LEVEL TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE MOOD 15 CAHPTER 1. THE VERB 15 1.1. The aspect 15 1.2. The Voice 17 1.3. The mood 19 CHAPTER 2. TENSES OF THE… [628574]

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
ARGUMENT 4
DEFINITIONS 11
TEACHING GRAMMAR TO ELEMENTARY
LEVEL TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE MOOD 15
CAHPTER 1. THE VERB 15
1.1. The aspect 15
1.2. The Voice 17
1.3. The mood 19
CHAPTER 2. TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE MOOD 23
2.1. Time, tense, and the verb 24
2.2. Tenses which have a relationship to present time 24
2.2.1. Present Continuous 25
2.2.2. Present Simple 29
2.2.3. Present Perfect Simple 32
2.2.4. Present Perfect Continuous 35
2.3. Past Section
38
2.3.1. Past Simple 38
2.3.2. Past Continuous 42
2.3.3. Past Perfect 46
2.3.4. Past Perfect Continuous 50
2.4. Future section 52
2.4.1. Will/Shall Future 52
2.4.2. “Going to” future 54
2.4.3. Future with present continuous 56
2.4.4. The future with present simple 57
2.4.5. Future continuous 57
2.4.6. Future perfect simple and future perfect continuous 59

CHAPTER 3. TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR 62
3.1. General Presentation 62
3.2. Traditional methods to teach a foreign language 62
3.3. Modern methods in teaching a foreign language 65
3.4. Known or unknown language? 69
3.5. Introducing new language structure 69
3.5.1.The presentation of meaning and use 70
3.5.2. The presentation of structural form 71
3.5.3. Examples of language study activities 72
3.5.4. Discovery techniques 77
3.5.5. The position of writing during presentation 78
3.5.6. Remembering 79
3.6. Grammar practice activities 80
3.6.1. Awareness 80
3.6.2. Drills 81
3.6.3. Guided, meaningful practice. 82
3.6.4. Structured-based free sentence composition 83
3.6.5. Structured-based discourse composition 83
3.6.6. Games 83
3.6.7. Written practice 85
3.6.8. Oral compositions 86
3.6.9. Conclusions
87
CHAPTER 4. ACTIVITIES AND PRACTICAL
DRILLS IN THE CLASSROOM 88
CHAPTER 5. TESTING 114
CHAPTER 6. PLANNING LESSONS 140
6.1. Planning principles 140
6.2. The pre-plan 141
6.3. The plan 142
6.4. Samples of lesson plans 144

CHAPTER 7. RESEARCH 160
7.1. Introductory Elements 160
7.2. The development of the teaching research 162
CONCLUSION 191

3
INTRODUCTION
This work makes reference, as its title shows, to the elementary students and to their
level of learning and teaching. The choice of the role of grammar as the topic of this work was
determined by my personal interest in this issue due to the fact that my students are not quite
brilliant at it. No matter how hard I tried or what I did sometimes they just don’t seem to get it.
And then I began wondering if I’m not one of the problems. Thus I started searching different
kinds of activities and of teaching methods.
I try to present here some rules of grammar, mainly the tenses of the indicative mood, and
the way we can teach and practice these tenses with beginners and elementary students because,
it is known that it’s not easy for a fourth or fifth grade student: [anonimizat], for instance, present simple or present continuous. Lately, everybody speaks
about communication and the emphasis is on communication so it is difficult to make a child
understand that, besides vocabulary, grammar is very important in a foreign language learning,
and not only in this case, and to determine him/her to practice grammar and not be afraid to use
tenses and play with words while speaking English.
It is also known that without a good acquiring and understanding of grammar, it is im –
possible to solve exercises or to write compositions and that the conversations or the commu –
nication exercises during the English classes without presenting, explaining and the fixing of
grammar structures, don’t reach their objectives and might be totally useless.
The present work is divided in five parts: in the first part I have written a short description
of what verb, tense and aspect are; the second part is about the using of the tenses of the indic –
ative mood; chapter three presents the methodology and methods used for teaching English.
Finally, in the last part of this work the research project is presented: methodologies, data and
results of the questionnaire and the task-based lessons are described to provide the study with
evidence.

4
ARGUMENT
The reform in our educational system has been trying to create a student centered school,
a school that should assure to our student the acquisition of some new instruments in order to
disseminate the information he or she receives (critical thinking, problem solving, clear de –
cisions, etc.), a school that allows our student to have access and to search for information in
libraries, to use the internet and dictionaries and all these in order to facilitate the new graduate
success both from the social and professional point of view. But unfortunately, the educational
process in our schools still focuses mostly on transmitting dense and already structured infor –
mation while developed countries use different techniques. The teachers from the developed
countries schools use creative techniques by entertaining the learners while they are learning
or practicing a linguistic structure, which eliminates the student’s negative attitude towards
learning. As teachers, we have to help our students to understand the theories and to reach a
high level of knowledge and of way of thinking. We have to teach them or to help them learn
how to analyse , to synthesize, to apply the new information and to solve problems. In order to
fulfill our job, we have to use a set of “tools” but we have to pay attention what “tools” do we
use because it is well known that we always get back what we give.
Teaching English methodology moves the accent from words and rules memorizing to the
developing of a creative thinking, to discovery and guiding activities, to the acquiring of inde –
pendent work. But thinking in a foreign language can’t be done without the shell of speaking.
Ideas can’t exist in someone’s mind without having a linguistic support: vocabulary, sentences,
and phrases. It means that the main purpose of our educational process can’t be realized without
the developing of clear and concise expression. So without grammar, we would not be able to
form coherent thoughts and no one would be able to understand us.
I have always liked this quote of Noam Chomsky which says that “It’s perfectly obvious
that there is some genetic factor that distinguishes humans from other animals and that it is
language – specific. The theory of that genetic component, whatever it turns out to be, is what
is called universal grammar.”
The way we speak, we express ourselves, we link words and build sentences is grammar.
We, the people, are the only beings that can speak, that have this ability of communication and
so we should choose the way we speak, the way we communicate. Having a poor language
means having a poor thinking and poor feeling, the incapacity to express and to transmit our
thoughts and feelings. A person who has unconscious knowledge of grammar may be sufficient
for simple language use, but the ones who wish to communicate in an educated manner, will

5
seek the proficiency that only the study of grammar can provide.
That is why I have chosen this subject for my work. I think that grammar really does
need to be taught to foreign-language students. It is known that there are voices who claim
that grammar should be learnt inductively because a baby, when is born he or she is not taught
the rules of language and though he is able to speak correctly. That’s right, we don’t study the
grammar of our mother tongue to use it for daily speaking but if we need to polish our own
mother tongue, we have to study its grammar. So when our students come to study English, we,
their teachers, need to teach them its grammar, we can’t neglect the importance of grammar in
our classes. I think that everybody agrees that without good grammar, clear communication is
nearly impossible. V ocabulary is very important in language learning, but without grammar, vo –
cabulary doesn’t help too much. Proper grammar, including here both clear communication and
good vocabulary, keeps us from being misunderstood while expressing our ideas and thoughts.
Another reason why I have chosen to write about teaching tenses of the Indicative mood
to elementary students is because I teach in an elementary school and I have noticed how dif –
ficult is for my students to learn about different tenses, especially the ones we don’t have in
Romanian. So, I have always been considering it a provocation: to try to find the best way to
teach them, to make them understand and to determine them to use English language in class.
It is always an achievement and a delight when, at the end of the English class, my students are
happy because they have begun to understand English and happiness can be read in their eyes.
I try to transmit them the love for English and to encourage them to use it as much as possible
but it’s not always an easy task. It’s not easy because sometimes I have to fight misconceptions
such as “English is not so important” or “What do I need English for?” so I try to make my
classes more attractive and I try to mix the teaching methods, to use both traditional methods,
such as presentation and practice, and more often the modern ones, such as guiding discovery,
repetition, accurate reproduction, brainstorming, games, etc. It is true they find more attractive
and they like most the modern techniques, enjoying this kind of activities very much. During
my grammar lessons, I explain my students that grammar is not only rules, it is how creativity
manifests itself in language. Grammar means the way we organize our words and sentences
with others and to express ourselves. If we don’t teach grammar during our classes we stifle
creativity and limit possibility for many children. “We leave them to fall back on what they in –
tuitively know about language, and as a consequence they simply write like they speak.” (Misty
Adoniou, Grammar matters and should be taught differently, www.theconversation.com).
In conclusion, grammar is very important not only in a foreign language learning but

6
also in learning our mother tongue. Without grammar we wouldn’t be able to express ourselves
correctly and coherently, our message might be misunderstood and we wouldn’t be able to
communicate with each other or write. I really believe that language teaching and learning is
fun and students do enjoy learning grammar structures.
The importance of English language in globalization era and the importance of
teaching English language in schools
We are human beings and as human beings we need and like to communicate to each
other. Communication is very important, especially nowadays, because without communica –
tion everything becomes impossible. One of the most important mean of communication is
language. According to Saussure, language is a concept of communication which consists of
two elements: langue and parole, where langue is the language concept including grammar and
parole represents the speech concept.
Today, in the global era, communication represents one of the most crucial elements.
Without a good communication, people all over the world won’t be able to understand each
other and when people don’t understand each other, misunderstanding will happen. This is the
reason why good communication among the people of different countries of all over the world
is needed. The need to communicate and to understand each other urges people to learn glob –
al languages. Among some global languages, I think that the most important and influencing
language is English language. English is an international language which is spoken in many
countries both as a native and as a second or foreign language. Nowadays, English is not an
unusual thing, English has become normal especially in this era of globalization. Being able to
speak well and fluently English is no longer an added value but it has become a demand and a
need for every person who wants to evolve and have better chances to a good job. This is why
in all aspects of international life, trade, science, diplomacy, education and travel, the common
language is English.
English is not used only in communication but also as a language of science and technol –
ogy. It is known that all the technical manuals and instructions for different devices or tools are
written in English. According to the research that has been noted by Maurais and Morris in 2003,
the field of science and technology also rely on the use of English language. From one billion
documents on the websites on 1999s, average 86,5% were written in English. (Maurais J. and
Morris M.A., 2003 Language in a globalizing world, ed. Cambridge University Press).
English is also used in business by the entrepreneurs from different countries of the

7
world. Job opportunities are bigger for someone who speaks English, he or she has bigger
chances to work in big companies, in private organizations or government agencies.
As Graddol mentioned in his work, English will become an international lingua franca
for at least the next fifty years and will occupy the monopolistic position in the 21st century.
(Graddol D., The future of English, London: The British Council 1997) Most countries use
English as a second language after their national language. English has become an universal
language that is used in the world of technology, education, business, trade and so forth. This
is the main reason why language is important to be studied and mastered in order to be able to
compete and face the globalization era.
English is taught in schools almost in every country in this world because it is well known
that knowledge of English represents a passport for a better career, better pay, and advanced
knowledge. English is also learnt for the rich literature it possesses and for variety and the
amount of experience it provides. When people learn English language it is obviously they will
learn about its culture. Learning about English culture might help to improve our own culture,
way of living and thinking.
In Romania, English has been a compulsory subject and has become the second language
since 1990, when education reforms started. Now it is one of the main subjects in our schools.
According to the report published by Eurostat the percentage of Romanian students who are
studying English in our schools increased from 92,9% in 2004 to 99,2% by the end of 2013
(www.ugb.ro) . It is very important to encourage our students to learn English, even if for
many of them the study of languages is something they feel neutral or negative about, and to
make them realize that speaking English opens the world in front of them. For the last three
years, English has been included in the Romanian syllabus since primary school, mainly since
Preparatory Grade. The first advantage of introducing English so early in school is that now it
is the perfect time to learn a foreign language. I think that everybody is aware of the fact that
the age between 6 – 13 years old is the right age to learn a second language beside our mother
tongue because at this age children have a good brain condition to receive something new. Now,
children are curious, they want to explore the world and so they are easily motivated to learn
the new language. During the first two years in primary school, students are learnt vocabulary
and English songs and games, in the second grade students begin to make simple sentences and
during the third and fourth grade they begin to learn a little grammar but everything is done
as a game. They learn the grammar rule unconsciously and without being afraid of making
mistakes. When they come to elementary school students already have some knowledge about

8
English language and now they begin learning, beside vocabulary, the grammar rules. It is ob –
vious that those students who speak or know English are more creative, they understand better
the cultures of other countries and show stronger skills in their own native language.
Another reason why it is very important that English is taught since primary school is
time. Students need a long time to comprehend grammatical structures because many of these
structures are not found in our own language. So when they arrive at the end of high school
they have good abilities of speaking and understanding English, being capable to maintain a
conversation in English.
Theoretically, at the end of high school our students speak English clearly and fluently
but they wouldn’t be able to do that if they didn’t learn grammar. “The grammar of language is
the description of the ways in which words can change their forms and can be combined into
sentences in that language.” ( Harmer 2003:12 ). If we ask: “What does grammar mean?” we
will notice that it means different things to different people. The ordinary citizen understands
through grammar the correctness or incorrectness of the spoken language, for a student it rep –
resents the analytical and terminological study of sentence and for other people grammar is
just a waste of time. But we have to be aware of the fact that a foreign language can’t be learnt
accurately only through the process of unconscious assimilation. Grammar is indispensable for
an English language learner.
On my reading about why is grammar important in a foreign language learning I found
this interesting quote which illustrates the use of knowledge of grammar: “Imagine two car
drivers. The first driver knows only driving and nothing about the working of the engine. He
feels helpless whenever there is some trouble with the machinery. The second driver knows
driving and also understands the working of the machinery. The person who knows grammar is
like this second driver. In case he doubtful about the correctness of a particular thing, his knowl –
edge of grammar comes to his rescue.” ( Kohli, 1984:116). I think that this quote emphasizes
very well the need to learn grammar. We can learn vocabulary, we can be able to memorize
hundreds of words but if we don’t know how to link them correctly, if we don’t know what
tense to use to express our thoughts, it’s totally useless. Our message wouldn’t be clear and
from here misunderstandings happen. But knowing grammar and with a sufficient vocabulary,
one can give utterance to any thought that crosses his or her mind. It doesn’t matter if we make
reference to English grammar or any other grammar, be it a native or a bilingual, we cannot
write or speak eloquently bereft of this key factor. There is no way to escape from using gram –
mar when we are learning a foreign language. Grammar differs from one language to another.

9
We are tempted to say that English grammar is less complicated in comparison with Romanian
or French language, but it isn’t. From the linguistic point of view, grammar is the same in terms
of complexity in all languages. Despite the fact that the grammatical structure would differ, its
role remains imperative and instrumental in all languages. “We know that the strength of a tree
lies in its roots. Similarly the strength of any spoken language lies in its grammar.” ( www.bbc.
co.uk./blogs/learningenglish/how-to-improve-your-english) It means that grammar serves
the base and foundation of all the languages. Human interaction and communication can’t be
done without grammar. Good grammar is vital for effective communication. Whether we like it
or not we are judged by the way we speak. The way we express ourselves during a conversation
will make people perceive us as being a well-educated person or not.
The influence of grammar is not obviously only in writing and speaking but also in read –
ing and listening. The role of grammar is important not only in our production of the language
but also in our understanding and perception. If I ask, for instance, one of my students, to bring
a book from my desk he has to make difference if I ask for one book or for the books, that sim –
ple “ s” is the difference.
We can easily notice that grammar stays at the basis of English language. English, espe –
cially when we refer at it as to a second language, is not acquired naturally. Through grammar,
as English learners we learn how to operate at the sentence level and studies the governance of
the syntax or word orders that are the rule of the game in the language. Words grouped together
randomly have little meaning on their own. For instance if I ask someone where is he or she
and the answer is “with friends ice cream eat” is highly unlikely to understand the message.
Words may have lexical meaning at the word level but they convey no grammatical meaning as
a group. When a special order is given to the words then it is created the grammatical meaning
because of the relationship words have with one another.
We can refer to punctuation as being another way in which grammar contributes to mean –
ing. When we are having a conversation we use intonation, voice patterns and even the body
language to express an exclamation or a question. But when we are reading we don’t have these
tools so we rely on the punctuation to help us figure out what the writer means. Punctuation
has also the capacity to change the meaning of a sentence. Making mistakes at the level of
punctuation leads to ambiguity. Lately, on the Internet, anyone could see the following sentence
referring to the importance of punctuation: “Let’s eat grandma!” This sentence could have been
punctuated to have a different meaning: “Let’s eat, grandma!” If the first sentence is an invi –
tation to eat grandma, the second sentence is an invitation to set the table and have dinner. So,

10
punctuation is a powerful tool. It helps maintain consistency and ease understanding.
To conclude here there is no doubt that grammar instruction in English language learning
classes is an essential thing. “First, it facilitates the role of the teacher by enabling him to break
down the language into little pieces and then provides him with a syllabus to follow with which
make the teaching job goes so much smoother.” (www.academia.edu – The importance of
grammar in second language teaching and learning ) As for learners, English grammar en –
sures that learners have the skills and rules necessary to articulate any thought that crosses their
minds. Possessing a sufficient diction and a decent mastery of grammar, learners should be
capable of carrying out meaningful conversation.

11
DEFINITIONS
When I laid down and started to write this work I had in my mind my students, their
need of English learning and studying and their difficulties of understanding English grammar.
Of course that in elementary school, grammar is represented by a wide range of structures and
rules but I have chosen to stop and bound over the tenses of the indicative mood. I am aware
of the fact that there are a lot of books and studies about this subject but what I intended to do
is to combine the theory with the methodology of teaching this tenses, to find different kind of
activities to practice these structures and to notice which goes better with my students.
In the first part of my work I refer to the tenses of the indicative mood. Grammar in
primary and elementary school presents many aspects such as plural of nouns, comparison of
adjectives and adverbs, if clauses and passive voice, but I decided to stop on tenses because, on
one hand students sometimes have difficulties to understand them and to differentiate between
simple and continuous aspect and, on the other hand, because tenses are very important when
we express our thoughts. The word tense comes from the Latin tempus which means time. The
tense of the verb shows the time when an action or a condition occurred. In English language,
the tense provides emphasis and determines whether or not the action was continuous or repet –
itive. In English there are three basic times when the verb action can take place: present, past
and future. English verbs have six tenses: three of them are called simple tenses and the other
three are called perfect tenses. The three simple tenses are: present simple: ‘ We run in the park
three times a week.’ ; past simple: ‘We ran in the park last week.’; ‘We will run in the park.’
The perfect tenses are: present perfect: ‘We have run in the park’ , past perfect: ‘We had run.’
and future perfect: ‘By noon, we will have run in the park.’
As far as we know from the English grammar books both simple tenses and perfect
tenses can be made into progressive verb forms. The progressive aspect is often called, espe –
cially when teaching young students, as the continuous aspect. Tenses in the continuous aspect
show that the action is in progress or it is still continuing. To form progressive aspect, we use
the verb To Be and we add at the end of the verb the termination –ing, which is actually the
present participle of the verb. The first tense is the present continuous: ‘We are running in the
park.’ Past Continuous: ‘We were running in the park.’ Present Perfect Continuous: ‘We have
been running in the park.’ Past perfect Continuous: ‘We had been running in the park.’ Future
Continuous: ‘We will have been running in the park.’
All these tenses and aspects are very important when teaching and learning English be –
cause they help us to express ourselves clearly, to narrate a story or to tell a sequence of events.

12
It’s not the same thing to say ‘I meet my best friend yesterday’ instead of ‘ I met my best friend
yesterday.’ or ‘He like reading.’ instead of ‘ He likes reading.’ or ‘I read a book now’ instead of
‘I’m reading a book now.’ It is for the students’ benefit to understand the differences between
these tenses, to discover them and to start using them properly because, as I said before gram –
mar plays an important role in English classes. Certain approaches to teaching English language
leaded to neglect the role of grammar in the act of teaching and learning. I attempt to highlight
the vitality of grammar, more specific here the vitality of tenses of the indicative mood, in
teaching and acquiring English as a second language.
In my work I make reference to lesson planning and to the methods used to teach gram –
mar to elementary students. I agree that “lesson planning is a creative process that allows us to
synthesize our understanding of the second language acquisition and language teaching ped –
agogy with our knowledge of our learners, the curriculum and the teaching context.” (www.
tesol.org) Lesson planning gives us the opportunity to think deliberately about our choice of
lesson objectives, the type of activities that will meet these objectives, the materials we need
during our lesson, how long the activity might take and how the students will be grouped during
these activities. It might be said that lesson planning takes too much time but lesson plans can
be used again, in whole or in part. When we have a lesson plan with us we tend to feel more
confident because if we have to teach, for instance the third person‘s’ to 3rd or 4th grade students
and we are not sure how to expose the problem or how to explain so they can understand it,
we become aware of this problem and can take steps to acquire the information we need, or if
we are not sure what means or how to pronounce a new vocabulary word we can remedy this
during the lesson planning process. So, when we have a lesson plan for our English class, the
lesson will flow more smoothly because all the information has been gathered here and all the
details of the lesson have been decided upon beforehand.
In order to have a good lesson plan and to succeed in teaching a new grammar struc –
ture we have to be careful what methods do we use. According to the Webster’s Third New
International Dictionary a method is seen as “a procedure or process for attaining” a goal or
“a systematic procedure, technique” often related to a science or art. A method is the practical
realization of an approach. Methods include various procedures and techniques as part of their
standard fare. Some examples of methods are: a lecture, guiding discovery, a simulation game
or an inquiry.
On the other hand the methodology of teaching English as a foreign language rep –
resents, according to the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, “a body of methods,

13
procedures, working concepts, rules and postulates employed in the solution of a problem or
in doing something.” This definition might be considered as a synonym to the words teaching
and strategy. We know that when it comes out to English teaching methods and methodology,
everybody talks about traditional methods and modern methods. Among the traditional meth –
ods popular ones are Grammar Translation method, Direct Method and Audio-lingual method.
These traditional methods focused more on learning about a language and were based on the
principles such as: learning of the grammar rules, use of the native tongue as the medium of
instruction and greater use of translation exercises. If the traditional methods are more teach –
er-centered, the teachers has the main role in teaching the language, the modern methods are
more student-centered. According to Jim Scrivener, the teacher’s main role is to “help learning
to happen”, which includes to involve them in what is going on “by enabling them to work
at their own speed, by not giving long explanations, by encouraging them to participate, talk,
interact, do things, etc.” ( Scrivener: 18, 19 ) In his book “Learning Teaching”, Jim Scrivener
claims that, nowadays a great emphasis is put on “communication of meaning” ( Scrivener 31).
The most important and well-known modern method is the Communicative Language method.
Now, the modern methodology is aiming for something different and the way to achieve the
goal has changed. We have to adjust our methods and courses to the needs of our students and
so we can fulfill their expectations.
It is known that we can’t say that one method or a certain method fits best in every
class, in every situation or with all students. I agree with the opinion of Michael J. Wallace
who believe that a central factor in the choice of methods is the learners’ needs and characters;
something works for some person well, but the same method might not work for another per –
son. These days, as teachers, we have great possibilities, in terms of teaching methods, visual
aids, etc. to do with our students. Our duty as teachers is to find out which one goes best with
our students and it is preferable to use modern teaching methods.
In my work I also present a number of tests used for different grammatical structures.
“Language testing is the practice and study of evaluating the proficiency of an individual in
using a particular language effectively.” (www.languagetesting.info). I know that testing is not
the only way to assess my students but it is important to include a test in our language course.
When I use a predictive test I might obtain valuable information about where my students are
in their learning and it can affect what I will cover next. If I use a progressive test then it helps
me to decide if my teaching has been effective or not and helps me to highlight what needs to be
reviewed. Testing can be an assessment both for the teaching and for the learning process. Tests

14
are also useful because they can give students a sense of accomplishment as well as information
about what they know and what they need to review. “Tests are also a learning opportunity after
they have been taken. The feedback after the test can be invaluable in helping a student to un –
derstand something he/she couldn’t do during the test. Thus the test is a review in itself.” (www.
teachingenglish.org.uk). Of course that there are other alternatives that can be used instead of
or alongside tests. These are: continuous assessment – we give grades for a number of assign –
ments over a period of time. A finale grade is decided on a combination of assignments. The
portfolio – students collect a number of assignments and projects and present them in a file. The
file is then used as a basis for evaluation. We can also use self-assessment and ask students to
evaluate themselves. Another alternative is the teacher assessment, when we give an assessment
of the learner for the work done throughout the course including classroom contributions.
In conclusion, I tried to reach and to talk a little bit about everything: to present gram –
mar structures, to name some methods used to teach these structures, to present some lesson
plans, drills and tests that I had used during my courses and to present their pluses and minuses.

15
TEACHING GRAMMAR TO ELEMENTARY LEVEL
TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE MOOD
It is more than obvious that English has become the dominant language around the
world. Being a global language of business, it is necessary to develop the effective communi –
cation skills of English language. Proving effective communication skills of English is neces –
sary for the people of all professions. The concept of English verb tenses is very important in
establishing effective communication. We need to gain mastery over English language tenses
because knowing to use them correctly will help us in gaining effective communication skills.
The correct use of tenses helps us speaking clearly to other people and the others can compre –
hend accurately what we have to say.
Before starting the presentation of the tenses of the indicative mood, I will write very
briefly about the verb and its grammatical categories.
CAHPTER 1. THE VERB
The verb is the part of speech which expresses an action, an activity or a process and it
has the following grammatical categories: tense, aspect, mood and voice.
The term tense has been derived from the Latin word tempus and it means time. To express
the time of action we use tenses. In English there are three main tenses: past tense: ‘I walked to
school.’ , present tense: ‘ I walk to school.’ and future tense: ‘I will walk to school.’ It is very impor –
tant to notice that each of these tenses has four forms. These forms are: simple: ‘I walk’ , continuous
or progressive: ‘I am walking’ , perfect: ‘I have walked” and perfect continuous or progressive: ‘I
have been walking’ . We must keep in mind that in a certain situation or in accordance with the time,
we should use an appropriate tense in order to maintain an effective communication.
1.1. The aspect
Aspect reflects the way in which the verb action is “regarded or experienced with re –
spect to time”. (Quirk, 1985:) According to Leon Levitchi there are three types of aspects of
the verb in English language: ( Levitchi, 2003: 131 – 132 )
a) The first is named the indefinite aspect , also called Zero or Simple aspect. In indef –
inite aspect, the action of the verb has no relation to the passage of the time; the verb is in its
simple form and shows that an action did or did not happen.

16
Example: I ate.
She walks.
He will not come.
They do not go.
b) The Perfective Aspect describes events occurring in the past but linked to a later time,
usually to the present time. The perfective aspect is formed with the auxiliary verb HAVE
(have, has, had) plus the –ed or –t past participle of an infinitive verb.
Example: I had combed the cat before the Cat Show last week.
I have climbed the mountain before today.
I will have spent more by next month than I spent last year.

We know that one of the problems in English language is the overlap of meaning be –
tween tense and aspect, more exactly the choice that has to be made between simple past and
present perfective.
Simple past: I studied French for two years.
Present perfective: I have studied French for two years.
As we can notice in the above example, both sentences indicate a state of affairs before
the present moment, but the simple past indicates that the period of residence has to come to a
close, whereas the present perfective indicates that the residence has continued up to the present
time (and may even continue into the future).
The common factor of meaning which the perfective brings to all the examples present –
ed above is sketched in fig. 2 the following figure: ( Quirk, 1985 : 190)
Quirk 190
The figure presented above indicates very clearly that the perfective aspect merely de -T?
T= time of
orientation

17
fines an anterior time zone within which the action of the verb happens.
c) The progressive aspect, The progressive aspect doesn’t exist in the grammar of Ro –
manian language but it can be expressed through the habitual forms of the verb conjugation,
indicating in English language action was, is or will be in progress.
Example: I was washing my hair when he came in.
I am washing my hair for the tonight party.
I will be washing my hair tomorrow evening.
The continuous aspect is formed with the auxiliary verb To Be + 4th form of the verb.
Example: I am playing tennis. (now)
R. Quirk considers that the meaning of the progressive can be separated into three com –
ponents, not all of which need be present in a given instance:
(a) The happening has DURATION
(b) The happening has LIMITED duration
(c) The happening is NOT NECESSARILY COMPLETE
The Frequentative Aspect
The frequentative aspect shows the repeating or the frequency of an action or a state by
the help of the verbs will ( present) and would or used to (the preterit).
Example: When it was hot we would go swimming.
They used to have dinner at the restaurant.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar we have to be aware of the dis –
tinction between tense and aspect. Tense is concerned with how time is encoded in the grammar of
English while the aspect is concerned with the unfolding of a situation. ( Greenbaum, 1996 : 32)
1.2. The Voice
In English unlike the Romanian grammar, sentences can be either active or passive.
Therefore, we know that tenses have active form and passive form. Voice is the grammatical
category which “shows the relation between the subject and the action” ( www.englishclub.
com). In English there are two main voices: the active voice and the passive voice.
The active voice points out that the grammatical subject does the action expressed by the

18
verb while the passive voice shows that the subject of the sentence, the grammatical subject,
does not actually perform the action.
Example: They saw you here.
Example: You were seen by them.
The verbs which can accept the passive voice are transitive verbs, except for the rela –
tional verbs: to resemble, to possess, to have, to hold and some prepositional verbs: to look at,
to send for, to speak to, to account for, to attend to, to look after, to look for, to put up with, to
do away with.
The tenses of the passive voice are built on the pattern: the respective tense of the
auxiliary “be” + the past participle of the lexical verb. The continuous tenses of the passive
consist in: the respective tense of the “be” + being + the past participle of the lexical verb.
Only the Indicative Present, the Indefinite Past and the Past Subjunctive are used in the contin –
uous aspect. Thus According to Hortensia Parlog the finite moods have the following forms:
THE INDICATIVE MOOD
Simple Present: I am asked.
Present continuous: I am being asked
Present Perfect: I have been asked
Simple Past: I was asked
Past Continuous: I was being asked
Past Perfect: I had been asked
Simple Future: I shall be asked
Future Perfect: I shall have been asked
Future in the Past: I should be asked
(Parlog, 1998 : 165 – 166)
The active-passive correspondence
As I presented above, the voice distinguishes an active verb phrase from a passive one. It
makes possible to view the action of a sentence in two ways. Leon Levitchi stated that the active
passive relation involves two grammatical levels: the verb phrase and the clause. At the clause
level, changing from the active to the passive involves rearrangement of two clause elements

19
and one addition. “The active subject becomes the passive AGENT; the active object becomes
the passive subject and the preposition by is introduced before the agent and the preposition by
is introduced before the agent.” (Levitchi, 2003:135)
Example: John (active subject) admired (active verb) Mary.
Mary (passive subject) was admired (passive verb) by John (by phrase
agent).
There is always a question arising: whether active voice is better than passive voice? We
know that, in some areas, it is better to use the passive voice. If there are situations when the
performer of the predicate verb is unclear or we want to emphasise the action or the problem
then the passive voice is used. But, on the other hand, passive voice is not very useful when we
want to express something very clearly and briefly. If we intend to write a technical paper, then
using active voice is better than using the passive voice. When constructing the passive voice
more predicate word is used and then it will “make the sentence a big head and a small tail.”
(www.sciencewritingblog.wordpress.com )
In conclusion, if we want to emphasise that the key point of a sentence is the performer
of predicate verb then we use the active voice and, on the other hand, if we want to emphasise
that the key point of the sentence is the undertaker of predicate verb then it is more suitable to
use the passive voice.
1.3. The mood
Most Indo-European languages have, in addition to verb tenses, verb moods. The mood
of the verb “simply expresses the viewpoint of the speaker or writer, their wishes, intents or
assertions about reality.” (www.learnenglish.de ) many of us might think that this sounds a little
complicated, but it’s simple enough: in the Indicative mood, the speaker is sure that something
is the case, while in the Imperative mood the speaker desires that something should happen.
Mood is expressed through the sentence’s verb and grammatical structure. For example,
a sentence that lacks a subject and begins with a present-tense verb is likely imperative, and a
sentence that begins with if and uses past-tense verbs is likely subjunctive.
As George Gruia presents in his book A Concise English Grammar, in English there are
four finite forms and three non-finite forms.

20
GRUIA, 2003 : 78

The Indicative shows that the speaker considers the action as real, or, at least possible.
Most sentences in English are written in the indicative mood. As I presented above, the indic –
ative mood has three tenses: past, present and future where, at each level, can be used three
aspect forms: simple, continuous and perfect.
The subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses that express emotion, doubt, desire
and possibility. (www.grammar.reverso.net).
The subjunctive is rarely used compared to the other moods I’ve presented in my work,
but it’s still important to be able to identify, use and understand it. The subjunctive of the
contemporary English language has lost its character of independent mood (having its own
forms), it has mostly disappeared and it is not as important as it is in other European languages,
like French for instance, which happen to be more subtle and discriminating in hypothetical,
doubtful or wishful expressions. Many situations which would require the subjunctive in other
languages are satisfied by using one of several auxiliary verbs in English.
The conditional mood is used to “speculate about what could happen, what might have
happened and what we wish would happen” ( www.ef.com /English grammar). In English,
most sentences using the conditional contain the word if. Many conditional forms in English
are used in sentences that include verbs in one of the past tenses. This usage is referred to as
“the unreal past” because we use a past tense but we are not actually referring to something that
happened in the past. There are five main ways of constructing conditional sentences in English.
These sentences are made up of an if clause and a main clause. In many negative conditional
sentences, there is an equivalent sentence construction using unless instead of if. Moodsfinite indicative – it has all the tenses
subjunctive – present, past and past perfect
conditionnal – present and perfect
imperative – present
non-finiteinfinitive – present and perfect
participle – present, past and perfect
gerund – present and perfect

21
The conditional mood has two tenses: present conditional and perfect conditional.
Present conditional statement expresses that a particular action happens only after an –
other action (the condition) happens first. Both the main clause and the condition include the
present tense.
Example: If we want vegetables, we look for local produce.
A past conditional statement expresses that a particular action happened only after an –
other action (the condition) happened first. Both the main clause and the condition include a
past tense verb form.
Example: If we wanted vegetables, we looked for local produce.

The imperative mood expresses an order, a command, a wish, a greeting, advice, a threat.
Example: Come here!
Open your books, please!
As we can notice, there is no subject in the examples presented above. The pronoun
“you”, singular or plural, depending on the context, is the “understood subject” in imperative
sentences ( www.grammar.ccc.comment.edu ). Virtually all imperative sentences, then, have a
second person subject.
The infinitive is a non-finite form. It is considered to be the base form of the verb. It
names the action or the state expressed by it, without reference to person, number or mood.
When we speak of the English infinitive, we usually mean the basic form of the verb with the
particle “to” in front of it. It occurs in the language either as long infinitive, preceded by the
particle to: to sleep, to sing, to laugh or as short infinitive, not preceded by the particle to. (Lev –
itchi, 2003 : 155)
I hope you didn’t annoy her.
The Participle. The word participle comes from a Latin word which means “a sharing,
partaking” (www.really-learn-english.com ). So, the participle is a form of a verb that is used
in a sentence to modify a noun, noun phrase, verb or verb phrase and then plays a role similar
to an adjective or adverb. It is one of the types of nonfinite verb forms.
There are two participle forms in English: -ing participle which denotes a continuous
action or state and the past participle which is the third form of the verb and denotes the action
as a result.

22
Example: speaking
Haven’t spoken
The gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, but it is very useful to under –
stand the difference between the two. The gerund always has the same function as a noun al –
though it looks like a verb. Thus, gerund will be a subject, a subject complement, a direct object,
an indirect object or an object of prepositions. Present participles, on the other hand, complete
progressive verbs or act as modifiers ( www.chompchomp.com )
Example: Since Mary was six years old, reading has been her passion.
When I passed by, Mary was reading one of her favourite books.
In the first example, reading is a gerund and it is the subject of the verb ‘has been’ while
in the second example it is the present participle, completing the past continuous tense ‘was
reading’.
As we could notice, mood is quite a complex structure of English grammar so it is very
important for the learners of English as a foreign language to understand each one and how they
can be used to alter what we are attempting to convey. To sum up, the category of mood is di –
vided in two, more exactly in two oppositions: the indicative mood and the spective mood. As I
will try to present in this work, the indicative mood is the basic mood of the verb. “Morpholog –
ically, it is the most developed system. Semantically, it is a fact mood; it is the least subjective
of all the moods.” (www.refleader.ru ) The spective mood, which includes the imperative and
the subjunctive mood, “represents a process as a non-fact, as something imaginary, desirable,
problematic, contrary to reality.” (www.refleader.ru )

23
CHAPTER 2. TENSES OF THE INDICATIVE MOOD
As I have already mentioned, the indicative mood is the most important mood in Eng –
lish language. Taking into consideration that my students are primary and elementary students,
I decided to talk about the tenses of the indicative mood because, on one hand, it is the most
used mood in English and on the other hand because at this level students learn mainly about
its tenses. It begins easily in the third grade with the third person singular ‘s’, then continues
to talk about daily activities. In the fourth grade we learn about what we are doing now, going
to fifth grade where it is presented what we do every day, what we are doing now and what we
did yesterday. Going in the sixth grade we talk about routines and activities that are happening
in the moment of speaking, about what happened yesterday and what has recently happened
and so on and so forth. So, verb tenses are absolutely necessary if we want to speak English
fluently. Nobody says that’s an easy task but the rewards are worth the effort. We know that
English verb tenses help us organize out thoughts and our writing. Clarity in spoken and written
communication permit us the entrance to a world where ideas flourish. The indicative mood has
the following tenses: Present, Present Perfect, Preterite, Past Tense, Past Perfect, Near Future,
Future Perfect, Simple future, Future in the past.
In the figure down here, verbal tenses are placed so that the ones adjoining one another
also express “the chronological contiguity”
Levintchi, 2003:137
Present and Present Perfect Tenses belong to the present tenses group; the Preterite and
Past Perfect belong to the past tenses group, the Near Future, Future Perfect, Simple Future
and Future in the Past belong to the future tenses group. Future in the PastPresent Perfect Near Future
Future Perfect Preterite
Past Perfect Simple FuturePresent

24
2.1. Time, tense, and the verb
For Quirk (Quirk, 1985 : 175) time can be thought as a line, theoretically of non-finite
length, on which the present moment is located as a continuously moving moment, anything
ahead of this moment is in the future and anything behind is in the past.
QUIRK, 1985 : 175
This interpretation of the three divisions of time into past, present and future is at a ref –
erential level, a level outside the world of language. Time then is “an element of our experience
to reality (Lewis, 1986 : 47). Time is “what we measure with clock, watches, and calendars,
for example.” (Fleming, 2003 : online) . No matter the language we learn or speak, “time and
space are fundamental to cognition and experience, which rooted in the structural organization
of language.” (Klein, 1994 : 1). When what has happened is described, it is not as simplistic
as the arranged order in the assembly lines but one has to follow another “before” and “after”.
According to this point of view, a language might not be analysed independently of its user’s
perception of what happen.
2.2. Tenses which have a relationship to present time
This section is about the tenses usually referred to as ‘present’ in grammars and refer –
ence works, more exactly it is about the present simple and the present continuous.
Present perfect and present perfect continuous are included here because they have a re –
lationship to present time. We may say that it is their most important feature, unlike apparently
similar tenses in other languages. It may help to clarify the nature of both these tenses if they
are seen as describing actions which relate to the present rather than merely another form of the
‘past’ tense. THE PRESENT MOMENT
PAST FUTURE
[now]

25
2.2.1. Present Continuous
Aitken, 1992 : 11
The present continuous tense is one of the most often used tenses in English. From my
experience as a teacher I could notice that students have some problems in using it, especially
when they begin to learn it. Not having a correspondent in Romanian grammar they tend to
use it incorrectly, either they don’t understand when it has to be used or they forget about the
auxiliary verb.
It may be helpful to present the Present Continuous as a present tense which deals with
actions which began before the moment of speaking, are expecting to continue past it, but are
essentially transitory. It is also important to emphasise that the present continuous is only used
with action verbs and not stative verbs.
According to Rosemary Aitken the present continuous is used to express a temporary ac –
tion which began before the moment of speaking, is continuing across it, and it is not complete.
Example: He is doing his homework at the moment.
Aitken, 1992 : 7PAST TIME FUTURE TIME
PRESENT TIME[now]
[including now]
NOW
Action began I’m working (at this moment)

26
Or a temporary course of action, fairly recently begun, recently engaged in, but not
expected to be permanent.
Example: You are living in London.
(Aitken, 1992 : 7)
The present continuous is also used to express a temporary habit not necessarily en –
gaged in at the moment of speech, but temporarily contracted for.
Example: I’m watering his plants while he’s away.
(Aitken, 1992 : 7)
Sometimes we use the present continuous with verbs of hoping. It is a more polite alter –
native to the present simple, especially when it is used in letters, invitations, etc.
Example: We are looking forward to seeing you.
I am hoping to see you soon.
Or with the verb BE to refer to somebody’s behaviour at the moment of speaking. If we
refer to somebody’s permanent feature of character then we use the present simple.NOW
Action began I’m living in London
NOW
Action began
He left He returns
I’m watering his plant while he’s away

27
Example: He isn’t being too friendly tonight, you know?
You are being aggressive. (i.e . now )
You are aggressive. (i.e. generally )
One of the most important roles of the present continuous is expressing a future action
(with future time marker ). For plans already undertaken and preliminary arrangements made. If
other people are involved, arrangements are generally agreed between the parties.
Example: I’m picking her up at six. (She is expecting me)
We’ re leaving tomorrow. (we have packed, bought our tickets)
(Aitken, 1992 : 7)
It is also important to emphasise that the present continuous is only used with action verbs and not
stative verbs. In order to facilitate our students’ understanding and achievements of the present continuous
tense is important to present them the verbs which are not normally used in the continuous aspect.
These verbs are:
– verbs of the senses (i.e. denoting physical perception): see, hear, smell, taste, notice,
recognize.
Example: I smell something burning.
– verbs of thinking (i.e. implying some sort of mutual perception): think, realize, know,
understand, suppose, expect, remember, forget, mind, etc.
Example: I think she didn’t realize how important this was.
– verbs of emotion: love, hate, like, dislike, refuse, want, wish, forgive.
Example: We hate anyone listening to our phone calls.
– verbs of possessing: own, owe, belong, possessNOW
Arrangements made We’re leaving tomorrow

28
Example: The house belonged to our grand-parents.
– verbs of relation or expressing a general characteristic: matter, concern, contain, hold
Example: Does it really matter if I go or stay?
We have to remind our students that these verbs express an action which is independent
of the speaker’s intention. When a deliberate use of the senses is implied or when they are used
with a different meaning, some of the verbs above may take the continuous aspect.
Example: She is tasting the soup to see if it’s salty enough.
I’ m seeing a lawyer tomorrow. (i.e. “meet by appointment”)
John is thinking of buying a new house. (i.e. “plan”, “intend”)
Possible mistakes when learning the present continuous
It is known that many languages have a single present tense covering contexts of both
present simple and present continuous in English. In Romanian grammar we have only one
form of present tense and this tense resembles in some aspects to the present simple in English
and so the students have the tendency to avoid the present continuous altogether.
Example: Where is she?
She plays tennis.
Another problem is that students forget about the verb ‘to be’ and produce forms such as ‘ He
running.’ The students also got difficulty in adding the –ing to the end of the verb. Although they have
been explained the form of the present continuous, when they have a test they still get difficulty in doing it.
Intermediate students may have difficulty in distinguishing the stative and dynamic uses of
To have for possession and verbs of sensation.
Example: I am having a bath.
She is having a cold.
Another problem it is represented by the future usage of the present continuous. It is
very confusing to many students, who prefer for expressing a future action, to use ‘will’.
In my opinion the greatest challenge with the present continuous, and the most common
one, is understanding the difference between a routine action, expressed by the present simple,
and an activity occurring at the moment. It’s quite common for my students to use the present

29
simple to speak about activities which happen in the moment of speaking or to use the present
simple with the time adverbs ‘now’ and ‘at the moment’. It is important to present and to com –
pare the two forms early and so it might help them understand the differences.
2.2.2. Present Simple
As I have already presented above, verb tenses are changes made in the form of verb. All these
changes are important for meaning because “they are ‘signals’ about time, whether something is a con –
tinuing action, and other information.” (www.eslcafe.com ). One important English tense is the simple
present. Its meaning is not exactly as simple as its name makes us believe and the time for which it is used
is not exactly present. In order to understand present simple tense better, I will present first its form.
Full Form (no contracted Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
walkI
do not
(don't)
walkyou you
we we
they they
he
walkshe
does not
(doesn't)she she
it it
Question Forms
Do you walk to school? Don't you walk to school?
(neutral question) (expects answer 'yes')
Tag Questions
You walk to school, don't you? You don't walk to school, do you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no')
(Aitken, 1992 : 16)
Many grammarians give a long list of realizations of present simple tense but essentially
it may be helpful to see it as a timeless tense for actions which are always, repeatedly or gener –
ally true, or actions encapsulated in a single instant, without any reference to the past or future.
First, we use the present simple tense when something is generally true:
Example: My parents work in a bank.

30
The Danube flows into the Black Sea.
The sun rises in the east.
Vegetarians don’t eat meat.
I thinks he’s very nice. I know it is true.
Present simple is used for giving instructions, directions or demonstrations, often with the
impersonal you.
Example: You beat the eggs and then you add the flour.
According to Rosemary Aitken the ‘ you’ is dropped in many situations, giving the im –
perative, which gives direct instructions. (Aitken, 1992 : 18)
Example: Beat the eggs and then add the flour.
Nowadays many demonstrations, especially on TV use the more conversational form.
Example: I beat the eggs and then I add the flour.
We also use the present simple as a narrative device, for dramatic effect in certain situations.
In commentaries, especially those about activities where the action is swift, e.g.: football.
Example: He passes the ball to Clark, he swerves, aims and scores.
“In very informal or colloquial spoken narrative .
Example: A man enters a restaurant and he says: ‘Do you serve frogs?’ The waiter
says ‘Yes’. So he says ‘Right. I’ll have a coffee for myself and some flies
for my frog!’” (Aitken, 1992 : 18) .
Another important situation of using the present simple tense is we want to describe
feeling and senses, especially the sudden ones, over which we have no control.
Example: I feel sick . (suddenly but certainly) (Compare : I’m feeling sick – contin –
uing state and less urgent).
It might seem impossible but this tense can be used to talk about the future. When we are
talking about a timetable or a fixed plan, we can use this tense. “Usually, the timetable is fixed
by an organisation, not by us.” ( www.perfect-english-grammar.com )

31
Example: My bus leaves at three.
We also use the present simple tense to talk about the future after words like ‘when’,
‘until’, ‘after’, ‘before’ and ‘as soon as’ in a future sentence.
Example: I will see you when I have time.
We won’t go in the park until it stops raining.
I will call you as soon as I arrive in town.

Difficulties in learning the present simple tense
The present simple tense is perhaps the first tense form that the students learn while
studying English.
One of the biggest problem that students face while learning the simple present tense
is the difficulty in using the third person singular. “The simple present tense differs from other
tenses in that it has the marker ‘-s’ in the third person singular.” (www.englishgrammar.org ).
This problem can create confusion to many students.
Example: I play the guitar once a week.
My daughter plays the guitar three times a week.

Another problem is represented by the fact that many languages have a single present
tense covering the context of both present simple and present continuous in English.
So, when the mother tongue tense resembles the present simple ( e.g. French), students
tend to use present simple in all contexts.
Example: Where is she? She plays tennis.
But if the native language tense resemble the present continuous students tend to avoid
the present simple altogether.
Example: I am hoping you are well.
I am playing tennis at five every day.
Another common problem is that students start muddling the form of present simple
with present continuous, even though they might understand the difference in meaning. They
blend both tenses into one thing and they keep saying: ‘ I writing my homework now’ or ‘I’m
speak English.’ A solution to this problem, maybe the best solution, would be to assure they

32
really know the present simple tense before moving on to the teaching of the present continuous
tense or otherwise they will forget what they already knew about the present simple.
The other main problem I have with my students is forming the negative, they forget to
use ‘don’t’ or ‘doesn’t’. I believe that if we keep telling our students that present simple is used
for routines and its negations and questions are formed with the auxiliary verb ‘to do’ while the
present continuous is used for activities which are happening in the moment of speaking and it
is formed with the help of auxiliary verb ‘to be’, in the end our objective will be accomplished.
2.2.3. Present Perfect Simple
The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English but it gives to our stu –
dents a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in our language.
As it can be seen below, its form is very easy but its meaning it’s quite difficult to understand.
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
have ('ve) a) walked
b) drunk
b) runI
have not
(haven't)walked
drunk
runyou you
we we
they they
he
has ('s)he
has not
(hasn't)she she
it it
a Regular verbs: use a past participle identical in form to the past simple.
b Irregular verbs: use a past participle which usually differs in form from the past simple.
Question Forms
Have you walked? Haven't you walked?
(neutral unless stressed) (expects answer 'yes')
Tag Questions
You've walked, haven't you? You haven't walked, have you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no' or expresses surprise)
(Aitken, 1992 : 22)
The present perfect simple is formed of the present of the auxiliary HAVE and the past
participle of the main verb. The present perfect simple shows the present situation in relation
to past action: that is, how the past is relevant to now. The concept of “unspecified time” can

33
be very confusing for our students and learners of English language. It is best to associate the
present perfect with the following situations:
We can use the present perfect tense for uncompleted action where both actor and results
remain (with a time marker showing past reference):
Example: London has stood beside the Thames for hundreds of years.
Present Perfect simple can be used for an action which took place in an identified period
of time, which is not yet over.
Example: I’ve read a book this morning. (it is still ‘this morning)
Compare: I read a book this morning (it may be afternoon now).
The usage suggests that the activity has some present consequence.
Another situation where present perfect can be used is for an action which took place in
the past but whose results are still present.
Example: I’ve spilt the milk. (it’s still on the floor)
Have you finished your lunch? (are you now full/free?)
According to Aitken, present perfect simple is used for an action (single or repeated)
which took place in the past, but which still relates to the present. (Aitken, 1992 : 24)
Example: I’ve studied French. (and I’m remember it. Therefor I can help you, em –
pathise with you or tell you about it.)
Compare: I studied French (but am making no present claim about it, unless per –
haps you ask).
When we use the present perfect with the time markers ‘just’, ‘yet’, ‘already’, ‘still’ ,
the present perfect can also indicate the attitude of the speaker.
Just: a vague time marker showing that the time is either now or very close to it. With
the present perfect it is used to indicate immediate past time, whose results are very clear.
Example: I’ve just washed the floor (so it’s still wet).
He’s just left (so you are too late to speak to him).
Yet suggests that the speaker believes that the result of the action should or could be
present NOW .
Have you painted my fence yet? (you promised to paint my fence, is it finished, how long

34
will you take to finish it?)
Already suggests that the speaker believes that the action is over, and that the present
result is surprisingly quick. It is used in:
Statements: He’ s already eaten it (There is none left. That was surprisingly quick).
Questions: Have you already seen it? (What a pity. We could have seen it together).
Still: expresses the speaker surprise that the action continues to affect the present mo –
ment. It is used chiefly with:
Negatives: He still hasn’t left . (I am surprised that he is here now)
Have got: Have you still got that hat ? (I am surprised that you didn’t throw it away long
ago or, it must be very long by now).
Always : can be used as a time marker for actions continued up to the present time.
Example: Have you always lived in London? (I know you live in London now, was
this always the case?)
Ever and Never are used for remembered experienced; ever is used only in question
forms.
Example: Have you ever lived in London? (I know you don’t live there now, but did
you once?)
The answer if positive, is usually given in the past simple: Yes, I lived there for ten years
when I was a child (a period of time now over) or with used to: Yes, I used to live there when I
was a child (past habit, now over).
Never is used chiefly in statement forms, to deny experience: No, I’ve never lived in
England.
It is very useful to understand that contexts must show the present relevance of the tense.
It is helpful to show this schematically, in contrast to the past simple. The past simple is rep –
resented as a simple block of time, of any duration, any distance from now, but unconnected.

35
(Aitken, 1992 : 25)
Difficulties in learning the present perfect simple:
The present perfect is not a present tense nor a past tense. When we say that something
has happened, we are generally thinking about the present as well as the past. So, we can say
that this tense is a sort of mixture of present and past. It implies a strong connection with the
present. Difficulties for our students arise from the fact that our language hasn’t led them to look
at the events in this way.
Students fail to understand the conception of the tense. They may avoid it altogether
except in expressions “ Have you got/ever…?”, usually substituting the past simple.
Example : Have you eaten? – enquires about the present hunger rather than past
activity.
In some other languages there are ways to indicate incomplete action. The present
Perfect simple may be used incorrectly for this I have eaten the dinner when he came for
I was eating my dinner.
Where the action is not yet complete, students may use the present simple or present
continuous especially with since.
Example: I am knowing him since I was small .
To sum up, the present perfect is one of the most difficult tense to learn for our students.
Teaching the present perfect effectively involves making sure that our students understand that
it is always connected in some way to the present moment in time. The present perfect covers
what happen from a past moment to the present moment in time.
2.2.4. Present Perfect Continuous
The present perfect continuous form is often confused with the present perfect. But “the
main emphasis of the present perfect continuous is on expressing how long the current activity
has been happening. It’s best to stress that the present perfect continuous form is used for short -NOW NOW
I lived in London for 5 years I saw him yesterday 5 years I saw himPastI lived in London

36
er periods of time to express how long that particular action has been taking place.” (www.esl.
about.com )
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
have ('ve)
been eatingI
have not
(haven't)
('ve not, rare)
been eatingyou you
we we
they they
he
has ('s)he has not
(hasn't)
('s not)she she
it it
Question Forms
Have you been eating? Haven't you been eating?
(neutral, but may express challenge) (expects answer 'yes')
Tag Questions
You've been eating, haven't you? You haven't been eating, have you?
(expects answer 'yes', often a challenge) (expects answer 'no' or expresses surprise)
(Aitken, 1992 : 28)
The tense chiefly focuses on continuous or repeatedly activity, engaged in before the
present, but relevant to it and on continuous duration of that action. The action is seen
as temporary (not a permanent truth or usual habit) and may or may not have been completed
at the time of speaking.
Present perfect continuous is used as an explanation for the present situation or the ap –
pearance of the speaker, caused by the recent and ongoing nature of the activity, which may or
may not be completed.
His hands are dirty, he has been playing in the mud.
Another situation to use present perfect continuous is to account for a period of time now
finishing. The tense indicate that the action filled the time.
– As an excuse for failure to be somewhere or do something which was expected by the
listener.

37
Example: I’m sorry I’m late, I’ve been seeing the headmaster (so I have just arrived).
– In her book “Teaching Tenses”, Rosemary Aitken stated that “with a time marker, the
tense draws attention to the uninterrupted nature of the activity and by the implication, the
length of the period itself. This is a common conversational usage and is often a complaint. In
this usage the action is usually incomplete or ceases at the moment of speaking.” (Aitken, 1992
: 29)
Example: I’ve been waiting for you for two hours (I’m still here and I have done
nothing else. You’ve come).
The present perfect continuous is also used to draw attention to the repeated or continu –
ous nature of an action or habit resulting in present expertise or knowledge. This usage usually
includes a time marker.
Example: I’ve been learning French for ten years (I know some).
We may use the present perfect continuous to express new, temporary habits which have
become constant or continuous or when we are talking about health and to describe new and
developing symptoms.
Example: He’ s been seeing a lot of her lately.
Example : I’ve been having headaches.
When used with verbs of wishing and hoping, present perfect continuous is a polite de –
vice, suggesting that the wish or thought was constantly in the speaker’s mind.
Example: I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.
Difficulties in learning the present perfect continuous
Our students may have real problem in using the present perfect continuous, partly due
to the difficulty of forming a tense with two auxiliary verbs, but mainly because they have prob –
lems working out when to use this tense and when to use the present perfect simple. We know
that in our syllabus, the present perfect continuous is introduced in pre-intermediate level, a
time when “students tend to lack confidence and the language to understand complex grammar
explanations and are struggling with other aspects of the language and so can’t give all their
attention to this tricky tense.” ( www.edition.tefl.net ) What we need to do then is to simplify the

38
explanations and have a lot of fun controlled practice speaking games so that our students can
get used to using it in the right situation without having to think about it too much.
Some of the common mistakes students can do while learning present perfect contin –
uous, besides using present perfect instead, is to use present continuous, where the action is
uncompleted at the time of speaking, or pat continuous for actions which were complete at the
time of speaking.
In conclusion all these four tenses express an action which is related to the present time:
we may speak about daily routines or activities happening at the moment of speaking, action
begun in the past with results in the present or actions begun in the past and still continuing in
the present moment. We have to be very careful when teaching these tenses to our students be –
cause they are easily mixed up and so they need a lot of practice. From my experience with my
students, no matter how well they have understood a tense, when they have to compare them,
for instance present simple and present continuous or present perfect simple with present per –
fect continuous, there is always a problem. Thus, we have to bring all kind of funny activities
to make them repeat and use these tenses over and over again until they unconsciously know
when to use one or another.
2.3. Past Section
Tenses relating to a point or period in time which is now over
This section will present the past simple and past continuous form, past perfect and past
perfect continuous. Verbs come in English in three tenses: past, present and future. The present
is used to describe things that are happening now or that occurs in our daily life. The future de –
scribes things that have yet to happen while the past is used to describe things that have already
happened (earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago).
2.3.1. Past Simple
The past simple is one of the most important tenses in English language. There are
voices that claims the past simple is more important than the present simple or the present con –
tinuous and that it should be presented earlier than the other two tenses. It can also be seen as
a great opportunity to teach useful verbs and time expressions like “seven years ago”, “a long
time ago”, “once upon a time” “the day before yesterday”.

39
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
walked (regular)
ran (irregular)I
did not
(didn't)walk
runyou you
he he
she she
it it
we we
they they
Question Forms
Did you walk/run? Didn't you walk/run?
(neutral unless stressed) (seek confirmation)
Tag Questions
You walked/ran, didn't you? You didn't walk/run, did you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no' or expresses amazement)
(Aitken, 1992 : 34)
Regular verbs form this tense by adding –ed to the short infinitive for all persons: work
– worked ; play – played ; try – tried ; invite – invited . Irregular verbs form their past tense in
various ways which must be learnt for each individual verb. Traditionally, the past tense of such
verbs is the second form listed in dictionaries, grammars and other books and this is used for
all persons.
The negative and the interrogative past of regular and irregular verbs is formed with the aux –
iliary DO in the past (DID ) for all the persons and the short infinitive of the verb to be conjugated.
The past simple is one of the tenses we use to talk about events, states or actions that
have been completed at some point in the past. To emphasise this completion at a time before
the present we often add expressions such as: in 1997, last year, yesterday, when I was younger.
It worth mentioning that these time expressions are not obligatory.
Example: I saw him yesterday.
The past simple is also used as a time marker in when or while clauses . It is considered
to be a past time for background actions taking place repeatedly or for action taking place con –
tinuously.
Example: He whistled when he worked.
He whistled while he worked.

40
The past simple is also preferred when we want to give “more precise detail concerning
an event. This is something that we often hear in news broadcasts where the speaker begins by
using the present perfect to indicate that an event happened very recently and then switch to the
past simple to give a more detailed account of the event.” (www.tesol-direct.com )
Example: We have gone shopping. We bought some t-shirts and a dress, we ate an
ice cream and then we came home.
We may use the past simple for habitual, repeated actions in the past and with verbs de –
noting a permanent characteristic.
Example: She always wore black.
I met him every day on my way to the office.
Tall poplars lined the avenue which led to her house.
Past simple is also used for future actions in conditional or temporal clauses when the
verb of the main
clause is in the past.
Example: They said they would go on the trip if the weather was fine.
He wanted me to call him as soon as I arrived .
2.3.1.1. The use of the adverbials with the simple past and the present perfective
When teaching past simple to our students we introduce them some specific time adver –
bials for this tense but we remind them that the present perfect simple has also some specific
time adverbials. Thus, in order to be able to differentiate more easily the two tenses we explain
the students that the choice between the simple past and the present perfective is associated with
time orientation, and therefore with the choice and interpretation of time adverbials.
Starting from this idea we present the adverbials associated with the past tense
I saw her – yesterday evening. I saw her – the other day.
– a week ago. – at four o’clock.
– earlier this week. – in the morning.
– last Monday. – on Tuesday.
Then we refer to the adverbials associated with the present perfective:
I haven’t seen her – up to now.
– since Monday.

41
– since I met you.
I haven’t seen her – so far.
– hitherto (formal)
Finally, we present the time adverbials associated with both:
I saw her – today
have seen her – this month
– this year
– recently
– before
– June
– once
– already.
According to R. Quirk in the work “A Comprehensive Grammar of English Language”
“group (a) contains time position adverbials which indicate a specific point or period in the
past, and therefore require the past tense. In Group (b) are adverbials which designate a period
leading up to the present moment, and are therefore appropriate to the present perfective. Group
(c) is a mixed group of adverbials, some of which, like this month, designates a period includes
the present moment, while others have meanings which vary according to whether a present or
past time orientation is intended.” ( Quirk, 1985 : 195)
Sometimes, the past simple can be used to make reference to present and even to future
times. As we have learnt about the present simple which Just as the present simple does not
always refer to present time, so the past tense is not always confined to past time reference. We
can mention here three special situations:
We might meet this situation in Indirect Speech when the past verb in the reporting sen –
tence tends to make the verb of the subordinate clause past tense as well.
Example: Did you say you don’t know/didn’t know anything about it?
It’s true, I really don’t know anything about it.
Difficulties in learning the past simple tense
According to many theories, the past simple is perceived as being a literary tense which
is usually used in writing but not in speech. This tense is sometimes assumed to be the equiva –

42
lent to a mother tongue tense used for simple an d unrepeated acts (passé compose in French or
perfectul compus in Romanian language, for instance). Thus, sometimes it may be avoided for
repeated actions and to be substituted by the past continuous.
Example: My father was working in a shop and many people were coming to him.

Another important problem is that students often find it difficult to accept that a past form has a
future reference in some if clauses.
Example: If it snowed tomorrow I’d make a snowman .
One issue I had with my students, when I began teaching the past simple tense, was
to generalise the past form of the verb “to be” for the past simple tense. As we know, the past
simple tense appears in most of the coursebooks and syllabuses so some of my students attempt
to use “was” and “were” for all cases of the past simple. They used to say “I was go to school
yesterday” instead of “I went to school yesterday.”
We have to be aware that when using the present perfect we have to know that the time
of an action it’s not important, the emphasis is on the action, if it has happened or not while
when we intend to use the past continuous we have to keep in mind the details about the time
and place that an action occurred.
The following subchapter will present the differences between past simple and past con –
tinuous.
2.3.2. Past Continuous
The past continuous is another tense that is taught to our students, usually after they’ve
learnt the past simple tense. As students should be familiar with the present continuous and the
past form of the verb “to be”, this tense shouldn’t be difficult to achieve.
The past continuous is formed by the past tense of the verb BE followed by the indefinite
participle of the main verb.

43
Full Form (no contracted Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
was
walkingI
was not
(wasn't)
walkinghe he
she she
it it
you
wereyou
were not
(weren't)we we
they they
Question Forms
Were you walking? Weren't you walking?
(neutral) (seek confirmation)
Tag Questions
You were walking, weren't you? You weren't walking, were you?
(expects answer 'yes', I was') (expects answer 'no, Iwasn't)
(Aitken, 1992 : 39)
The past continuous usually places an action in relation to a point or period of time in
the past.
Thus, the point in the past time is either specifically mentioned, the past continuous ac –
tion crosses it as in the following Example: ‘I was sleeping at ten o’clock.’
(Aitken, 1992 : 40)
This diagram shows us that the action began before the point in time, was in progress at
the point in time, was not completed by that time and probably continued after it.began finished NOW
10 o’ clock
I was having a bath at 10 o,clock

44
Or the point in time is replaced by an action in the past which interrupted the continuous
action as in the example ‘I was sleeping when the telephone rang.’
(Aitken, 1992 : 40)
Here, the action began before the telephone rang, was in progress while the telephone
rang, was not completed when the telephone rang, but may or may not have continued after –
wards.
The past continuous expresses an action that fills a specified period in the past.
Example: I was watching TV from eight o’clock to midnight .
(Aitken, 1992 : 40)
As we could notice in the example and the diagram tries to present, the action began at
the start of the specified period and finished at the end of it.
The period in the past is defined by another action also in the past continuous.
Example: I was buttering the bread while my mother was slicing the tomatoes.
I was having a bath when my mother was shopping.beganintended
to finishNOW
Telephone rang
I was having a bath when the telephone rang
watched T.V . NOW
8 o’ clock midnight

45
(Aitken, 1992 : 41)
We have to observe here that while suggests more totally contemporaneous or collabo –
rative actions.
An action in the past continuous creates a time period within each other actions, in the
past simple, take place. With while or when it suggests that the past continuous action provided
an opportunity or occasion for the past simple actions. In this case the past continuous becomes
a kind of time marker itself.
Example: He stole the money when/while she was getting on the bus.
I found the coin when/while I was digging the garden.
The past continuous can be used as a polite conversation marker – usually with verbs
of hoping, wishing, etc. It is used to introduce a new idea, request or proposal more politely
and tentatively than the present or past simple. (www.eslbase.com) This usage has often future
reference.
Example: I was wondering if you could give me a lift .
Difficulties in learning the past continuous
1. The past continuous appears similar to the imperfect in several continental languages.
It may be used as a direct equivalent for repeated action in the past or to denote the action of
extended duration as in the examples: ‘My father was taking me for walks when I was young.’
instead of ‘My father took me for walks when I was young.’
Another problem I had to face with my students during teaching and learning the past
continuous tense was that they tended to avoid using the past continuous when the action clear –
ly continued after the time maker or to use the present continuous to indicate that the interrupted I buttered the bread
My mother slice the tomatoesNOW
I was buttering bread while my mother was slicing tomatoes

46
action continues to the present time. They would say for instance “I read when you phoned me”
instead of “I was reading when you phoned me.” Or “I am watching TV when my brother came
in” instead of “I was watching TV when my brother came in.”
Another problem to be considered was that of my students, at the beginning of learning
process, tend to confuse the past continuous with the past simple.
To avoid these problems we should practice these tenses as much as possible, until the
students get the message. In order to help students retain the correct form of the tense, we should
have enough time within the teaching syllabus for error correction and even for remedial teaching.
2.3.3. Past Perfect
I presume that everybody probably knows what “perfect” means. According to the
WordReference dictionary it means 100% pure, no problems. (www.wordreference.com )
However, in English grammar “the word perfect means past.” (www.myenglishteacher.net )
So, whenever we see the word perfect in English grammar we should just say past. Therefore,
“the past perfect means past past. This exactly what the past perfect means: the past past.”
(www.myenglishteacher.net)
Form:
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
had ('d)a) walked
b) runI
had nota) walked
b) runyou you
he he
she she
it it
(hadn't) we we
they they
a Regular verbs: use a past participle identical in form to the past simple.
b Irregular verbs: use a past participle which usually differs in form from the past simple.
Question Forms
Had you walked/run? Hadn't you walked?
(neutral unless stressed) (expects answer 'yes')
Tag Questions
You'd walked, hadn't you? You hadn't walked, have you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no' or expresses surprise)
(Aitken, 1992 : 45)

47
As I said before the past perfect usually has the meaning of “past-in-the-past”, and can
be regarded as an anterior version either of the present perfect or of the simple past. Let’s ana –
lyze take a look at the following examples:
Example: No wonder Miss Mathews’ French was excellent – she had lived in Paris
since childhood.
When we bought it, the house had been empty for several years.
According to Quirk these sentences can be diagrammed as below, which is a special case
of the general perfective diagram. ( Quirk, 1985 : 195)
As I have found in the book of Rosemary Aitken the past perfect is used for action previ –
ous to and affecting a nominated time in the past, when the past moment is expressed as specific
time, especially following by. The action in the past perfect occurs previous to the time and the
result of that action as still in force at that time.
Example: By one o’clock he had cooked lunch (at one o’clock it was prepared, but
not eaten).

(Aitken, 1992 : 47)
or when the past moment is expressed as an action, usually in past simple. This is often
introduced with when .
Example: He had cooked lunch when she arrived . (she arrived to find the lunch
ready).T2[then] [now]
T1
Preparation time NOW
1 o’ clock
By 1 o’clock he had coked lunch

48
(Aitken, 1992 : 47)
If we want to express a sequence and a relationship of past action with we use the past
perfect clause used as a time marker.
If we use before in the past perfect clause, then it show that the main verb happened
against the background of a non-completed action. It often highlights that the intention was to
complete it earlier. (www.myenglish page.com)
Example: It was Thursday before I’d read it. (I did not finish it until Thursday. I may
have begun it before then and I expected/intended to finish it earlier).

(Aitken, 1992 : 47)
If we use after in the past perfect clause we show that the main verb is against the back –
ground of a completed action.
Example: After she had done the washing, she had a cup of tea . (she had a cup of
tea but she waited until the washing was complete).
(Aitken, 1992 : 47)Preparation time She arrived
Lunch was readyNOW
When she arrived he had cooked lunch
Intended to finish the bookShe arrived
ThursdayNOW
It was Thursday before I’ d read the book
Washing completed
during this periodHad a cup of tea NOW
After she had done the washing. she had a cup of tea

49
If the past perfect action occurred at a specific time, the simple past can be used instead
of the past perfect when “before” or “after” are in the sentence. The words “before” and “after”
tell us what happens first, so in this case the using of past perfect is optional. But, if the past
perfect “is not referring to an action at a specific time” then it is not optional. (www.english –
page.com)
If we use “when” in the past perfect clause then the main verb is set against a back –
ground of completed action.
Example: He put the music on loudly when she had left the house . (he waited for
her to leave before he put the music up).
I arrived when the train had left . (the platform was empty)
(Aitken, 1992 : 48)
To show the sequence and relationship of past actions with no time marker in the past
perfect clause.
Past Perfect is also used as a narrative device to give background, especially in written
English. “We use the past perfect to describe an event in a time period that leads up to another
past event or time period. The, we use the simple past to describe the later event or time period.”
(www.grammarandbeyond.com )
Example: It had been a good year for Martin … (scene-setting for a story in the
past simple).
In reported speech and after if when direct speech is in present perfect.
Example: “Have you seen her?” I wonder.
I wondered if you’d seen her. He put the music
when she leftNOW
He put the music out loudly when she left

50
Many students have problems with using the past perfect because they don’t seem to
make the difference between the situations when they should use the past simple and the past
perfect. Thus they tend to avoid using the past perfect, substituting the past simple.
As we have already found out, the past perfect is used to express what had happened
before something else occurred in the past. I agree that this tense, while important, “should be
reserved for more advanced students as it’s possible to communicate in English without mas –
tering this tense.” (www.esl.about.com ) The past perfect is important to provide the reasons
for decisions made in the past and imagining past situation with the past conditional clauses.
2.3.4. Past Perfect Continuous
The past perfect continuous can seem quite complicated to form, with had + been +
present participle. However, “the nice thing about the past perfect continuous is that the words
in the form never change. This is because all three words used to create the past perfect contin –
uous are participles.” ( www.englishlessonsbrighton.co.uk ) These participles always use the
same form, whatever the subject is.
It bears the same relation to the past perfect simple that the present perfect continuous
bears to the present perfect.
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
had ('d) been eatingI
had not
(hadn't)
('d not, rare)been eatingyou you
he he
she she
it it
we we
they they
Question Forms
Had you been eating? Hadn't you been eating?
(fairly neutral) (expects answer 'yes')
Tag Questions
You'd been eating, hadn't you? You hadn't been eating, have you?
(expects answer 'yes', often a challenge) (expects answer 'no' or expresses surprise)
(Aitken, 1992 : 51)

51
The main use of the past perfect continuous is to show the duration of a continued and
repeated activity that was in progress at a specific point in the past.
Example: We had been learning swimming for an hour when the rain came.
As we can notice in this example, the activity of swimming was occurring for an hour
before the rain came. Thus, the past perfect continuous usually shows that the action or event in
the past was either finished or interrupted by another event in the past.
The secondary use of the past perfect continuous is to show that “an action complet –
ed before another event in the past was an ongoing process.” (www.englishlessonsbrighton.
co.uk) This use is similar to the one of past perfect but it emphasises that the action was either
ongoing or a process.
Example: She was very tired at dinner. She had been studying a lot.
Many grammar books present that the past perfect continuous is used in reported speech,
or past questions, where the direct speech form uses the present perfect continuous.
Example: He said he’d been thinking about it (‘I’ve been thinking about it’ he
said).
He asked if you’d been taking her to school (He said to me ‘Has Alex been taking her
to school?’).
According to Hortensia Parlog, the past perfect continuous is used with verbs of think –
ing/feeling. Being a conversational marker, it is used to introduce an idea now abandoned. It
The using of the past perfect continuous suggests that the idea was repeatedly in the mind.
Example : I’d been meaning to visit her (I thought actively many times about a
visit but now it’s too late.
Possible problems in learning the past perfect continuous
First of all this tense is not common in English, and many students avoid it altogether.
They may either substitute the past perfect. This is very close in meaning, the difference lies in
the attitude of the speaker.

Or substitute the past simple. This is less satisfactory especially in sentences with when:
Example: I read for an hour when he came in (I started reading when he came in)

52
I had been reading for an hour when he came in (I had read for an hour uninterruptedly
before he came in).
My students often have trouble with this tense because it is usually the last tense taught
so they don’t get enough time to practice it. Another problem would be that it takes a while to
get used to the long construction of the verb tense. I’d dare to say, as with the other English
verb tenses, practice and drills will help our students to reinforce the structure of the past perfect
continuous tense.
Teaching the four past tenses is not an easy job, mainly with the elementary students
who might not have a clear vision on Romanian language grammar. It is difficult to explain
when and how to use the past perfect or the past perfect continuous when they haven’t under –
stood, for instance, perfectul compus in Romanian. I’m aware of the fact that tenses have to be
taught in the target language but sometimes I must make reference or comparison to the tenses
of our native language so my students can understand them better. The only solution is to give
as many examples as possible and to practice them as much as we can. I must admit that in my
syllabus of English language I had to supplement the number of practising hours because some
of my students simply don’t get when to use a tense or another, for instance past simple and past
perfect or past simple and past continuous. However, I hope that in time and after many hours
of drills and oral practice they will have finally understood them and start using them correctly.
2.4. Future section
One of the things that makes English a rich language is the variety and flexibility of tens –
es. The future tense is maybe the most dynamic of the tenses as it can be formed of other tenses
as well as use its own form. In this section I will present most of the verbs patterns used to refer
to events or plans which have not yet occurred. As EFL teachers, we are faced with the task of
differentiating between types of future, a task which can be problematic, especially because in
our mother tongue there are fewer constructions to express future time than in English. Another
problem, besides the number of different forms to express future actions, is represented by the
fact that the distinction between them is not always clear.
2.4.1. Will/Shall Future
The most common way of expressing futurity is the modal auxiliary construction with
will, shall or ‘ll. The modal verb will is used with future meaning with subjects of all three per –

53
sons. There should be no problem in making this particular form of the future tense, since will
does not change with the subject and the main verb is the form that it is found in a dictionary
and does not change either.
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
will
('Il)
shallgoI
will not
(won't)
shall not
(shan't)goyou you
he he
she she
it it
we we
they they
Question Forms
Will you go? Won't you go?
(neutral) (can express invitation)
Shall I go?
(express willingness to undertake an obliga –
tion, makes a suggestion, asks for advice
Shall you go? Shan't I go?
(a possible form, but rare) (a possible form, but rare)
Tag Questions
You'll go, won't you? you won't go, will you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no')
I shall go, shan't I? I sahn't go,shall I?
(Requests the agreement of a personin authority for a desired course of action (I shall be in
the team, shan't I?) invites the listener to recognise the logical consequence of an action:
What if you miss the bus? Well then I shan't go, shall I?)
You shan't go, shall you?
(a possible form, bu rare)
(Aitken, 1992 : 73)

54
The will future is the most common form of future, is the form that most people asso –
ciate with the future reference but, in fact, it is restricted in its use. One of the functions of the
future with will/won’t is to talk about predictions: ‘Jim won’t be late’, promises: ‘I’ll be back
soon’, threats: ‘You’ll be sorry’ and decisions: ‘OK, we’ll leave tomorrow.’
In these cases, the speaker is decided what to do “on the spur of the moment without
prior consideration.” (www.tesol-direct.com )
We may also use will/won’t to give opinions after verbs like: be sure, think, know and hope.
Example: I’m sure you will pass the exam.
I know he will take the best decision.
One of the problems in teaching and learning the future with will is that the students tend
to consider it the real future and to use it all the time as in the Example: ‘I’ll go for a walk’
instead of “I’m going for a walk.’
Another problem would be the using of the simple future with “will” in clauses begin –
ning with time expression such as: when, while, before, after, by the time, as soon as, if, unless.
In these time clauses the present simple is used instead of future simple.
Example: When she calls, I’ll go to see her.
The future simple is often used by students, especially the elementary students, because
it is easier and because is the first taught future tense but as I will present below there still are
other forms to express a future action.
2.4.2. “Going to” future
Going to future is frequently used to express futurity, especially in informal speech, is be
going to followed by the infinitive. ‘Going to future’ has an unusual compound form since “it is
made up of the present continuous form of the verb “go” with “to” and the main verb.” (www.
tesol-direct.com) Students confuse it easily with the present continuous.

55
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I am ('m)
going
to walkI am ('m) not
going
to walkhe
is ('s)heis ('s) not
(isn't) notshe she
it it
you
are ('re)youare ('re) not
(aren't) nowe we
they they
Question Forms
Are you going to walk? Aren't you going to walk?
(often a challenge or invitation) (expects answer 'yes')
Tag Questions
You are going to walk, aren't you? You aren't going to walk, are you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no', may express disapproval)
(Aitken, 1992 : 69)
We usually use the ‘going to future’ to talk about premeditated intentions. When using
this tense we want to say that there is hope that these events will happen but that they might
change if some unforeseen obstacles arise.
Example: I’m going to walk.
The second important use of the ‘going to future’ is for talking about predictions based
on present or past evidence. As I presented above, ‘will’ is used for referring to predictions that
are not reliant on current evidence but, on the other hand, ‘going to’ is used for those predictions
where we can rely on present evidence and past experience.
Example: Take a look at that baby. He is going to fall of the chair.
Possible problems when learning the ‘going to future’
From the presentations written above, we could notice that both ‘will’ and ‘going to’ are
used to talk about the future. But, every time when students are not sure, they always tend to use
the ‘will’ future. I have noticed that my students tend to have this problem when we are talking
about prior plans. The correct form to be used is ‘going to’ but they tend to use ‘will’ because
they are more familiar with this form of the future tense. And as with most English grammar

56
points, I get accustomed that I need to practice al lot with my students and that it takes a while
until they get the hang of it when speaking.

2.4.3. Future with present continuous
English speakers often use the present continuous tense to talk about future arrange –
ments.
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I am ('m)
walkingI am ('m) not
walkinghe
is ('s)he
is ('s) not
(isn't) notshe she
it it
you
are ('re)youare ('re) not
(aren't) nowe we
they they
Question Forms
Are you walking tomorrow? Aren't you walking tomorrow?
(neutral question) (suggests surprise or disappointment)
Tag Questions
You're walking, aren't you? You're not walking, are you?
(expects the answer'yes') (expcts answer 'no')
I'm not walking tomorrow, am I?
(expects answer 'no')
Also: I'm walking tomorrow, am I not?
(this is very formal; expects answer 'yes')
(Aitken, 1992 : 65)
I usually teach my students at school that the present continuous is used when talking
about present, temporary actions and so, they find rather surprising that it can also be used to
refer to events that have not even started yet. In fact I tell my students that this is a very impor –
tant use of this tense.
We use the present continuous when we want to talk about definite future arrangements
and plans. For example “we are more likely to prefer this form when we have made a booking
at a restaurant or theatre or have bought tickets for a train/plane journey.” (www.tesol-direct.

57
com) This tense is common with time phrases such as: next month, in July, this afternoon, etc.
Example: I’m seeing John tomorrow.
Problems in learning future with present continuous
Sometimes my students get very confused when they should use the present continuous
to express a future action. It happened many times to use it instead of ‘going to’ future. These
two structures are very similar in form, so they became a little bit confused, not knowing when
to use the one or the other. It takes some time and a lot of practice for them to clearly understand
the difference between the two and to use them appropriately.
2.4.4. The future with present simple
Our students are taught early, since the 4th grade, that we use present simple for daily
activities or habits. Once they get to the intermediate level, almost all of them are able to write
and talk about their daily activities using the present simple. Now, they receive more infor –
mation concerning that present simple form can also “communicate future meaning.” ( www.
cambridge.org ) In this moment, some of the students get confused. They can’t understand how
a verb we say it is “present” may refer to the future.
The present simple is used to express future scheduled events and timetables as in the
Example: “The competition starts this weekend.”
The present simple also indicates future events after time conjunctions such as: after,
before, when, if, until, as soon as, etc.
Example: When you finish your homework, you can watch TV .
Even if, at the beginning is hard to understand how present simple can express a future
event, it is very important for students to understand it and to become aware of its use as a future
tense because it is more and more often used with this function.
2.4.5. Future continuous
The future continuous is a seldom used tense but it is not taught to elementary level. The
future continuous is to imagine the future often as “something that will be better than the pres –
ent moment, or as something that is of tremendous import.” (www.esl.about.com )

58
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
wewill ('Il)
shall
be walkingI
wewill (won't)
not
shall (shan't)
be walking you
will ('Il)you
will not
(won't)he he
she she
it it
they they
Question Forms
Will you be walking? You won't be walking, will you?
(neutral) (seeks confirmation)
Tag Questions
You will be walking, won't you? Won't you be walking?
(expects answer 'yes, I shall/will') (expects answer 'no' I won't')
(Aitken, 1992 : 79)
Mainly, we use the future continuous to talk about predicted or planned events “that
start at some unspecified time in the future and are still occurring at a given time in the future.”
(www.tesol-direct.com ) Future continuous it is often used with time adverbials beginning “ this
time next…” or a precisely specified time.
Example: What will you be doing at ten o’clock tomorrow?
Difficulties in learning future continuous
I have read in many articles that students may become confused by the similarity with
other future tenses which are often used interchangeably with the future continuous.
For Example: In two weeks time, we’ll be having our home.
In two weeks time, we’ll have our home.
We’re going to have our home in two weeks time.
“It is best to indicate to students that each form is possible, but that the meaning is slight –
ly different for each of these forms”: in the first example, the emphasis is on a contrast to the

59
present moment. The second sentence might be used as a promise while the third as a statement
of a plan. (www.esl.about.com )
Future continuous has also an additional meaning: it is often used in polite negative
answers to invitations or for turning down suggestions for arrangements such as meetings. For
this reason, future continuous is recommended especially in business contexts.
2.4.6. Future perfect simple and future perfect continuous
These two tenses are not very often used, they are taught to upper-intermediate to ad –
vanced students.
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
Regular verb: use a past participle identical in form to the past simple.
I
wewill
('Il)
shall
have
finishedI
wewill not
(won't)
shall not
(shan't)
have
finishedyou
will ('Il)you
will not
(won't)he he
she she
it it
they they
Irregular verbs: use a past participle which usually differs in form the past simple.
I will have eaten I'll have eaten I will not have eaten I won't have eaten
Question Forms
Will you have finished? Won't you have finished (by then)?
(usually expresses readiness to make ar –
rangements)(expects answer 'yes', usually expresses
surprise or acts as a reminder)
Will you have finished?
(or will you need more time?)
Tag Questions
You'll have finished, won't you? You won't have finished, will you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no' or expresses surprise)
(Aitken, 1992 : 85)

60
Full Form (Spoken Form) Negative Form (Spoken Form)
I
wewill ('Il)
shall
have been
walkingI
wewill (won't)
not
shall (shan't)
have been
walkingyou
will ('Il)you
will not
(won't)he he
she she
it it
they they
Question Forms
Will you have been walking? Won't you have been walking?
(usually expresses concern for the possible
consequences)(expects answer 'yes, expresses surprise or
reminds the listener of the expected conse –
quences)
Will you have been walking? Won't you have been walking?
(Will you need a rest?) (You will probably be tired. You seen to
have forgotten this)
Tag Questions
You'll have been walking, won't you? You won't have been walking, will you?
(expects answer 'yes') (expects answer 'no', expresses surprise)
(Aitken, 1992 : 90)
We use the future perfect simple to look at events or actions from a point in the future
after we expect the event or action to have already finished. Most of the time it is accompanied
by a time phrase beginning with either “by” or “before”.
Example: You will have spent all your money by the end of the year.
The future perfect continuous is used to view future events that have already happen
from a more distant point in the future. “The main difference between the two being that by
using the future perfect continuous, we are emphasising the duration of the event.” (www.
tesol-direct.com )
For instance: My family have been living abroad for five years this September .

61
These two tenses are rather hard to be taught to our students. It is known that they are
not even used by native speakers most of the time. When teaching these tenses, we should try,
if it possible, to find real examples on how they are used. Some good sources are newspaper
articles, blog posts, and advertisements that deal with the future effects of our present mistakes.
We should assure ourselves that students understand the basic difference between the
future perfect, used to indicate an amount finished by a point in time in the future, and the future
perfect continuous used “to indicate the duration of an activity up to a future point in time.”
(www.esl.about.com )
We have seen that teaching the future in English is relatively simple at the very begin –
ning. Students understand the future with ‘will’ and learn it quickly. The more students advance
in English learning the more difficult it proves to be. First we have problems with using the
‘going to future’ then using the present simple and the present continuous for future events. To
make our students understand these structures and the differences between them we have al –
ways to bring them many and funny drills so they don’t become bored. It is difficult, sometimes
maybe it is exhausting but when we achieve our goal in teaching our students, all our efforts are
rewarded and, in the end that’s all that matters.

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CHAPTER 3. TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR

3.1. General Presentation
“Grammar is the business of taking a language to pieces, to see how it works.” (David Crystal)
Grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages. It is also one of the most
difficult aspects of language to teach well. Grammar is usually a necessary or desirable part of
classroom language learning, especially in elementary level. Believing that children acquire
their first language without overt grammar instructions, many of us expect that our students can
learn English language the same way. We assume that students will absorb grammar rules as
they hear, read and use the language in communication activities. This approach does not allow
students to use one of the major tools they have as learners: their active understanding of what
grammar is and how it works in the language they already know.
Many people, including teachers, when they hear the word “grammar” think of a fixed
set of words form and rules of usage. But teaching and studying grammar shouldn’t be a boring
process of studying. We shouldn’t focus on grammar as a set of rules and forms. Grammar is
not only explaining the rules and forms and then drilling students on them. Language study
refers to any stage in a lesson where students and teachers focus on a specific feature in order
to understand it better. Grammar can be taught interactively, involving the students in the pro –
cess of discovering the forms and the rules of when using a certain tense or other. We can use
different creative techniques by entertaining and relaxing the learners while they are learning or
practicing a language structure, which eliminates students’ negative attitude towards learning.
There are many ways of teaching grammar creatively at elementary level like introducing the
grammar through anecdote, describing pictures, playing songs, etc. Recent studies in language
teaching show that if grammar is presented in a creative way it can be an enjoyable learning ex –
perience where learners subconsciously ‘pick up’ grammar of a language. According to David
Crystal, “grammar is the study of the way words, and their component parts, combine to form
sentences ” (Crystal, 1985 p. 141) . This definition suggests that “many people of this world
know grammar but they are not aware of it.” (Afrin, 2007 :. 2.)
3.2. Traditional methods to teach a foreign language
Before starting to present the language study techniques and different kind of activities
we can use during our English classes, I’d like to present the traditional methods of English

63
language teaching.
First of all, the term method has to be specified. According to Harmer “a method is the
practical realisation of an approach.” (Harmer, 2002 : 93). When a method is used, it means
that we have arrived at decision about types of activities, the kind of materials which will be
helpful, our role in the class and our students’ role during the lesson.
We know that one of the aims of any methodology in foreign language teaching is to im –
prove the students’ foreign language ability. However “traditional methodology is based largely
on a reduction of the integrated process of using a foreign language into sub-sets of discrete
skills and areas of knowledge in isolation.” (Boumova, 2008 : 10)
According to Broughton and his colleagues the typical of traditional methodology is”
the teacher-dominated interaction”. (Broughton et alli, 1994 : 22) The teaching is deeply
teacher-centred. This widespread attitude is based on a precondition that “being in a class in the
presence of a teacher and listening attentively is enough to ensure that learning will take place.”
(Scrivener, 2005 : 17)
According to Rivers (1968: 25) the “major methods of the past” are: The Grammar-Trans –
lation Method, the Direct Method, the Reading Method and the Audio-Lingual Method. All
these methods developed from the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century and they
had widespread use at the time.
The Grammar-Translation Method was used in the 19th century in the teaching of clas –
sical languages and then it was adopted in modern language teaching. This method was char –
acterised by great attention to grammar and vocabulary, the importance of translation, the pro –
vision of literary texts to read and the students’ first language as means of instruction. A lesson
based on Grammar-Translation Method usually started with the explanation of rules by the
teacher, then a bilingual list of vocabulary was provided and a literary text that emphasised the
presented structure was read by the students. Then, the teacher proposed many exercises to the
students, most of which consisted of translation from the first language into the foreign one and
vice versa. (Krashen, 1983 : 129) The aim of this method was primarily to provide students
with accuracy in writing and to allow them understand grammar as well as to enjoy and under –
stand literary texts.
In the early 20th century, the Grammar-Translation Method was challenged by a different
procedure: the Direct Method. The direct method was based on theories that ascribed language
acquisition to exposure to input and practice of the skill. The premise of the Direct Method was
that learning occurs thanks to the associations of words with objects and actions, without the

64
mediation of the learners’ first language. (Rivers, 1968 : 94) The aim of the Direct Method was
to teach students to think in the foreign language. According to Krashen now, in this method,
the grammar was taught implicitly and students made generalisations from what they had learnt
inductively, while the teacher helped them with questions that induced answers containing the
structure to be learnt. Attention was also paid to accuracy, even if comprehensible input was
provided, it was not completely realistic as it aimed at grammatical accuracy. (Krashen, 1983 :
134). The Direct Method proved to be useful as it dissipated learners’ inhibitions to speak, but
it was found to lead to inaccuracy at the beginning, because with this approach students start to
express themselves in the foreign language too early and they are not able to speak correctly.
The Reading method was developed in 1940s. “This method was based on the belief
that reading comprehension was the most important skill to acquire in a foreign language and it
aimed at the direct comprehension of the meaning of texts, without translation into the first lan –
guage.” (Pontarolo, 2013 : 50) . Grammar had a marginal role in this method, as it was taught
only when it was useful for reading, focusing on the recognition of structures but not on their
production. (Celce-Murcia, 1991 : 10).
The Audio-Lingual Method arose between the 1940s and the 1960s and it was based
on behaviourist theories which described language acquisition as a process of habit formation.
The Audio-Lingual method made use of ‘mimicry’ and ‘memorization’ (Celce-Murcia, 1991 :
16), favouring listening and speaking abilities rather than reading and writing skills. Pronunci –
ation had a fundamental role while grammar structures were taught sequentially and inductive –
ly. Thus, learning occurred by analogy, as the teacher did not explain the structures involved
in exercises. For this reason, the Audio-Lingual method became in contrast to the Grammar
Translation Method. This method encouraged the development of comprehension and fluency
in the foreign language while the use of the real language was seen as a source of motivation
for students.
The Total Physical Response Approach was created by Dr. James Asher. It is an innova –
tive approach, which based itself on the way children learn their mother tongue. Asher believed
that comprehension occurs when children have to respond to some input with an action, which
functions as a sort of confirmation of comprehension by the young learner. In the classroom the
teacher plays the role of the parent and students had to interpret the teacher’s commands and
obey them through physical reactions. “Learners were not forced to speak, but they started pro –
ducing utterances in the foreign language only when they felt ready to do so.” (Krashen, 1983
: 140-141) . This method which aimed to develop communication skills through comprehension

65
of the foreign language “could be very motivating, thanks to the novelty of its procedures, and
actually provided a great amount of input.” (Krashen, 1983 : 142) .
Jack Richards in his book “Communicative language Teaching Today” stated that in the
traditional methodology “learning was very much seen as under the control of the teacher”.
(Richards, 2008 : 4) To sum up, we could noticed from the above theories that the traditional
methodology puts the responsibility for teaching and learning mainly on the teacher and it is
believed that "if students are present in the lesson and listen to the teacher’s explanations and
examples, they will be able to use the knowledge.” (Boumova, 2008 : 11) .
3.3. Modern methods in teaching a foreign language
If the traditional methods are teacher-centred, the modern ones are more student-cen –
tred. Jim Scrivener stated that the teacher’s main role is to “help learning to happen”, which
includes “involving” students in what is going on “by enabling them to work at their own
speed, by not giving long explanations, by encouraging them to participate, talk, interact and do
things.” (Scrivener, 2005 : 18-19). To summarize, the students are the most active element in
this process. The teacher is in the classroom not to explain but to encourage and help students
to explore, try out, and make learning interesting. Nowadays, a great emphasis is put on com –
munication. Richards highlights that the communicative competence means “being able to use
the language for meaningful communication.” (Richards, 1994 : 4). Following this idea, many
authors refer to this methodology as the Communicative language approach. The communica –
tive language approach is based on the idea that “learning language successfully comes through
having to communicate real meaning. When learners are involved in real communication, their
natural strategies for language acquisition will be used and this will allow them to learn to use
the language.” (www.teachingenglish.org.uk )
Considering that the modern methodology aims for something different, the way to
achieve the goal has changed, too. Richards pointed out that “attention shifted to the knowledge
and skills needed to use grammar and other aspects of language appropriately for different com –
municative purposes such as making requests, giving advice, making suggestions, describing
wishes and needs and so on.” (Richards, 1994 : 8). In order to fulfil our students’ expectations,
the methods, the courses and books we use in the classroom had to be adjusted to the new needs
of the learners. Instead of grammatical competence, the communicative competence became a
priority. Instead of memorizing grammatical rules and isolated vocabulary, modern methodolo –
gy prefers to present contextualized language and to develop skills.

66
The main skills in English language learning are: listening, speaking, reading and writ –
ing. They can be classified into two groups: receptive skills, which are listening and reading,
and productive skills, which are speaking and writing.
Whereas my work is mainly about teaching grammar I will write more about this subject
because the teaching of grammar in a modern way is essential. Unlike the traditional methods
that I presented in the previous chapter the presentation of new grammar also involves students
very much. Before we start our lesson we should assure the conditions of a good grammar pres –
entations. According to Boumova these conditions are: “the creation of a safe atmosphere, the
feeling among the students that tasks are achievable, that the students show understanding and
that the students actively listen to, speak, read and write the new language.” (Boumova, 2008 :
23). According to Scrivener we should avoid long explanations in class since they often become
confusing and boring. (Scrivener, 2005 : 267) . He also highlights the need for the students’ par –
ticipation and interaction. Some methods to get students involved in the grammar presentation
are elicitation and personalisation. (Scrivener, 2005 : 16) These two methods seem to be very
useful tools because students are always interested in their teacher ’s personal affairs.
After elicitation and personalisation the next technique, according to Jeremy Harmer,
is demonstration. We can demonstrate the language forms which they we want our students
to study by offering them a situation which shows the language in action. The language can be
used in a text which clearly shows what it means; we can use pictures or various items of realia
can be used to demonstrate meaning.
While teaching a new language form or structure, demonstration is not enough, we have
to use other techniques in order to assure the correctly understanding of the new forms.
Explanation can be considered the second technique used in teaching English. We can
explain the construction of language in diagrams using the board or overhead projector. We can
use finger-pointing to show how contractions are made.

67
(Scrivener, 2010 : 11)
We can say the sentence ‘I am not working’ hold up one hand, showing the number of
fingers for the number of words in the student’s sentence. Indicate that one finger represents I,
one represents am, one represents not and one represents working . We can do it by pointing at
one finger and saying I then the next and saying am, then the next and saying not and so on.
Once we have established that each finger represents a word, slowly and obviously push the
first two fingers together and say I’m. It is preferably to repeat the action and words a few times.
Then we get the students to repeat the whole sentence.
Explanation is part of the clarification or presentation stage of the lesson. When we
explain language we have to be short or otherwise students will get confused, bored and embar –
rassed. To avoid long explanations we should plan before what we want to say to our students.
An alternative to explanation would be to create activities that allow students to generate
their own discoveries and explanations. We can encourage students to understand new language
forms either by discovering them for themselves in a text or by looking at grammatical evidence
in order to work out a grammar rule. Our role as teachers in guided discovery is “to select ap –
propriate tasks, offer appropriate instructions, help, feedback or explanations and manage and
structure the lesson so that all learners are involved and engaged and draw the most possible
from the activity.” (Scrivener, 2005 : 268).
In order for us to have confidence that discovery leads to real understanding, we need to
be available for students to check with us whether they have worked thinks out correctly.
Drilling is often used during language teaching classes. We drill a sentence in order
to exemplify a specific grammatical item then we get the students to repeat, often chorally, as
a whole class. Alternatively, we can also ask different students to repeat – or pairs to say the

68
sentence to each other. Drilling is considered to be a very restricted way of using language to
help students notice, focus on and improve things like verb endings, word order, pronunciation,
etc. If a student repeats incorrectly during a drill it is usually helpful to correct. This type of
controlled manipulation of language itself is very useful.
One of the ways students learn new language forms is the accurate reproduction. Here we
ask students to repeat new words or sentences in a controlled way, correcting them when they
get things wrong and showing approval when they use the form correctly. This kind of activity
allows students to try the new language but our feedback is used as further demonstration and
explanation of the new forms. Not only does this allow them to try out the new language, but
the teacher’s feedback also serves as further demonstration and explanation of the new forms.
We use immediate creativity to see if our students understand “the meaning, use and
construction of the language we are focusing on.” (Harmer, 2001 : 154)
During this activity we can ask the students to create their own sentences using the lan –
guage form. Using the language so early gives us a good indication if the language form has
been understood.
Immediate creativity is the production phase of the traditional PPP model. It is not strict –
ly a study activity but it can be used after any explanation or a discovery activity.
We can use a story/dialogue where we can include the language we want to teach our
students. We can use the board or pictures to introduce the context and characters and then
model or elicit lines of the story / dialogue, one by one – which the students can repeat. As
Scrivener stated in his book “the students will get many chances to repeat the dialogues in class
and thus increase their familiarity with these items.” (Scrivener, 2005 : 262). These dialogues
are an amusing and enjoyable way to enable oral practice of language.
We can also use check questions to see if students have understood meaning and use. If
students are learning to use past continuous sentences such as At ten o’clock she was having a
bath we can measure their comprehension by asking Did she go to the bathroom at exactly ten
o’clock or before? If they are working with as … as comparison in sentences such as Mary isn’t
as tall as her brother, we can ask Who’s taller? To check their understanding of the language.
One interesting way of practice and teach language is the memory test. We show the
first picture to our students for a length of time and then hide it. Then we read some true/false
sentences about the picture. In teams, “students discuss them, then give their answers and are
awarded points.” (Scrivener, 2005 : 264) At the end, we can give our students a different pic –
ture and prepare their own list of ten questions to ask the other team.

69
Another teaching technique, still used nowadays, is the PPP technique, which means Presentation,
Practice and Production. In this procedure “the teacher introduces a situation which contextualises the
language to be taught. The language too is presented. The students now practice the language using accu –
rate reproduction techniques such as ‘choral repetition’, ‘individual repetition’ and ‘cue-response drills.”
(Harmer, 2001 : 80). During the presentation the teacher usually introduces the new language to the stu –
dents and “typically involves exposure to language, usually in restricted form, alongside other language
information via teacher’s explanation, elicitation and guided discovery.” (Scrivener, 2005 : 271)
‘Practice’ involves the stage in which learners get to try using the language themselves.
If there is one teaching technique used around the world with classes of all types “it must be
‘present and practice’”. (Scrivener, 2005 : 272) In other words, teacher first presents, introduc –
es, explains, clarifies, inputs the language point that is aiming to be taught and acquired and
when it seems to be reasonably understood we move to the next step, learners are given the
chance to practice, using the language themselves.
All these methods can be used in teaching grammar to our students. It’s up to us which
one or ones we think or know that suit better with our students. We have a wide range of activ –
ities, procedures and methods to use, we only have to decide which. My students like most the
guided discovery, then they are very fond of accurate reproduction and of immediate creativity.
But sometimes, I must mix them up, I also have to use presentation, explanation or clarification
in order to help them understand the new grammar structure.

3.4. Known or unknown language?
Before starting teaching a new grammar structure we have to find out if our students
know already what we are about to study them or otherwise we risk “teaching them things they
already know or assuming knowledge they do not have.” (Harmer, 2001 : 157)
One way of avoiding teaching already known language is to ask students to perform different
tasks and so we can see how well they use the language forms in question before deciding whether we
need to introduce those forms as if they were new. If we find that students can produce them satisfac –
torily it won’t be necessary to demonstrate or explain them all over again. If elicitation is unsuccessful,
then we have good grounds for treating the language forms as new and proceeding accordingly.
3.5. Introducing new language structure
Our job at this stage of the lesson is to present the students with clear information about
the language they are going to learn. We must show them what the language means and how it is

70
used, we must show them what the grammatical form of the new language is and how it is said
and written. We should anticipate, if it is possible, what is likely to cause difficulties to learners
and we should also think how to present examples and formulate explanations that will clearly
convey the necessary information. Although we may elicit suggestions from the learners and
encourage their participation in the presentation, it is essential for us to know how to present
the structure’s form and meaning in a way that is clear, simple, accurate and helpful. We should
note that sometimes there is a ‘conflict’ between simple and accurate. If we give a completely
accurate account of a structure, it may not be simple but if we simplify it then it is possible not
to be accurate, so we should try to find a balance between the two.
Another problem that arises here is how teachers should decide what structures to teach
and in what sequence they should organise them. Some researchers sustain that teachers should
decide “to teach those forms that are useful to communicate, as realistic language is the target
of instruction.” (Pontarolo, 2013 : 71) Other voices propose that a balance between “what is
learnable and what is problematic should be learnt.” (Pontarolo 2013 : 71). According to Ellis,
non-salient structures need instruction first, that is to say those structures that are not easily
recognizable in input. Less frequent forms that should be explained, as much as redundant fea –
tures, which are usually in contexts, their meaning being emphasised by something else, such
as the –s of the third person singular in English verbs. (Ellis et alli, 2002 : 421)
Formal instruction should be organized in a gradual and cyclical order which respects
the natural order of acquisition and avoids forgetting of acquired structures. (Pontarolo, 2013 :
73). To fulfil this mission, a great responsibility is left to teachers, “who have not only to decide
which structures to present, and in which order, but also to choose with principles to follow to
teach a foreign language.” (Pontarolo, 2013 : 73) .
To sum up, we should be aware of the role we have in language teaching and we have to
behave accordingly, inquiring about the methods adapt at our students’ level.
3.5.1.The presentation of meaning and use
When we are about teaching a new structure to our students we have to take into consid –
eration that we do not only have to show to our students what language means but we also have
to present them how it is used.
For instance it is known that the present continuous tense She is reading is used to
describe actions that are happening now. But native speakers do not use this tense to describe
people’s actions all the time. They don’t spend their time highlighting the fact that they are us –

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ing the present continuous tense. So, to use these tense correctly, we need to help our students
getting an idea of how the new language is used and the best way of doing so is to present lan –
guage in context.
Context means “the situation or body of information which causes language to be used.”
(Harmer, 1999 : 56) The context for introducing new language should have a number of char –
acteristics. It should show what the new language means and how it is used.
We should use interesting contexts for our students, when using a context we should
take into account that students will like to see or hear the information.
We can also take into consideration the students’ world and the outside world as context.
The students’ world can be a major source of contexts for language presentation. We can use the
physical surroundings that the students are in – classroom, school, home, and students’ lives.
We can use facts about them, their families, friends and experiences. The outside world also
provides us with a wide range of stories and topics that we can use in our class to teach different
tenses, or adjective or other grammatical structures.
3.5.2. The presentation of structural form
Our job as teachers is to present how the new language is formed, how grammar works
and how it is put together. “A more effective way of presenting form is to let the students see
and hear the new language, drawing their attention in a number of different ways to the gram –
matical elements of which it is made.” (Harmer, 1999 : 58)
Before we introduce any new language we should have analysed the form we are going
to teach (how the verb is formed) and also the grammatical pattern we are going to teach it in
and also the method we are going to use because if we have advanced students then they may
profit from grammatical explanations but if our students are beginners or elementary level we
have to use simpler ways of transmitting them the grammatical information.
Suppose, for example, that the new language to be introduced in the third person singu –
lar of the present simple tense: She takes the bus every day.
As teachers we will make choice about the grammatical pattern in which we will in –
troduce the new grammar point. It means that we might decide to concentrate on a pattern of
subject + verb + adverbial. This would produce such sentences She likes beautiful flowers. The
point about such patterns is that they are made up of changeable units.
According to Jeremy Harmer we can demonstrate the principle of pattern and changea –
ble units using Subject + Verb + Adverbial in the following way: (Harmer, 1999 : 59)

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Pattern Subject Verb Adverbial
Examples: He
She
It
Leonworks
reads
sleeps
eatsevery day.
a lot.
deeply.
quickly.
If, when we introduce the present simple (third person singular) for the first time, we
stick to a pattern such the one presented above, it will help students to focus on the new gram –
mar point. Students will very soon be able to use the new verb tense in different patterns. This
can be tried at the immediate creativity stage or even before with a good class. .” (Harmer,
1999 : 59)
The idea of changeable units is that they allow us to create models for the students to
work with. A model is an example of the pattern. Thus the teacher who is introducing the pres –
ent simple (third person singular) will ask the students to work with a number of sentences all
of which conform to a pattern such as the subject + verb + adverbial sequence above. This will
be during the accurate reproduction stage. As soon as possible, students will be encouraged to
use the present simple with other grammatical patterns.
3.5.3. Examples of language study activities
In this section I will try to present here a general model for language study activities.
These activities are: introducing new language, discovery techniques, practice, remembering,
and conclusion.
3.5.3.1. Introducing new language
What we have here is a general model for introducing new language. The model has five
components: lead-in, elicitation, explanation, accurate reproduction and immediate creativity .
During the lead-in we introduce the context and the meaning or use of the new language
is now demonstrated. This is the stage when our students may hear some language and now they
become aware of certain key concepts. So, during the lead-in stage we introduce our context
and show the new language in use. For instance if we want to teach the third person singular
–s we may lead-in the topic by collecting some objects that we may find in one of our students’
possession. We shouldn’t say whose the objects are. Then, we tell the class we have found them
and that we are trying to identify their owner. We hand out the objects, so that the students can
see them closely.

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During the elicitation stage the we try to see if the students can produce the new lan –
guage. At the elicitation stage, we can decide which of the stages to go next. If the our “students
can’t reproduce the new language at all then we will move the explanation stage. If they can, but
with minor mistakes, we may move to the accurate reproductions stage to clear up those prob –
lems. If they know the new language but need a bit more controlled practice in producing it, we
may move directly to the immediate creativity stage.” (Harmer, 1999 : 61) Elicitation is very
important for it gives us information upon which to act, it is also motivating for the students and
actively involves their learning abilities.
Now we elicit our students sentences based on what they can tell, from the objects, about
the person’s lifestyle: He/she likes chocolate.
He/she writes with pen.
He/she has a sister.
He/she plays chess.
During the explanation stage we show our students how the new language is formed.
“Now, we may give a listening drill or explain something in the students’ own language. We
may also demonstrate grammatical form on the blackboard.” (Harmer, 1999 : 61) To sum up,
this where the students learn how the new language is constructed.
During the explanation stage we have to respect two or three steps:
Explaining statements:
Stage 1: The teacher says the sentence in a normal way with a clear voice using correct
stress and intonation. This may be done two or three times.
Stage 2: The teacher isolates a particular feature of the model.
Stage 3: The teacher distorts this feature showing how it is constructed.
Stage 4: The teacher returns to the isolated element.
Stage 5: The teacher gives the normal model again.
Example: He/she writes with pen at school… He writes with pen … I write with pen
at school… He writes with pen… He writes…
If teacher considers necessary she may write the explanation on the blackboard:
He writes with pen at school.
Underlining the main grammar points helps to focus the students’ attention on that point.
Explaining question forms

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Unlike many languages English uses inversion to signal a question. If we take an affirm –
ative sentence such as “He writes with pen at school.” we find that the equivalent question form
has the subject and the auxiliary in a different order, e.g. “ Does he write with pen at school?”
Even where we put a question word (such as: which, what, how, when) at the beginning of the
question this inversion is still used.
When introducing a question we isolate and distort it in a slightly different way and it
will be advisable to use the blackboard and/or gestures to make the inversion clear.
He writes with pen at school.
Does he write with pen at school?
The importance of visual demonstration for grammar is not exaggerated. Many students
react better to written stimuli. Writing on the blackboard helps students to understand the new
point being taught.
During the accurate reproduction stage students are asked to repeat and practice a cer –
tain number of models. The emphasis here will be on the accuracy of what the students say rath –
er that meaning or use. The teacher makes sure now that students can form the new language
correctly, getting the grammar right and perfecting their pronunciation as far as is necessary.
We will look at three stages of this part of the lesson: choral repetition, individual rep –
etition and cue-response drills.
Choral repetition
Choral repetition in when we ask the whole class to repeat the model together. The tech –
nique is useful because it gives all the students a chance to say the new language immediately,
with the teacher controlling the speed and the stress. It gives students confidence and it gives
the teacher a general idea of whether the students have grasped the model.
There are three things to remember about choral repetition:
1. Clearly indicate, by conducting, when the students should start the chorus.
2. Clearly indicate the correct stress during the chorus.
3. Stay silent during the chorus so that you can hear how well the students are performing.
The chorus might go something like this:
T: (finishing explanation)
He writes with pen at school….he writes with pen at school
Everybody. (T makes a gesture)
SS: He writes with pen at school.

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T: Again.
SS: He writes with pen at school.
We will have to decide how many chorus we need based on such factors as the difficulty
of the model, students, time we have, etc.
Individual repetition
Individual repetition is conducted in three stages. The teacher nominates a student, the
student responds, and the teacher gives feedback.
Example: T: (finishing choral repetition) Again.
SS: He writes with pen at school.
T: Good…now Andy.
S1: He writes with pen at school.
T: Good…. Bella
S2: He writes with pen at school.
T: Very good….Ally
S3: He write with pen at school.
T: He write…
S3: Oh… he writes with pen at school.
As we could notice, with the first two sentences the teacher gave feedback by acknowl –
edging that the student’s response was correct. S3 made a mistake so the teacher did not ac –
knowledge a correct response, but rather showed incorrectness so the student was able to cor –
rect herself.
When conducting individual repetition we should be sure that we do not nominate stu –
dents in a clearly discernible order, for this has the effect of making the drill less exciting. The
students always know who is going to be nominated and when. A random order keeps the inter –
est level high since anyone could be nominated at any minute.
Cue-response drills
“Cue-response drilling takes place when the students are working with more than one
model.” (Harmer, 1999 : 63) When we have presented the first model and organized choral
and individual repetition we will elicit the second model. If students can produce the model
we might go straight to choral and individual repetition. If they cannot, we may go through an
explanation stage again. When there has been adequate repetition of the second model we start
a cue-response drill in which we ask students to choose one of the two models based on a cue.

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According to Harmer a cue-response drill is conducted in three stages:
Stage 1 Instruct: We tell the students what we want them to do. We may say ‘tell me’ to
indicate that we want a statement or ‘question’ to indicate that we want a question.
Stage 2 Cue: We indicate which model the student should say. We might do this by giv –
ing a cue word. Thus we could say ‘at school’ to get the response. ‘he writes with pen at school.’
Thus we could mime ‘playing the guitar’ to get the student response ‘Iasmina plays the guitar
twice a week.’
Stage 3 Nominate: We select the student we want to give the response.
Example: T: (conducting individual repetition) Andy
S1: He writes with pen at school.
T: Good…now can anyone tell me what else does this boy …anyone?
S2: He eats chocolate.
T: Ok…good…but listen… he eats chocolate … he eats chocolate …
eats…eats…he eats chocolate…now everybody.
SS: He eats chocolate.
T: Good…Ally
S3: He eats chocolate.
T: Ok….Lorena
S4: He eats chocolate.
T: Ok…tell me… pen…. Peter
S: He writes with pen at school.
T: Excellent! …. chocolate….Alysia
S: He eats chocolate.
In general it must be emphasized that the accurate reproduction stage should be dealt as
quickly as possible. If it goes on for too long the students start to get bored and start making
more and more mistakes. The length of time will depend on the size of the class and the difficul –
ty and number of models, but it is rarely advisable to continue the accurate reproduction stage
for more than ten minutes, and even that will often be excessive.
During the accurate reproduction phase there are two basic correction stages: showing
incorrectness (indicating to the student that something is wrong) and using correction tech –
niques. (Harmer, 1999 : 65)

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a) Showing incorrectness
We will indicate to the student that a mistake has been made. If the student understands
this feedback he or she will be able to correct the mistake and this self-correction will be helpful
to him or her as part of the learning process.
I underline incorrectness by repeating – the students is asked to repeat what he or she
has just said. The intonation of my voice indicates that we aren’t satisfied with his answer, or by
echoing – I usually repeat what my student has just said. Again the tone of my voice indicates
that I’m doubting what he said.
Denial: is another technique that I, personally, don’t use because students become dis –
couraged and don’t use the language anymore.
When questioning: I simply say ‘Is that correct?’ asking any student in the class to an –
swer our my question. This has the advantage of focusing everybody’s mind on the problem,
though it may make the student who made the mistake seem somewhat exposed.
Using expression or gesture I usually indicate was incorrect. We can indicate that a re –
sponse was incorrect by our expression or by some gesture.
In general, showing incorrectness should be handled with tact and consideration. The
process of student self-correction which it provokes is an important and useful part of the learn –
ing process. Showing incorrectness should be seen as a positive act not as a reprimand.
b) Using correction techniques
Correction techniques can be used in the moment when my students are unable to correct
themselves. Then I ask some other students to correct his colleague. This is called ‘students cor –
rect students’ procedure. It is a very complicated procedure because the student who supplies
the information gets good self-esteem while the student who originally made the mistake may
feel humiliated.
Teacher corrects students: is another procedure we can use in class. Sometimes we may
feel that we should take the charge of correction because the students are extremely mixed-up
about what the correct response should be. In that case we can re-explain the item of language
which is causing the trouble. This will be especially appropriate when we see that a majority
of the class are having the same problem. After the re-explanation we can move to choral and
individual repetition before moving on.
3.5.4. Discovery techniques
Discovery techniques aim to give students a chance to take charge earlier. We give stu –

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dents a listening or reading text and ask them to discover how the language works. There is a
range of techniques where the teacher gets the students to do most of the work. There are good
pedagogical and methodological reasons for this since the students will be more involved and
since this kind of activity invites them to use their reasoning processes. In this phase we should
give the students a lead-in to the topic, text or context. But the elicitation stage will be different.
For instance we wants to teach the Present simple and present continuous. We give students the
following text:
“A: It’ s my birthday today, Bella… No cards! No presents! Nobody loves me!
A: Let’ s play football in the park.
B: I can’t come. I’m busy.
A: But it’ s Saturday! We always go to the park on Saturdays!
B: Well, we aren’t going today!
A: Why?
B: Because we’re having a party! We always have a party on your birthday! Happy
birthday!” (Jervis and Carling, 2008 : 47)
I get students to look at the material and working individually or in pairs and ask them
what tenses they can identify in the text. By discussing each sentence and sharing their knowl –
edge they help each other understand things they did not previously know. When students say
that the two tenses present simple and present continuous, teacher I use to ask them to say if
they can realize when it is used present simple and when present continuous. Some students
may notice when is used present simple and when present continuous some other may not. Now
it is reached the explanation stage.
Discovery techniques are not always suitable for all students on all occasions. Very of –
ten this approach takes more time than a more controlled presentation. Designing material for
discovery activities is far easier at intermediate and advanced levels than it is when teaching
beginners. Despite of some drawbacks, the use of discovery activities is a welcome alternative
to other types of presentation.
3.5.5. The position of writing during presentation
We can use the writing as reinforcement for an oral presentation. Thus either immediate –
ly after or before the immediate creativity stage we can ask students to write sentences using the
new language. The sentences may be the original models the teacher used during the accurate
reproduction stage, and the students may be asked to copy these sentences from the blackboard.

79
Or, the students might be shown model sentences and then be asked to write similar sentences
of their own. This is a written version of the immediate creativity stage.
“All of these techniques have their merits, although copying is often unchallenging and
boring. The main object, though, is to relate the spoken and written form of the new language
and to enable the students to write the new pattern as well as say it.” (Harmer, 1999 : 72)
Where students write in class as part of the introduction of new language it is often ad –
vantageous to correct the written work in front of the class. One useful way of doing it is to ask
the students to do the written work in their notebooks. When we see that a student has finished
we ask him/her to write the first sentence on the blackboard. The second student writes the
second sentence, and so on. When all the sentences are on the board we go through them one
by one, asking the class if they are correct. If they are not we can ask another student to write
the correct sentence or correct the sentence ourselves. This technique is useful since it gives
the students feedback and allows the teacher and the whole class to focus on grammar points if
such focus is necessary.
3.5.6. Remembering
We will always want students to revisit language forms which they have been exposed
to previously. This phase may be part of an overt correction stage, part of a sequence which the
teacher has slotted in because students have had trouble with that language in a task or part of a
revision process where language forms are recycled from time to time to help students remem –
ber them better.
Remembering activities usually fall towards the middle of the communication continu –
um, they encourage students to bridge the gap between language study and language activation.
The following example of remembering activity presupposes that the students have al –
ready worked on the language areas which they will be using.
In this activity students practice present simple and present continuous based on prompts
from the teacher. They are required to use their imagination, the exercise is given added enjoy –
ment by being designed as a team game.
The teacher divides the class into two teams and chooses a leader. He/she gives the lead –
er a piece of paper with a key sentence on it. The leader looks at the key sentence and gives the
class some hints about it. The teams ask questions in turn until they find the key sentence. The
team that finds it first is the winner.
Key sentence: She is cleaning the floor.

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Leader: It’ s a woman. She is in the kitchen.
Team A S1: Is she cooking?
Leader: No, she isn’t.
Team B S1: Is she washing the dishes?
Leader: No, she isn’t.
Team A S2: Is she cleaning the floor?
Leader: Yes, she is.
Team A is the winner. The teacher chooses another leader and the game can be played again.
(Evans, 1995 : 8)
This game-like practice does nothing more than force students to make sentences using
the present continuous. This kind of activity may be found difficult by the students at the very
beginning but then it can cause great enjoyment, being much more attractive and less boring.
3.6. Grammar practice activities
The aim of grammar practice activities is to get students to learn the structures so thor –
oughly that they will be able to produce them correctly on their own. We all know that it is
unsatisfactory for students to be able to produce correct samples of a structure only when they
are specifically tested on it.
One of our job as teachers is to help students make the ‘leap’ from form-focused accura –
cy work to fluent, acceptable production by providing a ‘bridge’: a variety of practice activities
that familiarize them with the structures in context, giving practice both in form and commu –
nicative meaning. The activities we use have to be laid out in sequence: form a very controlled
and accuracy-oriented exercise at the beginning to a fluently activity giving opportunities for
the free use of the grammar in context at the end.
3.6.1. Awareness
After the learners have been introduced to the structure, they are given opportunities to
encounter it within some kind of discourse and do a task that focuses their attention on its form
and/or meaning. For example students are given a short text and asked to underline all the ex –
amples of the past tense – regular verbs they can find.
“It was late in the evening of December 16th 1878. Doctor Charles Blunden, a well-
known Liverpool doctor, was still in his surgery.

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At about 9 p.m. somebody knocked at the door. On the doorstep there was a boy of about
twelve wearing dirty trousers and no shoes. There was a dark blue scarf around his neck. ‘Doc –
tor!’ he cried , ‘Please come with me! My mother’ s ill. I think she’ s dying.’
The doctor followed the boy to a street near the surgery. The boy pointed to a woman on
the ground. She was unconscious. The doctor looked at the woman and then stopped a passing
horse and cab. The doctor and boy lifted the woman into the cab. At the hospital the doctor
treated the woman for pneumonia and luckily she recovered completely.
Some weeks later, the woman thanked Doctor Blunden for saving her life. He smiled
and said that the real person to thank was the woman’ s son. ‘My son?’ she said, ‘No, not my
son!’ and she started to cry. ‘My son died from fever two years ago.’
Doctor Blunden was amazed. The woman continued , ‘This is all I have to remember him
by.’ She pulled a dark blue scarf from around her neck. ‘It was his. I always wear it in winter.’
Doctor Blunden recognized it immediately. It was the barefoot boy’ s scarf.” ( Abbs et alli, 2001
: 42)
3.6.2. Drills
Drills are usually very controlled and therefore they have limited potential. Because they
are fairly repetitive and not very creative they should not be used for too long or too frequently.
However, they do give students the opportunity for safe practice; accuracy can be focused on as
the students get a chance to rehearse language.
a) Controlled drills – learners produce examples of the structures. These examples are,
however, predetermined by the teacher or the textbook, and have to conform to very clear,
closed-ended cues.
Example: Write or say statements about these children, modelled on the following
example:
Peter finished his homework but he didn’t tidy his room.
Sophie help: her teacher/her colleague
Harry finish his puzzle/his homework
Lucy play the violin/football
Beth cook spaghetti/French fries
Mr. Hardy watch a film/news last night .

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b) Meaningful drills – again the responses are very controlled, but learners can make a
limited choice.
Example : In order to practice form of the past simple – regular verbs I show my
students some activities flashcards and they have to compose true statements according to the
model.
He brushed his teeth/he didn’t brush his hair.
He washed his hands/he didn’t wash his face.
He opened the window/he didn’t open the door.
He cleaned his room/he didn’t clean in the kitchen.
He cooked some pancakes/he didn’t cook eggs and ham.
He played football/he didn’t play computer games.
He finished his duties/he didn’t finish his plate.
c) Chain drills – are ways of practicing a particular structure over and over again in the
context of either a game and/or personal element. Chain drills are an amusing way of getting
quick and involving practice of a particular structure.
Drill work is very useful since it provides opportunities for students to practice a new bit
of language in the most controlled way. Most drills can be adapted for pairwork and groupwork.
It is important to remember the limitations of drills and to use them sparingly.
Example: I open the window and breathe the fresh air every morning.
The student next to me has to say:
‘She opened the window and breathed the fresh air yesterday morning.’
‘I open the window, breathe the fresh air and wash my face every morning.’
The third student has to remember the first two speakers’ activities and then give his or
her own: ‘ She opened the window, breathed the fresh air and washed her face yesterday morn –
ing.’
‘I open the window, breathe the fresh air, wash my face and brush my teeth.’
3.6.3. Guided, meaningful practice.
I explain my students that they have to form sentences of their own according to the
following set pattern, but exactly what vocabulary they use is up to them.
Example: Practicing the present perfect simple, students are given the cue: I have

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read this book ….and suggest, in speech or writing, when or why they have done something .
I haven’t called you because….
He has visited Disneyland …..
We have met a famous person…..
I have sent a post card to my best friend …..
They have stayed in a hotel ….
3.6.4. Structured-based free sentence composition
Students are provided with visual or situational cue, and invited to compose their own
responses. They are directed to use a certain structure. I use this activity usually after I have
taught the present continuous, past simple or past continuous. I asked my students to bring in a
picture of their family and then they have to describe what is in the picture.
Example: Students are presented a picture, a family portrait and they have to say
what is doing each member of the family in the picture, using the present continuous.
Mother is listening to the radio while grandmother is drinking tea.
Father is reading the newspaper while grandfather is sleeping.
Mike is cleaning the windows while Simon is watering the flowers in the gar den.
The girls are playing with the dolls while their brother is eating a sandwich.
3.6.5. Structured-based discourse composition
Students hold a discussion or write a passage according to a given task. They are direct –
ed to use some examples of the structures within the discourse. Again, I use this exercise to
practice past simple, past continuous or present perfect simple.
Example: Yesterday you had a test. During the test you saw one of your colleague
cheating. Say what you did using the past continuous.
3.6.6. Games
Games can be used at all levels because my students, for instance, are very delighted
when I bring them in our lesson. We should regard them as an integrated part of the language
syllabus not only as an amusing activity. Students are not very pleased in doing tasks but when
using games to practice the new grammar structure they become more involved in the activity
and learn it eagerly and willingly. Games are not used in the class to create chaos so they have
their own rules which need to be presented before starting to play.

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Twenty questions and other ‘yes/no’ games
Twenty questions is a team game which originated from a popular BBC radio pro –
gramme. Students are divided into teams. I use this game with my students when I want to
practice vocabulary and usually the form of present simple and present continuous. Depending
on the number of students I have in class, I divide them in two or three teams, and each team
has to think of a number of objects. The game begins in the moment when one student from
Team A asks another student from team B questions which can be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
each team gets a point after a maximum of ten questions and right answers. They get no points
if they do not discover what the object is after asking fifteen questions.
For instance, I want to practice ‘ like/don’t like’ with my students of 4th grade. They be –
gin asking: ‘Do you like lollipops?’ – ‘Yes, I do / No, I don’t.’ Do you like lemonade?’ – ‘Yes,
I do. / No, I don’t.’ ‘Do you like ice cream?’ – ‘Yes, I do / No, I don’t.’
Noughts and crosses / tic-tac-toe
This popular children’s game can easily be adapted for the English classroom enabling
the teacher to ensure practice of specific language items in an amusing context. I use this game
after we have learnt some new grammar structures. Usually I divide the class in two teams
because there aren’t too many students in our classes, one team represent the (0) and the other
team represents crosses (X). I give them the following table on the board:
cleans never running
they are paid
isn’t play didn’t
One the team selects the square they wish to play for and one student has to say a sen –
tence using the word on that square. If the sentence is correct, the square is filled with a nought
or a cross, depending on the team the player comes from.
Quizzes
Quizzes can always be used to practice specific language items in an enjoyable and moti –
vating way. In this example I practice with my students the use of the ‘was/were’ past. I prepare
some quiz questions and students have to answer them using the past simple of TO BE.
Example: Who were your teachers last year?

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Where were you yesterday?
Who was the first man on the moon?
When were you born?
What was your favourite subject at school?
In the game a student of the team A asks a question to a student of team B. If the question
is said correctly Team A gets one point. If the student of Team B gets the answer immediately
the team gets two points. If he or she has to confer with the rest of the team to get the answer
the team gets one point.
Games like these have been widely used for many years. They are great fun and provide
practice in an amusing context.
Find someone who
Another game that I frequently play with my students is Find someone who. I use it for
checking vocabulary, for reinforcement of a new grammar structure or sometimes I use it as a
warm-up activity. Each student is given the following card:
FIND SOMEONE WHO
1 likes chocolate
2 often goes to the cinema
3 has three brothers
4 goes to bed late every night
5 plays the guitar
All the students then stand up and circulate, asking each other questions such as ‘Do you
like chocolate?’ If the answer is ‘Yes’ they write that person’s name in the space provided. They
can only ask someone a question once. The activity ends when a student has got names for each
question.
This activity is obviously noisy but it is great fun. The activity is particularly suitable for
a group that has only recently met since it helps students to get to know about each other.
It is a good idea to check that the ‘winning’ students has written down the names correctly.
3.6.7. Written practice
a) The fill-in – one way of providing controlled written practice is to get students fill in
blanks in sentences. This is extremely restricted, though it is often useful during presentation
stage and as controlled homework practice. As I said before I use it either during the presenta –

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tion stage of a new grammar structure or immediately after the explanation stage of the lesson.
In the following example I give my students a letter which have to be filled in with Present
simple, present continuous and present perfect.
“Dear Madam,
My name ________________ (1) Carol Albert and I ________________ (2) to you about
the advertisement in today’ s newspaper for the post of hotel receptionist. I ________________
(3) school and at the present ________________ (4) hotel catering at night school. My typ –
ing ________________ (5) good and I also (speak) two languages, English and Spanish. I
________________ (7) courses in Computer Studies, Accounting and Office Management
and I ________________ (8)that these courses ________________ (9) me a lot of experi –
ence for the post you ________________ (10) One day, I hope to become a hotel manager. I
________________ (11)will consider my application. I ________________ (12) a CV with my
personal details and other information which I ________________ (13) may interest you. I
________________ (14) forward to hearing from you very soon.
Yours faithfully, Carol Albert”
(Evans, 1995 : 13)
3.6.8. Oral compositions
“Oral compositions have been popular in language teaching for a long time. The idea is
that the teacher and the class together build up a narrative before the students and then asked to
write it. This process allows the teacher and the students to focus in a variety of language items
from verb tenses to cohesive devices.” (Harmer, 1999 : 117)
Oral compositions can be handled with visual or aural stimuli. Teacher can show the
students a series of pictures, mime a story or play them a tape with a series of sounds.
I use this activity for instance with my 4th or 5th grade students to practice daily activities
with present simple. I bring in class a set of flashcards with a child doing different activities.
I show the first picture and my students answer: ‘First, he gets up at 7 o’clock.’ The second
picture: ‘Then, he brushes his teeth and have a shower.’ The third picture: ‘After that he goes
to school by bus.’ The fourth picture: ‘He comes home at 2 o’clock.’ ‘Then he has lunch.’ ‘Af –
ter that he does his homework and play with his sister.’ ‘He has dinner at 8 o’clock.’ ‘Then he
brushes his teeth and takes a bath.’ ‘After that he watches TV .’ ‘He goes to bed at 9.30’.
Oral compositions work better if students do not see all the pictures at the same time.
Oral compositions are useful for the teaching of narrative style and the use of various past tense.

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This kind of activity takes a long time and should be used sparingly .
3.6.9. Conclusions
In conclusion, games are highly motivated, they are amusing, interesting and at the same
time challenging. The activities in a game motivate our students in learning and retention. Even
those students who are shy also attend the activities with fun, forgetting for the moment about
their shyness and feeling of fear.
In this chapter of my work I have tried to presents different ways of getting students to
practice specific items of language both in speech and in writing. The main objective of these
activities is to allow students to focus on the accuracy of what they are saying and writing.
These activities don’t have to be dull and manipulative, on the contrary, many practice activities
are great fun and provide the students with a satisfactory blend of confidence and enjoyment.
In order to make a grammar lesson effective, beneficial and interesting, we should use
these activities in our classroom. Since teaching is a ‘developing art’ (Ur, 1987 : 13), which
requires innovative and creative ideas to enrich its effectiveness, we must not hesitate to use
these activities with our students. These exercises can assist our teaching of grammar while
providing a relaxed atmosphere and motivating students. Such activities are student centred,
hence, by using them we give a chance to our students to express themselves, enjoy themselves
during learning and use ‘the reserves of their mind’ (Ur, 1987 : 29).

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CHAPTER 4. ACTIVITIES AND PRACTICAL
DRILLS IN THE CLASSROOM
Drills are very useful in teaching and practicing grammar. To master a foreign language,
students must be engaged in activities which are characteristic of the language. My students
for instance, simply don’t like or don’t want to speak English, maybe because they are poor at
it, maybe at home they are not encouraged enough to learn a foreign language and they can’t
see the meaning of speaking it or maybe I haven’t found so far the right technique to make
them speak. But using exercises, oral or written exercises, funny or maybe sometimes boring
exercises, they are determined somehow to use the language. Drills form, develop and improve
language skills and abilities. It is also true that good exercises and funny and interesting ac –
tivities will help greatly to reinforce students’ desire to learn the language and to sustain their
enthusiasm during our English classes. It is true that students need to practice their grammar a
lot but it depends only on us, their teachers, how they will do it. We should always remember
that students would do the task with pleasure not only as a necessity. Usually, students consider
that everything what is related to school is boring and uninteresting, but we know we can make
our English classes funnier and bring good mood in class if we choose the right activities and
the right exercises to be done at school or at home.
According to G. Rogova exercises may be divided into the following characteristics:
– according to the activity they require on the part of the learners (drills and speech);
– according to the place they are performed (class and home exercises)
– according to their form (oral or written) ( www.group-global.org )
We should always keep in mind to bring new and interesting exercises to our students,
we shouldn’t repeat them over and over again, we should alternate oral exercises with the writ –
ten ones and with games. In case we want to give them some homework, it should not be too
long or too difficult. The exercises must be adapted to the class level, attractive and interesting.
I use this kind of drills with my 4th and 5th grade students. These are filling-in exercises
and controlled drills. I use them immediately after I have finished teaching the verb “to be” as a
class activity or, if time doesn’t allow us, I give them as home assignment. My students like a lot
and they are very happy when they succeed to give the right answer. Indeed they like most the
last two exercises, the controlled drills. Using this worksheet I propose that at the end of it, my
students should have achieved the form of the verb “to be”, no matter if they are in the position
to have the subject or the verb, to know to ask questions using the verb “to be” and to be able
to form sentences with this verb.

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Worksheet
The verb “to be”
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Complete with am, is, are.
a) Peter and Harry are neighbours.
b) Beth ……………………… a reporter for Teenagers Today.
c) Here’s a copy of Teenagers Today. It …………………… the new school magazine.
d) Cosmo and Bella ………………………. Harry’s cats.
e) Look, there’s Lucy. She ……………………… Peter’s sister.
f) Hi, I …………………… Kelly. What’s your name?
g) My friend and I ……………………. In the school football team.
h) Hurry up! You ……………………. Late for school!
2. Complete with one word
a) A: Hello. 1 I ‘m Kate and this is my brother. His name 2…………………….. David. We
3………………… from London.
B: Hi. I’ 4 ………………….. Sarah.
b) A: What’s this?
B: 5………………………. ‘s a present from Sam. It 6 …………………. His birthday
today.
c) A: Where’s Michael?
B: 7……………..’s in his room. And Eva 8………………….in the living room.
A: Eva? No, she isn’t. 9……………..’s in the garden.
d) A: Look. Here are the photos from my birthday party.
B: Wow! 10………………………..’re great.
A: This is Anna. She 11…………………my best friend. And this is my brother, Matt.
12………..’re twins.
3. Write questions and short answers.

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a) Peter / Lucy’s cousin?
Is Peter Lucy’ s cousin?No, he isn’t.
b) Cosmo and Bella / dogs?
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
c) Peter an Harry / neighbours?
………………………………………………………..…………………………………
d) Lucy / Harry’s sister?
………………………………………………………….…………………………………
e) Harry / Peter’s friend?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
f) Beth / a doctor?
………………………………………………………..…………………………………
g) Peter and Lucy / twins?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
h) Teenagers Today / the new school magazine?
………………………………………………………….…………………………………
4. Write questions. Then write true answers.
1. how old / you? How old are you? I’m
2. when / your birthday?
3. you / a student?
4. where / your school?
5. your classroom / big?
6. what / in your bag?
7. what / your teacher’s name?
8. English / your favourite subject?
(Jervis and Carling, 2011, p. 6 – 7)

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This worksheet is used with 5th and 6th grade students, it means with beginners and ele –
mentary students. Here I use fill-in exercises, meaningful drills and controlled drills. I have to
admit that my students like all the time when I bring them worksheets because they don’t like
writing very much. So, from the very beginning they like the idea of having a worksheet, but
among these drills they like most meaningful and controlled drills. When I wrote this work –
sheet, I propose that at the end of this activity my students will be able to know which category
of verbs receive –s, –es or –ies at the end, in the third person singular. I also propose that they
will be able to differentiate the situations when we add or no –s at the end of the verb and, final –
ly, that they will be able to write sentences, questions or short answers using the present simple.
Worksheet
The present simple
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Write the third person singular of the verbs in the correct column.
Answer; carry; close; cry; fix; fly; go; like; start; stay; teach; tidy; wash; watch; worry
-s -es -ies
answers
…………………
………………….
…………………..
…………………..………………….
…………………
………………….
…………………..
…………………….…………………….
…………………….
………………………
……………………..
……………………..
2. Complete with the present simple.
1. Lucy watches her favourite cartoon at five o’clock every day. (watch)
2. Harry ………………… Lucy’s music. (like)
3. The swimming pool ………………… at six o’clock. (close)
4. We ……………………my grandparents on Sundays. (visit)

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5. Elephants ……………………… leaves and grass. (eat)
6. My pen friend …………………… in Japan. (leaves)
7. I ……………………my room every morning. (tidy)
8. Our lessons …………………….……at eight. (start)
9. Mr Allan ……………………….. Geography. (teach)
10. These birds ……………. north in the spring. (fly)
3. Look at the table and write what they like and what they don’t like.
Chicken Fish Burgers Eggs Pizza
Caroline √ √ √
Ted √ √
Tom + Jack √ √ √
Mother √ √ √
Father √ √ √
You
1. Caroline likes chicken, fish and pizza. She doesn’t like burgers or eggs.
2…………………………………………………………………………………………..
3…………………………………………………………………………………………..
4…………………………………………………………………………………………..
5…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Write about you:
6. I ……………………………………………………………………………………….
4. Write questions. Then write true answers.
1. you / walk to school / every day?
Do you walk to school every day? Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.
2. your lessons / start / at eight o’clock?
………………………………………… ……………………………
Look!
I get up at 7 o’clock.
Peter gets up at 8 o’clock.

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3. you / do your homework / every evening?
………………………………………… ……………………………
4. you and your best friend / go / to the same school?
………………………………………… ……………………………
5. your best friend / visit / at weekends?
…………………… ……………………
6. you / play sport / every day?
………………………………………… ……………………………
(Round-Up 1, Virginia Evans, ed. Pearson Longman 2006, p. 54)

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This worksheet is used with beginner and elementary students. We use it to practice the
forms of the present continuous tense by using fill-in exercise, meaningful and controlled drills.
At the end of the this activity, I hope that my students will be able to understand that for using
the present continuous tense, we have to use the verb “to be”, to know to form sentences and
questions using this tense.
Worksheet
The present continuous
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Write the –ing form of the verbs in the correct column.
Ask; begin; buy; close; dance; drive; leave; open; run; sit; smile; stop; swim; talk; watch
-ing -e + -ing Double consonant + -ing
Asking
…………………
…………………
…………………
……………………………………
…………………
…………………
…………………
………………….………………..
………………..
…………………
…………………
…………………
2. Complete with the present continuous.
1. It’s Sunday and we ’re having a barbecue in the garden. (have)
2. Dad …………………………… steak on the barbecue. (cook)
3. Mum ………………………….. some sandwiches. (make)
4. Samantha ……………………… photos with her camera. (take)
5. Eric and Peter ……………………………….. chess. (play)
6. Carol …………………………….a letter to her new penfriend. (write)
7. Grandma and Grandpa……………………….. under the tree. (sit)
8. The baby …………………………(sleep)

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9. We ……………………………… a fantastic time! (have)
10. And I ………………………….. my new sunglasses today! (wear)
3. Write negative sentences as in the example:
e.g. They/not/play/in the garden now. They aren’t playing in the garden now.
1. The dog / not/ run in the yard. ………………………………………..
2. The children / not play outside/ today. ………………………………………..
3. I / not / watch TV / at the moment. ………………………………………..
4. You / not / read a book. ………………………………………..
5. She / not / cook / in the kitchen now. ………………………………………..
4. Write sentences as in the example:
e.g. The children have breakfast. The children are having breakfast.
1. She / listen to the music. ………………………………………..
2. They / go / to the cinema. ………………………………………..
3. You / do/ your homework? ………………………………………..
4. The boys / play / on the beach. ………………………………………..
5. Mother / read / a magazine. ………………………………………..
6. We / play cards / with Mike and Sasha. ………………………………………..
7. Helen / clean / the house? ………………………………………..
8. Peter / ride / his bicycle in the park. ………………………………………..
9. Susan / make / a lemonade for her guests. ………………………………………..
10. The baby / cry / in his room. ………………………………………..
5. Write questions as in the example:
Am the boy riding bicycles.
Is the women watching TV .
Are Jane cooking in the kitchen.
I dancing.
Spike reading an interesting book
the girls going out with my friends
1. Is the boy watching TV?
2…………………………………………………………………………………………..
3…………………………………………………………………………………………..

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4………………………………………………………………………………………….
5…………………………………………………………………………………………..
6…………………………………………………………………………………………..
This worksheet can be used for pre-intermediate and intermediate students. Its purpose
is to make students see and understand the differences between present simple and present
continuous. Here, students have to fill in the exercises, to talk about 4 things they do or don’t in
every day and to describe a picture from a magazine.
Worksheet
Present Simple – Present Continuous
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Put the verbs in brackets into Present Simple or Present Continuous.
1. She studies every evening. (study)
2. He …………………………………………. with Mary now. (dance)
3. They ………………………………………. Married next week. (get)
4. She usually ………………………………… the bus to school. (take)
5. Her husband never …………………………. her birthday. (remember)
6. We ……………………………………… a film on television at the moment. (watch)
2. Complete the dialogue using the verbs in brackets in the correct form.
Caller: Good morning! 1 Is (be) Mr Green there?
Man: No, he 2 …………………………… (not/be) here. He 3……………………………
(work) at the moment. He usually 4…………………………………….(work) until 4 p.m.
Caller: What about Mrs Green? Where 5………………………….. (be) she?
Man: She 6……………………………. (do) the shopping. She always
7……………………. (do) the shopping on Thursday afternoons.
Caller: Where 8………………………… (be) the children?
Man: They 9………………………….. (play) football. They always

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10…………………… (play) football after school.
Caller: How 11…………………………….. (you/know) all this? Who are you?
Man: I 12……………………………… (be) the burglar!
3. Write 4 things you usually, often, always do and another 4 you don’t do.
4. Find a picture from a magazine and write what the people in it are doing at the moment.
(Evans, 2007 : 7)

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This worksheet is used for elementary and pre-intermediate level students. It’s a work –
sheet about the regular and irregular verbs used in past simple. It is a mixture of fill-in and
matching exercises with meaningful and controlled drills.
Worksheet
Past simple – regular and irregular verbs
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Complete the following sentences using the past simple.
a) In February 2004, a young man from Australia, 1 played (play) the drums for 84 hours.
b) The largest sandwich in the world 2………………………………. (weight) 2,467 kg.
c) Sergio Goldvarg of Argentina 3 …………………………………….. (collect) 7000
model cars in 43 years (1962 – 2005).
d) In 2000, a 34-year-old man from Nepal 4……………………………. (climb) Mount
Everest in 16 hours and 56 minutes!
e) In 1930, Mike Ritof and Edith Boudreaux 5……………………………. (dance) for
5152 hours and 48 minutes.
f) Pelé, one of the world’s greatest football players, 6…………………………… (score)
1280 goals in 1360 games.
2. Match

Infinitive Past Simple
Break Went
Come Knew
Drink Wrote
Feel Broke
Go Swam
Hold Drank

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3. Correct the sentences.
a) Harry watched a film on TV last night.
He didn’t watch a film. He watched cartoons.
b) Beth and Vicky played football on Saturday.
…………………………………………………………………. tennis.
c) You studied for your Maths test last weekend.
I …………………………………………………………………..History test.
d) Mrs. Hardy baked a chocolate cake last Sunday.
…………………………………………………………………. a banana cake.
e) Mary visited her friend, Marina, yesterday.
…………………………………………………………………. her cousin, Jenny.
4. Read Andy’s list of things to do on Saturday. What did he do? What didn’t he do?
Saturday
get up at 8! a) He got up at 8.
do my homework for Monday b)………………………………………………………
help Mum in the kitchen c)……………………………………………………….
visit my grandmother d)……………………………………………………….
buy dog food for Nero e)……………………………………………………….
write a letter to my penfriend f)………………………………………………………..
meet Sue at 6 g)…………………………………………………
5. What did you do last weekend? Write questions. Then write true answers.
a) what time/you/get up/last Saturday?
What time did you get up last Saturday? I got up at nine o’clock.
b) you/go/shopping/with a friend?
…………………………………………. ……………………………………………
c) a friend / call / you?
…………………………………………. ……………………………………………Know Came
Swim Felt
Write Held

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d) where / you / go / on Sunday?
…………………………………………. ……………………………………………
This worksheet wants to emphasise the difference between past simple and past contin –
uous. It is very important for the students to understand the difference both in meaning and in
form between the two tenses. Here I have selected multiple choice and fill-in exercises. I think
that’s obvious that students like more the multiple choice exercises.
Worksheet
Past simple – past continuous
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Choose the correct option.
a) I was understanding / understood the theory well.
b) He was believing / believed I was the best man for the job.
c) As she wanted to feed the child, she was tasting / tasted it again.
d) They were just seeing / saw the engine of the car.
e) She was trusting / trusted you but she was wrong.
f) They were always doubting / always doubted my words.
g) We were recognizing / recognized they were right.
h) I was forgetting / forgot to bring you some flowers.
2. Complete with the past simple or past continuous.
a) Sue and Pete were having dinner (have dinner) when I left the house this evening.
b) I was reading a book when he ……………………….. (enter) my room.
c) What were you doing when the rain ……………………………. (begin) yesterday.
d) We were talking on the phone when she ………………………… (come) home.
e) Susan …………………………. (wash) her hair when I called her.
f) She was dancing when I ……………………………… (see) her.
g) My father …………………………. (fish) when my mother woke up.

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h) The children………………………. (play) outside when we got home this afternoon.
3. Circle the correct answer.
a) I was doing my homework when / while my father came home.
b) When / While you were watching TV , the lights went out.
c) When / While you were sleeping, Dave phoned.
d) Ben was walking home from school when / while he found € 10 in the street.
e) I was writing an email to a friend when / while my parents came back.
4. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Then write a
suitable question.
1. A: I didn’t answer (not answer) the phone because I was standing (stand) on my head.
B: Why were you standing on your head?
A: Because I was doing my yoga.
2. A: We ……………… (walk) into town when my brother ……………. (grab) my arm.
B: Why …………………………………………………………………………………..
A: Because he’d just seen Britney Spears drive by.
3. A: I ……… (not disturb) you when Pete ……….. (phone) because you ………. (sleep).
B: Why …………………………………………………………………………………?
A: I don’t know. He didn’t say.
4. A: He …………….. (shook) with fright when he ………… (come) out of the building.
B: Why …………………………………………………………………………………?
A: Because he’d thought he’d seen a ghost!
5. A: We ………………….. (talk) when suddenly he ……………. (get) really miserable.
B: Why …………………………………………………………………………………?
A: Because he’d just split up with his girlfriend.
5. Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple or the past continuous.
I 1 was watching (watch) TV last night when I 2………………………………… (hear)
a strange noise outside my window. I 3…………………………………… (be) frightened, but

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I decided to investigate. As I 4………………………………. (walk) towards the window the
curtains 5……… (start) to move. I 6…………………………….. (scream) loudly and my mother
7………………… (run) in. Then I 8……………………………… (realise) that the noise was
my cat trying to climb in through the window.

This worksheet I usually use with pre-intermediate and intermediate students. It high –
lights the difference between past simple and present perfect simple. My purpose is that when
my students finish this worksheet they are supposed to make difference between the moment
when and action happened and if the action happened. I have chosen for this worksheet fill-in
exercises and controlled drills.
Worksheet
Past simple – Present perfect simple
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Put the verbs in brackets into the past simple.
Many years ago people 1 believed (believe) that some women 2………………………………
(be) witches. These women 3…………………………….. (not live) in big cities. They
4……………… (live) in small villages. People 5………………………………. (think) they
6……………………. (behave) strange because they 7……………………………….. (make)
unusual medicines from plants and they 8………………………………. (not/act) like other
people. They 9………………. (say) that they 10……………………………….. (not / walk) but
that they 11……………………… (fly) on brooms. Do you believe in witches?
2. Complete each sentence with the correct verb in the present perfect.
write; do; find; go; have; lose; see; speak; take; forget
a) He’s a brilliant actor. I ‘ve seen all his films.
b) Why don’t you answer his letters? She ………………………… to you three times.
c) We …………………………………. our breakfast. We’re going out now.
d) He ………………………………. to Jane. She’s going to be there at nine.

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e) Dave …………………………….. to the beach. He’s going to be back by six.
f) Her camera is excellent. She …………………………. some brilliant photos.
g) Can you open the door, please? I …………………………….. my keys.
h) Great! I …………………………… my purse. Now I can go shopping.
i) We ………………………………… our work. Can we go out now?
j) I can’t see anything. I……………………………… my glasses at home.
3. Ask and answer about Sophie and yourself as in the example:
Met a famous
PersonHad a bad
dreamBeen to the
theatreSeen ‘Frozen’ Eaten fish
Sophie once several times recently many times never
You
a) Has Sophie ever met a famous person? Yes, she has met a basketball player once.
b) …………………………………………………………………………………………
c) …………………………………………………………………………………………
d) ………………………………………………………………………………………..
e) …………………………………………………………………………………………
f) Have you ………………………………………………………………………………
g) …………………………………………………………………………….. …………
h) …………………………………………………………………………………………
i) …………………………………………………………………………………………
j) …………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Complete the sentences, putting the verbs into the past simple or present perfect simple.
1. He hasn’t taken off (not take off) his cap since he bought (buy) it.
2. Don’t buy any juice. Mark ………………………………………. (already / buy) some.
3. She ……………………… (not speak) since she …..………….. (arrive) this morning.
4. I ………………………………… (wake up) at four thirty this morning.
5. ……………………………………………….. (Dave / ever / go) on a sponsored walk?

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6. When ………………………………………………… (you / learn) to waterski?
7. We ………………………………… (fly) to Sydney last September to visit my brother.
8. She ……………………………………… (get) a camera for her birthday and she
……………………… (just / take) some amazing photos.
9. I ………………………………………. (take) my cousins on a boat trip on Saturday.
10. We …………………….. (not / see) her since she …………… (get back) from Nepal.
Most of the times, I use this worksheet with my 8th grade students and its purpose is to
make students understand the difference between a past action and the event which happened
before the past action. I selected here fill-in exercises and rephrasing.
Worksheet
Past simple – Past perfect simple
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Fill in past simple or past perfect, then state which action happened first.
1. When I arrived (arrive) at the station, the train had left (leave).
First action: had left
2. We ……………………….(light) the candles because the lights …………….. (go off).
First action: ………………………………
3. When I got home I ………… (discover) that somebody …….….. (break into) my flat.
First action: ……………………………….
4. The patient ……………… (die) before the ambulance …………… (reach) the hospital.

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First action: ………………………………
5. John ……… (eat) all the cakes by the time the other children ……. (arrive) at the party.
First action: …………………………………..
2. Put the verbs in brackets into Past perfect or past simple.
After Jim and Terry 1 had finished (finish) their breakfast, they 2…………………………….
(take) their bags and 3………………………………….. (go) to the river to fish. They 4………….
(go) there before and 5……………………………. (catch) some big fish. By 5 o’clock
they 6……………………………… (not / get) any fish, so they decided to go home. They
7…………………………….. (promise) their mother to bring fish for dinner, so they 8…………..
(look) for a shop where they could buy some but the shops 9……………………………….
(already / close). When they 10……………………………………..(arrive) home, they
11…………………………. (tell) their mother that they 12……………………………….. (catch)
the biggest fish they 13……………………………. (ever/see) but it 14……………….. (escape).
3. From each pair of sentences, make one sentence containing a verb in the past simple
and a verb in the past perfect simple.
a) I was in a state of shock at nine o’clock.
I read the letter at eight o’clock. (after)
I was in a state of shock after I’d read the letter.
b) My brother borrowed my leather jacket.
I couldn’t wear it to the party. (so)
……………………………………………………………………………………………….
c) I phoned you after dinner.
You went out before dinner. (but)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
d) She took him to hospital this afternoon.
He fell down the stairs this morning. (because)
……………………………………………………………………………………………

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e) I saw a programme on first aid last night.
I knew what to do today. (so)
……………………………………………………………………………………………
f) They didn’t want to see the film on Tuesday.
They saw it on Monday. (because)
……………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Fill in the past simple or past perfect.
a) Mother had cooked (cook) dinner by the time we got (get) home.
b) She …………….… (start) cleaning after everybody …………..…. (leave) the house.
c) They ……………… (buy) the tickets before they …………………. (go) to the theatre.
d) Anne ………….…… (pass) all her exams because she ……………….… (study) hard.
e) David ………………. (take) the dog for a walk before he ……………… (go) to bed.
f) My sister ……………(buy) the red dress after she………………………(try) other two.
This worksheet is used for my pre-intermediate and intermediate students. It refers to
expressing future and is a mixture of fill-in exercises and controlled drills. The purpose of this
worksheet is to emphasise when we use “will” or “be going to” or present continuous to express
a future action. The exercise that students reacted very well is the second one, where they had
to write sentences on their own.
Worksheet
Will – be going to – present continuous
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Fill in: shall, will or be going to
a) A: What do you want for lunch?
B: I think I 1 will have chicken and some salad.
b) A: John has come back from England.

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B: I know. I 2………………………….. see him tonight.
c) A: I haven’t got any money.
B: I 3………………………… lend you some money if you want me to.
d) A: Ben and I 4…………………………. get married in April.
B: Really? Congratulations!
e) A: 5…………………………… we meet on Sunday?
B: Sorry, but I 6…………………………… visit my aunt. She is expecting me.
f) A: Is Dave coming to the party?
B: Yes, but he 7………………………….. probably be late.
g) A: Laura is in hospital.
B: Really? I 8…………………………….. send her some flowers.
h) A: Have you decided where to go on holiday?
B: Yes, I 9…………………………… travel round Europe.
i) A: The plants need watering.
B: I know. I 10……………………….. water them later.
2. Write what Andy’s plan for the next week. Then write about your plans.
Monday: read his weekly newspaper a) David is going to do his weekly newspaper.
Tuesday: run in the park b) …………………………………………………
Wednesday: visit Emily c) …………………………………………………
Thursday: do his shopping d) …………………………………………………
Friday: clean his room e) …………………………………………………
Saturday: dance at the party f) …………………………………………………
Sunday: watch TV g) …………………………………………………
3. Complete the dialogues with the verbs in the box. Use the present continuous, (not)
going to or will/won’t.
be, meet, cook, answer, bring, have, buy
a) A: The phone’s ringing.
B: Leave it! I’m not going to answer it.
b) A: Where’s your homework, Gary?
B: I’m sorry. I ……………………………………….. it to class tomorrow.
c) A: Have you decided on a present for Julie?

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B: Yes. I ……………………………………………… her a speedometer for her bike.
d) A: We need to be at the station at six o’clock.
B: OK. I ………………………………………………. you at your house at five thirty.
e) A: Bye! I’ll see you at Rosa’s house on Saturday.
B: Oh, I forgot. She …………………………………… a party, isn’t she?
f) A: I don’t like fish, Sam doesn’t eat meat and Adam doesn’t like vegetables.
B: Well, hard luck! I ………………………………….. three different dishes!
g) A: Let’s go and see if Leo’s at home.
B: No, he ………………………………………….. there. He’s on holiday.
4. Put the verbs in brackets into Present Continuous, Present Simple, be going to or will.
a) Call me as soon as you arrive (arrive).
b) We ……………………………. (go) to the cinema tonight. Would you like to come?
c) They ………………….. (get) married next week. Everything is ready for the wedding.
d) School ……………………… (start) at 9 o’clock.
e) Be careful! You ………………………………….. (fall off) the ladder!
f) When do you think you …………………………. (finish) typing these letters?
g) There are dark clouds in the sky. It………………………………… (rain).
This worksheet is a bit more difficult so it is used with intermediate students. These
exercises are guided, meaningful practice exercises. It has the role to help students practice the
reported speech, using many sentences that have to be reformulated and turned from active into
passive voice. Students are delighted by this kind of activities because they have the chance to
play with words, to reformulate phrases and to identify what tense should they use in one or
another sentence.
Worksheet
Reported speech
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Change these statements into reported speech.
a) ‘I’m a bit fed up.’

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She said she was a bit fed up.
b) ‘We work at the Cliff Hotel.’
They said ……………………………….…………………………………..
c) ‘I’m waiting for a phone call.’
He said ………………………………………………………………………..
d) ‘I didn’t enjoy the disco.’
She said…………………………………………………………………………
e) ‘We’ve been on a boat trip.’
They said ………………………………………………………………………..
f) ‘I’ll turn the music down.’
He said …………………………………………………………………………..
g) ‘I can’t stop hiccupping.’
She said ………………………………………………………………………….
2. These students talked about their intentions for the next school year. Report what
they said.
1. Justin: ‘I want to communicate more with my parents. We don’t talk much.
2. Anthony: ‘I didn’t get good marks in my Maths exam. I can do better.
3. Leanne: ‘I haven’t achieved much this year. I plan to use my time better.’
4. Alexa: ‘I spend too much money. I’m going to start saving.’
5. Brandon: ‘I’m going to join a football team. I need to do more sport.’
6. Sara: ‘I’m a bit shy. I’ll try to be more outgoing.’
a) Justin said he wanted to communicate more with his parents. They didn’t talk much.
b) …………………………………………………………………………………………
c) …………………………………………………………………………………………
d) …………………………………………………………………………………………
e) …………………………………………………………………………………………
f) …………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Turn from Direct into Reported speech.
a) ‘I’ve ordered pizza for dinner’, he said. He said that he ordered pizza for dinner.
b) ‘We must write a letter to our lawyer’, she said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

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c) ‘I will come tomorrow and fix the tap’, the plumber said to them.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
d) ‘This is the best holiday I’ve ever had’, she said to her friend.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
e) ‘Why did you say that to me?’ she asked him.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
f) ‘Don’t speak to your father like that’, she said to them.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
g) ‘Could you show me where the manager’s office is?’ he asked the secretary.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
h) ‘Take your boots with you’, she said to her son.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
4. First state if the following statements are true (T) or false (F) then turn them from
Direct into Reported speech.
a) ‘Penguins can swim’, he said. He said that penguins can swim. T
b) ‘The earth is flat’, the old man said.
…………………………………..………………………………………………………
c) ‘The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world’, she said.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
d) ‘A train goes faster than a plane,’ he said.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
This worksheet is also used with my intermediate students. I use it either in class to
practice the passive voice or as home assignment with the aim of reinforcing this grammatical
structure. I selected in this worksheet fill-in exercise, meaningful drills and structured-based
discourse composition. My students like very much this worksheet because it has different
kind of exercising comparing to the ones they are used. They have to use their imagination and
language ability.

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Worksheet
The passive
Date:
Name:
Class:
1. Put the verbs in brackets into present simple passive.
There is a chimpanzee which 1 is called (call) “Bubbles”. It 2…………………………….
(own) by Michael Johnson. It 3………………………………… (keep)in his home. It
4………………… (feed) every day by Michael Johnson himself. It 5…………………………….
(always / dress) in funny clothes. It 6…………………………………. (say) that “Bubbles” is
Michael Johnson’s only friend.
2. Look at the Hotel Information table and write sentences as in the example:
HOTEL INFORMATION
BREAKFAST
In Pierrot’s Restaurant 7 – 9.30 amROOMS
Maid Service daily
DINNER
In Main Restaurant 8 – 10 pmHOT WATER
24 hours a day
NESWPAPERS – TELEPHONE CALLS
At the Reception DeskHOTEL CINEMA
Film every night at 10 pm
a) Breakfast / serve – where and when?
Breakfast is served in Pierrot’ s Restaurant between 7 and 9.30 am.
b) Dinner / serve – where and when?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
c) Newspapers / sell – where?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
d) Telephone calls / can make – where?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
e) Rooms / clean – who by and how often?
……………………………………………………………………………………………

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f) Hot water / supply – when?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
g) Films / show – where and when?
……………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Fill in the correct passive form.
Mr Pryce was having his house done up. Write what he saw when he went to inspect the work.
a) The windows has been cleaned (clean).
b) New curtains ……………………………………………………….. (put up).
c) The walls …………………………………………………………… (paint).
d) Light fittings ………………………………………………………… (still / install).
e) Some furniture ………………………………………………………. (deliver).
f) New carpets ………………………………………………………….. (buy)
4. Using the Passive, ask questions to which the bold type words are answers.
a) Columbus discovered America. Who was America discovered by?
b) We keep money in a safe. ……………………………………………
c) A bee stung her. ……………………………………………
d) They speak Italian in Italy. ……………………………………………
e) They have taken his aunt to hospital. ……………………………………………
f) The boys damaged the television. ……………………………………………
5. Write a news report in the Passive using the notes below.
A small Japanese village – hit – earthquake – last night. It – think – there are few sur –
vivors. The time of the disaster – give – as 7.00 p.m. The village – destroy – the force of the
earthquake. Soldiers – send – to the village – the Government to help in the search for survivors.
Efforts – still – make clear the village. Further help – give – the Government soon. Since the
survivors are homeless they – take – to the next village. Any further news – give – to you as it
arrives.

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CHAPTER 5. TESTING
Tests are essential because they allow us and our students to evaluate their performances.
In this way we can discover what areas they are struggling with and they will find out where
they need to focus their attention. There are three main categories of tests:
Diagnostic tests – are used to expose learner’s difficulties, gaps in their knowledge and
skill deficiencies during a course. Thus, when we know what the problems are, we can do some –
thing about them.
Progress or achievement tests: – these tests are designated to measure learners’ language
and skill progress in relation to the syllabus they have been following. Achievements tests work
only if they contain item types which the students are familiar with. If students are faced with
completely new material, the test will not measure the learning that has been taking place, even
though it can still measure language proficiency.
Achievement tests should reflect progress, not failure. They should reinforce the learning
that has taken place, not go out of their way to expose weaknesses. They can also help us de –
cide on changes to future teaching programmes where students where students do significantly
worse in the test than we might have expected.
Proficiency tests – give a general picture of a student’s knowledge and ability, rather than
measure progress. They are frequently used as stages people have to reach if they want to be
admitted to a foreign university, get a job or obtain some kind of certificate.
When testing we should take into account the following:
a) Frequency – we should consider testing students at the end of each chapter and then
every quarter or semester to break material up into more reasonable amounts.
b) Content: it is very important to check that students are retaining information in the long
term and not just memorizing information. We have to use familiar formats and ask different
questions or variants of questions. This will give students the opportunity to demonstrate what
they have learnt without getting bogged down in reading directions.
c) Variety: – we should try to include a variety of exercises in our tests. Being a foreign
language test we should have students demonstrate their ability to listen and speak as well as
read and write. We can also use projects to evaluate our students. Perhaps for one semester skits
can be the primary factor in determining overall grades. While these can be a challenge to eval –
uate compared to multiple choice questions, they also give students who do not perform well
on tests the chance to more fully demonstrate their abilities.

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d) Preparation – it is important to help students prepare for the tests. By reviewing ma –
terial in class, giving students information about the test and answering any questions students
have, you will help them immensely. Stress can reduce students’ performance so we should
simply encourage them to study the material and do their best.
e) Incentive – we have to set goals for our students so that they have something specific
to work towards. These goals must be reasonable but challenging. The incentive might be that
we won’t assign homework for one week, for instance, and so maybe students will be motivated
to achieve their target score.
f) Review – after returning the test to our students, we must go over the answers so that
students can figure out what they did wrong. We can mark the tests without correcting them and
then go over each question in class so that students can correct their answers and ask questions
if they have any.
While tests are really a great tool to gauge how well students are doing, tests can also
cause learners a lot of anxiety. We are not out to make them miserable so we must avoid trick
questions. We have to approach material directly and in familiar ways so that students can suc –
ceed.

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INITIAL TEST
6th grade
PARTEA I (60 points)
A. Fill in the gaps using the following words: (10x1p=10 points)
blue, father’ s, slim, singer, favourite, fair, mother’ s, friendly, brother, dance
Ema is a famous English 1……………….. . She was born in 1987 and she is one of the Spice girls.
Her 2………………. name is Trevor and her 3……………………….. name is Pauline. Emma has got
a 4………………………………. His name is P.J.
Emma is short and 5……………………… She has got 6………………… eyes and long 7………….hair.
She is a 8…………………………………… person. Emma can 9 ………………………..but she can’t ice-
skate. Her 10………………………….. singer is Madonna and her favourite colours are pink and white.
B. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form: (10x2p=20 points)
1. I ……………………………….. (wash) my clothes now.
2. He ……………………………… (speak) English and Italian.
3. Look! It’s ……………………………… (rain).
4. I can’t come now. I ……………………………………. on my project. (work)
5. ……………… you ………………………… a uniform at your school? (wear)
6. Answer the phone for me. I ………………………………. a shower. (have)
7. I usually …………………………………… to school by bus. (go)
8. We ………………………………… to school at about 8.30. (get)
9. Be quiet! I …………………………………….. my favourite programme. (watch)
10. He …………………………………………… a shower every morning. (have)
C. Write the correct plural form of the words: (4x1p=4 points )
1. Child-
2. Woman
3. Bus
4. Country
D. Fill in: who, when, where, how much, how many : (5x2p=10 points)
1. …………………………..apples did you eat yesterday? Two.

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2. ………………………….. the girls in the café?
3. ………………………….. your teacher’s name?
4. ……………………………bread do you usually eat every day? Two slices.
5. …………………………… they from?
E. Use the information in the factfile to complete the penfriend advertisement. (16x1p=16 points)
Name: Sonia Kisler
Nationality: Polish
Lives in: Cracow, Poland
Age: 15
Family: two brothers, one sister
Description: long blonde hair, blue eyes
Languages: Polish, English
Favourite band: The Smashing Pumpkins
Favourite film star: Leonardo di Caprio
Favourite football team: Don’t know
Wants penfriends in: Britain, Germany
Penfriends Wanted
My name’s Sonia . I’m from 1……………………………….. and I’m 2………………………
years old. 3…………………………………………….. and a sister. We all live at home in
4………………………………….. with my parents. I 5……………………………… Polish
and a little 6…………………………………….. 7………………………………. hair and blue
8……………………………………… My favourite band is the Smashing Pumpkins. I really
like 9………………………………… new album! My sister and I 10………………………….
some big posters of Leonardo di Caprio in 11……………………………….. room. We think
he’s great. I like sport, but I 12……………………………….. a favourite football team.
I want penfriends in Britain or Germany.
My address is UI, Jana Kazimierza 53, 01-66 Cracow, Poland
PARTEA a II-a (30 de puncte)
Write a penfriend advertisement about you. Use the text in exercise E as a model.
Do not use more than 80 words

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Name :
Date:
Initial Test
5th grade
PART I:
A. Answer the following questions: (15points)
a) What’s your name? ………………………………………………………………………….
b) How old are you? ……………………………………………………………………………
c) What is the name of your village? …………………………………………………………
d) What’s your favourite fruit? …………………………………………………………………….
B. Write the correct form of the verb “to be” (am, are, is): (15 points)
1. …………. your mother home?
2. You ………………. from England.
3. ……………your brother a policeman?
4. Bucharest ……….not the capital of the U.S.A. It ……the capital of Romania.
5. They ……………… doctors. They …………………… friends.
C. Complete with ‘ a’ or ‘an’: (10points)
1. ………… book 6. ……………. eye
2 ………… onion 7. ……………. car
3. ………… armchair 8. ……………. lemon
4. ………. dog 9. ……………. octopus
5. ………….. fish 10. …………… eagle
D. Write the following numbers in English: (10 points)
a) 17 …………………………….. f) 61 ………………………………
b) 4 …………………………….. g) 79 ………………………………
c) 38 ……………………………. h) 46 ……………………………….
d) 50 …………………………… i) 100 …………………………………
e) 12 ……………………………. j) 25 …………………………………..

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E. Ask and answer questions: (10 points)
1. Is it a ______________?
Yes, ____________.
2. Is it a ______________? No, it isn’t. It is a
____________.
3.Is is a ? Yes, _____________.
4. Is it an ? No,____________. It is a
5.Is it a ? Yes, _________________.
PART II
E. First read about Ann then write about you. (30 points)
Hi! My name is Ann. I’m thirteen years old. I live in England. I am a student. I have a little
brother. I have curly brown hair and brown eyes. I like singing and dancing but I don’t like
playing football or fishing. What about you?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
10 points ex officio.

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Name:
Date:
Initial Test
The 7th grade
PART I
A. Complete these sentences. Use the Present simple or the Present Continuous (10 points)
1. Excuse me, I …………………………. (look for) the station.
2. What time ……………………………………… (you / get up) on Sundays?
3. What ……………………………………….. (you / do) at the moment?
4. My brother …………………………….. (run) for half an hour every evening.
5. His father ……………………………….. (work) in the USA at the moment.
B. Complete the sentences. Use the Present Perfect Simple tense with for or since ? (15 points)
1. Antonella (live) …………………………………. in Rome ……………. two years.
2. We (be) ………………………………….on holiday …………………… Sunday.
3. I (not work)……………………………… in this office ……………….. very long.
4. ………….you (speak) ………………….. to your friend …………….last Saturday?
C. Put the verbs (in brackets) in the past simple or the past continuous. (10 points)
Last year, we were living (live) in Arizona, in the USA. One day I 1………………….. (look
after) my four-year-old sister, Lily, because my parents 2……………………….. (be) out. She
3………………………………. (sit) in the garden and I 4………………. (paint) the door of our
house. I 5………………………………………… (stand) on a ladder with a paint brush in my
hand when I 6…………………………………. (see) a black and yellow snake in the grass which
was going towards my little sister. I immediately 7………………………………………….

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(start) to come down the ladder. When I 8………………………………………. (get) to the bot –
tom of the ladder, Lily 9…………………………………………… (hold) the snake. I screamed
and Lily 10…………………………………… (drop) the snake and it 11……………… (crawl)
away fast.
D. Rewrite these sentences in the passive. (15 points)
1. In Britain, chips ……………………………….. (often eat) with vinegar.
2. Cheese …………………………………………. (make) from milk.
3. In most zoos, the animals ………………………………….(usually keep) in cages.
4. Oranges ……………………………………. (grow) in southern Spain.
5. Books …………………………………………….(sometimes sell) in supermarkets.
E. Think of a way to complete each sentence: (15 points)
1. If you’re cold ………………………………………………………………………..
2. I go without her if she ………………………………………………………………
3. If I see Sue, I ………………………………….…………………………………….
PART II
F. Write a conversation between you and a friend or a child of a famous parent.
Do not use more than 100 words.
(30 points)

10 points ex officio.

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Name:
Date:
Initial Test
The 8th grade
PART I
A. Answer the questions: (10 points)
1. Which one is larger? (a tuna fish/a shark)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Which one has a longer tail? (a leopard/a bear)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Which one is more intelligent? (a dolphin/a chimpanzee)
…………………………………………………………………..………………………………
B. Put the verbs into the past simple or the past continuous. (15 points)
1. My friend 1……………………………………. (walk) home from school last week
when she 2………………………………………… (hear) a loud bang. Some men
3……………………………………. (rob) a bank. She quickly 4……………………… (run)
to a telephone and 5…………………………………………….. (call) the police. The police
6…………………………………….. (arrive) and 7………………………… (arrest) the men.
The next day the bank manager 8…………………………………….. (give) my friend some
flowers and her picture was in the local newspaper.
C. Circle the correct form of the verbs. Choose between Present Perfect Simple or Contin –
uous , Past Perfect Simple or Continuous . (10 points)
1. I have lost / have been losing my key. Can you help me look for it?
2. This is the first time he has been driving / has driven a car.
3. Ann’s clothes are covered in paint. She has been painting / has painted the ceiling.
4. Ken had been smoking / had smoked for 30 years when he finally gave it up.
5. When I got home, I found that someone had broken / had been breaking into my apartment
and had been stealing / had stolen my fur coat.

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D. Match the words in the box with the definitions below: (15points)
Fashionable success trip cave bully
a) conforming to the current styles and trends;
b) a person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people;
c) a going from one place to another;
d) the achievement of something desired, planned or attempted
e) a hollow or natural passage under or into the earth, especially one with an opening to the surface.
D. Put these statements into reported speech: (15 points)
Ex.: Jeremy wrote: I’ve joined a junior life saving club.
Jeremy wrote that he had joined a junior life saving club.
1. Paul said: You look tired.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Molly said: I can’t find my glasses.
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Tom said: Kathy may be right.
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
PART II
E. Translate the text: (25 points)
MILEY CYRUS – Her real name it Destiny Hope. Miley comes from the name Smiley and
her patents called her this because as a child she smiled all the time. Miley began singing when
she was just 9 years old. Worldwide success arrived in 2006 with the Disney series Hannah
Montana.
In 2009 Miley acted in the film “The Last Song”, which was an enormous success! Because of
her work, Miley is often away from her family. Her mother tries to take care of her as much as
possible but she has four other children who need her, too!
10 points ex officio.

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Date:
Name:
Progress Test Paper
Units 1&2 – 6th grade
A. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets: (20 points )
1. She…………………………. …………………coffee. (not drink)
2. …………………you………………………. from Canada? (come)
3. He………………………………………… from Germany. (be)
4. I ………………………………………….. the guitar. (play)
5. What……………….. you…………………….. for breakfast? (eat)
6. My teacher…………………………………… in a house.(not live)
7. She……………………………………………. in a flat. (live)
8. Tina ………………………………………….to school by bus. (go)
9. I ……………………………………………..the violin. (not play)
10. …….…………she………………………..her grandparents often?(visit)
B. Complete the table of countries and nationalities (10 points )

Country Nationality
France
The USA
Romania
Japan
Greece
Polish
Portugal
Turkish
Britain
Italy
C. Circle the correct answer : (10 points)
CLASSROOM RULES: 1. No lipstick. 2. Smoke or chew gum in class. 3. Be late for class.
4. Run or shout on the corridors. 5. Bring snacks.

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1. You must/mustn’t wear lipstick in the classroom.
2. You must/mustn’t smoke or chew gum in classroom.
3. You can/ mustn’t be late for class.
4. You must/can run or shout on the corridors.
5. You can/must bring snacks in the classroom
D. Complete the sentences using some or any. (10 points )
1. Are there ………………………….. books about Liverpool in the bookcase?
2. There are …………………………….. plain white T-shirts in the cupboard.
3. Are there …………………………….. Spanish students on the Liverpool project?
4. Let’s put …………………………….. posters on the walls.
5. There aren’t ………………………….. chairs in my room.
E. Write about where you live. You can use some of these ideas (15-20 lines): (30 points )
Your city/town/village (streets, monuments, touristic attractions)
There are/is………………….
There aren’t/isn…………………I like/don’t like…………..
Your house
It’s situated in the town centre/suburbs/country
Your room (furniture, colours, patterns)
Begin like this:
Hi! I’m……………………….. I come from
20 points ex officio

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NAME :
Date:
TEST PAPER
5th Grade
A. Answer the questions: (20 points)
1. What’s your name? ………………………………………………………..
2. How old are you? ………………………………………………………..
3. Where are you from? ………………………………………………..
4. Have you got any brothers and sisters? ………………………………….
5. Do you like English? Why? / Why not? ……………………………………………….
B. Write the plural form: (20 points)
a) one hat – two ……………………… f) one mouse – two …………………………
b) one glass – three …………………… g) one watch – three ………………………..
c) one bus – two ………………………. h) one sheep – two …………………………
d) one boy – three …………………….. i) one child – four ………………………….
e) one hand – two ……………………… j) one box – two ……………………………
C. Put the forms of the verb “To be’’ or ‘’ HA VE GOT”: (20 points)
1. My father……………….an engineer.
2. My friends ……………….. French.
3. You ………..………….. a brother and a sister.
4. They………………… a nice red car.
5. We ……………………. students.
6. He ………….…………. a big house.
7. She …………………….. my best friend.
8. I …………………. tired.
9. We …………………..many books at home.
10. It ……………………. a big bone.
D. Write the numerals in letters. (20 points)
20……………………… ……………………………………………

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39 ……………………………………………………………….. …..
157 ………………………………………………………………………
402 …………………………………………………………………..
1994 …………………………………………………………………………
9 …………………………………………………………………..
2nd …………………………………………………………………
10th ……………………………………………………………….
15th ……………………………………………………………….
3rd …………………………………………………………………
20 points ex officio

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Date:
Name:
Progressive test paper
7th grade
A. Fill in the blanks with the correct comparative and superlative forms: (10 points )
1. bad worse worst
2. exciting ……………………… …………………………
3. easy ………………………. ………………………….
4. thin ……………………….. …………………………..
5. dangerous ……………………….. ……………………………
6. difficult ……………………….. …………………………….
7. clever ………………………. ………………………………
8. hot ………………………. ………………………………
9. funny ………………………. ……………………………….
10. useful ………………………. ……………………………….
B. Write the adjective in brackets in the correct form: 15 points
I went on holiday last year but it was a disaster! My hotel room was 1 smaller than (small)
the one in the photograph in the brochure. I think it was 2………………………… (small)
room in the hotel. The weather was terrible too. It was 3………………………….. (cold) in
England. The beach near the hotel was very dirty – it was 4……………………… (dirty) all
the beaches in the island. The food was 5………………………… (expensive) I expected and
I didn’t have enough money. One day I went shopping in a big department store and I broke
a vase. It was 6…………………………………. (expensive) vase in the whole shop. But
7……………………………… (bad) thing of all was that I lost my passport and I couldn’t go
back home. It was 8………………………………………… (horrible) holiday in my life.
C. Make sentences in the present perfect simple tense with for and since : 15 points
1. He / be in Madrid / September
………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. I / have a headache / two days
………………………………………………………………………………………………

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3. she / be on the phone / two hours?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. they / live in Paris / ages
………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. we / not have any letters / a week
………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. she / do a lot of work / Tuesday
………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. we / not have any letters / a week
………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. he / not go on holiday / three years
………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. I / not see my cousins / last August
………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. My brother / live / abroad / 2000.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
D. Write the opposite of the words important, happy, polite, dependent, popular using the
prefixes – un, –im or in-, then write sentences with the resulting words. 10 points
•
•
•
•
•
E. Order the next sentences 10 points
a) Matt: Oh well, never mind. Um… What are you doing on Friday evening?
b) Kelly: I’m afraid not! I’m meeting my grandmother in ten minutes and we’re going to do
some shopping
c) Kelly: I don’t know yet. Why?
d) “Matt: Have you got time for a coffee?
e) Matt: Ok. Great! I’ll come and pick you up at about half past eight. …”
f) Matt: Well, there’s a new club opening near the castle. They play live music and it’s free if

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you get there before nine. I was wondering- would you like to go?
g) Kelly: I’d love to
1….. 2….. 3….. 4…… 5…… 6…….7……….
F. Translate into Romanian 15 points
Seaside resorts like Newquay, which have wide, clean beaches, are very popular with families
and also with people who likes water sports, especially windsurfing and surfing (….. ) People
who prefer to get away from the crowds can visit one of the many fishing villages along the
coast, watch the seals at Cornwall’s Seal Sanctuary or go inland onto the moors where the sce –
nary is much wilder.

Date:
Name:
Progress test
8th grade
A. Complete the text with the past simple, past continuous or past perfect simple form of the
verbs in brackets. (15 points )
My sister and I (never / be) 1 have never been to Sweden before so we 2 …………………………
(look forward) to our trip. We 3……………………………………. (catch) the train from London
to the ferry terminal at Harvich, but while we 4……………………………………………. (walk)
towards the ferry, we 5…………………………………….. (hear) that it 6………………………..
(not / arrive) from Sweden yet because a bad storm 7……………………………………. (blow
up) during the morning. The ferry finally 8……………………………….. (arrive) at midnight
after we 9……………………………………….. (spend) eight hours playing card and drinking
coffee.
B. Choose the correct form of the verb in each response. (15 points )
1. A: Do you want to come to my place this evening?
B: Sorry, were watching / I’ll watch a video at Anna’s.
2. A: That Ricky Martin CD you’ve got is awful.
B: All right! I won’t play / I’m not playing it again.
3. A: Why are there no lessons on Friday afternoon?

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B: We’ ll go / ‘re going on a school trip.
4. A: Why can’t you play in Saturday’s match?
B: Because I ’ll be / am at my sister’s wedding.
5. A: What would you like for dessert?
B: I have / ‘ll have chocolate ice cream, please.
6. A: Who’s going to be at the rehearsal?
B: Jill and Darren will / might come but I’m not sure.
C. Complete the sentences with the correct part of speech from the verbs in brackets. (20 points )
1. It’s a bit …………………………… that Emma hasn’t arrived home yet. (worry)
2. The Sky Ride was an ……………………………… end to the day. (excite)
3. I was …………………………………… to see how thin she was. (shock)
4. It was …………………………………… to see so many empty seats. (surprise)
5. His parents looked at the bill in …………………………………… (horrify).
D. Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first, using the words in
brackets. (20 points )
1. I went for a jog and then had a shower. (after)
………………………………………………………………………………………… for a jog.
2. She was sitting in the cinema when her mobile phone rang. (while)
Her ………………………………………………………………………………. in the cinema.
3. He got home and immediately turned the television on. (as soon as)
………………………………………………………………………, he turned the television on.
4. I read the story before the lesson so I was bored. (already)
I was bored because ……………………………………………………………………………..
5. When did you stop eating meat? (give)
When …………………………………………………………………………………….. meat?

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FINAL WRITTEN ASSESSMENT
1st SEMESTER
6TH GRADE
Name:
Date:
A. Read the text below and then complete the information in the chart. (20 points)
A top designer at seventeen
Ian Porter meets Kit Parsons, a seventeen-year-old schoolboy who designed a Spice Girls web –
site for the Internet and won two important prizes at the YELL Awards, the internet equivalent
of Hollywood’s Oscars Ceremony.
Cristopher Parsons, or ‘Kit’ as his friends call him, first designed the website as a present for
Amy, his ten-year-old sister. Amy is a Spice Girls fan and she gave him all the information
about the pop group.
Then Kit saw an advertisement for a competition to design a website for the Internet and he
decided to enter.
Last week the judges in London gave Kit two awards for his website Spice Girls @ Spice Net:
one for the best website of the year and another for the most popular website. He has beaten
designers from top media companies, advertising agencies and design companies.
The Internet has thousands of personal pages, but Kit’s page has received more than 100,000
visits this year. One of the judges, Andrew Lees, who is the Internet director of a big British
company, said: ‘Kit has designed his website brilliantly and he deserves his success. He’ll go a
long way in this business.
As he collected his awards, Kit said that he wanted to do more website designs. ‘However, I
think I’ll wait for a time because I have to finish my A-level exams in Computing, Maths and
Geology first. After that I’m not sure what I’ll do. Maybe I’ll go to university or maybe I’ll go
and work for a computer company.
Name ………………………………………………………..
Age …………………………………………………………..
Nickname ……………………………………………….
Website name ……………………………………………….
Awards for ……………………………………………….

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School subjects ……………………………………….
Future plans ……………………………………………….
B. Choose the correct answer: (20 points)
1. Susan goes to school ……………………..bus. a) with b) by c) with a
2. What ………………………….., Emma? a) are you do b) are you doing c) do you do
3. ………..any cleaning in Grandma´s bedroom. a) Not do b) Don´t do c) Do not
4. Why ………………… it is stupid? a) you think b) think you c) do you think
5. Right now, his sister ………….. home. a) is coming b) comes c) come
6. There isn´t ………. free room in this hotel. a) no b) any c) some
7. ………………Maths your best school subject? a) Do b) Are c) Is
8. What is your ………….. name? a) best friend b) best friend´s c) best´s friend´s
9. My uncle Dennis and my …….. live in Poland. a) grandpa b) brother c) cousin
10. While I was sleeping, my mother…………… a) cooked b) was cooking c) is cooking
C. Reorder the words to make correct sentences: (10 points)
1. is / next / the / bank / on / chemist’s / the / King Street / to
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Roxy Cinema / is / opposite / post office / the / the
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. centre / the Red Café / in / is / of / park / the / the
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. a / behind / car park / newsagent’s / the / there’s
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. are / the Red Café / near / the / park toilets
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
D. Describe a member of your family. Write about 100 words. (30 points)
Say why you have chosen that person, describe his physical appearance (height/build; age;
facial features; hair; clothes), talk about personality characteristics, hobbies, interests or any
activities he/she takes part in and comments and feelings about the person.

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FINAL WRITTEN ASSESSMENT
1ST SEMESTER
5TH GRADE
Name:
Date:
I. Read the following text then complete the information about Loren and Tom.
Two boys, two lives
Loren Hammonds, 15, from New York, on the east coast of the USA .
I live in an apartment in Manhattan with my mum and dad. I like New York. There’s always
something to do and somewhere to go. There’s a great burger restaurant opposite our apartment.
Their double cheeseburgers are my favourite. I’ve got two sisters. They’re both married and
live in different parts of New York. I’m a student at Hunter College. That’s a senior high school.
My main school subjects are English, French, psychology, chemistry, health and geometry.
My favourite subject is psychology. I also like music. I’m in a rap group called Urban Dwellers.
We rap about things around us, things we see in the street or things that annoy us.
My ambitious is to be a psychologist or have a career in rap music.
Tom Denby, 15, from Devon in the south-west of England .
I live in Marwood, a little village in Devon. It’s in the middle of the country. There aren’t any
shops and there isn’t anything to do. I’ve got one sister. She’s nineteen and she’s at university
in Bristol.
My parents are divorced. My sister and I live with my mum. I’ve got lots of friends but they all
live miles away. I’ve got a Honda bike for moto-cross and I go moto-cross scrambling every
Saturday.
I go to Ilfracombe College, a secondary school. My school subjects are design and technology,
media studies, French, English, math sans science.
My favourite subject is media studies. I want to be a BBC cameraman and make wildlife pro –
grammes.
Personal profiles
Name: …………………………………… ……………………………………………..
Age: …………………………………………….. ……………………………………..
Home town: ………………………………………. ……………………………………..
Family: …………………………………………… ……………………………………..
Type of school: …………………………………… ……………………………………..

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Favourite subject: ……………………………….. ……………………………………..
Hobbies : …………………………………………. ……………………………………
Ambitious: ……………………………………….. ………………………………………
B. Choose the correct answer: (20 points)
1. Can I have an orange juice, please? a) Yes, it is. b) Yes, here you are. c) Yes, here
one is.
2. Can I use your mobile phone?
a) I’m afraid you can’t. b) I’m afraid no. c) I’m afraid you don’t. it’s at home.
3. What’s Luke’s telephone number? a) I not know. b) I don’t know. c) I know not.
4. Let’s go to the cinema. a) Yes, we go. b) I like it. c) Good idea.
5. Can I have a hamburger, please?
a) Yes, you can have. b) Have a nice hamburger. c) Yes, certainly.
C. Reorder the words to make correct sentences: (10 points)
1. from / Where / they / are?
………………………………………………………………………
2. you / spell / Can / name / you?
………………………………………………………………
3. from / small / a / in / Italy / We’re / town.
……………………………………………………..
4. English / sister / and / your / Are / you?
…………………………………………………….
5. we’re / No / aren’t / American / we.
……………………………………………………..
V. Imagine you want a penfriend. Write a magazine advertisement describing yourself.
(about 80 words). (30 points)

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FINAL WRITTEN ASSESSMENT
1ST SEMESTER
7TH grade
Name:
Date:
I. Read the article about two sisters. Are the sentences ‘ Right’ or ‘Wrong’ ? If there is not
enough information to answer ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’, choose ‘Doesn’t say’ (20 points)
Down the rabbit hole
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the river bank, and of having
nothing to do. Once or twice she looked into the book her sister was reading, but it had no
pictures or conversations in it. “What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?”
thought Alice.
So she was considering (as well as she could, because the hot day made her feel very sleepy
and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy chain would be worth the trouble of getting
up and picking the daisies. Suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was
nothing so very remarkable in that, nor did Alice think it very much out of the way to hear the
rabbit say to itself “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! “(When she thought about it after –
ward, it occurred to her she ought to have wondered about this, but at that the time it all seemed
quite natural). But when the rabbit actually took a watch out of its pocket, and looked at it,
Alice realised she had never before seen a rabbit with either pocket, or a watch to take out of it.
She ran across the field after the rabbit, and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit
hole under the hedge. In another moment, down went Alice; never once considering how in the
world she was to get out again.
From Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll.
Questions
1. At the start of the story Alice was bored. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
2. Alice’s sister was reading a story. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
3. Alice was probably younger than her sister. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
4. The girls were out in the country. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
5. Alice was very surprised to see a rabbit talking to itself. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
6. The heat was making Alice want to go to sleep. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY

137
7. The rabbit was in a hurry. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
8. The rabbit was wearing a watch on his hand. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
9. The rabbit hole was in the field. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
10. Alice did not think properly about what she was doing. TRUE / FALSE / DOESN’T SAY
B. Circle and correct the mistakes: (20 points)
1. Serious surfers are strong than ‘beach boys’.
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. I’m living here since 1990.
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. This beach is much more clean than that one.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. How long you have been here?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Look for a practically solution to the problem.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
C. Complete the sentences with the negative form of the most suitable adjective. (15 points)
practical; formal; dependent; fashionable; popular; pleasant.
1. She gave away some clothes because they were ……………………………………
2. My brother is so ……………………………! He can’t even boil an egg.
3. The party will be very ……………………………. so you can wear jeans.
4. She doesn’t want to live at home. She wants to be ……………………………..
5. He’s …………………………. at work because he says …………………. things to people.
D. Write about yourself. Mention your age, family, school, friends and hobbies. Write
about the sports or any other kind of activity you do. (30 points)

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FINAL EV ALUATION TEST
8th grade
Name:
Date:
A. Read the text and then answer T (true) or F (false) to the questions (20 points)
I have returned to my hometown of Wilson Creek after an absence of 10 years.
So many things have changes around here. When I left Wilson Creek, there was a small pond on the
right as you left town. They have filled in this pond and they have built a large shopping mall there. A
new post office has also been built just across from my old school.
There is a baseball stadium on the outskirts of Wilson Creek which has been changed completely. They
have now added a new stand where probably a few thousand people could sit. It looks really great.
The biggest changes have taken place in the downtown area. They have pedestrianised the center and
you can’t drive there anymore. A European style fountain has been built and some benches have also
been added along with a grassy area and a new street café.
My street looks just the same as it always has but a public library has been built in the next street along.
There used to be a great park there but they have cut down all the trees which is a pity. The library now
has a large green area in front of it but it’s not the same as when the park was there. Another improve –
ment is the number of new restaurants that have opened in the town center and a Mexican restaurant
has opened near my home. Which where I’m going tonight!
1. Jake’s school doesn’t exist anymore. T F
2. They have improved the baseball stadium. T F
3. Jake likes the new-look baseball stadium. T F
4. It’s only possible to reach the downtown area by foot. T F
5. The buildings in the center of the town look European. T F
6. Jake’s street hasn’t change much. T F
7. He is sad about the park being ruined. T F
8. Jake is going to eat Italian food tonight. T F
B. Complete the sentences with although, however or in spite of. (10 points)
1. ……………………………………………..they’re best friends, they’re very competitive.
2. They didn’t visit us, ……………………………………………… promising to come.

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3. ……………………………she’s a very talented pianist, she finds it difficult to play in public.
4. There was nothing suspicious in his behaviour. ……………………I didn’t really trust him.
5. He’s a very gentle person, …………………………………… his appearance.
C. Use these adjectives to describe the people: (10 points)
lazy; indecisive; honest; disorganized; unsociable;
1. ‘My papers are in such a mess. I can never find anything.’ …………………………
2. ‘I have to tell the truth. I can’t lie.’ ……………………………
3. ‘I like watching sport on TV , but I hate doing physical exercise myself.’……………
4. ‘I’ve spent ages trying to choose a colour of my room. I just can’t make up my mind.’……..
5. I’ve got lots of friends. I just don’t have time to see them all.’ …………………………
D. Use the prompts to write the advice s father is giving his son. (20 points)
will / won’t
1. you / lose friends quickly / you / be / unreliable
………………………………….………………………… if ……………………………………
2. you / be / organised / you / not do a good day’s work
Unless …………………………………………………………………………………………
……
might / might not
3. you / be / too sociable / people / take advantage of you
If…………………………………………………………………………………………………
….
4. people / not take you seriously / you / be / committed to your work
…………………………………………………….. unless
………………………………………
or
5. be vain / you / be / unpopular
Don’t ……………………………………………………………………………………………

E. Write a description of an occasion when some good or bad news was announced in your
family. Say where you were at the time, what you were doing, what the news was (birth, death
or engagement), what people’s reactions were and what has happened since. (30 points)

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CHAPTER 6. PLANNING LESSONS
Lesson planning is ‘the art of combining a number of different elements into a coherent
whole so that lesson has an identity which students can recognize, work within and react to’.
(Jeremy Harmer, p. 308)
The best techniques and activities will not have much point if they are not integrated into
a programme of studies and few teachers would take an activity or piece of material into class
without first having a reason for doing so. As teachers, we should think carefully about what we
are going to do in our classroom and how we are going to organize the teaching and learning.
We should be concerned about how to plan a class taking into consideration what the students
have recently been doing and what we hope they will do in the future.
6.1. Planning principles
The two principles of a good lesson planning are variety and flexibility. Variety means
involving students in a number of different types of activity and where possible introducing
them to a wide selection of materials; it means planning so that learning is interesting and never
monotonous for the students.
Variety is a principle that applies especially to a series of classes. After a period of time, not
a long period, we will try and do different things in the classes. Although there are some activities
that can last for fifty minutes it seems generally true that changes of activity during that time are
advisable. An introduction of new language that lasted for fifty minutes would probably be coun –
ter-productive and it is noticeable how an over-long accurate reproduction stage tires students and
fails to be very effective. Children, especially, need to do different things in a fairly quick succes –
sion since they will generally not be able to concentrate on one activity for a long stretch of time.
The teacher who believes in variety has to be flexible since the only way to provide varie –
ty is to use a number of different techniques. " Flexibility comes into play when dealing with the
plan in the classroom; for any number of reasons what we have planned may not be appropriate
for that class on that particular day. The flexible teacher will be able to change the plan in such
a situation." (www.busyteacher.com)
Good lesson planning is the art of mixing techniques, activities and materials in such a
way that an ideal balance is created for the class. In a general language course there will be
work on the four skills: there will be presentation and controlled practice, roughly-tuned input
and communicative activities. It will be used different groups of students.

141
6.2. The pre-plan
Before we start to make a lesson plan we need to consider a number of crucial factors
such as the language level of our students, their educational and cultural background, their
likely levels of motivation and their different learning styles. Before actually writing down the
exact content of a lesson plan, we will need to think about what we are going to do in a general
way so that our decisions are taken on the basis of sound reasoning.
The idea of the pre-plan is for teachers to get a general idea of what they are going to do
in the next class. “ Based on our knowledge of the students and the syllabus we can consider
four main areas: activities, language skills, language type, subject and content . When we have
ideas of what we want to do as a result of considering these areas we can decide whether such
ideas are feasible given the institution and its restrictions.” (Harmer, 1999 : 264) When this has
been done we have our pre-plan and we can then move towards the final detailed plan.
These four areas form the basis of the pre-plan. It should be noticed that two of them are
not in any way concerned with decisions about language, but are based on what will interest
and motivate the students.
Activities: when planning, it is vital to consider what students will be doing in the class –
room; we have to consider the way they will be grouped, whether they are to move around the
class, whether they will work quietly side-by-side or whether they will be involved in a boister -Teacher’s knowledge of the students
Teacher’s knowledge of the syllabus
ActivitiesLanguage
skillsLanguage type
Practical realities
The planSubject and content

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ous group-writing activity.
We should make decisions about activities almost independently of what language or
skills we have to teach. By deciding what kind of activity to offer them we have a chance to
balance the exercises in our lessons in order to offer the best possible chance of engaging and
motivating the class.
Skills : we need to make a decision about which language skills we wish our students to
develop. We need to plan exactly how students are going to work with the skill and what sub-
skills we wish to practice.
Planning decisions about language skills and sub-skills are co-dependent with the content
of the lesson and with the activities which the teachers will get students to take part in it.
Language: we need to decide what language to introduce and have the students learn,
practise, research or use. One of the dangers of planning is that where language is the main
focus it is the first and only planning decision that teachers make. But we should consider that
language is only one area that we need to consider when planning lessons.
Content: we should select content which has a good chance of provoking interest and
involvement. If the coursebook’s topics are a little bit boring we should replace them with
something else. (Scrivener, 2005 : 401)
With all these features in mind we can finally pass all our thinking through the filter of
practical reality, where our knowledge of the classroom we work in, the equipment we can use,
the time we have available and the attitude of the institution we work in, all combine to focus
our planning on what we are actually going to do.
6.3. The plan
Having done some pre-planning and made decisions about the kind of lesson we want to
teach, we can make the lesson plan. The way that teachers plan lessons depends upon the cir –
cumstances in which the lesson is to take place and on the teacher’s experience. Lesson plans
are necessary for two reasons: firstly, the inexperienced teacher needs a clear framework of ref –
erence for the task of planning and secondly the form of the plan forces the teacher to consider
aspects of planning that are considered desirable.
The plan has five major components: description of the class, recent work, objectives,
contents and additional possibilities.
a) Description of the class
The description of the class embraces a description of the students, a state of time, fre –

143
quency and duration of the class and comments about physical condition and/or restrictions.
b) Recent work
We have to have on our mind details of recent work the students have done. This includes
the activities they have been involved in, the subject and content of their lessons and the lan –
guage skills and type they have studied.
c) Objectives
In our lesson plan we have to write down what our objectives are for the class. We will
usually have more than one since there will be a number of stages in the class and each one will
be there to achieve some kind of objective.
Objectives are the aims that teachers have for the students and are written in terms of what
the students will do or achieve. They may refer to activities, skills, language type or a combi –
nation of all of these.
d) Contents
The most detailed part of the plan is the section in which the contents are written down.
Here we spell out exactly what we are going to do in the class. The Contents section has five
headings: context; activity and class organization; aids; language and possible problems.
Context: here we write down what context we will be using for the activity. Context
means what the situation is: what the subject of the learning is.
Activity and class organization: We indicate what the activity will be and we say whether
the class is working in lockstep, pairs, groups or teams.
Aids: We indicate whether we will be using a blackboard or a wall picture, the tape re –
corder or the textbook.
Language: Here we describe the language that will be used. If new language is to be
introduced we will list some or all of the models. If the activity is oral communicative activity
we might only write ‘unpredictable’. Otherwise we may write ‘advice language’ and give some
indication of what kind of language items we expect.
Possible problems: Many activities can be expected to be problematic in some way. We
can often anticipate that the new language for a presentation stage may cause problems because
of its form. We should be aware of this and know how to overcome it.

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6.4. Samples of lesson plans
LESSON PLAN
SCHOOL: SCOALA GIMNAZIALA NR. 1 HUSASAU DE TINCA
TEACHER: BRAGHINA SILVIA
DATE:
FORM: 6th
LEVEL: STARTER
TOPIC: PRESENT SIMPLE
UNIT: I NEVER GO STRAIGHT HOME
GRAMMAR: – present simple
TYPE OF LESSON: introducing Present Simple for routines and habits
SKILLS INVOLVED: listening, speaking, reading, writing
AIMS:
A) COMPETENCES: by the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
– use present simple
– talk about daily activities
B) AFFECTIVE AIMS:
– to create a warm atmosphere in order to offer the background for smooth, easy conver –
sations between teacher and students
– to make students confident in themselves when speaking a foreign language
INTERACTION: T – Ss, Ss – T, IW, PW
TEACHING TECHNIQUES:
– conversation
– dialogue
– exercises
– guiding to discovery the new grammar topic
TEACHING AIDS: blackboard, coloured chalk, flashcards, worksheet, audio recording
A) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
1. Textbook – Brian Abbs, Chris Barker, Ingrid Freebairn – Snapshot Elementary,
Longman 2001, 2. www.mes-english.com, 3. www.123listening.com
B) HUMAN: the students of the class: 30
TIME: 50’

145
PROCEDURE
ACTIVITY 1: ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENT (2)
Procedure: T enters the class, greets the Ss and then asks if there are any absentees. The
S on duty tells the absentees if there are any.
Aims: to assure the introductive part of the lesson
Skills: speaking
Techniques: questioning
Interaction: T-S
ACTIVITY 2: WARM UP (5’)
Procedure: T finds something that is visible in the room and says “I spy with my little
eye something beginning with…” The rest of the class must guess words beginning with that
letter to find the answer. The first S who gives the right answer is the one who is going to say
the next word.
Aims: – to break the ice
– to review the previous learnt vocabulary
Skills: speaking
Techniques: conversation
Interaction: T-S, Ss-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 3: CHECKING THE PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE (5’)
Procedure: T asks Ss about their homework “Tell me what did you have as homework
for today?” and the Ss answer the question: ”Our homework was ex. 6 on page 21” (Ss have
to give the plural forms of the nouns). T makes a selection of the Ss that are about to read the
homework and while the Ss are reading, T checks the homework of the other Ss correcting the
mistakes if any.
Aims: – to verify and review the acquisition
– to give Ss feedback for the Ss’ work at home
Skills: speaking, reading
Techniques: conversation, explanations if necessary
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 4: INTRODUCING THE NEW TOPIC (10’)

146
Procedure: T starts off by looking at a calendar with everyone. They have some fun
with the calendar first: T asks students to point at days such as Christmas and to point out their
birthdays. T asks what day their birthdays are on this year and point to the days row at the top
of each month. T starts to teach / elicit the English words for the days as the Ss discuss their
birthdays. T asks what day it is today. T asks about the moment of the day and asks Ss how
do we greet in different moments of the day. T explains the greeting formulas according to the
moment of the day.
Aims: – to present the new vocabulary
Skills: speaking, listening
Techniques: conversation, explanation, guiding to discover the new topic
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 5: USING THE NEW VOCABULARY (8’)
Procedure: T has prepared some colored rectangles of card and wrote the days of the
week in thick marker pen on each rectangle of card. T explains the Ss they are going to work
in pairs. T gives each pair a set of mixed up cards. By referring to the calendar, T has the pairs
put the days in order on the floor or table. Then T gets everyone to touch each card and repeat
after her paying special attention to the first letter of each word (e.g. “Th” for “Thursday”). T
runs through a few times, getting faster and faster. Finally, T gets the pairs to mix up the cards
and tells them they are going to race to see which pair can put their cards in order first. T says
“Ready, steady, go!” and lets the students put the cards in order. The winner pair finished first
with the correct order .
Aims: – to get used with the new vocabulary
Skills: reading, speaking
Techniques: conversation, reading
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T, PW
ACTIVITY 6: SPEAKING ACTIVITY (10’)
Procedure: T asks Ss to open their books on page 29, exercise 13. T explains they are
going to work in pairs. Student A has to look at the TV soap opera timetable and answer Student
B’s questions. Then Student A has to ask Student B about the times of Neighbours and Beverly
Hills 90210. T gives them 5 minutes to do this activity. Ss do their task. T monitors the class
and helps where is necessary. After 5 minutes, T together with the class listen to their colleagues
reading the dialogue and corrects if there are any mistakes.

147
Aims: – to practice the new vocabulary
– to assimilate the new topic
Skills: – speaking, reading
Techniques: conversation
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T, PW
ACTIVITY 7: SINGING THE SONG ‘DAYS OF THE WEEK’ (5’)
Procedure: T puts one set of day cards on the board in the correct order. T runs through
the gestures first. Then plays the song and sing along with the Ss doing the gestures.
Aims: – to consolidate the new vocabulary
Techniques: singing
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-Ss Ss-T
ACTIVITY 8: SETTING THE HOMEWORK (2’)
Procedure: T gives Ss a worksheet with the days of the week and asks them to solve it
till next time.
Aims: to consolidate and use the newly acquired vocabulary
Interaction: T-Ss
Type: written assignment
ACTIVITY 9: EV ALUATION (3’)
Procedure: T appreciates Ss’ activity both verbally – praising the activity of the Ss – and
also by giving marks.
Aims: to increase Ss’ self-confidence and encourage them in their study of English.
Interaction: T-Ss
LESSON PLAN
SCHOOL: ȘCOALA GIMNAZIALĂ NR. 1 HUSASĂU DE TINCA
TEACHER: BRAGHINĂ SILVIA ALINA
DATE:
FORM: 5th
LEVEL: STARTER
TOPIC: Days of the week
UNIT: CAN YOU SPELL THAT PLEASE?
TYPE OF LESSON: teaching the days of the week, Greetings through the day

148
SKILLS INVOLVED: listening, speaking, reading, writing
AIMS:
A) COMPETENCES: by the end of the lesson the student will be able to:
– say the days of the week
– greet through the day
– talk about schedules
B) AFFECTIVE AIMS:
– to create a warm atmosphere in order to offer the background for smooth, easy conver –
sation between teacher and the students.
– to make students confident in themselves when speaking a foreign language.
INTERACTION: T-Ss, Ss-T, IW, PW
TEACHING TECHNIQUES:
-conversation
-dialogue
-exercises
TEACHING AIDS: blackboard, worksheet, audio recording
A) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL:
1. Textbook – Brian Abbs, Chris Baker, Ingrid Freebairn – Snapshot Starter, Long –
man 2001
2. www.123listening.com
3. www.eslkidstuff.com
B) HUMAN: the students of the class: 30
TIME: 50’
PROCEDURE
ACTIVITY 1: ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENT (2)
Procedure: T enters the class, greets the Ss and then asks if there are any absentees. The
S on duty tells the absentees if there are any.
Aims: to assure the introductive part of the lesson
Skills: speaking

149
Techniques: questioning
Interaction: T-S
ACTIVITY 2: WARM UP (5’)
Procedure: T finds something that is visible in the room and says “I spy with my little
eye something beginning with…” The rest of the class must guess words beginning with that
letter to find the answer. The first S who gives the right answer is the one who is going to say
the next word.
Aims: – to break the ice
– to review the previous learnt vocabulary
Skills: speaking
Techniques: conversation
Interaction: T-S, Ss-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 3: CHECKING THE PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE (5’)
Procedure: T asks Ss about their homework “Tell me what did you have as homework
for today?” and the Ss answer the question: ”Our homework was ex. 6 on page 21” (Ss have
to give the plural forms of the nouns). T makes a selection of the Ss that are about to read the
homework and while the Ss are reading, T checks the homework of the other Ss correcting the
mistakes if any.
Aims: – to verify and review the acquisition
– to give Ss feedback for the Ss’ work at home
Skills: speaking, reading
Techniques: conversation, explanations if necessary
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 4: INTRODUCING THE NEW TOPIC (10’)
Procedure: T starts off by looking at a calendar with everyone. They have some fun
with the calendar first: T asks students to point at days such as Christmas and to point out their
birthdays. T asks what day their birthdays are on this year and point to the days row at the top
of each month. T starts to teach / elicit the English words for the days as the Ss discuss their
birthdays. T asks what day it is today. T asks about the moment of the day and asks Ss how
do we greet in different moments of the day. T explains the greeting formulas according to the
moment of the day.
Aims: – to present the new vocabulary
Skills: speaking, listening

150
Techniques: conversation, explanation, guiding to discover the new topic
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 5: USING THE NEW VOCABULARY (8’)
Procedure: T has prepared some colored rectangles of card and wrote the days of the
week in thick marker pen on each rectangle of card. T explains the Ss they are going to work
in pairs. T gives each pair a set of mixed up cards. By referring to the calendar, T has the pairs
put the days in order on the floor or table. Then T gets everyone to touch each card and repeat
after her paying special attention to the first letter of each word (e.g. “Th” for “Thursday”). T
runs through a few times, getting faster and faster. Finally, T gets the pairs to mix up the cards
and tells them they are going to race to see which pair can put their cards in order first. T says
“Ready, steady, go!” and lets the students put the cards in order. The winner pair finished first
with the correct order .
Aims: – to get used with the new vocabulary
Skills: reading, speaking
Techniques: conversation, reading
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T, PW
ACTIVITY 6: SPEAKING ACTIVITY (10’)
Procedure: T asks Ss to open their books on page 29, exercise 13. T explains they are
going to work in pairs. Student A has to look at the TV soap opera timetable and answer Student
B’s questions. Then Student A has to ask Student B about the times of Neighbours and Beverly
Hills 90210. T gives them 5 minutes to do this activity. Ss do their task. T monitors the class
and helps where is necessary. After 5 minutes, T together with the class listen to their colleagues
reading the dialogue and corrects if there are any mistakes.
Aims: – to practice the new vocabulary
– to assimilate the new topic
Skills: – speaking, reading
Techniques: conversation
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T, PW
ACTIVITY 7: SINGING THE SONG ‘DAYS OF THE WEEK’ (5’)
Procedure: T puts one set of day cards on the board in the correct order. T runs through
the gestures first. Then plays the song and sing along with the Ss doing the gestures.
Aims: – to consolidate the new vocabulary

151
Techniques: singing
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-Ss Ss-T
ACTIVITY 8: SETTING THE HOMEWORK (2’)
Procedure: T gives Ss a worksheet with the days of the week and asks them to solve it
till next time.
Aims: to consolidate and use the newly acquired vocabulary
Interaction: T-Ss
Type: written assignment
ACTIVITY 9: EV ALUATION (3’)
Procedure: T appreciates Ss’ activity both verbally – praising the activity of the Ss – and
also by giving marks.
Aims: to increase Ss’ self-confidence and encourage them in their study of English.
Interaction: T-Ss
LESSON PLAN
SCHOOL: ȘCOALA GIMNAZIALĂ NR. 1 HUSASĂU DE TINCA
TEACHER: BRAGHINĂ SILVIA ALINA
DATE:
FORM: 7th
LEVEL: PRE-INETRMEDIATE
TOPIC: Future with going to, will or present continuous
UNIT: A PLACE WHICH ATTRACTS TOURISTS
GRAMMAR:
– Future with going to, will or present continuous
TYPE OF LESSON: introducing different ways of expressing future actions
SKILLS INVOLVED: listening, speaking, reading, writing
AIMS:
A) COMPETENCES: by the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
– use the three ways of expressing future actions
– describe what is happening, is going to happen, will happen
B) AFFECTIVE AIMS:
– to create a warm atmosphere in the classroom

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– to use one’s intuition and imagination
– to practice work in pairs
– to help pupils enjoy learning English
INTERACTION: T-Ss, Ss-T, IW, PW
TEACHING TECHNIQUES:
-conversation
– dialogue
– guiding to discovery the new grammar topic
TEACHING AIDS: blackboard, worksheet, textbook
A) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL:
1. Textbook – Brian Abbs, Chris Barker, Ingrid Freebairn – Snapshot Pre-interme –
diate, Longman 2001
2. www.didactic.ro
3. www.busyteacher.org
B) HUMAN: the students of the class: 22
TIME: 50’
PROCEDURE
ACTIVITY 1: ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENT (2’)
Procedure: T enters the class, greets the Ss and then asks them if there are any absentees.
The S on duty tells the absentees if there are any.
Aims: to assure the introductive part of the lesson
Skills: speaking
Techniques: questioning
Interaction: T-S
ACTIVITY 2: WARM-UP (5’)
Procedure: T gives the Ss a worksheet playing the game Find someone who… . T ex –
plains the Ss they have to go round the class and find out what their colleagues did, where they
went, what they saw and so on. T tells the Ss they have 3 minutes for this activity. Ss pass to
one another trying to answer all the questions. T monitors the class and help if it is necessary.
Aims: to break the ice
– to assure transition between the Organizational Moment and the Checking of the
Previous Knowledge.
Skills: speaking, reading, writing

153
Techniques: dialogue
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 3: CHECKING THE PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE (5’)
Procedure: T asks Ss about their homework “Has everybody done the homework?
Tell me, what did you have as homework?” and the Ss answer the question “ Our homework
for today was exercise 4 and 5 on page 19. ” (Ss choose the correct answer/Ss complete the
sentences with the correct word). T name some Ss to read the homework and while the Ss are
reading, T checks the homework of the other Ss correcting the mistakes if any.
Aims: – to verify and review the acquisition
– to give Ss feedback for the Ss’ work at home
– to put the Ss in the situation to read their written assignment.
Skills: speaking, reading
Techniques: conversation, explanation if necessary
Interaction: T-S, S-T
ACTIVITY 4: INTRODUCING THE NEW TOPIC (15’)
Procedure: T tells the Ss they are going to work in pairs and directs their attention on the
board where they will see the following: Your arrangements for this evening/ Your intentions
for the rest of the year/ Your predictions for the planet for 2020. T gives them 4 minutes to
fulfill the task. As they are talking, T monitors the class and helps where is necessary. After 4
minutes Ss present to the teacher their predictions for the future. T listens to them and writes
down the blackboard some of their sentences. T gives the Ss a worksheet with a simple diagram
on it. According to their sentences, Ss together with the T have to fill correctly the diagram.
After filling in the diagram, T explains them when present continuous, will and going to forms
are used to express a future action.
Aims: to present the three ways to talk about the future
– to help Ss talk about the future
Skills: speaking, listening, writing
Techniques: conversation, explanation, guiding to discover the new grammar topic
Interaction: T-Ss, PW, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 5: USING THE NEW GRAMMAR STRUCTURE (10’)
Procedure: T tells the Ss they are going to work in pairs. T hands them a set of situations/
functions each on a separate strip of paper. Their job is to pair the situations/functions to one
of the grammar forms by coming to the blackboard and sticking them on. Ss come to the board

154
and stick the situations. When the board is full, T asks the class to correct, by moving any mis –
placed items. If it is necessary, T explains again when the three forms are used to express future
actions.
Aims: to help Ss use the most appropriate future tense
– to help Ss talk about the future
Skills: speaking, writing, reading
Techniques: reading, conversation,
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T, PW
ACTIVITY 6: PRACTICE THE NEW GRAMMAR STRUCTURE (8’)
Procedure: T gives Ss a worksheet with exercises on Future forms. T explains Ss the first
exercise. T tells Ss they have 4 minutes to do this exercise. Ss work. T monitors the class and
helps them if it is necessary. Ss check their answers together with the T. T asks them to read and
to go to the BB and to write the correct answers.
Aims: to practice the newly acquired structure
-to get used to the new grammar structure
Skills: reading, writing
Techniques: reading, conversation
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-Ss, T-SS
ACTIVITY 7: SETTING THE HOMEWORK (2’)
Procedure: T tells Ss they have as homework ex.7/23. They have to write a sentence for
each picture and to complete the dialogue using the three future forms.
Aim: to consolidate and use the newly acquired grammar structure.
Interaction: T-Ss
Type: written assignment
ACTIVITY 8: EV ALUATION (3’)
Procedure: T appreciates Ss’ activity both verbally – praising the activity of the ss – and
also by giving marks.
Aim: to increase Ss’ self-confidence and encourage them in their study of English
Interaction: T-Ss

155
LESSON PLAN
SCHOOL: SCOALA GIMNAZIALA NR. 1 HUSASAU DE TINCA
TEACHER: BRAGHINA SILVIA
DATE:
FORM: 6th
LEVEL: ELEMENTARY
TOPIC: PRESENT SIMPLE
UNIT: NICE TO MEET YOU ALL
GRAMMAR: – present simple
TYPE OF LESSON: progressive assessment
SKILLS INVOLVED: speaking, reading, writing
AIMS:
A) COMPETENCES: at the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
– know when to use Present Simple
– make difference between the third person singular and the other subjects
– ask questions and give answers using the present simple
– write a letter using verbs in the present simple
B) AFFECTIVE AIMS:
– to create a warm atmosphere in order to offer the background for smooth, easy
conversations between teacher and students
– to make students confident in themselves when writing in a foreign language
INTERACTION: T – Ss, Ss – T, PW
TEACHING TECHNIQUES:
– conversation
– exercises
TEACHING AIDS: blackboard, coloured chalk, handouts
A) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
1. Textbook – Brian Abbs, Chris Barker, Ingrid Freebairn – Snapshot Elementary,
Longman 2001
2. www.mes-english.com
3. www.teach-this.com
b) HUMAN: the students of the class: 25
TIME: 50’

156
PROCEDURE
ACTIVITY 1: ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENT (2’)
Procedure: T enters the class and greets the Ss, and then asks if there are any absentees.
The S on duty tells the absentees if there are any.
Aims: to assure the introductive part of the lesson.
Skills: speaking
Techniques: questioning
Interaction: T – S
ACTIVITY 2: WARM UP (5’)
Procedure: Students receive a handout with the game “Find someone who…”. T
explains the rules of the game. Ss have 5’ to do this activity. Ss ask and answer one another
questions. T monitors the class. After 5’ Ss come to presents their results of the game.
Aims: – to break the ice
– to prepare Ss
Skills: speaking
Techniques : conversation, pairwork
Interaction: T-S; S-S; Ss-T
ACTIVITY 3: PREPARING AND PRESENTING THE TEST PAPER (5’)
Procedure: T explains the Ss that today they are going to have a written assessment.
T arranges the students in pairs, asking them to put all the book and the notebooks inside
their bags. T warns them to avoid copying and talking to the colleague next to them. T also
recommends that if they have any problem they should ask her. T gives the Ss the test papers
and read together with them the indications of the exercises. T elicits Ss the right answer, if
possible, for each exercise to see if they understand what they are supposed to do. T tells them
they have 30 minute to do the test.
Aims: – to prepare the Ss for the written assessment
– to see if students are able to understand what it is expected from them to do
Skills: speaking, reading
Techniques: conversation, explanations if necessary
Interaction: T-S; S-T
ACTIVITY 4: TEST PAPER SOLVING (25’)
Procedure: T asks her Ss if they have clearly understood what they have to do. T explains
again that in exercise one they have to read carefully and pay attention at the subject of the
sentences to fill in the correct form of the verb. In the second exercise they have to be carefully
in writing the affirmative and positive forms of the present simple. They are advice to take care

157
to the auxiliary verb when making negation. Exercise three supposes to find the mistakes, if
any, in each sentence. Again they have to read the exercise carefully and they should remind the
present simple rules. Exercise number 4 supposes to form questions with the present simple.
They have to remember the question form and to use the auxiliary verb. They also have to
pay attention to the form of the auxiliary verb. The last exercise is a free composition where
they have to write a pen advertisement. Here they have to present themselves and talk about
their hobbies and daily activities. T wishes her Ss ‘good luck!’ Ss begin working on the test. T
monitors the class and helps them or give additional information if it is necessary.
Aims: – to monitor the learning progress
– to detect learning errors
– to discover what Ss have learnt and what they still need to learn
Skills: speaking, writing
Techniques: conversation, explanation
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T
ACTIVITY 5: PEER CORRECTION (10’)
Procedure: T asks Ss to switch the papers. Each S will correct his colleague’s work
rather than having the T correct everything. T gives each S a green pen and explains they have
to correct the papers. T tells them they have 8 minutes for doing this activity. Ss begin working.
T monitors the class and if it becomes evident that no one in the class really knows where the
problem lies then the teacher takes appropriate steps to explain it to everyone. At the end T asks
her Ss to give marks on their colleagues’ papers. T asks the Ss to give her all the papers.
Aims: – to determine Ss strengths and weaknesses.
– to provide feedback about Ss achievement.
Skills: speaking, writing
Techniques: conversation, explanation,
Interaction: Pairwork
ACTIVITY 6: SETTING THE HOMEWORK (3’)
Procedure: T gives Ss another worksheet with exercises. They have to fill in by using
the present simple or to underline the correct situation.
Aim: – to consolidate and use the acquired grammar structured.
Interaction: T – Ss
Type: written assignment

158
Progressive test
Name:
Date:
Class:
Teacher: Braghina Silvia Alina
1. Read and complete. (15p)
Emily has a Japanese pen pal, Izumi. She sends her an email every week.
Hi Izumi,
The school holidays are near! I love them! I 1…………………………………
(get up) late in the morning. I 2………………………………. (not go) to
school and I 3………………………….. (not have) homework! My friend
Sophie 4………………………………… (come) to my house every day and we
5………………………………….. (listen) to music or play computer games. My mum
6……………………………….. (take) us on trips at the weekends. We 7……………… (go)
to the zoo, we visit a museum or we 8……………………………………. (have) picnics.
9………………………………………….. (your school / close) for a few days in the spring,
too? How 10……………………………… (you/spend) the holidays?
Love, Lucy
2. Use the prompts to write pairs of sentences. (20p)
1. This bus / go (X) to Brighton. It / go (√) to Eastbourne.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Rosa / come (X) / from Brazil. She / come (√) from Portugal.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
3. They / want (√) / to get the ferry. They / want (X) / to get the bus.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Anna / spell (√) / her name with two Ns. She / spell (X) / it with one N.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
5. He / teach (X) / Physics. He / teach (√) / Chemistry.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Find the mistakes and correct them. (15p)
1. She don’t like fish. ………………………………………………………………….
2. Does he plays tennis? ………………………………………………………….
3. They doesn’t work. ……………………………………………………………………
4. I swims every day. …………………………………………………………………..
5. Sally don’t write her homework. …………………………………………………….

159
4. Ask questions. (10p)
1. you / go / school ………………………………………………………………….
2. Mary / like / pizza ………………………………………………………………….
3. Jim / have / bicycle. ………………………………………………………………….
4. Jim and Mary / read / books. …………………………………………………
5. Tom / ride / horse. ……………………………………………………………………
5. Write a penfriend advertisement. Write what is your name, how old you are and
where you are from. Talk about your hobbies and daily activities. (20)
20 points ex office

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CHAPTER 7. RESEARCH
7.1. Introductory Elements
The object of a pedagogical or methodological research usually represents a problem
that the researcher identifies and delimits out of its structural assembly trying to find a correct
explanation and to obtain good results so that the problem can be solved or at least improved.
This kind of problem was the one I have chosen and that grammar represents an important
point in learning to speak and write a foreign language. Students who don’t learn grammar
structures have problems to express themselves, even if they have a good vocabulary they
don’t know how to connect words or the word order in a sentence and then they prefer to keep
silent.
During our classes, the English teacher has to master and to use a lot of interesting
teaching techniques and a good class management. The English teacher has to use interesting
teaching techniques and activities in order to attract the students, to make them like or even
love learning English and on the other hand he/she has to master a good class management
because it is well known that activities like pairwork, groupwork, choral repetitions are noisy
activities and the principal of the school or other teachers don’t like noise. That’s one aspect.
The other aspect would be that students consider foreign languages classes as being more
relaxing than Maths classes for instance, and then they tend to be a little bit more absent or
to come with the idea to talk about something else. But knowing how to manage the class, a
good teacher has the ability to weave both the funny moments and the serious ones such as
teaching present simple or irregular verbs.
As teachers we should always consider our students our partners in the educational
process. We have to notice them, to identify their abilities, their likes and dislikes and to try
to adapt our teaching techniques to the students’ level. When the teacher enters in the class s/
he mustn’t see the class of students as a whole but each student as a special identity. He has to
adapt his/her activities to each student not just for the good ones. For instance maybe there a
child who can memorize vocabulary but can’t understand the differences between the present
simple and continuous. Then we need to focus more on him, to give him additional exercises,
to give him/her more context to use the two tenses.
But what are we going to do with those students who don’t like learning grammar,
who can’t or refuse to learn grammatical structures? In this case we have to find activities,
techniques to attract them towards learning and to explain them why is important to speak
well a foreign language, why vocabulary is not enough when learning a second language.

161
They will be encouraged at first to try to speak in the foreign language even if they make mis –
takes, then, gradually we will try, together, to correct them. We must explain them that good
grammar means: – the enriching of language
– the accuracy of the written and spoken message
– the fluency of language
– the clearance of communication
The syllabus for elementary level follows the progressive increase of the English lan –
guage knowledge. For instance at the beginning of the cycle, the student has to know the form
of the present simple, then he has to know the form and when it is used, then he has to be able
to differentiate the present simple of the present continuous.
So taking into consideration our beloved role of foreign language teachers, the dis –
pleasure of learning grammar structures and the fact that I have always wondered why my stu –
dents don’t like grammar lessons or why they find difficult learning grammar structures I have
started a teaching research at the classes that I teach just to emphasise the fact that those stu –
dents who learn every lesson and do exercises and try to work individually not only in class
with the teacher, those students succeed to develop and to speak English fluently.
The objectives of my teaching research are the following:
– to find students’ opinion about the importance of grammar in language learn –
ing;
– to identify the proper techniques used to introduce a structure, to practice it
and to integrate it in speaking activities at elementary students;
– the desire to make my students love learning English and to discover its beau –
ty and its necessity not to see it just as another school subject.
The hypothesis of research is the following: the students who love learning, who do
supplementary exercises at home, who aren’t afraid to speak in English even if they make
mistakes, develop in time the ability to express themselves in English comparing to those who
don’t work supplementary, even if it means reading or doing exercises, refuse to speak Eng –
lish and considers it to be unimportant. Through the techniques I used I tried to discover some
connections between the teaching – learning – assessment activity and the students’ progress
but also the stimulation of their interest towards language learning.
The place and period of the research conducting: the school year 2015 – 2016, at
Scoala Gimnaziala Nr. 1 Husasau de Tinca, Bihor county
The sample of subjects: the students from the 5th, the 6th and the 8th grade from the

162
school mentioned above.
The teaching research includes three main steps, used in different teaching activities:
– the application of a pretest, to the students from the 6th grade, before teaching
the present simple in order to see what they can remember of this tense;
– the application of a posttest, to the students from the 6th grade, after teaching
the present simple in order to see what they have achieved during our activi –
ties;
– the application of a quiz concerning the importance of grammar in learning a
foreign language to the students from the 5th and 8th grade in order to compare
their answers.
7.2. The development of the teaching research
a) Predictive that anticipates students’ knowledge about the use or form of the
present simple tense, applied to the 6th grade. Before starting teaching, I wanted to see what
students remember or know about the present simple teste so that I knew how and what to
prepare for my presentation, explication and practice activities.

163
Predictive test
Date:
Name:
Class:
Teacher: Braghina Silvia Alina
1. Read the text and underline the in the Present simple tense: (10 points )
Sarah goes into the dance studio and greets her class: ‘OK, everyone. Are you ready? Then let’s begin!’
She turns the CD player on. The music is fast, loud and energetic. Everyone is happy – except
Ryan. He stops. ‘What’s the matter, Ryan? What’s your problem?’ ‘It’s the music. I don’t like it.
It’s awful. Have you got any other tapes, you know, something up-to-date?’
Sarah stops the tape. ‘Sorry about this, everyone, but Ryan doesn’t like the music. What about
the rest of you? Do you like it?’
The others all like the music. Sarah looks at Ryan. ‘I’m sorry you don’t like the music. You can
change classes if you want.’ ‘No, I like this class and I like the teacher a lot!’
2. Complete the text with Present Simple, then answer the questions as in the example: (15 points )
John and David are friends. John 1……………………… (like) sports. He 2……………………
(swim) every day. John and David 3……………………… (play) basketball every week. They
don’t play tennis. David 4…………………………. (like) running. John 5…………………..(like)
books. Every night he 6……………………………. (read) a story before he 7……………………
(go) to bed.
1. Does John like sports? ………………………………………………………………….
2. Does John swim every day? …………………………………………………………..
3. Do John and David play tennis? …………………………………………………………..
4. Does David like running? …………………………………………………………………..
5. Does John like books? ……………………………………………………………………
6. Does John read stories every night? ……………………………………………………
3. Write the opposite: (10 points )
1. I like sport. ………………………………………………………………………………
2. He reads every evening. ………………………………………………………………

164
3. You go to school by bus. ………………………………………………………………
4. She likes romantic films. ………………………………………………………………
5. We play football twice a week. ……………………………………………………….
4. Write questions and answer using the prompts. (15 points )
1. Q: you / white chocolate ………………………………………………………………….
A: Yes / a lot / think / really good …………………………………………………………..
2. Q: your parents / pop music? ……………………………………………………………
A: No / think / rubbish ……………………………………………………………………
3. Q: your friends / rock concerts? ……………………………………………………………
A: Yes / very much / think / great ……………………………………………………………
4. Dave / Maria? ………………………………………………………………………….
A: No / very much ………………………………………………………………………….
5. Q: your teacher / you? …………………………………………………………………..
A: Yes / think / brilliant ……………………………………………………………………
5. Correct the sentences: (10 points )
1. Where does you live? ………………………………………………………………….
2. What kind of music you do like? …………………………………………………………..
3. Are your parents speak English? …………………………………………………………..
4. My brother live in Australia. …………………………………………………………..
5. We doesn’t know any Beatles songs. ……………………………………………………
6. Write about you. What do you do every day at 7 o’clock, 8.30, 1.30,
5 o’clock and 9 o’clock? (No more than 80 words) (20 points )
20 points ex officio
I may write some clear specifications regarding the results obtained by my students at the pre –
dictive test I applied to them:
– almost all my students recognized the tense
– many of them were able to complete the sentences using the right form of the Present simple
tense.

165
– only half of the students were able to answer short questions;
– many students found difficult to solve exercises 4, 5, 6;
– regarding the composition, the vocabulary and the grammar they used were almost correct,
remembering some of the daily activities and that the present simple tense is used to express
routines.
Progressive test
Name:
Date:
Class:
Teacher: Braghina Silvia Alina
1. Read and complete. (15 points )
Emily has a Japanese pen pal, Izumi. She sends her an email every week.
Hi Izumi,
The school holidays are near! I love them! I 1…………………………………
(get up) late in the morning. I 2………………………………. (not go) to
school and I 3………………………….. (not have) homework! My friend So –
phie 4………………………………… (come) to my house every day and we
5………………………………….. (listen) to music or play computer games. My mum
6……………………………….. (take) us on trips at the weekends. We 7……………… (go)
to the zoo, we visit a museum or we 8……………………………………. (have) picnics.
9………………………………………….. (your school / close) for a few days in the spring,
too? How 10……………………………… (you/spend) the holidays?
Love, Lucy
2. Use the prompts to write pairs of sentences. (20 points)
1. This bus / go (X) to Brighton. It / go (√) to Eastbourne.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. Rosa / come (X) / from Brazil. She / come (√) from Portugal.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

166
3. They / want (√) / to get the ferry. They / want (X) / to get the bus.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Anna / spell (√) / her name with two Ns. She / spell (X) / it with one N.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. He / teach (X) / Physics. He / teach (√) / Chemistry.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Find the mistakes and correct them. (15 points)
1. She don’t like fish. ………………………………………………………………………….
2. Does he plays tennis? ………………………………………………………………….
3. They doesn’t work. ……………………………………………………………………………
4. I swims every day. …………………………………………………………………………..
5. Sally don’t write her homework. …………………………………………………………….
4. Ask questions. (10 points)
1. you / go / school ………………………………………………………………………….
2. Mary / like / pizza ………………………………………………………………………….
3. Jim / have / bicycle. ………………………………………………………………….
4. Jim and Mary / read / books. ……………………………………………………………
5. Tom / ride / horse. ……………………………………………………………………………
5. Write a penfriend advertisement. Write what is your name, how old you are and where
you are from. Talk about your hobbies and daily activities. (20 points )
20 points ex office
I may write some clear specifications regarding the results obtained by my students at the pre –
dictive test I applied to them:
– almost all my students passed the test
– the majority could solve exercise one and 1 and 3.
– many of them were able to complete the sentences using the right form of the Present simple
tense.
– only three quarters of the students were able to write positive and negative statements;
– many students found difficult to solve exercises 2, 4, 5;
– regarding the composition, the vocabulary and the grammar they used were almost correct,

167
they knew to present themselves and 5 of the students knew to talk about their passions and
daily activities.
After the application of the predictive test, were obtained the following marks:
The 6th grade
No. Student Mark
1. B.C. 6
2. C.D.A 4
3. C.D.F 8
4. C.F 7
5. C.M. 5
6. C.R. 6
7. C. S 5
8. C. I 6
9. C. M 4
10. D. K 7
11. D. L 8
12. G. D. 10
13. G. G. 9
14. L. S 6
15. L. R 7
16. L. F. 8
17. M. T. 9
18. M. D. 6
19. P. C. 10
20. R. C 5
21. R. J. 6
22. S. M. 6
23. S. E 4
24. V . B. 10
The results obtained by my students may be represented in a diagram that presents the number
of the marks received, corresponding to each category of marks:

168
As we can notice in the above diagram there are three marks of 4 and three of 5. The majority
of marks, that means seven marks, belongs to 6 and there were two marks of 7. The marks of 8,
9 and 10 are poorly represented: 4 marks of 8 and only two marks of 9 and 3 of 10.
02468
12345678910The results of the predictive test

169
After the application of the progressive test, were obtained the following marks:
The 6th grade
No. Student Mark
1. B.C. 6
2. C.D.A 5
3. C.D.F 9
4. C.F 7
5. C.M. 6
6. C.R. 6
7. C. S 5
8. C. I 7
9. C. M 4
10. D. K 9
11. D. L 9
12. G. D. 10
13. G. G. 10
14. L. S 6
15. L. R 8
16. L. F. 8
17. M. T. 10
18. M. D. 6
19. P. C. 10
20. R. C 5
21. R. J. 7
22. S. M. 7
23. S. E 4
24. V . B. 10
The results obtained by my students at their progressive test may be represented in a diagram,
showing the number of the marks received, corresponding to each category of marks:

170
As we can notice in the above diagram there are two marks of 4 and three of 5. There are
5 marks of six, two less, which means that it doesn’t represent the majority anymore. There are
four marks of 7, which represents an enrichment in students’ knowledge. The marks of 8, 9 and
10 are better represented now: two marks of 8, only three marks of 9 and 5 marks of 10.
In order to compare, in terms of percentage, the results obtained after applying the two
tests, the predictive test and the progressive one, I have done a comparative diagram for the
marks received at the predictive test and the ones received at the progressive test. This diagram
emphasises the progress made by some of my students, especially by those who got 7, 8 and
9. They are those students who always learn, who are active during the classes, who learn for
pleasure not only for marks.
If we take a short look at the comparative diagram of the results obtained after having
the two written assessments, one can notice that some of the students got bigger marks at the
012345
12345678910The results of the progressive test0
0
0
3
3
7
2
4
2
30
0
0
2
5
5
4
2
3
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
0
0
3
3
7
2
4
2
30
0
0
2
5
5
4
2
3
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
0
0
3
3
7
2
4
2
30
0
0
2
5
5
4
2
3
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10the results of the
predictive test
the results of the
progressive test

171
the results of the
predictive test
the results of the
progressive testposttest. They knew better and did much better than at the pretest. Analyzing this situation, I
consider that one of the reasons of this progress is the fact that the students understood that it is
important to know grammar rules in order to express yourself clearly. One can also notice that
some of the students got the same marks, registering no progress in their knowledge of English
grammar. This is obvious all the time not only now, with the occasion of these two tests.
After applying the predictive test and the progressive test that concerned the use of the
present simple tense, we can see that the hypothesis I made at the beginning of my research
was right: the students who like learning, who work individually at home, not only in class with
the teacher, develop more and more their abilities to use the language, no matter they do it in
speaking or in writing. Learning a foreign language implies automatically supplementary effort,
you are not exposed to the language as in the case of your mother tongue, so you need more
practice, more exercise maybe even more reading or listening to the target language.
The tests I applied to my students highlighted both the good quality of my students’
papers, their work and efforts towards learning English and the mistakes of the others, because
the composition proved to be a difficult task for those who refuse to learn both new vocabulary
and the language. The students with marks of 8, 9 and 10 admitted they try to do their best
when they receive their homework or when they have to write a composition. They search for
the new words in the dictionary, they found different sites on the Internet where they can hear
the pronunciation of a word, they can listen to it as many times as they need. They have even
tried to read short stories or paragraphs in English from the desire to enrich their vocabulary
and their knowledge of this language. They also admitted that not only the mark they get is
important but also the knowledge they have after each learnt structure. But, unfortunately not
all of them are interested in this kind of activities. The ones who got marks of 4 or 5 or even 6
they are not interested in studying in general and in learning English in particular. They’d rather
do other activities than exercising the target language. And this fact is reflected in their papers.
They can’t express themselves in English, their writing is full of mistakes, their reading is very
bad and their grammar knowledge is very poor. For these children we have to work more, to try
to find some kind of activities to make them learn involuntary, to attract them to the school and
to make them wish to become better.
c. Quiz regarding the importance of grammar in a foreign language learning
I have noticed that when we are having a grammar lesson at school most of the students
look tired, bored. I asked them what do they feel about studying grammar and their answers

172
were very different. Some of them said they like it and find it interesting, some of them are
indifferent or a little bit curious towards this subject and the others who don’t like grammar at
all. They can’t understand it maybe because it’s too difficult or it’s different from our mother
tongue. I have also asked some of my colleagues what do they think about studying grammar
and again their answers were quite different. Having my colleagues and my students’ answers
in my mind and reading different articles about the importance of studying grammar I decided
to make a quiz and I apply it to my students, but not to all of them. I have chosen my 5th grade
and 8th grade students. I did so because the students in the 5th grade are at the beginning of a
new educational cycle, haven’t learnt too much grammar so far and the students in the 8th grade
are at end of the same educational cycle, they have now much more information about what
grammar means and, having some experience, they can share their impressions and experience
while studying grammar.
Scoala Gimnaziala Nr. 1 Husasau de Tinca
Forename: ……………………………….
Class:……………………………………
Teacher: Braghina Silvia Alina
Quiz about being or not being important to know good grammar
1. What do you think about grammar? Do you find it interesting, boring or you don’t care?
2. Do you consider that grammar is important in everyday life?
Yes No Don’t know
3. Do you think that is it useful to study the grammar of our mother tongue?
Yes No Don’t know
4. Do you consider that the studying of a foreign language grammar is important?
Yes No Don’t know
5. Do you like studying grammar?
Yes No Don’t know

173
6. What is the best way for you to understand grammar better: if it is taught using the pres –
entation, practice and produce method or through discovery, repetition, accurate reproduction
and practice?
7. Do you think that knowing grammar facilitates clear and concise communication?
Yes No Don’t know
8. Is it important for a person to be able to write or express himself/herself correctly?
Yes No Don’t know
9. When you receive a message, it is important for you that the message is written correct
so you can understand its meaning?
Yes No Don’t know
10. Is it important for you to be able to write and speak correctly?
Yes No Don’t know
The interpretation of the quiz, in percentage, is the following:
1. What do you think about grammar? Do you find it interesting, boring or you don’t care?
Most of the students answer they find grammar interesting. Their answers might be ar –
gued by the fact they are aware of the importance of expressing yourself clearly and accurately.
52%
28%20%5th grade
41%
35%24%8th grade
Interesting Boring Don't care

174
2. Do you think that grammar is important in every day life?
The majority of the students from 5th grade answered NO while most of the students from
8th grade said YES.
3. Do you think is it useful to study the grammar of our mother tongue?
Most of the students answered YES, they find the studying of grammar a very important
activity.40%
48%12%5th grade
70%18%12%8th grade
60%28%12%5th grade
82%12%6%8th gradeYe s No Don't know
Ye s No Don't know

175
60%28%12%5th grade
82%12%6%8th grade4. Do you consider that the studying of a foreign language grammar is important?
Most of the students said YES, they find the studying of a foreign language grammar as
being important.
5. Do you like studying grammar?
Most of the students answer NO, this fact being noticeable in their papers and works. 72%16%12%5th grade
82%12%6%8th grade
40%
48%12%5th grade
82%12%6%8th gradeYe s No Don't know
Ye s No Don't know

176
6. What is the best way for you to understand grammar better: if it is taught using the pres –
entation, practice and produce method or through discovery, repetition, accurate reproduction
and practice?
Most of the students answered the best way for them to learn grammar if through discov –
ery, repetition, accurate reproduction and practice.
7. Do you think that knowing grammar facilitates clear and concise communication?
Most of the students agreed that knowing grammar helps you to communicate clearly.64%36%5th grade
65%35%8th grade
40%
32%28%5th grade
72%17%11%8th gradeYe s No Don't know
Ye s No Don't know

177
8. Is it important for a person to be able to write or express himself/herself correctly?
Again most of the students think that it is very important for a person to be able to speak
and write correctly.
9. When you receive a message, it is important for you that the message is written correct
so you can understand its meaning?
The big majority of my students answered YES, a message has to be written correctly in
order to be understood.68%20%12%5th grade
88%6%6%8th grade
84%12%4%5th grade
88%6%6%8th gradeYe s No Don't know
Ye s No Don't know

178
10. Is it important for you to be able to write and speak well?
Almost all of the students think that it is very important to know to write and speak cor –
rectly.
This quiz wants to emphasise the importance that students grant to learning grammar. As
it can be noticed not all of them like learning or studying grammar but almost all of them agree
that if you want to be able to speak, write, express yourself clearly and not be misunderstood
you have to possess good knowledge of grammar and it doesn’t matter that it is all about a for –
eign language or it is about our mother tongue.
I tried to see, through the quiz I applied, if students, who are born in this technology era,
consider that it’s enough to write or receive a message full of abbreviations or emoticons. Even
if they admit they write this kind of message they are aware of the fact that it is important to pol –
ish our own mother tongue if we want to express ourselves correctly. When we come to study a
new language almost all of them admit that we need to study grammar and that the importance
of grammar can’t be neglected. They are aware that a person who has unconscious knowledge
of grammar may be sufficient for simple language use, but if we wish to communicate in an
artful manner will seek greater depth of proficiency that the study of grammar provides.
On the other hand, there still exists that category of students who don’t believe it is im –
portant to learn and study grammar to speak correctly. They tend to neglect their school duties,
believe that it’s enough to know to use the computer and the way they speak is good enough. As
English teachers it is our job to make them realise that it is important indeed to know to use the 80%4%16%5th grade
94%6%8th grade
Ye s No Don't know

179
computer and other activities they are good at but it is also important to communicate clearly
and in an accurate way. We have to insist upon the fact that, besides vocabulary, grammar is
important too. Without grammar we won’t be able to form coherent thoughts and no one would
be able to understand us. If we keep on using grammar wrong then the language will be messed
up and people would not understand each other. Then we would not be able to communicate
with each other or communicate.
As long as the majority of students answered positively to the questions of my quiz, there
still is hope that people will try to speak correctly despite living in the technology era.
In the last part of this chapter I want to present how I applied the two approaches in teach –
ing, modern methodology and traditional methodology in my classes and with what effect.
In my experiment I taught two groups of students, respectively two different classes, the
4th grade and the 5th grade, beginner level. Both groups have the same numbers of lessons, two
lessons a week, they are of similar age, children between nine and eleven and they are at the
same level.
Description of the two groups
Before presenting the experiment, I’d like first to present the two groups of my students.
Group T (traditional method): there are around 25 students in the fifth grade, at the age of
ten to thirteen. I used the traditional methodology with this group.
Group M (modern method): there were 15 students; they were the fourth grade, at the age
of nine to ten. I used modern method with this group.
I started my research with a questionnaire, applied to both groups of students. Students
had to answer three questions: “What way of learning do you like?” “What sort of learning you
don’t like?” “In what way have you been learning?” (Boumova, 2008 : 39)
At the first questions some of the students answer: crossword, competition, games, proj –
ects, singing songs;
crossword
competition
games
projects
singing songs20%
15%
30%15%20% 1. What way of learning do you like?

180
The students’ answers to the second question are: reading, learning by heart, writing,
writing letters, tests;
And their answers to the last question: normally, writing lessons, making projects, singing
songs, using pictures.
From my students’ answer one can draw conclusion that, nowadays, Ss are still taught
in a traditional way. There are few activities or subjects where they learn and are taught with
modern methods.
Description of the research
Both groups had to learn the third person singular –s. So, I decided to teach the fourth
grade students using modern methods and the fifth grade students using the traditional method.
After presenting and introducing and explaining the subject of the lesson, we had some practice
and then my students received a test, the same for the both groups.
The traditional group
In this group I used long explanations of grammar, translating everything; all the instructions
were in Romanian. We did many translations in the lesson but very little speaking of English. I will learning by heart
tests
reading
writing
writing letters
crossword
competition
games
projects
songs40%
20%10%20%10%2. What sort of learning you don’t like?
3. In what way have you been learning?10%
40%
25%15%10%

181
present the methods I used: grammar lesson without the textbook; create a text according to the mod –
el; translation from English into Romanian; translation from Romanian into English and reading.
Grammar lesson without a textbook
I stated presented the students why we have to add –s at the end of the verbs in the third
person singular, I translated everything I said into Romanian and I wrote the rules on the black –
board. I gave them some examples: ‘I like milk.’ ‘She likes milk.’ ‘We go to school.’ ‘She goes to
school.’ ‘You eat chocolate every day.’ ‘It eats meat every day.’
Create a text according to the model
After I presented the structure I prepared a very short text about John, a child of their age.
We read the text, translated it and then the pupils were expected to write a similar text about
themselves. Before the end of the lesson I checked their texts and we have corrected mistakes.
Here is the text:
“Every day, John gets up at half past seven and he has breakfast. He has milk, cookies
and an apple for breakfast. Then, he brushes his teeth and gets dressed. Later, he goes to school
by car. He has lunch at school at quarter past twelve. He finishes school at quarter to two.
On Monday and Thursday, he has English classes. In the afternoon, he does his homework at
home and watches TV . In the evening, he has a shower and reads a book. He also plays with his
brothers. Then, he has dinner with his family at ten o’clock. Later, John watches a movie with
his sister, Anne. Finally, he goes to bed at eleven o’clock.” (www.busyteacher.org )
Translation from English into Romanian
The children received a text in English. All the words used in the text are known by the
students. The pupils were expected to translate the text into Romanian.
Pete is a postman.
He gets up at 5 o’clock.
He rides his bike to work.
He takes letters to all the houses.
Pete has got a dog, Paddy.
Paddy helps Pete.
Paddy cares the letters in its mouth.

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Translation from Romanian into English
The students receive another exercise with sentences into Romanian. All the words in the
text are known words.
John si David sunt prieteni.
Lui John ii place sportul.
El inoata in fiecare zi.
David joaca baschet in fiecare saptamana. El nu joaca tenis.
Lui David ii place sa alerge.
Lui John ii plac cartile.
In fiecare seara el citeste o poveste inainte de a merge la culcare.
Reading
I prepared for my students a short story about a girl and her daily activities.
When she wakes up in the morning she goes downstairs and eats breakfast. She likes to
eat porridge for breakfast. Porridge gives her lot of energy. Next, she puts on her clothes. Then
she brushes her teeth and washes her face. After that she puts her lunch box in her school bag
and waits for her Mum to take her to school.
The letter was read by each student and the students had to translate it into Romanian.
The home assignment was to write a similar text about someone in their family.
What I could notice during this lesson was the fact that students were pretty bored during these
activities. I interpret this boredom as being the impact of the traditional methods on students. Students
get bored of writing every time and reading and translating. Nowadays children are more active than
we used to be and they don’t find interesting in sitting down and doing the same activities over and over
again. They need action, interactive activities, funny games and interesting subjects to learn.
Teaching with modern technology
I tried to teach using modern methods with this class of students. We had a great deal of
speaking in class, I didn’t explain grammar myself and I let them discover when and why we
add –s at the end of the verb. We had a lot of creative activities and funny games.
During this lesson I used: discovery, elicitation, controlled practice, find someone who,
reading with understanding, create a short story.
During the discovery technique I took some objects from one of my students and I began
asking them what they can tell me about that person after seeing the object I presented.
I presented them a pen and I said ‘She writes with a pen at school or she doesn’t?’, then I

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showed a candy bar: “She likes chocolate or she doesn’t?”
When I finished showing all the objects I elicited my students sentences based on what I
presented them. We wrote the sentences on the blackboard as they were elicited. So, I showed
again the pen:
She writes with a pen.
She likes chocolate.
She reads books.
She plays the guitar.
If it happened that one of the students made a mistake, he or she was corrected by me or
by the other students.
Controlled practice
I read the text below, students listened to it and then they started to read, each of them,
taking of pronunciation.
“Every day, John gets up at half past seven and he has breakfast. He has milk, cookies
and an apple for breakfast. Then, he brushes his teeth and gets dressed. Later, he goes to school
by car. He has lunch at school at quarter past twelve. He finishes school at quarter to two.
On Monday and Thursday, he has English classes. In the afternoon, he does his homework at
home and watches TV . In the evening, he has a shower and reads a book. He also plays with his
brothers. Then, he has dinner with his family at ten o’clock. Later, John watches a movie with
his sister, Anne. Finally, he goes to bed at eleven o’clock.” (www.busyteacher.org )
After reading the text, students received some exercises to practice the third person –s
Tick ( √ ) the activities mentioned in the text.

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Decide if the sentences are TRUE-FALSE. Correct.
a- John goes to school in the afternoon
b- John has a shower in the morning
c- John has lunch at school
d- John finishes school at 2:45
e- John practices sports on Monday
f- John goes to bed at 11:00
Answer these questions about John
a- What time does he get up? __________________________________________
b- When does he have English classes? __________________________________
c- Where does he have lunch? _________________________________________
d- When does he watch TV? __________________________________________
e- What time does he go to bed? ________________________________________
f- Where does he do his homework? ____________________________________
(www.busyteacher.com )
Another activity we had during our lesson of teaching and practicing the third person –s, was
the game Find someone who …. The students are given the handout with sentences. I helped those
students who needed help at the beginning. I monitored the students during the activity, if they use
the target language, I corrected if there was necessary and I participated in the activity. After a period
of 10 minutes there is a feedback session where students can present what they found out.
Find someone who….
………likes chocolate
………plays the guitar
………reads books
………writes correctly
………speaks English
………likes dancing
………swims every week
………goes to bed late at night
………has a brother or a sister
………lives in a big house.

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Another funny game I played with my students is “Around the clock”. I arrange the 12
cards on in the shape of a circle on the blackboard, to represent a clock. I turned the cards face
down, one by one while drilling full sentences such as “He goes to school at 8 o’clock.” Then,
together with my students we test each other on our memory of where the cards are with ques –
tions like “When does he go to school?”
My students were very delighted of this sort of activity, enjoying it very much and having
a lot of fun especially when one of us gave the right answer. (www.usingenglish.com)
The last activity I had with my students was creating a short story. I brought in some pic –
tures with a boy doing different activities during one day. I showed the pictures to my students
and they made sentences in order to create a short story. As each student was saying a sentence,
he or she went to the blackboard and wrote it down and so we made our class story.
As one can see, there were used a rich variety of activities in Group M. The children
enjoyed all the activities, having lot of fun practicing the third person singular –s. They didn’t
have time to get bored, they had to move to find someone who…. and involuntary they started
speaking English in class.
The last stage of my lesson, with both of the groups, was testing. I prepared the same test
for both groups, being curious to see who had better understood the lesson.

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Test Paper
Date:
Name:
Group:
Teacher: Braghina Silvia
1. Underline the correct verb form for each sentence. 10p
1. I eat/eats dinner at my friend’ s house every Sunday.
2. Emma do/does her homework after she gets home.
3. We play/plays badminton every afternoon.
4. Harry seldom listen/listens to me.
5. My brother never watch/watches television.
6. My dog bark/barks at night.
7. My parents live/lives in Paris.
8. We eat/eats eggs for breakfast every morning.
9. She take/takes a shower every morning.
10. Tom listen/listens to the radio in the morning.
2. Fill in the correct form of the verb. 10p
1. Tom (like) ………………………………… to play football.
2. They (do)………………………………….. homework before they eat.
3. Neil (try) …………………………………. to be a good boy.
4. Sarah (brush) ………………………….. her hair every morning.
5. Natalie usually (go) ………………………….. to the beach.

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3. WRITE: 20p
example : I / you / we / they P L A Y but! he / she / it P L A Y S (! go – go es, do – do es, have -has)
She usually up at 7 o’clock.

He usually his HW at half past six.
Mike to bed at 8 o’clock.

She tennis on Fridays.
They to school every morning.

Mary a shower in the morning.
Tom a shower on Sundays.

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Sarah a book in the evening.

4. Look and read. Write yes or no. 20p
0 Kim goes to bed at 9 o’clock in the evening. _________
1 She brushes her hair in the morning. _________
2 She watches TV in the morning. _________
3 She goes to school at 9 o’clock. _________
4 In the evening she watches TV and goes to bed. _________
5 She does not do her homework in the evening. _________
5. Write about your and your friend daily routine. 20p
20p ex officio3 Look and read. Write yes or no. 5 points___
0 Kim goes to bed at 9 o’clock in the evening. _________
1 She brushes her hair in the morning. _________
2 She watches TV in the morning. _________
3 She goes to school at 9 o’clock. _________
4 In the evening she watches TV and goes to bed. _________
5 She does not do her homework in the evening. _________
4 Listen and tick ( ). 5 points___
Complete the form.
car bus foot taxi
Monday 
Tuesday
WednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
yes
© Macmillan Publishers Limited 2012 Way Ahead 2 Tests

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The results of the test
Group T
Student 1 7
Student 2 5
Student 3 5
Student 4 4
Student 5 4
Student 6 8
Student 7 8
Student 8 6
Student 9 5
Student 10 10
Student 11 7
Student 12 6
Student 13 10
Student 14 9
Student 15 8
Making a comparison we can notice that Group M achieved a significant improvement.
From this comparison of score data we can see that the modern technology seems to be more
successful and motivating for children. I also have to recognise that Group M is a better class
than Group T but, however the modern methods go very well with this children. They are full Group M
Student 1 8
Student 2 7
Student 3 9
Student 4 9
Student 5 10
Student 6 10
Student 7 10
Student 8 9
Student 9 8
Student 10 7
Student 11 6
Student 12 6
Student 13 10
Student 14 9
Student 15 100
00
2
3
22
3
1
200000
22
2
4
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
0
0
3
3
7
2
4
2
30
0
0
2
5
5
4
2
3
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
0
0
3
3
7
2
4
2
30
0
0
2
5
5
4
2
3
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Group T
Group M

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of life, carring and eager to find new information and to get involved in all kind of activities. On
the other hand, Group T was bored maybe a little bit tired, uninterested in what happened in the
class during the lesson. They read, wrote, did all the activities but without showing too much
enthusiasm. Maybe they lacked motivation, I don’t really know. Not all of them are like this,
but most of them. Motivation for children is very essential and important. This where I have to
work more, to find new methods to motivate these children. Next time I will switch the roles
and see how each group react to different methods.

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CONCLUSION
The aim of my work was to present the importance of teaching and learning grammar of
English language, especially the role of tenses of the indicative mood, within the context of the
Romanian elementary school. This has been achieved through the theoretical presentation of
the tenses, the methods used in teaching grammar and through a research project, which invol –
ved a questionnaire for elementary students about the importance of grammar in their learning
process, the comparison of a predictive and a progressive test, used before and after presenting
and practicing the present simple and a comparison made between the teaching of the third
person‘s’ using traditional and modern methods.
As we know, the role of grammar instruction is a controversial issue, and this is proved
by the fact that debate about that has started in the 1950s and is still lively. This is one of the
reasons why I applied my questionnaire to my students, because I wanted to see what they think
about learning grammar in general, and more specifically what they think about the learning
grammar of English language. As the results of the quiz showed, even if they don’t like very
much learning grammar, my students think that grammar is very important in the learning pro –
cess of a foreign language. Their answers give us hope that the today children will become the
confident adults of tomorrow, who will prove through the way they speak that they are educated
persons, that they can express themselves clearly and correctly, and are not afraid of making
mistakes because they have the ability to improve their communication skills.
Another point in my search is represented by the use of tests in teaching English lan –
guage. Being an English teacher, I know that test is not the only form of assessment, but at the
beginning of a new term or at the beginning of a new school year or, as it was my case when I
came back to school after a break of two years, it is important to test our students to see how
much knowledge of English language they possess. I had given my students of sixth form a pre –
dictive test before I started to teach the simple present to have an idea what they can remember
from the previous years of English studies. There were students who remembered this tense
very well, some of them had vague knowledge about it and other who didn’t care or weren’t
interested in learning about it. After teaching the present simple, I gave my students another test
to see how much they assimilated during our activities in class. The number of students who got
good marks in tests and so, is supposed to have understood this tense, was bigger than the nu –
mber of students who are not interested in learning the language. I am aware of the fact that not
all my students like English and not all of them want to learn it because not all of them believe

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that it’s an important subject or that they will need it sometimes in their lives. But I am pleased
to see that at least a part of my students, maybe a third, like and want to learn to speak English. I
am enchanted when I see them trying to make sentences, to solve crosswords, to translate songs
or any other kind of activity that implies using English. Maybe for other colleagues of mine it
isn’t a big thing, but for me, knowing my children and their family background it is a big pro –
gress.
The last research of my work refers to the methods used in teaching English. I taught the
same grammar problem, respectively the third person‘s’ to the fourth and fifth grade students.
When I taught the fourth grade students I used modern methods such as: guiding discovery,
identifying the third person‘s’, we did a great deal of speaking, I didn’t explain the grammar
problem by myself while for the fifth grade students I used traditional methods, such as: presen –
tation, practice, production. The research indicates that for my students modern methodology
is more motivating than traditional methodology. For children motivation is a vital aspect of
education because there is a lot of schooling ahead of them. Modern methodology is also more
effective in encouraging children to communicate and in creating a positive attitude to the sub –
ject. “Since it appears that motivation is one of the most important aspects of children’s educa –
tion, we might conclude that modern methodology should be preferred in schools, particularly
in the lower years.” (Boumova, 2008 : 98).
The general conclusion to be drawn from this work is that grammar has an important
role in English foreign language teaching but it does not mean that English lesson should be
based exclusively on formal instruction. Actually, grammar is considered to be an integral part
of wider activities, which include communication and focus on meaning. We have to mix the
methods we use in class so students don’t get bored, we have to be careful not to use a lot of
drills but include dialogues, oral activities and speaking practice. Since I began teaching, I
have always been trying to identify the needs of my students, to see what kind of activities they
prefer and they like to get involved into. I have always been trying to create a warm atmos –
phere during my lessons and encourage my students to become confident in themselves, to use
grammar structures without being afraid of making mistakes. I also consider that being English
teachers, we have to be aware of the complexity of our work and, as a consequence, we should
devote our time and energy to our professional training, in order to know which methods and
approaches suit best in the context of our teaching.

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