussion and to report back to the class as a whole.
Thinking back to your role play session, discuss which topics were the most
successfuJ in stimuJatingconversation amongst the 'students'. What type of
questions did the teacher ask in order to get the conversation going? What
differences would there be if you were teaching real students? Would you
perhaps have to give them more time to think of what to say?
(b)Asaclass
Chairmen shouJd make a brief report on the most successful techniques and
topics used in their groups, for the benefit of other groups. Check out any
queries you may have noted down about the use of English.
(c) Onyourown
Write down all the good ideas that you could use in the future, e.g. ideas for
exploitation, types of questions that got students talking. Keep a record of aJI
the language points that have been covered. If you do this for every Unit you
will have a useful set of notes to refer to at a later date.

0 Further reading
(See full Bibliography, p. 190.)
Helen Moorwood (ed)(I 978)pp. 7-8.
Joiner and Westphal(edl) (1978)pp.12-20.
Unit
Checking attendance
The aims of this Unit are 1 to encourage teachers to recognise and exploit
opportunities for authentic communication in English that occur when checking
attendance 2 to point out the dangers of over-simplifying the English they use when
talking to learners and to give practice in rephrasing rather than merely repeating what
has been misunderstood
You will need 1 a 'register' for each group of 5 or6 teachers 2 role play cards giving
details of absences etc.
See page 18, Section e, 1, for details of how to make t hem

Don't
know.
Sorr~!

E) Preliminary discussion
.& .& -+ a.•a.•a.•& 1 Which do your students usually find easier to do: speak English or understand
.& English? Why?
2 (a) If a teacher speaks slowly and clearly to his class, It is probable that his
pronunciation•, intonation and st~ will be unnatural. True/False?
(b) Students who only hear English spoken slowly in the classroom will have
difficulties in understanding English outside the cla~room, True/False?
3 Some students who understand English quite well often do not try to speak
English in cllw. What reasons can there be for this?
4 What kind of classroom atmosphere is best for encouraging quiet students to
use English: fonnaJ* or informaJ•, friendly or strict? Why?
S What could you say to your class to let them know you want to stop chatting and
call the register?
6 What topics of conversation may occur naturally when you are taking the
register at the beginning of the lesson?

13
14 Unit 2: Checking Allcndance

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Listen to the tape without looking at the scripts, then practise together in pairs,
helping each o ther with pronunciation.
(a) At school T: Let's see if everyone's here. Are you
listening?
S: Yes, Miss White .
T: Right! Hossein?
S: Yes.
T: Ali? ... Does anyone know where Ali
is? Is he absent?
S: I don't know. Perhaps he's ill.
T: Yes, he might be. Alright.

Mi.ss White, the teacher, picks up the register.

TEACHING HINT Here the teacher announces what she is going to do next,
saying, 'Let's see if everyone's here'. Why is it a good idea to say what you intend
to do next?

!•;=;SI (b) Atcollege T: Oh Mrs Ad berg! I'm glad you're back.

You've missed four lessons!
S: Excuse me? l ...
T : You were absent for four lessons last
week.
S: Oh yes. I was ill. I had ... e r .. .
T: A cold? O h, I'm sorry. But you'll catch
up, won't you?
S: Yes. of course. Was it Unit I 2?
T : Yes, that's it. Good.

e teac er1Sm en
register.

.&or&.& TEACHING lllNT The teacher rephrases when Mrs Adberg doesn't under-
stand , but he still speaks fairly quickly with normal stress. Why is this a good
idea?
2 Language activities
Rephrasing practice
.& .& (a) Complete these dialogues, rephrasing the questions to help the students to
understand. Then compare with you r neighbour and practise saying the
dialogues together, taking parts.
T: Does anyone know where Paula is today?
S: Sorry?
T:
T : Well. There's nobody e lse away today. is there?
S: Sorry, what did you say?
T:
(b) Now make a list of all t he ways you can think of of telling someone that you
don't understand. Wo rk with your neighbour. Which of these would you
teach to your students? List them here, for future reference.
 Unit 2: Checking At

Useful phrases for students: e.g. Sorry? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

(c) Now listen to the tape and see what happens when one student did not
understand something that another student had said. The teacher is getting
them to practise talking about the future, using the present continuous form
for planned events and the 'wi/J' form to express uncenainty.

a,. Classroom language

In Unit 1, each set of tables had a heading, e.g. INTRODUCING YOURSELF.
In this Unit, thero, are spaces for you to write suitable headings, marked thus:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Begin by writing the headings,
From the substitution• tables below you can make a lot of different correct
sentences by selecting one word or phrase from each section and reading across.
How many different sentences can you make from each substitution table?
Practise saying them out loud, as fluently and naturally as possible. Then say
them again, slightly more clearly but without changing the stress and intonation
and using gestures appropriate to a beginners' class. Be careful not to stress any
forms that are normally weak, just because you are speaking to beginners.

I call the roll.

I'm going to
take the register.
I'll
call your names.
Right! Listen while I
Now!
see if you're all here.
OK! who's absent.
Quiet, now, please. who is absent.
let'ssee if everyone's here.
if anyone's away.

2 (Yes, Lee is.)

anybody absent?
(Yes, I think so.)
everybody here?
(No, I think Lee is away.)

3 (Sorry, I don't know,)

'sMrZand?
Where (Oh, he's coming in a minute.)
are Rosa and Kumah? (They're just coming.)

• Does anyone know

Docs anybody know
where
Leeis?
Pari and Rooa are?
(No, I'm sorry, I don't.)

Who knows
Can anyo11e tell me wh<n Gustav will be back? (Perhaps he/she ...)

.& & Now practise the items below in pairs. One person take the pan of the teacher,
the other take the student's part. Then change over. Notice that some are
alternative forms which have the same meaning. Add to the language suggested
here to make a natural sounding conversation. Rephrase wherever you can.
 ri
16 Unit2:C'hectingAttendance ''

5 AH nice.
Ob. you're back. That's
Mrs Meyer good.

• You've
been absent for 3 days
missed 6 le$$00S I haven't you? (Yes, I have.)

7
You were
........., "" -··
......
Tuesday,
weren't you? (Yes, I was.)

• What was the matter?

Why were you away?
Have you been ill?
(Well, I was iU.)
(Yes, I have. I had a oough.)
(I was iU.)

• Oh?
Oh dear.
Tell me about it.
Sorry to hear that.
(Well, I bad a bad cold.)
(I bad an accidenL)

10 Areyou betler now? (Yes, thanks.)

Do you feel

11 catchup won't you?

You'll have to
Well.Ali, to help you. (Yes,alright)
Well, Mr Kamali, ask your friends
to lell you what we've done.

1l Come and see me after the lesson, OK? (Yes, I will.)

Stay behind after the lesson and fll see you.
Right! Now we'll get on with the lesson. Ready?

T-yoanolf
.&or&& Work on your own, writing what you would say, or work in pairs, orally. Possible
responses can be found in the tables above. Where necessary, name the student
you are talking loor about.
Whal can you say 10 your class if , ..
(a) two of your students are not present at the beginning of the lesson
(b) a student has returned to your class after four days' absence
(c) you are about to begin taking the register
(d) you think everybody is present but you are not sure
(e) a student has been absent for two weeks and has got behind in his work
(f) someone was away yesterday and you don't know why- he looks well today
{g) you wanted 10 know why a student has been away, and encourage him lo talk
about it
 Unit 2: Checking Attendance 17

~ Exploitation 2 Pouibilltiea for exploiution

1 Unexploited dialogue Here, in the 'balloons', are some of the
Mr Short is taking the register. He things he could have talked about.
misses a lot of chances to cstabUsh Draw lines to link the balloons with
rapport• and to have a genuine the part of the dialogue he could have
conversation with his class. What are expanded. Fill the gaps with
they? something suitable.

, · Oh. you1ve got..a

T: Kumah? new.sweo.tex on -tJXJoY.
S: Yes, present.
T: Pari? ... Pari? Absent? s ·Yes ·e
S: Yes. : Oh it 100KS ~\\C ·
i,, 0not 'oo you. ~;\nk of
T: Marian?
S:Yes.
T:Ali? \, · t ·everyone ·
S: Here.
T: Gustav?
I \ . \ \l ke the co\our-.
5. ..---------
~
S: Yes.
T: Oh, Gustav, you're back, good.
Rosa?
~ S: Present.
,:
5 : ------- - - ---- ---- ----
-------------
~ T: Lee? ... Lee?
"\. S: Yes.
I>.. T: Oh, I didn't recognise you, today.

~'\ S: Ha~~
Yes.s ?
etc....
~~~~ • w1,,11t W0.5 fue,
53 . r 11..,47

, · t<urno.h ! ASK mo.tte( . ------

v,'1. m ~hY he wo.s 0-~-~Y _i_ 52 : l no.d -----~eor
h --- , ·. O'n, s_(}_rrYto -,

~~~~==-- ---· ---..

i '
51 : '!'Ii y\\--\--;;;-;;sn't t ~ E R 6El'S SllJDENTS TD

Sn •. \/\Je I
,~
tr\0. • E:NQUl~E - -TOGIVE THl=-M 1----......:.-=..::.:~~J
PF<AC,-lCE.

- ~v,1~el~\.
~ 3 Oral practice
l.a,l.a, In groups of3 or 4. Taking turns to be 'teacher', practise expanding the dialogue
in a similar way to the ideas in the balloons. Add ideas of your own. When you
have run out of ideas, look in Appendix A for other ways to exploit this
classroom situation and practise those together, too.

4 Sample exploitation
lf:!11 Just listen to the example of an exploited dialogue on your tape. How does this
teacher exploit the situation?
It's the same class that you heard earlier in this Unit, in the Language Activity
section, when they were talking about their future plans, only this extract is from
the beginning of the lesson. Listen two or three times and count the number of

r
:
- - - - - - - - -d~i:.:,:fi~
JlHJnPO
erent teases that the teacher uses, although the class has not in fact ' learnt'
. nETl'OBO,KA themtll at this stage. They understand. from the situation what is meant, and try
or O <\ CHA ,QEP>KABHA to ad comments of their owo, for fun, and to experiment with the language they
.-, ; "- 616ntOTEF<Ahave earned recently, in this case, the present simple tense.
·· • - ~· i "lk teacher has just picked up the class register, after an introductory chat.
18 Unit2:CheckingAttendaDl.:e

Role play
1 ""1lvlty
Read and carry out the foUowing instructions.
- In groups of about 6. Arrange your chairs to make separate groups. Put a
chair, a table or a desk for the 'teacher' to put the register on.
- You need IO role play cards. They will all have names on and some will have
dte number of times that particular student has been absent and dte reason for
his absence written on them. The register sheet should match the cards. One
card will say 'Teacher'.
- Give out the cards face down, in each group.
- Read them to yourselves, and 'learn' your name and your role. The spare
cards are the students who are absent.
- The 'teacher' will call and mark the register. Students should answer, •yes' or
'Here' or 'Present'.
- The teacher must find out why students have been away, and what has
happened to the absentees, ifhe can. The teacher should try to develop a short
conversation around each situation and try to elicit• replies or ideas from the
class.
- When you arc the 'teacher' use whatever language comes naturaUy to you and
remember to rephrase where necessary. Bear in mind how you could exploit
this situation to make a meaningful context for teaching something.
- The level of your class is late elementary.
- Begin your role play announcing that you are going to take the register. End
when you have gone through all the names. This should take 5 minutes.
- When the first 'teacher' has finished, coUcct the role play cards and shuffle
them. Redistribute them, making sure somebody different gets the 'teacher's'
card each time.
- Remember to play your role and not to interrupt your teacher if you disagree
with what he says or does. Make a note of it to discuss with him and your tutor
later.
2 Follow . . ■ndevaluatlon
(a) In your groups
Choose a 'reporter' (preferably someone who did not get the chance to be a
'teacher'). His task will be to report back to the class as a whole on how your
role play went. Help him to compile his report by discussing the following
points: what did the teacher do? how did the students behave? what language
was practised? which situations were exploited? what problems were there?
how useful was it?
(b)Asadan
'Reporters' take turns reporting on their role play 10 the clas.s and problems
can be discussed together.
Check on language point5 with your tutor.
(c) On your own
Write down all the good ideas that may come in useful later on. Keep a
record of the language points that have been discussed. (See Unit 1, Sec-
tion e,2(c).)
Unit Physical conditions
in the classroom
The aims of this Unit are 1 to encourage teachers to use polite requests rather t han
imperative forms in the classroom and in general to use in the classroom the kind of
English that is acceptable to the outside world 2 to create an awareness of the
importance of intonation patterns and their significance
You will need 1 cue cards with specific details of weather or classroom conditions
on them (1 per group, + 2). See page 24 2 role play cards stating personality and ability
level. See page xii. ·

Preliminary discussion
1 ln what ways does your climate affect your students? Consider season changes.
Do you as a nation talk about the weather In the same way as the British do? What
ldnd or things do you say about the weather?
2 How does your weather affect physical conditions In the dassroom? What ki.nd
or acijustments do you sometimes have to make to doors, windows, beaters or
cooling systems and lights, etc. to make your students as comfortable as possible?
How do you talk about these things In English? What can yoo ask students to do?
3 lf, on en.tering the classroom, yoo ftnd It Is too hot and stuffy (or cold and
draughty), what do you say to your cllm?
4 Polite Requests are used more often than lmpe.rative forllL'J In social situations
outside the classroom. True/False?
Give some examples orsituations In real life where Polite Requests are used rather
than Imperative rorllL'J.
5 ln a beginners' class, how could you help make the meaning or a Polite Request
clear to your students without translating It for them? ( See Part Two , U nit 13,
Section c , 1-3, page 88.)
6 Imagine you are In a bus in Britain; the window In front or yoo Is wide open but
you can't reach it to close it yourself'. What woold you say to the person next to the
window to ask him to dose It, if be was:
(a) a complete stranger to you and very smartly dressed?
(b) a student from your college whom yoo don't really know?
(c) a friend or yours?
(d) a naughty child who bad just opened the window to annoy you?
19
20 Unit 3: Physical Conditions in the Classroom

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogue•
Listen to these dialogues on tape noticing which words carry most stress. Listen
again, this time underlining the stressed words. See if you can say it with the tape,
keeping the same rhythm. Now listen again. noticing the intonation patterns.
Finally play the tape, stopping aher each polite request to repeat it as fluently as
possible, imitating the intonation patte rn. Notice that it is sometimes the intona-
tion and not the form which makes it polite.

(a) Atscbool Good afternoon, everyone. Quiel.

-------- T: now, please! It's terrihly hot in he re.
isn't it?
Ss: Yes.
T : Well, look! Could you lwo open those
windows please, and let some air in?
Those windows. Yes. Could you open
them?
S: Yes.ofcourse.
T: Thanks. Now! Hossein. can you open
that window over t here? Thank
you....
S: That's a lright.
T: That's much better. Everyone sit down
The room is hot, stufly and crowded. now.could you? Quietly! Sit down.
Good.

&or&& TEACHING mNT Why do you think the teacher uses a question tag ('isn't it,')
when commenting on the heat? (It's not really a In.le question; the teacher knows
the answer herself.)

l'i-=;;'] (b) Atcollege T : Good evening, everyone. Don' t you

w,,,, ..,,., think it's cold in here? It's dark as we ll.
isn't it?
S: It's always cold in here.
T: I'm afraid it is. Mr Lofti, would you
I mind turning that heater up please?
Ye~. upl And . . . er Mrs Meyer, will you
check that heater next to you? Is it on?
Miss Cheng. tum those lig hts o n, would
you? Thank you ... OK. That·~ helter.

The room is cold, crowded and dim.

TEACFO NG HINT The teacher asks the STUDENTS to do things, rather than do
them himself. Do you think this is a good idea? Why? There are at least 3 reasons,
maybe more.

2 Language activities
Intonation practice
(a) Listen to the tape. The teache r is asking different students to do things. You
can tell from her into natio n if she is asking politely or not. See if you can
distinguish between the polite and no t so polite requests. Repeat o nly the
polite ones.
(b)The following comme nts do not function as true questions: they arc state-
ments of fact. The 'question· tags are said with a falling into nation to indicate
that the speaker is sure of the truth of what he is saying; the tag serves to elicit
agreement only.
 Unit 3: Physical ConditiDDS in the Clasuonm 21

Listen to the tape:

It's very hot in here, isn't it'?
We've had i.Jotofrain today, haven't we'?
It's got stuffy in here, hasn't it'? etc. See Section c.
Then repeat.

3-ntlangaaga
Make a list here of things your students may need to tell you or ask you about
being too hot or cold etc, e.g. Excuse me, I'm too cold.

(9 Classroom language
Revise Section b, 2 (b ), before you begin this section.
& Practise saying out loud sentences from the tables below. Speak as fluently as
possible. Distinguish between statements of fact and true questions. (See Section
b, 2 (b).) With 'or' questions, the intonation rises before the 'or', but falls at the
end of the second question.
Select the language appropriate to school children or adult learnen. In some
cases. it is suitable for both.

I hol
wooy
rather (Yes.)
bright
abi1 in this room, (Yes, it is.)
Ir's stuffy isn't it?
loo in here, (No, it's alright.)
oold (No, it's OK.)
"'' d"k
draughty

2 sunny
(Yes, it is. rather.)
Isn't it rather hol
inhere? (I think it's alright.)
Don't you think it's too ,old
(It's alrisht for me.)
duk

3 hol are you OK?

Is it too oold 01 can you work alright? (I don't mind.)

"'"' can you see alright?

4 terribly
It's untidy in here, isn't it?
"''
awfully
noisy

5 • untidy for me to teach in.

It's much too
I noisy for you to hear me .

• • tidy up, would you?

"'= settle down,
be quiet,
will you?
could you?
:1
'1
I 22 Unit 3: Physical Conditions in 1he Oassroom

i
i 7 light
lights
would
yoo '"m "'°'"
air conditioner
(I wiD!)

"""" "'"'
on?
•••
·~
switch (1'11 do it!)
off?
"" will """"'"' put
""
heater
(I can!)

radiators

8 We need
light
I think we need
Don't we need th, lights
00
1
!
I don't think WC need
We don't need """"
heater

9 •
Will
Co""'
Cao
yo,
"'"""~
"""
switch

"'' turning
"<hem °"
off
_, (Alright.)
(I'A doit.)
(I will.)
Would
'°"
somebody
mind switching
putting

10 • we can see better.

Thoo
So ......
we'll be able to
keep warm.
keep cool.
get on.

11

Would
Co,Jd you
- ·-
"°"
shut
the window nearest you
"""'°'
the shutters
draw the curtains
let the blinds down
,...,.,
u
.....
I switched
the heating on?
the heater off?
(No, that's a good klea.)

..... ... ..,.,

Would you mind if the lights on?
(No, that'd be fine.)

the windows I open?

13
.,._ could you
wouldyou
wiDyou
go and
... ........
...''"" somebody
M,
....,._. ...
to mend
light?
heater?
rool,,1

AINIH'theC'Olldltlone.are perfect ...

14
tidy up
You've remembered to
Good. open the windows
Oh! That's nice.
Well done.
What a nice
w,nn
oool dassroom,
'°"'''
Ody
 Unit 3: Physical Conditions in the Classroom 23

Tootyaunelf
What would you say to your pupils/teenage students/adult students if you
wanted one of them to
(a) open the windows (give a reason)
(b) switch the lights on or off (say why)
(c) tidy up the room
(d) tum the fan (or the heater) on or off
(e) report that something needed repairing
What could you ask. your students to do if you were teaching them how to use
polite requests beginning with 'Would you mind_ ing .. .'?
What verbal response would you teach your students to give when carrying
out the action requested?

14> ,Exploitation
u_,,........_..
t,a 2 P--foroxploltrion
Here, in the 'balloons' are some ways
he could have got his students to
speak. Link each balloon with the part

~-
of the dialogue he could have involved
Mr Short is about to begin a lesson
them in.
with an intermediate class but the
room is very noisy being next to a main
road in the town. He could have used
....
this situation to give his students a
chance to speak. How?
T: Gosh! It's noisy in here!
S: Traffic •.. outside .•• bad!
T: Noisy,yes.OKShutthose
windows, then.
S: Ycs, Mr Short.
T: Right ... T: A-lew, the-wea.ther has
S: MrShort?lt'stoohot! changed, hasn't it? s:
T: Let's have the door open a bit. What W.:19 it like l a s t ~ ? T:
Who can re.member •
You, will you open the door
please?
s. ·-··----·----··----------
T: ~s. Who knows what TeA.cl-teR USES ISn'l,.IA.TION
S: Yes, alright. ~ WOQt.het" ts lik¢. in TO CC>NT't=XTVAUSe; t.-eXIS-
6'"1taln at t.his time ON CUM;lo.~.
T: Better? Right, let's get on now. of the. year ?

3-1...-..
Take turns to be 'teacher', take one 'balloon' each and expand the dialogue in
a similar way; add your own ideas or even change the theme if these ideas

......._
are unsuitable. Use gestures to encourage your 'students' to talk. More ideas for
exploitation (topics for conversations, structures to practise, etc.) in Appen•
dixA .

Before this extract, som·e of the students had been talking about a football match
that had been cancelled because of the rain, the previous day. The teacher is
beginning to draw the introductorychatto a close ready to start the lesson. Some
of the students had not be~ interested in the footbaJI and were starting to get
restless.
Listen carefully. What useful language items do you think the students might
eventuaDy 'pick up' from similar situations in following lessons? What points
does the teacher actuaJly get the students to practise here?
24 Unit 3: Physical Conditions in 1he Classroom

Role play
1 Activity
MaklngthestudentsascomfortableasP<l'$ible
Split into two groups, one at each end of the room. For this role play session, you
need to make your own role play cards which the 'teacher' will work from. The
cards must be adapted from this example to suit the climate and conditions in
your country.

YOU~ CI.ASSROOM IS :
•Wt~
• cold.
• dra.ught_y [0t,e......., is difficult to c i - ]
• lhe hea:ti.ng
is Ol'll:Y Ot'1 lbw [ It may~ lie worki" J
• It~ winter

Obviously, if you work in tropical Africa, this card is not relevant. Make 3
different cards in each group, then exchange them -give them to the other group
to use, and they will give you theirs.
- The 'teacher' selects a card without having seen it.
- Begin your role play as the teacher enters the classroom, calls the class to
order, and sees to the things that need doing (referring to the card). Mime the
actions.
- End when the conditions are as near to ideal as they can be, saying something
like, 'OK that's fine, now. Thanks'.
- Then change over. A new 'teacher' with a fresh card,
- Remember to ask students politely to do things, rephrase wherever possible
and use gesture to help them.
- The class should pretend to be at a fairly elementary level and may not atways
understand the first time.

2 Follow . . andevaluetlon
(a) In your groups
Choose a group secretary whose job it will be to make notes on the following
points: which situation did you find the most relevant to your own teaching
conditions? which topics of conversation produced the best discussion and/or
most participation from the 'students'? which items on your syllabus do you
think you could contextualise in this way?
What language problems, if any, cropped up?
(b)Asadass
Discuss each others' lists of points and clarify language points with your
tutor.
 nit Gettingorganised:
seating, books, blackboard
The aims of this Unit are 1 to help teachers in the selection of socially appropriate
forms to use when organising the room. Social appropriacy is of ten more vital to
communication than grammatical accuracy, and it depends on compar.ative status of
teacher and students, according to age, social position, etc. 2 t o show teachers how to
involve students act ively in the organisation, using English purposefully and for genuine
communication, as instructions are given and carried out, thus illustrating English in use
and developing a spirit of co-operation between teacher and students
You will need 1 role play cards giving personality and ability(as Uni.t 3) 2 3 or4 board
rubbers or extra dusters for cleaning the board

Preliminary discussion
1 (a) How far is it posmble for you to rearrange your c~rooms? Can you make
enough space for students to act out a dialogue or do their role play in front of
the class, or to rearrange seating for group work?
(b) If your classrooms a.re overcrowded or have faxed desks, could you use the
gangways for acting? or the corridor or playground?
2 It's sometimes possible to arrange the seating in a circle or semi-circle(s). What
advantages do you think this arrangement has for language learning? (Put
yourself in the studen~ • position.)

3 (a) What organisatlooaJ tasks do you and your students have to do before you
can begin teaching? Could you ask your students to help you?
(b) Are the.r e any tasks you could ask childnn to do but not adulJs? Why?

4 How can gesture and mime help your students to understand when you are
rearranging things? Do yoo know of any gestures you use in your coontry that
would not be understood by EnglJsh native speakers?
S If students can be involved in helping their teacher bow can this help them to
learn English? (See AIMS above. Give at least 2 reasons.)
6 lmagine yourself in a c~room. You want the seating arranged in a semi-
circle. Your students are intermediate level. How would you ask if they were:
(a) children
(b) adults whom you knew weU
(c) adults whom you hadn't taught before
(d) adults you knew but whose professional status was above your own, e.g.
company directors?
25
26 Unit 4: Getting Organised: Seating, Books, Blaekboa.rd

G) Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Notice the difference in register• between these two dialogues. The second is far
more formal and more appropriate for aduJt students than the first , which is
suitable for younger students in school. 1n the second dialogue, the teacher
makes four requests, all equally polite, but using a different pattern each time.
The fourth request, 'And-er-a table between the circles' does not need 'Could
you put .. .' in order to make it polite. It is sufficient to use a polite intonation
pattern as this request is the fourth in a row. Even an imperative followed by
'please' can be polite if the into nation is polite, andi the polite form is understood
from an earlier request. Listen and repeat both dialogues.
~ (a) At sdlool T: Now. Please could someone clean the
blackboard?
SJ: Yes, I will!
S2: No,Me!
SJ: Oh please.can I?
T: OK. Wait a minute. Put your hands
down. Now let's see ... Now then, not
you - you did it last time. Er ... it must
be Lisa's tum. Alright, Lisa? Would
you clean the board, please? He re 's
the cloth. Here you are . . . Thank you,
Lisa.

The teacher wa,1rs someone to clean the board.

&or& ii TEACHING HINT The teacher nominates Usa and then repeats the request,
using a polite form. Why does she repeat It, and why does she use a polite form to a
child?
T : Could ... er . .. could someone help
me please? While I clean the board.
l'f::MI! (b) At college
SI: )will.
T: Fine. Thank you. If you would just
arrange these chair.; in a circle, here;
and could you perhaps make another
circle over there . . .?
Ss: Like this?
T : That's lovely! And then, ... er .. . a
table between the two circles. .. .
That's fine. Thank you.

The teacher is getting ready to do some

group work.

TEACHING HINT Why do you think the teacher cleans the board himself?

2 Language activities
Appropriacy and intonation: discrimination• exerclw
Listen to these requests on tape. Distinguish between those suitable for (a)
children or an informal group of adults, and (b) a more formal group of adults
who you don't know very well or whose professional status is above your own.
Remember, the intonation alone may tell you. Repeat those appropriate to your
teaching situation.
 Unit4:Getting0rganised:Seating,9ooks.Blackboard 27

1 Could you possibly move your chair this way a bit, please?
2 Would you clean the blackboard please, just lhe lop haJf?
3 Would you mind moving back a bit, please?
4 Er ... would you mind moving back a bit, please?
5 Please can you ... er ... arrange yourselves in groups of six?
6 Could you get into groups of six please now?
7 Now, you'D need your blue books for to4ay's lesson, please.
8 Can you get your blue books out now please. Hurry up! Blue books!
(Listen also to the tape for Unit 6, Exploitation Section which is partially

-
relevant here too.)

Stand up and say some of these requests again, making suitable gestures to help
clarify the meaning, as if for elementary students. Then choose a request from those
above and make the appropriate gestures without saying the words. Can your friends
gueu whu:h one you are doing? Quiddy each have a tum at making your friends
guess until you are all good at making clear gestures.

(9 Clauroom language
There are a lot of tables in this Unit. They can be divided into four main sets. Before
you begin to practise them, scan through them ail rapidly to see what they are about,
then fill in the numbeIS that are missing from this short paragraph.
In this Unit, Tables 1 to _ _ _ concern the blackboard, while Tables
_ _ _ to _ _ _ deal with the organisation of desks and chairs and tables.
Tables _ _ _ to 14 are directions to students concerning their own books and
papers and so on, and the final set of tables, _ _ _ to _ _ _ deal with the
giving out of books and papers during the lesson.
Now write suitable headings above each set of tables, using the above para-
graph to help you.
&& Taking one set of tables at a time, mark the language that is appropriate to
your teaching situation, then practise it in pairs. Try not to read sentences
directly from the tables; look at a table, select, silently, an appropriate sentence,
memorise it, look up and say it from memory, as naturally as you can. Try to be
critical of your neighbour's intonation; notice where the stress should fall and
look out for weak forms that should be spoken more quickly. Remember, only
practise items that you will use in your teaching situation; for example, if you
only teach adl.llts you may nol need to ask them to clean the blackboard for you,
in which case go on lo the next sel.

I
Plouo
=
=wd
will M-~
you
.... the blackboard?
the whiteboard?
(Yes, I will.)
(Mel)

2 you (No I'll do it.)

Would someone deaning the board, please.
(Alright.)

3 .... ......, ....

Just dean
l.ea,e
Don't clean
.
,lhis,
scc:tinn.
pon.
bit.
side.
i.,
""
Only
bit.
section. Thank.you.
 r
28 Unit 4: Oetting Organised: Seating., Books, Blackboard

(Yes, of course.)
4 top left-hand (C.ertainly, Mr Shon.)
Could you clean the corner, please?
booom right-hand (This bit, here?)
(Here do you mean?)
5
Mease could you rnb
wipe
off the
words
sentences
drawings
on the ••
right
at the
top?
bottom?

• ""' I Clean
everything
it all I off,
please.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Leave this on

7 straightening the chairs (Yes, OK.)

moving up (along) a bit (No,OK.)
Now! Would you mind moving back a bit please? (Yes, alright.)
sitting in groups of 4 (No, alright.)
making a bigger space here (Alright.)

• Will
,11
straighten your desks
tidy your desks
two put all your books/files/papers straight
Could please?
Would "'" both
three
put that rubbish in the bin
move your desk this way
make a gangway through here

• ,,
"P
chair(s) along
Could you m~, yoo, desk(s) b,d< ?
Would you table(s) forward please
I want you to this way
that way

turn your chair round

10 3?
If you could . arrange yourselves
to make
4?
Could you possibly to form groups of
arrange your chairs 6?
Please would you
'" 8?
See Units 8 and 9.

--·~·
II English books
Right!
blue books
Now! just
Yo• your exercise books out.
Alright! ooly
notebooks and pencils
OK. workbooks

12 materials
didn't finish
slieets
were using
You'll need
Could you get out th,
worksheets
polycopies
W<
yo• "'' IMt '=
week .--.
Would you find handouts
passages
boob
"'"'
handed round
gave out
time
 Unit 4: Getting Organised: Seating, Books, Blackboard 29

IJ
Haven't you
,,,. =you
bro>,ght yours? Well, you'll have to share with your neighbour.
you'd better
Have you
""'
14 Pw all your other books and papers away.
No others! That's all.
You only want the sheets I told you to get out.
Ready? ~t'sget on.
You don't need these books. Not those.
Ready? Now we can start.
Not that book. The other one. The red one.

15
I have some
. ..,.,
new books
worksheets
to give out
to hand round
today.

I
16
Please will yo11
I give these out, Susan?
help Susan? I Thanks.
I
17
.... these papen
this work
ba<k
ro,od
along
please.

11 Take one and pass them on. They're for you to keep.
Hand these papers round please. You may have them to keep.

1, I'm afraid you can't keep them.

I want these back please. Alright?
I want them bact. at the end of the lesson. OK?
You must give them in again so please don't write on them.

&or&& T--lf
Select only those situations from below which concern your teaching situation.
As before, either work in pairs, testing each other orally, or work on your own,
writing down appropriate responses before checking them in the tables.
What can you say if you want
(a) a child to clean the blackboard for you?
(b) a student to clean the writing off the blackboard, but leaving one particular
picture on the board?
( c) the class to straighten their desks and generally tidy up?
(d) a class of teenage or aduJt students to arrange their desks, etc. to make a nice
large space for some acting or role play in the classroom?
(e) your students in groups of six, as far as possible facing each other?
(f) your class to have only the one or two books or papers that they really need
on their desks? (Say which ones)
(g) some students to share books because one or two students have forgotten to
bring theirs?
(h) a student to give out.some polycopies or worksheets?
(i ) two or three students to pass round some reading passages that must be
coUected again at the end of the lesson?
(j) to tell your class what books or materials to bring with them for their next
lesson with you?
' 30 Unit 4: Getting Organised: Seating, Books, Blackboard

(D 1Exploitation
The Exploitation Section in this Unit is different from other Units. This is
because when you are getting organised it is usually just before you start to teach
something or start to do a different activity and you try to be as quick and
efficient as possible. You do not want to stop to hold a conversation at this point
in the lesson. When you are giving instructions to a dass you generally use
language as eoonomicaUy as you can, combining language with gestures and
demonstration to aid communication. You expect your students to carry out
your instructions without unnecessary talking. So this language, the language of
instruction-giving, does not need to be exploited in the same way as the language
of other Units.
You may well ask, 'So why use English at all for giving instructions; Why not
revert to the mother-tongue? It will probably be quicker .. .' There are however
two big advantages in using English here:
(a) It is an authentic use of English, used for a real purpose, thus iDustrating the
communicative value of English.
(b) 1be language used in the classroom when giving instructions is very similar to
real life, basic everyday English. H teachers use English to organise the
lesson, students will become familiar with many common expressions and
will find later on that they can use them themselves after very little practice.
Also their receptive skills will be developed as they listen.
2 Below are some situations in real life where similar language is commonly
used. The social settings are varied; a different register of language will be
needed for most of them.
In groups, prepare to role play ill least one of these situations so that you have
direct experience of how the language you can use in the classroom relates to
such situations in the outside world. Perform them in front of each other, or if
you need larger numbers, combine groups.
Refer back to Section c before you begin. See also Appendix A.

.......,......_
1 Getting out of a crowded bus.
2 Getting on to a packed underground train.
3 Queuing to buy a ticket for the cinema or football, then finding your way to
your seat in a dark cinema or crowded football stands.
4 Giving instructions to the painter and decorator who are to paint your house.
5 Asking a car mechanic to carry out the necessary repairs to your car.
6 Organising the members of a sports team (football, hockey, volley ball, etc.)
into various positions on a pilCh. (Starting position, position for a free kick, etc.)
NB 1, 2, 3, involve the use of fairly formal polite language, and 4, S, 6, less
fonnal, more directive.

.. 0 Roleplay
1 Activity
1bere are three different situations in this Unit, all of which are useful for
teachers at any level, teaching children and adults.
You could split up into 3 separate groups, one near the blackboard and the
other two in different areas of the room, and each group begin with a different
situation, moving on after a decided time. (Allow about 3 minutes per 'teacher'
in each group.)
Situation (a) can be made into a game which may be more fun than acting it
 Unit 4: Getting Organised: Seating, Books, Blactboud 31

'straight'. For the game, follow the instructions in brackets as well as the ordinary
instructions.
Situalion (b) needs quite a large group to be effective, at least 12, so you may
need to combine for this one. Situation (c) can be a fairly small group.

(a) CleanlD1dieboard
- Get the members of your group to draw and write in various sections of the
board, so that the whole board is covered.
(1be 'teacher' can ask members of the class to draw or write a particu1ar thing.
If the teacher asks politely and appropriately the student should do it, If the
teacher makes a request in an inappropriate way the student should say
nothing ~ remain seated. If he moves, he is out.)
- 'Teachers' take turns asking students one by one to wipe off particu1ar items,
one section or one item at a time. Do this quickly. Keep the pace• up.
(Again, as above, 'teachers' can try and catch students out by varying the type
of request-polite or inappropriate. You couJd also insist on 100% accuracy as
well. If the 'teacher' makes a mistake, the student should not move.)

(b)-dlaln..--ro.......,.,..................
- Decide on who is the 'teacher' and what size groups you will need for your
lesson. (4 or 5)
- Using appropriate gestures and language the first 'teacher' shouJdget the class
to sit in the groups he requires, neatly, properly spaced, facing inward so they
can talk easily. If desks are fixed, students will have to tum round to make a
group.
- Cliange 'teachers'. The new teacher should make the class arrange their chairs
back into orderly rows. Or, if the desks are fixed, he should get the class to tum
round and sit facing the front in an orderly fashion.
- A third 'teacher' can then announce he is going to do some pair work, and
organise the class accordingly. Students should be encouraged to face each
other when speaking.to each other. Another 'teacher' can arrange other
different sized groups in a similar way. Remember that gestures help save time
in this situation.
- 'Students' play roles according to their role cards. There are often one or two
unco-operative students in each class, who take a long time to react, and other
students who get impatient and start chatting. 'Teachers' must be aware of
problem students.

( < ) 6 -... - ........

- Each 'teacher' can decide which items from among the books, papers, pens
and notebooks he wants the students to have ready, and why. (He should
decide in advance what activity his class will be doing.)
- The 'teacher' should begin by announcing what he is going to do, and then ask
the students to get out the relevant books, papers, etc.
- Demonstration and gesture can help in this situation. Language can be of
secondary importance. It should still be appropriate in form and tone, though.
- A few 'students' should pretend to have lost or forgotten the book or some-
thing that they need. The 'teacher' will have to get them to share, or, for
example, borrow a pen from someone. Remember to make the students ask
politely,e.g. 'Could I share with you, please?' or 'Can I borrow a pen, please?'
and answer appropriately.

2 Follow upendeveluatlon
Decide individually where you personally had or would have most difflClllty with
the language and perhaps go back to Section o, Oassroom Language, and read
through it and practise it again.
t
I

Introducing different
stages of the lesson
The aims of this Unit are 1 to enable t eachers to introduce, and to define t he aims of,
new stages in a lesson for the benefit of their pupils 2 to discuss w hat use should be
made of t he mother-tongue while t eaching English 3 t o revise the language and ideas
presented in Units 1-4
You will need copies of t he English Textbooks t hat you will be using in school or
college

Preliminary discussion
I Every lesson and every stage of a lesson should have a specific aim• . Look at
Unit 13, Section e , Planning (e), page 92, for an example of how to express the
aims of a lesson from the teacher's point of view. Why is it set down in two parts?
Think back to a lesson you have recently taught or observed and tell your
neighbour what the aims were. What had the students learnl by the end of it?
2 Do you think it is important that your students know what the aims of the lesson
are? Why?
3 Row can you make your students aware of the aims of your lesson? Discuss the
various ways suggested below:
(a) by giving a grammatical explanation in English
(b) by giving a grammatical explanation in the native language
(c) by giving a brief demonstration of the new form in use, perhaps using
pictures or other aids
(d) by referring back to something learnt before and comparing
4 Although using English as the main language of communication in the class.
room has many advantages, there are some occasions where reverting briefly to
the native language can help. Can you think of any times when using L' would be
more efficient?
5 (a) Do you think that beginning a lesson with some revision is usually a good
idea? Why?
(b) Describe briefly some of the ways in which you can add variety to a lesson.
6 There are different stages within a lesson (e.g. revision, presentation of new
items, practice and production of the newly learnt items by the students) and
different activities within each stage (e.g. choral repetition, question and answer
work, pair practice* etc.). How do you move from one stage or activity to the next,
so that your students know what they are supposed to be doing? Discuss the ways
suggested below:
(a) by pausing and checking students have understood
(b) by turning round to clean the blackboard
(c) by explaining, e.g. ' Well done! Now I want you to. .. .'
(d) by changing the focus of the lesson, e.g. from teacher to tape recorder , from
blackboard to books
(e) by a moment of silence
32
 Unit 5: Jntroducing Different Stages of the Lesson 33

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
First listen to the tape and repeat the teacher's part. Then try to remember the
teacher's part and say it after you hear the student's response; then listen to the
tape to see if you got it right ... and so on.

(a) At school T: Who can remember what we practised

last lesson? What pictures did we use?
... Yes?
Si: In a ... uhm ... shop.
T : Yes. Good. Anything else?
S2: A customer ... want to change her
radio ...
T : Yes. That's it. She wanted to change
her radio. Why?
S3: Didn't work .. . well.
T: Because it didn't work well. Good.
Now today we're going to revise that
dialogue and learn something new.
OK?
The teacher begins by revising a dialogue.
She's about to stick ihe picwre up.

&or j. j. TEACHING HINT Does the teacher actually correct the student's mistake here?
Does she ask him to repeat it correctly? Why?
The second dialogue is basically a teacher's monologue. Mark suitable places for
pauses (split it up into 'sense groups'). Then listen and repeat the teacher's part.

[k;:.;11 (b) At college T : Right! Today, first, I wantto go over

the sports and hobbies learnt last
lesson, remember? Then we're going
to practise making suggestions and
plans in English. You know, deciding
what you'regoirig to do next weekend,
for example. Making plans. Arranging
your programme. We'll do some oral
work, and after that we could do some
role play ... if we have time OK?
Ss: Yes.
T: Well. Can anyone remember the
dialogue we did last lesson, er-the
man who joined the sports club? We
used these pictures, let's see how much
The teacher is drawing quicksketcl,es of you can remember. How about saying
various sports <IS he speaks. it together, looking at the pictures.
Ready?

TEACHING HINT Where, in this last dialogue, could the teacher have usefully
reverted to bis mother-tongue briefty?
2 Language activity
Being a model
When you ask your students to repeat something you say, they are more likely to
remember it if:
(a) they know what it means
(b) they have to listen very carefully
(c) they know you will only repeat it once
(d) they have a moment of silence to think about it and commit it to memory
before repeating it themselves.
They are more likely to recognise it again if you say it in a natural way for them to
repeat, than if you say it too slowly and carefully. Often when speaking clearly
34 Unit 5: Introducing Different Stages of the Lesson

for repetition practice, sounds become distorted'", weak forms• get stressed
wrongly and intonation patterns become 'sing-song' and unrecognisable.
- Listen to these sentences; put a X by the ones that sound unnatural.
1 They are going on holiday tomorrow. 4 Bye! I hope you'll feel bener.
2 Have you got any cheap oranges? 5 Does Peter like playing volley-ball?
3 Jim? He's just come back from Spain. 6 It's ages since he's visited us.
- Then work in pairs. Each choose a short dialogue or passage from your
textbooks, divide it into short repeatable chunks'" that make sense and read it
for your neighbour to repeat. He should have his book shut.

Classroom language
In pairs, and referring to a specific lesson in your textbook, practise the language
in Tables 1 to 4. Then read through the rest of the tables to get the gist• of what
they are about, before practising them.

Beginning with reviaion

I did
practised doing
talked about
Whocan remember last lesson?
Right. what we read about
Can anyone tell me last time?
wrote about

Remember?
Do you remember these pictures? Look.
·"""'~·
We did this last lesson, didn't we? Look! Listen!
We used these pictures, didn't we?
Do you remember this? Listen. Who is speaking? We practised a dialogue about _ _ _ rcmember?

2 go over it again,
Let's revise ii, shall we?
do it once more,

3 doing it again quickly?

How about revising it? OK?
What about having another practise? Alright?
going over it again?

Talklngal»outthelMaOII
4 practise this.
learn a dialogue about
Am practise asking questions about
Thon
learn something new.
Later(on)
make up a story.
In a few minutes we're going to
listen to a lecture.
In haJf an hour I want you to
Half way through the lesson do some reading.
perhaps we'll
Near the end of the lesson if there's time, we'll do some writing.
do some note taking.
At the end of the lesson if you've been good, we'll
have some conversation practice.
When we've finished this
do some role play.
N=, play a game.
Right,now,
sing a song.
have a break for a moment or two. <IC
 Unit 5: Introducing Different Stages of the Lesson 35

Defining aims (Intermediate and Advanced classes only; for E lementary, use L')

s say what you and your friends like doing.

talk about your likes and dislikes.
give descriptions of people. I
be able to use the present perlect for checking up. I
By the end of the lesson you'll .._Table7
have learnt how to give people advice. I
warn people about things that may be dangerous. I
I
write a letter applying for a job. I
discuss plans for a holiday. etc. I
I

saying_ _ __ I
I
talking _ _ __ I
giving_ _ __ I
By the e nd of the lesson you'll have had some practice in using _ _ __ etc., as Table 5 .._ Table 7
I
giving _ _ __ I
I
warning_ __ _ I
I

and giving examples (These examples refer back to the tables above. Practise them together.)

Like ' I love playing football but I don' t like swimming much.'
Asin ·wen, he's very tall and slim, with fair hair and so on.'
For example 'lf .I were you, I'd buy the better quality o.ne.'
Such as ' Have you finished that job yet?'
Look, like this ' Watch out! Mind that lorry!'

- First, from the tables above practise stating your plans to the class by selecting
one or two sentences from each table and saying them out loud. Work in pairs
and take turns. Remember, you may have to rephrase sometimes. Select the
type of activities and the level of register that will be appropriate to the
students you will be teaching.
- Now, working individually, fill out the tables below with 2 or 3 alternatives,
basing your ideas on lessons you have taught or will be teaching, perhaps using
your textbook to help you plan and think out your aims and teaching
activities*. (Intermediate level)

First we' re going to

Later on
Then

For example,
 Unit 5: Introducing Different Stages of the Lesson 37

Lets see. What have you

done in English this week?
We've lea rnt the diakgue
on page lZI.
Oh yes, thats r-ight .
Anythin.9 else? Yes ?
--- We've r-ead the story in Unit 6.

We have__ e,r__ written a letter-.

(b) You can familiarise students with language they have not yet learnt by
deliberately bringing it into the language you use in class; e.g. a teacher
following a functional• syllabus sees that next week he will have to teach
'suggestions' . So this week he uses a suggestion to introduce each new
activity, thus: ' What about doing some reading now?' or ' Why don't we act
that dialogue out?' or 'We could have a rest now, OK?' or 'Let's sing that
song again'.
Read the dialogue in the balloon and guess what language item the teacher will
be teaching soon.

Today we'r-e 9oin9 to do three

main things. O.K.? I've planned three
things fcu:- today. Fir-st, \'m going to
teach you something new, something
new. Then you're going to write a
dia [o_gue and act it out. Right?_-....
After that l,.m going to
teach you a new son_g .

3 Oral practice
Make up a nd practise two similar dialogues to those in 2.
38 Unit 5: Introducing Different Stages of the Lesson

Role play
1 Activity
Introducing your lesson to the class
In groups of 4, each take a different lesson or Unit from the English Language
coursebook that you use, or will be using. Isolate a new teaching item. Then
consider what might have been taught in the previous lesson; the previous
lesson's teaching point will be your revision item. For both items, note down (a)
exactly what forms the students learnt in the previous lesson, and what they will
be learning next lesson (b) in what contexts or situations you have taught the old
forms and will teach the new forms (c) a few activities you will use this lesson.
(Define your aims as discussed in the Preliminary Discussion, 1.) Ask your tutor
if you need help.
- Look back at the CLASSROOM LANGUAGE section, and the dialogues,
and work out how to express your own aims and intentions to your class in a
similar way, but using the teaching items from yourcoursebook instead of the
items suggested here.
- You can use the pictures or aids that could have been used in the previous
lesson, so that students can recall• the item you wish to revise.
- Plan to begin your role play from the time you walk into the classroom. You
do not need to take the register as it seems everyone is present, so you begin
with a little informal chat about something topical, then carry on to announce
your plans for that lesson.
- Plan to end when you have stated your plans and aims in terms that the
students will understand, and have just begun actually revising the previously
taught item.
- When you have finished planning your role play, rearrange your groups so
that, as far as possible, each person in each new group comes from a different
group, and has therefore planned the introduction to a different lesson.
(Regrouping here makes it a more varied and interesting activity as well as
more useful. It also creates a genuine need for communication as members of
other groups do not know what has been planned in every other group.)
- Each 'teacher' in turn should have about 3-i minutes. ('Teachers' should tell
their peer group at what level the class is supposed to act, and which point of
the coursebook they have reached during the previous lesson, so that they can
perform their roles as realistically as possible.)
- Remember to jot down any errors i.n English you hear, for checking out later.
2 Follow upend eveluedon
(a) Keeping to the same groupsdiscu-ss how successful you were. How confident
did your 'students' feel after you had introduced your lesson? Did they really
understand what they would be lea ming during the course of your lesson?
(b) Jot down any useful ideas that you could use when teaching similar lessons in
the future.
(c) As a class, check out any language points which you were not sure of during
the role play, or which caused difficulty.
 : Using visual aids
The aims of this Unit are 1 to t rain teachers how to use English effectively while
setting up and referring to simple visual aids* 2 to show how simple visual aids can be
used for language work that is teacher initiated but more student centred. Note: See
Part Two, Unit 15 for a more detailed study of language specific to individual visual aids.
You will need 1 a large magazine picture or poster or wall chart, one per person,
which you do not show to each other until the Exploitation Section 2 flash cards* w ith
pictures 3 a selection of other visual aids you could use

Preliminary discussion
1 lo what ways can visual aids be a help to teachers and leamers of English? (Give
at least four reasons and exemplify them.)
2 How could you use some of the foUowing visual aids in your lessons? - wall
charts or posters, maps and diagrams, nash cards, cue • cards, blackboard
drawings, magazine pictures, information brochures or pamphlets, magnet
board*, nannel boaro•, reaJia•, etc.
3 Which visual aids do you find most useful at the presentation stage• or a lesson,
and how would you use them? Give examples.
4 How can Dash cards, wall charts, and realia be used for student centred work;
i.e. work where the teacher does not begin or lead the activity? This usually
happens at the practice• and production stages of the lesson, after the presenta-
tion stage. (See Unit 17.)
5 How and where do you normally display large pictures, wall charts, and realia?
lfyou ask a student to help you, what do you say?
6 How do you make sure that your students' attention is directed to the correct
part of the picture you want them to look at?
7 In order to ge.t them more involved, some teachers ask their students to prepare
some of the aids needed In lessons. Could you do this with your students? (e.g.
asking them to cut out magazine pictures to bring to class, or asking them to draw
something on the board or help you mount* magazine pictures, etc.)?
39
'
40 Uni\ 6: Using Visual Aids

ffi Dialogue practice

1 Dialogues
Listen to these dialogues on tape, then listen again, this time repeating the
teacher's part, concentrating on fluency and intonation.

!\¼II (a) Al""ool T: Could someone fix this picture upon

the wall, please? Just there....
Ss: Me!lwill!Couldl? ...
T: OK. Couldyou,please?Here'sthe
sticky tape. Thanks.
S: Here?
T: Well, I think it needs tobe a bit higher
up. Can you reach?
S: Sorry, I ...
T: Not really. Wellnevermind;ask
someone taller to help you.... Go en!
·wouldyuu .. ,'
5: Ali? Will you help me please?
S2: Yes,ofcourse .... Likethis?
T: Lovely! Good, well done. That looks
T1u: teacher has brought a poster inu, class. nice.

&or.&. .&. TEACWNG mNT Why does the picture need to be higher up? And why does lhe
teacher ask this particular student to fix it up, even though she knows that she Is
too short to reach high enough?

(b) Atcollege T: Now, we'regoingtodosomepairwork,

using these flash cards. C.ould someone
hand them out, please? Pass them
round?
S: lwill.
T: Thankyou. You'llneedonebetween
two people. One card per pair,justone
to start with.
S: ... Please,cards ... er ... finish.
T: Oh,youmean there aren't enough?
lbere aren't enough? Well, there are
some more on my desk. Coukl you get
some more from my desk? Thanks.
Tiu: teacher is holding some flash cards.

.&or&& TEACHING HINT 'The teacher did not give the student enough Dash cards on
purpose. Why do you think be did this? Did be correct his student's mistake, his
hK:orrect use of •ftnish'? Why?

2 Language activltin
(a) Readingrtomsubstitutlontables
When you use language from substitution tables, do you speak as fluently and
.&.& naturaJly as you do nonnally? Or do you pause between the different parts of the
tables? In other words, when saying phrases or sentences from tables, do you
sound as if you are reading rather than speaking?
- Using the tables in the next Section, practise with your neighbour, who will tell
you if the way you are speaking sounds like natural spoken English or if you
are getting the stress and intonation wrong. Remember:
- Look at the table
- Select a sentence
- Then look up and say it as fluently and naturally as possible
 Unit6:UsingVisua1Aids 41

(b) Rephraslnapractlce
See Unit 2, Section b, 2, and then Unit 12, Section b, for a good game.
- Read through the second dialogue on this page and notice how many times the
teacher rephrases what he says.
- Now look at the first dialogue on page 40. Imagine that this teacher has
another lesson with less advanced children. She will use the same language but
she will have to repeat and rephrase everything she says, at least once before
they understand. Work out how she could do this and then practise with your
&& neighbour, taking turns to be the teacher with a slow student.

Classroom language
Practise in pairs, using pictures and other items mentioned to refer to. Make at
least 6 sentences, all different, from each table. Table 6should yield 10 or more.
NB Some tables contain both singular and plural nouns, so be careful to select
suitable articles and prono\l,ns.

Dlaplaylngvl•al alcla
I go and fetch
Could
Would
someone bring me
find "'
that
wall chart(s) of the
set(s) of llash cards of food and drink ,
Will
'°" get out • magazine picture(s) of people
flannel board(s) and figurines
Now, look. I've gOI
brought ,-,
"""' box(es) of
foldu(s) of cue can:ls

1 stick this up with.

sellotape? lo fix this picture up with.
sticky tape? cut these out with.
Has anybody seen lbey're
th, blutac?
w,""" drawing pins?
It's sticking this up.
fixing these up.
scissors?
'"' cutting these out.

3
alright?

Please cuuld you

OK.I'll
,~
put

stick
;i
them
up here.·
Is that straight?
high enough?

h,,g Can you all see ii?

4
~~ magazine pictures Oao each.
Could you hand Dash cards out please? Two per pair.
•= '""' cue cards nm,, between 2.

Referrlngtovl•aJ aide

What ,
Take poster. Why
Have
a good look at the
picture. Whore
H=
do you think
'
'
j
42 Unit6:Usingyisua1Aids

•
....,,,
on theleh
people
on the right
buildings poster.
in the middle picture.
Look at in the centre
th, of the diagram, etc.
Teti me about surroundings
al the top
What about
at the bottom

""'00 in the top right-hand corner.

in the bottom left-hand comer.

7 rub the picture off.

Now let's
I'mgoing10 take it down .

8 •Can you remember was happening?

what happened?
I want you to ten me had happened earlier?

Clearlngup

I, I
9
tako down on my desk.
Would someone ~hem it
now and put away.
I'mgoingto them
~in back in the
coDectthe

Teatyouraalf
&or&& What would you say (and/or do) if you wanted
(a) someone to fetch three sets of cue-cards (say which ones and where from).
(b) a student to offer to fetch two sets of cue-cards.
(c) to ask a student to pin up a poster for you. Make him/her ask for the drawing
pins.
(d) to ask a student to collect in, sort out and put away (say where) the different
sets of cue-cards they had been using.
(e) someone to offer to collect in the cue-cards for you, and to ask where to put
them.
(f) someone to find the sticky tape to fix up a picture for you.
(g) your students to collect magazine pictures from home or friends for your next
lesson. Say what kind and size of picture.
(h) students to clear up and put away all the aids you had used in class.
(i} a student to fix up a wan chart before the beginning of the next lesson. Let the
student ask which one and where to put it.
 Unit 6: Using Visual Aids 43

Q Exploitation
ta
1 Unexploited dialogue
Mr Short has brought a wall picture
into class. His class sits in silence as he
puts it up. He could have involved his
students in many ways, but he didn't.
Which ways?

T: Right. Quiet, please! I've got a

wall chart to show you today.
Ss:
T: (while he finds the sellotape) er .. .
Here it is. (poster slips down) Oh
dear. (applies more tape) There.
Now,look.
Now What do I 11
t~is up on the ew.ear,tg -Fix
S ·. Pins? :a .
2 Possibilities for exploitation T : D11:1wing p·n ? I
l'v~ run o~t ~ .
S : Sticky haven't got a 11y.
Here in the 'balloons' are some ideas t.ope ?
T : Yes ·
be could have used to involve his S : Exe - could you get it for-
students and get them to use English T : Oh u,s~~e'·t'·here. is it? nie please?
purposefully. Draw lines to link each , p I 1n that drawer-.
balloon with the relevant part of the ~ E R OELIBERATeLy
A E.N°r.> 1-iAVS TO ASl<:,lvlAi<.Es tT t:>/FF-iCUL.:
monologue on the left. L~ USES IDIOMA Fi:,R THINGS ~SO lHf!:
LANGUAGE:: HIS STt.J
WILL ONLY UNDER~ ER
D f=R:OM THIS $1.., 'ADeNT:s
''-' ~ION.

3 Oral practice
In g roups of3 or 4.
(a) Find a picture your group bave not seen before. Ask them to guess as
accurately as possible the contents of the picture. If it is not too detailed you
could ask them to draw a rough sketch from the information they receive
from you. Of course they can ask you questions to find out further details, as
they draw. Then·they can compare their sketches with the original picture.
(b) Practise getting someone else to fix your picture up on the wall or board,
using as much language as possible (refer back to the 'balloons'). Try to put
your students in situations where they are obliged to talk, e.g. give them 2
pictures so they have to ask which one to fix up; hide the sticky tape or tell
them the wrong place to find it so they have to ask again and explain.
(c) Make up a list of teachable language items that are often used in situations
like the ones above. Which particular patterns did your group use a lot while
they were carrying out 2 above? Then refer to Appendix A .

4 Sample exploitation
There are three short extracts here, on tape. In (a) the teacher is about to use a
pictu re to present something new. In (b) it is at the end of that stage and the
board is covered with pictures and writing, and very untidy; hence the use of the
words 'clear up' . In (c) they're in another room which has a white board, not a
blackboard. A student called Philip has just cleaned it.
Listen and try to identify what the teacher is aiming to practise in each case.
"I

44 Unit6: UsingVisualAids

(9 Roleplay
, Activity
Setting up your visual aids
l_&I.& - Share out as many different visual aids as possible between your groups (of 6
to 8 people) so that each group has a selection of aids to use. Decide what
language item you could teach using each aid.
- The aim of this activity is to give you practice in (a) using language effectively
yourselves and (b) creating opportunities for your students to use language
purposefully, while setting up the visual aids you will be using in the next part
of the lesson.
- Begin by introducing this new stage in the lesson (see Unit 5) and plan to end
your role play when you have asked one or two questions similar to those in
Table 6 (Oassroom Language Section) i.e. when everything is ready for you
to begin to introduce the new teaching item. (See Part Two, Units 14, 15 and
16, for language more specific to individual aids and teaching items.)
- Time limit: set a limit which suits you, about 3 or 4 minutes per 'teacher'
depending on the aids in use.
- Take turns being the 'teacher', try to use different visual aids each time or at
least, if you have to use a similar aid to someone else, try to exploit it in a
different way, with a different aim in mind.
- Remember the aim of this activity! See above.
2 Followup ■ndev■luation
(a) In your own groups, decide amongst younelves which 'teachers' most suc-
cessfully achieved the aim stated above. Discuss why.
(b) Split up and re-form into different groups so that each new group has at least
one representative from each old group; he will then report on the most
successful ideas produced by his old group.
NB Before this 'reporting' session begins, it would be useful to have all the visual
aids used displayed on the walls around the room so that the 'reporters' will be
able to refer to them while 'reporting'.

0 Further reading
The best and clearest book on this subject is Andrew Wright (1976).•
Sections in the following works give a brief summary of visual aids and some good ideas for
preparing and use.
Donn Byrne (I 976)pp. 37,38, 56, 57,60-67, 72-73, 84-91, 109-111, I 16-120,
128-137.
John Haycraft (1978) pp. 97-109.
Helen Moorwood(ed) (1978) Section 6, pp. 75-89.

•
Unit Tape recorders and
other electrical equipment
The aims of this Unit are 1 to train teachers to use English effectively when handling
electrical equipment in the classroom 2 to evaluate, from the linguistic point of view,
the relative advantages and various uses of particular audio* /v isual aids.
You w ill need 1 any audio or audio/visual aids that you may be able to use in the
classroom (see list in 1 below) 2 materials to make cue cards for the role play activity
(thick paper or card, scissors, felt tips)

Preliminary discussion
J Which of the foUowing pieces of equipment do you have access to in your school
or college? tape recorder, overhead projector, slide projector, film projector, cine
loop projector , video cassette player, audio lab. or listening centre. (If you feel
you need to find o ut more about some of these audio or audio/visual aids please
refer to the Further Reading Section at the end of this Unit.)

2 How do/could you use some of these in your lessons to help your students learn
English?

3 The most basic piece of equipment is usually considered to be the tape recorder
with suitable taped materials. How can students benefit from their teacher using
tapes in the classroom?

4 H you intend to use a tape recorder in your classes, which of the visual aids
mentioned in Unit 6 could you use with the taped material to make it more
inter esting and memorable?
5 What resources do you have in your country for borrowing records, tapes,
films, slides and projectors for use in your schools or colJeges? Are there any
suitable materials for your students? How could you set aboul borrowing such
things? What might your students gain from them?

6 One way of giving your classes more practice in listening and exposing them to
English spoken in a meaningful situation Is to talk about what you are doing when
handling equipment in the classroom. What things could you say in English while
setting up and preparing to use a tape recorder in your lesson?
(See also Unit 18 on Listening Skills.)
45
46 Unit 7: Tape Recorders and other Electrica l Equipment

G) Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Listen carefully to these two dialogues. Pay particular attention to the intonation
patterns the teachers use. Notice whether they are rising or falling patterns. Then
practise repeating the teacher's part after the tape until you can say it in exactly
the same way.

[1;.=;il (a) Atschool T: You·re going to hear a dialogue on tape

now. See these rwo people in the
picture? Well, we're going to hear them
talking about their party. Who can plug
the tape recorder in for me?
S: !will.
T: Thanks. Now what do I have to do?
S: Switch it on.
T: Yes. I have 10 switch it on here. See?
This knob. Right, r ve put the ca~seue
in, now let's see if! can find the right
place on the tape . ... Listen now and
sec if you can hear where Unit Ten
begins.. ..
The teacher is about to ser up rhe rape
recorder.

&or.&,& TEACHING HINT How does the teacher keep the students interested and
involved while she is setting the tape recorder up?

11;.=;il (b) At college

T: 1want to discuss some of these pictures
now so we'll need the O.H.P.. the
overhead projector. Can you tell me
what I have lo do first?
S: Electricity.
T: Well, do I have lo ~witch it on first or
plug it in?
S: Plugin.
T: Plug it in, good. Can you say that?
Come on! You have to . .. everyone!
S: You have to plug it in.
T: Good. Well, r ve plugged it in. Now
what?
S: er you have to switch it . . .
T: switch iton,on. Everyone! You
have ... .
Ss: You have to switch it on.
T: That's it. Now I'll adjust the
The teacher gets his class to tell him how to mirrors .. . . Oh dear, the picture's
set up the overhead projector. upside down! How silly!

.&or.& .I TEACHING HINT Why does the teacher ask an 'either/ or' type question when a
~ student produces the word 'electricity'?

2 Language activities
Forward and backward chaining* (for pronunciation practice)
A good way of helping a class achieve fluency is by breaking a sentence up into
sections and getting them to repeat longer and longer parts of it.
With forward chaining you start from the beginning of the sentence and work
forwards, whereas with backward chaining you start at the end and work
backwards. Building up the sentence in this way means that you can keep to
natural speed and normal stress patterns without the class finding it too difficult.
An example follows.
 Unit 7: Tape Recorders and other Electrical Equipment 47

This is a line from a dialogue between two people at a party. It is rather long and
the class were having difficulty repeating it in one go:
/ 'I'm terribly sorry,/l'm afraid/ I've broken/ one of your/ lovely/ glasses.'/
&& First, practise it with your neighbour, completing each chain. Then make up
some of your own and try them out on each other.
Forward chaining Backward chaining
T: I'm terribly sorry T: glasses
Ss: I'm terribly sorry Ss: glasses
T: I'm terriblysorry,I'm afraid T: lovely glas.ws
Ss: I'm terribly sorry, I'm afraid Ss: lovely glasses
T: I'm terribly sorry, I'm afraid I've broken, etc. T: one of your lovely glasses, etc.

Classroom language
Read through these tables and work out exactJy when you would need to use the
language they contain, e.g. Table 3: after switching the tape recorder or projec•
tor on. Label them yourselves by writing a heading above each table. Then
practise the language relevant to your teaching situation, in pairs.

I tape tel;:order
Mis.s Moussa vi, cassette player
MrKascmi, could you possibly
video player
plug the loudspeaker in,forme?
Patricia, please could you
Peter, ""'"
TV monitor
O.H.P.

I 'The socket is in
It plugs in at I the wall near you. Thank you.

2 Ready? ru turn it on.

too loud. tum the volume down.
not loud enough. tum it up a bit.
Ob dear. It's too bright. I'd better adjust it.
l'Ujust
not clear enough. adjust the tone.
out of focus. adjU!Jt the fOCU!J.
Is that bener now?

3 What's wrong with it? plug is in.

Oh dear. It won't work. I'D just check the switch is on.
I can't get it to work. Can you mains supply.
It doesn't seem to work.

4 It stlD won't work.

I'll have to fetch someone to see it. (Never mind.)
Well, I'm sorry. l'U have to go and ask Mr _ _ _ if he can flX it.
(It doesn't matter.)
We'll have to dosomethillg else.
We'U have to do it another way.
 I

48 Unit 7: Tape Recorders and other Electrical Equipment

5 Oh. It's OK now?

find the right place on the tape.
Good; that's better. Let's
get the coITCCt radio wavelength.
Thank goodness! l'U just
find the picture.
Now, wait a little
I. There we are. We can begin now .

• Did you
I
catch that?
understand?
I'll go back and play it again.
I'll let you hear it again before I ask you those questions.
We'll go back and listen again. Ready?
That was a bit fast.

7 unplug it
OK. We've finished with lhe O.HJ>. now.
Could someone take lbe plug out please?
Alrij:hl. We don't need the tape recorder anymore.
switch it off at the wall

1he following tables contain Jnstrudions for using a tape reoorder. They apply
to both Individual listening work and group work in an audio laboratory.

8 insert the tape and check it is rewound, back to the start.

Fin;t
Th<, yo, wind the tape on to the empty spool.
you have to set the counter to 000 at the beginning of the tape.
After that press the PLAY switctvbutton/control and listen.

find a section further ahead, press STOP then FAST FORWARD

If you want to then STOP and check the place.
lnorderto go back, press REWIND then STOP and check the place.
adjust the volume, you tum this knob, the volume control.

10 rewind your tape back to the stan.

always
At the end of the lesson put it away in the correct box.
remember to
replace the tape recorder and the tapes.

Tntyounelf
What can you say to your pupils or students if ...
(a) you want someone to plug the tape re<:order in for you? (say why you can't de
it yow-self)
(b) the piece of equipment you are using won't work?
(c) the students can't hear the tape very well?
(d) you have to find the right place on the tape?
(e) you have got the wrong place on the tape?
(f) after playing the tape through once your students haven't understood?
(g) you have finished using the O.H.P. or tape recorder?
(h) you want to keep talking as you set the tape recorder up, to give you
students a bit of extra listening practice?
 Unit 7: Tape Recorders and other Electrical Equipment 49

d) Exploitation

t'°
1 Unexploited dialogue
Mr Short is about to play a taped
T : ( WOtidel'"wt,y it Woh't
-.vork? Wl-t:tt c:lo YO<.C think dialogue for his class to practise.
COUid. be Wl'"ong 7
SS: ~'.-'e you plCAgged T: Wait a minute while I set the tape
1t in? up(plugsthe TR in and inserts
T ;. Yes . And l've __ er-__ urn
SS . Have you ~Wound · casselle). Ready? (switches on,
~etape? nothing happens)
T: Oh, dear. No. S: Please, er ...
Thank you/
T: er ... volume? No. Oh dear. It
needs rewinding.
Ss: (start chatting)
T: Quiet now. U mm ... Back a bit ...
Here we are, I think. (tests it)
Right. That's OK. Listening?
T , Right. You give me S'S: Now vov. 1-\c:we t.o
instructions. -for 2 Possibilities for exploitation cm.
Switcl1 It:; ,
using the tape Link the balloons to suitable parts of the T Good.. And if l don t;
recorae.r _____ _
You have _______ _ _ ? dialogue. SS what will happen?
________________ etc.
SS:Fir"St you have to
plu9 \t in.
T ; And if I don't plug it, in? - ca~ 'I.CV. say thQt ? "TEACHER USE.S "THI$
W11at. will happen ? SS: It won't work.. > ITVAT10N TO PR,A.C.TlSE
SS:Not play. T : Fine. So what do I do next? iHE F IRST" CON Dl--r\ONAL.
T : It won't work, NowyotA 1-JQve t,o _________ _

ife,obe-'{S o\l 3 Oral practice

\ , f-i r-st
-re,act,,ef
~tudel"'c~\Ot\s so t:he.Y I && In twos. Practise each of the ways of extending the dialogue as suggested above.
it\Str\-1 .,...-,,,.at,. we:M •
Mime the tape recorder if you have not got one here ! Add any ideas of your own

§?ti and change the ideas in the balloons to suit your own classes' needs.
What other language items could be practised in these situations? See Appen-
dix A.

4 Sample exploitation
Using the tape recorder'
The teacher is going to play her class the tape of a song that she wants them to
learn. However, first she asks them to give her instructions for setting it up. The
class have done this before, very simply, and are familiar with words like switch,
tape and recorder. They have just learnt the 'going to' form to express intended
action, but do not know the use of 'have to ' in the sense of 'must'. H ere the
teacher uses the ·have to' form as often as she can, naturally, in order to
familiarise her students with it. They obviously understand from the context
what it means and how it is used, so when they come to learn it later on they will
pick it up easily.
(See Unit 5, Section d, 2 (b).)
- Listen and see how many examples of 'have to' she uses, and how many
different forms she introduces.
- She also uses two different ways of expressing the same idea. of necessity. Did
you notice which?

' The tape recorder being used in this class was an open reel o ne. not a cassette. hence the
need for the wo rd 'spool'.
50 Unit 7: Tape Recorders and other Electrical Equipment

Q Roleplay
1 Activity
If possible, assemble all the equipment that you may be able to use at some time
or another in your lessons. If some pieces of equipment are unobtainable, try to
get pictures of similar equipment from magazines or catalogues.
If you have a spare tape recorder with microphone, reoord yourselves doing
these activities, then play them back during the Follow Up session, for evalua-
tion.
&& - First practise in pairs with the equipment or the pictures, asking for informa-
tion, and giving each other instructions for operating the controls: 'How do
you make it louder?' 'What's that switch for?' etc. 'If you tum that knob, it'll
adjust the volume' or 'Press that button to turn it on'.
- Next, make cue cards (¼ foolscap size) containing the following cue words.
(Adapt if necessary to suit equipment and conditions in your country.)

tape recorder slide projector radio

but traffic noise from open but the first slides are in the wrong but the tone and volume are wrong.
window. loud speaker not order, the room is too light, and needs tuning in.
connected. wrong place on the fan is noisy.
tape.
(,) (e)

video cassette player OHP 1V/English language programme

it won't .work. you have the wrong but light won't go on even after need help tuning it in and
plugs in. wrong place on tape. bulb has been checked. it needs adjusting the contrast.
moving to a more central position
in the room.
(b) (d) (f)

l&I& - Then in groups of 4 or 5, select a 'teacher' who takes one of the cue cards, and
the appropriate picture. He needs to use whatever piece of equipment is on
the cue card but he has to cope with the difficulties given. He can ask his class
to help, if he needs to. He should keep talking while he sets it up, to keep the
class from getting bored.
- Remember you need to mime setting up the tape or the slides; getting the right
place on the tape or checking the slides are in order. Keep talking. Tell the
class what you are doing and why.
- Begin your role play by announcing to the class what they are going to do
today; plug in, switch on, set it up correctly, test it.
- End your role play after you have tested it, by announcing that it is ready and
asking for their full attention.

Ahemative or additional activity: a pme to play

JUST A MINUTE
Take the same situation as that outlined in the above role play activity.
One person in each group acts as time-keeper, one person is the teacher, the
rest of the group act as the cl&$. The teacher must try to talk for one minute
about what he or she is doing, i.e. setting up a piece of equipment for use in class,
without pausing for more than 5 seconds, without repeating what he or she has
said before (though rephrasing is permitted) and without speaking unnaturally
slowly.
The time-keeper should state the time every 15 seconds and time any pauses
to make sure they do not exceed 5 seconds, and say STOP after one minute.
 Unit 7: Tape Recorders and other Electrical Equipment S1

The class should shoul out TOO SLOW or REPETITION or PAUSE iflhey
lhink a rule has been broken, and vote on it if ii is not unanimous. For the
purposes of lhis game, lhe teacher should nol address any questions to lhe class
at all.
You can also play this in pairs or threes. The teacher is allowed to ask
questions but the students must answer immediately and no gaps may be left
between speakers. Each group has a go while the others time them; the winners
are the ones who continued the longest without a pause.

2 Follow . . andevaluatlon
(a) Discuss in groups what 'teachers' found most difficult to do.
(b) Look in Appendix A to see what olher possibilities for exploitation there are
and discuss which of these would best suit your students' needs.
(c) Discuss also how you could integrate these ideas into your lesson.

0 Further reeding
Donn Byrne (1976)pp.137-140.
John Haycraft (1978) pp. 109-111; also some basic information on different types of
Languaae Laboratories. pp. 111-116.
Finocchiaro, Mand Bonomo, M (I 973).
Helen Moorwood (ed) (1978) section 6 pp. 67-74.
 8 Dividing the
class up: choral individual
andteams
The aims of this Unit are 1 to enable teachers to combine spoken language with
gesture in order to give effective instructions to t heir classes w hen dividing t hem up
2 to show teachers how the normal classroom procedure (teacher asking, student
responding) can be varied, to make t he lesson interesting and motivating
(e.g. a textbook exercise can be done in teams, competitively)
You will need character cards for role play act ivity

Preliminary discussion
1 Calculate the rouowing: if a teacher onJy asks individual students to r espond or
perform in English, (doing no choral, group or pair work) for bow many minutes
wiU the average student have spoken English
(a) in each lesson? Write your
(b} in a week? calculations here.
(c) in a term?
(d) by the end of his English course?

2 (a} What are the advantages of choral work?

(b) What are the disadvantages of choral work?
(c) Can you think of any ways to overcome these disadvantages? Which?

3 How can gesture help the teacher to o.-ganise choral responses?

4 What are the dangers of doing mainly choral work in class with little individual
r esponse or pair work or small group work?

5 How fair are you as a teacher? When asking individuals to r espond or perform,
do you ever a sk one or two st udents more than once when others still have not had
a turn? Do you look longer a t one side of the class than the other?

6 (a) Describe a fe w activities which can be carried out with the class divided into
halves or teams. What wouJd you say to your clas.$ when dividing them up for
these actl vities?
(b) Chi.l dren in Britain often enjoy team games and competitions in their
foreign language classes, and adults do too, though obviously different types of
games would be suHable for adult learners . What about children and adult
learner s in your country?
52
 Unit 8: Dividing the Class Up: Choral I ndividual and Teams 53

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogue
In this Unit the one dialogue is suitable for both adult learne rs and children.
First, listen to this dialogue and imagine what ge tures the teacher is using as
she speaks to her class. Then listen again. repeating the teacher's part and
making appropriate gestures yourselves. (Stand up to do this.) Finally, practise
the d ialogue in threes, standing up. taking. turns to take the teache r's part.
Remember that the gestures used by the teacher a re as important as the
language itse lf.

At school or college
T: Right, I now want you to repeat parts S: er ! ... Could you come ... er ... on
of the dialogue. All togethcr,(gesture), Monday?'
after me. Ready? 'Could you CQme on T : Fine. Now. Ali? Come on.on your
Monday?' own. 'Could .. .'
Ss: (mggedly) ·Could you come on S: Umm. 'Could you come in M onday?'
Monday?' T : On M onday. on. (geswre)
T: O h dear! That wasn't very good. ... S: On Monday.
Let's do it again. All of you, but keep T: Good. now in halves. (geswre) I'll
together, and quietly! ·could you come divide you down the middle, here.
on Monday?' (gesture) ow, you (gesture) can ask and you,
Ss: 'Could you come on M onday?' this side. can answer. So you say ·could
T: Better, good. Now again but quickly. you come on Monday?' and this side
Listen! ·Could you come on Monday'?' says, Tm sorry, I'm afraid I can't.' OK.
The teacher has presented a dialogue with (gesture) this side, repeat the answer, 'I'm sorry.
the help ofa piCJure, and discussed what it Ss: ·could you come on Monday?' I' m afraid I can'L' , (gesture/ etc.
means. She has read it out to ihe class and T: Good. OK, you. Kumah? Y es. by
now wants the students to practise the more yourself. ...
difficult parts in choms.

.&or.&.& TEACHING lDNT Why do you think the teacher asks two individuals to say the
· sentence after the cla~ has repeated it well in chorus? Why does she ask Ali to say
it after Kumah?

2 Language activities
Gesture
.& .& (a) Using gesture only (without speaking) select five of the following instruc-
tions and communicate the m to your neighbour. See if he or she can guess
which they are.

Be quiet and listen. Everyone, listen and repeat. No,stop.

A ll of you, together. Come on, you as well. You! Now in halves.
Not very good. Again! In halves, you first, the n you. Again but quickly.

(b) How do you gesrure 'No' in your country? In Britain and America we shake
our heads to say 'No', and nod for ' Yes'. Are the re any gestures that you
know are different in English? Watch for them on films if you have the
chance.

Forward and backward chaining (See Unit 7, Section b , 2, for details)

P ractise some more backchaining in groups of three or four, using the following
sentences. Take care not to stress the weak forms.
T hey are/both/taller than me.
They ran/to school/as quickly/as they could.
I f he hadn't been illJhe wouldn't have/failed/his e xam.
!I

S4 Unil 8: Dividing the Oass Up: Cboral Individual and Teams

(9 Clasaroom language
&& In pairs, take turns to read out the groups of phrases and sentences from the
tables below as clearly and firmly as you can, working out what gestures would
be suitable to accompany each sentence. Choose appropriate language for your
students and keep it lively. Rephrase often, and use suitable gestures.

Choral rnponN
I aRofyou
,,,.,,,_
you an

.
answer this question.
repeat this sentence.
I want the whole class
continue this sentence.
I'd like this half correct my statements.
that half
read the neKt sentence.
one of you
just one person

Don't put your bands up. AD together. Everybody! Listen! Ready? Listen and answer, quietly.
Everyone can by. c:ome on. Yes, you as well. And You, AD together but quietly! A bit quielerpleasel
2 very clear!
Nol very good! L,t', doit
that wasn't again. Ready?
Oh dear all together! Shall we try it
quiet enough!

lndlvldulll N■ponM
Now one al a lime. Not all together. Listen before you answer.
Hands up before you answer!
Coukl you put your hands up before you answer, please?
Yes, a good answer. But a bit louder please. Again? ...
Now this time, don't put your hands up. I'D point.
Evtrybody can try, but one at a time. I'll askoM of you.
Don't shout out. Ready? Quiet. Listening?
You can take turns.
You can all have a go, ... have a tum, ... but one after tbeother.
One by one. Right?

Taklngtume
In groups offour. Take turns to readout 3 or 4 sentences from each of the tables
below. Remember to stress the important words. Normally, these will be words
like: 'you', 'her', 'yours', 'hers', etc., or a name. As before, use suitable gestures.

3
lt"s
their
your
his
.
turn
_..,_
first,

third,
-then
it's you
go
'"m and soon.

"'"
4
It's
....
yo,
first •
Oe)(t. Now
you.
Kumab.
Quickly!
1bat'sit.
Good.

5
Whoo<,
,o was it? Not yours. You be quick!
(Mine.)
(Hers.)
'"m is it? It's hers/his. Come on! (His.)
 Unit 8: Dividing the Class Up: Oioral Individual and Teams S5

• Isit
,.. now?
(Oh.Sorry. Yes.)
Ali
""'"
... ,
....
7 Come on!
Wakeup!
Hey!
Wasn't
Isn't " , go?
turn?
(Yes it was/is.)

• Good.
Have you all
Who hasn't .... go now? (No. Not me.)
rum yet? (I haven't.)
Has anybody not

Alright. Next timeYQu can be first.

Cius In halves
Now we'll do it differently. Listen! lnhafves !

• For this,
N=,
I'm going to
I'D
divide you down the middle.
divide you in haH.

Now, this half of the class, you're 'A' and, this half, you're 'B'.
10 Now'A',you ask the questions, etc.
andyou'B',you answer the questions, etc.

Then we'll change over.

11
We'll •=
write points
on the board and we'll see
who wins.
who gets the most.

TNmaforcompetltio119
Now we can have a competition, with teams. Hands up, aJI number ona! Ready?
For this, we're going to havetea,m, going from front to back. Now, we have 4, (S, 6)teams. AB CD EFetc,
4teams. 111 caD a number; only that number can do it.
6 teams. Starting from here. We need you in pairs within your teams.
Each team! Please will you numberoff? Each team, pair off.
You're 1,you're 2andsoon. Numberoff,down the team. In pairs, number off.

12 wait how to play.

OK.Now
listen while I explain
what we're going to do.

See Units 15 and 17.

13 answer
first?
Which team can do what I say
doit
"""
14 keep the score.
see who gets the highest score.
Remember your numbers. We'll have points.
see who gets the most points.
see which team wins.

Test yourselves in groups of 5 or 6, taking turns to organise and play, in 2 teams, a

competitive game, like GLUG, see page 132. The teams ask questions in turn
until one team guesses.
56 Unit 8: Dividing the Class Up: Choral Individual and Teams

(D Exploitation
1 Revlaion
&or&& Review the EXPLOITATION Sections of Units 4, 5, and 6, paying particular
attention to Unit 4. As you do so, decide which of those Units this Unit has more
in common with, as regards possibilities for exploitation.
2 As in Units 4 and 5 the language in this Unit does not lend itself to exploita•
tion because in this situation most teachers would want to get on with the
practice of the language item being taught.
However using English in this situation is still very useful. The students get
used to obeying instructions in English and much of this English is commonly
used outside the classroom as well as inside. They will get used to reacting to
English instructions and will not panic if they find themselves in similar situations
later on in their lives.

3 O...lprectlce
Some suggestions for situations where this style of language is used follow.
Perhaps you can think of some more suitable ones for your country,
- In suitably sized groups, act out one or two of these situations in English; don't
forget to speak English while organising yourselves!
(a) You are asked to organise a party for ten to twelve year old children whose
common language is English. Think of some games they could play, or songs
they could sing together and each of you organise the rest of your group to
play or sing together, taking one game or song each.
(See Unit 17, Section d.)
(b) Imagine you are all waiting in a doctor's waiting room or a hospital Out•
Patients Department. Nobody knows whose turn it is to see the doctor next
so the nurse or receptionist comes in to tell everyone when their tum is. Some
patients argue, bee.a.use they think they arrived before others, but some
patients have made appointments beforehand and so do not need to wait so
long ... etc.

4 Student language needed

- Make a list of all major language items your students will need if they are to
feel confident speaking English in the classroom while taking part in team
games and competitions. Decide at what stage in their English programme
you could introduce each item for active use,
- When you have made your list, look up the list suggested in Appendix A for
this Unit and see if perhaps any of those items would also be useful for your
students to know. Then have a look at Appendix B for otherstudent language
relevant.

& A911meto play

HOW MANY QUESTIONS-a team game.
In teams of4 or 6, elect a secretary.
Your tutor will write an interesting sentence on the board, then say GO! On
the word GO each team writes down as many questions (all different) as they can
think of, based on that sentence. The winners are the team who produce the
highest number of correct (and answerable) questions in the set time, OR the
first team to write down 10 good questions. Only the 'secretary' is allowed to
write; the rest of the team can dictate their questions, then take turns at being
'secretary'.
 Unit 8: Dividing the Oass Up: Choral Individual and Teams 57

Roleplay
1 Preparatlonforroleplay
lllalopeprepantlooforu,em..iep1a,_
- Each person should take a different Lesson or Unit from the textbook they
will be using in their English da~ and write a simple four or five line
dialogue, in natural appropriate English, to practise one of the teaching points
in that lesson.
- When you have written it, read it out loud so that you can judge how natural it
sounds when spoken, then give it to your neighbour to check over and try out.
- At the end of the role play session, select all the dialogues that worked well
and sounded natural. Try to get them typed up and copies distributed to
everyone, so they can be used again and again in school or college classes.

2 Activity
Varying the pattens of response
Ingroupso/8 or 10.
- Find one of the four line dialogues that you have prepared yourseU and had
corrected. Find a suitable picture or waU chart to contextualise it, or draw a
quick line drawing on a piece of card.
(a) First get the 'class' to listen and repeat the dialogue clearly in chorus, in
halves and as individuals.
(b) Then ask some questions about the picture and the meaning of the dialogue,
again asking the 'class' to respond together, or taking turns to answer
individually.
- Use relevant gestures to help the 'class' know what they should do.
- Keep the pace up, as fast as possible until they get tired.
- Each 'teacher' should use a different dialogue and picture.
- Allow 5 minutes only per 'teacher'.
- Role play cards can be used; some 'students' should pretend to be rather slow,
others sleepy, some too noisy and others too forward and talkative.
- Read 3 below before you begin so you know what to look for when someone
else is teaching.

3 Evaluation
In your groups, discuss whether each 'teacher' gave equal attention to all the
'students' in the class. Did any 'teacher' have a tendency to look more at one side
of the class than the other? Did all 'teachers' vary their positions occasionally,
perhaps to give some extra help to one student or group of students?
In which areas, if any, did you have difficulties with language? Check these out
with your tutor.

0 Further reading
Donn Byrne (1976) pp. 32-34.
Unit Dividing the class
up: pairs and groups
The aims of this Unit are 1 to enable teachers t o use English as economically as
possible while organising group and pair work 2 to establish the value and uses of
group and pair work.
You will need magazine pictures showing two people talking . Other pictures
showing objects or things the people could be talking about (e.g. a watch, a car, football,
clothes etc. or any other visual aids suitable for the role play)

Preliminary discussion
1 (a) To do pair work, students are paired off into twos, and each pair practises
at the same time as the other pairs. The teacher usually walks round the class
and listens to as many or the pairs as she can. What advantages can oral pair
work have over choral work or individual responses at the practice and
production stages of the lesson?

(b) Listen to the example of pair work on the tape. Discuss what stage of the
lesson this could be at, practice or production. What's the teacher doing?

2 (a) Which of these activities could you usefully get your students to do in pairs?
Say why.
to practise a set dialogue from a set of cues on the blackboard
to practise a substitution dialogue
writing their own dialogues, using a model or substitution table
structural practice, using a 'question and answer' technique
exercises from the textbook, orally
writing a description of someone they both know
(b) At what stage in the lesson would you use them? And for what purpose?

3 How can a teacher use group work to practise (a) oral skills? (b) written skills?
Consider the different types of activity for groups that you could use with (a)
elementary; (b) intermediate; (c) ad vanced cla~s.

4 What kind of visual aids could you use to provide a stimulus for your groups or
pairs? Give examples, e.g. 'When getting students to practise giving descriptions
of places, you could use magazine pictures of places.' . . . etc.

S What can the teacher be doing while the cla~ is doing pair work? What could
the teacher say to encourage the students as they work in pairs?
58
 Unit 9: Dividing 1heOass Up: Pairs and Groups 59

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Listen to the dialogues in turn and repeat the teacher's part, paying particular
attention to the use of stress and the rhythm. (See Unit 3, Section b. instructions
for the Dialogue Practice.)

l'i;:;P! (a) At school T: Now, to do this, I want you in groups.

In sixes. please. groups of six. So, look,
you three turn round, so you can talk to
the three behind you.
Ss: Please, er ... what ...?
T: Look, 1urn round, so you can see
Kum ah, Ali and Gustav.
Ss: OK.
T: Good. That's right. Now everyone else
the same! All of you make groups like
this one. You, six; you, six, and you
over there, together. Turn right round.
That's it, well done.
Ss: Please. not six .. . only four.
T: Oh, there are only four of you, I sec.
This classroom has desks that cannot be Well, four is fine. it doesn't matter.
moved. The class has not done any group
work before.

&oriii iii TEAClllNG HINT The class obviously does not understand very weU. How does
the teacher help them to understand what she wants them to do?

(h) At college T: Well now, I'd like you to practise that

dialogue in pairs, so that you all get lots
of practice in speaking English. In
pairs, then, please. Come on! You two
together, you two, you two and so on.
S: Excuse me, ... l. ..
T: Ohdear,you'reoayourown. You
haven't anyone toworkwith,eh?
Right, why don't you turn your chair
round to make a three with the two
behind you?
Ss: Come with us.
T : Thank you. Take turns at practising
then I'll come and hear you myself,
OK?
(Totheclass) Right,oneofyouisJim,
the other is Peter, then change over.
The class is notyet used to pair work. They Off you go. then. All pairs toge1her,
have just praaised a dialogue between Jim and I'll come round to listen.
and Peter in chorus.
TEACHJNG HINT Why does the teacher put the odd student with a pair to make
three rather than pracfuing with him himself?

2 Language activities
(a) Voice projection•
- It is not easy to speak loudly and clearly to a large or noisy class without
distorting the sounds of the language and the natural intonation patterns. This
activity is to give you practice in projecting your voice while stiU retaining
natural stress and intonation patterns.
- In twos; stand opposite your partner on the other side of the room. First, read
the teacher's part of one of the above dialogues to your partner, loudly but as
naturally as possible. Your partner should listen critically and tell you where
your pronunciation differs from that of the tape. Then change over.
60 Unit 9: Dividing the Oass Up: Pairs and Groups

Next, select an exercise from a school or college textbook and dictate it to your
partner to do orally, again standing across the room from your partner.

(b) Gesture
Discuss which gestures would be most effective for getting your class (a) to form
pairs or groups (b) to stop pair practice (c) to hear individual pairs perfonn while
the rest of the class listens quietly to them.

G Classroom language
Study the language in the groups of tables below. When do you think a teacher
.& would use such phrases and sentences? Think of a suitable label or heading for
each group of tables and write it beside the table.
&& Then practise the language that is relevant to your teaching situation, speaking
out loud to your neighbour, as fluently as you can.
&or&& Fina11y, 1EST YOURSELYES, by organising each other into pairs, groups of
3 or 4, etc.

I I want you in In twos, with your neighbour.

pairs
We're going to work in please. lnfoUJ'S.
groups
Can you get into In groups of four.

2
... I ,,~
Turnround
Move forward
I look at
your neighbour.
the person next to you.

behind you.
Can you face the people
I in front of you.

3 byyounelf
on your own aren't you?
Oh.
Oh dear. Yoo '" the odd one out

haven't anyone lo work with, have you?

4 Look, you move up and make a three.

Why don't you turn round and join in with them.

s What about joining in with them?

How about going to sit there, next to him?
Would you mind moving along a bit and working with them?

• In your
pairs
groups
I'd like you to
wouJdyou
practise that dialogue.
try out some questions and amwen about yourselves.
you're going to write a short paragraph about ...

All those on the left,

'"
Jim.
Peter. I You take
I Jim's
Peter's I pan.
role.
Thoseofyou on the right, yo, group leader. You lead the discussion.
Students on this side,
ask the questions.
give the answers. etc.

• When you've finished

Th<,
change over.
swap round,
so that you
take the other part.
each get a tum.
 Unit 9: Dividing the eta" Up: Pairs and Groups 61

' OK.
Stop now!
That was good.
Not bad!
Silence!
Quiet please! Let's hear
what some of you have done.
this pair.
this group.
Well done! That's enough! how you have been getting on.
See also Unit 8, Section c, for language for team games.

Exploitation
Worklhop: exploltlng yourEnglilh Language textbooks
Instead of exploiting the language of the classroom, this Unit gives you an
opportunity to examine the materials in your school or college and lo consider
how they can be used to give your students more chances lo use their English
communicatively, working in pairs or small groups.
Most coursebooks contain reading passages, pictures, dialogues, exercises and
written assignments. Some of these may be useful to promote valuable pair or
group work which may not be suggested in the books themselves.
For this workshop, you should split up into twos or threes, each group taking a
different lesson or unit ofyourcoursebooks, preferably at different levels. Work
through the materials, discussing how parts of them could be used for pair or
group work in your classes. Look at the following suggestions which you may be
able lo adapt.
Exploitina a picture: pairs; students ask each other questions about the picture.
E.g. Elementary level: •Ask your partner three questions beginning 'What
does ...' about the people in the picture'.
Intennediate: 'Ask your neighbour five questions about what the people in
the picture have just done or are going to do next.'
Advanced: 'Make up a possible conversation between the people in the
picture' or 'Get your partner to describe one of the people without telling you
which one it is, so that you can guess which person is being described', etc. See
Units 1.5 and 17.
Exploiting a reading passage: pairs ( or groups); each pair make up questions on a
specific part of the passage for another pair to answer. This can also be done in
teams, with points for good questions and answers. See Unit 19.
Exp)olling written assignments: groups; topics can be discussed in groups prior to
a class discussion. Essays can be written in groups as a joint task; sentences
discussed and then dictated, with group members taking turns to be the 'secre-
tary' and writing them down. This lessens the marking load for the teacher and
helps weaker students. See Unit 21.
Exploi_ting exerdses: pairs; exercises can sometimes be done orally in pairs
before the teacher goes through them in class. This ensures that all students are
working and getting some oral practice while doing the exercise first in pairs. See
Units 15 and 20.
There are many more ways of exploiting textbook materials, too. When you have
discussed the possibilities for pair and group work in your lesson or unit, write
down your ideas so that members of the other groups can benefit from them.

Demonstr■don
Each workshop group should select one of their ideas from their workshop, and
demonstrate it, or part of it, to the rest of the class, using them as 'students'.
Remember to tell them what level they are supposed to be, so they can act
accordingly.
Also arrange a session where you can all report back to each other, to
exchange other ideas and discuss how to put them into practice in the classroom.
 62 Unit 9: Dividing the Class Up: Pair.; and Groups

Role play
1 Activity
Seffln1 up pair work
Ingroupso/5 or6.
- Using the magazine pictures suggested at the beginning of the Unit, or any
other picture in which there are at klast two people talking, imagine what
these people are talking about, then write a very simple and natural four or
five line dialogue to go with the picture.
- Plan the presentation and practice stages ofthe dialogue, thinking particularly
about the pattern ofteacher. . .student and student-student interaction,
using pair work alternating with choral and individual work, for variety.
Decide on what cues to give to aid their memory.
- Look back at the CLASSROOM LANGUAGE Sections of this Unit and
Unit 8, and decide which language you will need to use in order to cany out
the organisation of the practice stages.
- Decide in your groups in which order you will 'teach' this to the other groups.
so that the materials can be passed on from the first to the second 'teacher'.
Then split up and re-form groups, so that as far as possible you will be
'teaching' members of other groups.
- Fix a time limit and begin 'teaching' remembering to be as dynamic as
possible, and using clear instructions with plenty of gesture to help your
'students' understand what you expect them to do.

2 Follow up and evaluation

Take a friendly vote to elect the 'best organised teacher' in your teaching groups.
Then discuss why you thought so.
Then;as a class, discuss how you could introduce pair and group work to a
class that has never done any before, and who are perhaps anxious about the
idea.

3 Pleyegame
THE CONVERSATION GAME. See Unit 1, Section d, 5, page 11.
GIVE ME ANOTHER ONE. See Unit 15, Section d, page 112.

0 Furtherreadlng
On pair work see Donn Byrne (1976) Chapter 7.
On group work see Donn Byrne (1976) Chapter 8, pp. 80-96.
Disick, R in Joiner and Westphal (1978) pp. 136-143.

•
Unit 101nterruptions:
late comers, things lost
The aim of this Unit is to show how interruptions in lessons can be used for
communicative language practice, often with the questioning done by the students.
You will need character cards as in Unit 1, but with some additions; see
Section e , 1

Preliminary discussion
I Lessons rarely proceed from beginning to end smoothly without any interrup-
tions at all. What interruptions may possibly occur during your English lessons?

2 What do you usually do in each case? H ow far d oes your action depend on what
is actually happening in the clas.s at tha t moment?

3 Wha t things are your students always supposed to bring to class or provide for
themselves? Do they usually? Wha t do you say to them if they don ' t?

4 Unless you are in th.e middle of a complex activity like a substitution drill which
may b reak d own if interrupted, interruptions can form a useful basis for some
genuine communicative language use. If one student walks in la te, the r est of the
class want to know why; they could ask him in English . How, for ex.a mple, could
the following situations be used as the basis of conversations? One student has not
brought his textbook , another has not shar pel)ed his pencil and one tells you he
didn't have time to do the homewor k tha t you are just about to test them on.

S (a) What r easons are your students likely to have for being late?
(b) What topics of con versation may arise natu rally out of a student arri ving
late?
(c) Is punctuality in your country consider ed as important as it is in the
Western wor ld ?

6 How would you express your displeasure to (a) a child who was always late,
with a d ifferent excuse each time? (b) an adult who was often la te but had never
said why?
63
64 Unit I 0: Interruptions: Late Comers. Thinp Lost

Dialogue practice
1 Dlaloguea
Listen to both dia1ogues on tape; notice the difference in social register between
them and the way in which the teachers use different tones of voice. Then select
the dialogue which is relevant to your teaching situation and practise repeating it
after the tape before practising it with your neighbour.

~ (a)At- T: Hello,Rosa. You'reabitlatetoday.

R: Yes. Miss White, I'm sorry.
T: WeD,wherehaveyoubeen?
R: ... er ... Jforgot my book and I ...
go ...
T: Youwentbackforit?
R: Yes.
T: You shouldn't have gone back for it.
You could have borrowed one, or
shared. Anyway, Rosa, sit down now.
Let's get on.

This i.s the fint linu Rosa luJs bun late.

&or & & TEACJDNG HINT The teacher us some structum that are far too advanced
for tbls class to grasp completely; why do you think she does tbls?

R (b)At- T: Good afternoon, Mr Kasemi, er ...

what ...?
o. ... e.r ... Mr K: Good afternoon, Mr Ramsden, I'm
octuo\\~ I sorry I'm late today'.
sto.rtd ou.\: T: Did you miss the bus or was the
Iott., traffic heavy today?
Mr K: No, ... er ... actually I started out
late.
T: Well, never mind. Please take a
seat. Arni would somebody explain
to Mr Kasemi what we've been
doing today? •••
S: Iwill.
Mr Kaumiwalksinlalt. T: Yes?Goon ...

&or&& TEACIDNGIIINTWby-thetaacb<r.,.,n'oither/or',..-.,,_,,,.ther
than slmply saying, 'Did you ml• the bus?'

2 Languageacdvltlee
.& & (a) Repeat the first dialogue above, substituting Lisa for Rosa. Lisa is often late
because she is always forgetting things. Change your tone of voice to show
your disapproval. Practise with your neighbour.
(b) Make up three 'either/or' questions enquiring about reasons for lateness
relevant to your students' lives. Ask your neighbour the questions; he or she
should apologise and give a suitable reason for being late.
(c) What language will your students need in order to apologise politely in
English? Make a list of expressions your students ought to know by the end
oftheirfim year and by the end of their intermediate stage, for example, 'I'm
sorry I'm late but I missed the bus', (end of 1st year). Write them here:
 Unit 10: Interruptions: Late Comers. Things Lost 65

(9 Clauroom language
...... Read the phrases and practise making sentences from the substitution tables
below. Fint select language suitable for children or younger students. Then
select the language that is appropriate to adult students. YOu are more likely to
reprimand late comers in school than adult learners, Remember how to show
your attitude, for example, your disapproval or concern, by the tone of your
voice.
You will speak more strictly to a student who is often late than to someone
who is rarely late. Practise in pairs, adding your own ideas, to make a natural
conversation.

Latenw
Hello, Gustav, you're late today. (Yes, I'm sony, I had to •• ,) Where have you been? (Well, I went to .. ,)
Good morning, Mr Adjimi. You're rather late .. . What have you been doing?
What happened? Is anything wrong? (Oh, no, I ...)
1 miss the bus forget the time?
get up late o, wouldn't your car start?
Did you get stuck in the traffic were you delayed?
set out late was the bus late?

2
never mind ~y.
w,n, it doesn't matter
just for once, but next time, try to be on time.
this time,

3 ,,__ing that then.

you shouldn't really- done that.
Well,. have
actually, you shouldn't oome so late.

4 oome on lime, really.

ought to told me before if you bad to go to the doctor.
WeD,yoo ,hoold have
asked someone to tell me.
set out earlier.

5 you'd better try not to

again.
you'd better not forget (it)
AlriJbt, but, next lime.
you mustn't be late
next lesson.
could you please tty not to
Sit down now please.
Would you sit down, then, please.
Go and sit down, then •

• Right! Back to
Let's get on with
the register.
the lesson.
Let's get back to what we were doing.
Right, we'll go on with our work.
 66 Unit 10: Interruptions: Late Comers, Things Lost

I.oat. forgotten
(See Appendix B for Student Language, MAKING APOLOGIES.)
7

...
(Mine.)

wh°"
""
book
is this?
(Hi,.)
(Hers.)
wo,k (John's.)
Look,
(I'm sorry, I don't know.)
""
homework (I think it's John's.)

whose is this """'

pencil ?

8 some homework? (I have.)

Has anyone (I haven't.)
fowul a book?
Who has
Who's
""' a pen?
a bag?
(Me.)
(Not me.)

9
Who do'""'
does this
belong to?
(Mc.)
(Her.)
(Not me.)
(Him.)

10 forgotten your homework? (Yes,1 hav,.)

Have you left your pen at home? (I'm afraid I have.)
left your book behind?

II
.... anyone
anyone else
forgotten their homework?
left their pen behind?
left their book at home?

12 pen? (I've forgotten it.)

Where's your book? (I'm sorry.) (I left it at home.)
exercise book? (Ilostit.)

13 bring it next time.

Oh well, borrow one.
do without.
Never mind, you'D have to
do that work again.
Well, could you
OK, try and fmd it.
share books.
shaR with Jane.

14
Come and see me .
after the lesson.

later on.
o'clock.
I'll deal with that then.
I'll help you then.

TNtyoul'Nlf
In each case give one answer suitable for adult learners and one suitable for
school children.
What would you say if •••
(a) someone was very late for the first time?
(b) three or four students walked in ten minutes late without apologising?
(c) a latecomer apologised very politely?
(d) you wanted to continue the lesson after an interruption?
(e) you thought quite a few students had forgotten their homework?
(f) Hossein had left his book at home for the third time?
 Unit I 0: Interruptions: Late Comers, Things Lost 67

(g) Rosa said she didn't have anything to write with?

(h) someone said he had a problem with his homework?
(i) you found a pen and a piece of homework on your desk as you came in?
(j) somebody handed in to you an un-named exercise book?
(k) somebody told you he had lost his hom:ew::o~rk~?=-'"""'====-;;a;a-~
(D Exploitation T: whe!"eS. yo~r ~~'?rt..
1 Unexploited dialogue 2 Pou ibilitlea for exploitation s~\t'Y\ (tf\'nl~ ( 11e
Here are some ways in which Mr Short T : \..O~t, it .

t~hort ;.,bou, to begia, aew

activity when Chee walks in late. What
could have taken advantage of this
situation.
s: Yes. .,. 't. you 'cM'/
T : 'NnY dtv n ?
a
S : Todat
1
new on&.

-- ~'
T : Tell
rt"l"~~e.-
t. he
hll'T1 wha aorie.
opportunities does he miss for some shotAld ha'/&
authentic and purposeful S : H.e ~o'-'IGI ho"tere.
communication in English? brought. ~~¢?

s·: Y~-
T· Wl"lf
,;;11ou1c.
T: Now, let'ssee ... Oh,hello, lo+t ,th , t _ ha11e
___ ___ _ e.tc.
Chee.
Ch: Good morning, Mr Short.
T: You're late, Chee.
Ch: I know, I'm sorry.
T: OK. Don't be late again.
Ch: No, Mr Short. (sits down)
T: Right, as l was saying, I want you
to write ...
S: Excuse me, my pencil's broken,
and I've lost my pen, Mr Short.
T: Well, borrow mine. Here you '1
are. Right, back to work! ::;::~=-;;;;;-~b~~~= ~ ~ r b\cyc\e. ·
c::: \ se '/ou o.o.'{
,s\: P,id '(~~ ~iti'!<. t.o ___ .etc·
O""lee- wa'i? ..,_
7 1
.. Otd '( y,.o\~'{I--
v,JO.S o ____ _e,t,c.
55 w'r\Y ex to
ov 91.,1e - \/'lY' 1,;;p e,o 10.'c-e ·"'-l'rr'{ •
S3' ------
~
=--.:: _: ,,.__-~,:,=-~=~
eo,.v-. Y.? cviee cM -.rle~""' 1_31..1ess
eo'"'e
\o-t.e. w'f\'{ '(t'(',e. otri.,,. -
.,oVVI will yYl()l<e
~~~-~=?"-==
~
3 Oral practice
In groups of 3 or 4.
(a) Take one 'balloon' each and practise expanding the dialogue along the lines
suggested, adapting the idea to suit your own students if necessary.
(b) There are many ways of exploiting this situatioA for contextualising struc-
tural teaching, too. Look back at the classroom language section and see
which structures arise naturally. Are there any others which you could bring
in to a situation such as this? After you have made your own list, check in
Appendix A, then practise in your groups bringing in and eliciting any
structures which your students would find useful.

4 Sample exploitation
Listen to the tape and find out why Abdullah was late for college this morning.
Then listen to the tape agai n and see if you can tell at which point all the students
get really interested, and why. Also, why do they laugh at the end?
Are there any words the teacher uses that may have been new to some of the
students? Do you think they understood them in the end? Which words are
they?
If the teacher had wanted to, she might have furthcrcxploited this situation for
practice in the first conditional or other tenses; how might she have done this?
ji
68 Unit I 0: Interruptions: Late Comers, Things Lo6t

Roleplay
1 Activity
Dea11n1 with Interruptions
- Select your teacher and your latecomer. Decide whether he always comes
late, or rarely. (This will affect what tone ofvoice you use and what you say to
him.)
- Decide a1so whether you are teaching adults or school students and remember
to use appropriate language.
- Remember when 'teaching' to speak at a fairly natural speed and rephrase
whenever necessary.
- As 'teacher' yuu will have to guide and help the student who is late to make an
appropriate apology, give a plausible excuse or explain the reason he was late.
You must acknowledge the apology, accept the excuse and give a word of
warning or reprimand if necessary. Exploit the situation as far as you can for
developing a chat. Involve the whole class by asking why he was late and what
he shouJd have done, for example.
- As 'students' remember to act as if you do not understand everything all the
time. For example, you can look puzzled or worried, whisper to your neigh•
bour as if you had not understood or put your hand up if you have a query.
- Begin by teaching some new vocabulary from a picture, when the late comer
arrives. After he is settled down, ask the class to write the new words in their
books, which is when the other interruptions occur.
- You can use the same role play cards as you had for Unit 1. Add two or three
saying WST YOUR BOOK, FORGOTfEN YOUR PEN, etc.
- End when you have finally got the class to write and learn the three items of
vocabulary you set out to teach.
- Take turns being the 'teacher' and the late arrival; change the 'level' of your
class and use different excuses each time.
- Make a note of which structures or language items occur most often in this
situation.
- Jot down any errors you notice for checking out later.

2 Follow up and evaluation

(a) In your groups assess which interruptions produced most language use. What
did the students actually say themselves? What did they manage to under-
stand? Did 'students' feel the teacher's language was appropriate to their
'age' and 'level'?
What changes would you make if you had to cope with similar situations in
your own classes?
(b) Report back to the whole class on which interruption proved most useful, in
terms of language used.
Make a more comprehensive list of structural items which could be based on
or practised in these situations, for further reference.
Check out any queries you may have about the accuracy and appropriacy of
the language used in the role play activity.
Control and discipline
The aims of this Unit are 1 to teach the language needed to control classes in such a
way as to promote effective learning 2 to revise the language taught in earlier Units by
means of a WORKSHOP on lesson planning, based on the language items contained in
Appendix A and previous EXPLOITATION Sections
You will need 1 materials for making new role play cards. See Section e 2 a wall
chart suitable for question and answer work 3 your school or college English Language
textbooks

6) Preliminary discussion
........ ................. Discuss the points releva nt to your teaching situatio n .

-
.& 1 In what ways is teaching English to adults different from teaching English to
children? Consider the following points: discipline, motivation, types of activities
and materials used, length of concentration spans, the role and sta.t us of the
teacher.
2 Is discipline ever a problem in the school or college you teach in? Do you
anticipate any problems as a resuJt of teaching English in English? If so, what do
you think are (or will be) the reasons for it? Any or the following? - lack of
motivation, lack of confidence, previous learning habits, Importance of the
written examination, or relative importance of English compared to other sub-
jects on the timetable? Can you think of any other possible reasons?
3 In adult education , discipline is rarely a problem. However , a dults have often
acquired learning habits from their previous learning experience which may
prevent them from performing well in English. Wbkh, if any, of these learning
ha bits do your students show?
(a) wanting to write down thing.9 when they should be listening or practising
(b) subvocallsing* when reading English silently
(c) requesting or giving translations for every new Item or difficult sentence,
instead of responding directly in English
(d) copying down everything you write on the blackboard, whether or not it is
useful
(e) learning d1alogues and word lists by heart
(f) trying to say something in English that they have not already studied and
perhaps get wrong.
4 Which of the learning habits listed in 3 above would you attempt to eradicate
and how?
5 If you are in Secondary Education and a re teaching further up the school,
taking over classes previously taught by another teacher , you may find that
Discussion Points 3 and 4 above apply to your situation, too. If so, you may find it
usefuJ to discuss them with your tutor.
69
I
t
70 Unit 11 : Contro l and Discipline

Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Listen to whichever dialogue is most relevant to your teaching situation. Notice
especially the tone of voice used; the teacher is being firm but pleasant. Repeat
the teacher's part o nly, then practise the dialogue in pairs, helping each other
with pronunciation, referring back to the tape if you are in doubt about the
accuracy of your pronunciation.

(a) Atschool T: OK, everyone. Quiet now please! No

more talking! Rosa, stop chatting now.
And you, Ku mah. Let's sec, number 3.
Whose tum is it?
S: it's my turn.
T: Gustav,sorry,justa mome nt! Chee
and Ali, would you mind not behaving
like that. Sit down. Yes, Gustav,
number 3, please.
G: ·Joan has been in London . . . er'
S: 'in London forsev ... !'
T: Hans, please don' t interrupt while
Gustav is speaking. Listen and see ifhe
is right, OK?
The class is just settling down after an
interruption. They were doing a textbook
exercise.

TEACHING HINT Why does the teacher stop Hans answering for Gustav, do
you think?
T: Mr Adjimi, please don't write while
{b) Atcollege
I am showing you how to say this.
J ust listen!
Mr A: I'm sorry.
T: That's OK. Ready? Listening?
(The IP.ocher reads a short dialogue,
and swdents practise it.)
(Later)
T: You can work in pairs, speaking,
then writing the dialogue. But
without charting in your own
language, please. Start now.
S: ls this right?
T: Oh. not that o ne, that's the wrong
one. Hang on. From the pictures al
thebohom of the page, the second
set. The one we've just practised!
S: This o ne?
T: Yes. (kindly) You'd better listen
The teacher is preseming a new ilem orally next time, hadn't you? Then you'll
while swdents listen. get it right.
TEACHING HINT Why do you thlnk the teacher lets the students work in twos to
write up the dialogue they have practised orally?

2 Language activity
Tone of voice
When controlling your class, often the way you say something is more important
than what you say. Students understand from the teacher's tone of voice if they
have do ne something wrong, for example.
Imagine you were teaching a class of adolescents, around 15 to 18 years old.
Practise saying each of the warnings below in three different ways. as if:
(a) at the beginning of an activity; a general an nouncemc:nt to the whole clas~.
(pleasantly)
 Unit 11: Control and Discipline 71

(b) students take longer settling down than you expected; (this time more
firmly but still pleasantly)
(c) some students continue to be disruptive; (very firm, addressing those
particular students)
There is an example of the fint one on tape; practise that one fint.
- Could you stop talking and settle down, now, please?
- Would you keep your voices down during pair practice, please?
- I'm not going to begin until everyone is quiet, really quiet.
- Stop tuming round and disturbing other people, please.
- No writing while I explain this, OK? Pens down, please.

Classroom language
You will need to select language appropriate to the age of your students, for
example most of the expressions in Table 1 are really only suitable for children.
Remember that you can modify your language by changing the tone of your
voice, for example to make it more polite, or very firm.
Study the language in the tables, ignoring that which is not suitable for your
classes, then practise in twos, helping each other with pronunciation difficulties.
This time the tables have no headings, the language in them is self-
explanatory.

1 No,don'tl Tha1'ssiHy.
Don't do that! Settle down.
Stop that! Come on, let's get on.
Stop doing that! Now listen.
1bat's enough! Now get on with your work.
You mustn't do that! Let's start again.
Be quiet! Whose tum is it now?

2 Now then, behave in class.

No,Ali, that's not the way to learn English properly.
No, ... , do pair practice, etc.

3 playing around!
talking!
No chatting!

....
No.,.. making a noise!

-
being silly/stupid!
Would you mind Ht shouting! Get on,
Please will you stop disturbing the others! Calm down,
interrupting the others! Listen, please.
You shouldn't be behaving like that! Be quiet,
There'll be trouble $peaking Farsi/Spanish/Chinese! Settle down,
if you goon whispering!
I'll report you to copying! Do it on your own!
Mr X if you goon pa5$ing notes!
tuming round! Face me!
dreaming! Wake up!

4 talking I'm talking.

No writing I'm writing on the blackboard.
while I'm explaining this.
talk we're doing this.
Don't write the others are stiU working.
move your lips while you're reading.
1/1

72 Unit I I: Control and Discip6ne

5
.... I tell you to.
I've finished .
lletyou.
Don't
You mustn't ""'
answer until you've understood.
write it down I ask you to.
You'd better not
read it
write it
"""" I've said it an.
everyone's ready.
everyone's finished.
You needn't ......... unless I ask you to.

6 book.

....... ..... .........

picture.
book. Tln,on,.
H=.
Wait a minute!
Not
No, not
om!.
exercise.
dialogue.
"" Look.

....
one.
w,y. ..,. like this.

7 brooght
You've
...
dono
the wrong
book,
pag<,
exercise,
haven't you?
What did I ask you to do?

You're .....
reading

doing it the wrong way,

one,
aren't you?
Who can remember what I said?

8 how
doit
the way
I told you to?
C.ouldyou
read the bit I asked you to?
write the exercise

9 be careful
be quiet
You'd better listen next time hadn't you?
try harder
watch out

10 pay attention,
lfyoudon't listen properly, it'U go in one ear and out theodler!
concenrrate,

11 send you to Mr X.
do that again
I'll set you extra work.
forget it again
I'll have to tell the Headmaster.
If you don't do your homework once more
I'll definitely write to your parents.
don't work harder
I'll simply pllllishyou.
keep on wasting time
tell your parenls.

T..tyounelf
Say the answers to these out loud in a suitable tone of voice. What would you say
in these circumstances?
(a) Gustav turns round for the third time to chat to the person behind.
(b) Rosa has started the wrong exercise.
 Unit 11: Comrol and Discipline 73

(c) Hosscin keeps falling asleep.

(d) Ali and his friend arc being silly.
(e) Mr Adjimi begins to write while you are presenting something new.
(f) His friend keeps whispering to him.
(g) Mrs Moussavi is writing a whole paragraph rather than the first sentence.
(h) Miss Kasemi is copying whole sentences instead of writing notes.
(i) Some children are not working well and repeatedly interrupt the others.
(j) Chee never finds the right page and even now is looking at the wrong picture.
(k) Some students are reading silently but moving their lips as they read.
(I) Mr Lee keeps giving translations instead of answering in English.
(m)The whole class has worked very wen indeed throughout the lesson.

- ...--
Exploitation
This Section revises work covered in whichever of the previous Units you may
have studied, mainly from the EXPLOITATION Sections.
The aim of the workshop is to give practice in exploiting classroom situations
for the presentation and practice of the language items contained in Appendix
A,
By the end of this workshop, each group should have planned in detail the
initial presentation of one language point, and some practice stages.
- Select items from Appendix A that you will have to teach at some time in the
future.
- Split up into groups of two or three, each group taking a different item. Define
what exactly the aims of your lesson wiD be. See Unit 13, Section•• 1 (e).
- Write six more examples of the teaching item, choosing ideas that can be
demonstrated in the classroom and that your students will fmd interesting.
Practise modelling the examples to each other, speaking as naturally as you
can. Practise getting each other to repeat them, after you.
- Write a two line exchange that involves students in doing something as wen as
speaking, e.g. 'Would you close the window, please?' 'Yes, of course'.
(This would be suitable if you were teaching polite requests.) Your students
can practise this in pairs, miming the actions.
See aJso Unit 14, Section d, 1 (a).
- Think of other elicitation procedures you could use to make your students
produce the new item. See FOCUS page, Unit 15. These may include picture
cues, word cues on the blackboard, mime cues from the teacher, or question
and answer work, in which case try the questions out on each other before you
write them down, to make sure they sound natural. You should end up with at
least six cues or questions to elicit the new item.
- Next, think of some situations in real life where such items may well occur
naturally. Write a longer dialogue which will include the new item and
illustrate its use in a different situation. Try each exchange out on each other
to make sure it sounds like normal spoken English before you write it down.
Then practise modelling both parts for the others in your group to repeat. Use
a blackboard sketch of the characters to refer to when getting the others to
repeat. Write down some comprehension questions to test whether your
students can understand what they are to repeat; you would use these ques•
tions at the presentation stage. Test them on each other, first.
- Lastly think of a situation similar to the one in the last dialogue, as near as
possible to a real-life situation, that the class could perform as a role play
74 Unit l I: Control and Discipline

activity, during the production stage of the lesson. Practise describing the
situation and the characters involved to each other, so that you will be able to
set it up efficiently when you come to do it in the classroom. See also Unit 17,
Section c , Tables 1---6.
- Look in your textbooks to see if there is a suitable written exercise to give as
reinforcement of the oral work they have done in class. If there isn't anything
suitable, make one up; just five or six items will be enough.
- Whe n you have written this lesson plan out, ask your tu tor to check the
English for accuracy and appropriacy. Then pass your lesson plans round for
other groups to examine and copy down.
- If possible, either peer teach each lesson or try it out next time you have a class
a t a suitable level. Amend the plan if necessary afterwards. You could use one
part of this plan in the Role Play in Section e.

Role play
1 Activity
Discipline and control in your class
First decide whether you will be 'teaching' children or adults. Prepare two or
three cue cards each for use during the role play instead of the character card~
previously used. Use the ideas below that seem suitable. Cards should have one
side blank.

the
OfM,at
tfre tota

Prepare the same number of blank cards; these cue · normal' behaviour.
Divide into groups of eight o r ten people; share out both types of cards equally
between the groups. Shuffle the cards and distribute them at the beginning of
each 'teacher's' turn.
Teachers should either do some oral question a nd answer work based on a
picture, or set a written task, a simple one, which can be continued by suhsequent
teachers. You could use one part of the lesson you plan ned in Section d.
Teachers should attempt 10 teach for three o r four minutes, dealing with
problems as they arise.
'Students' should respond to the 'teacher' after one, two or maximum three
warnings.
Say t1othin9, Change over cue cards for each new tum. Enjoy yourselves!
do nothirt_g
2 Follow up and evaluation
Discuss in your groups:
(a) Did any teacher allow any student to get away with doing what he shouldn't?
(Often the quiet or lazy ones a re not noticed.)
(b) Was the language and tone suitable for the age and level of the class?
(c) What caused the most difficulty?
(d) In what circumstances might it be useful to revert to the mother-tongue in
Answer similar situations?
out cF
t~,..,.., (e) Could you use cue cards in a similar way in your own classes to teach patterns
like 'You'd better ( not)' 'Would you mind not'?
Check out a ny language points with your tutor.
 nit 1 Ending the lesson
or a stage in the lesson
The aims of this Unit are 1 to teach the language one would normally use when
finishing a stage in a lesson, or when ending the lesson itself, setting homework, etc.
2 to show how the few minutes just before the end of the lesson can be used in a
practical way to promote communicative language use which will involve the students
You will need 1 the textbooks you use in school or college 2 role play cards

Preliminary discussion
J (a) A lesson is normally made up of different stages each comprising different
activities. How do you let your class know when one activity is over? (Refer
back to Unit 5.)
(b) At the end of an activity, would you just say 'Stop', or would you perhaps
give a reason for stopping at that particular moment, or offer some praise or
encouragement? What exactly coo.Id you say if you wanted your class to stop (i)
writing an exercise from their textbook? (ii) practising a dialogue in pairs? (iii)
asking and answering questions about a wall chart?

2 What often needs to be done afte.r you've finished teaching near the end of the
lesson? Make a list of the usual tasks a teacher must do then. Also, do you think it
is important how students feel at the end of a lesson, as they leave the classroom?
Why? So what else might you do?

3 (a) Could you ask your students to help you do some of these tasks al the end of
the lesson? How would you ask them in English?
(b) If you stepped back and asked some of your students to take over, how much
of the organisation could they do, or be taught to do, in English? How could this
be useful experience for them?

4 What kind of queries or comments might your students need to make to you at
the end of the lesson?

5 Do you think a quick review of what the students have achieved during the
lesson might be useful? Why? Perhaps a preview of the next lesson might be
motivating. What do you think?

6 Sometimes a lesson goes faster than you have planned, and you have five or ten
minutes left at the end. What can you do to use this time productively and
amusingly? Do any of you know any good games that you can play quickly in
English with your students? If so, describe them brieny, stating the language
items needed by the students in order to play successfully. (See also Unit 17,
Section d .)
75
76 Unit 12: Ending the Lesson or a Stage in the Lesson

0) Dialogue practice
1 Dialogues
Practise each dialogue but be careful! The first teacher corrects two student
mistakes in a very discouraging way. When you take the teacher's role here. try
lo sound more encouraging.

l'i:=;11 (a) At school T: Well,everyone. Finish the sente nce

you are writing, then put your pens
down. It's time 10 clear up.... Come
on! Finish now. O K?
S: l no finish.
T: You haven't finished?
S: I haven't finished.
T: We ll, never mind. You've tried hard.
Right. Could you leave your exercise
books open at the page you a re o n. and
pass them up?
S: Can I collect them for you?
T: Yes, thank you, and cou ld you put
them o n my desk? Well done
everybody; most of you have worked
very well. today. Do you re me mber
what you have to do for ho mework? J
told you earlier ... yes?
S: Read page 57 and learn four lines of
dialogue.
T: Of the dialogue. ls she right? Anyone?
Ss: Yes.
T: Now, while you're pack ing your books
The teacher has five minutes before the end up, tell me whatplansyou'vegol for
o[the lesson. The class is writing. the weekend ...

&or & & TEACHING HINT Why does the teacher ask the students themselves what they
have to do for homework?

(b) At college T: O J( , everyone, we'll do another two

questio ns a nd then stop and have a
break before going on to something
e lse. Er. question 5, anyone'?
Ss:
(later)
T : Good, we ll done, that was a bit
difficult. wasn't it? We'll stop there,
anyway, and you can have a two
minute b reak. Don't worry, we' ll come
back to thatanothertime when we're
wii , not so tired. Have a break now.
(later)
The teacher decides to finish this stage ofthe T : Alright. everybody? Let's have a game
lesson earlier than planned beca11se it has now. Look ...
\ not gone very well.

TEACHING HINT Why do you think the teacher gives prior warning to the
students that they will have to stop that activity soon? And why does he decide to
play a game at this point, do you think?

2 Language activitiea
A game to play
REPHRAS ING CHAMPIONSH IPS (an excellent revision game for teachers)
In 2 equal sized groups. Sit or sta nd in a circle. Your tutor should sit between you
as he is the judge or a rbitrator.
The aim of this game is to see how many different ways there are for teachers lo
 Unit 12: Ending the les$onora Stage in the Le~ 77

say the same thing, keeping as close as possible to the original meaning, but using
different levels of register, structural complexity, etc.
Example: The first player says, 'Would you open your books at page 15 please?'
The player next to him can say: 'Would you fmd page 15, please in your books?'
The next player could say 'Would you mind opening your books? You want page
15' and so on, around the circle until somebody repeats one that has already
been said. Then continue with the next sentence. The group leader makes a note
of how many different ways they have found for each sentence. The winner ts the
group who has found (and can say) the most ways. No hesitations are aUowed
beyond a count of 5 (or 10). lfthe next player has not by then responded, that
group must write down the number of ways found so far and proceed to the next
sentence.
Begin with the sentence given in the example, for a practice run through, then
follow on with these:
1 How about having another look at the picture of the seaside?
2 Could everybody please repeat this sentence after me?
3 Everybody should try question number 3. Now!
4 Whose tum isit now? John's?
5 Has anybody not had a tum now?
6 Would you mind being quiet now please?
7 Today I plan to do some work on Listening Comprehension with you.
8 Just clean the lower section of the board, on the right please. Thanks.
9 Hands up before you answer please!
10 Who can remember what we talked about in yesterday's lesson?

Clasaroom language
The classroom language in this Unit covers a wide variety of organisational tasks
that may not all be relevant to your teaching situation. For example, you would
probably not ask an adult student to clean the board for you.
Select the tables which apply to your teaching situation and in general you will
find that the language itself is appropriate to the age of your students. Think of
specific tasks to refer to and fiU the blanks appropriately.
Work through the relevant tables,one task at a time, and practise the language
with your neighbour. For example, you could practise setting each other
homework, different types of assignments, for two or three minutes, before
proceding to the next set of tables. Use your textbooks to refer to.
Remember to add anything of your own to make the language sound natural
in use; for example, in order to direct students' attention you may have to add a
'Right' or a 'Now then' at the beginning of the exchange (see Unit one, Section
b, Language Activity,)
Try to read fluently from the tables; it's better if you can memorise a sentence,
look up and say it to your partner. Help each other with pronunciation.

Ending• teaching sequence

I Last few
One or two more
I questions
minutes
on now
line practising and then we'll stop.
finish
'""
Cmyoo complete
'"'
dialogue
sentence
task
you're writing
reading
doing
 78 Unit 12: Ending the Lesson or a Stage in the Lesson

2 You've done enough of that.

You've had enough practice at th11t.
there.
I think We11 have a short break and a rest,
we'll stop doing this now
Right!
·~· It's time you
I had a change now.
finished that now.

3 quite wen.
You've all Well done.
do~ very nicely.
Most of you have
"'" better than last time.
But you could perhaps still do better.

4 oral work,
So let's
"''"'
goon to
rom, reading.
writing.
listening.
(See Unit 5.)

Setting homework (Elementary level)

5

At home,
Tonight,
not now, _.
do
loam
write

~ad
revise
the work we've done in class.
this dialogue.
the exercise on page 9.

• Write it
in your notebooks
out neatly
give it in tomorrow morning.
on paper '"' I'll go over it next lesson.

Setting homework (Intennediate level)

7
finish this piece of work.
continue with these exercises, up to 8.
For homework do exercises 2 to S, including S.
At home I want you to go over what we've just learnt.

i Before next lesson learn 6 lines of the dialogue on page 9.

learn how to spell these words.
I read pages 67 to 74 and answer the questions.

8 next lesson.
It must be done by next time I see you.
Can you give ii in tomorrow morninaat 8.30.
I'll test you on it some time this week.
Tuesday, latest.

(See Appendix B for Student Language, QUERIES ABOUT TASKS SET.)

Ending the INNR (Elementary level)

Good, well done. Give back my papers/books.
Pack your books up. Are your desks tidy?
Put them away. Right. You may go.
C.Ollect the work, please. Goodbye.
 Unit 12: Ending the Lesson or a Stage in the Lesson 79

Collectlng thlnga

' I want
I'd like "'
ooUoa
take in
your
last lot or homework
wmk
papen now please.
boob
Make sure your names are on your work, won't you?

II give it/them in?

the end of the row?
Please Wlll you pass it/them up to
the front?
collect it/them, Ali?

Give it in now, please. Pile your books up here. Make 2/3/4 piles.
Pass your work up, now please. Thank you, everyone. Well done.
Put your work on my desk as you leave.

(See Appendix B Student Language, MAKING APOLOGIES.)

Tidying up
ll collect the books we've been using, Ali,
C<ruldyou
see all the library books are returned, everyone, please?
Wlllyou
put everything bact in its right place, a....

the desks are straight.

make sure those books are put away.
Before you all leave, could you
see that you've not forgotten anythmg.
would you
check that the board is dean.
all the library books are there.

a Ch«, clean the board.

it's your job today to
u.., isn't it your tum to
collect the readers in.
Kumah, make sure it's aH tidy for the next class.

(See Units 6 and 7 for putting visual aids and other equipment away.)

Announcementa
" I have something to tell you
some announcements to make
before you go. Could you listen, please?

to bring the money for· ____ next le5SOn.

Will you please remember there's a club meeting on _ _ __
Don't forget
there's an English film called about 00

16 practised
So today we have read abou• and you've learnt how to
written

17 goon to _ __
Nett le5SOn we'll
revise ooddo
 80 Unit 12: Ending the LesoonoraStagein the Lesson

A game or ■ chat?
18
Look, we've
got three minutes left,
finished a bit early,
why don't we have
what about ..,..,
a game?

19 Whk:hone would you like? _ __

Who would like to choose one? _ __ OK. SbaU we do that one, then?
Do you remember the one about ?

"' I'm going

to the cinema tonight.
What are you dolllg
this eveninj:?

-
away for the weekend. this weekend? etc.

21
~ finished,
It's lime now. So we'd better
yoo cleared up,
went,

22 for us to Slop
It's time for you to have a break now.OK?
to clear up

23 have a good weekend.

WeU, I hope you all enjoy yourselves.
work hard tonight.

Good bye, everyone, see you all tomorrow!

&or&& Teslyoundf
What can you say if you want
(a) to draw the present activity to a close? (give a reason, and praise)
(b) to teU the class to take a short break? (be encouraging)
(c) to set two lots of homework? (specify what is to be done, for when)
(d) the children to tidy up at the end of the day? (specify several tasks)
(e) to make an announcement about a class outing?
(f) to sum up the lesson you have just fmished and say what will happen in the
next lesson?
(g) to fill in the last two minutes of a lesson?
(h) your students to leave their work on your desk as they leave?
(i) to draw the lesson to an end? (Begin, 'Well, it's time we/you... .')
(j) to give the class permission to leave, and say Goodbye ... ?
 Unit 12: Ending the Lesson or a Stage in the Lesson 81

(D Exploitation
1 Unexplobddlalogue
The teacher here is very businesslike
but gives the class no opportunities to
speak at a1I. What could he have done
to allow his students to say something
in English?

D
~ T: F'mished?
l Ss: ... er yes.
Ss: No.
T: Never mind. Pack your things up
now. Books away! Lee? Collect
these shee1s up, please.
L: Yes.,sir.
T: OK. Straighten those desks.
Come on! Now, remember your
homework. Right,you can go.
Good bye everyone.
Ss: Goodbye. ::~
T: Haveagoodweekend

2 Pouibilitln for exploitation

Link the 'balloons' opposite to the
part of the dialogue on the left which
couldhavebeenexpandedand _.,,=,!/ 7
-----------·
exploited. ,.,,..,,-,,- . •-shed -,,.ow/
y,Jho no.i- -fi';'' t,Jot-vne- '7
-•.Me! -fa~"e~~~---e-t,c.---~ j;I,
-r:_ ~oorte U\'.1 ~
~-~

3 Onl practice
........ lngroupso/4 to 6 .
(a) Take one 'balloon' each, change or adapt the idea to suit your own students.,
then practise exploiting the original dialogue along those lines, trying to get
your fellow students talking for as long as possible.
(b) What language items could be practised in a meaningful way at the end ofa
lesson? For example, the pa Hem in Table 21 is often used in this situation.
Write down as many as you can think of then check in Appendix A.

4 Bampleexploltation
The teacher has asked her students to find out what their neighbour's plans for
the weekend are, so on the tape you will hear the last minute of their work in
pairs. In this case it fits in particularly well, because the teacher wants to revise
the 'going to' form for future plans before teaching them the use of the present
continuous form for expressing planned future action and contrasting this with
the use of'will' for uncertain or unplanned future events.
The pair work runs over the time available, however, and the students realise
it may be too late to get to the college coffee bar before it closes.
How does the teacher e:,,;ploit this situation to introduce some examples of the
use of'wi//' for unplanned future?
See also Unit 5, Se<!tion d.
,,'

82 Unit 12: Ending the Lesson or a Stage in the Lesson

Role play
1 Activity
At the end ~lhelesson
lngroupso/8 to 10, ifpossible.
- Time limit: 5 minutes per teacher.
- Each 'teacher' should decide what has been happening in the lesson and what
homework, if any, should be set. Collect together the books or papen
required for that lesson. These should be given out at the beginning of each
new session with a different 'teacher'.
- Give out the character card for the 'students' to act.
- Begin the role play at the point where most 'students' have just fmished a
written exercise. You want to stop them a bit early so that you get a chance to
chat for five minutes or so about their plans for the coming weekend.
- Expand upon the ideas in the 'balloons' on the EXPLOITATION page, if
suitable, or use your own ideas.
- Try to withdraw, so that by the end the students are just chatting among
themselves. Do not interrupt or correct their English at this stage. The
atmosphere must be relaxed and pleasant to induce the students toforgettheir
shyness and use their English communicatively.
- End when you dismiss your class when the bell rings or when it is time.
- Read the points raised below before you begin.

2 Followupandevaluatlon
(a) Which of the teachers in your group established the most relaxed and
I informal atmosphere? How was this achieved? ·
(b) Who managed to get the best and most natural conversation going? Why?
I' (c) Which errors, if any, consistently cropped up among the 'students'? Which
' do you think might crop up in a real class of schookhildren or remedial
I adults, during a similar informal chat at the end of the lesson? How would
you attempt to eradicate them?

3 A game to play
STOP' - another version of 'Hangman'.
The game can be played as a class game using the blackboard, or in groups using
paper (if played in groups, give each group leader a different word to prevent
groups overhearing each other). One person in the class thinks of a word and
writes the number of letters in the word on the blackboard.
e.g. ------(typist)
Everyone else in the class must guess the word by calling out letters one by one,
e.g. F? If there is an Fin the word (in this case there isn't) the person at the
blackboard puts the letter in the correct place in the word. If there isn't, he writes
the letter at the side of the blackboard and crosses it out. At the same time he
draws the first line of the sign STOP. (It can be completed in 13 lines and letters.)
Every time a wrong letter is suggested, a line is added to the drawing. When the
STOP sign is complete, the group has to stop playing. The aim of the game is to
guess the word before the drawing is complete.

' From Starling Strategies, Teacher's Book by Ingrid Freebairn, Longman 1978.
PartTwo
Teaching techniques and the
language of instruction
 13FOCOSon
the first lessons
~,~.. in English
2
' " ,_,,, 'filfi ff/,1,,_

DO YOU have proble ms

when you speak Englbh
in the classroom? If so, READ the INTRODUCTORY UNIT, page l

(a) using gesture while giving instructions and explaining

,...
(b)demonstrating, miming, acting
(c) speaking very slowly and clearly all the time Set up an ENGLISH NOTICE BOARD
(d)speaking, simply but with natural stress and intonation
Display anything to do w1lh English
(e)repeating and paraphrasing, giving students time to
language and culture: information
think it out for themselves sometimes leaflets, bus tickets, timetables,
( f) giving lots of examples and using visual aids where maps. British Rail map, street map of
possible London. Post cards of Britain Menus,
(g)establishing routines in class for various activities, e.g. English recipes. pictures of pop stars,
pair work, so that students know what to do without words of pop songs.
being told Film reviews. BBC World Service
programmes. Labels or Brtt1sh or
American products (tinned !cods
It often helps if you can CREATE an ENGLISH ATMOSPHERE etc.). Pictures offash1on, sports -
in your classroom(s) ? football, cars. Letters fro m pen

r~ "~ ,.
..~
~
fnends. English stamps, coins.
-0

ASk PEOPLE TO ill~ING

<SOUVENIRS FROM
Set up o
class library
of English
._..,,.,...,_
. ..... ._..",.... mag~zines,
~ ,11.A.

comics, easy
.........4 . . .

AT ELEMENTARY
reading Dooks.
LEVEL, DISPLAY
Fl.ASH CARDS AND
PICTURES ' ~~~
= -~
ANDYOUR. 1
STlJDE-NTSl
WORK.
==
--

and REMEMBER to CHANGE all DISPLAYS regularly so there ill always something new and interesting

84
Unit 13Thefirst
lessons in English
The alms of this Unit are 1 to show teachers how to control their language and help
students of all levels to understand during their first few lessons entirely in English 2 to
bring out the difference between teaching for passive control*, i.e. understanding, and
active control' of English, i.e. speaking and using English productively 3 to examine the
use of Questions in the ELT classroom, and give practice in handling them in different
circumstances.

Preliminary discussion
1 H you are about to teach a new dasa for the first time, whatever lhelr standard
ofEqlish-oompJete beginner, late elementary, Intermediate or more advanced,
- It may help you to pt on with them better and establish a good rapport if you
explain In their mother-tongue why you want them te try and speak English all the
time In the dusroom In their Enallsh leaons. Discuss brielly what you would tel
them at the beginning of their flnt lesson with you. Refer lo the Introductory Unit
if you need some ideas.

2 On the FOCUS page at the ~ of this Unit, there is a list of techniques

that teachers sometimes use to help students understand more easily. One of them
is NOi' to be advised. Which one, and why not?
3 'The first time you teach a new dassit'sa pod idea to begin to establish a set of
stamdanls concemlng class procedures and stick to them. Which of the lollowfn&
do you think most Important? Again, one of them Is NOT to be advised. Which
ooe, and why?

...............
(a) Complete silence while the teacher is talking, espedally when presenting

(b) Everybody must take part kl choral work and keep toKetber.
(c) Everybody should keep their voices low, espedally In choral and pair work.
(d) Nostudentshouldansweroutoftllm.
(e) Students should not internapt you if they don't undentand.
(r) students should not write unless you ask them to.

4 Now go through the Ust In 3 above and thbtk what yoo would say to your
students In English ii you had to remind them about the above procedures,

5 If it's yoor ftnt lesson with a group of complete beginners, how many words
would you exped them (a) to be able to understand? (b) to be able to say and use
by the end of your first lesson with them?

6 Dlscuss the differences between starting a course with aduh beginners and
children begfnners.
85
86 Unit 13: The First Lessons in English

0, Lesson extracts
Listen to these extracts and notice especially which words or syllables carry the
main stress (mark them thus ') and which vowel sounds are weak forms, in
unstressed positio ns. Then practise the m. (G) stands for geswre.

T: Good morning, everyone.

Ss: (mutter)
T: Listen. (Gestures denote Ss to speak)
Good morning, Miss While. O K? I'm
Miss White. You say it ... Good
morning ... (G)
Ss: Good morning, Miss White.
T: Good. Right, I want you to listen. (G)
Listening? Good. I'm Miss White and
this is Tom. This is Tom and this is
Janet. Tom. Janet. Can you say their
names? (GJ Listen and repeat. Tom.
(G)
Ss: Tom.
T: Yes, good. Janet. Janet. (G)
Ss: Janet. ( ragged)
T: (gestures 'all together') Janet.
Ss: Janet.
T: Good. (explains in V sire wants them to
introduce their neighbours to her) OK.
Right. This is ... can you say it? (G)
This is ... th ... th . ..
Ss: This is l llis is
T : (ge.ftures to onestudem and looks at Iris
The teacher wants to teach 'Introductions' neighbour, questioningly) this is ...?
since it is her first lesson with this class and is S: This ... is .. . Ali
a suitable chance to do so meaningfully. Sire T: Hello A Ii. (looks at another student,
has a picture ofa boy and a girl who figure in who is introduced, and .rn on) Nice to
the coursebook. meet you . .. etc.

TEACHJNG HINT 'This Is' ls one of the new teaching items being presented but
at no time does the teacher stress these words. Why?

Pronunciation practice
(a) Long and short vowels
Look at these pai rs. The vowel sounds in each pair are not the same. What's the
difference? Which vowel sound is the shorter, the first or second in each pair?

this/these is/ease good/food

(b) Weak and strong forms

What about 'to' 'two' and 'too' in these phrases:
I want to fish/I want two fish/to me/to and fro/ me too?

(c) Stress timing

How many stresses in each of these phrases? Listen to the tape then repeat them.
(i) Hi ! Good morning,
Morning! Good morning, everyone.
and these?
(ii) Listen, please. Would you all mind listening please?
Can you listen, please? .I wonder if you'd mind listening, please?
Could you all listen, please?

Answers below.
·(41ilua1 U! a,uaJOJJ!P ~41 ~11d<:,p •~Jua1uas
041 JO 4,u, U! S:,Ssa.11S JO ,:,qwnu awes 0 41) --~,r,)ld 1~!1- <OSSJJIS OMI (!!) ·.uJ~)W. uo SS:,J)S JUO (!) J
 Unit 13: The First Lessons in Englis h 87

Re me mber, then that E nglish is what we call a stress-timed language, (as

opposed to syllable•-timed, like Jtalian). All the syllables betwee n the stressed
syllables are spoken rapidly. It sho uld take the same a mo unt of time to say
'Listen, please' as it does to say 'Could you all listen, please?' and so on. Practise.

Extracttwo Righi, I want you to introduce

ln coUege yourselves in cwos. Listen, like this:
'I'm Fred Brown; ·and I'm J ohn
Smith. Nice to meet you, Mr Brown·
and soon. OK?
Ss: (introduce themselves to each other)
T: Very good, we ll done! Now, will you
introduce your friend 10 me and the
rest of the cla~? Yo u say. ·Mr Brown,
this is . .. and so on ... Yo u?
S: Mr Brown, this is Hossein Adjimi.
T: Good evening. Mr Adjimi, nice to
meet you.
S: And this is Sadegh Mohammad
S: Nice to meet you . . .
(later)
T: You can also say 'Pleased 10 meet you·.
Pleased to mee t you . .. Can you repeat
that?
It's the firstlesson with a group ofadult
remedial beginners. Ss: Pleased to meet you.
T: Again but all t<Jgethe r this time .
Pleased to mee t you.
T: Well.good evening, everyone. Nice to Ss: Pleased to meet you.
see you all here. Welcome! Righi , well, T: Good. Now introduce your friend to
let's introduce ourselves. shall we? I'm the people in front of you o r behind
Mr Brown, Brown, look, I'll write it for you,(G)
you ... OK? Now, could you sit in (later)
twos, please, like these two? In twos? T: Now we're going to find out a bit about
(G) each other. where we work. live . etc.

TEACEDNG HINT (a) Why do you think the teacher uses expressions that he
knows his students will not understand completely? (b) How does he in fact get his
meaning across to them?

Pronunciation points
(a) Stress
Which two words are stressed here?
' It's nice to meet you.'
(See Extract one for furthe r practice on Stress.)
['?=;?I (b) Liaison
l n connected speech we often join two or more words togethe r. Fo r example,
the question beginning ·Do you know .. .' often sounds like 'Jeno' or D'yeno·
when spoken rapidly by native speake rs. Sometimes, as in this example, the
consonants change in sound, too. (The 'd' becomes a 'j' .)
'It's nice to meet you· could become· 'Snice fmeechou·, the 't' and the 'y'
have joined to make a 'ch· sound. A native speake r would never finish saying
the 't' of the ·meet' before he started the 'y' of the ·you'. In fact ma ny native
speake rs would miss the ' t' all together: ·mee I you· with a glot.tal stop in
place of the 'f. Listen to the examples on tape.
Practise making the liaison he re:
don·uou? WOl1°!J:YU? can'~e? pleaseQ_5> meC.!J'..OU.
 88 Unit 13: The First Lessons in English

8Gradual
Classroom language
introduction classroom language
of
1 By the end of their first lesson in English, students should be able to under-
stand and respond to the following directions accompanied by relevant gestures.
They do not need to be able to say them.

Absolute beginners Remedial beginners/laterelemelllary

or beginners after4 or 5 lessons
Stand up, please. Will you stand up, please?
Sit down, please. Would you sit down, please?
Quiet please, ssh! i.e. the same as for absolute beginners but preceded by
Listen! Would you
Look at me. Could you
Look at this. Can you
Listen and repeat. Will you, etc. in order to make them more polite.
OK? NB: the stress remains the same as
Can you say it? in the imperative form. see Section b.
Good.
Thank you.

2 In the second lesson you could add, again making liberal use of gesture,
In twos/in pairs.}
Everybody. You say it after me. Ready?
Altogether.
Well done.
Now, quicker I Good.
OK. Sit down again please.

3 After 3 or 4 lessons you should try using fewer gestures to see if the students
are beginning to respond to the verbal directions. If they are not, then play a
game like 'O'Grady says', explaining the rules in L1:
There isa very important man called O'Grady. You must do only what he tells
you to do. If I tell you to do something like this: 'Look at me', you mustn't do
it. If I say 'O'Grady says Look at me' you must do it. If you do it when
O'Grady has not told you to, you are out of the game. The last person still in
the game is the winner.'
By using in the game all the directions you want them to learn, they will learn
more quickly.

4 Gradually bring in the use of the language tabled in the rest of this Section.
It is divided for convenience into (a) Presentation stage (class listens to model)
(b) Controlled Practice stage (repetition) (c) Further Practice (students manipu-
late forms for themselves) ( d) Production Stage (students choose what they want
to say). and in each Section the language follows consecutively. in short steps.
For Practice using dialogues, please refer to Unit 14.

&& In pairs, take turns to read out the groups of phrases and sentences from the
following tables as clearly and firmly as you can, working out what gestures
would be suitable to accompany each sentence. Choose appropriate language
for your students and keep it lively. Rephrase often, and use suitable gestures.
Where there arc gaps thus - -- - - - - -, add something that would be
suitable for one of your own classes, referring to a specific lesson or language
item .

...
 Unit 13: 1be First Leisons inEnalisb 89

(II) PnNntatlon atage ( using a picture or some kind of visual aid)

OK. look.
Right. Look again carefuUy.
Now. Listen.
Fine. Listen again.
I'll say it again. Listen.
Then I'll repeat it once more.

about what we did last lesson. Jbe _ __ remember?

Now this is
something new. It's about OK?

Ready to listen?
Right, listen! OK,then. (Teacher models or plap tht tape)
Are you an listening?

Alright. Let's see if you understand. (Asks quatiom to check meaning.)

lbll'Nloll.. _,oonttollod
Repeat after me. AJI together, Good. Om you say it quicker? Like this.
Listen, first, then repeat. OK? Wail until I've said ii. Listen ...
Now you.
Good. Now you say itafterme. Not bad. Do ii again. Listen! Now you.
Listen then )'GU say it. That was much better/very good/excellent.
Listen and repeat. Wait. Can you say ii by yourself? Try. Listen, and repeat, ...
Everybody! Again! Can you say it too?Goon ... Good.
Group'A'or'B'etc.

Conedlagproaundadon
sonnd
w...
listen to this N·•
plu= try!
Like this You
question say it!
Now
put it together. Listen
say it quicker and quicker

it's':;,' not 'a' in 'and'.

Don't forget
the 'th' in 'the' etc.

(See Part One, Unit 8, Section b, 2, Back chaining.)

(c) Furtta.pracllca
Now look. It's different. There's~--- Listen.
Listen. There's something different. What'sdifferent?

1bere are 2 people instead of one.

Yes!
He's asking a question, now.
Good.
It's negative now. etc.
Right, listen again then you have a go.

very good, well done.

That was
quite good, let's do it once more.

OK what is it?
ru,ht something new! Let's change this Now who can do it?
Now then what should we say?
90 Unit 13: The First Lessons in English

Correction te<:hniques (using a pleasant tone of voice, to be encouraging)

Er, no ... Ali, you try? Nearly!
No t quite, try again... . That's it!
Be tter. but still not quite right. Anyone? Good, that was a difficult one.

(For more Practice activities, see Units 14 and 15.)

(d) Production (simple tasks only. They may need to be explained in L ' .)
this person.
Now imagine that you were What might he say?
MrX.

Can anyone make some mo re sentences about . .. using the same pattern?
What else could Mr X say?
Wha t about you? If this happened to you what wo uld you say in English? and soon.
de pending on the structure and the situation or context.
(For mo re on Production activities, see Unit 17 .)

Corre<:tion te<:hniques
At this stage, when stude nts are e xpe rime nting with the new language they have
just been taught and beginning to use it for themselves, it would be psycholog-
ically unsound to interrupt and correct them, unless they were completely st uck
or obviously in a hopeless muddle and feeling unhappy. Teachers sho uld,
therefore, no t correct, but me re ly make a note of common errors and plan to
deal with the m a t a later stage.

Teaching skills
Practice in questions: problem forms, aims and purposes, grading

1 Problem form~
Questions with WHO often cause problems. WHO can refer e ither to thesubject
of the sentence or the object.' Students often get more practice in making
questions about the object, beginning WHO DID or WHAT DOES e tc., so they
te nd to use the same form for questions re ferring to the subject and thus get it
wrong. Look at the table be low.

Subject Verb Object

Sratemem The policeman caught the thief.
Question abolll subject WHO caught the thief?
Questio n abo ut object WHOdid
1he policeman catch?

Exercise
,& ,& In pairs, ta ke turns asking and answering questions a bout all the people in the
following sente nces. Do this as rapidly as you can and correct each other if
necessary.
{a) T he headmaster punished the boy.
(b) T he doctor examined the two Scottish footballers.
(c) My siste rs look after old Mrs Smith. (NB singular verb is more usual in
questions.)
{d) Mrs Tomkin is going to he lp those children in Class 5.
(e) T he gangste r was pointing his gun at the hero.
(f) The witness saw that the bank robbers we re threatening the cashiers.
'Note lhat WHAT can also refer 10 both 1he subject and the object in the same way.
However it is much rarer a nd such uses normally occur in more specialised language, e.g.
scientific or economic English. Example: Freak rainsrorms often cause floods. WHAT
often c.iuscs floods? (NB singular verb) WHAT DO freak rainstorms o fle n cause?
 Unit 13: The First Les.sons in English 91

See Unit 8, Section d, for a game with questions: 'HOW MANY QUES-
TIONS?'
& 2 Ailm and purposes of questions: cheddng understanding
Often questions are used in order to check whether students have understood or
not. There are different kinds of things that students need to understand, and
there are also different levels of understanding, for example:
the main points in a reading or listening passage
specific details in a reading or listening passage
the attitude of the author or the characters in a text
the meaning of particular words or expressions
the reference value of words like he and then
the meaning of a particular structural item
the general situation in a dialogue.
Here is a short extract from a taped dialogue followed by questions for you to
analyse.

Tom and Fred llappeo to meel Georae, a l'rlend of Tom's, in die slnet
GEORGE: Tom! Hello! I haven't see you for ages!
TOM: Hello, George; George, this is Fred. He comes from Manchester,
like me, and he's a teacher at the school where I work, in Watford.
GEORGE: Oh, hello, Fred. Nice to meet yo,1.

&& Now study the following questions and analyse exactly the purpose of each. It
may help if you ask your neighbour to answer the questions, first.

E.g. The question 'Where does Fred come from?' checks that the students
understand that 'He' refers to Fred.

Where does Fred come from? Where does Tom work?

Where does Tom come from? Does George know Fred well?
How many people are there together? Does George meet Tom every day?
What is Fred's job? Who will speak next, after George?

3 G-
You can grade questions according to different criteria, for example, according
to how general or specific they are, how easy or difficult the actual answers are to
say, or how easy or difficult it is to find the answers in the text.
(a) How would you grade the questions on the dialogue above if you were
going to use them in one of your classes? Number them in the order you
would ask them, then discuss with your neighbour why you have ordered
them in the way you have chosen.
(b) Which of those questions would you ask in order to check if your students
had understood the basic situation in the dialogue? i.e. Tom and Fred are
friends, but Fred does not know George, whom they happen to meet.
( c) Finally, in pairs, preferably standing 3 or 4 metres apart, practise asking
each other the questions and giving short, natural sounding answers.
Remember, 1he purpose of these questions is to check understanding, not
to elicit longer responses of the type used for oral practice.
For more work on questions, see Section d in Units 14, 18 and 19.
 92 Unit I 3: 1be Fint lessons in English

Paar teaching'
1 "'-'Ing
(a) Divide into groups of approximately 8 participants.
(b) Each group should then split into halves to prepare a short lesson to teach
to the other half, as follows:
Group A a first lesson in English for complete beginners
Group B a first lesson in English for a later elementary class, who have
not been taught in English before
(c) Base your lessons on the textbook you will be using, but remember to
adapt the textbook to your students' needs, rather than following it word
for word.
(d) Revise: Part One, Unit 1, GREETINGS; some of this language may come
in useful here, especiaJly with a late elementary class, Part One, Unit 5,
Section b, 2, Being a Model.
(e) Write the aims of the lessons like this example:
'By the end of the lesson most students should be able to
;I 1 say and use the following: Good morning, I'm ... This is ... Nice to
meet you, etc.
2 understand these items: Listen, look, let's introduce ourselves
etc... .'
(f) Then write in note form a brief outline plan of the lesson. If you fmd it
usefuJ you could use columns like this to set out your lesson plan: (This
one has been filled in according to Extract One.)

.· ,::,1:.
TIME lEMSl ACTMTY /
NEW LANOUAi5E .
··~··
LAl'-,OI.JAGE • .
$11.JOENT taNITY/
''°!"
NEW LANGUA$E

11·00 aree:t ~ ':mli~it ~~

~oodrttom~ U~-ei-tin~ ? I lllAAI; (tt.tMm9~irt3)
(tlfll)dl.(ce, '111MtD(g~ R'ev-,t-
lrtt:n>dlAC& ~~~itleir ei°""' momir13
"J"a,.eJ;/TD'M ~? M~ White
{pictw-es) ~l:a\-t-~ -~-~et/lbin
ll·OS ~i,,L! 14
'hl~4• httr-o~theiv-
Pre;ei-tt " ~ {J; • friends
--
Obviously you will fill yours in according to your own plan. Remember to give
students plenty of opportunity to practise the new language before you ask them
to do something too testing.

• If you are fonunate enough to have real 'guinea-pig' students at the levels mentioned in
I (b), above, you could carry out this exercise for teaching practic.e instead of peer
teaching.
 Unit 13: The First lessons in English 93

2 PNrteltchlng
- Assemble the aids you will need (chalk, pictures, things, etc.)
- Set a time limit and decide which of you will teach each stage of the lesson to
the other groups. Leave at least 20 or 30 minutes for the follow-up session, 3,
below.
- 'Students' should remember to act as if they know very little English or none
at all at the beginning of the lesson.

3 Ev......lon
(a) 'Teachers': Was anything more difficult than you had thought?
Did you achieve the aims you wrote down?
How much easier (or more difficult) would it have been with real
students?
Did you remember to check understanding and learning?
(b) 'Students': What exactly did you 'learn' to say? to understand?
Did your 'teacher' give you enough practice?
Did he/she vary the pace at any time? Was there any need to do

"''
Would anything in particular have been muddling to real begin-
ners?
(c) What recommendations would you make to other teachers using this particu-
lar lesson plan at this level?

0 Further reading
WM Rivers and MS Temperley (t 978) pp. S&-59.
Donn Byrne (ed) (1980) pp. 86--88.
PRESENTING A NEW STRUCTURE?
REVISING AN OLD ONE?

A Are you coming to Tom's party next Friday?

B No, I can't. I'm spending Saturday with my family. I'm
leaving Friday evening.
Like this:
I Analyse your teaching point.
A Well, come round on Thursday, then. (a) What are the possible meanings?
B OK I'll see you Thursday. I'll come about 7, if I finish (b ) Which circumstances is it used in?
work on time. (c) What common forms are there?
A See you Thursday! Bye! Z Ask yourself: does a change in form lead to a change in
use or meaning? e.g. 'I (sha)'ll do that next week'
EXAMPLE Z DIALOGUE to teach: - statement about future.
FORM Third conditional, affirmative • abbreviated offering } .
'Shall I d o that next week?' -= asking advice.
forms, questions.
MEANING Past, unfulfilled actions. 'Shall we do that?' = a suggestion.

USE to talk about things that could have happened in 3 Decide which forms, meaning and use to include and
other circumstances, but did not, e.g. an accident which choose an appropriate setting. Think oftwo people and
would have been avoided; or something you wished for what they might say.
but didn't get, as here: 4 Write a short d iaglogue, including the forms of the
item, giving clues to meaning and use.
A You know that competition we did?
B The one three months ago?
A Yes. Well Sam Porter won. He got £400!
B Cor! He's lucky! I wish I had won!
A lfI had won I would have bought that car. What would
you have done?
ia ii~itit!~ : ~ :.r •i,t out •fb~ ii ;:\
B I would've spent it on travelling. I'd have flown to .. your s tu.~ent,s} .:,, ',
London!

Tired of dialogues?
P~entittg form~ that are usually written not ~poken?
;1 1r•ti Li-,,e,anct say the·~ =< ·

·')t-i·:e¥frt(;~•·•·.,.:. .,/:,_'6 ?<\·.

;;;.;;:,:;~-;:,7;;;~:.~:::~o:·:.-:.;;;~:_ C~';fflt!,A¥ttE;%~iz
:- ~ :~@lt~iilsf}\
from the students' own lives, from the real world . usmg a wntten or spoken

~~~::::ER- learning discrete sentences is not enough. Students must ·. :~t£'1ifi~~~~(;{{;\l

be shown how the sentences can fit into a conversation or a written
paragraph. Students must also learn when and how to use these sentences
appropriately in spoken or written English and practise recognising and
using them in real-life contexts.
9-1
Unit 14 Dialogues for
presentation and practice
The alms of this Unit are 1 to show how language items can be presented and
practised using a dialogue 2 to teach the classroom language needed when using
dialogues 3 to give practice in the writing of suitable dialogues, and in the use of
questions for the purpose of elicitation of short and longer responses

Preliminary discussion
1 Discuss some of the usual differeocesbetween.spolen and written English. The
sentences below mipt help you: read them tbrouah, writing beside each sentence
the word 'wri#en' (H' •spoun• as appropriate. 1ben dl.9ctm them.
(a) Youcao use intonation and stress to show meaning and attitude,
(b) Yoo use punctuation, and verbal expreuions of attitude and mooo.
(c) It Is ltnpOISlble to ask for things to be repeated or explaJned every time you
have not understood.
(d) Parallnplsdc and non-linguistic features can help communication.
(e) There is generally more orpnlsation of ideas, the use of 'marker words' like
'first', 'ftnaly' is more common, and there are few unftnished sentenl.."t5.
(f) Ifyoo haven't understood, yoo can ch«k back and go through itapin.
2 Sometimes you 8nd that dialogues written In textbooks seem rather unnatural

•
and stihed who you try to read them out loud or act them out. Why is this?
3 (a) Whal experience do you have of using dialogues for Enalish teacbmg?
What bas been the purpose of the dialogues u far as you can see?
(b) What ls the purpose of the dialogues oo the FOCUS page at the beginning of
this Unit?
4 (a) Presenting or practislna: a DtW structure orally by means ofa dialogue can
make It more memorable for the students. Why?
(b) Pointing out to students the function of a particular language item in
dialogue, (e.g. the l'unctioo of'Can I play the piano, please?' is to ask pennis-
DOIi to play, not to question one'sability to play,) C1111 also help students to ~am
how and when to use this language item for themselves. Why?
(This might be easier to explain quickly in their mother-tongue but see Tables
5-7 and 13 in Section c for some ideas.)
S (a) How long, approximately, is the 'ideal' dialogue for your elementary/early
Intermediate/late .Intermediate students to practise? Why?
(b) What topics woold Interest your students espedaHy?
(c) At what stage (ibt aH) would you write the dialogue on the board?
6 How can you move from the oontroled practice of a set dialogue which a
student merely repeats, to a situation where the students 8rt' able to create their
own dialogue or Interact In English, e.g. as in a role play situation?
Discuss with particular reference to the two dialogues on the FOCUS page.

"
96 Unit 14: Dialogues for Presentation and Practice

~ Lesson extracts
Listen lo both extracts and see if you can identify what the teacher's immediate
aims are, in each case. Then practise repeating, after the tape, paying particular
a tte ntion to the intonation of questions and the pauses the teacher makes.
Repeat only the teacher's part.

ExtractOne
lffl] In school
The teacher is drawing a picture ofan ice T: OK. Now then. Look at what I'm T: I'm going to read you a dialogue
cream man. She hasJust told her class they drawing ... What's this? between the ice cream man, that's him,
are going to learn a dialogue about buying Ss: Man. and the children. So listen to how the
ice cream. Now she is beginning the T: Yes, aman ;and what's he got in here? children ask, when they want to buy
presentation stage ofthe dialogue below. Ss: Ice creams. some ice cream. What do they say?
T: Yes, is be eating the ice creams? Eating Ss: OK.
them? At this point she reads the dialogue, pointing
S: No, buying. to the charae1ers as they speak.
T: Buying? Is he buying them or selling
them? T: Well then, how did they ask? Anyone?
Ss: Selling, Ss: Can wehave3 ice crea ms, please. Like
T: He'sseUing ice creams, isn't he? Who those.
to? Look, here a re some children. T: Good, 'Can we have 3 ioe creams,
What are they going to do? What wiU please, like those', and she points to
they say? Yes, Lee? the picture, doesn't she? Now, let's
L: Children ... e r .. . going to buy ice practise that in halves. You, this half,
cream. you're the ice cream man, and er . ..
Children: Mm! Ice creams!
T: The children are going to buy ice you, this side are the children, in fact,
Man: Are you next?
Girl: Yes. creams, yes, so what will they say 10 the the girl who speaks. Listen first, then
man?Pari? you repeat if it's the man, and you
Man: What would you like?
P: Please, want ice cream. repeat if it's the girl. Ready?
Girl: Can we have three
ice creams please, T: Anyoneelse?
She begins to read the dialogue, line by line;
like those? Ss: I want ice cream ... some ice cream ...
the class repeats badly.
Man: Three? Here you T: We ll, perhaps. O K. Listen to this
are. 30 pence dialogue, now, and tell me how these T: (later) Oh, no! Come on! Betterthan
p lease. children ask for their ice creams. O K? that! Listen properly, then repeat
Girl: Thanks. Lovely! See wbatthey say. nicely.OK?
Ss: Sorry, don' t understand. T: (later) Much better. Right, on we go.

&or.I .I TEA CIDNG HINTS (a) The cla~ seem to have no difficulty in understandJng the
words, 'like th~ •. How do you think the teacher made it clear? (b) What do you
think the teacher will do next? (i.e. after the choral repetition). (c) She didn't
correct everything the students got wrong at the beginning of the lesson, why not?
At what stage do you think she will definitely correct them if they are wrong?

Pronunciation points
Into na tio n of'attention' words. ( Revision)
When a teacher wants lo call the class to attention, he uses a word like 'Now'.
o r 'Right' to mark the start of the next step. These 'marker' wo rds are always said
with a falling intonation and are followed by a pause. Liste n again to the dialogue
above and underline all the words that act as 'marke r' words to get the attention
of the class.
See Unit 1, Sectio n b, 2.
 In-
Unit 14: Dialogues for Presentation and Practice 97

IR Exb..ct:Two

'I'Muachtrha.spraenudandpracti#dthis T: You did that wcll,good. To sum up, Because the man doesn't understand
dialogue with the class, and is now going on then., who can tell me what happened the first time, does be? So he says the
tofffs controlled pracJice, toue ifthe class in that last dialogue? same thing another way. How?
C4" make up usimUlirone for themselves. Ss: Bought ... S: No tickets .•• er ••• left for tonight.
T: Who bought...? T: Good. No tickets left for tonight. can
S: The man bought some tickets, two you all say that?
tickets, for theatre. Ss: 'No tickets left for toniJtit'
T: for the theatre,yes. Right. But this T: Andwhatabouttomorrow?(~shakes
time, it's different. Look. I'll change hishud)
At the theurre boxofftce my drawin,:. Jt's the same people, same Ss: Noticketsleftfortomorrow.
A- manullmgtickets place, but look at their faces! Are they T: Good.Butwhatelsedoeshesay,
B - u theatre goer happy? or angry? before that?
Ss: No. s, Sony.
A: Yes? T: No? Are they aDSJY or happy? Which? T: Yes, he apologises, doesn't he? And
B: Couldwehavetwotictc:ts Ss: Ah. Angry. what would be say if he only had two
forthisc:vening. please:? T: Wellwhycouldtheybeangry?Mr tickets left, and you wanted three?
A: For tonight? DaM? Come on! ••• 'I've only got •..•
B: Yes. S: Perhaps the tickets er very expensive? S: I've only got two tickets left.
A: I'msony,wc'vesoldout T: Maybe. What do you think? Mr T: And ifhe only had very expensive ones
of tickets for tonight. Meyer? left?
B: Er, ..• sony?I. .. er .•• S: Tickets finished. S: Sorry, l'veonly got expensive tickets
A: Noticketsleftfortonight. T: Well,yes,butyoucan'tsaythatin left.
B: What about tomorrow? English; whatcun you say? Does T: Good. Right, I want you to make up
A: l'mafraidthereareno anyooeknow? ... No?Well,listento your own dialogues, now, in pairs,
tickets left for tomorrow thisdialoaue and see what they say, asking for tickets, the man selling them
either. Sorry about that. then you can practise the same kind of apologising, and offering some
Nextwc:ckonly. dialogue in pairs, afterwards. different ones ... OK? I'll write ooeor
Listening? two words on the board for you ... Say
Teudrer reads the dialogue again. it first, then chqeover parts, then
S: (later) Oh, he says, 'Sold out of tickets when I've heard you, you can write one
for .. .' down.
S: for tonight.
T: Yes, and does he say anything else:?

&or& & TEACHING HINI'S (a) HGW does the leacber make sare the studentsllslm "en'
canluDy to tbe dlalopt? (b) 'he teacller doesn't actually ask the class IO repeat
Chis dlalope, so wly do you thinlr. he bothen to read H to dledassf (c) How does
tbedass bow-what they have &'(It todo next? Do they know rouahfy Jum lcmc the
.................?
98 Unit I 4: Dialogues for Presentation and Practice

Classroom language
Please refer to Part One, Units 8 and 9, Section c, for the Classroom Language
you will need when dividing the class up to do choral and pair work to practise
the dialogues.
Find a picture and/or a dialogue in your textbook and practise the language
below in that context, working in pairs, taking turns to be the teacher. Adapt the
language to suit your needs.

I listen to
Well,now, we're going to
OK,
practise a short dialogue today.
I want you to le,m

Settlngtheacene
2
this picture. who do you think they are, these people?
Look at my drawing. doing?
Well, saying?
what do you think they're
There are two people talking. discussina?
thinking?
rn draw them here, look.
This i. and this i• why do you think they're
'
3 speak informally to each other.

Now. these people

are good friends so they
I don't need to be so formal.

don't know each other very well more formal.

have never met before so they are
I very polite.

..
bo~
·, manager •• him.
Now, lhisis
headmaster
headmistress
00
,••• must be very polite to
""'·

The people in this dialogue are going to

introduce a friend to someone.
Does anyone know what you say in English when you give someone directions to a place.
offer something to someone.
make a suggestion.
give some advice to someone.
Who knows how you can
•re.
(At an elementary stage you may need to use L' to explain this.)

needs advice on something.

For example, a friend hasn't met Mr before.
Let's take an example, supposing
ii
your boss is about to forget something.
I'll give you an example, a stranger wants to arrange something.
needs information quickly.

What could ..'""

••
, ""
,.,.,
MY
'
t
 Unit 14: Dialogues for P resentation and Practice 99

(After a n informal studen t response)

+
an informal situation
Yes,
if it is a friend you could say that, good.
fine,
someone you know well

your boss
But ifit was a stranger then what would you say?
a formal setting

U stenlng and practising

(See also Unit 18 for questions to guide s tud ents' liste n ing; Section c.)

8 Books shut, then.

Ready to listen? It's _ _ _ _ who speaks firnl.
Close your books.

9 were they talking about?

O K,sowhat did _ _ _ _ want to know?
did _ _ _ reply?

(For other types of questions see also U nit 13, Section d .)

10 who says• '

what said.
tell me
exactly what phrase used to
how replied.
I want you to listen again and this time,
's part, altogether.
repeat ,and you
taking turns, this side of the class be

complete the sentence.

when l stop, you finish the sentence.

u read it in your books?

we
repeat it once more all together?
Now, before we practise that in pain;, shall
it all
I write on the board?
some cue words
I
(For pair practice, see U nit 9.)
Changing the dialogue for freer production

:2 reply
If you were in that situation, what would you say ?
then add
If someone said ' 'to you,
how would you continue the conversation?

Any suggestions?
Let's have some ideas. I
 100 Unit 14: Dialogues for Presentation and Practice

13 accept the offer/idea/suggestion or say ' No' and explain why.

agree with the other person and say something else.
show you were pleased/a bit anxio us/annoyed and explain.
Yes, you could hesitate a nd ask him to explain again.
ask the reason.
ask for further information.
carry o n the conversation with a personal opinion.
So how exactly would you say that in English?

14 we'Uchange the dialogue so that you _ _ _ _ instead.

Alright then,
you work in pairs and I'll come round and listen.
(For more ideas on Oral Production, see Part Two, Unit 17.)

Teaching skills
NB Before beginning this Section, go back to Section d of the previous Unit,
page 90, and revise it well. This Section builds on to and constantly refers back
;I to that Section d.
I
1 Writing your own dialogues
(a) MJni-dialogues
Short three or four line dialogues are easy for students to learn by heart, and
fun to practise in pairs.
e.g. To teach the use of 'J'd rather:'
Substitute:
A: Shall we go to the cinema? play football go for a walk
B: Mm. I'd rather go to a disco. play volleyball stay at home
A: Alright then.

In pairs, taking a diffe rent structural item, write a similar mini-dialogue for
your students to learn.
(b) Slightly longer dialogues are often useful for presentation of new language
items, see the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit.
- Discuss the four stages suggested under the heading: ' Write one yoursetr.
- In pairs, choose an item you will need to present to your students some
time.
- Following the four stages given, write a natural sounding dialogue, which
covers the points in 4.
- Get another pair to practise it.

2 Alm• and purpoHa of queationa: elic itation

(a) Questions eUcltlng short answers, e.g. 'Yes, he did.' etc.
The purpose of these questions is to give the class practice in producing short
form answers. As a revision activity, these could be in different tenses.
- Refer back to the dialogue that you wrote in 1 above, or to the one
between Tom and George on page 91, and write ten questions based on
the dialogue which will elicit short form answers beginning ' Yes, he .. .' or
' No, he . . .'
- Ask your neighbour to check them.
- Do the same for the two dialogues on the FOCUS page at the beginning of
this Unit.
- Practise asking your questions, five at a time, as quickly as possible,
working in pairs o r small groups. Try to kee p the pace fast, but correct any
mistakes that occur.
 Unit 14: Dialogue.dor Presentation and Practice IOI

(b) Qu,,demeliddatl-doch._..,
Which of the following questions do you think would be suitable for getting
the students to give a longer response? Refer to the same dialogue on page
91.
What do you know about Fred and Tom?
How do you know that George has not met Fred before?
What do you think they might aJI do next?
Why do you think Tom and Fred left Manchester to work in Watford?
What do you think George might say to his family when he gets home after
meeting Tom and Fred?
Study the question fonns used here in (b). In what ways are they different
from the types of questions you have studied before in these two Units?
For other methods of elicitation refer to Unit 15, Section d.

3 81aglngquNtlona
In order to guide students towards a better understanding of a text or dialogue,
you can often stage questions in such a way as to help them fmd the answer to a
more difficult question by asking them a series of easy questions first. These
could focus on the information required in the answer of the more difficult
question. For example, questions 4, 6 and 8 guide the student towards the
answer to question 11 below.
.& (a) Read the dialoSUe below, It is a taped dialogue, intended for intermediate
students, to act as a stimulus for some question and answer work. (It is not
suitable as a set dialogue for intermediate students to learn by heart, since it
contains a lot oflanguage that is suitable for passive use only, at this stage.)

A young woman stops a man outside dre station

WOMAN: Excuse me, could you tell me the way to Park Road, please?
MAN: Sony? er ... Where ... ?
WOMAN: er ... Parle Road.
MAN: Oh. I know, Park Road. Well, actually, it's quite a long
way from here, you'd better get a bus. A number 12, you
need. It stops just round the corner here. You get off at
the Royalty Cinema, then ... (fades out)

The questions, which you will be writing to elicit the answers given below, are in
three sets. Each set of questions has a different purpose. The sets are also staged;
the first set of questions focuses on points that will help the students answer the
second set. Without doing the first two stages, students would probably find the
third stage very difficult to taclcle.
(b) WritequesdonstoeBdt dteauwenlffen belew.
Quick questions to check general understandiag of the situation:
I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ '!To Park Road.

2 ?A man.
3 ?No, she can't.
4 ?By bus.
I02 Unit 14: Dialogues for Presentation and Practice

Questions to check understanding of specific details:

5 _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?No, ifs quite a long way.

6 ?A number 12.
7 ?Round the comer.
8 ? At the R oyalty Cinema.
Questions to elJclt longer answers for oral practice:
9 ___________________________?
Perhaps she wants to visit someone who lives there.
JO _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?
Because he didn't hear the name of the road properly.
11 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?
She has to get a number 12 a nd get off at the Royalty Cinema.
12 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _?
Because it is too far to walk there, and the bus is quicker.
13 _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _?
Perhaps he is going to tell her how to get to Park Road from the Royalty Cinema.

Teaching practice
1 Planning
(a) Divide into groups of 4, if possible. Each group should choose a different
dialogue of about four lines from the textbook, or adapt a dialogue. Refer to
Section d, 1 (a) in this Unit. It should be suitable for one of your classes to
practise and learn. Practise reading it out loud with pauses for repetition.
(b) Collect any visual aids or realia you may need, and practise drawing a quick
sketch of the characters in the dialogue on the blackboard. You can refer to
them when introducing the dialogue and when reading it out loud in parts.
(c) Decide what you will say to introduce the dialogue, before you read it to the
class.
(d) Write some sets of graded questions to fulfill the following purposes:
- a 'sign -post' question to make them listen with a purpose
- some questio ns to check general understanding of the situatio n
- some questions to check particula r items that may cause problems.
(e) Decide how this dialogue could be changed slightly to give students a chance
to use their own ideas, during pair work, see Section d , 1 (a).
(f) Write a brief outline of the lesson so that it can be divided into four stages, to
allow each teacher to teach one stage. See the example below.
(i) Introduce characters, set the scene. Sign-post question. First reading.
(ii) General questions, including sign-post question. Second reading. Third
reading with pauses for repetition, class in halves.
(iii) More detailed questions to promote some short oral practice. Listen and
repeat, faster. class in halves. then individuals, then in pairs. Check pair
work.
(iv) Hear some ind ividua l pairs practising, class listening. Suggest variatio n
on the dialogue, and ask students for some ideas of what they could say
in the new situation. Less controlled pair work. teacher wandering
round to listen.
(g) For each stage, make out a detailed plan as in Unit 13, Section e, I (e) and
(f).
 Unit 14: Dialogues for Presentation and Practice I03

2 Teaching practice
Decide on a time limit for each stage of the lesson.
- If peer teaching, use role play cards suggesting some common mistakes that
could occur.

MUDDLE he,
she, his, hers,
: Ghe's, etc.
1

- Each group of 4 should combine with another group, so that they can be
'taught' a dialogue that they have not prepared themselves.

3 Evaluation
.& .&+.& .& Take each 'Lesson' in tum and discus.c; the following:
(a) 'Teachers': Did your questions fulfill the purpose you intended?
Were they adequately staged and graded?
Did the 'students' repeat well in the choral repetition?
Did they keep together? Why?
What mistakes did you correct, and at what stage?
Did they enjoy doing the freer pair work at the end?
(b) 'Students': Did they always know what they were supposed to be doing?
Why?
Did they find the dialogue easy to repeat?
Did they find any of the questions particularly easy or hard?
Did you feel the teacher corrected them at the right stages?
Did you feel the dialogues were worth learning?
(c) Everyone: Which of the dialogues would be suitable for your classes?

0 Furtherreading
Look up DIALOGUES and QUESTIONS in the index oCTeaching Oral English by Donn
Byrne. Follow up the references given and make notes on any useful ideas.
Helen Moorwood (ed) (1978) Section 1.
WM Rivers and M S Temperley ( 1978) pp. 24-40.
 6 Guessing games (with cue cards) See Tables on p. 108

15FOCUS Teacher or student picks a card and the others must guess
which it is by asking questions based on a model given.

on oral practi~e For example: (to practise the simple past)

T 'Guess what I did at six o'clock last night.'
S Did you visit your sister?
T No, I didn't

I S-m&n-

Fred
f!cTIJ-
big ball.
S Did you go to the cinema? etc.

7 Transformation drill.s
Change 'will' to 'going to':
He has small balloon. Peter will have a party tomonow.
got a
Jane 's new toy car. His mother will bake a cake.
She nice bicycle. His friends will give him presents.

2 Dilcrimination exerdae 8 Using wall charts

Listen and answer either (a) Make sentences about the picture below following the
'Yes I do' or 'Yes please' pattern:
as appropriate. 'Isawx ing .. .'
3 Substitution drill
Do you lilce apples? E.g. We saw a girl waving at the people outside.
Would you like an apple? 'Ali goes to school every day' I heard people shouting for help.
Would you like a biscuit? - yesterday (b) When the boy telephones the fire brigade to tell them
Do you like biscuits? -shopping there is a fire, what questions will the fire brigade ask
Do you lilce coffee? - Mrs Moustapha him?
Would you like some? - to town
(c) Make up a dialogue, in pairs, between the boy and the
etc . - every day etc.
fire brigade.
4 Convenation drill
You are B;tell A what he/ she needs. (fr>
A Ohdear, it'sraining. B You ... ~~
A The baby's thirsty. B She .. . - - - /lf?\
A He's very cold. B He ... - -~j/J

5 UBing picture cues

(a) Make true statements comparing the things in the
pictures, e.g., Cars are more expensive than bicycles.
(b)Say which you would rather have as a present, tell your
9 Imaginary situations
neighbour why.
(c) Describe one of the objects to your neighbour (without Your friend's parents have gone away for a few days,
naming it), until he/ she can guess which it is. leaving your friend in charge of the house and family. You
check that your friend has remembered to do everything
(sweep the yard, tidy up, do the shopping, feed the
chickens). You ask questions like, 'Have you swept the
yard?' etc. In an office situation, a boss might check on the
secretary in the same way.
10 Expanding
Expand the following
Fred / holidays/ July.
Where I he / go?
How much / fare / cost?

104
Unit 15 Oral practice
The aims of this Unit are 1 to help teachers evaluate different types of oral practice
activities from the linguistic point of view 2 to teach the language needed to handle a
variety of oral practice activities in the classroom 3 to give practice in different
elicitation techniques that can be used at the practice stage in the lesson

__ ___
Preliminary discussion
....... ,.
1 (a) List the types of activity SIJlll'st-l la your textbooks wldch can be 1l9ed to

(b) How far are these &divides dellped to help Che student, and bow far to test
him?

2 Have you developed uy llll!ful tedudques of your own to give your students
pradlce mspoken Eoglillh? What stage of the lesson do you use them, and why?

3 Activities baaed on an 'lnformadon pp•• between nro speakers, e.1, pesslna

_., ... __ ... ,.,_ ... ..,..........

games, are often more mollvatlaa dam drills or exerdses. Why?

&&
. .........,.. ...
4 Studellts wlD DOI perform wet at the end of their eoune If they only haft
practice la forming new structures, seatence by smtence. They also need practice

.......... lnsbGrt, Ibey n,edpradkemFORM,MEANINGand USE.

(a) In pain, study the selection of practke activities on Cbe FOCUS pap:
epposite ad dl&CUSS exactly what they live students practke bu marl (F) if
they only give practice in tlte form; that Is iflbe students can stil pt lhem rigid
without llDdenbuulng the meanfnc or use. Mark (F and M) if they have to
andentad the meaning to get lhem right, and (M, F and U) ll'the adhity helps
student.s to realise when it '8 med. Do the Sllllle for your textbook acdvllies.
(b) Whkh of these activities are IUdalnkal and wbkb are meanhltful? Con-
sider the TRANSFORMATION DRILL, lllllllher 7. Do any of the Items or
their tnmsfermatlons sound stnnp to you? Discua why.

5 (a) Wllat visual aids could you me to make some of the aethities 1110re
interesting and meanln&ful? What about the ones la your tmbooks?
(b) What kind of pictures could_you have on the Rash cards for 6?

6 Some of the adlvldes on the FOCUS page oppoelte are very CGatroled w110e
odlers are mer, and more suitable for the later stages ol a leaoo, leadhta: up to
free pn,ductlon. At what stages of a lesson would you use each acdvfty? Which
ones~ld leadintoausel'u.lwrldq~? (See Unit 20.)
105
106 Unit 15: Oral Practice

0) Lesson extract
This Unit contains only one lesson extract because it is equally suited to both
adult learners and children. This extract could also be used as a starting point for
the Teaching Practice in Section•·
Play the tape and practise repeating the teacher's part. Then underline in the
text all the 'marker' words the teacher uses to make the class pay special
attention, when something different is going to happen. Then play the tape
again, repeating just the phrases with marker words in.

n ,........ _
The teacher ha., presenied the present perfect S: Yes., I haven't.
Jenseas i1 is wed relatmg /Q pasl experiences T: Haven't?
winch affect the present time. S: Oh. sorry, yes, I have.
She has praaised the form in a controlled T: Yes, I have, fine. Well, what's it like?
way, using asubstilutwn table, and she now S: It's very big town and modem. Er
wants Jo get herclaff u:, practise using i1 in shops ... er cars, .
meaningful contexts, and relate i1 w T: It's a very big town, yes. Good. Well,
language they have already leam1. In this now, I want you to work in pairs and
.:are, thee/ass have recently learnt how to find out which of these towns you've
describe places and use the question 'What's been to, the towns we have listed on
itlike?' The teacher, at the start ofthis the board. So you'll have to ask each
extraa, has just put up a map oftheir own other 'Have you ever been to?' and
country and listed the main towns. then ask 'What's it like?' or 'What do
you think ofit?'
T: So, we're going to talk about places OK. In twos, you ask first, you, you;
you've visiled, lowns you've been to, and the others answer, then change
in the past, but that you can still over. Goon, Have you ever ...
remember and tell us about, now. OK. ( M-edpair work,· teacher IWUlders round)
How can I ask you if you know a place,
if you've been 10 a place? What is the T: Alright. Stop now, good. So now you
queslion? Yes? Kumah? all know where your friends have
SI: You have been ...? been? Yes? Good. Right, you can all
T: Anyoneelse? write down two sentences about your
S2: HaveyoubeentoLondon? friends, true sentem:es; remember the
T: Good. Well,Rosa,haveyoueverbeen ones you read from the table? Like
to London? those, but true. You give me a true
S3: Er,no. sentence about your friend, er, - Lee.
T: No, I haven't. S: AlihasbeentoBawku.
S: No, I haven't. T: Isthattrue,Ali?
T: Good. Someone ask Gustav ifhe's S: Yes, I've been there three times.
been 10 Hambura:. Have you ever ... ? T: Three times? Very nice. So, all of you,
S: Have you ever been to Hamburg, quie1ly write two or three sentences
Gustav? about your friend, then you can read
T: Uha. some of them out to the class.

&or.& .& , TEACHING HINl'S (a) Why does the teacher ask Gusta\' what ffambur&istike?
(b) Why does she use a map of their own country rather than a map ofBrltai■ or
lhe USA? (c) Why does she pt the class to practise in pain nen tboogh some of
them are making some mistakes? (d) Why does she ask them to do some wrllina
after the pair practice?
 Unit 15: Oral Practice 107

Classroom language
Select the language which relates to the type of practice activity you will be using
in class. Adapt it where necessary to suit your own students. Then practise in
pairs, referring to the activity you have decided to talk about, and giving one or
two examples as models for your partner to follow, as you would in a class.

Subetltutlon tables
I
How many senten~ can you
. ,,
say to your neighbom?
Listen, I'll do one
Ukethis
different sentences write down?
Nice and quickly.
remember?

Who will be the first

.....
•~m
pair lo .,
readout
learn
'
10
15
sentences?
questions?
""°"
oo, wri~

Now I'm going to rub

Now
I
I -
(With a table on the blackboard, you can gradually erase parts ofit.)

a few more
tum round, face the back,
without looking at the board,
I words off. Can you still say a sentence?

how many can you remember?

say some to yourselves.

4 (With mixed tables where not all combinations produce correct sentences.)
this table is more difficult; only some sentences are correct.
Now, be careful,
this time you have to
I make true sentences about the picture.
answer my questions from the table.

Dlacrtmlnatlonn.-:ld
5 (referring to words on the blackboard)

and tell me which this refen to, this, (past tense)or this (present).
then answer either like th· or like thiK, whichever is suitable.

6
I'm going to .""', -
See Unit 18 for more on listening and oral work.
sentences
questions
which are either
past or present.
often or queries.
about one person or two people.
a request or a command.

Subetltutlon drll
7 We'll start with
Look at thissentence,' . Can you repeat it?
All together.
Faster!
Listen to And again!

8 say it with 'yesterday' instead of 'every day' ( and remember the verb).
change it, say 'shopping' instead of 'to school'.
 108 Unit 15: Oral Practice

9 Listen to
Look at
I the cue and use the cue word.

do the first two for you so you understand.

Listen, and I'll
I show you how I mean.

Conversation drill
(with pictures or word cues)
10 practise using the verb Look at these cues.
We' re going to with ·need'.
do a conversation drill, What are these things?

ll There are two people talking, A and 8 . Listen _ _ __

A says something and B answers. Like this_ _ __

12 are 8 . Listen to what A says and reply using one of the cues.
Now, I'll be A and you
take B's part. So you make a sentence with 'need', OK?

Using picture cu-

13 want todo
people on the board. like doing
are going to do
Look at these They have just done one of these things.
names of the people want to buy
in the picture. have just bought
etc.

14
can you make a sentence
like this· .
So, about each person; using this pattern • '
I want you to ask a question beginning ' '

15 like this,
twos, make up a short dialogue
Now, in for example
threes, do some questions and answers,
about yourselves.

o......1nggames
(to practise question fonns)
16 people
people doing things in this picture.
They all have numbers.
3 objects on the board.
There are 5 words expressing time
8
different things in my bag.
cards with pictures on.

17 card
I'm going to choose
one number and not tell anyone which it is.
One of you can write
thing

18 can find out

Then the rest of you ask questions to which one it is.
have to guess
 Unit IS: Oral Practice 109

II show you? Questions on this

Sh,11[ patk>m,,____ QK?
demonstrate? Keep to the same

• You
have to
=only
ask questions with Yes or No answers,
like tbis, _ __
for example

n
Rigbt;so I I'D
yuo
choose one, and au of you can guess.

If you guess eorrectly, ,.. I can choose next time.

get the next go.

u..,. ...,.,... __
(to give students practice in asking questions and to promote pair practice)
The table refers to the Wall picture illustrated on page 104 al the bollom. Be
carcfuJ to use the correct intonation for indirect questions (falling; listen to the
question the teacher asks Gustav to ask, in the taped dialogue).

u Now I want you to practise some questions. Ready?

Som,ono
... Ali ·- she/be thinks the fue started.
the fire started.
where the students were sitting.
Loo, R°"

"' .... the students outside did, on seeing the smoke.

she/he thinks about the fire.
neighbour the fire brigade llad to rescue and why.
who

A,k
""" partner(s) telephoned the fire brigade.
why the people in the building could not get out.
each other bow long it took to put the fire out.
how much damage it caused.
if anybody had to go to hospital.

--hnl-
(at the conlrolled practice stage, where accuracy is important)
See Part Two, Unit 13 for more on corrections.

" Ex=- Wait

. ,. Think! What was wrong?

Just a minute

Er,not' . Was that """"'

how I said it?
alright?
Listen
Say it
I again!

(gesture) What should it be?

" weDdone.
much better.
Let's all say that together.
Can you say it again for us?
Listen,
OK?
110 Unit 15: Oral Practice

(!) Teaching skills

Elicitation practice
See also Unit 14 Section d , 2 and 3 for the use of questions for elicitation
purposes.

1 Conversation drlU
& The purpose of using a two line dialogue for structure practice is to give students
practice in using the new structure in a natural way in a meaningful situation. In
the example on page 104, 4 CONVERSATION DRILL, the dialogue would
consist of:
A: Oh dear, it's raining. 8: You need an umbrella!
which sounds like natural spoken English.
Supposing you wanted your students to practise the structure 'should have
done' using the following picture cues to produce sentences like:

You should have gone to bed earlier.

~ He should have driven more carefully.

LCO;i{· 1
She should have bought some more bread.

t He should have tried it on before he bought it.

What can you say that will make these sentences into naturaf sounding
responses? NB 'What should he have done?' (pointing to the cue picture) would
most naturally be answered, 'gone to bed earlier', rather than the full sentence.
Look at the following utterances. Only 4 of them would naturally elicit the full
sentence. Write the most natural oral response in the space beside each one and
find out which 4 utterances would make good elicitations.
(a) Should he have gone to bed earlier?
(b) Shouldn't he have tried the shirt on before he bought it? _ _ _ _ _ __
(c) Oh dear. There's no bread left. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __
(d) Did he buy some more bread? _ _ __ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __
(e) I'm terribly tired this mo rning. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
(f) What time should you have gone to bed?
(g) What should he have tried on in the shop?
(h) Hey. That new shirt doesn't fit, does it? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
(i) Paul had a car crash on his way home last night. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
& .& Now make up two more items based on the same pattern, 'should have done' that
would suit your students, and work out a natural elicitation for them.
Do the same for some other patterns that your students often need practice in.
2 Substitutiontables
.& .& (a) Think of a pattern that your students often get wrong and need remedial
practice in. In pairs, draw up a simple substitution table with a maximum of
six items in the lor.gest column. Make sure that all the possible sentences are
 Unit 15: Oral Practice t I .I

correct English and sound natural. Try to use ideas th at will interest your
students.
(b) Then make up six to eight questions o r statements that will naturally elicit a
sentence from the table as a response .
You could also tell a very short story which could be summarised by a
sentence from the table. Fo r example, see the table on the FOCUS page at
the beginning of this Unit; you could tell a story, thus: 'Fred's uncle gave
Fred a toy car for his birthday. Fred was happy because it was a big o ne.' The
students pick out the main points (it doesn't matter if they don't understand
every word) and read o ut ' Fred's got a big toy car' .
.& .& (c) Practise in pairs, eliciting and reading out sentences from the table you have
written.
.& (d) Make up a short four line dialogue containing o ne of the sentences from the
table, o r a similar one, that wiU illustrate how this structuie can be used in an
.& .& everyday situation. Try it out on your neighbour to ma ke sure it sounds
natural. See how long it takes him or her to learn it. Is it simple enough for
your students to learn for homework?
.& (e) Finally make a copy of all the tables and dialogues produced by other pairs
that have worked well. This way you will have a ready made set of tested
practice materials that you can use again and again in class.

3 Discrimination exercise
A I M: to teach the difference in meaning between 'been to' and 'gone to'.
(a) Draw a map on the board showing the rela tion between your town or village
and two or three other main towns in your country.
Explain simply in English to your neighbour, the difference in meaning
between 'Paul has gone to X' and 'Paul has been to X' using the map. Add
some pin men with names, who all live in your town o r village.
(b) Write out six items for a discrimination exercise that yolll could use to check
your students understand the meaning. For example, 'Paul has been to X,
whe re is he now?' Try them o ut on your neighbour.
(c) Think of a way to elicit the full sentence in a natural way.

4 True/Falsestatements
.& & (a) Look at the following sentences and say whether each refers to past, present
o r future time.
(a) If Cyril had won the lottery he would have bought a Mercedes.
(b) If Fred was rich enough he would buy a Mercedes.
(c) If Charlie gets a rise in salary he'll buy a Mercedes.
(b) True or false statements about sentences like these can help you diagnose
whether the students have understood the meaning a nd implications of the
structure. The students listen to your statements, which should either be true
or false, a nd then tell you which they think it is. giving the corrected version if
it was false.
For example: Sentence (a) above can be wri tte n on the board a nd the
following statements made orally by the teacher:
' If Cyril had won the lottery he would have bought a Mercedes.'
True or False? Correci the false o nes:
Cyril won the lottery. He has bought a Mercedes.
Cyril tried to win the lottery. He can't afford a Mercedes.
He didn't buy a Mercedes. He didn't win the lotte ry. etc.
He wanted to buy a Mercedes.
(c) Now write some true/false state me nts about sentences (b) and (c) above and
try them out on your neighbours.
112 Unit 15: Oral Practice

(d) Finally do the same for other structures that you will have to teach, each
person taking a different teaching item, and trying the statements out on
each other.

S Indirect questions
(to elicit question forms)
See CLASSROOM LANGUAGE, Section c, Table 22.
Asking your students to ask the questions is an excellent way of making sure
that they get sufficient practice in using question forms. Very often, it is only the
teacher who asks the questions in the classroom. In real life, however. the
student is just as likely lo have to ask questions as he is to answer them, and
unless he gets practice in asking questions in class, he will not be able to do so.
The form of indirect questions is not difficult for students to understand even
early on in their English course. At later stages, however, students often have
problems with the word order when they use indirect questions orally. If you use
indirect question forms from the early stages, your students will get used to
hearing them and are more likely to get them right later on. They will also have
benefited from learning how to ask ordinary questions for themselves.
Do either (a) or (b) or both.
(a) Find an exercise in your textbooks which consists of questions about a picture
or a short reading passage.
Work in groups of four or five, taking turns to be the teacher who asks one
student to ask another student each question. The questions in the book
should be covered up so the 'students' cannot see them.
(b) Using a large wall picture, or poster o r a clear magazine picture, work in
small groups as above, asking each other to ask questions about the people or
places in the picture. See Table 22 for examples of different types of indirect
questions.

6 A game to play
GIVE ME ANOTHER ONE!
•i1.•.a. Any number ofplayers up to 8, in a circle.
Player A chooses a pattern sentence, e.g. 'Jim likes playing football'. He then
gives another sentence on the same pattern in order to show which words can be
changed, e.g. 'Jim likes watching television'. He then says, 'Give me another 6!'
(or whatever number he thinks possible, up to 10). Each player in turn says one
different sentence on the same pattern until the six are done. Then someone else
chooses and the game continues.
You are OUT
- if you hesitate for longer than the agreed time (5 or IO seconds)
- if you make a mistake and do not correct it yourself before the next player's
tum
- if you give a sentence which is meaningless or unacceptable, e.g. 'Jim likes
making' or 'Jim likes crying'!
You should decide on how to judge the game before you start; either have one
referee for each round, or vote on whether a sentence is acceptable o r not, or
whatever system you like best. The game finishes when only one person is left in,
and he or she is declared the winner.
(The person choosing can be challenged to say himself all the sentences he
suggested, if it is agreed by everyone else that it is impossible. If he can't do it, he
is out for the next round; if he can, he ge11; an extra life, i.e. he can stay in once
even if he is OUT according to the rules above.)
 UnitJ5:0ralPractiQe 113

Teaching practice
, Planning
The AIM of the teaching practice in this Unit is to examine and supplement, if
necessary, the practioe activities suggested in your textbooks and to practise
teaching them.
(a) Work in pairs or smaD groups, each taking a different unit or lesson from the
textbook used in your schools or coUeges. Examine the lesson carefully; then
select or think out about three different types of practice activity that you
could use to give students practice in forming and using the teaching item in
meaningful situations. Plan to maximise individual student practice time by
including activities that could be done with massed pairs, all speaking at
once.
(b)Prepare any necessary flash cards or plan blackboard sketches to help
contextualise the language being practised, and to act as cues or prompts for
pair work.
(c) Suggest the stage at which these activities might fit into a lesson, (e.g.
immediately after the presentation stage, if they are controlled) and make

ZT--sure you can explain exactly what the aims of each activity are.

At least ONE activity should be introduced and carried out by each teacher.
- Begin by introducing the activity to the dass or peer group.
- Remember to check the students understand what it is they are saying.
- Vary the pace if possible, and also vary the patterns of teacher/student
interaction by using massed pair work as well as individual responses.

3 Evaluatlon
Discuss which activities you think would be most useful in your teaching situa-
tion.
If there are a number of practical suggestions that are not included in your
textbook arrange for them to be typed up and circulated for the benefit of all
teachers, with a note of the aim of each activity and a rough idea of how to make
it work effectively in class.

4 Opllonalactlvlty
Refer back to the set EXTRACT in Section bin this Unit.
&& Plan a longer lesson around the extract. It should include some other types of
practice activities, e.g. a substitution table which would come before the
recorded extract, and one or two less controlled types of practice to follow on
after the extract.
FoDow the steps set out above for PLANNING and TEACHING, then
evaluate your performance in the light of 3 above.

0 Furtharreading
On using questions Donn Byrne (I 976) pp. 48-53.
On practice activities Donn Byrne ( 1976) pp. 32-43.
On visual aidsatthe practice stage Andrew Wright (I 976) Chapter 2, pp. 14-21.
Helen Moorwood (ed) (I 978) Section 2.
W M Rivers and MS Temperley {1978) Chapter 4.
 ,oc"~•"'"~'
1& ,.oc• ;~: _ _ _ o"-------~¥E~
011 I understand
English a lright
I can speak
Eviglish and
1rON can you1EPCH lT ? but I can't SDy
a
nyth·1
n9.
write a bit; ancl.
understand
alrigl-\t.

pictures ~
... , ~ d.io.grams l!-
dr-avv - - mo.ps rravs ~
-- WHICH WORDS FROM THIS P.ASsA.GE
- \M?U Id yo~ pre-teach ?

si;;;,
b,,.-ing- ------ cho.rts ;," \ - cou Id students guess fn:>m context.?

tmrhs ~
Keeping Fit
e)q)fa,ii Mr Miller, an American business man with asedentary
.P Y1 job, was worried about his health. He wanted to keep fit
. t111rne a t so he startedjogging with his friends. They met at the
wr,te in ..i::ci ' c Park Gates at 7 a.m., andjogged round the Park before
''oUt'9s o. breakfast every day. Mr Miller however, found he could

use symt:,ols 0e.\ ~g not keep up with them. He was soon out of breath and got
agonising pains in his chest. Finally he decided to give up
smoking, convinced it would help improve his health and
oemonstrote of the his jogging, which it finally did.
taKe students ~ssr-oom
. 6 into the classroom .
bring the real th,ne, . to C. and then exemp\_\fy
translate 1n . in En6"ltsh
tSrve a b
VOCABULARY o I corrtext and
et students 6
UNKNOWN KNOWN synon oLiess
Ytns anta
., NOT E'SSENTlAL. ESSENTIAL.
FAMILIAR
IN USE AND
.· lRMISFERf?EO
M!:,l>.NING Iexica 1 11Yrns
ro TO ME.AN! NG [e:.o.
CDMPRE!iE.~ION COMPl?EHENS'ION METAPHORIC
USE]
sets
UNUSUAL C,,,.N BE How could you teach
r- --------,
6'UESSI: D DR
I NFERRED the words i11 italics ?
) COrvlMON ) BY A Where are you going?
i l - - ---J STUDENT
B Totheshops. MyMotherwants
l fla\CIH.4'JlR
·:L ________ :
_.J
FROM some r ice, some beans and some tea.
A Oh! and I want an ice cream .
WORD P-0OTS
CANNOT BE [MORPHOLDGY] B Mmm!Comewithme,then.
QUESSED OR We'll go together.
INFERRED A OK.
CON"TEXT
~-"tliACH

I I~

..
Unit16
Teaching vocabulary
The elmaof this Unit are 1 to make teachers aware of the variety of techniques that
can be used to teach vocabulary for active or passive control
2 to give practice in the English necessary for presenting, eliciting and checking
understanding of new vocabulary

Preliminary discuaaion
1 What do we really mean by 'teachin,:' vocabulary? Distincuish between active
aod passive knowleqt, Refer to the FOCUS paae at the be&fnnilll olthls Unit.
2 Broadly speaking, 'vocabulary' falls Into two categories:
(a) words with a spedfk: meaning, e.g. pen, rwmhlg, asleep
(b) words with a value or a grammatlcal l'unctlon, e.g. but, therefore, of
Discuss whid:I cateaories the following words l'all in: a stone, an Idea, lazily,
although, than, beaeftt, it (it's l'IUJIUII), hurry, dazzling, which, witch, or, the.

•
Which cateaocy of words do you think is easier to teach sufflSSl'ully? Why?
3 When planning to do a readlor: or listenlna: comprehension exerdse In class,
how do you decide wblcb new words to pre-teach, before the passage Is read or
heard, which lo leave until later, amd which not lo teach at aD? Which words
would you pre-teach from the passap 'Keeping Flt' on the FOCUS page? Would
yoo ~teach these words for active or passive control at the initial stage? Why?
4 (a) If you plan to present a new structure, would you introduce new vocabulary
items at the same time? Why?
(b) How many new wonk can your students learn effectively in one lesson?
5 Study the various techniques shown oo the FOCUS page at lbe begbmibg of this
Unit for (ndafng new vocabulary.
(a) Are there any other techniques you ftnd useful? Add those lo the page.
(b) How far is it helpful to set word lsts for students to learn by heart?
(c) Disam in pain or groups what technique or combination of techniques you

.,._
word.
.........
would use to teach the followfng vocabulary items. Note them down beside eacll

........
........ . .....
a coat hanger

...
allon
lt'sworth£5
to increase
twomlUioo
a valve
therefore
.........,
economic Inflation
carboa dioxide

•
a crankshaft Illy

6 How useful is the question 'Do you uaderstand?'? What about, 'Is there
anything you don't understand?'? How can you checlr. that a student (a) has really
Udderstood the meaning of a word? (b) can actually use the new word C!Ol'Tedly
and appropriately? Gil'e examples.

'"
116 U nit 16: Teaching Vocabulary

Cl) Lesson extracts

Listen to both extracts and see which techniques the teachers use to present new
vocabulary items to their classes. Then select the extract which is most suited to
the level of students you are teaching, and practise repeating the teacher's part.

-
Compare your pronunciation with the pronunciation of the teacher on the tape.

ExtractOne
lo school

This is an elementary class. They have just Ss: Beans ... Beans ... Bea ... bea ...
learnt the verb 'want' and the teacher wOJUs T: Not bea, beans!
to teach them some names offood before S: Beans.
introducing countables and uncountables T: Good. Now what's this?
next lesson. This lesson they will learn a S: Rice.
shon dialogue' with the new words in it. The T: And these?
teacher has a large bag with some smaller S: Beans.
paper bags containing rice, tea, beans. T: Good. Now look at me. What am I
eating?(mimes) Yes? ... Noone? Well
T: Look. What's in here? What's this? ... -it's ice cream. Ice cream.
Ss: Don't know. Ss: Tcecream.
T : Well, it's rice. Rice. Look! Take some. T : Ao ice cream, yes. ls it hot or cold?
It's rice. Can you say it? Ss: Cold. Very cold!
S: R ice. T: Who can draw an ice cream on the
T: Good. And you? Rice! board? A picture of an ice cream?
S: Rice. S: Me!
T : Good. What's this, Moussa? T: OK. Here's the chalk. Now, what is he
S: Rice. drawing?
T: Good. Everybody! What's this? Ss: lcecream.
Ss: Rice. T : An ice cream, yes. Good. Thank you.
T: Good. Now. Something different. Now, someone come and take some . . .
What's in here? Can you guess? It's er ... rice. You! Yei;. Good. Whal is
black. You drink it! ( Mimes). that?
S: L ' (tea). S: Rice.
T: Yes. In English we say 'tea'. T: Good. Now, someone give me some
Ss: Tea. beans....
T : Again!
Ss: Tea.
T: Good. And these are? (She shows Follow up
them) The teacher finishes checking their learning
Ss: L' (beans) then goes on to present a dialogue to practise
T: Beans. Beans. What are they? the new words.

.&orA A TEACHING HINT How does the teacher rrinforce the students' understanding
of the new words?

1
See lhe dialogue on the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit.
 Unit 16: T eaching Vocabulary 1 17

l'i=-;11 ExtractTwo
lncolJege
An intermediate class, interested in S: er, sport? Something to do with sport?
American culture. The teacher has fou.n d a T: Possibly, yes. Some people do
short reading passage for them, which he exercises every morning, like this
hopes will promote some discussion in the (mimes) to kee p fit, to keep healthy, to
second part of the lesson. See the FOCUS keep your muscles in trim. Jf you are
page at the beginning ofthis Unit, the fit,you can run a long way. O K?
passage entitled' Keeping Fit'. The teaclzer is S: Yes.
introducing it as the UJpe begins. T : Do you do exercises sometime s?
S: Yes. l do.
T: We're going to have a discussion today T: Why? ... to ... ?
but first I wa.nt you to read a short S: To ... er ... keep fit.
passage, about an American T: Good. He wants to keep fit. Now.
businessman. He's a businessman, with Some people in the USA go jogging
an office job, and he wants to keep fit. every day. Jogging; who knows what
Who knows what 'keep fit' means? jogging is? . .. No o ne? Well. It's
Keep fit? running. Running slowly to keep fit.
S: Thisjacketfits me. Who can write it o n the board for me?
T : Well, that was a good sente nce but You? Thank you. j ..o .. g..g .. ing. G ood.
' keeping fit' has a differe nt meaning. Now I'll give you o ut the passage.. . .
Anyo ne?No?

&01' & & TEAClilNG HINTS (a) Why does the teacher explain 'keep fit' and 'jogging' but
not 'sedentary' or 'agonising'? (b) Why does he want the word 'jogging' written
on the board?
 I 18 Unit 16: Teaching Vocabulary

Classroom l~nguage
When teaching vocabulary, you normally start by doing one of two things: you
either give the students the word and ask the meaning, or you explain the
meaning or concept, and ask the word.
Finally you check that your students have understood.
T he tables in this Section keep to this order and are followed by some
suggestions for language your students may need.
In pairs, 'teach' each other the words in Section a, 5 (c), using the language
from 1he tables. Fill in the blanks appropriately. Then select vocabulary from
your tex1books to practise language from the remaining tables.

Teaching meaning
Announcing your intention
1 First, check that the meaning of a few words.
I wanl to you know
Before we begin, make sure what one o r two words mean.

Making students guess the meaning

2 what this word means: •_ _ _ _'?
Who knows
when you would use the word. •_ _ _ _'?
Does anyone know
Can anyone tell me where you would shee the word, •_ _ _ _'?
ear

3 a clue. It's something to do with

I'll give you
I some help. You might hear a saying it.

a context:
Let's see if you can guess. I'll give you
I an example:

4 explain.
Not really.
give you (another) example.
Nearly right! Listen to me and I' ll
show you.
Not quite! Watch me and rn
draw one.
Wait!
act it.

Looking at the word in context

s picture opposite.
does that te ll you?
before
Now look at the What docs the word • 'tell you?
carefully.
sentence is the author talking about?
after.
beginning· '

be about?
So what could this word rcfcrto?
mean?
 Unit 16: Teaching Vocabulary 119

Looking al the word Itself

'Lion'
Look. The word
e nds in
l ~ness'
I so it must be a noun.

begins with 'un· so it means 'nof something.

Teaching a new word

Introducing lhe next stage

I want a few new later on today.

I'm going to tench you words that we ~hall need for a dialogue.
some useful
for some role play.

Using something vi.suaJ to explain the concept

this is,
we call this.
Look! this person is doing,
Who knows
Listen! what we say when in English'.'
Does anyone know
Watch!
does,
this
I shows.

Explaining the concept

had have to-

Lf
I were I'd be -
Supposing Whal?
you lived in you'd need -
Pretend
fell -
Describing appearance/use/function
10
big and
It\
I made of II 's used for
People use it to
Youcun it.
ng thi ngs, when they

You see it in <

Beginning from a known word

II
the opprn.ite l>f it?
another word for it?
word
phra.,,e the general term for it?
You all know the OK. Well. what"s
idea nf verb
the
! nuun
l from it?

12
A
context
In this
sentence
for exarnrlc. It begins with B
C

similar to' Have a guess!

It is
something 10 do with· What could it he?
 120 Unit 16: Teaching Vocabulary

Teaching 'link' words and words with a grammatical function

13
'however'
'although' teU you about what follows?
' alternatively'
In line 6, what does the word
'them'
'which' refer to?
'this'

(See also Part Two, Unit 18, Table 4, and Unit 19, Tables 2 1 and 22.)

Checking students' undentandlng

14
person . th Iroom who is
Find the
m e picture
I
Show me a in the picture which
thing
Point to a
word
means the same as
phrase in the passage which
I describes a

Teaching appropriate uH
15 'I
I
formal. I
a bit too I
informal. only I
• is rather You use if you're I
colloquial. should I
very I
old fashioned. I
I
I

talking to friends.
talking to your boss.
writing a formal letter.
writing to friends.

don't know.
with people you
know well.

Student language. See also Appendix B.

Saying they don't understand
16 does· · mean?
Excuse me,
Please, Mr .
what
I is the meaning of· ·'?

I don't understand' 'in line I.

Asldng questions, making guesses

17 something to do with ?
Is it similar 10 ?
a kind of ?
Does refer to ?
Could

..
 Unit 16: Teaching Vocabulary 121

Teaching skills
1 ElcltlngMWVOCllbulary
(a) Select some of the words given in Section a, Preliminary Discussion, 5 (c). Put
them into a suitable context, then 'teach' them to yollf neighbour as if you
were presenting them to a class. Your aim is to teach these words for active
control, so you will have to work out natural ways to elicit the new words
from your 'student', and make him or her use it.
(b) Do the same for some vocabulary from your textbook that you would
pre-teach for active control before beginning on a new unit.

2 Remedlalvocabularyteachlng
The list below contains pairs of words that are similar but not the same in
meaning or use. Students often muddle these up. Add other pairs that your
students often get mixed up because of similarities in meaning.
Think how you would explain in English the difference between some of these
pairs. Think of examples, two or three for each word, contextualising them;
fmally, work out ways to check that students can distinguish the meaning of the
words and can use them correctly.
lend borrow
kill
surprise
•lone
'"'
shod
lonely
to drop to fall
in time on time
ltcosts£10 It'sworth£10
nightmare dream
hard hardly

3 Vocabulary Hlectlon (This exercise leads up to Teaching Practice in

Section•)
In groups of three or four: each group should take a different unit of the course
book and isolate, with reference to the How chart on the FOCUS page.
(a) which lexis will need to be pre-taught for active use
(b) which lexis could be pre-taught for passive control, i.e. recognition purposes
only
(c) which words are not important in themselves but may cause problems, or
cause students to panic, and should, therefore, be rapidly pre-taught
(d) which words students should be encouraged to guess from context (e.g.
'agonising' in the passage 'Keeping Fit')
(e) the words you could help students guess at by asking carefully graded
questions, directing them to the correct meaning
(f) the words which are uncommon or just too difficult to teach at this stage, that
you might translate, if asked to explain them, but would not bother to teach.

4 Uefngadlctlonary
(a) Each choose a different reading passage from your coursebooks and look up,
in a dictionary that your students use, the words they are likely to look up
themselves. Crosscheck to see if a suitable word or meaning is given in both
halves of the dictionary. Ask yourselves whether your students can under-
stand the passage better, having looked these words up in the dictionary.
122 Unit 16: Teaching Vocabulary

Pre pare explanations and further examples to help students learn the most
important of these words. In each case write down two or three ways you
could elicit this word, to make sure the student has understood its meaning
and its use.
Keep your notes and pool them so you each have a complete record of
lexis from reading passages.
(b) Look up the word 'time' in your dictionary. T here should be at least six
different uses of this one word, and maybe six different words in your
language for it. Are there any single words in your language which have
several different meanings, and which therefore may cause your students
problems when trying to work o ut which English word to use?
(c) What. then, are the dangers of using a dictionary, and how could you teach
your more advanced students to use a dictionary efficiently?

5 Agamatoplay
ASK THE RIGHT QUESTI ON' - an elicitation game
You need a set of cards, between 30 and 50, which you can make quickly
yourselves; each card has a word ot phrase written on it. See the examples below.
Put the cards face down on the table. In pairs, take turns picking a card {don't
show it to your partner). You have to try to make your partner say what is on the
card, by explaining, defining, asking questions and so on.
E.g. A : If you travel somewhere you need this.
8: A ticket.
A : No, it's something you carry, quite big.
B: A bag.
A: Nearly. What do you put your clothes in?
B: A suitcase.
A: That's right. (A then gives the card to B)

T.V.

The game can be made mo re difficult by putting longer phrases, e.g. 'in a
suitcase' or 'turn the TV off , or making them more specific, e.g. 'the suitcase· o r
'the man who was walking'.
1
I a m indebted to E.L.T.I. (English Language Teaching Institute) British Council.
London, for this game, which I have adapted slightly.
 Unit 16: Teaching Vocabulary 123

Teaching practice
1 Planning
(a) Choose a short reading passage suitable for the students you will be teaching.
(b) Isolate the vocabulary you think will cause difficulties, and decide, applying
the same criteria as in Section d, 3, when and how you will teach or explain
each word.
(c) Choose up to six or seven new words that need pre•teaching (i.e. before the
students read the passage) and decide exactly how you will make dear the
meaning,.elicit the new word from the students, check their understanding of
it. Think of ways to get them to use it for themselves if they need the word for
active control, e.g. for subsequent discussion of the passage.
(d) Divide the words up between group members, and plan the order in which
you will teach them; prepare any aids you will need. Think up a sign-post
question for the reading passage.

2 TNChlngpntCtlce
- If peer teaching, re-form groups, so you are teaching people who are new to
the passage.
- Begin by announcing what you plan to do.
- Teach in turn, keeping the pace as lively as possible.
- If there is time, set the class to read the passage silently, helping them to guess
the other unknown words from context. Give them a chance to ask you
questions.

3 Evaluation
(a) On your own, write down from memory aU the words that were 'taught'.
Underline those you found the most memorable. Try to think why they were
easier to remember.
(b) Discuss in your groups the results of (a) above. Did you all agree? Why? So
which methods of teaching vocabulBJ}' do you think are the most effective?
(c) Could any of the meanings have been ambiguous to students? Could
students actually we the new words they needed for active control? Was this
checked?
(d) Discuss how vocabulary is tested in end of term or end of year exams. How
far should you adapt or extend the techniques you used here for checking
learning in order to help prepare students for the exam?

0 Further reading
WM Rivers and MS Tcmperley ( 1978) pp. 2S l-2S8, and sec Index.
 17 FQ~l)S
ON ACTIVITIES
foRORAl
pRoducTioN
EXPLANATION and D
lnterprefaUona of gra ESCIUPnoN ,-..-----' GAMES and PROBLEMS
e.g. from g"""'"'aph
-....,,
Pb, JDaps, diagr•--
YOrSOc1'al · - . .,
Gueuing games (teams or whole class) Class has to
M.uu. science textbooks guess, by asking questions that can be answered 'Yes' or
~heao11 · 'No', what object, action, person or place one student is
topic• ofinterest, S~et directions, or thinking of, or has a picture of, e.g .
e.g. home town, d irections for a
_
hobbies, school ru.l Journey. 'Twenty Questions' (object) 'Personalities' (famous person)
pop stars es, 'Glug' (action) 'Hide and See.le' (place)
· lnflrqctio11• for
(See Tables 16& 17 OJ>eratingamacmn (See page 132fordetails. See Tables 18-19, Section c )
Section c) , or how to drive a care,
Elimination games (teams, groups or whole class)
Deac:ribi.n or mend a fUse
J.,..,..,,_ g a Pl'OCesa, . · 'Just a minute' 'Conversation Gambits'
.,,_.,umg factories c e.g. r1ce-gro'Wing
' ocoa PrOduction. ' 'My grandmother went to market' 'Simon Says'
'Don't answer KYes" or M
No"'
(See page 132 for details)
DlSCUSSJONICONVERsJi Problema (pairs)
lntel'J)ntaUonaofpicnue• TION - - - Each person in the pair has a picture or some information
e.g . the story behind a p1·ctur that the other needs, but cannot see. They must find out, by
. eorsn.:.,-.,,,_,.
PE!<>ple m the Picture. ,,_,........_1ons about the asking questions and explaining, enough information to
solve the problem or complete the task set, e.g.
r- 'Find the difference', with two nearly identical pictures or
maps.
'Arrange a meeting', with two diaries with various
engagements for the week.
(See Dialogue 2, and Tables 20----21, Section c)

'What can they be saying?•

Soc:ialianea
e.g. traffic, pollution, Penon.i.1 experience
education, role of women e.g. discussion of
, ___ ,_ , horoscopes dis·ast
p...,uung a new town or • ers·
school (Ideas from a plans for future, holida~s.
reading text, book or (See Tables 8---15,
neWSpaper.) Section c)

Piehuea for opinion• e r; hi 'Find the differences'

consumer gOOds. .g. as on, pop stars,
--- - ...:__.::.:...._________ ___J 12~
~
Unit 17 Oral production
The aims of this Unit are 1 to make teachers aware of the importance of the
production stage of the learning cycle 2 to give teachers ideas for language activities
which will encourage students to speak English more freely and use the language they
have learnt in meaningful situations 3 to teach the classroom language needed to
direct production activities

Preliminary discussion
l By •proctuction' staae, we mean thestaae orsfaaes of the lesson whtrestudents
are allowed lo speak or write In English with less guidance from the teacher or
textbook. 1bis stage is one step nearer to real life situadoos where students wlD
have lo COlllDlUllkate without the help of a teacher. What opportunities do you or
could you give to your students to produce language more freely In the classroom.,
(a) atseoteoce level? (b) more extended production, e.3. dialopes, role play or a
simulation,• What about activities based on an Information Gap,* see paae 105,
Sectlone,3.
2 It Is hnportant to choose topics that your studenls will Hite and stuations that
they will ftad worthwhile. What do yoor sbtdents like doing and talking about? In
what kinds of situatiom may they need to use their English after flnishbt& school
orcoDep?
3 Look at the suggestioos ror production activities on the FOCUS page at the
beginning of this Unit. Discuss how you could adapt them to fulfil the needs of
your students. See 2 above,
4 How w1D you explain to yoor stu.denu exadly what you want them to do? Take
some of the DICJ5t useful production activities on the FOCUS pap aad work out

-··
ways of introdudng them to your class, exp)abdng, delllOllStl'llting, modelling,
actioa etc., so they know what is expected of them and the remon why they are

• .... 5 (a) Dlswss what steps you would need to set up the same acdvldes. Remember
you may well need a rehearsal staae before you leave them entirely oo lhetr

,
own. What would you need to say in English lo them at the beginning of each

(b) What sboold you do about mistakes that students make at the production
stage? Durtna the presentadon and practice stages II Is necessary to COlTed
most mistakes to help students learn t h e ~ form and use, but the main aim
at the production stage is to encourage them to use what they have learnl and
communicate in Enafish even iflt Is not completely aeeurate. So how far do yoo
think students should be interrupted and corrected at this stage?
6 Are there any other aedvldes or materials you could adapt for use at the
produdlon stage of the leuon? Could yon ooUect map7Jne pietnres of people and
platei, or advertisements? Perhaps topkal newspaper cuttings, or pictures,
arapbs, charts or diagrams rrom studenls' geography or social studies textbooks
woold make a good base for extended production aetivldes, which ean be done in
groops.
(See Part One, Unit 9 for more on pair and group work. See also Part Two,
Unit 19 for more on written production.)
125
126 Unit 17: Oral Production

(!) Lesson extracts

First, read the notes above the extracts which describe the classroom settings and
tell you what the students have just been learning. Then listen to both extracts
and decide which one would be more suitable for your own students. Then listen
to that one again, pausing so that you can repeat the teacher's part. Pay special
attention to the intonation of question forms and of explanations.

Extract One
In school

Wall picmre ofa party on the board. Late lollipops,jellies, whatever you like, but
elementary children. They have just learnt only six. So, I want you in your groups
'Ler's' . .. a11d 'Shall we! ... ' which they have to decide which six things you want for
practise,/ ill co11/rolled situatwns. They our party. You can discuss it, like this:
already k11owhow to use 'l like' a11d ' I don't Let's have lemonade.
like' with 11amesoffooda11d drink. But I don't like lemonade. I like Coca
· The teacher has already got them i 1110 small Cola best.
groups to begin the production stage ofthe Who else likes lemonade? No o ne?
lesson. Coca Cola then.
As they talk about the parry food a11d dri11k, ShaU we have some chocolates?
she writes or draws It on the blackboard to It's too hot. Chocolate might melt.
help the childre11 remember what to talk and soon.
abo111 later on. The group leader can make a shopping
T : Settle down in your groups, now. list,ofsix thiags,andwe·11 all look at
Quiet, please! O K. Look al this them together. Off you go then . Group
picture. What are these children leaders, you start off: Ask your groups,
doing? Anyone? Yes? ' What shall we have forlhe party?'
S: Party. (Teacher walks round al}d listens,
T: Yes, they're having a party, aren't without correcting mistakes)
they? Well. today we're going to talk (Three minwes later) Alright,
about parties. What a re they caring everyone, let's compare lists. Kumah.
and drinking? Can you see? what have you got?
Ss: Coca Cola, 7 Up, sweets, cake, biscuits S: Oranges. biscuits, sweet rice.
T: Why do you want sweet rice at the
T: Yes. good. Why do you think they are party?
having a parcy'l Why? Yes? S: I like it very much.
S: New baby born. T: But you need plates for sweet rice.
T: Yes, perhaps there's a new baby in the S: We can bring plates from kitchen.
family, . .. T: Do you agree with Kumah's idea? e tc.
S: Birthday? Follow up
T: Perhaps it's someone's binhday, yes, After the class discussio11, the teacher
any other ideas? suggests they write an invitarion to the
S: School finish. Headmaster and his family to come to their
T: Yes,you have parties a t the end of party. So they plan theletterrogetherand
term, good. So let's get together and eac/1group writes it 0111 newly. The best
plan the next school party, sha ll we? letter is selected to be sent. Then the class
Just for this class. this form. OK? Let's discusses who will do which preparations
say you can have six different things to forrhe party. The next lesson they will do a
eat or drink. Not more than six 1hings. role play activity, 'going shopping', to
You could have some of these I've practise buying whar they need, as if they
written here, or c hocolate, crisps, nuts, were in Britain.

&or.&.& TEACHING HINTS (a) Why does the teac.her not correct her students' mistakes
at this stage? (b) Why do you think she limits the students to six things only?
 Unit 17: Oral Production 127

In) ExtractTwo
In college
Most studems in this intermedimeclass are S: Yes.
April or will be i11 some kind ofbusiness, so the T: Ob. This is John Russell here, of O.P.
teacher has d 1ose11 a topic which they sho.uld company.
2.Mon 9Mon find useful. S: Er, good morning.
s~-~~~:t~~r-· ····-·········· ······ They have just learnt different ways of
making suggestions. They have revised ways
T : Good morning, I was ringing to ask if
wc could meet some time to discuss the
?. !.~-~ .11:~~'_j _IOTue.
···········"'"'" •······· ofapologising, and expressions oftime and new project.
h"o /\i re,, c. r i~:,
r dates. S: Oh, yes, when can you come?
3 Earlier rhis lesson, in preparation for this T : We ll, le t's see, next week I' m free on
4-Wed IIWed
Mr c,ci.:i1~ci oD .. .. ... .. ... - ----··· activity, they have each prepared, 011 a sheet Tuesday at l0a.m.
ofpaper, a one week page ofa business S: Oh dear. No. Not ...
?'""Thu 12.. ll'\U engagement diary for the following week. T : (quietly) I'm sorry, I have to ....
~te_f\f)j \?,1. ~ -~~t~Olu~ · - . ..... ►
' ...... They each filled in any seven ofthe ren S: I'm sorry, I have to go to a meeting on
J)l?)Mis t 2 ~ possible halfdays with things like Tuesd ay.
6 Fri \/1&itti.Lr"'j 1'3fri Meeting at ... T: Well, What about Thursday
..... ····· ... . - . ··· ······· .. . .. ....
•·
,. See Accountarzt afternoon? Are you free then?
Visit factory S: I'm sorry, I'm afraid I have
7Sat Footl, o.\l 1 llj-.}at Dentist 2.30 appointment with the dentist.
\SSun 115.Sun Mr Crawford 3.00etc. T : Oh. (quietly.) What about . ..
bw without telling each other which times S: What about Friday after lunch.
they left free. The teacher wants them to T : Friday? Let's see ... Yes, that's fine.
work in pairs, as ifthey were businessmen Why don' t we have lunch together and
trying to find a time to meet when they were talk afterwards, you know, do our
both free. They need to practise making business in the afternoon?
arrangements to meet. S: Where shall we meet then? At the
Homa Resiaurant?
T : So, you all know what you have in your T: The Homa? Yes, what time? Half past
own diaries, but you don't know when one?
your neighbours a re free, do you? S: Yes, that's fine.
S: Three times. T: Goodbye. then, sec you next Friday,
T : Yes, they have three free times next one thirty.
week, but you don't know which days. S: Goodbye.
Right, you a re going to have a T : Well done, Mr Adjimi, you did that
telephone conve rsation to decide on a very well. OK? everybody? Now, you
day and a time to meet a business do the same. All o f you, together, in
colleague to ta lk about a new project. your pairs, loo king at your diaries, find
One of you can be Mr Russell, and out when you are both free and
you're going to telephone a Mr arrange to meet, decide when and
Schmidt in another company to whe re and so on. Re ady? Right, off
arrange a time to meet. OK? No w. you you go, the phone is ringing, Mr
are both free at diffe re nt times, you Russell, you ask for Mr Schmidt.
will have to ask each othe r questions to Ss: (All) Hello ... e tc.
find out the other person·s programme
for next week. You may only be able to Follow up
find a lunch time convenient to you Aftercompleting this first activity, students
both. So, Mr Russell telephones Mr could change panners and arr011ge a second
Schmidt. Loo k, I'll do it with o ne of meeting with someone else. Or they could all
you so you know what I mean. Mr exchange diaries and do a similar activity.
Adjimi, you be Mr Schmidt and I'll be The diaries could be saved and used again
Mr Russell. Ready? Brrrr Brrrrr. You for a different class.
pick up the phone, Mr Adjimi. He llo, is
that Mr Schmidt?

&or& & T EACHING HINTS (a) Why does the teacher speak quietly when prompting Mr
Adjimi? (b) The student should have said 'an appointment' but the teacher does
not correct him at this stage. Why?
128 Unit17:0ra1Production

G Classroom language
... Before beginning this Section please revise Part One, Unit 6, Section c, and Part
Two, Unit 15, Sectionc, Tables 13 to 21.
See also the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit; the tables follow the
same sequence.
Select the language from the tables below which refers to the types of
production activities you will be using. Find in your textbooks and from your
teaching materialsspedftc examples of dialogues, discuuion points, pictures etc.,
to refer to when practising this language. Fill in the blanks and adapt where
necessary.

Roleplayand.,.matlutlone
Enmdlngasetdlaloeue
I You remember practised Who were the people in it?
the dialogue we about _ __
Let'sgobackto did What were they doing?

2 change ii a bi1.
""""1of
I want to do it another way.
Now
let's
continue it. Aftertbey

3 could he ask in this situation?

So what kinds of thing might !hey say at a party?
will you talk about in a job interview?

4 We're going todo some role play now.

Listen while I tell you the situation.
Look at the picture while I explain.
Now in groups of 2/3/4 lhink up what you can do.
-.
Setting the scene with a pkture or a sodal situation
· Imagine

Let's pretend
you were

5 invent
dialogue pretending you were lhese people;
I want you to think up
,i., • conversation working in twos, taking parts.

6 need toasl:: this man/woman?

What would you
probably say
if you were in this situation?

7 who you are.

Each card tells you what kind of person you are.
which role you play.
We're going to use '"'
role play
~nl,.
want todo.
On your card it says what you
have todo.
 Unitt 7: Oral Production 129

Promoting dl9cuealon
lleferrlag to • picture

• Why do you think

this man
the girl
look(s) happy/angry?
is doiog that?
?

have happened earlier?

have been happening?
What
oould
miJ;bt
...,,.. ·-' in a few minutes?
Why do you think that?

Now in
......
IWm

"""'"'
a short story
to discuss what you think
about the picture.

........... npll,s

I-
II
Perhaps he ,.;u
Come on. y OU could say: OK?Yes?
H,
I might have
could have

Expressing eplnlons, slmulatiom,• ( using pictures or lists of items)

u .....
cloth,s
like best?
prefer?
Look al these pictures of Which do you Why?
furniture. think are best?
like least?

yourself?
buy for your parents?
your friends?

Which to school?
Arrange them in order of preference/importance.
What kind of would you on holiday?
take with you Discuss your choice with your neighbour.
Which of these camping? Persuade another pair your choice is best.
?

home?
use at
work?

Social Issues, developtng ideas from reading passages, etc.

" .... poDution ;

Now we've
.....
thought

got some ideas

about the problems of
traffic in towns,
planning a new school,
choosing a career,
all together,
I
I
I
I

I'

I ..,.,. I ::r I
what you would do? things
'
'' can you discuss in
!Wm
bow these might affect )'11117 I Write down w,y, ''
''
''
'
in order of importance.
I And I'll come round and I see what you think.
help you. I
 130 Unit 17: Oral Production

Explanation and description

15
directions from school to

school
a description of your
give someone else

instructions to use a
I want you to
pairs could you rice/maize
In
groups can you work
out how to
how
I is grown.

Coca Cola is bottled.

to o perate a
explain to someone
to drive a car.

graph
what this map shows.
diagram

Rehearsal for production activity

16 what to do.
have a practice all together, so you know
But first, let's I how to play.

words
go over some that might be useful.
I phrases I
GueHing games
17 an object, a thing, or an animal, for 'Twenty Questions', I
I
an action or a verb, which we'll call 'Glug', I
think of
Someone has to a famous person, someone we all know, I
write down I
Each team must a job or a career, like doctor, for "What's my line' ,
draw I
a place you might hide in, for ' Hide and Seek', I
a word, for 'Stop, I
I
I
And don't show the others! Keep it a secret I I

♦
I I
I what it is,
I
I what 'Glug' stands for, I
I everyone else has I
I and then to guess who it is,
the other teams have I
I what job it is, I
I where the is, I
I I

L
I
I
I
I
'by asking questions
which have Yes/No answers.
'do' ·does·. For example
I
I beginning with ·can' 'will'.
I 'did' 'have' , etc.

18 has the next go.

Whoever
guesses first gers a point. OK?
Whichever team
thinks of the next thing.

{See Table 16.)

 Unit17:0ra1Production 131

Problem Hiving (e.g. Find the differences)

We've got
Thttore
pairs of
sett of two

Cou.ld you each draw• two simple

-.
adverts

p;""""
drawing,
diagrams
which
are almost exactly the same.
only have three things different.

house plans
•tor another pair to use

• You work in twos, with

two similar pictures, but
don't let the other person see yours.
dnn't show your to the other person.
I
find out what is different.
Ask each other questions to
discover what the differences are.
write dnwn the differences. and call me.
When you have found out
then pass the two pictures on to another pair.

(See Table 16.)

(See also Part One, Units 8 and 9, for ways of dividing the class up.)

Teaching skills
1 Explaining rulN of . .mee
In an elementary class, or when introducing a complicated game for the first
time, it might be best to use L1. However, listening and following instructions in
English for playing a game can be a meaningful and useM exercise for students.
The instructions for playing some of the language games mentioned on page
124 and in Tables 17-20 on page 130 are written briefly below. In order to
explain orally to a class, you will need to expand and rephrase the written text,
giving examples and demonstrating wherever possible.
Working in groups. each person should take a different game and work out
how best to explain it to a dass.. Adapt the game if necessary to suit your
students' backgrounds. Then practise explaining the games to each other as
clearly as possible, playing one or two rounds of each game together, in your
groups. Make a note of the difficulties that cropped up and discuss how to
overcome them.
F'mally, make notes in the right-hand columns ot the language items that
students will need in order to play each game. Remember that you may have to
revise these before playing the game in class.

Game Language Gam, Language Gam, Language

needed nad<d nud<d

'JUST A MINUTE' without hesitating or DON'T ANSWER 'YES' OR 'NO'

Teacher writes 4 to 8 topics _ _ __ repeating anything. Points One team asks members of ____
that the class has already can be awarded for each 5 the other team questions to
talked about, e.g. 'tea' or seconds of speech. try to make them answer
'football' or 'holidays' or Students or teams are out if 'Yes'or'No'.The
'my village', on small they hesitate for over 3 answering team can use
pieces of paper which are seconds, orrepeal the other responses, e.g. 'Of
then folded up. One same thing. Mistakes in course not' or'I think so',
person or team is chosen to English need not matter, or just 'I did' or'II is',etc.
pick one topic, and must since the object of the The teacher times how
talk about it for a set time game is to encourage long it is before a 'Yes' or
e.g., 15 or30seconds, fluency. 'No' is said. The team with
the longest time wins.
132 Unit 17: Oral Production

Game Language Game Language Game Language

needed needed needed
'TWENTY QUESTIONS' kilo of tomatoes'. The next line of a conversation like
One person or team thinks student repeats that, and 'l went to a party last
of an object or animal e tc. adds something new, i.e. night'. The aim of each
The others can ask up to 20 _ _ __ 'My Grand mother went to team is to keep the
questions with 'Yes' o r market a nd bought a kilo conversation going by
'No' answers, in order to of to matoes and a blue thinking of appropriate
guess what the object is. If d ress.' Student 3 repeats it questions to ask every time
they guess in less than 20, and adds one item. If any there is a silence. If there is
they have won. Questions student forgets something a silence of more than a set
like, 'Is it alive?', ' ls it o r gets it in the wrong time, e.g. 5 or 10 seconds,
made of wood?', 'Docs it order, he is out. This can be the team is out. Again, the
have 4 legs?'. 'ls it bigger played individually o r in teacher needs to time each
than a car?' etc. are teams; the members of the team's performance.
possible. team can help each other
out. 'GLUG'
' MY GRANDMOT HE R WENT TO Similar to Twenty
MARKET AND SHE BOUGHT .. .' 'CONVERSATION GAMBITS' Questions. except that
This game practises The teacher sets a 'glug' stands for an action,
weights, measures, the use situation, e.g. 'in a e.g. dance. Questions like
of 'a' and 'some', e tc. restaurant', or ' meeting a 'Do you like glugging?',
Student 1 begins 'My friend in the street' o r 'Have you glugged today?'
Grandmother went to 'visiting a friend in ' Do you glug in the
market and she bought a hospital' or gives the first kitchen?' etc. can be asked.

See Unit 12 for STOP. For other games and variations o n these games, please refer to the Further reading section.

2 Oueationa eliciting extended reaponaea

See also Unit 14, Section d .
Find some large pictures, waU charts, maps o r diagrams, or similar visuals in
textbooks your students have access to, perhaps even short texts o n interesting
subjects.
Work out ways of phrasing elicitatio ns or questions about these pictures that
will e ncourage the students to give longer responses.
For example, questions beginning 'Why' or 'How' o r ' What is _ _ _ _ like?'
usually require a longer answer. Also useful a re elicitations beginning
'H ow do you know - - - - '
'Tellyourneighbourabout - - - - '·f' Why - - - - ' / ' Ho w - - - -
'Describe - -- -
.Practise in twos o r threes asking a nd answe ring questions like these, that can be
used to promote freer production.

3 Role play opportunltlea

Look through your coursebooks to see what opportunities there are to adapt
existing dialogues for role play, or to use parts of stories or reading passages for

........ students to dramatise.

Choose one possible situation and work out how to explain it to a class. Practise
giving out roles to your friends, explaining what they each have to do. Write brief
details of characters and the roles they play on cue cards for future use.
Finally, get your friends to perform the role play activity, while you watch. and
diagnose a reas of language your students might need extra help with before
being asked to perform the activity.
 Unit17:0ra1Production 133

Q Teaching practice
1 Planning
I,&'&, - Split into groups of three or four, with each group taking a different section or
unit of your English Language coursebook. If you have teaching practice with
genuine students, make sure the material is easy enough for them.
- Think of two activities that could be used after the presentation and practice
stages of the Unit to help students use the language they have learnt, in order
to communicate in a meaningful situation, as close as possible to real life.
- For example, if the passive voice has been taught, a description of a process
might be suitable, e.g. 'How rice is grown in Thailand'. Or if question forms
have just been practised, a guessing game might be a good idea.
- Isolate any words or phrases that may need revising or pre-teaching. Plan how
you would do this.
- Plan a1so how to stage the teaching; introduction, rehearsal, activity. Divide
the lesson up between 'teachers'.

2TN-
lf you are peer teaching, make sure your 'students' know what they have
previously 'learnt'; i.e., teU them what language items they would normally have
just been practising, prior to the introduction of the role play activity.
If you are teaching genuine learners, make sure the pre-teaching and rehearsal
stages are thorough, before letting them attempt the production activity on their
own.
During the last stage, i.e. when students are role playing or playing games etc.,
the 'teachers' can listen in, in order to diagnose problem areas for future lessons,
but without interrupting to correct.

3Eva-
Groups should split up and re-form in order to report back to others how their
production activity went.
Discuss the following points:
(a) What do you think students feel like when they are told to act a role, play a
game or discUSi something on their own in groups?
(b) Could the teachers' directions or instructions have been clearer or briefer? If
yes, suggest how.
(c) How much teacher talking time was there, as opposed to student working
time?
(d) What areas would your students have most difficulty with linguistically? How
could you help them beforehand?
Write up and have copies made of any useful ideas for production activities,
including details like cue cards, page references etc., for distribution to other
teachers.

0 Furtherreading
Donn Byrne (1976) on guided production pp. 70-77, on organising discussion pp. 82-92,
on role playing pp. 93-97, on games pp. 99-108.
Andrew Wright (1976) on visual materials to cue oral work pp. 21-23 and pp. 75-82.
WM Rivers and MS Temperley ( 1978) pp. 47-56.
Helen Moorwood (ed)(l 978)pp. 96-98.
 PURPOSES

ENABLING SKILLS • general information - main points

• specific information- particular items
l predicting what people are going to talk about • cultural interest - general
Z guessing at unknown words or phrases without panicking • people's attitudes and opinions
3 using one's own knowledge of the subject to help one understand • organisation of ideas
• sequence of events
4 identifying relevant points; rejecting irrelevant information • lexical items - words expressing
S retaining relevant points (note taking, summarising) noise/movement
6 recognising discourse markers, e.g . 'Well', 'Oh, another thing is.' • structural items - their use and meaning
and 'Now, finally .. .' • functional items- their form and use

134
Unit 18 Listening skills
The alms of this Unit are 1 to make teachers more aware of the enabling skills involved
in the process of listening, and how to TEACH listening rather than TEST their
comprehension 2 to practise the language needed for various types of listening
activities, at the planning stages and in the classroom 3 to give practice in reading out
loud and 'acting' dialogues

Prellmlnary discussion
I Speakhq: and wrltlna are productive skills•. Listening is receptive"' rather than
productive, but it is an equally importmt skill. Students need to learn how to
listen, and to pt the cbnce to lkte:n to dlffermt types of Ena6sh, so dtey wtl. be
able to lsten with understanding to spoken Enafisb outside the dassroom.
(a) What types of spoken Enpsh wiD your students need to understand outside
their EJtaHsla classrooms? Seethe FOCUS llflle 'LISTEN TO WHAT?'
(b) What wll they need todo while Hstenma? Take notes, or talk in reply?

•
(c) How fM'wiD their llstenlna exercises In class help them in the future?
2 What types of acthlty can yoor students do while listenin&, or as a result ol
IL,b!nllll!:? See the FOCUS pace and diKuss the adhitles mentioned in 'LISTEN
AND?' How suitable would they be for your students?
3 (a) Reading oot bad to your studenls readin& passages from books (that were
written to be read, not spoken) may IWt &fve them the type ol lklfflin& practice
they ■eed. Why not? What about reacHnc dlalopes .._, lood? (See also Unit
1.4,Section ■,1.) ·
(b) How can taped materials be used to help students to learn how to listen?
4 ID real lie, when you meet someone, or speak to a friend in the street, or go to
hear a ledurer, you usually DOW what they will talk about; sometimes you can
predict what they wtl say. In the classroom bow much help ckt you tbhtk we

•
sltould sfve students before we Pve them a listffling C0111preheosi011 exercise?
5 Is it easier or more difficult to uaderstand someone speaking a fONign bQlguage
wllen you cansu him talldn&? Why?
So what about the ue oftape NICOl'dinp of F.nglsb people taldng? What help
can we Cfve Shldeots before or wbfle playing them a tape wbleh wiU make up for
the fact they cannot see the people speaking?
6 (a) Sometimes a teacher simply reads a passap two or three times while the
students linen and answer questions on It. Is thk teaching or testing?·
(b) What does II sbNleot lleed lo learn in order lo understand II spoken text?
(c) It is possible lo break 'lsteniog' down lntosmderskllls, l)liabling slills- the
mastery of these skills 1)""1,Ms studellts 1o lsten with more understanding.
Some elements of these skills can be taught,, e.1. discourse markers; otben, e.g.
predicting wut people will say, guessing at new wonts, must be practised
nnder the teacher's supenrisioll,
Discuss wbicb of the ENABLING SKILLS on the FOCUS page can be
taught, and which need to be pncdsed with the teacher's pklance.
(d) Discuss which ENABUNG SKILLS your students need most practice in.
(e) Do dteir counebooks provide suitable types of listenmg exerdses to help
them practise the listenlnc sklls they aeed? Could you adapt more relevant
material from othersoun:es forUstealngexerckes?

'"
136 Unit 18: Listening Skills

0) Lesson extracts
The two extracts in this Unit are suitable both for children and adult learners.
Extract One is based on an exercise involving street directions which gives
practice in intensive listening as a prelude to practice and production, whereas in
Extract Two, the listening exercise is an end in itself. Jt is based on a news
bulletin and is designed to give students practice in listening for the general gist
only, and rejecting irrelevant information. Listen to both, and if you have time,
practise repeating the teacher's parts. Notice the contrast between the informal
tone in ONE and the more formal tone in TWO.

[ml ExtractOne
Intensive listening

Late Elementary. T: We are at the Station now. Ali has no

The listening exercise here serves as an map and he is lost. He asks me the way
introduction to something the class will go to somewhere. You listen and look at
on to practise orally in pairs. It is not 0 11 end the map. You must find out where Ali is
in itself. Before the teacher teaches thedass going. Ready? Listen!
how to givestreetdirectionsshegives them 'Well let's see, you go out of the Station
various sersofstreet directions to listen to. and turn right, and right again into
First she checks they know the places on the South Street. You go pastthe Hospital
map, and the English names. The students and turn lefl at the crossroads. There
already know prepositions like near, etc. are traffic lights there; you can't miss it.
The students merely listen and work out Then, let's think, it's the second street
which place Ali wams to go to. on the left, nearthe-Oh no! Sorry.
Second on the right. It's just down that
T: Today we're going to learn how to give street on the right.'
street directions, to ask the way to T: OK. Who knows where Ali wants to
someone'shouse,ortoa bank. Look, go?
I've got a street map here, lo pin up. S: Market?
OK. Who can show me the hospital? S: No.
Where's the hospital on this map? Point T: No! Shall I do it again?
to it! Yes. Good. On South Street. Now S: Yes.
the n. What about the Station? Where T : Now listen. Which is your left? Which is
the trains stop. The Railway Station. right? Yes. OK. Now listen again and
Where's that? Yes? Point! follow the map.
S: Near Hospita l, down. South Street.
T : Yes. It's near the hospital, isn't it ...? Follow up
(Teacher points out all the m:iin Teacher waits till they lwve guessed Post
buildings and practises street names) 0 ffice, then she repeats the exercise giving
(Later) So now we'll do a listening directions to different students to and from
exercise. Will one of you come out? Ali! differe111 places, about 5 or6times, thedass
Whisper where you want to go, just tell writing the answers each time until they are
me. Ssh! Don't tell the others. all getting them right. Then she will get the
S: (Ali tells the teacher he wants to go to the class to repeat and practise giving the same
Post Office) directions.

zoo
L
us
STATION
PRISON

&or.&.& TEACHING HINTS (a) Why does the teacher ask Ali to come out, and stand at
the front? (b) Why does she make a mJstake on purpose and correct herself?
(c) Why does she give the class these listening exercises before she teaches them
how to ask for and give directions themselves?
 Unit 18: Ustenina;Skills 137

ExtnlotTwo
Eneaulvellslening
In this lesson extract, notice especially the difference between the way the
teacher speaks to his class and the way he reads the news item. Practise repeating
the news item, paying attention to the intonation patterns.
Lale Jnu:mrediate. tell me what happened and why. OK?
The teacher knows that this news bulletin And I'll write one other question on the
wiU be difficult for his clo.,s to umhmand in board that I want you to answer as well.
detail. His aim is to get his stude.na to linrn Si:,, (writes) 'What happened?', 'Why?'
for the gist, for a goreal wuhrstanding 'How do the people on the French
only, in order to prtport them for real life Coast feel?' Right, before we besin,
situolionswhuetheyamnctapeCJto there'sonewotd I'D tell you. The
wukntand everything and connof intertlCt Channel. Look.(draws) Here's Britain,
wilhthespealwr. England, London's here, the South
Text: Usteningaerdse Coast is here. And here's France, the
'Bad weather has caused chaos in many T: Todaywe'regoingtostartoffwitha French Coast. And this bit of sea is
partsofBritaintoday. From the South, listelling e ~ , and then goon to called the Channel. OK? There is
reports have come in of an oil tanker, discuss it. I'm going to read you part of a always a lot of shippins nn the Oannel.
BBC World News Bulletin that was What kind of ships do you know?
carrying thousands of tons of Clllde oil,
broadcast on the radio one winter, S: Motorboats.
running aground in the channel. It was
making its way through heavy seas in poor during a spell of very bad, stormy T: Yes. but bigger than that?
visibility when it stnick rocks, off the weather. Wboknowswhatstormy S: Oil taoken.
means? or what a 'storm• is? T: Yes, good. Passenger ships. nil tankers.
French Coast. The Officen and crew have
been rescued by helicopter but the veuel S: er,wind,andrain ... Right. Ready to listen? aose your
S: sea -er -very er, like this ... books. Pencils down. Remember what
itseH is badly damaged. Oil is spilling out
T: rough!yes. Whenit'swindytbeseagets the weather has been like? OK! 'Bad
from the tanker into the sea, and anempu
rough, good. And the ships? Well, we'll weather .• .'(SUtexto,ileft)
to stop the oil leak were stopped by the
chronic weather conditions and rough seas. see.... Now, there are lots of words you ( Later) (Aftergening the answers to the
The French are worried that the oil will
won't understand. It's not an easy three signpost quadons) Good. Well
exercise. But it doesn't matter. If you done. And what do you think the news
drift onto their coast and spoil their
listen you'll get the general idea, the reader will goon to next? I'll read it
beaches, endangering wild life and harming
main points, and that's enough. Don't again. What's he going to say next? See
their summer tourist trade... .'
worry about the details. I want you to if you can work itoull

&or& & TEACmNG mNrS (a) Why c1o<s ... .......,.,....,.. c1u, lbal Ibey w11 ...
understand every word? (b) Why does he &Ive them dteae pardadar three
qoest.loos to find answers to? (c) Why does be ask them what they think the news
reader will say next?

8 Classroom language
Review the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit; the tables refer to many
&& of the points presented there. The tables in this Unit can be supplemented by
several of the tables in Unit 19 on Reading.
Have in front of you some specific listening materials to which you can refer
while practising the language you need from these tables. Work in pairs, helping
each other with pronunciation and fluency whenever possible.
Introducing the topic
I story told by

w, 'll be listening
're going to listen
... ""'°"
part
of,
lecture given by
conversation between
news bulletin
radio discussion
'"°"'
''
'''
'phone call between !'

: • complete a worksheet.
'' discuss it.
answer some questions on it.
'''
and then
talk about it.
coostruct a now chart from it.
!' witesome notes on it.
 138 Unit 18: Listening Skills

Stating your elm

2 the general idea.
the key points.
specific details.
This is to give you practice in listening for
relevant information.
the organisation of the text.
the sequence of events.
don•t need to wool.
understand It won't matter.
probably won't every phrase.
Aodyou
may not ••= sentence.
Don't worry!

Making predictions
J Who knows something
Who can tell us something about this topic? What could the passage be about?
What do you know
(See Unit 19. Tables 11 to 16; substitute 'listening' for 'readmg'.)
Revision of llatenlng lkllla

•
....-·
different intonation patterns.
Remember last lesson link words.
'marker' words like 'Well!'

.""""'·
we learnt about an example.
stag<,.
Don't forget what words which introduce
alist.
a change of subject.
(See also Table 9.)
PrepaN to It.ten
5 start the tape.
are you ready answer these questions.
So. you're going
to listen and
fill in the flow chart.
ru begin reading.
begin my talk.

After Hetenlng

• Well. That's it.

We'Dhear
I'll read
it again later, but
fust finish _ __
now get on and

Going over the activity

7 someone write their an,wen all agree?
Would on the board? Do you
one group put their solutions think these are right?

8
Alright. Let's
go over that.
check your answers. Good. You've got
some of
most of ,....
information
I asked for.
you. needed.

~·
nearly all points
have your ideas.
details.
 Unit 18: ListeniogSkiUs 139

More lntenalve practice

' Now listen again and

pick out the words which introduce

notice how
tell me why
hs
my
voice
..."""'~ ...
falls
(continued by Table 4 above).

whoo
, ,~,
he says
' '

(See Unit 19, Tables 21-23.

See the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit,LISTEN AND ... )
IO show(s) that

sentence
• """'
oh=
mean(s)
refer(s) to
Listen to this short piece and pick out which
•=a any words denote(s)
colour.
movement.
noise.
attitude.

II h,

'"" I
have said
that? explain
How else could Could you in your own words?
' ' say it
you say

Toeum11111riN
12 anyone tell me quickly that was about?
Could what
you in pairs teD each other briefly might be said next?

Teaching skills
1 Reading out loud forllatenlngcompNhenaion
In pairs
Find two lots of materials you will use for listening comprehension, one mono-
logue, e.g. a story or a 'mini-lecture', and one dialogue. Choose topics that will
interest your students.
Prepare to read them out loud by carrying out the following tasks:
(a) Decide how it should be spoken and what type of people, attitudes, events
etc. are portrayed.
(b) With the dialogue can you consistently 'do' two different voices for the
different speakers? How else could you make it clear who isspeaking when?
( c) Break the passage or diaJogue up into 2, 3 or 4 chunks, each of which stops at
a sensible point. You will use these divisions for the intensive listening work
at the second stage, so as not to put too large a burden on the students'
memories.
(d) Isolate the more difficult sentences after which you may want to leave a
longer pause, to give students some thinking and catching up time. Mark
thus/I.
(e) Mark thus/ the ends of all the 'sense groups'"' within sentences, so that you
phrase your reading naturally without breaking up the continuity of mean-
ing.
(f) Underline the word(s) which carry the main stress within each sense-group,
and remember to keep all other weak forms neutral.
E.g. He wandered slowly back t3 his village, I hoping that his mother would
not mmish him/ far what 'u.d done.
140 Unit 18: Listening Skills

(g) Mark in the margins places where you could vary things like volume of voice,
speed of delivery, quality of voice, expression; also places where you might
mime or act or refer to a visual to make it clearer.
Practise reading chunks out loud to your neighbour, standing at least three
metres apart; project your voices but still speak as quiedy as is possible; the
danger is that you distort vowel sounds if you try to make it too clear and slow.
After each chunk, ask two or three questions to check general understanding
of what your neighbour has heard you reading. Then change over. Help each
other with pronunciation problems.

2 OuNtioneforllat11nlngcompnthenalon
(a) Revision(inpairs)
Revise Units 13 and 14, Teaching Skills Sections, on QUESTIONS. Test each
other on basic points.
(b) Purposes of questions foi-- teadri!ll listeoing (in groups)
Using the listening material you found for 1, write questions on each passage to
fu1fi1 the following purposes:
(i) Two sign-post questions, to promote purposeful listening. (See Section b,
Extract Two)
(ii) Some general comprehension questions, including one or two very easy
ones, to check students have grasped the main ideas.
(iii) Some more specific questions to be answered after a second hearing of the
passage, to practise infonnation retrieval. These should only require short
answers of one or two words, at this stage.
(iv) Some questions to focus attention on grammatical relations, cohesive
devices. (See Tables 9 and 10)
(v) Some more testing questions for the brighter pupils, e.g. on inferred mean-
ing, attitudes etc.
(vi) follow-up questions to promote oral work based on the same topic.

........ 3 Exploiting 15-tenlng matenala (in groups)

Revise the listof'ENABLING SKILLS' on the FOCUS page at the beginning of
this Unit.
Find suitable passages which you could adapt or simplify if necessary for your
students (not necessarily from their English coursebooks) which are suitable for
the practice of different skills. For example, a verbal description of a process
would be likely to contain discourse markers like staging words, i.e. 'First',
'then', 'after that' etc. A dialogue between two people trying to agree on plans
fora holiday could be suitable material for students to learn: to recognise ways of
expressing attitude; to pick out the main arguments for or against one particular
plan; the ways of expressing suggestions or disagreement in English, and so on.
If there is time, suitable materials could be discussed, annotated, polycopied,
and pooled, together with teaching notes on ideas for which enabling skills could
be practised with each passage.

4 Activities for listening

See the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit, 'LISTEN AND .. .'

........ (a)Ingroups
Which of the activities suggested here require a non-verbal or one word
response? (e.g. listen anddraw,or listen and re-arrange jumbled main points
or putting in order a series of pictures?)
Make a list of the activities that would be suitable for your students.
 Unit 18: LlsteningSkiDs 141

,&,& (b)Inpoin
Find, adapt or invent a short listening exercise to suit one of the activities on
the list, then practise explaining in English to the rest of the group how lo do
it.
For INTRODUQNG a LISTENING EXERCISE, read Unit 19, Section d, 2,
on Introducing a Reading Passage and pick out the principles which apply also to
listening comprehension.

Teaching practice
1 Planning
Io groups of three or four, plan two or three 'mini' lessons each including a
different type of listening activity, and focusing on three or four of the enabling
skills listed on the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit. You could use
some of the materials you used in 'Teaching Skills' ifthey are of a level suitable
for the students you will be teaching. Divide the lesson up between teachers, so
that each gets a chance to give the listening exercise, either for the first or second
reading.
(a) Practise reading out loud or saying or acting the material for each listening
exercise, making it sound as natural as possible. Follow the steps in Section a,
I.
(b) Isolate any new words that will need pre-teaching. (See Unit 16, p. 115, on
selection of vocabulary to pre-teach,)
(c) Plan how you will introduce the topics in such a way as to arouse students'
interest. Decide which activities you will get them to do, while or after
listening, which will show they have understood.
( d) Write a series of questions as detailed in Section d, 2, most of which focus on
the enabling skills you aim to practise.
(e) Think of a suitable follow-up activity which integrates listening with other
skills, such as speaking or reading or writing, and plan exactly what you wiU
say, in order lo set it up. It need only be very brief, e.g. a minute's pair
practice and two minutes' class discussion.
ZT-ng
If peer teaching, groups should split up and re-form so that each person has the
benefit of experiencing a different lesson. If teaching students. take care to time
the lesson carefully so you each have a turn.
3 Ev•luadOII
Discuss in groups, then as a class.
(a) How much did the students learn or practise during this lesson that will help
them in another listening exercise, even if it is on a different topic?
(b) What did they learn that may not necessarily help them with another listen-
ing exercise on a different topic?
(c) Which of the parts of lessons you saw or experienced would you consider to
be the most succesgu1 and why?

0 Further reading
Andrew Wright (1976)on teaching: Cbapter I pp. 2-13; on testing: Cbapter6pp. 53-55
Donn Byrne ( 1976) on listening in general: pp. 8-9; on teaching listening: Chapter 3
pp. 13-19
Julian Dakin ( 1973) Chapters 3 and 6.
Helen Moorwood(ed) (1978) Section 4.
WM Rivers and MS Tempcrley (1978)0.aptcr 3 pp. 64-1 to.
 A Dll'FICULT TEXT? HELP students BY
• More background information!
• Pre-teach key words the day before!
• Divide text into short chunks!
• Sign-post questions for main points!
• Add discourse markers where helpful!
• Ask easy questions!
• Paraphrase difficult ideas!
• Set easy tasks like matching
questions and answers!
• Praise and encouragement!
READING SKILLS
l Recognising words and phrases in English script.
2 Using one's own knowledge of the outside world to make
predictions about and interpret a text.
3 Retrieving information stated in the passage.
4 Distinguishing the main ideas from subsidiary information.
5 Deducing the meaning and use of unknown words;
ignoring unknown words/ phrases that are redundant, i.e.,
that contribute nothing to interpretation.
6 Understanding the meaning and implications of
grammatical structures, e.g. cause, result, purpose,
reference in time (e.g. verb tenses; compare: 'He could
swim well' - past, 'He could come at 10 a.m.' - future).
7 Recognising discourse markers: e.g. therefore +
conclusion, however + contrast, that is + paraphrase,
e .g . ... example.
8 Recognising the function of sentences - even when not
introduced by discourse markers: e.g. example, definition,
paraphrase, conclusion, warning.
9 Understanding relations within the sentence and the text
(words that refer back to a thing or a person mentioned
earlier in the sentence or the text, e.g. which, who, it).
10 Extracting specific information for summary or note taking.
11 Skimming to obtain the gist, and recognise the
w

orgarusation of ideas within the text.

12 Understanding implied information and attitudes.
13 Knowing how to use an index, a table of contents, etc.
J 4 2 Understanding layout. use of headings, etc.
Unit 19 Reading skills
The alms of this Unit are 1 to help teachers develop a deeper understanding of the
process of reading itself 2 to show that by breaking 'reading' down into 'enabling skills'
we can be more successful in teaching students how to read with understanding and
efficiently 3 to practise the language needed for meaningful reading activities in class
4 to help teachers prepare worthwhile reading materials for students of all levels

Preliminary discussion
1 Rndlng ■ areceptlvesklll,llbffmnln1 (See Unit 18, Section a, I). Students
ued to learn bctw to read dlldenlJy.
(a) Wblck of the two skills, listeaiJlg or: readin&, wlD be most useful to yoor
students? Wily?
(b) Wbkb do they find easier, lstenlng or reading? Wut are the clfferences
between Usteniq and reallng from your students' polat of view?
2 (a) What type of tbiqs will some of yoor students need to be able to read with

___,
understanding, outside seboo1 or oolege? Why? See the FOCUS page at the
beglrnringofthis Unit, READ WHAT?
(b) Do their textbooks contain lnleresting reading pa,sages on topics relevant to

(c) Doyoo haveaccesstoslmplereadersthatareeasy enou&h for yoorstudents

to read for pleasure? What aboot a sdtool or class lbrary? How Is It organised?
3 (a) What about radl111 out loud? Ir a teacher or student Rads out loud how far
does it live the students practice In understandlq written English?
(b) Whkb Is the best way of checking that students have really read the text and
tried to understand it, (i) by aettin& them to read it out loud, or (II) by asklnc

•
1bem questions after they have read It silently?
(e) What other activilies can students be aued to do to show they can under·
stand the ten? Explain brldly bow students should use them, (See the FOCUS
page at the beginning of this Unit).
4 In what ways le lft!CN:ng elementary reading to belbmers different front
teadlmg reading at an intermediate level? (See the FOCUS page at the beginning

• -?
of this Unit).
5 Bow can pictures, ftasb cards (with writingon)and other visual aids be used in
the teaddn1 of reading (I) at elementary stqes? (H) at lntennedlaie and advanced

6 (a) Look at FOCUS on LISTENING, Unit 18 p. 134, and discuss which of the
purpos~s and ~nablbag skills are also relevant lo lhe leaching of reading. What
other enablag skils can you think of that would help students develop efficlenl
reading tedmlques? (for example, samnine). Flnaly refer to the FOCUS page
at the beglnnlag of this Unit, 'Reading Skills'.
(b) Which of these enabling skills do you think your studenls need IDOf.lt practice
at?
(c) How far do the reading exerdses In theircwrsebooks help them practice the
reading skills they need?
(d) How can you live them pradlce In other skills not rovered In their text-
-?
143
144 Unit 19: Reading Skills

@ Lesson extracts
Both lesson extracts are suitable for both school and college. 'Ibey refer lo the
reading passage opposite. In Extract One, the teacher makes the dass read
rapidly to get the general idea (extensive reading) whereas in Extract Two, the
teacher is treating the passage in more detail (intensively). Repeat the teacher's

- ..-
part; notice especially the pitch change in the words that carry the stress.

- o..
Imrmediote. S: Please, what does 'algae' mean?
TMteacherha.salreadydisCIISSed T: 'Algae'?Umm-weD,ifyoureadthe
OfJll'U'iumswithhi.fda.s.tlnprepartJ#Onfor first paragraph you might be able to
thla lason. He begins by making duim guess that. It doesn't really matter if
prediaorgutmwludduipa.rsapwi/lbe you don't understand every wont. So, I
about. He then0$/cs them to muJ the first want you to read the first paragraph
paragrophquicklyandjlndouttwollemsof silently and complete these two
injormadon which will show him whether sentences. I'D write them up.
.,,._
thestudmts haYeunderstoodthegmeral 1 To dean the bottom of an aquarium
you need a, _ _ __
2 Algae makes an aquarium
T: Look at lhe passage, the first time, and _ _ _ (dean/dirty)
the picture.and teU me what you think Just write the two Words/lot the
it will be about. whole seutence, OK.
Ss: Tanks. Pipes. Water ... tube. Alright! Read it quiddy. Silently! Start
T: Who can remember what we talked now. Only the first paragraph! I'D give
about last week? Look at the fusl: line. you one minute.
S: Aquariums.
T: Yes, now look at the diagram, and the
title. How do they fit in with Followu.p
aquariums? TM teacher CMCks that most muknu have
S: Fillingwithwater. written the right worth, M discusses them,
T: Perhaps.or?Yes? then4fks them what the next paragraph
S: Empty water. .. er ... it dirty? cou.ld be abouJ; deoning an aquarium or
T: Perhaps!Let'sfindoutnowwbatthe making 11 siphon. They then read it quickly
autborwants to teO us. to see which is correct.

&or& & Tl!ACIDNG HINTS (a) Why do you- ... - . . .........

aquariums 1a,t
week? (b) How does be belp them 6o predid what the text will be about? (c) Why
doesn't be explain the word 'alpe'? (d) Why does he answer 'Perhaps' twice,
rather tlan 'Yes' or 'No'?
M•kin3...-move
upond down

b,Pu
~
•

~-="

J
lu~
w""~" ..."'",..''"''.,.,.. ,., ... ~"'•''
> Wh,d,'f<'"'"'"""'"'"f' .. "'""'"''""''
 Unit 19: ReadingSki!ls 145
ft QUIC'K Rl:ADIN(.. fOft
INFORMATION I Wh.1t n1hcn.-mc-nl 1~,KUnnlh•t hd-pt. youirl,un thC'botlo«1n4 •n
,1~u•rlum ? Wri1C' II OOwf!
J Why do yovm.lht~u,nd In • n .1quui1o1mWprdow1t101h<Jron1,

Thc-gl•hnl ,1 n 111qwi1lutn ~u row-red ,n ,Jg.air. • nd thc UPd .1nd pc-bbk.""

.n the: bo<ltom ~1 eoverc-d with W.ll$lt' m,uer suth b dc:u,y('d k Jivri •nd
fhh droppings Yuu(An K r,ptoO the .tlgk quit, c,uily wit h • r,uor bl.adr
It Is ;also ,ruy to clun 11\c boctc>m ,r yt.u kl'M)w how 1n U5oe • Siphon.
To m.1lt.r .a f ipbon t.1kc- .1 pi«c ol rub~r tube iand hold It undt't the
w,u c:r In~ .1qu.1num unu] ,11 tht .air hn bubbled ou1 KttplnJt ont rnd
(end XI under 1hc w,11«, rovt'r the- othtr end (end Z} tighliy wl1h your
thumb ,i,nd btJng l1 ovcir 1hc td~ ,md down 1hc We of 1ht .llq11.1rfum
WhC'n t'nd z 1, be-low lhc level of tht- surfKc or the w,11c-r. rek,;,,: yqur
thumb gnp .1nd thC' w,~r will flow ou1 UnIN~ you lei air ,nto tht' t ube 01
r • 1$C c:nd Z.abovc: the: w•tcr kvcl In t he .-qu.arlum. the w .itt'r wlll conlinuc
ioflnw
By moving end X 1rOund over 1hc bot1omofthe ~u.ar1um you c.tn suck
up .i.11thr pietti of ..,.,.a,-1c nutttt. II is ,1 good ldu 10 m.•ke the- und slopc-
towuds !he from so Lh.111 .ill the d1n colkcts ill one plKe
How dor-sthcsiphonwork 1 Look•t Figurt I. Im p~onthcsurf,1«
c,f the w.11e-r in tht: •qw,rlum Your u.stuprd tube b c:mpty of ,1lr •nd In
posit ion. As soon ll you opc-n end Z t he w,11cr In the: tube pn-sK,
downw.ards .&nd pulls more wn« behind it . Whc:n w.uc:r it puJhcd .1nd
pullt-d through .a U~sh.aptd 1ubt: Ukt: lhls. we MY h ts being inphoMd
Th(- depth of w.attt prns1ng downw..rds 1i. th-c- dltun« bc:twrcn tlK
w.rf.icc of the w.11C't .tnd 1hc w.tltr outlc:1 (end lof1hc: hibc:), Th,c: grutn-
thi.!i dist.1n« is, the gre:.1.tr rthc: w 11c:r p,-csSurf' wlll be Th,, d<'pchnfw.11er
prnslng ls<'1llc:d .a he.ad ofw.1tc:r •• • •

D UU:10:0RALQUf.STION~ I Ho w ~_.n.aqu.arllllnjl:l't ditty,

2 \\'lwl is 1t q u1tt- HI) lo d (I ~
l Whnundr mnn.,lr.1,tC "tMKUonof~,11,.~~
" Wtvn l, 11 u,)' 10 fir.tit 1hr ~.trlu.111 runo~ •
\ Whrn i, ll na( w, ,•n v h' du thf,'
, Whydoyovnn-d .. ,-c.-orn,bbcr 1ubc-'
1 How do ~'Oudrlw 11.i•.tlrou1 n(1hr luN.·,
ll- Wlut lh;na1 lt..twr h._pprncd wtilt,. 1hc- bubh11na ~Oft''
lJ (',n _ynu tblnl.. of ether "".tyto< driwlnR 1lw ~.r LIVI uf 1hl!' lu~'
10 Hy,w do vou aicq, 1ht- _.irou\ ol 1hr 1ut:,,c'

Extract Two
Intensive reading
This extract also refers to the reading text above, but this time the teacher is
treating it in detail, more intensively.
Intermediate. S: Suchas?
The teacher has checked that they have got T : Do you agree? ls he right?
the general idea, and that they can follow the S: Yes.
text using the diagram to help them. The T : Yes good. Such as. So wha t is waste
students have guessed the meanings of matter? Is it clean o r dirty?
'siphon', 'release' and 'thumb grip', and the Ss: Dirty, old leaves ... fish droppings ...
teadrer showed them what 'surface' meant. T: Yes. Good. Right! Line 8, 8, 'bring it',
They have just read the whole text a second what does 'ir' refer to?
time, knowing that they would have 10 S: Thumb?
answer the questions below the text T : Whatdoyou think?
afterwards. S: T heothe r e nd ofthe tube?
T : OK-which? Read it carefully.
T: So you've all re ad it again, now.
Finished? Good. OK. No w in pairs S: Othe r e nd . ..
T: Yes. Now. Last sentence. paragraph
ask each other the questions unde r the
two. Two. Got it? How can you stop
text. Just questions 1-7. See if you can
agree on the answers. O ne to seven. In the water flowing? How can yo u stop
pairs. In twos! Start now. I'll give you the ...
two minutes.
(Teacher wanders round) Follow up
Right, before we check your answers, The teacher asks three or four more detailed
I want you to answer my questions. questions to draw atrention to grammalical
Ready? Think, the n put your hands relations, then goes on to lexical items, e.g.
up. E r- First two lines-which words 'Look atparagraph rwo and pick out:
show yo u there is an example given, (a) all the words to do with water
an example? .. . . . Yes? (b) words which refer to the tube'

.&or&& TEACIDNG HINTS (a) Why do you think the teacher got them to ask and answer
the questions in pairs? (b) Does the teacher tell the students immediately if their
answers are right or wrong? Why not? (c) Why does he pick 'such as' to ask a
question about? (d) How easy is the question ' What does " it" refer to?'
146 Unit 19: ReadingSkills

Sample reading passage

Back-nestling

A FOR CLASS DISCUSSION How are babies earned in your country?

2 Do you know any other ways of carrying babies ?
3 Do men carry babies? Why (not)?

8 QUICK READING FOR Find out :

INFORMATION
I Does the writer think that back-nestling is• good way or carrying• child?
2 Does the writer think that a child should stay on the back or its mother all
day?

Many African mothers carry, or nestle, their babies on their backs. This
custom has advantages for both mother and child. A working mother who
has nobody to look after the baby, knows be is safe on her back, while her
hands are free for her work. Meanwhile. the baby stays in close contact
with his mother and feels warm and safe. This sense of security may be
suddenly broken, however, when the child can no longer be carried. He
may be put down and expected to behave like a grown-up child. But he
has been over-protected for so long through nestling that he now reels
very insecure and may behave like a baby.
Children need freedom and the chance to use their limbs. They need to
· ~able to observe and explore their environment. They also need to learn
•·o make and do things on their own. 1 Therefore even when mothers
-~their babies everywhere, they should try to set them free
"'-s_ible. 2 Moreover, in the hot months. the less back-nestling

-.u,ever, prefer to carry their children all day long.

gfe, sleep longer, keep quieter and do not make
"~ home where the mama-nurse was nestling
;td. Seeing he was restless, I asked the
'"'rst she didn't want to because she
•tidy. When shes finally agreed
-.ined tins and boxes since
-hild started examining
,nd boxes with the
•trse didn't like

.mior English Reading, a

.Jibliography, page 190.
.1d be suitable for a 'Jumbled

,-4, and in the lesson extract, Unit

l
146 Unit 19: Reading Skills

.....................
Back-nestling

A FOR CLASS DISCUS/HON I How are babies carried in your country?

2 Do you know any other ways of c.1rrying b.ibles?
3 Ik.>mencarryb.ibies?Why(not)?

B QUICK READING FOR F,ndout:

INFORMATION
I Does the wrtterthink that back-nestling is a good way of can-ylng a chiki?
2 Does the writer think that a child should stay on the back o£lts mother all
day7

Many African mothers carry, or nestle, their babies on their backs. This
custom has advantages for both mother and child. A working mother who
has nobody to look after the baby, knows he is safe on her back, while her
hands are free for her work. Meanwhile, the baby st.ays in dose contact
with his mother and feels warm and safe. This sense of security may be
suddenly broken, however, when the chlld can no longer be carried. He
may be put down and expected to behave like a grown-up child. But he
has been over-protected for so long through nestling that he now feels
very insecure and may behave like a baby.
Children need freedom and the chance to use their Jim bs. They need to
be able to observe and explore their environment. They also need to learn
how to make and do things on their own. 1 Th,:refore even when mothers
must carry their babies everywhere, they should try to set them free
whenever possible. 2 Monoim-, In the hot months, the less back-nestling
the better.
Many women, 3 however, prefer to carry their children aU day long.
They feel the children are ufe, sleep longer, keep quieter and do not make
a mess! I once visited a friend's home where the mama-nurse was ne5tling
my friend's eleven-month-old child. seeing he was restles!J, I asked the
mama-nurse to put him down. ' At first $he didn't want to because she
thought the child would make the room untidy. When she 5 finally agreed
I asked for some kitchen pots, spoons, unopened tins and boxes since
there were no toys to play with. 6 Immediately the child 11tarted examining
them one by one. 7 Then he started banging the pots and boxes with the
spoons. The different sounds fascinated him. 8 Bur mama-nurse didn't Uke
the noise or the mess.

The extracts on pages 144, 145 and above are from Junior English Reading, ·a
reading course for secondary schools in Africa. See Bibliography, page 190.
The last paragraph of this reading passage would be suitable for a 'Jumbled
Paragraph' exercise, see page 152.
This passage is alw referred to on pages 153-4, and in the lesson extract, Unit
21, page 166.
 Unit19:RcadingSkills 147

(9 Classroom language
.& .& Tables 1-9 deal with ELEMENTARY reading activities, (word and sentence
recognition etc.)
Tables 1~22 deal with INTERMEDIATE and more ADVANCED reading
comprehension lessons ( training in reading skills, understanding texts etc.)
All suitable tables should be practised, in pairs, in conjunction with the
relevant flash cards, pictures, reading texts, so that you get used to handling the
lesson materials and speaking about them simultaneously. The text opposite,
'Back Nestling', could be used with Tables 11 onwards.

Elementary reading tuka

Flash cards or bJackboard
I your names
I'veaot words and pictures
some flash cards with on.Look!
We'Uuse
=""""
question& and answers

3
2 Give me
Show=
Point to
Pick out
Ibo
-""'""
"""
=ten~
whicbsays' '
which goes with this wordhentenee.

out loud to me
I want you to read """"" silently to yourselves
and then ••• (See Table 4)
""" to your neighbours
in your groupli

4 Match the words to the right pictures.

Find the sentenc.es about ddl picture. Like this _ _ _ (and write them).
Match the questions to the right answers.
•"-
(See Unit 20, Section c, Tables 2, 3 and 5.)

5 word start with?

does this

-·~
bit of the word say?

No?Well,
what is this _. here?

do these two letters together sound like?

read the Nit of the senteno: and guess.

6 reading the story called ' • in the index.

Could you open your te,t books and find page 91.
wo,k the lesson we are on at the moment.

1 What docs it say

Tell me what it says
at the
I :.om I oftbe page.

Look at the
exercise
writing ...., I
in the middle.

by
th•
I
picture
photograph I on page
148 Unit 19: Reading Skills

8
Can you read the instructions
What do you have to do
for this exercise?

• You have to
matdi the questions to answers.
find the right wold for each gap.
arrange the sentences into a good paragraph.
(See the FOCUS page at the beginning oflhis Unit for further activities.
See Units 12 and 20 for setting homework, Section c.)
CJaecklng students have uaderstood
10 what todo?
Do you all know
how to read this?

Alright. Does anyone have any questions?

Any questions?
Any problems?
Shall I gooveric again?

(See Unit 20, end of Section c for STUDENT QUERIES.)

lntennedlateand ■dv■nced readlngcomprehenaton

Find a reading comprehension passage in your textbook and adapt the language
in the tables to refer to your text, filling the blanks with relevant words from the
text. Try to imagine what the teacher is doing at each stage, and why. Use the
passage on page 146 if you do not have a suitable text available.
&&

_ .......
Still in pairs, take tums to be lhe teacher! Practise rephrasing your instruc-
tions, using two or three alternative expressions from each table. If the 'teacher'
is not 100% clear, the 'student' should interrupt and ask.

11 title
Right! What about heading wo., could it be about?
?
Rudy? Look at "'' J>KI=
first sentence
do you think it is about?

12 y cs, perhaps.
What do you think?
Well, I don't know.
Do you agree?
Enn .•.

13 What do you know

Do you know anything about•---'?
Who can tell me something

14
Have you ever
=•
heard of '?
been to

Jtegtnolng •o read
15 a bit about it.
Alright So now you know
what to expect.
(See Unit 18, Table 2, but instead of 'listening', use 'reading' or 'skimming'.)
 Unit19: ReadingSkills 149

·-·
16 you'D need to understand• '
tell me what'
could someone explain • '
Before you begin reading
look at this question.
make a note of these questions.

17 ......., But I don't understand' '!(

doesn'tmatternowl
' ~ w,u ' is not important here.
you can guess later on.

Now read the

first paragraph
2nd section
silently .., find the answer to this.
pick out important points.
jot down relevant information.

. Finished? So
then discuss it/them with your neishbour.
Write down a question to ask the class.

lO
N= will you all dunk of
M>M<
2 questions to ask
=·
your neighbour.
write down
s the other group.
..
(See Part One, Unit 9, Section d, Exploiting a reading passage.)
T--tbe-ladetal
11 does the author mean by ' '?
In line 4,
wh,t
aahemcanby' '?
The 10th line from the top, do you think 'which' refers to?
The 2nd line in paragraph 2, does the word 'however' tell us?
Near the bottom,
The sentence beginning '

Can you say/explain that in your own words?

'
' Why-ho
I use the word 'moreover'?
repeat the words• '?

I
12
Difficult?
You don't know?
Never mind.
Look at the sentence

See if you can guess.

I after.
before.

What ceuld it be? Guen.

T,y IO I think
=k
it out for younelves. Think!
I Isit' 'or' '?

(See Unit 18, Tables 10 and 11. Change 'Listen to' to 'read'.)

23
Let's recap quickly. I
wanted to tell his readers?
do you think the author wiU say next?
Sowhal will go on to say next?

kind of people is the author writing for, do you think?

150 Unit 19: ReadingSkiUs

24 A game to play
In groups! Each group writes down S questions to ask the other group.
If they get the an&fflright, they gel 2 marks. If not.you get 2-(if your question was a
goodone).
(See also Part One, Unit 8 for language for team games, and Unit 9 for language for
group work.)

(D Teaching skills
Do Exercises 1 and 2 in fuU, lhenseleafrom 3,4 and 5 lhe activities which will be
most useful for your classes. Pool lhe work you do which wiU be useful to olhers.
Have it duplicated and distributed to all teachers.

& 1 An-ment
Read lhe nonsense passage on lhe left and see how many of lhe questions you
The grifty snolls cloppered can answer.
raucingly along lhe unchoofed (a) Where did the snolls clopper? (f) Would an unchoofed trake be easy
trake. They were klary, so they (b) What was the trake like? or difficult to drive a car on?
higgled on, sperately. 'Ah, chiwar (c) Whydidtheyhiggleon? (g) Did the snolls travel quietly or
kervay ,' lhey squopped rehoply, noisily? How do you know?
(d) Why did they clopper raucingly?
'Mi psarQuaj!' 'Quajl' snilledone,
(e) Why did they biggie sperately? (h) What was the name ofthe place
and tilted even jucklier.
they were going to?
Did you understand the passage?
How many of these questions were you able to answer?
Discuss in groups why you were able to answer some but not others. Compare
especially questions (d) and (e).
What has this nonsense exercise shown about writing comprehension questions
on reading passages?

2 l11boducf~ereedlngp ■ 11 ■ ge
In real life when we pick somelhing up to read, we usually know roughly why it
was wri«en and what it is going to be about. We rarely read anything in a
'vacuum', i.e. knowing nothing whatsoever about the subject. Reading passages
in language textbooks are taken out of their normal contexts, so we have fewer
clues as to what they might be about, and the task of reading with understanding
is, therefore, more difftcult. Pictures and tilles help us to predict the subject
matter, but students need both guidance and motivation in order to read with
purpose and satisfaction. The way a teacher introduces a reading passage can be
vital. A good introduction should, (a) make the students want to read the
passage, and make ii worth lheirwhile to read ii, and (b) get the students' minds
working on themes close to the one in the passage, to make them read the text in ,
the light of whal they know already about the topic.
An introduction in the form of a teacher monologue is less likely to motivate
the students than one which involves the students in a discussion. An introduc-
tion which poses questions is more likely to make students want to read than one
which gives all the answers and summarises the story or information; then there
is no point in the students reading it for themselves.
(a) In groups of three, choose a reading passage from your textbooks and discuss
how you would introduce the passage to the class, bearing in mind the points
made above. Allow about five minutes for the introduction. When you have
decided how to introduce it, split groups up and re-form. Then take it in turns
to introduce your passage to the two new group members, as if they were
students in a class.
(b) Write down the name and page number of your passage, and briefly your
 Unit 19: Reading Skills 151

ideas for an introduction. CoUect everyone's ideas together, and get them
duplicated and circulated.

3 Preparing elementary reading activitiea'-word cards

AiDL'ii
At the early stages it is important to make the task of learning to read as easy and
interesting as possible. Students need lots of practice before they are able to
recognise words and phrases quickly, and even the most interesting reading
book or textbook gets boring if they have to read the same things more than
once.
Materials
If you use different types of reading games and with different classes, and
cards, like those illustrated here, it is once they are pre pared, there is no
possible to set up a variety of games further preparation or marking to be
and activities that your students will done. The fact that the students have
enjoy. At the same time they will be successfully completed the task set
learning to recognise words and shows that they have understood.
phrases, to read with understanding When they finally read from their
and deveJop speed. The cards can be books they wiU find it easy.
used again and again in different
Preparation
You will need light colour card or strong paper; folders or envelopes large
enough to store sets of cards in, rulers, dark coloured felt tipped pens or markers
and scissors. Decide how big each card should be: large enough to be read clearly
in groups but small and neat enough to store. When deciding what to write on the
cards, remember that students shouJd only be asked to read words they can
already say and understand, so you will need to use only words and phrases with
which they are familiar.
Activities and word games
(a) Matching word to picture
Students match the word to the correct picture as quickJy as possible.
fish To make: Prepare 6 pairs of small cards, a word on one card, a picture
illustrating it on the other, using words your students will need to be able to read
in their textbooks. Mix each set up and store in a labelled envelope. Write the
wo rds the envelope contains on the outside of the envelope, with the instructions
to the students: 'Find a picture to match each word, then write the words down'.
(b) Word famiUes (or lexical sets)
&& Each envelope can contain any number of words on separate cards belonging to
one word or family lexical set, e.g. names of animaJs, kinds of food, colours etc.
The teacher mixes words from two or three envelopes (i.e. different lexical sets)
together; the students read them and sort them out back into sets as quickly as
possible. This can be done competitively.
To make: Complete the sets below with familiar words or phrases then copy
them on to cards. Store each set in a separate envelope, clearly labelled. Pictures
can also be added, to make a combination of both games (a) and (b ).
Places Food People Clothes Colours

(to) the shop rice the doctor shirt

(at) school sugar Mr Jones sandals
My father
152 Unit 19: ReadingSkills

To make: Complete the sets above with familiar words or phrases then copy
them on to cards . Store each set in a separate envelope, clearly labelled. Pictures
can also be added, to make a combination of both games (a) an d {b).

4 Preparingreadingactivitiea' -elementarytolntermediate-
sentence cards
(a) Matching sentences to pictures or waUcharts
Two or more pictures or wall cha rts are displayed, and stude nts read and sort
sentences into two columns, according to which p icture they are about. This can
be done with small pictures, e.g. magazine pictures, o r wall pictures o r maps etc.
To make: Find suitable pictures to suit the vocabulary your stude nts know
orally and need to read. Write 6 sentences about each picture on cards. Store
them in labelled enve lopes, containing or referring to the correct picture.
To use: Mix the sente nce cards from two or more e nvelopes; students sort
them as quickly as possible according to the picture they refer to .

.&.& (b) Matching questions and answers (based on a picture or short text)
Students look at the picture, or read the text, then find all th e question cards.
Then they find a card with a suhable answer for e ach question. This gives
students practice in recognising referentia l words like ' he', 'she' e tc. and dis-
course markers like 'because', ' in order to' etc.
.To make: Choose a suitable magazine picture or short text. Mo unt it o n card
the right size to fit in the enve lope. Write, o n sep arate cards, 6 questions and 6 or
mo re answers. The answers should be natural sounding answers, not too lo ng;
b ecause to have long answers that repeat o r look like the question would make
the matching too easy. I t is a good idea to provide two extra 'answers' that d o not
match any questions, then students cannot get the last ones right unless they
really understand a ll of them.
An example is shown here:

& (c) Matching sentence halves (based on a picture o r short text)

This is the same as matching question and an swer except that you split sentences
in half and write half on each card. A n example is shown here:

look·1n_g o ut of the wi ndoW.

is
The old man is s1eepi n.9 1he boy in the blue shirt

(d) Jumbled paragraphs or texts

.&.& Students read the sentences on the cards, then re-arrange the cards in the best
way to form a cohere nt paragraph which they can check by looking up the
original paragraph in their textbooks. This gives the m practice in reading for
meaning, seeing how a text is organised, and reorganising link words and words
which refer back or forwards. Rearranging paragraphs of a text is also useful.

' A lso suitable for controlled WRITING practice. See Unit 20. Section d . l {a).
 Unit 19: Reading Skills 153

To make: Choose a short interesting paragraph from the students' course-

books or reading books, part of the passage on page 146 might be suitable.
Rewrite each sentence on a separate card. Shuffle the cards and store them in an
envelope marked with the book title and page number of the paragraph.
Alternatively, to make a class set of the same exercise, you can write or type the
sentences in the wrong order, each sentence beginning on a new line. Have the
page duplicated. The students then cut the page up, and arrange the sentences
into the right order, thus making a sensible paragraph. Remember you can also
'jumble' a longer '"', dividing it into 3~ ptJragraphs or chunks.

S Other reading eurcl... onl'Ndlng P81•1t11M

A different reading passage should be chosen by each person. All the exercises
suggested in (aHd) below can be based on this one passage. At the end of the
session, all material can be written up, duplicated and distributed to all teachers,
for future use. Reference to the book, unit and page number should be made
clear and ideas for a suitable introduction outlined briefly. See 2, above.

(•)--
Students are asked to say whether a number of statements written about the
passage are true or false, or whether there is not sufficient information in the
passage for them to judge.
This gives students practice in scanning• for infonnation, and reading with
meaning and evaluation.
Take the passage you have selected (see instructions above) prepare between
6 and 8 sentences that are either true or false, or not-stated in the pasHge. Give
them to your neighbour to try out. Make any necessary improvements then write
them up neatly.
Example: See text on page 144.
State whether the following sentences are Irue, false or !:fot-.Stated in the
pa,sage.
(i) The first paragraph is mainly about algae. F
(ii) You have to clean an aquarium reguJarly. NS
(iii) The author mentions two main things needed to clean out an aquarium. T

(b)Jnmblodkoy-
Write a list of the main ideas or key points in the passage. Copy them out in the
wrong order. Label them A, B, C. etc. Students must number them in the order
they are expressed in the passage. Be careful to disguise the wording of the main
ideas so that students cannot recognise a similar sentence in the passage, and
perhaps get the right order without understanding the passage.

(C) Genenl-que,dons
Remember Exercise l (the nonsense passage), and how easy it can be to get the
answers right without understanding the passage!
Write 5 or 6 general comprehension questions on your passage and then try
them out on your neighbour. Discuss how he or she knew how to find the right
answers; exactly what words/phrases/referential words etc., had to be under-
stood?

(d) lntenslvequesdons
First refer to the list of reading skills on the FOCUS page at the beginning of this
Unit, then read these questions, based on the reading passage about aquariums
on page 144. Write beside each question the number of the particular skill or
skills being practised here as the students find the answers.
154 Unit 19: Reading Skills

_ _ _ _ (i) Are decayed leaves fresh, new leaves or old leaves?

_ _ _ _ (ii) Does the author think it is difficult to clean an aquarium?
_ _ _ _(iii) When using a siphon, how do you stop the water flowing once it
has started?
_ _ _ _ (iv) What must you hold under the water for some time?
_ _ _ _ (v) Why must the siphon be full of water?
____ (vi) Why is it a good idea to make the dirt collect in one place?
Which of these enabling skills can be practised by students reading the passage
you have chosen? Write one or two questions to practise each relevant skill, then
try them out on your neighbour. Make any improvements necessary before you
write them up neatly, to follow on from the general questions you did in (c).
(e) Cloze exercise (intensive reading)
First, try out this doze (or blank filling) exercise yourselves. The passage is taken
from a textbook so that the students can check their own work. There are more
words than blanks to make students think hard even for the last bla nk. In order
to carry out the task successfully students must recognise the relationship
between parts of sentences as well as understanding the gist of the passage.
Discuss why these particular blanks were left, and why these particular extra
words were chosen for the box.

Fill each blank with one suitable word from the box on the right. When you have finished, discuss your work with
your neighbour. Then check your work by referring to the same paragraph on page 146 of this book.

Back nestling
Many African motherscarry, _ ___ nestle, she the or their mother
their babies on _ _ _ _ backs. _ _ _ _ custom he this people his child
has advantages _ _ _ _ both _ _ _ _ and _ _ __ who that for her also
A working mother, _ _ _ _ has nobody to look
after _ _ _ _ baby, knows _ _ _ _ is safe on her
back.

Write a short cloze exercise in the same way, based on a meaningful extract from
the comprehension passage you have been working on. Make sure you leave
e nough words in the extract to e nable the students to get the gist. Often the first
paragraph is'the best and clearest for this type of exercise. Pe rhaps you will need
to leave the first one or two sentences complete before you start leaving blanks.
Decide what type of words to elicit. Try it out o n your neighbours to make sure it
is not too difficult, then write it up neatly.

Teaching practice
1 Planning
In groups. Select a suitable text for your students and choose one short section of
it for this lesson. ( Make sure you can get enough copies of the text for your
students to have in the lesson.)
(a) Decide what your lesson objectives are. These will depend o n what the
passage has to offer. Decide which reading skms, which words you will teach.
(b) Plan an introduction to the topic and prepare any visuals you need.
(c) Decide which words (if any) are vital to pre-teach, and which are not. See
Unit 16, Section c, Tables 7 onwards, and this Unit, Section c , Tables 16 and
17.
 Unit19:ReadlngStills 155

(d) Make up one or two sign-post questions, so that students read with a
purpose.
(e) Then three comprehension questions or True/False/Non-Slated items, to
check general understanding.
(f) Write these down, and add a few quick oral questions to check that most
main points are understood.
(g) Prepare some questions using Table 21 for more intensive reading, and
practice in reading skills.
(h) Decide on patterns of student/teacher interaction and how to vary the lesson.
Is there any opportunity for a short speU of pair work0
(i) Discuss but do not plan in detail the type of follow up activity that would be
appropriate for this passage, e.g. jumbled key sentences to arrange. See the
FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit for more ideas, and Unit 20 or 21
on WRITING.

2 TNChlng
Remember when teaching this lesson that you are not simply teaching or
explainingthi.r passage, but are using this passage as a means of developing your
students' reading skills for future texts. Make your students do the work of
fmding out the meanings of words by prediction, careful guess work, evaluating
other students' replies etc. so that they can learn to apply the same methods
when reading on their own.
If peer teaching, split up and re-form groups so you can 'teach' 'students' who
arc new to the passage.

........ 3 Follow up and avaluatlon

In groups. Discuss whether teachers used their own classroom language as
effectively as possible, i.e. getting their stwkms to think for themselves, or did
teachers do too much explaining?
A.Jaclass
(a) Write up on the blackboard which reading skills were practised by each
groups' students. To do this think back to the questions you asked your
students.
(b) Which words were learnt by your students? Which of these words will be
most useful for further reading tasks?
(c) Discuss how you could improve your students' reading ability. Do they need
more extensive reading, reading for pleasure? What kind of skills do they
need to pass their fmal exams? How could you help?

0 Further reading
On reading activitieut various levels Andrew Wright (1976) Chapter 3, pp. 31-37.
On tcstingrcadingcomprchensionJ B Heaton(1975)Chaptcr7, pp.103-111, 125.
On aims and method Malcolm Cooper and Michael Fox (1978) Introduction for the
Teacher, pp. vii-xi.
CBrumfitand KJohnson(1979)pp. I 17-142.
0oMByme(ed)(1980) pp. 122-6.132-3, 169-171.
A Davies and H O Widdowson in 'The Edinburgh Coune in Applied Linguistics' Vol. 3,
Chapter 6.
WM RiVenand M S Tempcrley ( I 978) Chapten 6 and 7.
20FOCUSon f::::1CllJ.1?
oresti.i
lllaJc8 ~ deiits ~

writing practice
(Early stages of writing)
• ~"-

• can
e that
• ....,, say it
Catiread .
• kii Ui!dersr
lt

019 lllrh
they
te

atldit
thein atyOIJ
For Intermediate and Advanced Writing see Unit 21 • k:n · to do "'atir
019.li
0 19
the You
• z... in to do · "'atir
""101(, l(
d lllrhy,1.18
0
irirlir " >'are

1 Matchthencopy 2 Writetruesentenc :- ;f. ,•·::,~~lot' · ~i,eq.

the pictures ~ · ··et>(i.
tree ---.----,--....----, . ~~tli'E!llt · ·

trees tree happy

ball is 0ree11
1:xiu The ooy r-ed 4 Write 20 sentences that are true.
bay
trees are
smal l
balls blue. Q lot of treeG kitaieh
are afew plants dormitory
10, 1.0, ... birds student-h!15tel
3 Match, then write: There cteskG in the. cJasgn,om
David has a new football who likes playing football. chairs oA=ice.
Mr Jones has a new car which he plays with a lot. beds 'ZOO
Sam has a new friend which he drives to school in. ar'en't: any plates gon:ieh
elephant~ yan::I
S Write a short paragraph about someone you know,
using BU.itable words from the tables below.

market evening. vegetables his

Tom He
goes to the shops every morning. buys rice £or the family.
Akosua She
store day. meat her

never by bus not far. This type of exercise can be

He
usually goes on foot because it is expensive. used to bridge the gap between
She
often by bicycle faster. writing practice and written
production. See Unit 21.
6 Match question and answer, then write: 7 Write more sentences on this pattern:
Where does Anna live? She's ten. She goes to bed at 9 o'clock.
Where do you live? I live in Keta.
He / go / school / 7.
How old is Peter? She lives near me.
They/ come I home / 2.
How old is Anna? He's twelve.
Peter I eat/ lunch / 12.

See also Unit 19, FOCUS on READING, page 142. Many of those ideas are suitable for writing too
156
Unit 20 Writing practice
(Early stages of writing)
The alma of this Unit are 1 to discuss the aims and purposes of writing at the
elementary stage and the different types of meaningful writing activity that can be set
2 to show how writing can be integrated* with other skills, for example reading and
oral work, in order to help students write more accurately

Preliminary discussion
1 (a) When we talk about teacbing tbe four language skills (listenin&, speaking,
readiq, writing), writhq; usually comes last. Why?
(b) At what stage in your Eoglsb course B writing introduced ror theflrst lime?
How sooa after learning to read should stwlents begln to learn to write? Why?
2 What ~ the p■rpoees of wridna F.ngllsh at elementary level? See 'WHY
WRITE?' on the FOCUS page, Which do you consider more lmportaot?
3 What dlfflculties do your students have in tle early stages el learning to write?
Why? Caa. they understand what lhey are asked to write? Is there a lack of
suitable and lntel'estlng guided writing exerdses ia lhelr textbooks? Is there
interference from their pronunciatioo which blnden their spellina, e.g. wrtdng
•leave' Instead of'Uve' or 'clisp' for 'crisp'. Have they perhaps not mastered. new

••
patterns well enouab orally to recocnise and write them corn!dly?
4 (a) What typeofwritingactlvltlesdoyo11 meln the earlystaps toafvestudems
meaningful writing practice? Describe some•
(b) Discuss the advantages and disadvantaaes of getting students to copy
passages from the board or from their textbooks.
(c) Discmri what the purposes of the writing activities illustrated on the FOCUS

_................
pace at the beglnnmg oflbis Unit could be.
(d) Wbieh of these actMties are the e&'lier ones? Say why.
5 Preparation for writiOK tasks can often be acldeved through oral work or

(a) Which of the ORAL PRACTICE activities in Unit 15, on pp.110-113coukl

lead into useful elementm-y wriling tasks?
(b) Which of the READING ACI1VITIES outlined In Unit 19, oo pp. 150-5

•
could lead bite written tasks suitable for elementary students?
6 (a) 'There is no point in stodents produdq .• bad piece ot writin&•' Discuss.
(b) You can help studenls to produce good writing by cl-. adequate oral and
readina preparation before the writing task, by setthtg simple but meaningful
tasks, and by glvlnc very clear imtnlctlons. What iMtructions would you give

•
for some of the tasks on the FOCUS page?
(c) Another way of helping them is to set wriling exercises In class where you
can watch them write, encourage them and stop bad habits early on. You can
also help them to learn to spot and correct dtelr own mktakes. What would yoo
say If a student wrote this:

M!J brof:hl!r-ei',e LeaJ1e. in

mtJJ10ffes~ .Is nice tvwn.,
157
158 Unit 20: Writing Practice (Early Stages of Writing)

Lesson extract
There is only one extract in this Unit. It is suitable for both children and adult
students who are beginning to read. It is an extract of a lesson which progresses
from oral work, to reading and finally writing.
The picture and tables below are the ones the teacher refers lo in this lesson.

Pats~ C.e.orge.
I've. lost
Ge.orje. ! Whe.re.'.S
r.:~.
~ SC.Wool bo.~ Your
•<:,tch
WQ
En9lish boob ?
It's ontn..
Co.bit..
bookc.o..se..
floor.
Whe.n. o.re.
wotc..h
fnqlish
7. sO\ool oo., . •no/ in the. cupboo...-d.
dro....,u.
~n
The ~erlng(ln the lt!$$on revising students read) OK. Now. some writing!
q~tiom and answer.s with 'Where i.s' and In pencil Very neatly, in your exercise
'Where are', using a hlrge wall picture. She books. I want you to write three
then sets up the muation where Patsy is dialoguei;. Three. Each sentence on a
always late jorcolkge because she loses new line. Right. Someone come and do
thmg3, andGrorgegmimpaliMJ. The one on the board, to show the others.
teacher has worked out the tables before the You, Kumah? I'll draw some lines for
lesson, :so after the students have practised you. OK? Start here.
dialogues similar to theone.s from the tables,
she~ to oopy the tables up on to the T: You others watch. Don't write yet._
bhlclcboard. Pens down. Capital letter for George.
That's right. (reads) Where are ... my
T: Good. You did those dialogues reaDy ... English books. And do you need a
well. Now some reading, and later we'll question mark or a full stop? This or
do some writing. StiU the same picture. this? Ah good. You'veputaquestion
See if you can read these words as I mark. New line, now. Capital Y.
write them. Ohl No- pensdownl Good! ... (.&lenceasstudentwrlles)
Don't write anything yet. You're going Everybody, is that correct? Has he
to read it first. Pens down. OK. forgotten anything? Full stop?
Remember the things in the picture. Apostrophe?
What do these words say? S: Full stop.
(Teachers begins with the thru column.s T: Yes, good. Lilr.e this. A full stop. Good.
ofnowu) Well. lbat is good writing. Just be
Ss: Pen. careful of your gs and yi,. They sit on
T: Pen,yes. the line and their tails hang down like
Ss: School ... er ... school bag. this. That's better. WeUdone. Thank
T: Schoolbag, good. etc .. you very much. Now could you all
(She finishes the tobles and draws the write three dialogues, different ones,
Una) and then check them carefully? Ask
Now we've got two tables; this table is your neighbours to help you check
what Patsy sayi,, and this is what? them. OK? Start writing now. In your
Ss: George! exercise books.
T: Ycs. What George sayi,. Good. So you
read across. choosing the right words, Follow up
like this: 'George! Where are my The teacher wanders round while students
keysT and George says, 'Your keys? wrlle; slui points out where mistakes are but
They're on the table' see the picture. does ,wt teU them what is wrong; they have
Two keys, right? Sowe take 'they're', to correct lheirown mistakes themselves.
not 'it's' from here. Alright, tell me if Thm slui gets some stwietw to read one of
this one is good. Listen hard! 'George! their dialogue.s out. Some students' wrldng is
I've lost my watch.' 'Your watch? showntotheclaS3. Thensherubsoffthe
They're on the columnsojmJIU'ISandaskstheclasslOwrite
Ss: No! ... er. it's ... not they're! another two dialogues quickly on a piece of
T: Good!So,yousee,youmustmake rough paper to check how welt lhey can
good sentences. Let's bear you say wrlle without copying. She asks them to
some ..• (Teacher hears Se'l'eral learn the speUings for homework.

TEACIDNG HINTS (a) How does the teacher make sure the students undentand
what Ibey are cop)'UII from the tables? (Two ways) (b) My does she ask someone
to write a dialogue on the board befoN they write It in their books? (c) Why does
she make them try to correct their own mistakes?
 Unit 20: Writing Practice (Early Stages of Writing) 159

Classroom language
Practi~ the language from the tables in pairs or small groups, referring to
suitable writing exercises on the blackboard, or in your textbooks or from the
FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit. Remember to rephrase instructions
and speak clearly but not unnaturally slowly.
For Tables 6-9 you could each produce two or three lines of handwriting
making three or four deliberate mistakes. Then, using the language from the
tables you can 'correct' each other's writing.
Whoever takes the student's part should ask whenever something is not 100%
clear; see Tables 11-13, for STUDENTS' QUERIES. These are useful queries
that you should gradually teach and encourage your students to use. See also
Appendix 8.
See Part One, Unit 5, Section c, for ways of introducing a writing stage.

Preparing to write

tell me
what you're going to write.
Before you
begin to write
do any writing
let's see if you can
I want you to
say
I
write anything do it orally first.
read this first.

2
teU me this one?
Who can
I read this one Hands up
Put your hands up
if you
know.
can do it.
What does this say?

I
Hossein,
Rosa,
I
can you
I
read
do
I
this o ne?
I Everyone,
All of you,
I
put your hands up if
I
she
he
is right.

3
read
Listen to how I
phrase. say
new
word.
This is hard
Careful! a sentence. Watch how I write it.OK?
That's
This is how you spell

new exercise. Watch how to do

4
note books,
You'll need your
You need
Could you take
your
pens
pencils
out.
And
Also I exercise books,
please.
some rough paper,

Giving Instructions
s match these neatly.
make five good carefully.
find ten true copy
So.you sente nces, then them
sort out these write spelling.
taking care with
fill the blanks in these punctuation.
and watch your capital letters, etc.
complete these etc.
 160 Unit 20: Writing Practice (Early Stages of Writing)

Delalla

• sit on the line.

.........
....... yow-
'g's', 'y's',andsoon

'k's', 'l's' and soon go right up.

have tails which hang down.

'u's' are different from your 'v's'.

spaces between words are clear.
cross your 't's' and dnt your 'i's'.
pill capital letters where needed.
Don't forget to spell correctly.
write neatly.
lay it out neatly.

Helping atudenta to epot their mlatllkN

7 lino
what's wrong wow
That's
quite good,
good
mocb better,
but
there's something missing
in this
plmuc
k,t '
very neat,
you've for&otten something here.
left something out

8 spelling of' '

Ch"t punctuation.
It's yom handwriting.
What about pammar.
capital letters.

• Is that a ""'
good
sentence?
Canyoureadittome?
Could you read what you have written please?
What do you all think? Does it make sense, or is it silly?
1blu. what that means!

Setting simple homewortl:

10 finish writing this?
At home
For homework ""'oow, ""
oould yoo
write this out again neatly?
learn how to spell the new words?
Tonight will
practise writing
'
and give
I '""' I ...... I
boot, ;.
tom, I tomorrow morning by 8 o'dock.
next lesson, at

11 ---
(See also Part One, Unit 12, Section c, Tables 5 to 8.)

Excuse me, Miss'--- I didn't hear.

are we doing
should we do
do we have to do

l'msony, Mn'·--~
M,•_ __ I don't understand.
isit
,,.., "" '
How do we do it
Which books should WC use
 Unit 20: Writing Practice (EarlyStagesofWritina) 161

12

-· .,
How do you

M"" it
-·
,pell'

"
..
... pencil

......,,...,,
Mn' '? c.n our note boob
?
M,'
" be done

Docs it h•ve to
by tomorrow

13 Are these •lright

right

Excuse me,
.....
Mn' .,'!
Is this
""""
Have I done this alright
?
M,-' '!
Is this
I what you want
howyoumcan

Why is this wrooa?

I can't find 1111y mistakes here!

(See also Part One, Unit 12, 'Ending a lesson', Section c, since writing is often
the flnal stage in a teaching sequence or lesson.
Appendix B contains more relevant student language, see QUERIES ABOUT
TASKS SET, especially Tables 14 and 15.)

Teaching akllla
Select ihe writing tasks which are mosi relevant to your teaching situation. 1be
f!Nt are examples of very controDed writing exercises, suitable for beginners.
The tasks in 2 are more demanding.
1_wtf....,, __
(a) Wridngwwds/bandwrltlJla/-
See Unit 19, Sectiond,3(a)and (b).
Matching words to pictures or sorting words into sets and then writing them
down ensures that students read and understand whal they are copying. If vou
only ask your students to write a few words, you can insist on their handwriting
being perfect.
Whal problems do your students have with handwriting and spelling? List
them. Think of some easy words containing the problem items, write them on
cards, and either add them if possible to the 'Matching words to pictures' or
'Word family' sets that you made in Unit 19, or devise similar ways to use them in
class. (Spelling competitions? group handwriting competitions?)

(b)Su--
Students can be asked to write true sentences from a substitution table, like
numbers 2 and 4 in the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit. Students
should always be asked to read sentences out loud first, to make sure they
understand and can read all the words. After writing ten orso, they can give iheir
sentences to their neighbours to check for them, to mak-! sure they are true and
spelled correctly.
(i) In pairs, each pair taking a different unit from the Elementary English
textbook, make up one or two substitution tables for each lesson.
(ii) Practise writing one table neatly on the blackboard. Pool your work, so you
each have a copy of all the tables.
162 Unit 20: Writing Practice (Early Stages of Writing)
(c) Subsdtudontables-propesslvedeledon
See 1 (b) above.
After students have copied a number of sentences from the table, one column,
(then later another column) can be rubbed off the board (or oovered up).
Students begin writing on a new page to see how many sentences they can
remember. Finally, they can write a few whole sentences from memory.
Look at the tables you wrote for 1 (b) and decide which column(s) you would
erase (or cover up) first.

(d) Sa1had1ndou tables for paragraphs

.The tables on the FOCUS page give students some choice in what they write, and
practice in seJecting meaningful combinations. There is little chance of error, so
students feel satisfied at completing a task well. Marking is simple.
Look at the topics set for writing tasks in your early intermediate textbooks. If
the tasks set are too difficult, and resuJt in students making a lot of mistakes, try
preparing some of the writing tasks in this way.
&& In pairs, each pair shouJd select a different topic. First write a 'model'
paragraph. 1ben see which words could be varied and suggest variations. Finally
build up a chain of substitution tables like Example 5 on p. 156.

Z E............,,tolntennedl... wrltlngta...
(a) Read th.ea write (Miscellaneous activities)
•a•& Study the activities suggested in Unit 19, Section d, 4 for reading, and discuss
which ones would lead into useful writing practice. See also the FOCUS page at
the beginning ofthis Unit for more examples.
Which of the basic writing skills could you focus students' attention on for each
task: handwriting, spelling, punctuation, layout, speech? What instructions
would you give your students immediately before each writing ta5k (after they
had done the necessary reading)? See Tables 1 to 5. What might your students
need to ask at this stage? Practise in twos or threes, one being the teacher, others
being students who are a bit sJow to grasp what they shouJd do and therefore
need to ask. (See Tables 11-12 for student language. Add to it where you can.)

(h) Spnktb.eawrite
(Expansion sentences - following a pattern)
See the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit. Do Activity 7 orally in
pairs and discuss what makes it difficult.
This technique can be used to introduce or revise the written fonn of a
structure. Sentences shouJd be prepared orally in class before they are written.
This will help you to diagnose where the difficulties lie and help you remedy
mistakes before lhey are written down.
In pairs, prepare sets of six sentences to practise patterns that your students
often get wrong. (One pattern per pair.) Try them out on someone else. Write
them up neatly and pool your work. This work will be useful in Unit 21, Section
d,3(b).

(C) Oral practice activities for wrldq pradi0e

LookatFOCUSonORALPRACTICE, Unit 15,page 104.
Which of the activities there would be useful also for writing practice? List them.
(Remember we do not normally write spoken English; so activities like 2 are not
very suitable for writing). 1 Write clear, simple instructions in English for each
activity, so that your students can read the instructions and write the exercise
without needing to ask anything. Check your instructions with your neighbour.

' This applies less to the really early stages, when students need to write to reinforce !heir
oral work.
 Unit 20: Writing Practice (Early Stages of Writing) 163

Teaching practice
1 PIMlnlng
Groups ofthree or four.
Split the time allowed for the practice lesson between you. Choose one
different type of writing activity for each 15 or 20 minutes worth of lesson, and
decide on the aim or purpose of each one.
Oloose your material very carefully. With only 15 or 20 minutes, you have no
time to presenl a new item orally and proceed through oral practice, oral
production and reading to the written stage. It must be language your students
are already familiar with orally, and can read without Coo much difficuJty. U your
last lesson with them was reading (Unit 19) you could base the writing exercise
on those reading materials.
(a) Write down the tables, sentences etc. you have prepared for the writing task.
(b) Plan a quick spell of oral work to introduce the class to the theme of the
writing material.
(c) Decide how you will present the written fonn for them to read and practise
orally before they write.
(d) Diagnose any difficulties that might crop up, e.g. spellings? and decide how
and when to dea1 with them.
(e) Practise the instructions you wiD give them before they wrile. (Revise
Section b and relevant tables in Section c.) Which example(s) will you do for
them on the board before they start? How long will you give them to write it?
(f) How and when will you correct their work?
2 TNGhlng
If you have reaJ students, make sure there will be spare pens, sharp pencils and
paper available.
1be first teacher should introduce the lesson and explain what will be happen-
ing in the lesson.
If peer teaching, split groups and re-form so you teach your micro• lcuon to
some different people.

....... 3 Folfowupand evaluation

1be test of the success of a writing lesson is to see how weU the students actua:Dy
wrote, and to ask yourself if they could write it the next lesson as well, or even
bette,.
(a) If you taught genuine students, discuss the following points:
What did the studentskam during the lesson? Was it useful?
What mistakes did your students make? How could you have prevented
them?
What extra preparation or guidance could you give next time?
Do they have any specific difficulty in common that you could plan a
remedial writing lesson on? How would you do this?
(b) If peer teaching, discuss: how dear and logical was the staging of the lesson?
Were the instructions reaUy clear?
What mistakes might students have made? How would you have dealt with
these?
(c) Final points: How useful and meaningful was the writing task? Which types
of writing activity were the most successful? Why?

0 Further reading
Donn Byrne (1979) Chapters J-4 and Appendices 2 and l.
Helen Moorwood (eel) (1978) Section 5.
WM Rivers and MS Temperley (1978) Olapter 8.
Writing skills
1 Handwriting: forming and
joining letters.
21 FOCUS on written
z Mastering spelling, punctuation,
sentence construction, referential
words (he, who).
llllro
production • WBY?

3 Linking sentences, using

connecting words, relatives, etc. t,io9
Connecting paragraphs. ·
4 Being aware of different demands of
'
written English (contrast with spoken). semi-official \
5 Organising information
clearly with a specific IT~rs°J
in mind. i;,forma/
6 Using discourse marke.r s appropriately to Iii
indicate main points, developments in a theme,
change of topic, examples, conclusions, etc.
7 Using variation in normal sentence patterns and word order
~\lf
to develop a theme clearly and emphasise the main points
at each stage.
8 Selecting vocabulary to convey attitude and implied meaning.

Paragraph writing ~ ~g
Euay writing
1 Hossein's new house is off Kings Street. He moved there
because it was quieter. It's next door to a hospital and 3 'The school leaving age should be 15 minimum'
has a large garden at the back. His wife likes it because Dbc:uas.
it has a modem kitchen. Skeleton plan: Advantages: It's a good thing to dox
SadeghiOat/ Park Road.// moved/ because . ..
cheaper.//cinema/small garden/ Disadvantages: It's not a good thing to dox because ...
front.I /Friends/near/town centre.// Mostpeoplepreferx (ory)because ...
Now writ.e about your friend's house, using the similar think h _... as well as -...
1 per apsY -... instead of..,,x
sentences.
because (+ example)
2 'You think you have seen a man who is wanted by the
4 Write a letter applying for WANTED
police. Write, for the police, a short description of the
the job advertised here. JUL/ AUG Exp. Sales
man, saying when and where you saw him.' Assistant, large store.
Give all necessary details
Begin: The man I saw was coming out of, etc. place, Must speak English.
time, date. Description of clothes, briefcase, etc., and ask for more
information re hours, pay, Apply to D. Lee, Waltrex
appearance, manner, possible intentions. Stores, City Rd, Sidville.
etc.

Are your students POOR at

WRtTIN6 ? Trythefollowing :
• Stage preparation carefully: students should speak - read - then write.
• Grade each step; give shorter, simpler tasks until they improve.
• Give practice in planning, organising and expressing information.
• Give model or target essays.
• Practise relevant structures before they write their own.
• Keep a record of common mistakes. Focus on ONE per lesson.
• Insist on corrections. Test them later.
• Make them write in class.Vary the topics set.
• Do writing as group work. (The good help the weak.)
164
Unit21
Written production
The elms of this Unit are 1 to define the problems that students face when learning to
write English, and to discuss ways of helping them to produce good written English
2 to study the language used in the classroom when teaching writing, and give practice
in the different forms of written English normally required by examinations.

Preliminary discussion
1 What are the main dift'erences between •writing Practice' as In Unit 20 and
'Written Production'? (Cf. Oral practice and oral production.) Do you think
formal accaracy Is mon! Important In spoken than la written English? Why?
2 (a) What are the main ditrereoces between spoken EneUsh and wrlttea
Eqtlslt? (See Unit 14, Section•• I.) Is normal writteo Endish the same as
spoken Eogllsb wrlttea down? Why?
(b) What about readins EJtaHsb? How can intelliaent readina: help audnl<l to
write well? Which of the reading skills In the FOCUS on Reading, page 142
could help wffb writing? F1nally compare these reading skills with the writing
skills listed M tlle FOCUS pap: epposite,
3 (a) Whidt of these writina sldlk wil be most useful lo your students, (I) now, as
they study? (fl) in the long term?
(b) What types of writing do your students need to do? Refer to the venn

•
diagram opposite, entitled 'WRITING WHAT? WHY? WHO FOR?',
(c) Are the writing tasks In the textbook Sllltable for all your students? Why?
4 How far do the examinadons your students will take influence your teaching of
writlq? Could any of the examinations be made more relevant to students'
needs? Woold you stlU teach rompol!lition lfJt was not needed rorthe exam?

-·
S Since evea Eqllsh-speaklna studenls Ond It difflcuN: to write dear, concise
essays and summaries, yoor students are also likely to have problems writing

(a) The suggestions on the FOCUS page, see 'Poor Writina;' may help them.

•
Discuss lhese and add your own•
(b) Discuss the advantages and dsadl'antages of guided or coatroled writing
with spedal reference to, (I) student sadsraction (Ii) the teacher's maridag load
(di) giving back students' work (iv) maldna students do corrections M reln-
formnent of correct forms (vi) Jl'lldual prop-esdon from controlled wridna to
freer writing, up to free wridng In exams only.
6 (a) Discuss what types of written production tasks are possible and profitable?
(See FOCUS pages Units 15, 19 and 21.) Which of the tasks shown are easier?
Which would be suitable for your students at different levels?
(b) What preparation would you need to do between the oral production and/or
readina: stage and the writing stage? Discuss briefly with reference to !Mks
suitable for your students.
(c) What lnstructl.om would yoo give your students (after adequate oral and

• reading preparation) for each al the above tawi?

(d) How woold yoo lrain them to ftnd and correct their own mistakes?
165
 166 Unit21:WrittenProductioo

Le•on extract
This extract is taken from a late intennediate lesson based on the reading text
'Back Nestling' reproduced on page 146, in Unit 19.
It is suitable for classes approaching examinations, in school or college. Notice
the amount of preparation already completed before this extract. Listen to the
tape and practise repeating the teacher's part, especially the instructions and
elicitations.
TlwteacherMlolreadycompktedthese S2: wanttoeammoney
sups: S3: getjob
1 SIUtktus~multhereadingtut;made T: get a job, yes, l()Od, both of you. You
notaonlheorgani,ationofUljormodonin could also use this word here.
dre passaie, tmd11tudiedtheuuofdillcoww St: Ob,becausetheywanthe
trUU1un like 'lwweYu', 'monover' de. independent.
T: Sorry?
2 1'My~11ummarimlorallylhe
advtmtagaanddilladwauaguofback ''"'"'
S: they want to he independent.
T: Good. Whoelsecansaythat?
nestling giving theirownper,onal tJMCdou
to follow, parallel IO lheuample in the tut. S! because they want to he independent.
T: Yes.Tellmewhatyouoouklwrite,
then for a fint paragraph. Listen lhe
3 ThetopicwuJa-dl.rCJUsionnowia3 onlhe
rest of you, and check for mistakes. ...
FOCUSpagea1thebeginningofthisUniJ. (Late, ...)
Students have listed the pro1t111d con.so/ T: How can you introduce the
leaving school at the age of15, tmd
disadvantages, then, to let your reader
dillamedlhemorally. know you're going to begin something
different? ••. Yes?
4 Theuacherha.smpplied11o,ne Ss: But. .. On the other band ... however ..
vocabulary, on the lxHud, e.g. T: Good. Alright then, bow can you
'indepmdenl', and hall drilkddu fir# express these• in written English?
coMidonal ('Ifyou te- $Olool . . .') Now (Points to maillpoints• on blackboard)
• du planninf begins, lnuing il onthe:skddon S: lfyouwiDstayatschool ...
p/4n from 'Baclc Ne,tling'. T: If you? Remember the tables we did?
S: Ob.IfyoustayatscbooJ.
T: Stop discussing, DOW, please, and look T: umhm.
at yourmaio poinh. You've aD got S: after you're 16,youcan study ... er ...
someadvantages(Pros)andsome T: anyone?
disadvantages(Cons) written down, S: Youcanlaketbeenminationsand
haven't you? About 5or6poinh? you will goto UnivcM)', .. .
S: I'vegot7. S: You can get a better job .. .
T: Good.Now,we'vegottoorganise T: fine. Now start with 'People who .. .';
tbese points, rearrange them, so Ibey same sentence, but 'People who ...•etc.
Wl11 make two or three clear (Later ••• )
paragraphs. And it's got to sound like So I want you to write that now. Two
written English, not sp:ikcn English. paragraphs, OK? With your own
OK? examples put in. Well, what order will
Let's have a look at the skeleton plan you put these points in? And how can
we did for that reading passage. How welinkthele? ... Canyvutellme ...
did the passaae begin? ... Yes?
S: Many African mothers. FoOowup
T: Ohyes.Manypeopledox.l (writes Studmt., write, then check thdr own work
lt'sagoodthingtodox onboanl), for milllaka, then change and ch«k each
and then what does the author do? other$, ao they getpractict in corr«ting
S: er ••. &ives us a reason, 'because .. .' milltda. Theteaclreract:sasadvillor. Then
T: Verygood.'Wedoxbecause .. .' ontothethirdP"ragraph-apemmal
(writa) Right. Make a sentence like uperimceof11omeonewhodidordulnof
that about leaving school before 16. 11tayat,clwolandtillccuded ... Prepara
St: Manypeopleleaveschoolbeforel6 orally, pair work, Ihm II final writing
because .•. er ... they er ...

&or&& TEACHING HINTS (a) la what,..,. ................

help ... _ , , to
a
produce clear. well orpnlled - , that souamnatunl? (b) Wb:y does he make
die studentB write ill daM and not at home? (c) Why does he not prepare al three
paraaraphs toptlter, instead ot leffln& them write two and then preparl• the
....1
 Unit21:WrinenProdl>Clion 167

a Classroom language
1be writing tasks covered in these tables progress from fairly controlled, early
&& intermediate tasks, Tables 1 and 2, to longer more complex tasts, Tables 3 to 11,
and finally to practice in teaching 'free' writing and essay writing for examina-
tions, Tables 12 to 22.
See also Unit 20, Section c; most of the language there will be useful also at
this higher level, too, expeciaUyTables 7 to 9, and the student language in Tables
11-13.
In pairs, select only the tables which relate to the level at which you teach and
the type of writing task your students need to do.
Select from your textbooks or from the FOCUS pages some specific writing
material to refer to while you practise. (For example, Tables 12 to 18 could refer
to writing task 4 on the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit.) As you
practise in twos, keep the aim of the teacher in mind all the time; 'students'
should quecy if something is not dear.

Writing baaed on elmpleradlngwork(See Reading Activities, Unit 19, Section d, 5)

I True, False or Not Stated
When you've chosen
the best order of the key poinWsentences I want you to write out
As well as choosing
the best word for the gap

; the lrUe ones, and correct the false ones.

1 the sentences. to form a paragraph.
'i the paragraph, filling the gaps.

l I.__....1.I___
So
First
Jet's practise oraDy
tell me exactly
I
what
the senten<a
..;.,._-L-_
I
you're going to write.
_ _. . . . L - - - - - - '
I
Ullnga model ...,.....phfaeuy•• ,_•natext
3
..... parapaph. like
similar to the one you're going to write.
I want you to
study "" ""'·
letter.
It's
nearly the same as

4 see how it is planned. Jot down the plan.

pick out the main points. Write them down.
Now
read it again
study it .... phrases which introduce new ideas.
underline the link words.
discourse markers, like' .
• Done that?
Finished?
OK?
Let's
discuss what you've written.
I see if we agree.
Could you teU me what yau've got?
l'I write
.,,...
the points
on the blackboard.

• ...
Now instead we are going lo
do an essay called'
write about' . '
. which is similar.
chilllle this a bit and do'
So what wiU our main points be? I
 168 Unit 21: WrinenProduction

7
Let's work out how
this author planned his
I "'"·
information.

you could plan your piece of writing.

Whot
I do<she
could you I do first? Think of our main points.

8 (Practise this table with a reading passage in front of you to refer to.)

story, telling us about

introduce(s) the topic, by describing
idea of' ' explaining

p~of how to
place where
cflaracters who
history of
describe(s) the what happens when

Fint
Thon
Nat
ho
,h,
you can
differences
similarities
I between

~-.......
advantages
FinaDy we could tho of
disadvantages

tho =II of
state(s)
explain(s)
give(s)
•=o
examples
reasons
,~
of

wby

his opinions why

(See Table 15.)

IEJ&pendlngkeypolnta(Ne8eotlond,2(c)llnklng......,.toqueatlona(Sectlona,2(e)
9 answered all the questions in full,
Now you've got all your key points here,
expand them.
you need to
write a bit more about them.
What could you say about
Who can suggest something for
I this one?

10 it sound better?
join
How can you these 2 sentences to make one longer sentence?
Good. link
them follow on?
Now.
What other changes wiD you need to make?

II
"'"
The flfSt part of
The fu-st and last parts of
this ""'
letter
paragraph ·~
• done for you. You read
it
them
Ihm 'I-+-
'
''
'
•••
'"- tho
=t-
second half.
! write other part.
 Unit 21: Written Production 169

E.asay writing (Tables 12-18 should be taken in the order they appear here.)
12 fonn of writing is it? Descriptive? etc.
could you write about?
IDUltyouindude?
Read the title carefully. WM< information do they want?
instructions is the purpo!ie of writing this?
style is appropriate?

Who will be reading it?

13

What type of
=""
structures
Jot some ideas down.
organisation appropriate
would be for thi$ topic? Anange your points.
suitable

How many paragraphs

'"" Plan your paragraphs.

(See Part One, Unit 9, Section d, Exploiting written assignments.)

14
Get together in groups, discuss
,.~ I plans.
ideas.

what goes into each paragraph.

(For subsequent discussion, see Table 5. Forout1ining the plan, see Table 8, but add to it.)

IS What exactly couklyou say for this?

How e.lse could you express that?

16
is not quite right,
<h~ does not sound very good
Well, is quite an important structure, so let's practise that pattern orally.

you'd better get that right,

(See FOCUS on Oral Practice, Unit 15, page 104, 1, 3, 10 for ways to practise structures.)
17 go through each paragraph once more
Let's before you start writing.
make sure you know what you're going to say

18 each peJSOD can write one paragraph in turn.

Baell: into groups discuss what you want to write, then dictate it for one of you to write.
choose your first secretary.

Eumlnatlon practice
t• many questions you must answer.
long the essay must be.
R~d
how much time you have per question.
the instructions. Find out
Study you will divide your time.

what form/style of writing it requires. See Table 12.

 170 Unit 21: WrincnProdocti.on

20 This is practice for the eii:am.

By yourselves! You"ve got 40 minutes to write this.
Notaltinti! Start now.
Boob dosed!
Don't
foract to leave time at the end to check your work.
make any siDy mistakes.
.
(See Urut 20, Tables 7, 8 and 9 on checking theu own wort.)

Retumlng work

·-
21
"'"'
--·_,,
youdklit quite well.
You can have
rngiveyou yow back today; ""
but first I'D JO over ....
a few
__ ,points.
mistakes.

22
A
16andover is very good, exc:eDcnt.
B
rvepvenyou ....... A-E.
marks out of 20. 11 and over

. ,.
C
is quite good.

is just satisfactory.

Well, below that is not good enough.

«- Teachingskills
Select the teaching skills you feel you need most practice in. H you are teaching
examination classes it would be useful to have a set of past exam papers to refer
lo.

1 Syllabua..auam1nat1on,.._1, ..1e11t11
T A,."=·
(a) List the kinds el written tasks apart from essay or composition that your
students have to pedorm for the final sc:hool leaving examination.
How far can these be practised in class using the kinds of written tasks
outlined in Units 19, 20and 21?
Discun any other techniques you personafty have found practical and
sua:essful.
(b) Compodtlon is generally the most difficu1t task. If, however, students have
had plenty of guidance in class covering the kinds of topics they may get in
the examination and if they can recognise which form of writing is relevant
and suitable, they stand a better chance of success. Together, plan a pre-
examination programme of essay writing revision as follows:
(i) List the typical forms of writing required by the essay topics on past
examination papers. (Take into account any changes in the future
syllabus.) Forms of writing include things like describing places, giving
instructions, narrodve in the past, the language ofargument etc.
(ii) What specific grammatical structures and other language items can be
used for each form of writing? (e.g. instructions: 'you'+present simple
tense, or simple imperative, or passive voice, depending on context and
setting; discourse markers denoting stages, i.e. 'first', 'then', etc.) Do
any of the forms of writing use similar structural items? (e.g. giving
street directions: similar use of 'you'+ present simple as instructions)
 Unit21:WrittcnProduction 171

(ill) What types of essay could be planned or organised in similar ways?

(Some topics, like describing a process or giving directions are usually
linear and can be written using markers like 'first', 'second', 'then,'
'later'); othen use a comparisons technique comparing advantages with
disadvantages, different opinions etc. and need markers like 'however',
'on the other hand'.)
(iv) To summarise the above - what have different fonns of writing got in
common? If you revised one or two different forms of writing each
week (or more, if they have structures etc. in common) how many
weeks before the exam would you need to begin revision? (Allow two
or three weeks at the end for timed exam practice.) What order would
you tackle them in? You would need to show your students how one
fonn of writing might be useful in three or four different essay topics;
this is useful when they select exam questions.
(v) Another area to revise for essay work might be vocabulary. Vocabulary
depends on the topic, not so much the fonn of writing; e.g., a description
of a place may include some of the same vocabulary as giving street
directions but not the same grammatical structures, as we've seen in (ii)
above. List areas of lexis which may be needed for the examination, e.g.
places/towns/buildings, biographical details etc.
See Teaching Skills 5 and 6 for further suggestions on teaching 'free' writing and
training students for examination essay writing.

Z EMty lnte.-mlldlatawaltlftg.llodelparagrapha.gulded
praductlon
U students can be shown a model paragraph, they know more exactly what their
target is, i.e. what is wan1ed of them. They are, therefore, far more likely to wrile
better, learn more and feel more satisfied. Model paragraphs can be used in
many ways:
C•l--
See the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit, Task 1 about Hossein's
house. 1bis iB in three stages; reading, writing praf.Pce, on to wrinen production.
Do this exercise quickly, orally in pairs. What problems might there be at the
third stage for your students? Write another short model paragraph, giving
biographical details about a (famous) person you all know. Then think of
someone else, similar, and write prompts as in stage 2. F'maDy, think of someone
else for students to write about by themselves, keeping to the same patterns.
Perhaps they could do an autobiography, with some extra help.
{b)Clote-
Writc another short model paragraph at a level simple enough for your students
to imitate, using a different fonn of writing. Give it to your neighbour to check.
To use this in class you wouJd write it on the board1 leaving out every 6th word or
some of the verbs or subjects etc. Write below it more than enough words to fill
the blanks. (These must include· the missing words, obviously.) When your
students can say and write it correaly, you could delete more words, or perhaps

__ ......
every 5th word instead, and not give them words below to choose &om. They
then write this on a new page (so they cannot see what they have just written.) By
this method, students practise one form of writing intensively, and you only have

(•)" ..,,
to write the model once on the blackboard.

This is more difficult than expanding sentences, since students have to not only
expand each point into a sentence but also provide something to go before and
• O.H.P. transparencies are useful for this and similar exercises, then you can keep 1he
model and use it again.
In Unit 21: Written Production

after. Adequate oral planning is essential. Structura1 and lexical items need
revising too; so do suitable discourse markers and connecting words. Prepara-
tion must be thorough if students are to produce good writing and feel satisfied.
Practise in pairs getting each other to expand the points in Task 2 on the
FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit, to the length and form it should be
written in. Then practise with a different topic taken from your textbook, making
sure the expanded version sounds like written English. finally write down the
difficuJties your students may find with this type of excercise (e.g. linking ideas,
punctuation, short jerky sentences etc.). H you do one version for them on the
board as a target text, then rub it out bit by bit, they will get the idea better.
(d) hmbledkeypoints(basedonkeypolntstromareadlngtext)
See Unit 19, Sectiond,S (b).
When students have arranged the key points in the correct order, they can be
asked to join sentences, using link words, relatives etc., and make any other
changes necessary to make it sound like good written English. Then, after
preparing it oraUy first, they can write it down.
1n pairs, discuss possible alternative ways of linking the sentences in the
activity 'jumbled key points' that you prepared.
(e) Amwering qQeSliollSon anadlng text (to form• llllllDllll'Y)1
Answering, in full, questions designated to elicit the main points of a reading
passage is another way to get students to write a guided paragraph. Suggested
link words can be shown, in brackets, beside the questions.

3 Conecllngw1lttanm91gnmant:a
(a) AvGldlq'pltf. .'
If the writing task has been prepared thoroughly, there should not be too much
correcting to do. If there are a lot of mistakes in many students' work you should
ask yoUTSelf what went wrong at the preparation stage. Maybe there were some

........ problems you had not foreseen .

In groups. Tell each other about any notable 'pitfalls' or 'disasten' you have
experienced, (we have all had them!) so that other teachers can learn to avoid
them!
NB It helps you to diagnose the problems if you write the essay you want your
5 - spelling saulents to write, before you prepare the preparation lesson.
(b) Training students to spot and cerred their own mistakel
C - concord (agreement: subject In the early stages studen~ find this difficuJt, and so they need guidance in
and verb) correcting their own work. Gradually, this guidance should be withdrawn, until
s{p - singular, plura1 by examination time, students are better at checking their own work and
correcting their own mistakes. See the stages suggested in (c) below.
wfo - word order In pairs. Make a quick list of common careless errors that you could train your
T - tense students in examination classes to look for and correct for themselves. lbey
should always leave five or ten minutes at the end of the exam time to do this.
V - vocabulary, wrong word or (C) A method ofnwtiag
usage If you let your student know what kind of mistake he has made, he has more
app - appropriacy (inappropriate chance of correcting it correctly!
style or register) On the left are some symbols that have been found useful:
You can withdraw your help in stages throughout the course, thus:
P - punctuation (including capital Stage I - (elementary) underline the mistake and write the symbol in the margin.
letters)
Stage 2 - underline the whole word/phrase and write the symbol in the margin.
Ir - irrelevant infonnation Stage 3 - do not underline the word or the mistake; only write the symbol in the
?M - meaning not clear margin.

;\ - word missing
1 Warning: wri1ing a summary withOfll thorough guidance should never be set except to

advanced students. Even native speaker students find this a very difficult task and often do
it badly.
 Unil21:WriltenProduction 173
Stage 4 - ( exam classes) put a dot or x in the margin for each mistake.
Which of the above stages would these be?

TS m q am not; ~ m:f new 5/<qo-l . ~ ·····-···-

S V M,,
Cill .• -Pv-akltJ. ~ to
.., i•;_ -NStn.tiO\'I.
ss p [iii] I1n ~ -to 1/Sk, pw- Mvr~
T(opp.) ~ b e help~ me,.
(d)Marldnapndke
Each person should write four or five lines of 'intermediate' level English
making three or four typical mistakes. Give the writing to your neighbour. Using
the above scheme (make any adaptations you think suitable), correct your
neighbour's work. (Stage Two.)

(e) Awardfa&marksoraradesforcompoationa
There are two main ways of grading a piece of writing: 'impression' marking and
'split' (or analytic) marking.
Impression marking: you read the written work through quickly and give it an
'impression' mark. In an exam, at least two, preferably three, people indepen-
dently should give an impression mark for each essay, keeping a record on a
separate mark sheet, not writing the grade on the essay itself.
Split marking: you 'split' total marks, and give a proportion for each of the
following: organisation (i.e. plan, paragraphing; etc,) accuracy (grammar and
spelling), appropriacy (style, register) and content (relevance). Depending on
what form of writing it is you adjust the proportion of totaJ marts given for each
category. For example, out of 20, a business letter would need a low proportion
of marks for content, say 3, and higher than usual for appropriacy and accuraq,
say 7 and 6 respectively, leaving 4 for organisation of ideas (in the case of a letter,
layout would be included here). You could also add or subtract a few marks for
neatness.layout etc.
This method is still subjective but easier to grade. In an exam it would still be
preferable to have three or so markers.
The marks are recorded on the student's work thus:

appr.2/7 am:tent 3/~

What can the student deduce from these marks?
Discuss the advantages of each type of marking,
(a) from the teacher's point of view, (b) from the students' point of view.
How would you split 20 marks between the four categories for each of the
topics on the FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit'!
A third type of marking, one which I could not recommend for marking
essays, is where the student begins with 20 marks and one mark is deducted for
each mistake.
Why is this not a fair way to grade a piece of written work?
174 Unit 21: Written Production

(f) Discuss ways of eradicating important common carekss errors that your
students repeatedly make when writing.
Penalty points? Writing out the oorrect version 5 (10) (20) times? Refuse to
mark any work with a particular mistake in? Regular but quick testing? Short
quizzes? Any other ideas?

4 BnlngcompoaltlonworkonrMdlngteJCta/akeleton plane
Refer to Section b in this Unit, the lesson extract on page 166 and 3 on the
FOCUS page at the beginning of this Unit.
Study the steps taken by the teacher to draw up a skeleton plan from the text,
to adapt it to quite a different topic, to turn to the text as a model to find suitable
ways of expressing ideas like 'Many people think that', ... 'Many, however,' ...
etc.
Are there any suitable reading passages in your textbooks that would be
suitable for this type of essay planning lesson? In groups, each taking a different
section of your textbooks, identify the passages that would be suitable, and write
a skeleton plan for each.
Example - based on the passage on 'Back nestling' reproduced on page 146.
('x' in the plan = 'back nestling')
Skeleton plan: Para. 1: Many people do 'x', + advantages.
'x', however, has disadvantages, too.
Para. 2: Reasons for 'y'.
Para. 3 'Many people prefer 'x', + reasons. Anecdote/example ofsuch a person.
Conclusion, 'x' as well as 'y' is perhaps the answer.
Other topics that could be written on the base of this plan:
'x' could stand for driving to work by car, instead of walking,
or living in a town, not a village, etc.
i.e. many other 'discussion' or argument style essays. Alternative skeleton plans
could also be discussed by the class.

15 TralnlnglnexamtechnlqH1
In the year or term of the examination, practice in examination techniques is
essential. Give students exam practice in class. This has two advantages:
(a) they get used to being timed and working under pressure
(b) you can see where they are likely 10 go wrong and devote more time to that
area in another lesson.
Techniques spedftc to exams: students are usually expected to
(a) read and cany out instructions on the exam paper
(b) work to time, on their own and silently
(c) select (the right number of) questions
(d) interpret the essay title - meaning, purpose, aim
(e) select relevant information and appropriate style or register for task
(f) plan, organise clearly and logically
(g) leave time to correct own mistakes.
1&1& At what stage in the exam year will you begin to give your students exam
practice? (See also Section d, 1 (b).) How do }'Ou think is best to do this for (a)
(b) and (c)above?
How about (d) (e) (0 and (g)? These should have been practised already at
lower levels. See 6 on the next page.
 Unit 21: Written Production 17S

& •When
_ , _..ph_ng._ng_for_.-....,
teaching 'free' writing, i.e. paragraph or essay writing, it's a good idea to
take in class the same steps as your students should take when writing for an
examination. Then they will get into good habits and are less likely to go wrong
in the exam when there are so many things to think about that accuracy is certain
to suffer, unless a good deal of the thinking (i.e. steps 1-8) has been done
beforehand.
There are ten steps to follow in order ( after reading the instructions, planning
out the time and selecting a tide).

STEPS
1 Read the tide, underline the key words, identify what form of writing is
required.
2 What is the purpose of the piece of writing? Who is it for? What style is
appropriate, formal, informal?
3 List possible main points- note form.
4 List necessary subsidiary points - to back up the main points, examples,
anecdote, opinion, etc.
5 Express (to yourself or in written form) each main point in full, as simply and
clearly as you can.
6 Jot down any useful words, phrases, structures, idioms you think you might
forget when actually writing.
7 Select and organise relevant main points into a plan, with relevant subsidiary
points- note form ~ ( try different ways of arranging if the first plan does not
seem clear). Do not include any information that is not asked for.
8 Add link words, phrases, discoune markers to plan (trying to say the whole
thing through to yourself in your head).
9 Write it, clearly and simply.
10 Check it through, once for relevance, again for accuracy (subject/verb
agreement, tenses, spelling, punctuation etc.).
When first preparing students for 'free' writing you will need to show them how
to tackle each step you'D be working with them. Later, you can tell them, 'OK.
What's the first step? Study the title. Right, do that first .. .' Then get them to tell
you what they think the key words are, etc. They do the work, in groups, or by
themselves, then discuss it. Nea~r the exam, you can get them to do Steps 1-5
on their own before you discuss anything, and so on, gradually withdrawing
guidance.
Plan the above steps using topic4 on the FOCUS page at the beginning of this
Unit. Write the letter yourself first, as simply and clearly as possible. Compare
letters with your friends.
NB Never ask asn.uk,u to write an essay that you haven't written (or at least
fully planned) yourself. Titlcs that sound deceptively simple and interesting to
write sometimes are the hardest of all. Some titles arc conceptually difficult for
children to grasp, e.g. 'Politics and sport' would be impossible for young teen-
agers.
See Section •• Teaching Practice. The material prepared above may be
suitable for the task you set your students.
176 Unit 21: Written Production

Teaching practice
1 Planning
In groups ofthree or four. Together prepare one 40-60 minute lesson, suitable
for intermediate students of 14 or over. The teaching of the lesson can be shared
between teachers thus:
(i) introduction, title, form of writing, main points, paragraphing.
(ii) language work, expanding main points, linking sentences within the fint
paragraph(s).
(iii) same as (ii) above for the second half of the essay; giving instructions for the
actuaJ writing.
All teachen can help out with group work.
Use one of the topics you prepared in Section d, 4 or 6, or choose a suitable
essay title from one of your textbooks.
Plan and write the essay yourselves first, using language simple enough for
your students to produce. As you write, discuss which language points your
students may need to revise and practise orally. Consider also alternative ways to
write the same essay.
Your aim, when teaching, is to take your students through the 10 STEPS
outlined in Section d, 6, seeing how much of the work they can do themselveS,
and giving help with language where necessary. Notice the language in the
relevant tables in Section c is nearly all in question form; this is to get the
students to think for themselves.
STEP 6 gives the teacher a chance to slot in necessary structural practice and
other words or phrases. Plan what you will practise here, and be prepared to
cope with other problems, too.
Write down roughly how Jong each stage should take. Allow plenty of time for
the essay ( or one paragraph of the essay), to be written in class, and checked over
by the students themselves. If teaching real students, allow some time for social
chat at the start of the lesson, and remember to announce your intentions.

2 Tuchlng
Remember your aim is to get the students to do as much of the work (i.e.
thinking and planning) as they can. Help on1y when necessary. Accept their
ideas whenever they are relevant and suitable. It doesn't matter if their essays
are d!fferent from yours as long as they are relevant, appropriate in form and
language, and fairly accurate.
As you watch each other teach, jot down each time a student's suggestion is
considered by the teacher. Notice also how many students are actually thinking
and trying to work, rather than waiting for someone else to answer and produce
the ideas. Does the teacher try to include everybody? Are all instructions dear?

........ 3 Follow up and h'aluation

In groups. Discuss the points raised above. Were the aims of the lesson fulfilled?
i.e. did most students write reasonably well? Why?
As a class. Each group should report on how their lesson went, what problems
cropped up, etc. Also discuss how these lessons, and also the materials in these
last two Units could be adapted to suit your own students.

Further reading
Andrew Wright (1976) on teaching composition pp. 41-47.
J B Heaton(l975)Chapter8.
Donn Byrne ( 1979) Cbapters 5-8 and Appendix 1.
W M Rivers and MS Temperley ( 1978) Cbapter 9.