Long man Hand books for Language Teacher s [603860]

Long man Hand books for Language Teacher s
The Practice of English Language Teaching New Edition – Jeremy Har mer
An Int roduction to English Language Teaching – John Hayc raft
Teaching Oral English New Edition – Donn By rne
Communication in the Clas sroom – edited by Keith Johnson and Keith Mor row
Teaching English Through Eng lish – Jane Willis
Teaching English with Video – Mar garet Allan
Using Computers in the Language Cla ssroo m – Christopher Jone s and Sue Fortescue
Teaching English Pronunciation – Joanne Kenworthy
Writing Engl ish Language Tests New Edition – J.B. Heaton
Teaching Writing Skil ls New Edition – Donn By rne
Teaching Listening – Mary Underwood
Teaching on Hol iday Courses – Nick Dawson
Proces s Writing – Ron White and Valerie Arndt
Teaching Literatu re – Ronald Carte r and Michael N. Long
J
Acknowledge ments
We are grateful to the following for per mission to rep roduce copy right m aterial;
David Attenbo rough Productions Ltd & BBC Enterprises Ltd for an extract fro m the
recording
'Groundwell' broadca st 13.4.84, Radio 4, released by arrange ment with BB C Ente rprises
Ltd,
(p) BBC 1982 & 1984; Ca mbridge Unive rsity P ress for an extract fro m A Way with W ords
I by
S Red man & R El lis (pub 1989); Heine mann Publishers (Oxford) Ltd for extracts fro m
Listening Links by M Gedde ss & O Stu rbridge ( pub 1978) & an extract fro m The
Heinemann
English W ordbuilder by G Wellman & English Language Arts (pub 1989); t he autho r's
agent
for an adaptation of an ext ract by Ian Jack fro m Granta 25 (pub Penguin, 1988 ); Long man
1

Group UK Ltd for ext racts from The Listening File by J Harmer & S Elsworth (pub 1989);
Macmillan Education Ltd for an extract fro m Contempora ry English Book 6, Teache rs
Guide
by R Rossner, P Shaw , J Shephard & J Taylor ( pub 1980); Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd for
extracts from In Their Own W ords by T Boyd (pub 1988 ); Oxford University P ress for
extracts
from Fast Fowar d 1 by V Black et al (pub 1986 ), an extract from English in Situations by
Robert O'Neill (pub 1970) & extracts from Headwa y Upper Intermediate by J Soars & L
Soars
(pub 1987 ); Penguin Book s Ltd for the recipe 'Polenta' fro m Mediterranean Food by
Elizabeth
David (Penguin Books, Revis ed Ed ition, 1965), cop yright ( c) Elizabeth David, 1958, 1965;
Pergamon Pres s pic for an extract fro m Gramma r in Action by C Frank & M Rinvolucri
(pub
1983).
I * it »
We are grateful to the following for their per mission to reproduce copy right m aterial and
photographs:
Aspect Picture L ibrary for page 192. BB C/Sir David Attenborough for page 226. Bek en of
Cowe s Limited for page 195. Ca mbridge Unive rsity P ress for pages 84, 109, 1 18, 126, 127
(top), 149, 163 (botto m), 165, 176, 194, 207 and 208. C amera Press Limited for page """
(botto m left and right ). Canada Wide for page 197. Collins Publishers Lim ited f or paj
Culver Pictures f or page 1 13. E nglang f or page 228 (top ). Ronald Grant Archive for [
(top left). Heine mann Publishers (Oxford ) Limited for pages 112 and 222. Im pact Phc
le Gars meur for page 205. Just Seventeen for page 203. Mac millan Publishers for pagt
and 218. Thomas Nelson & Sons Lim ited f or pages 217 (tpp), 217 ( botto m) and 228 ( i
Network/Sparha m for page 202 (top r ight). Oxford Universit y Press Limited for page s
164 and 226. Penguin Book s Limited for pages 99 and 100. We have been unable to tn
copy right owner for the illustrations on page 127 (m iddle and botto m), and would appr
any i nformation to enable us to do so.
All other exa mples have been taken from titles published by Longman Group UK Lim i t"
2

Jeremy Har mer
The Practice o f
Engli sh Language
Teaching
New Edition
in
Long man %
London and New York
r
Long man Gr oup UK Li mited,
Longman House, Burnt Mill, Harlow ,
Essex CM20 2JE, E ngland
and Associated Compani es throughout the world.
Distributed in the United States of America
by Long man Publishing, New York
© Longman Group UK Lim ited 1991
All rights r eserved; no part of this publication may be r eproduc ed, stor ed in a r etrieval
system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electr onic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording,
or otherwi se, without the prior written pe rmission of the P ublishe rs.
First published 1991
Third i mpression 1992
ISBN 0582 04656 4
British Library Cataloguing in Publ ication Data
Harmer, Jere my 1950 –
The practice of English language teaching. – ( Long man
handbooks for language teachers).
3

1. Non-E nglish speaking students. Curriculu m subject s:
English language. Teaching
I. Title
428.2407
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Harmer, Jere my.
The practice of English language teaching/Jere my Harm er. — New
ed.
p. c m. – (Long man Handbooks for Language Teachers)
Includes bibliographical reference s (p. 285) and index.
ISBN 0-582 -04656-4
1. English language—Study and teaching—Fo reign sp eakers.
I. Title. II. Series.
PE1128.A2H34 1991
428'.007—dc20
90-48696
Set in 10/12 pt Times
Produced by Long man Singapore Publishers Pte L td
Printed in S ingapore
Contents
90-48696
PART A:
BACKGROUND
ISSUES
Preface
1 Why do people learn l anguages?
1.1 Re asons for learning
language s
1.2 Succe ss in language learning
1.3 Motivational difference s
1.4 Conclu sions
4

Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
2 What a n ative speaker kn ows
2.1 Pronunciation
2.2 Gra mmar
2.3 Vocabular y
2.4 Discour se
2.5 Language skill s
2.6 Conclu sions
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
3 What a l anguage student should learn
3.1 Pronunciation
3.2 Gra mmar
3.3 Vocabular y
3.4 Discour se
3.5 Skills
3.6 The syllabus
3.7 Language varieties
3.8 Conclu sions
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
4 Language l earnin g and language te aching
4.1 Learning theo ries and approaches
4.2 Foreign language learning
4.3 Input and output
4.4 A balanced activitie s approach
4.5 Conclu sions
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
PART B:
PRACTICE
Teaching the pro ductive skills
5.1 The natu re of communication
5.2 The information gap
5

5.3 The communication continuu m
5.4 Stages in language learning/teaching
5.5 Integrating skills
5.6 Speaking and writing
5.7 Level
5.8 Conclu sions
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
Introducing new language struc ture
6.1 What do we introduce ?
6.2 The present ation of structu ral for m
6.3 A general m odel for introducing new language
6.4 Discov ery techniques
6.5 Ihe position of writing during p resentation72 2
6.6 Int roducing new language: exa mples 73
6.7 Conclu sions 90
Exercises/ References 90
7 Practice 92
7.1 Oral practice 92
7.2 Written p ractice 109
7.3 Conclu sions 120
Exercises/ References 120
8 Co mmunicative activi ties 122
8.1 Oral co mmunicative activities 122 –
8.2 Written co mmunicative activities 139
8.3 Correcting writ ten work 146
8.4 Projects 147
8.5 Learne r training 149
8.6 Conclu sions 151
Exercises/ References 151
9 Teaching vocabulary 153
9.1 Language structure and vocabulary 153
9.2 Selecting vocabulary 154
9.3 What do students need to know ? 156
9.4 Teaching vocabulary 159
9.5 Exa mple s of vocabulary teaching 161
9.6 The importance o f dictionaries 174
9.7 Conclu sions 178
6

Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s 179
PART C:
MANAGEMENT
AND
PLANNING
10 Rece ptive skills 181
10.1 Ba sic principles 181
10.2 Methodologic al principle s for teaching receptive skills 184
10.3 A basic methodological model for the teaching o f
receptive skill s 189
10.4 Re ading m aterial 190
10.5 Listening m aterial 211
10.6 Conclu sions 232
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s 233
11 Class mana gement 235
11.1 The role of the teacher 235
11.2 Student group ings 243
11.3 Disruptive behaviour 249
11.4 Conclu sions 253
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s 254
12 Plan ning 256
12.1 Planning, textbooks and the s yllabus 256
12.2 Planning principles 258
12.3 What teachers should know 260
12.4 The pre-plan 265
12.5 The plan 268
12.6 Conclu sions 274
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s 274
Appendix: Evaluatin g materials 2 76
Bibli ogra phy 2 85
Index . 289
7

Preface
Since the publication o f The Practice of E nglish Language T eaching in 1983
much ha s happened in the world of language teaching: new concerns have
occupied the m inds of methodologi sts and applied linguists; new textbooks
have been wri tten; new techniques have beco me fashionable. We must be
grateful for all this flux and change since without it teaching would be a grey
and ulti mately depres sing experience. But of course it isn't (except
sometimes!). It's a constantly i nteresting and exciting occupation and the
new discoveries and insights that we come across or which are put be fore us
make it more challenging and keep us on our toes where otherwise we
might beco me stifled by the r outine of it all.
With all these things going on i t beca me clear that a new edition o f
The Practice of E nglish Language T eaching was neces sary. In the f irst place
the textbook exa mples in the first edition were quite si mply out of date.
A new generation of m aterials is in use and this need s to be reflected
in the book. Then there is the issue of methodology . In the last few years
we have seen an awakening o f interest in task-bas ed learning, sel f-directed
learning, learner t raining, and discov ery techniques to name but a few of the
many concern s that have excited us all. There has also been a renaissan ce of
interest in vocabulary and vocabular y teaching.
These, then are so me of the considerations which have pro mpted
this new edition. Readers who are fa miliar with the orig inal will find here
a completely new chapter on teaching vocabulary (Chapter 9). Discovery
technique s appear (especially in Chapters 6 and 9); there is an extended
discu ssion on language learning theor y and approaches in Chapter 4
(including new section s on Task-based learning and Humani stic
approache s) and a recognition of the change in perception about what
communicative competen ce m ight be in Chapters 2 and 3. Dictation m akes
an appearanc e in Chapter 7 and the chapter on co mmunicative activities
(Chapter 8) includes new categories for oral and written exercise s and
sections on learner training and p rojects. In Chapter 1 1 the discus sion of
8

teacher roles has been expanded and clarified; there is a new s ection on
the us e of the m other tongue. Ch apter 12 has a new speci men lesson Jjlan.
Overall the m any exa mples of textbook m aterials have been updated
to reflect the cur rent style and content of such materials and m ention is
made of both video and co mputers – both of which are considerably more
commonplace than the y were when the first edition of this book was
written.
Despite all these additions and change s, however , the structure of The
Practice of E nglish Language T eaching remains essentiall y the s ame. In
Part A: Background Issu es, we look at so me of the theoretical concerns
which in fluence the teaching of English a s a Foreign L anguage. In Part B:
Practice, we study m aterials and technique s for teaching, and in Pa rt C:
Management and Planning, we look at how classroo ms and student s can be
organis ed and what is the best way to p repare f or a lesson. The appendix
on m aterials evaluation should help anyone who is in a position to select the
textbook which their student s are going to use.
The Practice of E nglish Language T eaching deals specifi cally with
the teaching of English as a Fo reign Language (EFL). It is not f ocused
especiall y on English as a Second Language (E SL) although m uch of the
content o f the book can be applied to that slightl y different teaching
situation. The book is directed at the teaching of 'general' English: the
teaching of English for Speci fic Purposes (ESP) is of course mentioned, but
does not for m a major par t of the work.
In the first edition o f this book I acknowledged the help and exa mple
that I had received fro m a num ber of people, espe cially Richard Ro ssner ,
Walter Plu mb and Jean Pender , to sa y nothing of the exceptional reader's
comments from Donn By rne and Jane Willis, Tim Hunt's encourage ment
at Long man and the support and profe ssional advice which I received fro m
Anita Har mer. Their influence remain s in this new edition, especially t hat
of Richard Ro ssner with who m I have been able to discus s many of the
issues that a handbook like this raises and who has read so me of the new
9

version, o ffering constructive co mment and criticis m in the most positive
and encouraging f ashion.
Both Anita Har mer and (at Long man) Da mien Tunnacliffe have
provided encourage ment and incentive for m e to get on and co mplete this
new version. In their dif ferent ways their enthusia sm for the project has
helped me to tackle what turned out to be a bigger j ob than at first
anticipated. As editor , Helena Gomm has helped to m ake the whole proces s
bearable and Alyson Lee has cheerfully steered the book through its final
stages.
I have been extremely fortunate in the co mments I have received from
Julian Edge which have been sti mulating and often a musing. More than
once he has been able to sugge st ways out of certain proble ms, for which
I am very grateful. I also had useful comments from Nick Dawson.
Since The Practice of E nglish Language T eaching was published I have
had the good fortune to wo rk with a large nu mber of language teachers in
many different countries. The comments they have made and the fe edback
I have received about m ethodolog y in general (and this book in particular )
have been i mmensely helpful during this period.
To all these people, m any thanks. I can only hope that the y will look
upon the results of their influen ce and endeavours with pleasure.
Jeremy Harm er
Cambridge 1991
1 Why do people learn
languages ?
In this ch apter we are going t o look at t he re asons peo ple ha ve for lea rning
langua ges (es peciall y English), a nd the r easons for their success as langu age
learners.
PART A:
BACKGROUND
10

ISSUES
1.1Reasons for learning
language s
1.2Succe ss in language learning
1.2.1Motivation
1.2.2Extrinsic motivation
1.2.3Intrinsic motivation
1.3Motivational difference s
1.3.1Children
1.3.2Adoles cents
1.3.3Adult beginners
1.3.4Adult inter mediat e student s
1.3.5Adult advanced students
1.4Conclu sions
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
ss
1.1
Reas ons f or
learni ng
languages
Why do people want to learn foreign languages ? Why do people want to
study E nglish ? Is it for pleasure ? Is it becau se they want to understand
Shakesp eare? Maybe the y want to get a bette r job. There are a nu mber of
different reasons for language study and the following list (which is not
exhau stive) will g ive an idea of the g reat variety of such reasons.
(a) School cu rriculu m
Probabl y the greatest nu mber of language student s in the world do it
becau se it is on the school curriculu m whether t hey like it o r not! F or many
of these students English, in particular , is something that both the y and their
parents want to have taught. Fo r others, however , the study of language s is
something they feel neut ral (or so metimes negative) about.
(b) Advance ment
Some people want to stud y Eng lish (or another foreign language) becau se
they think it o ffers a chanc e for advance ment in thei r profe ssional lives.
11

They will get a better job with two languages than if they on ly know thei r
mother tongue. E nglish has a special position here since it has beco me the
international language o f communication.
(c) Target language community
Some language students find the mselve s living in a tar get language
community (either te mporaril y or permanentl y). A target language
community (TLC) is one where the inhabitant s speak the language which
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
the student is learning; for student s of English an E nglish-spe aking countr y
would be a TLC. The students would need to learn E nglish to survive in
that co mmunity.
(d) English for Specific Purposes1
The term English for Special or Specific Purpose s has been applied to
situation s where student s have so me speci fic reason for wanting to learn the
language. For exa mple, air traf fic cont rollers need English primarily to
guide aircraft through the skie s. They m ay not use the language at all apart
from this. Busine ss executives need Engl ish for international t rade. Waiters
may need English to serve their custo mers. These need s have o ften been
referred to as EOP (English for Occupational Purpose s).
Students who a re going t o study at a universit y in the USA, Great
Britain, Australia o r Can ada, on the other hand, m ay need English so that
they can write reports or ess ays and function in seminars. This is often
called EAP (Engli sh for Academic Purpose s). Students of medicin e or
nuclear physics – or othe r scientific disciplines – (study ing in their own
countries) need to be able to r ead articles and textbooks about those
subje cts in English. This is often referred to as EST (or English for Science
and T echnology ). We can summarise thes e differenc es in the following way :
ESP
EOP EAP EST
Figur e 1 English for Speci fic Purposes
What is interesting about all these examples is that the ty pe of English
12

the student s want to learn m ay be different: waiters m ay want to talk and
listen, Whereas scientist s may want to r ead and w rite.2
(e) Cultu re
Some student s study a foreign language because they are att racted to the
culture of one of the TLC s (see (c) above). They learn the language becau se
they want to know m ore about the people who speak it, the places where it
is spoken and (in so me case s) the w ritings which it has produced.
(f) Mi scellaneou s
There are of course many other possible reasons for learning a language.
Some people do it just for fun – becau se they like the activit y of going to
class. Some people do it because they want to be tourists in a count ry
where that language is spoken. Some people do it just becau se all their
friend s are learning the language.
It will be clear fro m this list that there are m any pos sible reason s for
studying a language. What will also be clear is that not all the students
mentioned above will neces sarily be t reated in the sa me way. Students who
WHY DO P EOPLE LEARN LANGU AGES?
1.2
Success in
langua ge
learning
1.2.1
Motivation
are only interested in one of the f orms of ESP mentioned above m ay be
taught very differentl y fro m students who are learning E nglish ' for fun'.
Students who stud y English becau se it is on the curriculu m need to be
handled in a different way fro m those who go to a language institute out of
choice.
Most student s who m ake that decision – to stud y in their own ti me – do
so for a m ixture of the reason s mentioned above. We will be fo cusing on
them in this book. We will also be dealing with students for who m English
13

is part of the cur riculu m. We will not concentrate speci fically on stud ents
of ESP although we will be m entioning the m at various stag es throughout
the book.
Why are so me students succe ssful at language learning whilst others are not ?
If we knew the answ er to t hat question the job of teaching and learning a
language would be easy . We don't, o f course, but we can point to a nu mber
of factors which see m to have a strong e ffect on a student's succe ss or
failure.
People involved in language teaching often say t hat students who r eally
want to learn will succ eed whatever the circu mstanc es in which they stud y.
All teachers can think of situations in which certain 'motivated ' student s do
signi ficantly better than their peers; student s frequently succeed in what
appear to be un favourable conditions; they succeed despite using method s
which experts consider unsati sfactory. In the f ace o f such pheno mena it see ms
reasonable to sugge st that the m otivation that students bring to clas s is the
biggest single f actor af fecting their succe ss.
Motivation is so me kind of internal drive that encourage s somebody to
pursue a cou rse of action. If we perceive a goal ( that is, something we wish
to achieve) and if that goal is sufficientl y attractive, we will be strongly
motivated to do whatever is neces sary to reach that goal. Goals can be of
different t ypes; f or exa mple if we are deter mined to own a new co mpact
disc player, a bike or a horse we may work ove rtime in orde r to earn the
necessary m oney . If we want to win a TV general knowledge quiz we m ay
put in incredibl y long hou rs of fact-learning activit y.
Language learners who are m otivated perceive goals of various kinds.
We can make a use ful distinction between short-term goals and long-term
goals. Long-term goal s might have so mething to do with a wish to get a
better job at so me future date, or a desire to be able to co mmunicate with
members of a tar get language co mmunity. Sho rt-term goals might include
such things as wanting to pas s an end-of-se mester test or wanting to fini sh a
unit in a book.
14

In general strongl y motivated students with long -term goals are
probabl y easier to teach than those who have no such goals (and therefore
no real drive ). For such stud ents short-ter m goals will often provide the only
motivation the y feel.
What kind o f motivation do students have ? Is it always the sa me? We
will separate it into two m ain categorie s: extrinsi c motivation, which is
concerned with factors outside the clas sroom, and intrinsic motivation, which
is concerned with what takes place inside the clas sroom.
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
1.2.2
Extrinsic
motivation
1.2.3
Intrinsic
motivation
We have said that so me students stud y a language becaus e the y have an
idea of so mething which the y wish to achieve. It has been sugg ested that
there are two m ain types of su ch m otivation, integrative motivation and
instrumental motivation?
(a) I ntegrative m otivation
For this kind of motivation student s need to be att racted by the culture of
the tar get language co mmunity, and in the strong for m of integ rative
motivation the y wish to in tegrate the mselves into t hat cultu re. A weaker
form of such motivation would be the desire to know as much as possible
about the culture of the TLC.
(b) Instru mental m otivation
This term describes a situation in which stud ents believe that m astery of the
target language will be instru ment al in getting the m a better job, position o r
statu s. The language is an instru ment in their attain ment of such a goal.
Many other factors have an i mpact upon a stud ent's level of extrinsic
motivation and m ost of these have to do with his or her attitude to the
15

language. This in turn wil l be affected by the attitude of those who have
influen ce with that student; if the parents are very much again st the (cultu re
of the) language this will probabl y affect his or her m otivation in a negative
way. If the y are ver y much in favour of the language this might have the
opposite effect. The student 's peers (his or he r equal s) wil l also be in a
powerful position to af fect his or her attitude as will other m embers of the
student 's community .
Another fa ctor af fecting the attitude of stud ents is their previous
experience s as language learners. If they were succe ssful then they m ay be
pre-disposed to succe ss now . Failure then m ay m ean that the y expect
failure now .
What can teachers do about extrinsic motivation and student attitude ?4
It is clear that we cannot create it since it co mes into the clas sroom from
outside. It is clear , too, that student s have to be prepared to take so me
respon sibilit y for their own lea rning. But with that in mi nd we can still do
our best to en sure that students view the language and the learn ing
experience in a positive light. We can do this by creating a positive attitude
to the language and its spe akers, and we can tr y to be certain that we are
supportive and encou raging to our student s rathe r than critical and
destructive.
While it is reasonable to suppo se that m any adult lea rners have so me degree
of extrinsic m otivation, and while it is clear that the attitude o f student s
can be af fected by members of their co mmunitie s, there can be no doub t
that intrinsic m otivation pla ys a vital pa rt in m ost students' succe ss or failure
as language learners. M any student s bring no ext rinsic motivation to the
classroo m. They may even have negative feelings about language learning.
For the m what happens in the classroo m will be o f vital i mportance in
deter mining their attitude to the language, and in suppl ying m otivation,
which we have sugge sted is a vital co mpon ent in succe ssful language
WHY DO P EOPLE LEARN LANGU AGES?
16

learning. As we have al so sugge sted above, what happens in the classroo m
will have an important e ffect on student s who are alread y in so me way
extrinsically mo tivated. We can con sider factors affecting int rinsic
motivation under the headings of physi cal conditions, method, the teacher
and success.
(a) P hysical conditions
It is clearly the ca se that physical conditions have a great ef fect on learning
and can alter a student's motivation eithe r positively o r negatively .
Classroo ms that are badl y lit and overc rowded can be exce ssively
de-m otivating, but unfortunatel y many of them exist in s chools. Vitally
important will be the board : is it easily visible ? Is the surf ace in good
condition ?, etc. In general, teachers should presu mably t ry to m ake their
classroo ms as pleas ant as possible. Even where conditions are bad it m ay be
possible to i mprove the at mosphere with posters, students ' work, etc. on the
walls.
We can say, then, that the at mosph ere in which a language is learnt is
vitally important: t he cold g reyness of m uch institutionalis ed education m ust
be co mpensated f or in so me way if it is not to have a negative e ffect on
motivation.
(b) Method
The method by which student s are taught m ust have so me effect on thei r
motivation. If they find it deadl y boring the y will p robably beco me
de-m otivat ed, whereas if they have confidenc e in the m ethod the y will find
it motivating. But perhaps this is the m ost difficult area of all to be certain
of. We said earlier t hat a really mo tivated student will p robably succeed
whatever m ethod (within reason) is used. It is also true that dif ferent
student s are m ore or less sympathetic to any particular m ethod depending
upon their expectations. Teachers can ea sily recall students who felt that
there was not enough gra mmar or enough conversation (depending on the
student s' taste at the ti me)! Despite various atte mpts there is unfortunately
no research which clearl y shows the succe ss of one m ethod over another .
17

What we do know , however , is that if the student loses confidenc e in the
method he or she will beco me de-m otivated. And the student' s con fidence
in the m ethod is largely in the hands of the m ost important f actor af fecting
intrinsic m otivation, the teacher .
(c) The teacher
Whether the student likes the teacher or not m ay not be very signi ficant.
What can be said, though, is that two teachers using the sa me method can
have vastl y different results. How then can we as sess the qualit ies a teacher
need s to help in provid ing intrinsic m otivation ?
In 1970 a study done b y Denis Girard atte mpted to answer this
question.5 A thousand children between the ages of twelve and seventeen
were ask ed to put a list o f teacher 'qualities ' in orde r of preference. The
children showed what their lea rning prio rities were b y putting these qualities
in the following order (1 = m ost important, 10 = lea st important):
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
1 He makes his course interesting.
2 He teaches good p ronunciation.
3 He explains clearly .
4 He speaks good E nglish.
5 He shows the sa me interest in all h is students.
6 He makes all the student s participate.
7 He shows great patience.
8 He insists on the spoken language.
9 He makes his pupils work.
10 He uses an audio-l ingual m ethod.
Interestingl y, the m ain point of the stud y – to see i f the audio-lingual
method wa s popular – only comes tenth. Students were m ore concerned that
classes should be inte resting, and three of the top ten qualit ies (5, 6 and 7 )
are concerned with the relationship between teacher and student. We can
speculate that thes e qualities would e merge whatever subject was being
taught.
18

The student s were also asked to list any additional qualities they
thought were i mportant. The most popular were:
– He show s sympathy for his pupils.
– He is fair to all his student s (whether good o r bad at English).
– He inspires confidence.
In a les s formal study6 I asked both teachers and stud ents what they
thought ' makes a good teacher'. The teachers were English language
teachers in Britain, Fin land and Spain. The students were half EFL student s
and hal f British s econdar y school child ren. The two a reas that m ost of the
people mentioned were the teacher's rapport with the students and the
teacher' s personality . People wanted a teacher who was 'fun' or one who
'understand s children'. But many people also mentioned the need for
teachers to m otivate students through enjoyable and interesting clas ses; and
quite a f ew wanted their teachers to be 'well prepared' and to be teachers
they could have confidenc e in.
Neither Gira rd's student s nor the s mall survey m entioned in the
previous paragraph prove an ything about good teachers; othe r
methodologist s have f ailed to provide us with a de finitive answer either . But
we can m ake some generalisations with confidence.
In the first place the teacher's personalit y matters a lot (and ye t this is
the m ost difficult area to quanti fy or to t rain for). But beyond that i t is clear
that teachers need to do every thing pos sible to create a good rapport wi th
their students. Partly this happens by providing interesting and m otivating
classes: partl y this co mes from such things as treating all the stud ents the
same (one of the secondary student s I questioned s aid 'a good teach er is
… so meone who ask s the people who don't alwa ys put thei r hands up') and
acting upon their hopes and aspirations. Most o f all it depends on pa ying
more attention to the students than to the teacher!
Lastl y teacher s clearl y need to be able to show that they know their
subje ct – o r in the words of an experienced EF L teacher 'If you don't
know what you're talking about the y soon se e through y ou!' They should be
19

able to give clear i nstructions and exa mples and as far as possible have
answers to the student s' questions.
WHY DO P EOPLE LEARN LANGU AGES?
1.3
Motivatio nal
differen ces
1.3.1
Children7
1.3.2
Adoles cents
(d) Succe ss
Succe ss or lack o f it pla ys a vital pa rt in the m otivational drive of a student.
Both complete failure and co mplete succe ss may be de-m otivating. It will be
the teacher' s job to set goals and ta sks at which m ost of his or her students
can be succe ssful – or r ather task s which he or she could r ealistic ally expect
the student s to be able to achieve. To give students very high challenge
activities (high, becau se the level of di fficulty for the students is extre me)
where this is not approp riate m ay have a negative e ffect on m otivation. It
will also be the case that low challenge activities are equall y de-m otivating.
If the students can achieve all the tasks with no dif ficult y at all they m ay
lose the m otivation that the y have when f aced with t he right level of
challenge.
Much of the teacher's work in the cla ssroo m concerns getting t he level
of challenge right: this involves the t ype of tasks set, the spe ed expected
from the student, etc.
Ultimately the student s' succe ss or failure is in their own hands, but the
teacher can influence the course of events in the students' favour .
To know exactly how o r why your student s are m otivat ed will m ean
finding out how the y feel about learning E nglish at the beginning of a
course (this would an yway be a good i dea since it would give the teacher
valuable infor mation about the students). It is unlikely that every one in the
20

class will have the sa me motivation, and we have alread y said that
motivation is a mixture of different f actors. Neverthele ss it is possible to
make some general state ments about m otivational f actors for di fferent age
groups and different levels. We will look at childr en, adolescent s, adult
beginne rs, adult interm ediate student s and adult advanced students.
More than anything else, children are curious, and this in itself is
motivating. At the s ame time their span of attention or concentration is les s
than that o f an adult. Children will often seek teacher approval: t he fact
that the\teacher notice s them and show s appreciation f or what the y are
doing is of vital i mportance.
Children need frequent change s of activit y: the y need activities which
are exciting and sti mulate their curiosity : they need to be involved in
something active (the y will usuall y not sit and listen!), and they need to be
appreciated by the teacher , an i mportant figure for the m. It is unlikely that
they will have any motivation outside these considerations, and so al most
every thing for the m will depend on the attitude and behaviour of the
teacher .
Adoles cents are perhaps the m ost interesting students to teach, but the y can
also present the teacher with m ore proble ms than any other age group.
We can certainly no t expect any extrinsic m otivation fro m the m ajority
of our students – particular ly the younge r one s. We may hope, however ,
that the student s' attitude has been positivel y influenc ed by those around
them. We have to re member that adolescent s are often brittle! They will ș =
probabl y not be inspired by mere curiosit y, and teacher approval is no
longer of vital importance. Indeed, the teacher may not be the leader ,
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
1.3.3
Adult
beginners
1.3.4
Adult
21

intermedi ate
student s8
1.3.5
Adult advanced
student s9
but rather the potential ene my. Peer appr oval will, however , be i mportant.
The teacher should never , then, for get that adolescent s need to be seen
in a good light by their peers, and that with the change s taking place at that
age they are easily prone to hu miliation if the teach er is careles s with
criticis m. But adolescent s also can be highly intelligent if stimulated, and
dedicated if involved. At th is age, getting the level o f challenge right
(see 1.2.3 (d)) is vital. Where this level is too low the student s may simply
'switch o ff: where it is too high the y may beco me discouraged and
de-m otivat ed. It is the teacher's task, too, to put language teaching into an
interesting context for the students. More than any thing els e the y have to be
involved in the task and eager to acco mplish it.
Adult beginners are in so me ways the easie st people to teach! Firstl y they
may well come to the clas sroom with a high deg ree of extrinsic m otivation.
Secondly they wil l often suc ceed very quickly . Goals within the clas s
(learning a certain piece of language or finishing a unit ) are ea sy to perceive
and relatively easy to achieve.
But it is still dif ficult to start learn ing a foreign language, and unrealistic
challenge coupled with a negative teach er atti tude can have disa strous
effects on student s' motivation.
Adult inter mediat e student s may well be m otivated extrinsically . They m ay
well have very positive feeling s about the way the y are t reated in the
classroo ms in which they are stud ying. Succes s may be m otivating, and the
perception of having ' more advanced English' may be a pri mary goal.
It is for the latter reason that p roble ms often arise. Beginners, as we
have said, ea sily perceive succ ess; since ever ything is new , any thing learnt is
a success. But intermediate students already know a lot and m ay not
22

perceive any p rogres s. Alternativel y they may be overwhel med by the new
complexit y of the language.
Our job would see m to be that of showing the students that there is still
a lot to learn (withou t making this fact demoralising) and then setting
realistic goals for the m to achieve. Once again, a major f actor see ms to be
getting the level o f challenge right.
These students are often highly motivated. If they were not the y would not
see the need to continue with language stud y when they have alread y
achieved so m uch. Like so me intermediate stud ents (but even m ore so) the y
will find progres s more difficult to perceive. Mu ch of the ti me they may not
be learning any thing 'new ' but learning bette r how to use what they already
know .
The teacher has a responsibility to point this fact out and to sho w the
student s what it is they will achieve at this level: it is a di fferent kind of
achieve ment. Many advanced teachers expect too m uch fro m their student s,
feeling that the setting of task s and goals is in some way demeaning. But
just because advanced stud ents have difficulty i n perceiving progress and
success they may well need the clarit y that the setting o f short-te rm goals,
tasks, etc. can give the m.
WHY DO P EOPLE LEARN LANGU AGES?
1.4
Conclusions
Discu ssion
Exercises
Reference s
We have seen, then, that there are m any different reasons for learning
a language, and we have said that we are m ainly concerned with a classroo m
situation in which 'general' English is being studied. We have included both
those students who have the mselves made the decision to study and also
those for who m the study of a language is a compul sory part of their
education.
23

We have suggested many dif ferent factors that m ay af fect a student' s
motivation, stres sing that a strongly motivated student is in a f ar bette r
position as a learner than a student who is not m otivated.
Most importantl y we have said that both positivel y motivated student s
and thos e who do not have this motivation can be strongl y affected by what
happen s in the clas sroom. Thus, for exa mple, the student with no l ong-ter m
goals (such as a strong instru ment al motivation) m ay neverthele ss be highl y
motivated by realistic short -term goals within the learning process.
We have seen that the teacher's personality and the rappo rt he or she is
able to establish with the students are of vital i mportance: so too is the
ability to provide m otivating and inte resting classes which are based both on
a knowledge of technique s and activitie s and upon our abilit y to inspire
confidence in our student s and have answers to their question s.
Teachers, too, m ust realise the important e ffect suc cess has on
motivation. They must be able to as sess the stud ents' abilit y so that the
latter are fac ed with the righ t degree of challenge: succe ss, in other words,
should not be too easy o r too di fficult.
1 Can you think of any othe r reason s why people learn languages apart
from thos e given in 1.1 ?
2 Why are y our students learning English ?
3 What is a 'good m ethod '? (See 1.2.3 ( b).)
4 Which of the dif ferent ty pes of student in 1.3 would yo u like to teach ?
Why ?
1 De sign a questionnaire which will tell yo u:
a) Why your student s are learning Eng lish.
b) If they are intrinsicall y motivated.
Give it to the student s. Discu ss the results with colleagues and students.
2 In consultation with a colleague decide on three m ore qualities a teacher
need s apart fro m those mentioned in 1.2.3 ( c).
3 With a colleague choose one of the levels/age groups mentioned in 1.3
and m ake a list of things yo u could do with the m which would not be
24

suitable for the other ages/level s mentioned.
1 For m ore on ES P see R Mackay and A Mount ford (1978 ),
T Hutchinson and A Waters (1984) and C Kennedy and R Bolitho
(1984 ).
2 Of course it is not as si mple as that, and many E SP students may also
want to do other things with the language rather than just restricting
themselves to the specifi c purpose they are studying for .
3 Gardner and La mbert were lar gely r espon sible f or this division – and for
discu ssing the i mportance of m otivation. The results of their research, in
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
which they suggested that the m ost successful students were integ ratively
motivated, can be found in R Gardne r and W Lambert ( 1972). See also
E Ha mp-Lyons (1983) and E Hoadle y-Maid ment (1977 ).
4 See R Allwright ( 1977a) who ar gues that teachers cannot be responsible
for all of the student 's motivation: in the end that m ust be the
respon sibilit y of the stud ent.
5 This stud y is described in D Girard ( 1977).
6 The stud y was carried out in preparation for a paper called 'What makes
a good teach er?' first given at the 1990 JAL T (Japane se Association of
Language Teachers) conferenc e.
7 For m ore on teaching child ren s ee W Scott and L Ytreber g (1990) and
T Doble (1984).
8 For a discus sion o f motivation proble ms and their solutions at the
intermedi ate level se e M Pujals (1986 ).
9 On teaching advanced learners s ee, for example, L Munro and S Parker
(1985 ) and H Thomas (1984). See also the s ection on projects in 8.4.
10
2
Wha t a
native
25

speaker
knows
2.1Pronunciation
2.1.1Sounds
2.1.2Stress
2.1.3Intonation
2.2Grammar
2.3Vocabular y
2.4Discourse
2.4.1Appropriac y
2.4.2Structuring discourse
2.5Language skills
2.5.1Skills and sub-skills
2.6Conclusion s
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
In this ch apter1 we will
analyse what it is that
native sp eakers k now
about their la nguage which ena bles them to use th at langu age
effectiv ely. Our desc ription o f what native speake rs kno w is
obviousl y idealised, but they all sha re the char acteristics w e will be
talking a bout to s ome ext ent. (I t should b e said tha t this is tr ue not just
of nati ve speake rs, but als o of an y compete nt use rs of that languag e –
people who use it a s a secon d, thir d or f ourth means o f
communication, f or example.2) We will look a t the follo wing ar eas of
native sp eaker k nowledge: pronunciation, gram mar, voca bular y,
appropriac y, discou rse an d langua ge skills.
2.1
Pronunciation3
2.1.1
Sounds
2.1.2
Stress
Native speakers (or co mpetent users of the language) know how to sa y a
word – t hat is how to pronounce it. This knowledge is m ade up of three
26

areas, sounds, stress and intonat ion.
On their own the sound s of a language m ay well be m eaningles s. If yo u
say /t/ ( the lines show that this is phonetic s cript) a few ti mes, e.g. 'tu, tu,
tit' it wil l not m ean very much in English. Neither will the sound s /k/, /a/, o r
/s/. But if we put all these sound s together in a certain order we end up with
the word 'cat s' – and that does mean something.
All words are m ade up of sound s like this, and speakers of a language
need to know these sound s if they are to understand what is said to the m
and be unde rstood in thei r turn. So me of the proble ms that speakers of
English as a foreign language have are precisel y becau se they have di fficulty
with individual sound s – for exa mple the Spanish speaker who s ays 'bery'
instead of 'very' or t he Japane se spe aker who says a word which sound s like
'light' instead of the intended 'right'.
When they use a word native sp eakers know which pa rt of that word should
receive the heaviest e mphasis. For exa mple, in the word 'photograph' not all
the parts are of equal i mportance. We can divide the word into th ree parts:
'pho', 'to', and 'graph'. Competent speakers of the language will say the
11
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
2.1.3
Intonation4
word like this, 'PHOtograph', stressing the f irst syl lable. The situation
change s with the word 'photographer' where the stres s shifts to the second
syllable, i.e. 'phoT Ographer'. Stress in words also changes depending upon
a word's grammatical function: 'perMIT' is a verb, but lPERmif is a noun,
and the same is true o f the words 'imPO RT and 'IMporf, for example.
The changing use of stress in sentence s is also one o f the areas of
knowledge that co mpetent language spe akers have. For exa mple if I sa y
7 can RUN' I am probabl y onl y talking about my abilit y to r un. But i f I sa y
7 CAN run' I am probabl y stressing the word can because somebody is
sugge sting that I a m not able to run and I am vehe mently den ying it. I n the
27

same way if someone said to yo u ' Is this your PENcilT it might well b< ?
a simple question with no hidden m eaning, but if the question was 7s this
YOUR pencilT this might sugg est that there wa s something very surprising
about yo ur ownership of the pencil.
Native speakers of a language unconsciou sly know about stres s and how
it works. They know which s yllable s of words are stress ed and they know
how to use stres s to change the meaning of phrase s, sentences and
question s.
Closely connected with stress is intonation, which m eans the tune yo u use
when you are speaking, the m usic of speech.
Intonation m eans the pitch you use and the music you use to change
that pitch. Do yo u use a high pitch when you sa y a word ? Does your voice
fall or r ise at the end of a sentence? For exa mple, if I say 'Y ou're fro m
Australia, aren't you?' starting m y question at the m edium pitch of m y voice
range and dropping the pitch at the end of the sentenc e (on 'aren't yo u')
this will indicate to othe r competent speakers of English that I a m merely
seeking confir mation of a fact about which I a m almost completely cer tain.
If, on trie other hand, I sa y the s ame question -with m y voice rising, at the
end, i.e.
You're from
you:
2.2
Grammar5
this might well indicate that the question is a genuine one and I a m asking
the listener to satisfy m y doubts about thei r nationality .
Intonation is a big indicator of invo lvement as well. If I tell what
I think is a f ascinating story and my listener says 'How interesting', starting
at a low pitch and d ropping their voice on the 'int' of 'interesting ' I wil l be
fairly despondent sinc e by their use o f pitch and intonation they will have
plainly told m e that they didn't think m uch of my story . High pitch and
a small fall, on the othe r hand would be much nicer , since that would
28

indicate that my audience was fascinated by what I had to say.
Intonation is clearly important then, and co mpetent users of the
language recogni se what m eaning it has and can change the m eaning of what
they say through using it in dif ferent ways.
If you ask the average speaker of a language what they know about
grammar they may re member the odd lesson from school, but beyond t hat
12
WHAT A NATIVE SPE AKER KNO WS
they will say that the y have forgotten what gra mmar they once knew . The
same speak er, however , can say a sentence like 'If I had known, I'd have
come earlier' without thinking, even though it is gra mmaticall y complex.
How is this pos sible ?
Linguists have been investigating the native speaker' s knowledge for
years, just as they have been trying to think of the best way of des cribing
that knowledge and the g rammatical system. What they have found is that
the gra mmatical syste m is rule-based and that co mpetent users of the
language 'know' thes e rules in so me way.
An exa mple will show both a m ethod of description and how gra mmar
rules allow us to generate language. If we take a si mple sentence 'The
boy kicked the dog' we can represent it with a tree diagra m like this:
Figur e 2
The
This formulation tells us that the s entences (S) contains a noun ph rase
(NP) and a ve rb phrase (VP). The noun phrase contains a deter miner (D )
and a noun ( N) and the verb ph rase contains a verb (V ) and another noun
phrase.
What is important here is not t he particular way in which this diag ram
is presented, but the f act that it does demonstrate the gra mmar of one
sentence. It is the gra mmar that allows us to m ake completely different
sentences (which never thele ss have the sa me relationship between subj ects
and object s) if we use di fferent wo rds, e.g. 'Th e girl l oved the m an', 'Th e
29

American ate the hambur ger', 'The artist painted the boy '. In other wo rds
the sentence ha s changed, but t he rule has stayed the sa me.
We can go further t han this. Competent English spe akers also know
that thes e active s entences can ea sily be transf ormed into passive ones to
give us 'The dog was kicked b y the boy ', for exa mple.
What s eems to be the case is that all co mpetent language users know
these rules – although the m ajority of us would find it dif ficult to articulate
them. This largely subcon scious knowledge consi sts of a finite nu mber of
rules with which it is possible to create an infinite num ber of sentence s. Our
one exa mple alone could generate literall y thousands of sentence s and a
moment's reflection will convince us that we will never be able to sa y all the
possible sent ences of the language. We will not even approach that nu mber
for, with the huge range of vocabular y at ou r dispo sal, it would just not be
possible. And y et we all subcon sciously know the gra mmar of our language
13
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
otherwise we wouldn't be able to string any sentence s together at all.
A distinction has to be drawn, therefore, between what we know and
how that knowledge is used to construct sentenc es. The linguist Noa m
Chomsky called these concept s competenc e (knowledge) and performan ce
(the realisation of this knowledge as senten ces).
So our average native speak ers who say the y do not know gra mmar are
both right and w rong. They do not consciously know any grammar and
could not produce any rules of gra mmar withou t study and thought. But
they do have a language co mpetenc e which is subconsciou s and which allows
them to generate gra mmaticall y correct sentence s.
2.3
Vocabulary6
Of course co mpetent speakers of the language also know the lexis (or
vocabulary ) of a language – although that knowledge will var y depending,
for example, on thei r education and occupation. They know what words
30

mean and the y also know the subtleties of so me of those meanings.
Competent speakers of English know what a heart is but the y do not get
confused by sentence s like 'He wears his heart on his sleev e.'
Competent speakers of a language also know the connotations o f
a word: for exa mple, would y ou tell y our best friend that they were 'thin',
'slim', 'skinny' or 'e maciated' ?
Competent speakers of a language also know how to change words –
how to m ake 'possible ' 'impossible', how to m ake interesting' 'interested'
and so on.
Competent speakers of a language follow what is happening to their
language and how words change their meaning – and so metimes cross
grammatical borde rs. For exa mple the wo rd 'aw esome' used to m ean
something that filled people with a mixture of respect and f ear. Now it
means simply 'good' or 'great' (especiall y in American English (see 3.7)).
Some nouns are now used frequently as verbs (e.g. 'to input' o r 'access'
data).
Competent language users, in other wo rds, know what words m ean
both literall y and m etaphoricall y. They know how words operate
grammatically and they are s ensitive to change s in word value. Without this
lexical knowledge the y would not be able to use the gra mmar to generate
sentences with m eaning.
2.4
Disc ourse
Even ar med with language co mpetence and lexical knowledge, however ,
language users m ay not be able to operate ef ficiently unles s they appreciate
how language is used. Grammatical competence is not enough: native
speakers also have communicative competence1 – that is a sub consciou s
knowledge of language use, and of language as discours e. Co mmunicative
competence involves not just language co mpetence (grammar, vocabulary ,
etc.) but also a knowledge of how language is used appropriatel y and how
language is or ganised as discourse. We will look at appropriacy and
31

structuring discour se.
14
WHAT A NATIVE SPE AKER KNO WS
2.4.1 A knowledge of language use is the knowledge of how to use
language
Appropr iacy approp riately – how to get it to do what we want it to do in the righ t
circu mstance s. Thus a British sp eaker of English would be unlikel y to inv ite
a high statu s sup erior to dinner b y say ing 'Hey , d'you f ancy a bite to eat ?'
since such language would be inappropr iately infor mal in such
circu mstance s. Equall y the y would be unlikely to say 'I was wonde ring if
you would be interested in par taking of a ha mburger' to their best friend.
We can think o f many more examples: docto rs speaking to docto rs about
an illnes s use different language fro m doctors talking to patients; adults do
not spe ak to children in the sa me way as they speak to each other ; lecturers
do not talk to 2,000 student s in a big hall in the sa me way as they talk
to two of them over a cup of coffee.
What governs appropriac y? What fa ctors can a ffect how we choose
what words we use ? The following variables would see m to provide so me
of the answer:
(a) Set ting
Where are we when we use language ? What situation are we in ?
(b) Participants
Who is taking par t in the language exchange ?
(c) P urpose
What is the purpose of the speaker or write r? Is it to invite or to co mplain ?
To apologise or disagree ? To explain or to de mand?
(d) Ch annel
Is the co mmunication face to face ? Does it take place over the telephone ?
Is it contained in a lette r or a fax or a novel ?
(e) Topic
What are the words about ? A wedding or particle ph ysics? Childbirth o r the
32

latest film?
All these factors influence language us ers in their choice of words. For
example, if the setting is a church and yo u are tr ying to talk to so meone
three seat s away without att racting too m uch attention you m ay use a s few
words a s pos sible. If yo ur purpose is to enqui re about your friend' s father
you might say ( in a whisper ) 'Your f ather ?' Outside the church y ou m ight
say 'How' s your father thes e days ?'. If you want to disagree with a close
friend you m ight s ay 'Rubbi sh!' but yo u would probabl y not disagree in the
same way with so meone you had just invited to you r house for the first
time. You would not use the sa me language, either , in writ ten
communication (in a letter for exa mple). With that channel of
communication it would si mply no t be appropriate.
Of course the choice of language will depend cruciall y on what yo ur
purpose is. If yo u want to apologis e, yo u choose apologising language
(though here again y ou will have to choose between 'I' m sorry I've broken
a gla ss' and 'I' m afraid this glass seems to have broken'). If yo u want to a sk
someone a favour y ou m ay well say so mething like 'Could you possibly … ?'
15
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Much of what we say , then, is conditioned by the purpose s we have, e.g.
apologising, greeting, denying, wa rning, o ffering etc.
Using language appropr iately is one of the fa ctors that dif ferentiate s
native sp eakers from non-native sp eakers or competent language users from
incompetent one s! But it should not be f orgotten that native/co mpetent
speakers are perfe ctly capable of both intentional and unintentional use s of
language which are co mplet ely inapprop riate.
2.4.2
Structu ring
discours e
We have described how co mpetent language users need to know how to use
the gra mmar and vocabular y of the language approp riately . But there is
33

another kind of knowledge too and that is the skill of structu ring discou rse*
We may know how to sa y things in the language but do we know how to
string the m together ? How do we or ganise the points we wish to m ake?
What do we say first?
In wr iting, for example, we tend to or ganise parag raphs in predictable
ways such as st arting with a topic sentence, continuing wi th exa mple
sentences and going on, so metimes, with contra ry points of view before
reaching a conclu sion. In speech we use intonation and the r estatement of
points togethe r with a range o f spee ch pheno mena (see page 212) to
structure what we say.
All the 'knowledge s' we have talked about so far concern the knowing
of/about certain things (grammar, approp riacy , discourse structure
etc.). We have been able to describe this knowledge as co mpetence or
communicative competen ce. But perhaps there is also another t ype of
competence – the knowledge of how to use the language, the knowledge of
how to acces s and use all those othe r knowledge s. Together with
(communicative) co mpet ence, in other words, we m ay also have a strategic
competenc e9 which is not knowledge about anything but ra ther knowledge of
how to evaluate what is said to us and of how to plan and execut e what we
want to s ay back. It is the knowledge of what to do wi th the language
competence that we have, and it is this dy namic proces sing m echani sm
which puts all the other knowledges we have to real use.
2.5
Language skill s
We have said that our choice of language m ay depend upon the channel of
communication. If we exa mine this concept m ore fully we can identif y
certain language skills that native speakers and co mpetent language us ers
possess.
Literate people who use language have a num ber of different abilities.
They will be able to spe ak on the telephone, write letters, listen to the rad io
or read books. In other wo rds they poss ess the four ba sic language skills
34

of speaking, writing, listening and reading.
Speaking and writing involve language production and are therefore
often referred to as pr oductive skills. Listening and reading, on the othe r
hand, involve receiving m essages and are therefore often referred to as
receptive skill s.
Very often, o f course, language users employ a co mbin ation of skills at
16
1
WHAT A NATIVE SPE AKER KNO WS
the same time. Speaking and listening usuall y happen simultan eously , and
people may well read and wr ite at the sa me time when they make notes or
write so mething ba sed on what they a re reading.
We can summarise the f our m ajor language skills in the f ollowing wa y:
^\^MED IU
M
SKILL
^^^^SPEECHWRIT TEN
WORD
RECEPTIV
EListening and
understandingReading and
understanding
PRODU CTI
VESpeakingWriting
Figur e 3 The Fou r Language Skills
Of course this is a very general picture of language skills. Weshould
also identify a nu mber o f categories (or genres). The skill of writing will
provide a good exa mple o f this, sin ce clearly there are m any di fferent kinds
of writing. Writing an infor mal letter is ver y different from writing a
scientific report. Writing a poe m means using skills that are di fferent fro m
writing a ( travel) b rochure – which is again very different fro m taking
notes. These various categories can be su mmarised in the following way :
Writing
2.5.1
Skills and
35

sub-skill s
scientific
reports
travel
brochures
infor mal
letters
note-taking
poems, etc.
Figur e 4 Writing – gen res
Different language us ers will obviousl y have different skill s.10 In the first
place a lar ge nu mber of people cannot read and write. Secondl y, education,
training and occupation oft en deter mine the set of (w riting) genres that
any one pe rson can operate in. The ty pe of spe aking skill that dealers on
a stock exchange need is co mpletely dif ferent fro m that o f a teacher sin ce
they are dealing in different speaking genres. But whatever kind of
category of skill language users deal with, the y still need to pos sess both
the m ain skill and a nu mber of sub-skill s which we will look at next.
In order to use language skills competent users of a language need a nu mber
of sub-skills for processing the language that they use and are f aced with.
If we look at the receptive skills (reading and listening) we can see that
17
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
2.6
Conclusions
there are m any sub-skill s which we can call upon. The way we listen
for gene ral unde rstanding will be dif ferent fro m the way we listen in order
to extract speci fic bits of infor mation. The same is true for reading, of
course. Som etimes we read in orde r to interpret, so metimes we read in
order to t ransfer the infor mation to another m edium, e.g. a chart.
People who us e language skills and the sub-skills that go with the m are
36

able to select those sub-skills that a re most approp riate to their task. If the y
only want a certain piece of infor mation from a radio p rogra mme they will
select a way of listening which is di fferent fro m the way they l isten to a
radio pla y; if they read a text for the purposes of literar y crit icism they will
select di fferent sub-skills from those they would s elect if they were 'reading'
a dictionary to look for a word. It is becau se they have these sub- skills that
they are able to proces s the language that the y use and receive. We can
summarise the dif ferenc e between skills (so metimes called macr o skills ) and
sub-skill s (sometimes called micro skills ) in the following way:
Reading
reading forreading to reading for reading for
gistextractdetailed infor matio
n
speci ficunderstanding transfer,
etc.
infor mation
Figur e 5 Skills and sub-skills (Reading)
In this chapter we have looked at what native spe akers o f a language
actually know about the language. We have said that co mpet ent users of
a language (who i nclude both native and non-native speakers) know how to
recognise and produce a range of sounds, know where to place the stres s
in words and phrases and know what dif ferent intonation tunes mean and
how to use them.
Competent language users also know the g rammar of the language in
the sense that this (lar gely) subconsciou s knowledge of the rules allows
them to produce an infinite number o f senten ces. And of course they have
lexical knowledge too – they know wo rds in the language and how they
operate and change.
Knowing a language is not just a matter o f having gra mmatical
'competen ce', however . We have seen that we also need to add
communicative competen ce – that is the understanding of what language is
appropriate in certain situations. We also discussed the ability to structure
discours e – ou r knowledge of or ganis ational sequen ce which enable s us to
37

order what we say and wri te.
We consid ered one other co mpeten ce that native sp eakers have –
strategic competen ce. This is our abilit y to acces s and proces s our language/
communicative competen ce; knowing how to use language rather than just
knowing about language.
18
WHAT A NATIVE SPE AKER KNO WS
We discu ssed the four m ajor language skill s and looked at di fferent
genres within each skill – e.g. dif ferent kinds of writing or listening. And
finally we said that in o rder to use a language skill the native speaker
need s a set of sub-skills (such as the skill of listening for speci fic infor mation
or the skill of reading for gist).
Discu ssion
Exercises
Reference s
1 Do yo u know any grammar rules, either in y our own language or in
English (if it is not you r first language) ?
2 Can you think of situation s in yo ur language where it would be
inappropr iate to sa y certain things ? Do y ou address different people in
different wa ys in your language ? How ? Why?
3 How i mportant is it for the 'av erage citizen' to be able to w rite well ?
What categorie s of writing are the m ost important ?
1 Take any word in E nglish and say how m any sounds it has.
2 Take any vocabulary item and s ee how m uch yo u can change it by
adding to it or taking so mething away . How does this process change the
meaning o f the word ?
3 Take any senten ce in English and se e if you can change its meaning by
changing stress and intonation.
4 Take a simple English s entence and see how many m ore s entences you
can make which have a different m eaning but the sa me grammar.
5 Select one of the f our skills (apart fro m reading ) and see how m any
38

strategic sub-skills you can think of.
1 I a m especi ally grateful to Julian Edge who se co mments on the o riginal
Chapter s 2 and 3 of this book sugge sted which directions I might want to
follow .
2 M Rampton (1990 ) argues persua sivel y that the notions of 'native
speaker' and ' mother tongue' are no longer relevant in a m ulti-lingual
world. He prefers to talk about language expertise, language inheritanc e
and language affiliation. In this chapter I use the term 'competent
language user' to m ean any speaker of the language who is an expert,
whatever language they inheri ted.
3 An excellent book on sound s, stres s and intonation (and issu es of
pronunciation teaching generally ) is J Kenworth y (1987). See also
P Tench (1981) and E Stevick (1982) Chapters 17-19. There is now a new
dictionar y devoted to the pronunciation of English words (see J C Wells
1989) ) and practice books to go with it (see, for example, C Fletcher
(1990 )).
4 For m ore on intonation se e M Coulthard ( 1985) and D Brazil et al.
(1980 ).
5 This brief discu ssion of gra mmar relies heavil y on the conclusion s drawn
by linguist s and applied linguist s from the work of Noa m Cho msky.
Readers who wish to investigate f urthe r can consult J Lyons (1970 ).
6 For a m ore detailed discus sion on the range of vocabular y knowledge
see Chapter 9 and the references quoted there.
19
THE PR ACTICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
7 The concept of communicative competence is based to a lar ge extent on
the work of the sociolinguist Dell H ymes. See, for exa mple, extracts
quoted in C Brumfit and K John son (1979). M Coulthard (1985 )
Chapter 3 su mmarises Hymes' work. For those interested in following
the develop ment of co mmunicative competen ce as a way of describing
language abilit y (and so me of the r e-evaluation that has taken place since
39

the 1970s), the June 1989 edition of the jou rnal Applied Lingu istics (10/2 )
is worth reading.
8 On the analysis of discour se se e M Coulthard ( 1985).
9 The issue of strategic competen ce wa s raised notably by M Canale
and M Swain (1980 ). In his book on te sting L Bach man explains the
concept clearl y (Bach man 1990, Chapter 4).
10 For a discus sion o f language skill s and how native speakers use the m see
H Widdowson (1978) Chapter 3 – and see 5.5 and 5.6.
20
3
Wha t a
language
student
should
learn
3.1Pronunciation
3.1.1The importance o f listening
3.2Grammar
3.2.1The importance o f language
awarenes s
3.3Vocabular y
3.3.1Vocabular y in context
3.4Discourse
3.4.1Language functions
3.4.2Discourse organisation
3.5Skills
3.6The syllabus
3.6.1Structures and functions
3.6.2Vocabular y
3.6.3Situation, topic and task
3.6.4The syllabus and student
needs
3.7Language varieties
3.8Conclusion s
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
In this ch apter we will
use th e information f rom
40

Chapte r 2 (about n ative/
competent spe akers ) to
decide wh at langu age
studen ts should le arn.
Should stud ents of English so und like nati ve English speake rs, fo r
example? Ho w appropriate do es their languag e use ne ed to b e and in
what contexts? W hat coverage of lan guage skills an d sub-skills d o the y
need ?
We will examine pronunci ation, g rammar , vocabula ry, disc ourse,
skills and the syllabus.
3.1
Pronunciation
(
f
When we teach English we need to be sure that our students can be
understood when they speak. They need to be able to sa y what they
want to s ay. This means that their p ronunciation should be at least adequate
for that purpose.
In ou r teaching we will want to be sure that the stud ents can make the
various sound s that occur in the English language. We will help the m to
differentiate between these sound s, esp eciall y where such distinctions change
meaning ('live'/i/and 'leav e7i:/ for exa mple), and we will also help the m to
understand and use certain sound rules – for exa mple the di fferent
pronunciations o f the -ed past tense endings.
Students need to use rhythm and stres s correctl y if they a re to be
understood. We will m ake sure that when they learn new wo rds they know
where they are stre ssed (see 9.3.3), we will m ake sure that they are able to sa y
sentences, etc. with approp riate stress (see 6.3) and we will show them how
stress can be used to change the m eaning of questions, sentenc es and
phrase s.
Students need to be able to recognise intonation – at the very least they
41

need to recognis e whether the tune of someone's voice suggest s that the
speaker is sure or uncertain. They need to unde rstand the relationship
21
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
3.1.1
The importance
of listening
3.2
Grammar
between pitch and intonation. When we teach language we will t ry and
ensure that students use it with intonation which is appropriate.
One issue that confronts us in the teaching of pronunciation is that of
accent. In other words, how i mportant is it for our students to sound like
native sp eakers of the language ? Should t hey have perfect British accent s –
or sound like Texans or residents of New Zealand, for exa mple?
Some teachers seem to think that student s should aim for this ideal. It
is worth pointing out, however , that so me learners see m more inclined to
native-speak er-like pronunciation than others. A lot depends, too, on
their contact with native spe akers. If they live in tar get language co mmunities
they are m ore likel y to acquire the accent of that co mmunity than if they
do not.
So although a lot of time is spent on pu rsuing the elusive goal of getting
student s to have perfect pronunciation, to so me extent this goal is in the
student s' own hands.1 But any way it m ay be an unrealistic and inappropriate
one. Mu ch m ore important, perhaps, is the goal of intelligib ility and
efficiency . In other words our ai m should be to m ake sure that students can
always be understood to say what they want to sa y. They wil l need good
pronunciation for this, though they m ay not need to have perfe ct accent s.
The teaching o f pronunciation should, therefore, ai m to give student s
communicative efficiency .2
In order to develop co mmunicative efficiency in pronunciation the students
42

need to unde rstand how sounds are m ade and how stre ss is used. This is
something the teacher can tell the m through explanation and exa mple. They
also need to hear the language used so that the y can both i mitat e the
pronunciation and also subcons ciousl y acquire so me of its sound s and
patterns (see 4.1.3).
One source of language the y can listen to is the teacher , of course,
and this source will be absolutely vital since, in so many ways, the teacher
will be the language model for the student s to ai m at. But it is also
important for students to be exposed to othe r voice s and that is why
listening to tapes is so important. Of course, if student s are living in a tar get
language community the y should be able to find unli mited acce ss to
native-speak er speech through personal contact and radio and television.
Outside such communities it may be m ore difficult, however , and that is
why teach ers m ust ensure that the y give student s as much listening m aterial
(on tape or video ) as pos sible. The first answer to the que stion about how
to teach pronunciation is that students should be given a s much exposure
to people sp eaking the language correctly as possible (see 10.5).
Since a knowledge of grammar is es sential for co mpetent users of a language
(see 2.2) it is clear ly neces sary for our students. Obviousl y, for exa mple,
they need to know that verbs in the thi rd person singular have an ' s' ending
in the present simple (e.g. 'he swi ms', 'she runs', 'it takes'). They also need
to know that m odal auxiliaries are followed by bare infinitive s without 'to'
so that the y can eventually avoid m aking mistakes like * 'He must to go\ At
some stage they also need to know that if phrase s like 'No sooner' are put
22
WHAT A LANGU AGE S TUDEN T SHOULD LEAR N
ș
3.2.1
The importance
of language
awarene ss
43

3.3
Vocabulary
at the front of sent ences they affect word order , e.g. 'No sooner had
I arrived …' and not * Wo sooner I had arrived
Luckil y there is a cons ensus about what gra mmar should be taught at
what level. Any experienced teacher will know that the use of 'No sooner'
and other si milar phrases at the beginning of sentence s is a matter for
advanced students whereas the co rrect use of 'must' is something that an
elementary student should know . While there m ay be variations in the
actual order of grammatical ite ms taught ( teach ers tend to teach past
tenses – espe cially 'wa s' and 'were' – ear lier than they used to, for exa mple)
a glance through the m ajority of currentl y available teaching material s will
show how strong the consen sus is.
Our ai m in teaching gra mmar should be to ensure that stud ents are
communicatively efficient with the gra mmar they have at their level. We may
not teach them the finer points o f style at the inte rmediate level, but we
should make sure that they can use what they know .
When we p resent gra mmar through structural patte rns we tend to give
student s tidy piece s of language to work with. We introduce gra mmar which
can easil y be explained and presented. There are many dif ferent ways of
doing this which do not ( only) involve the t ransmission of gra mmar rules
(see Chapter 6 for the presentation of gra mmar).
It is certainly possible to teach a spects of grammar – indeed that is
what language teachers have been doing for centuries – but language is a
difficult busine ss and it is often used very inventively by its speakers. In
other words real language us e is o ften ver y untid y and cannot be
automatically r educed to si mple grammar patterns. Students need to be
aware o f this, just as they need to be aware of all language pos sibilities.
Such awarene ss does not m ean that they have to be taught each variation
and linguistic twist, however . It just m eans that the y have to be aware of
language and how it is used. That is why r eading and listening are so
44

important, and that is why discover y activities are so valuable (see 6.4)
since by asking students to discover wa ys in which language is used we help
to raise their awarenes s about the creative use o f grammar – a mongst other
things.
As teachers we should be prepared to use a var iety of technique s to
help our students learn and acquire gra mmar. Sometimes this involves
teaching grammar rules; sometimes it means allowing students to discover
the rules for the mselves.
Language student s need to lea rn the lexis of the language. They need to
learn what words m ean and how the y are used. Whilst this obviousl y
involves giving the m the na mes for things (e.g. 'table', 'ch air', etc.) i t
also involves showing them how words are stretched and twisted (e.g.
'to table a motion', 'to chair a m eeting'). Clearly some words are m ore
likely to be taught at lower levels than others, and so me uses of words
may be more sophi sticated than others – and, therefore, more appropriate
for advanced student s.
We should ensure that our students are aware of the vocabular y the y
need for thei r level and that the y can use the words which they want to
23
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
3.3.1
Vocabulary
in context
use – and/o r the words we have select ed for the m to use. Vocabulary , what
it means and how it should be taught, is dealt with in detail in Chapter 9.
There is a way of looking at vocabulary learning which sugge sts that
student s should go ho me ever y evening and learn a list o f fifty words 'by
heart'. Such a practice may have bene ficial results, of course, but it avoids
one o f the central fe atures of vocabular y use, namely that words occur in
context. If we are reall y to teach student s what words m ean and how the y
are used, we need to show them being used, togethe r with other words,
45

in context. Words do not just exist on their own: they live with other words
and they depend upon each other . We need our students to be aware of
this. That is why , once again, reading and listening will pla y such a part in
the acqui sition of vocabular y.
When students learn words in context they are far m ore likel y to
remember the m than if they lea rn the m as single items.3 And even i f this
were not true the y would at least get a m uch better pictu re of what the
words m ean.
3.4
Disc ourse
3.4.1
Language
functions4
When we discus sed discourse in Chapter 2 (2.4) we saw how what we
say depends on a nu mber of variables such a s where we are, what we want
to say and who we are talking to. It also involves our ability to structure
discours e – to or ganise what we say in to a coherent whole.
Clearly students need to be aware of the dif ferent ways language is used
in different situations. They need to know the di fference between formal
and in formal language use. They need to know when they can get away with
'sorry' and when it would be better to sa y 'I reall y must apologis e' for
example. Such knowledge involves learning language functions.
One of the variables which governs approp riacy is purpose. We decide what
we want to sa y on the ba sis of what purpose we wish to achieve. Do we
wish to invi te? To agree ? To cong ratulate ? All these purpose s have been
called language function s, since to say 'Congratulations' to so meone actually
perfor ms the function o f congratulating as soon as the wo rd is out of you r
mouth. 'I prom ise' perfor ms the function o f pro mising. With such words the
relationship between word and function is easy . It is more co mplex when a
superior says pointedly to so meone else in the r oom 'It's very ho t in here' in
such a way that he or she is clearly requesting the othe r person to open
46

the window .
The realisation of many function s can often f all between these two
extre mes, however , since 'Would y ou like to co me to the cine ma?' is a
transparent way of inviting, and 'Could you open the window ?' is clearl y
perfor ming a request function.
We will want to teach our student s how to perfor m language functions
(but see 3.6.1 ), and we may well decide which one s are m ore important for
which level s. A proble m arise s, though, with the actual language used f or
these function s. We have alread y seen the request f unction perfor med in
two ways ('I t's ver y hot in here', and 'Could you open the window ?'), but
we could also say 'Please open the window .'; 'How about opening the
24
WHAT A LANGU AGE S TUDEN T SHOULD LEAR N
3.4.2
Discour se •
organis ation
3.5
Skills
3.6
The s yllabus
window ?'; 'I was wondering if you could open the window ?'; 'Would it be
possible for you to open that window ?' and so on.
In deciding what language to teach when working with functions we
need to bea r in m ind the level o f difficulty , the level of transp arenc y
(is the m eaning clear ) and the level of for mality. In general it see ms safe to
say that easy , transparent and neutral realisations of a language function are
better for student s at lower levels whereas di fficulty, lack o f transparenc y
and extre mes of formality ( and in formality ) are m ore suitable for more
advanced students. In other words, we would teach 'Could you open the
window ?' before 'W ould it be pos sible for you to open the window ?'
At the s ame time as students are stud ying gra mmar, vocabular y and
47

language functions we can encourage them to wo rk on the way the y organise
what they sa y and write. We can help the m to see how other speakers and
writers structure thei r discourse and thus help the m to understand better .
For students of English or ganising written discour se is extremely
important and we will stud y this in a section on cohesion (see 7.2.3 ). In
the chapter on receptive skill s we will look at ways of training student s to
recognise discourse structu re (see 10.4.6 and 10.5.6).
As we saw in 2.5, co mpetent users of a language are proficient in a range
of language skill s, though not all of them have the sa me range of sub-skill s.
It will be ou r respon sibilit y to see that the students' language skill s
are transf erred to the use of English. In other words, we m ay not be
teaching them to read, but we are teaching the m to read in E nglish. And
becau se they a re dealing with a foreign language we will need to help the m
with the skill s that the y are alread y (subcons ciously ) familiar with. We will
emphasise reading f or gist, for exa mple, or listening for detailed
comprehension. If we concentrate on the se skills and sub-skills it will help
the student s to approach the f oreign language with m ore confidenc e and a
greater expectation of succe ss.
Of course it is possible that so me student s may not be proficient at all
the skill s in their own languages. Then our task will be twofold: to give
them confidence in English and to equip the m with hitherto unknown
skills in either thei r own m other tongue or E nglish.
At lower levels our teaching of skill s will be general, beco ming m ore
refined as the students beco me more advanced. A lot will depend on
student need and the syllabus, however (see 3.6).
We know what students need to know about the language they a re
learning but before we start to teach the m we will have to decide which parts
of this knowledge we want the m to have and when. How is the language to
be or ganised and what skills should we concentrate on ? This organisation is
called a syllabus.
Some syllabuses are fairly short lists of grammatical structures or
48

functions. So me are m uch m ore detailed, containing list s not onl y of
language, but also of topic and subject matter or activities and tasks.
We need to consider these various types.5
25
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
3.6.1
Structu res and
functions
3.6.2
Vocabulary
3.6.3
Situation,
topic and ta sk
In the nineteen-seventie s a m ajor debate centred around what the f ocus of a
language syllabus should be. So me methodologist s advocated abandoning
the older gra mmatical syllabus es (with lists like verb to be, ther e is/the re
are, present continuous, pr esent simpl e) in favour of functional syllabuse s
(with lists like introductions, invitations, apologies, r eque sts, etc.). The
argument was that studying g rammar failed to show what people actuall y
did with language. It was suggest ed that we should teach function s first and
the gra mmar would co me later .6
It soon beca me clear , however , that language function s alone were not
a satisfactor y organising principle. In the first place some realisation s of
functions are in f act little m ore than fixed phrase s (e.g. 'Y ou m ust be
joking!' 'Co me off it!'). I t may be important to learn the m, but that is all
you learn! I n other words, so me functional exponents are just single ite ms –
you cannot use the m to generate m ore language a s you can with
grammatical structure (see 2.2). Another prob lem lies in how to
grade fun ctions. Which should co me first? What orde r should the g rammar
be taught in f or students to be able to appl y it to functions? A purely
49

functional or ganisation meant that notions of difficulty which had infor med
earlier g rammatical syllabuse s could not be used since the gra mmar us ed
to perfor m one fun ction m ight be m ore or less difficult than the gra mmar
used to perfor m the other . And the teaching of fun ctions raised many
proble ms that gra mmatical teaching had not p reviously done.7 (One
contentious argument was that b y teaching people how Bri tish people
apologise, for exa mple, you we re imposing a cultural stereot ype on the m.8)
The consen sus that see med to emerge fro m the debate was that in
language terms grammar was still the best organising principle for a syllabus,
but that fun ctional use s could be developed from such syllabuse s. A unit
on the pa st simple might end with a les son about apologising (T m sorry I'm
late … I m issed the bus', etc.); a unit on have to and would like to might
include a functional exchang e such as 'W ould yo u like to co me for dinner ?'
'I can't, I'm afraid. I have to do my homework.'
Students need to be taught function s, but they also need to learn
grammar. It is around g rammar that functional items can hang on a s yllabus.
One way of organising a syllabus would be in terms of vocabulary rather
than gra mmatical structures or function s. This would certainl y have the
advantage of giving student s words in an organised and sequenced way, and
indeed with the advent of co mputer -based vocabular y studies such a syllabus
has beco me a real pos sibilit y (see 9.2 and the r eferences quoted there ).
Vocabulary -based syllabus es obviously need to m esh in with g rammatical
syllabuse s, but the way in which su ch connections could be m ade is not
yet clearly established – although atte mpts have been m ade.9
The idea of vocabular y as an or ganising f eature of a syllabu s – rather
than a s an a fterthought – is closel y connected with situation and topic-based
syllabuse s (see below) for it is with situations and topics that lexical ite ms
cluster together .
Language m ay not be the only wa y to or ganise a syllabus. We could also
organis e our teaching based round a number of situations – at the bank, at
WHAT A LANGU AGE S TUDEN T SHOULD LEAR N
50

3.6.4
The syllabus
and stud ent
need s
the rail way station, for exa mple. This certainl y looks like a good idea
especiall y if students are likel y to be in those situation s. But for the general
language student we m ay find that situational organisation is a bit r estrictive
since it li mits the a mount of vocabular y available and m ay produce language
use which only works in that situation.
Topic-based syllabuse s take a subject or topic as their organising
principle. Thus unit 1 m ight well deal with health, unit 2 with fashion, unit 3
with families, etc. Such or ganisation allows for a wide range of language
and activitie s. Within the topic of health, for exa mple, student s can talk
about the body , illnes ses, sickne ss and cure, health y living, environm ental
dangers to health, etc.
Topic-based syllabuse s are certainly suitable for vocabulary material.
They may also be m ore usef ul at m ore advanced level s since with lim ited
language (for beginne r and elementary students) it is di fficult to su stain a
topic over a length of time.
In general the danger with topic -based syllabuses is that they de mand
the student s' continuing i nterest in the topic – something which we cannot
take for g ranted. Nevertheless they prov ide a wa y of organising the
syllabus which many teachers and students find attractive precisely because
they do not insi st on the teaching of language for its own sak e, but use it in
the service of interesting subjects.
Task-ba sed syllabuses, on the other hand, take activities or task s as the
main organising principle (see 4.1.4). The syllabus beco mes a list of tasks,
rather than language or topics, etc. Task-based syllabu ses are especially
useful for skill-based course s where the stud ents can run through a range of
sub-skill s in a variet y of carefull y sequenced tasks. For general courses
however they may well be li miting in ter ms of language.
51

The final shape of a syllabus m ay depend to a lar ge extent on the needs o f
the student s who are going to be taught. The syllabus for a group of
agrono mists might look very different fro m the syllabus for a group of
waiters. The level of the students will be vital too since we would expect
a beginners ' syllabus to be ver y different from one for advanced students.
The age o f the student s may have a lot to do wi th it as well – especially
where the s election of themes and topics is concerned.
Other fa ctors will also play a par t. How often do student s study ? What
is the cultu ral and educational background of the students ? What kind o f
institution are they studying in ? How m any of them are the re likely t o be in
the cla ssroo m?
Depending upon ou r student s' need s we may wish to restrict the
syllabus in so me way. For beginne rs we restrict the language in the syllabus.
For science students doing post-g raduate studies we m ay restrict the skills in
the syllabus to ( mainly) r eading – although this is by no m eans certain. For
waiters we m ay restrict the tasks and we m ay place especi al emphasis on
others – e.g. si mulation and role play .
This book deal s espe cially with general English, however , and in that
context we must treat the issue of restriction with great care. Certainly ,
as we have already said, language may be restricted according to level.
We may want to restrict our choice of topics and activities bas ed on the kind
27
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
3.7
Language
varieties
of students we are going to teach, but this would onl y be in te rms of
suitability according t o age and clas s size, etc. Teaching general E nglish
classes means that sy llabu s designers, materials write rs and teachers have
a wide range of pos sibilities at their dispos al.
52

One area in which we would not expect to i mpose restrictions is the
area o f language skill s – we would want to include work on all four skills in
our s yllabus, in other wo rds. Certainl y we m ight exclude so me genres (e.g.
writing technical repo rts, reading scientifi c articles) fro m our list and we
might restrict ou r sub-skill s bas ed on level, but a general English course
should be a four -skills course.
What then of the co mpeting clai ms of the dif ferent kinds of syllabus ?
The truth is that s yllabus designers need to be able to or ganise all the
elements we have talked about into a coherent whole. Any progra mme
of language study should have a list of language to be taught (and in what
order ), a list of fun ctions, a list of vocabular y, a list of themes and topics
to be dealt with (and the situation s they are to be dealt with in) and a list
of tasks and activities that are to be included. Whether yo u are de signing
the syllabus f or a national education syste m or si mply for your own cla ss
these are the issu es that confront y ou (as we shall see when we look at
lesson planning in Chapter 12). The m anner in which thes e lists are w ritten
(or not written if teachers have them 'in thei r head s') m ay var y. The issue of
which part of the s yllabus is the m ain organising principle m ay not be an
important one, therefore, since it is in the inter relationship of all the
elements that we plan f or ou r student s' need s most adequatel y.
One last issu e needs to be dealt with in this chapter on what students need to
learn and that is the issue of language variet y. Crudel y, we can a sk whether
we should teach American or British English ? What about Ja maican
English or Nige rian English or Ind ian English ? What about Northern
British English and Southern British English ?
The situation is very complex. We cannot say that English is one
language. It is many languages, or rather the re are many va rieties of English
used all over the wo rld.10
There are so me people who would suggest that so me of these varietie s
of English are 'better' than others, but that is not an attitude which has
any p lace here. What we can discu ss is whether student s should learn one
53

particular va riety o r whether it m atters which variet y or va rieties they are
expos ed to.
Three factors are i mportant in this discu ssion. The first is the variet y of
English which the teacher uses. That will surel y be the one which the
student s beco me most accu stomed to. The se cond is which variety is most
appropriate for the student s. If they a re going to study in the United
States, for exa mple, American English m ay be p referable to other var ieties.
The third factor concerns what va riety of English is dealt with b y the
materials which the teacher and student s are using.
For students at lower levels it is probably advisabl e to stick with one
variet y of English. As stud ents go through the inter mediate area, however ,
they can be exposed to othe r acc ents and varieties. Indeed with the status
of English as an international language it is vital that an y competent us er
28
3.8
Conclusions
Discu ssion
Exercises
WHAT A LANGU AGE S TUDEN T SHOULD LEAR N
of the language is able to understand a s many varieties and accents as
possible.
In this chapter we have discus sed what language student s need to learn.
We looked at the need to teach student s how to produce and recognise
the sound s, stre ss and intonation of the language. We said that for m any the
goal o f native-speaker pronunciation was not i mportant (o r appropriate ),
but co mmunicative e fficiency ( being intelligible in the foreign language)
was. We empha sised the i mportance of listening as a way of acqui ring
pronunciation.
We discu ssed the gra mmar that stud ents need to learn, no ting that
some grammar was neces sary for lower level stud ents while some was more
stylisticall y appropr iate to advancedJev els. We emphasi sed the need for
54

student s to have; language awarenes s and a s part of this to use discov ery )
activities.)
We discu ssed the need f or students to lea rn the vocabular y which
was approp riate for thei r level and we stres sed the i mportance of learning
vocabulary in context.
We saw how student s need to learn ways of performing functions in
English and how we clearl y need to t rain the m in the us e of language skills
insofar as they appl y to the foreign language and we e mphasised the need
for work on discours e organisation.
We discu ssed the basi s on which syllabuse s are or ganised and we
measured the relative m erits of gra mmar, vocabulary , function s, situation s,
topics and task s as the m ain organising principle round which a sy llabu s
could be designed. We concluded that the job of the sy llabu s designer wa s
to co mbine all thes e elements to a greater o r lesser degree depending upon
the need s of the students.
Finally we discu ssed the m any varieties of English. We said that at
lower levels the teacher's variety of English m ight be the m ain one for the
student s whereas for m ore advanced students knowledge of many va rietie s is
a definite advantage.
1 How i mportant is good pronunciation in a foreign language to you? How
important is it for yo ur students ? What is good pronunciation ?
2 How i mportant is it to teach gra mmar? What is the best way of doing i t?
3 Would y ou teach the four skill s equally on a gene ral English course ?
Would the level of the student s matter?
4 In what ways ( if at all) would y ou restr ict the syllabus if yo ur students
were:
a) taxi drive rs?
b) travel agents ?
1 Find any authentic piece of English writing. What language would y ou
make your student s esp eciall y aware o f when they read it ? What level
would the student s need to be to unde rstand it ?
55

2 List as many function s as you can. Choo se one and say how m any wa ys
there are of performing it.
29
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Reference s
3 Mak e a list of ten words you would teach beginners and ten words you
would de finitel y not teach beginners. What is different about the words
in the two list s?
4 Mak e a list of the varieties of language spoken in yo ur countr y. Which
variet y would yo u teach a foreigner ? Why ?
1 It m ay be that so me speakers of foreign languages do not actuall y want
to sound like native speakers: they may be happy with t he aim of being
intelligible without sounding awkward.
2 For m ore on pronunciation goals see J Kenworth y (1987) Chapter 1.
Chapter 2 of the sa me book discu sses the concept of intelligibilit y in
great detail.
3 See f or exa mple P Nation and J Co ady (1988 ).
4 For m ore on language functions see especially D A Wilkins (1976) and
K Morrow (1977 ). See al so J Roberts (1980 ) and a respon se to it
(K Johnson (1980 )). Both are rep rinted in K John son (1982 ). K Johnson
and K Mor row (eds.) (1978 ) is a good collection of article s on functional
teaching.
5 K John son (1982) d iscusses a nu mber of di fferent approaches to syllabus
design and issu es related to the m in a series o f articles.
6 For m ore on the structural/functional debate se e K John son (1981 ) and
(1982 ), Ch apter 8, C Bru mfit (1980) and ( 1981) and H Widdowson
(1979 ). Mu ch of this discu ssion stemmed fro m reactions to D A Wilkins
(1976 ), although it m ust be e mphasised that Wilkins never advocated
a purely functional approach to language teaching.
7 See J Roberts (1980) and ( 1983) and M Varela (1980).
8 This argument is put f orwa rd by C Bru mfit in the articles 'Notional
56

syllabuse s: a reas sessment' and 'The English language, ideolog y and
international co mmunication' in Bru mfit (1980).
9 See D Willis and J Willis (1988).
10 For m ore on language varieties see P Strevens (1977) Chapter 1 1, and
especiall y B Kachru ( ed.) (1983 ).
30
ș
4
Language
learni ng and
language
teaching
4.1Learning theories and
approaches
4.11Behaviouris m
4.1.2Cognitivis m
4.13Acquisition and learning
4.14Task-based learn ing
4.15Humani stic approache s
4.1.6Self-di rected learning
4.2Foreign language learn ing
4.3Input and output
4.4A balanced activities
approach
4.5Conclusion s
Discu ssion/Exercise s/Reference s
In this ch apter1 we will
look at s ome of t he main
theories and t rends that
have inf ormed the p ractice of English languag e teachin g over the last
decad es. Fr om this o verview we will draw up a langu age lea rning a nd
teachin g methodolog y which will be exemplified in Part B of t his book.
4.1
Learnin g
theories a nd
57

approac hes
4.1.1
Behaviour ism2
No one knows exactly how people learn languages although a g reat deal of
research has been done into the subject. Certain theories have, however ,
had a profound effect upon the practice of language teaching (and continue
to do so) despite the fa ct that the y have o ften originated in studies of how
people learn their first language. I t is only comparativel y recentl y that the
study of second language acquisition has achieved the importance that it
now ha s.
In an article published in 1920,3 two ps ychologist s, Watson and Raynor ,
reported the results o f experi ment s they had car ried out with a yo ung baby
called Albert. When Albe rt was nine m onths old they discovered that the
easiest way to frighten hi m was to m ake a loud noise (by striking a steel bar
with a ha mmer). At various intervals over the next three m onths they
frightened Albert in t his way while he wa s in the presence of various
animals (a rat, a rabbit, and a dog). The result of these experim ents was
that a fter th ree months Albert showed fear when con fronted with these
animals even when the noise was not m ade, and even showed unea se when
a fur coat was put in front of hi m. The psychologists sugge sted that they
would be able to cu re Alber t's fear but were unable to do so becau se he was
no longer available (his parents had withd rawn him from the experim ent).
Watson and Rayno r even dis cussed the pos sibilit y of Albert's f ear of fur
coats when he reached the age of twent y!
The ethics of this experim ent are, of course, highly questionable, but
Albert's experiences are an early exa mple of the idea of conditioning.
Watson and Rayno r had m anaged to condition Alber t to be afraid of the
rat, rabbit, dog ( and fur coat ) where be fore he had a neutral e motional
reaction to the m.
The idea of conditioning is bas ed on the theor y that y ou can train an
31
58

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
4.1.2
Cognitivis m
animal to do any thing (within reason); to do th is you need to follow a
three-stage procedure where the stage s are stimulu s, response and
reinfor cement. For exa mple, a signal light is operated {the stimulus ), the rat
goes up to a bar and presse s it {the r espons e) and a tasty food pellet
drops at its feet {the r einfor cement). If the rat's behaviou r is reinforced a
sufficient number o f times it will always press the bar when the light co mes
on.
Rein force ment in this example took the for m of a reward and was
therefore positive. But yo u could al so train the r at not to do so mething by
giving hi m negative reinforce ment, maybe in the for m of a small electric
shock.
In a book called Verbal Behaviour ,4 the psychologist Skinner applied
this theo ry of conditioning to the wa y humans acquire thei r first language.
Language, he sugg ested, is a for m of behaviour in m uch the sa me way as
the rat pressing the bar exhibi ts a for m of behaviour . (It is because we are
concerned with a form of behaviour that this theo ry is called behaviou rism. )
The same model of sti mulus-respon se-reinforce ment, he argued, accounts
for how a hu man baby learns a language. An internal sti mulus such a s
hunger pro mpts crying as a respon se, and this crying is reinforced by the
milk that is sub sequently m ade available to the baby . Our perfor mance as
language learne rs is lar gely t he result of su ch positive (or negative)
reinforce ment.
Behaviouris m, which wa s after all a ps ychological theo ry, was adopted
for some time by language teaching m ethodologi sts, particularl y in America,
and the result was the audio-lingual method still used in m any pa rts of the
world.5 This method made constant drilling of the students followed by
positive or negative reinforce ment a major focus of classroo m activity . Of
59

course the approach wasn't exclusively devoted to repeti tion, but the
stimulus- respon se-reinforce ment model for med the basis of the
methodolog y. The language 'habit' wa s formed by constant repetition and
the reinforce ment of the teacher . Mistake s were i mmediately c riticised, and
correct utte rance s were i mmediately p raised. It should be said that
audio-lingualis m was thought to be highl y succe ssful in so me contexts –
particularl y the foreign-language training of m ilitary personn el.
The term cognitivism (sometimes referred to as mentalism ) refers to a group
of psychological theo ries which draw heavily on the work in linguistics of
Noam Cho msky (see 2.2).
In 1959 Cho msky published a strong attack on Skinne r's Verbal
Behaviour which beca me justifiably fa mous.6 In his review of Skinne r's
book he explained his rejection of the behaviourist view of language
acqui sition ( how a baby learns a language) on the ba sis of his model of
competence and perfor mance.
We can appreciate the rejection of the behaviou rist view b y the asking
of questions: if all language is learnt behaviour , how is it that y oung
children can s ay things that they have never said be fore? How is it possible
that adults all th rough their lives s ay things they have never said be fore?
How is it possible that a new senten ce in the m outh of a four -year-old
is the result of condit ioning ?
32
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
4.1.3
Acquisition
and learning7
Language is not a for m of behaviour , Cho msky m aintained. On the
contrar y, it is an intr icate rule-based syste m and a lar ge part of language
acqui sition is the learning of the s ystem. There are a finite num ber of
grammatical rules in the syste m and with a knowledge of these an infinite
60

number of sentence s can be pe rformed in the language (see 2.2). It is
competence that a child graduall y acquires, and it is this language
competence (or knowledge o f the gra mmar rules) that allows child ren to be
creative a s language us ers (e.g. experi menting and saying t hings they have
not said before). We looked at a si mple exa mple of what the concept of
competence and perfor mance involved in 2.2.
Language teaching has never adopted a methodology based on
Chomsky's work o r strictly upon cognitivist theories in general. Cho msky's
theorising wa s never di rected at adult language learning and he ha s
repeatedly made this clear . But the idea that language is not a set o f habits
– that what m atters is for learne rs to inte rnalis e a rule and that this will
allow f or creative performanc e – has infor med many teaching techniques
and m ethodologies. Thus students are often encouraged to us e rules to
create s entence s of their own. We could su mmarise this as: show the m the
underl ying structure and then let the m have a go on t heir own. Creating
new sentence s is the objective.
More recent investigations o f how people beco me language user s have
centred on the distinction between acquisition and learning. In part icular
Stephen Krashen8 characterised the for mer as a subconsciou s proces s which
results in the knowledge of a language wherea s the latter results only
in 'knowing about' the language. Acqui ring a language is m ore succe ssful
and longer lasting than learning.
The sugge stion Krashen made is that se cond (o r foreign) language
learning needs to be m ore like the child's acqui sition of its native language.
But how do child ren beco me competent users of their language ? Although
there m ay be so me limits on the language that the y hear (see below), the y
are never consciou sly 'taught it', nor do they consciously set out to learn it.
Instead they hear and experience a con siderable a mount of the language in
situation s where they are involved in co mmunicating with an adult – usually
a parent. Their gradual abilit y to use language is the result o f many
subcon sciou s process es. They have not cons ciousl y set out to learn a
61

language; it happen s as a result of the input the y receive and the
experience s which acco mpany this input. Much foreign language teaching,
on the other hand, se ems to concentrate on getting t he adult student to
consciously lea rn ite ms of language in isolation – the exact opposite of this
proces s.
Krashen saw succe ssful acquisition as being very bound up with the
nature of the language input which the students receive.9 Input is a ter m
used to m ean the language that the students hear o r read. This inpu t should
contain language that the students alread y 'know' as well a s language that
they have not p reviously seen: i.e. the input should be at a slightly
higher level than the student s are capable of using, but at a level that they
are capable of understanding. Krashen called the use of such language to
student s trough tuning ) and co mpared it to the way adults talk to children.
33
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
4.1.4
Task-ba sed
learning
Mothers and fath ers tend to si mplify the language they use so that the
children can m ore or less unde rstand it. They do not si mplify their language
in any precise way, however , using onl y certain structures; rather the y get
the level of their language m ore or less right for the child' s level of
understanding: there are si milarities in the way people talk to 'foreigners '.
Perhaps if language students constantl y receive input that is roughly-tuned –
that is, slightl y above their level – the y will acqui re those ite ms of language
that they did not previousl y know without m aking a conscious effort to do
so.
The sugge stion m ade by Krashen, then, is that student s can acquire
language on thei r own provided that the y get a great deal of compr ehensible
input (that is roughl y-tuned in the way we have de scribed). This is in
62

marked contrast to cons cious learning where student s receive finely-tuned
input – that is language chosen to be precis ely at their level. This
finely-tuned input is then m ade the object of cons cious learning. According
to Krashen, such language is not acquired and can only be used to monitor
what so meone is going t o say. In othe r words, whe reas language which is
acquired is part of the language store we use when we want to
communicate, the onl y use f or consciously learned language is to check
that acquired language just as we are about to use it. Con sciously learned
language, in othe r words, is only available in highly restricted circu mstance s,
as a monitor. Learning does not di rectly help acqui sition.10
Many m ethodologists have concentrated not so much on the nature of
language input, bu t on the learning task s that student s are involved in. There
has been an agree ment that rather than pure r ote learning or
de-contextualised practice, language ha s to be acquired as a result of some
deeper experience11 than the concentration on a gra mmar point.
In the 1970s the British applied linguist Allwright12 conducted an
experi ment which challenged traditional notions of language teaching. He
theorised that:
… if the 'language teacher's' management activities are di rected
exclu sivel y at involving the learners in solving co mmunication proble ms
in the tar get language, then language learning will take care o f
itself … (1977b: 5 )
In other wo rds there is no need for formal instruction ( e.g. the teaching
of a gra mmatical point ). Instead students are simply asked to pe rform
communicative activit ies in which they have to use the f oreign language.
The more they do this the better the y beco me at using the language.
Allwright's experi ment took place at the Universit y of Essex where a
number of foreign students were about to take postgraduate courses (where
the language used would, o f course, be E nglish). They were given activit ies
which f orced the m to use English, but at no ti me did their teachers help
them with the language or tell the m anything about English gra mmar, etc.
63

They refu sed to cor rect errors, too. Thus the students played
communication ga mes (see 8.1.4 ) or were sent to the libra ry to find out how
to use the card index syste m; in another exa mple the y had to interview one
of the profes sors (who was unconnected with language teaching in any way )
34
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
4.1.5
Humanistic
approache s
to find out certain infor mation. The students were all at roughl y
intermedi ate level be fore the y arrived at the Unive rsity of Ess ex, and the
results were, apparentl y, extremely satis factory .
In 1979 in Bangalore, Southern I ndia, N S Prabhu o riginated a
long-r unning project which used task-based learning in a ve ry different
context.13 He and his colleague s working in secondary school s were
dissatisfied with traditional m ethodology and with sy llabu ses which consist ed
of grammatical items (see 3.6). Like Allwrigh t he theo rised that students
were just as likely to learn structures if they were thinking of something else
as they were if they were onl y concentrating on the structures the mselves. In
other words Prabhu suggested that if the empha sis in class was on m eaning,
the language would be learnt incidentall y. The way this was to co me about
was through a series of task s which had a proble m-solving ele ment: in
solving the p roble ms the students naturall y came into contact with language,
but this contact happened becau se the students were activel y involved in
reaching solution s to task s.
Prabhu called the task s which he and his colleague s prepared a
procedu ral syllabus. Unlike other syl labuses, for exa mple those based on
lists of structu res or functions, the Bangalore Project's syllabuse s comprised
a list of task s which consisted of things like finding yo ur wa y on m aps,
64

interp reting ti metable s or answering question s about dialogues in which the
student s have to solve proble ms.
The main interaction in the clasroo m took place between the teacher
and the students (generally between forty-five and sixty in nu mber). The
class performed pre-task s which involved question s and vocabulary
checking and then the y answ ered the questions with which the y solved the
proble ms that were s et, for exa mple14 students looked at a train tim etable
and dis cussed question s such as 'When does the Brindavan Exp ress leave
Madra s/arrive in Bangalore ?' and the teach er helped the m through their
difficulties. Next the teacher handed out another ti metable and a fter asking
a few m ore question s left the students to do the task individually .
The Bangalore Project is i mportant not just becau se its originator
had the courage to pu t his theor ies into ( large-scale) practice, but also
becau se it is based on qu ite radical theories of language learning. L ike
Krashen, Prabhu believe s in the i mportance of the develop ment of
comprehension before production ( Prabhu 1987: 78-81 ) and like Allwright
he sees meaning (and tasks) a s the focu s where language learning can take
care o f itsel f.
Another perspective which has gained increasing pro minenc e in language
teaching is that of the student as a 'whole person'. In othe r words, language
teaching is not just about teaching language, it is also about helping student s
to develop the mselves as people.
These belief s have led to a num ber of teaching m ethodologies and
technique s which have stressed the humanistic aspect s of learning. I n such
methodologies the experience of the student is what counts and the
develop ment of their personalit y and the encourage ment of positjve feelings
are se en to be as important as their learning of a language.15 In a book aptly
titled Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Cla ssroom1** Getrude
35
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
4.1.6
65

Self-directed
learning
Moscowitz provides a nu mber of interactive activities designed to m ake
student s feel good and (often) re member happ y times and events whilst at
the same time practising language. Othe r writers have us ed similar student-
centred activities (whe re the topic is frequently the students themselves,
their lives and their relationships) to practise grammar or vocabular y.17
Others go further ,18 providing whole m ethodologies. Community
Language Learning, based on the educational m ovement of counselling
learning,19 attempts to give students only the language they need. Ideally
student s sit in a ci rcle outside of which is a 'knower' who will help the m
with the language they want to use. When they have decided what they
want to s ay they do it in their language and the knower translates it for
them so that the y can then us e the tar get language instead. In this way
student s acquire the language they want to acquire. In a var iation o f the
procedure students say what the y want to into a tape-reco rder, only
speaking when they feel the ur ge. The tape is transcribed by the teacher
who can then of fer personal feedba ck.20
Suggestopa edia is a m ethodolog y developed by Lozanov in which
student s must be co mfortably relaxed. This frequentl y means comfortable
furniture and (baroque ) music. In this setting student s are given new na mes
and listen to extended dialogues. The contention is that the general ease, of
the situation, the adoption of a new identit y and the dependence on
listening to the dialogues will help the student s to acquire the language.21
The Silent W ay22 developed by Caleb Gattegno is m arked by the fa ct
that the teacher gives a very limited amount of input, m odelling the
language to be learnt once onl y and then indicating what the student s should
do through pointing and othe r silent means. The teacher will not c riticise or
praise but si mply keeps indicating that the student should try again until
success is achieved. Teachers can deplo y Cuisenai re rods (little rods of
different lengths and colou rs) which can be used to signify g rammatical
66

units, stressed and non-stress ed parts of words, and even whole stories.23
Total Physical Respons e24 developed by James Asher, is a method
which f inds favour with Krashen' s view of rough ly-tuned or co mprehen sible,
input. In TPR (as it is known ) the teacher give s student s instructions. The
student s don't have to speak, they si mply have to carr y out the teacher's
commands. When they are read y for it the y can give co mmands to other
student s. The students thus learn language through actions, through
a physical respons e rather t han through dril ls.
Despite the controlling r ole of the teacher in m any of these
methodologies (see 1 1.1), the y have all been called humani stic in so me
circles. Certainl y Co mmunity Language Lea rning and Sugge stopaedia
concentrate heavil y on the students and their state of mind, seeing in their
wants and their r elaxation the key to succe ssful learning. TPR allow s a
pre-speaking pha se where student s are not forced to speak until they feel
confident to do so. The Silent Way force s student s to rel y heavil y on their
own resource s even when unde r the teach er's direction.
Focus on the student ha s also led to the develop ment of learner training
and s elf-directed learning prog rammes. Methodologist s have turned their
attention not just to the teaching of the language but also to training
36
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
4.2
Forei gn
language
learni ng
student s how to be good learners.25 If student s make the m ost of their own
resources and if they can take their own decision s about what to do next
and how best to study , so the ar gument goes, their lea rning is bette r and
they achiev e more. Ideally , therefore, a language prog ramme would be a
mixture of cla sswork and self-study ( or sel f-directed learning ). Giblin
and Spalding26 describe a course where their ai m was to encourage
67

self-directed learning. As the weeks went b y the y graduall y decreased the
number of 'input' clas ses where the y taught in the conventional way and
they increas ed se ssion s where student s could 'opt out' of the regular clas s
and work on their own ( under teacher supervision). Coupled with this were
exercise s and advice on how to approach learning tasks such as reading,
writing r eports, etc. Lastly the students were encouraged to keep a diary of
their experiences (see 8.2.5).
The main thrust of such work is to encourage students to take char ge
of their own lea rning:27 we cannot teach student s every thing so we have to
train the m to teach the mselve s. (See 8.5 for exa mples of learner t raining
materials.)
What conclu sions can we draw fro m this discussion of various theor ies and
technique s for f oreign language learning ? Is the idea o f consciou s learning
absurd or, if there is so me merit in it, should it be based sol ely on the
student s' cognit ive abili ties and exclude all condition ing? Is a p rogra mme
based exclusively on acquisition theory nece ssarily the m ost effective way of
teaching ? How m uch, in fact, does teaching get in the wa y of learning ?
There can be no doubt of the value of comprehen sible input: the f act
that student s are hearing or r eading language that the y more or less
understand must help the m to acquire that language. If they are exposed to
language enough the y will al most certainly be able to use so me (or all) of it
themselves. It may be that one of the teacher' s main fun ctions when talking
infor mally to the cla ss is to provide just that kind of comprehen sible input.28
It also s eems to m ake sens e that people can acquire languages while
they are doing so mething else (the basic philosoph y follow ed by Allwright,
Prabhu and m ethodologies such as TPR). It also seems unexceptional to
sugge st that we should tr y to i nvolve students' personalities through the use
of humanistic exercis es and a genuine exchange of ideas (although it is
worth pointing out t hat all teachers are in a sen se 'humani stic' and the re
may be dangers in taking quasi-psychoanal ytic technique s too far). Finall y, if
we can get students to reall y concentrate on their own lea rning strategie s
68

and i f we can persuade the m to take char ge of their own learning as far as
possible, so much the better .
If we look m ore clos ely at so me of the theories and solutions proposed,
however , the situation beco mes less clear . Krashen, for exa mple, sugg ests
that co mprehensible input m eans that language is acquired and is therefore
available for use (in other wo rds the student can p roduce the language
spontan eously ) whereas consciou sly studied language is only learnt (and is
therefore much more di fficult to p roduce spontaneou sly). Acquired language
is somehow 'better' than learn t language becaus e you would have to
concentrate to produce the latter , thus inter rupting the flow of language
production.
37
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
This kind of division, however , just doesn't make sense:29 in the first
place it wi ll be almost impossible to sa y whether so meone has learnt o r
acquired a certain piece of language. If two people are expos ed to the sa me
roughl y-tuned input how will we know whether one m akes con scious
attempts to learn i t or not ? It is almost impossible, in other wo rds, to test
this hypothesis since to do so we would have to be able to see into the
minds of all the people who had been expos ed to the sa me input and reco rc
their thought p rocesses! Neither does it m ake sense that learnt language
cannot beco me part of the acquired language store, as Krashen see ms to
sugge st. It is clear that language that has been learn t doe s 'sink in' at
some stage: maybe students will not be able to produce it i mmediately in
spontan eous conve rsation, but it will eventuall y come out, given ti me.
Learnt language which is practis ed does seem to beco me part of the
acquired store30 even though i t may be the case that onl y certain
grammatical fe atures are su sceptible to su ch treat ment.31 It has been
sugge sted32 that freer practice activities (Communicative activities, esp eciall;
– see Chapter 8) m ay act as a switch which allows consciously learnt
language to transfer to the acquired store.
69

Another proble m about acquisition is that i t take s a long ti me. In fact,
time is a crucial issue. The vast majority of students in the wo rld study
language s for about two and a half hours a week, for about th irty weeks
a year , which is not m uch time when compared to the time taken b y child ren
to acquire their first language s. A key question for us m ust be whether
we use our ti me well. Is ou r teaching 'cost-e ffective' ? It is almost certainly
the ca se that the con scious learn ing o f certain ite ms does speed the process
up, even if its main function is to raise the student' s gra mmatical
awarene ss. Not onl y that but m any of our students want and expect this
type of learning: we would need to be very sure we were r ight be fore we
told the m that it was in so me way bad for the m.
Time is not the only crucial is sue here. We must also look at the
conditions unde r which language learning takes place and who the student s
are. Allwright's students at Essex, f or exa mple, were all interm ediate befon
they started his course. Since they were all going on to stud y at
postgraduate level in the UK we can safely assume that they we re fairl y
intelligent and also highl y motivated. And on top of these f acts we m ust
remember that the y were stud ying in Great Britain where they had regular
access to E nglish-spe aking people and other resources.
Other m ethodologies make considerable de mands, too, on ti me,
conditions and resources. For exa mple, Suggestopa edia needs small groups
and co mfortable room s, but m ost teachers handle lar ge cla sses in
unco mfortable sur roundings. Transcribing the students ' tape-recorded E nglish
after a Co mmunity Language Learn ing cla ss is not such a good idea with
a class of thirt y students. And while it m ay be pos sible to train students
to take char ge of their own learning over a period of week s in a
well-equipped school in the UK, with s mall cla sses (fifteen student s) and
with the student s attending cla sses for a minimum of six hours a day, it wil l
be m ore difficult in othe r less convenient locations and condit ions.
It is precisely because of the limitations that m any teachers have to fact
that the Bang alore P roject (which we m entioned in 4.1.4) is so impres sive.
70

38
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
The clas ses were lar ge and the condit ions less than ideal, but despite this the
results which have so far been publ ished have been encouraging.33 Maybe
here is proof that consciou s learning does not really have a place in the
classroo m after all. And y et three wor ries about this position e merge: in the
first place m any of Prabhu's ta sks give rise to ve ry concentrated exa mples
of particula r grammar patte rns and structures (as our exa mple in 4.1.4
show s) even if the students do not have to take part in actual production
drills. This often looks very much like the consciou s learning the p roject
aims to replace. Secondl y, Prabhu does not encourage groupwork, citing
the conditions which his teacher s work in and the size of cla sses etc., and
yet this makes the use of humanistic and cooperative techniques very
difficult, and third ly it is by no m eans certain that the approach adopted in
the Bang alore p roject is the best and onl y wa y of teaching Engl ish (as
opposed to a good way – one of many). As John son writes in his article on
the study:
It is…..i mportant that ul timate evaluation of the project should
consid er not on ly whethe r it works, but also whether it is the m ost
cost-e ffective solution available. (1982:143)
Where does this leave us and our attitude to consciou s learning ? It
certainly seems that the use of tasks and the provision of a lot of
comprehensible input wil l help our student s in a lot of ways. The former will
allow student s to activate their knowledge and the latter wi ll help to provide
them with a rich language store. But it is also true that (espe cially) adults
will gain great bene fit fro m clearl y explained language work which they can
then us e to 'create' new sentence s: as they find that the y are getting the
language right they can internalise it co rrectly so that it g radually beco mes
part of their acquired store. And the concentration on par ticular ite ms
of language in various practice contexts can help that in ternalisation process
whilst at the sa me time giving m any stud ents a strong feeling o f security ,
71

especiall y at beginner and ele mentary level s.
What is being sugge sted, then, is that r oughly -tuned input and the use
of the foreign language in co mmunicative tasks and situation s can
satisfactoril y exist side by side with work which concentrates on consciou s
learning where new language is being introduced and practised. At the sa me
time we will be looking to se e how we can inco rporate the language learn ing
into the perfor mance of m otivating task s and how we can begin to t rain
student s to beco me good lea rners. And the content of our language clas ses
can be designed in a way that does not exclude the kind of humani stic
approach and techniques that we talked about in 4.1.5.
The major dif ference between what we are sugg esting here and less
recent approache s to language teaching is that we will place much more
importance on roughl y-tuned input and co mmunicative tasks and activities
than so me other m ethodologie s have tended to do. Consciou s learning
is thus seen as only one par t of the m ethodological approach which also
encourage s language acqui sition th rough a large amount of inpu t and a
signi ficant e mphasis on the use o f language in co mmunicative tasks and
activities.
39
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
4.3
Input and
output
ș
In deciding how to approach the teaching and learn ing o f Engl ish we can
divide cla ssroo m activities into two broad categories: those that give
student s language input, and those which encourage the m to produce
language output. Whether acquisition or consciou s learning is taking place
there will be stage s at which the student is receiving language – language
is in so me way being 'put into' the students (though they wil l decide
whether or not the y want to receive it). But exposing stud ents to language
72

input is not enough: we also need to provide opportunities for the m to
activate this knowledge, f or it is only when student s are producing language
that they can select from the input the y have received. Language production
allows students to rehea rse language use in clas sroom conditions whilst
receiving f eedback (from the teacher s, fro m other students and fro m
themselves) which allows them to adjust their perceptions of the language
input they have received.
This production of language, or language output, can be divided
into two distinct sub- categor ies. In the first, practic e, student s are ask ed to
use new ite ms of language in dif ferent contexts. Activities are designed
which pro mote the use of sp ecific language or task s. The ai m is to give
student s a chanc e to rehearse language structu res and fun ctions so that the y
may focus on ite ms that they wish to inte rnalis e more completely than
before, whilst at the s ame time being engaged in m eaning ful and m otivating
activities. Practice output m arks some kind of a half-way stage between
input and co mmunicative output. We will look at p ractice in Chapter 7.
Communicativ e output, on the other hand, r efers to activities in which
student s use language a s a vehicle for co mmunication becaus e their m ain
purpose is to co mplete so me kind of co mmunicative task. Bec ause the
task in a co mmunicative activity is of para mount i mportance the language
used to perfor m it takes, a s it were, second place. It beco mes an instru ment
of communication rathe r than being an end in itself. In mo st communicative
activities (which we will exa mine in detail in Chapter 8) the students
will be using any and/or all the language that they know: they will be f orced
to acce ss the language they have in thei r language store, and they will
graduall y develop strategie s for co mmunication (see 2.4) t hat over-
concentration on presentation and p ractice would al most certainly inhibit.
A further ^distinction ha s to be m ade, however , between two di fferent
kinds of input: roughly-tuned input and finely-tuned input.34 The former,
as we have already said, is language which the student s can more or less
understand even though it is above their own productive level. The teacher
73

is a major source of roughly tuned input, and so are the r eading and
listening texts which we provide for our student s. At lower levels such
material is likely to be roughly -tuned in the wa y we have suggested and so
whilst we are t raining student s in the skill s nece ssary for reading and
listening in E nglish (see Chapter 10) we are also expo sing the m to language,
some of which m ay for m part of their acquired language store. Finely -tuned
input, on the other hand, is language which has been ver y precisely selected
to be at exactly the students ' level. For ou r purpose s finely -tuned input can
be taken to m ean that language which we select for consciou s learning and
teaching (see Chapter 6). Such language is often the focus of the
presentation of new language whe re repetition, teacher correction, discus sion
40
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
4.4
A ba lanced
activities
approac h
and/or discovery technique s are frequently used to pro mote the cognitive
strategie s we m entioned in 4.1.2. We will look at the int roduction of new
language in Chapter 6.
During the presentation stag e teachers tend to act as cont rollers,
both sele cting the language the students are to us e and asking for
the accurate reproduction of new language ite ms. They will want to cor rect
the m istake s they hear and see at th is stage fairl y rigo rously – in m arked
contrast to the kind o f correction that is generall y offered in p ractice and
communicative activit ies.35 (See 6.3.3 and 5.3.)
We can summarise the co mponent s of input and output i n the following
way:
INPUT OUTPUT
r
I––––>ș
74

Finely -tuned
input
Roughly -tuned
input
Practice
output
Communicative
output
T
.J
Figur e 6 Input and output
The dotted lines show how output – and the learne r's (and teacher's)
reaction to it – m ay feed back into input. E ven during a co mmunicative
activity a student's output and the degree of succe ss that outpu t achiev es
may provide valuable in formation about that language which is then
internalised. Teacher cor rection during a practice activity may give the
student more input infor mation about the language in question.
Our m ethodologic al approach in 4.4 will use these input and output
characteristic s, pay ing spe cial attention to the need f or roughly -tuned input
and co mmunicative output whi lst not igno ring the need for finely -tuned
input and language practice.
We can now su m up a m ethodological approach to the learning of languages
which take s account of categories of input and output. Be cause of the focu s
on co mmunicative activit ies and the concentration on language as a means
of communication such an approach has been called the communicative
approach.36 This is becau se its aims are overtl y communicative and great
emphasis is placed on training students to use language for co mmunication.
At various st ages writers have also included the teaching of language
functions (see 3.4.1 ), task-based learning and hu manistic approaches unde r
this umbrella ter m, making them – apparently – integral pa rts of the
approach.
75

41
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Certainly the aim of all our teaching is to train student s for
communicative efficiency , but we have already seen co mponents of the
approach we are advocating here which are not in the mselves
communicative – for exa mple finel y-tuned input when presentation takes
place, and p ractice activities.37 And we have also sugge sted that
concentration on co mmunication only may not be in the best interests of the
student s. The importance o f stage s where there is an e mpha sis on
(proble m-solving) task s and the student s' own pe rsonalities and
respon sibilit y for their own lea rning ha s to go together with m ore for mal
language work-, and that is whe re the status of a 'co mmunicative ' approach
is called into question. An app roach that includes controlled language work
(which is not at all co mmunicative (see 5.3) ) cannot really be given such a
misleading name. And a fter all, m ost language teaching is de signed to teach
student s to co mmunicate, however t he learning is organised. Rather than
worr y about these apparent contradictions, it is perhaps better to see the
methodolog y in ter ms of the activities which we involve student s in and to
assemble a balanced progra mme of su ch activities.
A balanced activities appr oach sees the job of the teacher as that of
ensuring that stud ents get a va riety of activities which fo ster acquisition
and which foster learning. The progra mme will be planned on the basi s of
achieving a balance between the dif ferent categor ies of input and output
where roughl y-tuned input and communicative activities will tend to
predo minate over ( but not by any m eans exclude) controlled language
presentation and p ractice output. I t is on th is basis that we will e ffect part of
our balance.
A balanced activities approach has a more hu man aspect, however ,
which is bound up with the concerns o f intr insic motivation (see 1.2.3). B y
presenting students with a variety of activities we can ensure their
76

continuing interest and involve ment in the language prog ramme. Cla sses
which continually have the sa me activities are not likel y to su stain interest,
particularl y where the students have no extrinsic m otivation and do not
perceive any clear long -term goal. A progra mme that p resents a var iety
of activities, on the othe r hand, is far m ore likel y to continuall y engage the
student s' interest. The concern with a balanced activities approach will be
reflect ed when we discuss planning in Chapter 12.
A final, but i mportant, co mponent of the balanced activities approach is
the teacher' s willingnes s to be both adaptable and flexible. Adaptability
refers to the teacher's abilit y to adapt the prog ramme (and the balance)
on the ba sis of the di fferent g roups that are being taught. We talked at
length in 1.3 about m otivational di fferences, and these should have a
powerful influence on the teacher's use and choice of activities and
materials. Flexibility , on the other hand, refers to the behaviou r of teachers
in clas s and their ability to be sen sitive to the changing needs o f the group
as the les son prog resses. In si mple terms it means that decisions taken
before the les son about what is going to happen are not in so me way sacred.
Good teacher s must be prepared to adapt and alter their plans i f this
proves neces sary.
The balanced activities approach, then, s ees the m ethodology as being
a balanc e between the component s we wish to include in that approach, and
42
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
4.5
Conclusions
it is an app roach that see s the student s' continuing interest and involve ment
in the learning process as being the neces sary dominant fa ctor i n language
teaching.
In this chapter we have studied so me theor ies of language learning and
some approaches to language teaching in order t o come to conclusions about
a methodological approach to the subject. We have not been exhau stive by
77

any m eans, but we have discus sed those issues which have m ost closel y
influen ced the m ethodolog y in Parts B and C of this book.
We have seen that behaviourist philosophy saw the acquisition o f
language as the result of conditioning; cognitivis m, on the other hand, led to
language learn ing being seen a s the abilit y to be creative on the basi s of
acquired rules.
We studied more recent m ethodological implications of approache s that
stress the need for acquisition (rather than conscious learning ) and
communicative activit ies in the clas sroom. We discu ssed approaches that
depended on task-based learning and hu mani stic technique s. We' looked at
the student s' abili ty to take char ge of their own lea rning. The suggestion
was that the involve ment of the students through task- based activities and
the acqui sition of language th rough co mprehensible input would be m ore
effective than the consciou s learning of language items.
We concluded that while students need a lot of input which is
roughl y-tuned, and while the re must be an e mphasis on co mmunicative
activities which i mprove the students' abilit y to co mmunicate, there is also
a place for controlled p resentation of finely -tuned input and se mi-controlled
language practice.
Finally we advocated a balanced activities approach which sees the
methodolog y as being a balance between the co mponent s of input and
output. Both f or pedagogical reason s and for our student s' continuing
interest in the language progra mme this balance is the essential ingredient
of the m ethodolog y.
Discu ssion
1 If you we re learning a foreign language would yo u expect the teacher to
involve yo u in cons cious learning ? If so, why ?
2 We have said that it is a good idea to o ffer students input that is
roughl y-tuned. Do y ou roughly -tune y our inpu t when you are speaking
to any other ty pe of person ?
3 In y our op inion, is conditioning an i mportant part of learning either a
78

first or a second language ?
4 Think back to your own experience as a s chool language learner .
Can you identify m oments when yo u received roughly -tuned input o r
finely-tuned input ? How m uch communicative output was there in the
classroo m?
Exercises
1 Mak e a list of activities which y ou think could be used for
communication output in the clas sroom.
2 Look at an Eng lish language textbook and s ee if you can identify
43
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
what activitie s it sugge sts. Say whethe r the activit ies/exercise s give input
or are designed for output p ractice. Decide if the input is roughl y- or
finely-tuned, and say whether t he outpu t activitie s are for practice or
communication.
3 Think of a proble m-solving task si milar to the kind m entioned in our
discu ssion of Prabhu's procedural syllabus (e.g. reading ti metables,
map-reading etc.). What language would such a task be m ost likely to
provoke ?
Reference s
1 I a m especi ally grateful to Richard Rossn er for his co mments on an
earlier d raft of this re -written chapter .
2 For m ore on the relative m erits of behaviouris m and cognitivis m see
J Lyons (1970 ) Chapter 3 and D A Wilkins (1972) Chapter 6.
3 See J B Watson and R Rayno r (1920 ). I am grateful to Arthur Hughes
for drawing this research to my attention.
4 See B Skinne r (1957).
5 For m ore on audio-lingualis m and the techniques it use s see E S tevick
(1982 ) Chapters 6-8.
6 See N Cho msky (1959).
7 For a co mprehen sive account of second language acquisition research
79

and the questions it pos es see R Ellis (1985).
8 For a co mprehen sive view of his work see S Krashen (1981) and the later
S Krashen (1984) which expands his views and answer s some of his
critics. R Ellis (1985) Chapter 10 set s Krashen' s work in the general
context o f other second language acquisition studies.
9 See S Krashen (1982).
10 It should be s aid that Krashen ha s backed off such a de finite state ment
as this, but it was where he started and where m uch of the controvers y
originated.
HE Stevick ( 1976) o ffers a version o f the concept of deep exper ience.
12 See R Allwright ( 1977b).
13 For a concise description of the Bangalore Pro ject see C Bru mfit
(1984 ). For a detailed account of the reasoning behind the work and the
project itsel f see N S P rabhu (1987).
14 This example comes from N S P rabhu (1987) page 32.
15 So me people f eel, however , that attention to hu mani stic technique s
sometimes take s place at the expense of teaching language. See, for
example, D Atkinson (1989).
16 See G Moscowitz (1978).
17 See, f or exa mple, M Rinvolucr i (1985) and J Mor gan and M Rinvolucri
(1986 ).
18 For an excellentl y conci se des cription o f these methodologie s see
M Celce-Murcia (1981). E Stevick (1976 ) Part 3 is also very usef ul.
19 See C Curran (1976).
20 See R Bolitho (1983 ).
21 See J Cureau (1982 ) and M Lawlo r (1986).
22 For m ore on the Silent Way see C Bartoli (1981 ) and C Gattegno
(1976 ) and (1982).
44
LANGU AGE LEA RNING AND LANGUAGE TEACHING
23 See S Nor man (1981 ).
80

24 See J Asher (1969 and 1987), J Mooija m and J Van den Bos (1984) and
(1986 ), T Tomscha (1984 ) and M Sano (1986 ).
25 See E Bertoldi, J Kollar and E Ricard (1988 ) and G Ellis and B Sinclair
(1989 ) for materials that speci fically ai m to train student s to be better
learners.
26 See K Giblin and E Spalding ( 1988).
27 See Allw right's description of a course he or ganised in Poland
(R Allwright (1981 )).
28 See T Lowe ( 1985).
29 Many people have been crit ical of Krashen 's distinction between
acqui sition and learning. Among the m ore acade mic writings are
M Sharwood-S mith (1981) and K Gregg ( 1984). A usefully short account
is R El lis (1983). See also E Stevick (1982 ) Chapter 3 and J Har mer
(1983 ).
30 See M Sharwood -Smith (1981).
31 See R Ellis (1988).
32 See R Ellis (1982).
33 See A Beretta and A Davies (1985 ).
34 These ter ms are bor rowed from S Krashen (1981 ). In other a rticles
(see, for exa mple, S Krashen 1982 ) he prefer s to refer to compr ehensible
input (i.e. input that students can co mprehend without too m uch
difficulty). One the factors neces sary for succe ssful co mprehensible
input is that students should feel free fro m anxiet y and this is of
primary im portance in the natural approach (see S Krashen and T Terell
(1982 )). The natural approach place s heavy emphasis on a p re-speaking
phase where student s receive roughl y-tuned input and react to it, but are
not forced into im mediate production (see also reference 25 for TPR).
35 For m ore on erro rs and m istakes and what to do with the m see J Norrish
(1983 ) and J Edge ( 1989).
36 For m ore on the co mmunicative approach see C Bru mfit and K Johnson
(1979 ) and K Mor row (1981). The communicative approach is not
81

without controvers y, however . The most notable clash was between
M Swan ( 1985) and H Widdowson (1985). P Medg yes (1986 ) has also
worr ied about the i mplication s of a co mmunicative approach for many
non-native-speaker teachers. The three articles are repr inted in
R Rossner and R Bolitho (1990).
37 For m ore on the internal contradictions o f the concept of a
communicative approach (as opposed to co mmunicative activities ) see
J Harmer (1982 ).
45
5
Teaching the
productive
skills
PART B: PRAC TICE
5.1The na ture o f
communication
5.2The info rmation gap
5.3The comm unicatio n
continuum
5.4Stages i n langua ge
learning/t eaching
5.41Introduci ng ne w language
5.42Practic e
5.43Comm unicati ve activities
5.44The r elationship b etween
the different
stages
5.5Integra ting skills
5.6Speakin g and wr iting
5.7Level
5.8Concl usions
Discussion/Exercises/R efere nce
s
In this ch apter we will
discuss the nature of
communication a nd its
82

relevance to v arious
stages o f lear ning. W e
will emphasis e the
importance o f
integ rating skills an d we
will also discuss th e
differenc es and
similarities i n learni ng
to spe ak and wr ite.
The ma in aim of this ch apter is t o preface Chap ters 6 -9 which
deal w ith specific techniq ues fo r the ma jor stag es of lea rning th e
productiv e skills.
5.1
The nature o f
communi cation
Com munication be tween humans is an extremel y complex and e ver-changing
phen omenon , and it is n ot my intention to e xamine all t he man y variables
that a re involved. But the re are certai n gene ralisations t hat w e can make
about the ma jority of communicativ e events a nd these will have particular
relevance fo r the lea rning a nd teac hing of lan guages.
When two people a re en gaged in t alking to e ach othe r we can be fai rly
sure that th ey are d oing so f or go od re asons. W hat are these re asons?
1 They w ant to say something. 'Want' is use d her e in a ge neral wa y to
suggest that spe akers make definit e decisions t o add ress othe r peo ple.
Speaking ma y, of course, be fo rced up on them, but w e can still sa y that
they feel the ne ed to sp eak, othe rwise the y would kee p silent.
2 They have some com municative p urpos e. Speakers s ay things b ecause
they want something to h appen as a res ult of w hat they say. They may
want to charm their list eners; t hey may want to gi ve some information or
express pleasu re. They may decid e to be r ude o r to fl atter, to agr ee or
complain. In each of these cases the y are int ereste d in achie ving this
83

communicati ve pu rpose – what is import ant is the message t hey wish to
convey and the ef fect they want it to ha ve.
46
TEACHING THE PRODUC TIVE SKILLS
3 They select f rom thei r langu age sto re. Speakers h ave an i nfinite capacit y
to create ne w sentences (especi ally if they are nati ve speake rs – see 2.2).
In order t o achie ve this com municati ve pu rpose t hey will select ( from the
'store' of l anguag e the y poss ess) th e langua ge the y think is app ropria te
for this pur pose.
These thr ee gen eralisations apply equally to someone ha ving a p rivate
conversation a nd to th e politician gi ving a speech to thous ands. They
apply to the scho olteache r and t he ra dio anno uncer , the judge a nd the
shop assist ant.
It is important, too, to r ealise t hat these gene ralisations d o not onl y
apply to the spok en w ord: the y characte rise w ritten com munication a s
well, and a lthough a differenc e ma y be that th e writer is not in
immediate contac t with the r eade r (whereas in a con versation tw o or
more peopl e are t ogethe r), the same also applies to the e xample of the
radio annou ncer, and, to some exten t, the ac ademic giving a lectu re in a
packed h all (alth ough th ere is o f cours e much greate r cont act her e).
Assu ming an ef fective piece of communication, w e can also make
some generalisations ab out a listen er (or reade r) of l anguag e. By
effectiv e com munication we mean that th ere is a d esire f or the
communication to be ef fective both fr om the p oint of v iew of the
speake r and t he listene r. Of cou rse the re are man y other char acteristics
that a re nec essar y for effective communication (fo r example some
communicati ve ef ficienc y/competence on the p art of the sp eakers ), and
there are man y possible re asons fo r breakdo wn in communication, but
once a gain th ree poin ts can be made a bout th e listeners :
4 They w ant to listen to ' something'. Once again 'w ant' is u sed in a
gene ral w ay. But in or der fo r someone to u nderstand w hat the y are
84

listening t o (or reading) t hey must have some desir e to do s o.
5 They a re inte rested in the com municative p urpose of what is being said.
In ge neral p eople listen t o langu age beca use the y want to fin d out w hat
the sp eaker is t rying to say – in o ther words what ideas t hey are
conveying, and w hat ef fect the y wish the com munication to ha ve.
6 They p rocess a v ariety of languag e. Although th e listene r may have a
good i dea of w hat the sp eaker is g oing to s ay next, in gene ral terms, he
or she has to be pr epared to p rocess a g reat variety of grammar and
vocabula ry to underst and exac tly what is bein g said.
Once a gain these comments appl y generall y to all listene rs, and a re equall y
true of re aders .
Whenever com munication t akes place, o f cours e, the re is a spe aker
(and/or wr iter) and a listene r (and/or r eade r). This is the case e ven w here a
novelist wr ites a manuscript , for h ere the w riter assumes that t here w ill be a
reader o ne da y and that t hat reade r will be performing a comm unicati ve act
when reading the bo ok.
In con versation and, fo r example, the exchang e of lette rs, the speake r
or wr iter q uickly becomes a listene r or reader as t he com munication
progresses. We can s ummarise ou r gene ralisations a bout th e natu re of
communication in F igure 7 on p age 4 8:
47
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
SPEAKER/W RITE R
t
LIST ENER/R EADER
I
wants to say something
has a c ommunicativ e pur pose
selects f rom language st ore
wants to listen to something
interested in communicativ e pur pose
85

processes a v ariety of la nguage
5.2
The informati on
gap
Figure 7 The natu re of c ommunication
When organising c ommunicativ e activ ities (s ee Chapt er 8) we will try to
ensu re that t hese acti vities s hare t he cha racte ristics we have mentione d her e.
We will discuss t his furt her in 5 .3.
We have said th at speake rs no rmally have a com municati ve pu rpose a nd
that liste ners a re inte rested i n discov ering w hat that pu rpose is. Ho wever,
even if liste ners h ave some idea ab out the p urpos e, the y must listen in o rder
to be s ure. They canno t be su re, in ot her w ords, w hat it is befo re the y hear
what the speake r says. We can illust rate this w ith a simple e xample.
Conside r the follo wing example in w hich a man (A) speaks t o a w oman (B)
at a b us stop:
A: Excuse me.
B: Yes?
A: Do you have a w atch?
B: Yes … why?
A: I wonder if y ou could tell me w hat the time is?
B: Certai nly … it's th ree o 'clock.
A: Thank y ou.
B: Don't mention it.
The man who starts the con versation may have man y reasons f or sp eaking:
he ma y want to g et into c onversation w ith the woman because h e thinks sh e
looks inte resting, a nd the question a bout t he time may simply be a pretext
for this. On th e othe r hand h e ma y genuinel y want to kno w the time. In
both c ases the re exists a n information g ap between w hat A and B know. If
the q uestion ab out the time is a g enuine o ne w e can s ay that B has
information t hat A doesn 't have (the time) a nd A wants that info rmation. I n
other words ther e is a gap between the two in the info rmation the y
86

possess, a nd the c onversation helps t o close th at gap so that no w both
speake rs ha ve the same information. But e ven if this w ere not t he re al
purpose of t he con versation t here is s till a gap b etween th e speake rs where
B does not kn ow what A's purpose is before he sp eaks.
In the classroom w e will want to creat e the same kind of information
gap if we are t o encou rage r eal communication. M any of the a ctivities in
Chapte rs 7 an d 8 w ill be d esigned so t hat the re is an information ga p
between the p articipants , thus ens uring lifelike communication to s ome
extent .
48
TEACHING THE PRODUC TIVE SKILLS
5.3
The
communi cation
continuum1
In 4.3 we conside red th e concepts of input a nd out put and we said th at
there were stages w here communication w as more importan t than acc uracy.
Having discuss ed the n ature of com munication we can no w suggest
characteristics t hat ar e necessa ry for input a nd outp ut stages.
Where students a re working on an out put stage with an emphasis on
communication w e can use o ur ge neralisati ons abou t the na ture o f
communication to come to a number of conclusions. W hatever activity the
studen ts are i nvolved in, if it is t o be g enuinel y comm unicati ve and if it is
really promoting lang uage use , the stu dents sho uld ha ve a desire t o
communicate ( see points 1 and 4 in 5.1 ). If the y do not wa nt to b e inv olved
in com munication t hen tha t com munication w ill probabl y not be ef fective. The
studen ts should h ave some kind of communicative purpose (se e points 2 and
5 in 5. 1): in o ther wo rds th ey should b e using la nguage i n some way to
achie ve an objective, a nd this o bjective (o r purpose ) should b e the most
important p art of t he com munication. If stude nts do ha ve a pu rpose o f this
kind the n their attentio n should b e cent red on t he conte nt of w hat is being
87

said o r written and n ot the lan guage f orm that is bein g used. The studen ts,
howeve r, will have to d eal w ith a v ariety of langua ge (eit her recepti vely or
productiv ely) rather than just one g rammatical const ruction, f or ex ample.
While the stu dents a re eng aged in t he com municati ve acti vity the teac her
should n ot inte rvene. B y 'intervene' we mean telling st udents th at the y are
making mistakes, insistin g on accu racy and asking fo r repetition, e tc. This
would undermine the c ommunicativ e pur pose of t he acti vity. The teac her
may of course be in volved in the acti vity as a pa rticipant, a nd w ill also be
watching a nd listenin g very carefull y in order to be able to c onduct
feedb ack. To these fi ve charact eristics of g enuinel y communicativ e activ ities
we can a dd a sixth ; no materials co ntrol ( see Fi gure 8 on pa ge 50 ). Often
studen ts work with materials w hich fo rce the u se of ce rtain lan guage, o r at
least r estrict t he stude nts' choice o f what to say and h ow to sa y it (we will
see ex amples of t his in Chapt er 7). But b y restricting t he stude nts' opti ons
the materials a re denying the languag e variety charac teristic w hich we have
said is important for genuine communication.
The six char acteristics f or com municati ve activities can be seen as
forming one end of a continu um of class room activity in langu age teac hing,
and t hey can b e matched b y opposite points a t the o ther e nd of t he
continu um.
Thus for n on-communicativ e activ ities the re will be n o desir e to
communicate on the pa rt of t he stude nts and t hey will hav e no
communicati ve pu rpose. I n othe r words, w here stude nts are involved in a
drill o r in re petition, t hey will be moti vated n ot by a desire to r each a
communicati ve objectiv e, but b y the nee d to r each the objective of
accur acy. The emphasis is on the f orm of the la nguage, not its con tent.
Often o nly one la nguage it em will be th e focus of attentio n and th e teache r
will often int ervene to co rrect mistakes, nominate stu dents, a nd gene rally
ensu re accu racy. And of c ourse t he materials w ill be s peciall y designe d to
focus o n a res tricted amount o f langu age. A lot o f langu age pr esentatio n
techniq ues (se e Chapte r 6) h ave thes e char acteristics.
88

We can sum marise the points w e have made in Fi gure 8 on
page 5 0:
49
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
NON-CO MMUNICA TIVE
ACTIVITIES
COMMUNICA TIVE
ACTIVITIES
*no com municativ e desi re
*no com municativ e purpose
*form not conten t
*one langu age item
*teacher i ntervention
*materials c ontrol
*a desire t o com municate
*a communicativ e purpose
*content no t form
""variety of languag e
*no teache r inte rvention
*no materials cont rol
5.4
Stag es in
language
learni ng/
teaching2
5.4.1
Introducing n ew
langua ge
5.4.2
Practice
5.4.3
89

Com municativ e
activities
Figure 8 The comm unicatio n continuum
Of cou rse not a ll classroom activ ities a re eithe r 'comm unicati ve' or 'non-
communicati ve'. As w e shall se e in 5.4 t here a re man y tech niques tha t fall
some where b etween o ur two extremes.
Based on t he continu um in 5. 3 we will divide w ork on th e pro ductiv e skills
into th ree ma jor sta ges, introducing ne w language , practic e, and
communicative activities.
The intro duction of n ew langu age is f requentl y an acti vity that falls at th e
'non-com municati ve' e nd of o ur co ntinuum. Often, h ere, t he teach er will
work with contr olled techni ques, asking students t o repeat an d perf orm in
drills ( though the use o f 'disco very tech niques' – see 6. 4 – ma y differ from
this). At the s ame time w e will insist on acc uracy, correcting wh ere st udents
make mistakes. Although t hese int roduction stages ( often c alled
presentation ) should b e kept sh ort, a nd the d rilling ab andone d as soon a s
possible, t hey are nevertheless importa nt in helpin g the stu dents to
assim ilate f acts abou t new lang uage a nd in ena bling them to pr oduce t he
new language f or the first time. W e will conc entrat e on th e intro duction of
new language in C hapte r 6.
Practice acti vities a re those w hich fall somewhere bet ween the two ext remes
of ou r contin uum. W hile stu dents pe rforming them ma y have a comm unicati ve
purpose, an d while the y may be wo rking in p airs, t here ma y also b e a lack
of lang uage v ariety, and th e materials ma y determine w hat the stude nts do
or say. During pr actice stag es the te acher ma y intervene slightl y to help
guide a nd to p oint out in accurac y (see t he concep t of gen tle cor rection
in 6.3. 3 and 1 1.1.2 ).
Practice acti vities, then, o ften ha ve some featur es of bot h non –
communicati ve an d com municativ e acti vities a nd w e will conce ntrate on such
activities in Cha pter 7 .
Com municativ e acti vities a re those w hich ex hibit the ch aracte ristics at th e
90

communicati ve en d of ou r continu um. Students are s omeho w involved in
activities tha t give them both t he desi re 'to c ommunicate and a purpose
50
TEACHING THE PRODUC TIVE SKILLS
5.4.4
The relatio nship
between the
different stages
which in volves t hem in a varied use of la nguage. Such activities ar e vital in a
langua ge classr oom since h ere the stude nts can d o their b est to us e the
langua ge as indi viduals, ar riving at a degree of la nguage a utonom y. We will
look at a ctivities of this kin d in Chapte r 8.
A point can be made h ere a bout th e use of t he stud ents' o wn languag e
(rather than English ) duri ng pr actice and c ommunicativ e activ ities.
Particula rly where students work ing in pairs a nd gr oups sha re the same
native la nguage t here is a tend ency for them to revert to t hat langu age w hen
they find a task h ard. To some extent it will be thei r resp onsibilit y to make
sure this does n ot hap pen, an d the te acher w ill have to ex plain the
importance o f the acti vities ( and t he use o f English) to t he stud ents
(see 11.2.4 fo r a fulle r discussion of this point ).
There is a cl ear relationship between the int roduction and p ractice sta ges
whereas the r elations hip bet ween com municati ve acti vities a nd the
introduction a nd pr actice stages is n ot so clea r.
If teac hers int roduce new lang uage th ey will often w ant to p ractise it in
a cont rolled w ay. After an introd uction stag e, the refore, the y may use o ne
of the practice techniqu es we will look at in Chapte r 7 to gi ve the stu dents a
chance t o use th e new language in a cont rolled en vironment. Ho wever , the
practice stage w ill often not f ollow the int roducti on stage immediatel y; othe r
activities might inter vene bef ore st udents a gain w ork on the s ame lan guage.
By the natu re of c ommunicativ e acti vities, th ey are not tied t o the o ther
91

stages sinc e the y are desig ned to elicit a ll and an y languag e from the
studen ts. Two points ca n be made, tho ugh. F irstly, teache rs listening t o a
communicati ve acti vity may notice t hat a ma jority of students fi nd it dif ficult
to use t he same langua ge. B y noting t his fact the t eache r is in a positi on to
design a subsequ ent class in w hich the lan guage t he stude nts could n ot use is
focused on.3 There is, the refore, a na tural p rogression f rom comm unicati ve
activity to the intr oduction o f new lang uage.
Sometimes, of cou rse, the t eache r may have been work ing o n a ce rtain
area of lang uage w hich will be useful f or a f uture communicativ e acti vity.
Thus if studen ts hav e been looking at ways of inviting, fo r example, the y
will then b e able to u se that k nowledge i n a com municati ve acti vity that asks
them to write each oth er lett ers of in vitation.
It will of cou rse be the case t hat w hile not all pr esentatio n activ ities fall
exclusi vely at the 'n on-comm unicati ve' end o f the con tinuum, neither will all
the acti vities in Chapte r 8 ha ve exactl y the char acteristics o f com municativ e
activities, alth ough in g eneral the y will be f ollowed.
It is pr obabl y true th at at the very early stag es of lang uage lea rning
there is more intr oduction o f new language a nd pr actice than there are
communicati ve acti vities. This balance s hould cha nge d ramaticall y, howeve r,
as the s tanda rd of stu dents' English r ises. He re one wo uld expec t ther e to
be a h eavier emphasis o n practice and c ommunicativ e activ ities tha n on
presentation. However, this balance is o ften more th e result of decisions
about what the students n eed o n a pa rticular d ay in a p articula r situation ( as
we shall se e when w e discuss plannin g in Chapt er 12 ) than it is a decision
about the inte rrelation of sta ges. It sh ould be r emembere d, too, t hat
beginn ers sho uld rec eive a lar ge amount of r oughl y-tuned input ( see 4.3 ).
51
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
5.5
Integrat ing skills
5.6
92

Speaki ng and
writing
In 2.5 we discussed b riefly the fou r main lan guage ' skills' and it wo uld seem
clear t hat in a g eneral class it is the t eache r's re sponsibilit y to see that all
the skills a re practised. W e have made a di vision bet ween pro ductiv e and
receptive skills (see 2.5) s o that Ch apters 6 , 7, 8 d eal w ith the former
and Ch apter 1 0 with the latter .
This suggests th at in some w ay the skills a re sep arate a nd sho uld be
treated as suc h; on o ne da y students w ill conce ntrate on r eading, a nd
reading onl y, on th e next sp eaking an d only speaking, etc. In fact t his
position is cle arly ridiculous fo r two reasons. F irstly it is v ery often true that
one skill can not be p erformed without an other . It is impossible t o speak in a
conversation if y ou do no t listen as w ell, and peo ple seldom write without
reading – e ven if th ey only read w hat they have just w ritten. Secondl y,
thoug h, peopl e use dif ferent skills w hen dealing w ith the same subject fo r all
sorts o f reasons. Someone w ho listens to a lectu re ma y take no tes and t hen
write a report of t he lectu re. The same pe rson might also d escribe t he
lectur e to f riends o r colleagu es, and f ollow it up b y readin g an a rticle that
the lect urer suggest ed. Another c ase w ould be that o f a pe rson w ho reads
about a conce rt or play in the pape r and in vites a frie nd to g o to it. The
same person will probably read the p rogramme for the conce rt/pla y and talk
with his o r her guest. L ater h e or she ma y well write a l etter t o someone
telling of t he exp erience.
In thes e cases, a nd in man y more, the same exp erience o r topic leads to
the us e of man y different skills, a nd in ou r teac hing w e will try to reflect
this. W here stude nts prac tise rea ding w e will use t hat reading as the basis
for practising other skills. Students in volved in an o ral com municati ve
activity will have to do some w riting or reading i n ord er to a ccomplish th e
task w hich the acti vity asks t hem to perform. Stude nts w ill be aske d to
write, but on t he basis of readi ng, listening o r discussin g.
Often o ur acti vities will have a foc us on on e par ticular skill, it is t rue,
93

so that at a ce rtain sta ge the st udents w ill conc entrat e on r eading a bilities.
But the foc us can late r shift to one o r more of th e othe r skills.
In man y of the examples in the n ext fou r chapte rs the p rinciple o f
integ rating skills – where focus on o ne skill leads t o prac tice in anot her –
will be follo wed, and alt hough t here a re cas es where indiv idual skills ma y be
treated indi vidually the p rinciple of int egrati on is thou ght to b e important.
The next th ree ch apters in this book are c oncern ed w ith foc using acti vities
on spe aking or writing – altho ugh pr omoting skill integra tion at th e same
time. I n each ch apter ( Introducing n ew langu age st ructur e, Practice, a nd
Com municativ e acti vities ) there will be sectio ns on o ral pr oduction a nd on
written pro duction, alt hough in C hapte r 6 the re is less emphasis on wr iting
as a se parat e skill since its functio n is often t o rein force n ew langu age lea rnt
orally. This do es not mean, ho wever, that writing is c onsider ed in some
ways to be a 'lesse r' skill, an d both Ch apters 7 and 8 contain la rge sec tions
on th e learni ng of wr iting skills.
At this point it might be a good i dea to make some comparisons
between w ritten and sp oken English, since t he dif ferences i mply different
types of exercises which focus o n differen t aspects o f langua ge and d emand
different levels of co rrectness, fo r example.
52
TEACHING THE PRODUC TIVE SKILLS
Speakers h ave a g reat r ange of exp ressiv e possibilities a t thei r
command. Apart f rom the actual wo rds th ey use th ey can v ary their
intonati on and st ress ( see 2.1 ) which helps them to sho w which part o f what
they are sa ying is most importan t. By varying the pitch a nd intona tion in
their voice the y can clearl y convey their attitu de to w hat the y are sa ying,
too; t hey can indic ate inte rest or lack of it, f or example, an d the y can sho w
whether the y wish to be t aken se riousl y.
At any point i n a speec h event sp eakers c an re phras e what they are
saying; they can sp eed up o r slow down. This w ill ofte n be do ne in re sponse
94

to the feedback they are gettin g from their listeners wh o will sho w through a
variety of gestu res, ex pressions and inte rruptions tha t they do not
unde rstand. And in a face to face inte raction t he speak er can u se a w hole
range of faci al expressions, gest ures a nd gene ral bo dy langua ge to hel p to
convey the message.
Not all spe akers h ave the b enefit of s uch im mediate listene r feedback,
howeve r. Whilst even sp eech makers ma y be able t o discer n through th e
expressions an d atmosphere o f an a udience h ow their message is g etting
across , speake rs on th e teleph one, fo r example, ha ve to rely on the w ords
and t he use of intonatio n, pitch an d stress o nly, without bein g able to s ee
all the v isual clues that wo uld help t hem to know what the oth er pe rson w as
thinking.
Perhaps t he single most important d ifference b etween wr iting an d
speaking , however , conce rns the n eed fo r accu racy. Native speake rs
constan tly make 'mistakes' wh en the y are sp eaking. They hesitate a nd sa y
the same thing i n different wa ys and t hey often change t he subject of what
they are sa ying in mid-sentence. Clear ex amples of this ar e pro vided on
page 2 12. Except in e xtremel y formal situatio ns this is conside red n ormal
and acc eptable b ehaviour . A piece o f writing, h owever, with m istakes a nd
half-fi nished sen tences, etc . would be judged b y many native speake rs as
illiterate since it is exp ected tha t writing s hould be ' correct'. F rom the p oint
of view of languag e teachin g, the refore, the re is often far greate r pressure
for wr itten a ccurac y than the re is fo r accu racy in spe aking.
The w riter also suf fers from the disad vantage o f not g etting im mediate
feedb ack from the r eade r – and someti mes getti ng no fe edback at all.
Writers can not use int onation o r stress, and f acial exp ression, g esture a nd
body movement are d enied t hem. These disad vantages ha ve to be
compensated f or by greate r clarit y and b y the use o f grammatical and
stylistic techniq ues for focusing a ttention o n main points, etc. Pe rhaps most
importantl y there is a g reater ne ed fo r logical or ganisation in a piece o f
writing than th ere is in a conv ersation, fo r the r eader has t o unde rstand
95

what has been wr itten w ithout asking f or cla rification o r relying on th e
writer's ton e of v oice o r exp ression.
Lastl y there a re the twin problems of spelling and hand writing.4 English
spelling is n otoriousl y difficult for spe akers o f othe r langua ges, and
hand writing is pa rticula rly probl ematic fo r speake rs of la nguages s uch as
Arabic, F arsi, Chin ese and Ben gali w hich do n ot ha ve Roman sc ript.
When teac hing w riting, the refore, the re are special consi deratio ns to be
taken in to accoun t which include the o rganising o f sentenc es into
paragraphs, ho w paragraphs a re joined toget her, and the ge neral
53
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
5.7
Level
5.8
Conclusions
organisation o f ideas into a cohe rent piec e of discou rse. W e will be looking
at thes e are as in Chapt er 7. There is als o, of cou rse, a n eed fo r
communicati ve writing acti vities an d we will look at t hese in Ch apter 8 .
Students n eed to se e the dif ference be tween spok en and wr itten
English. In pa rt this w ill happen as a result of expos ure to listening a nd
reading material, b ut it w ill also be n ecessar y to provide exe rcises that deal
specificall y with featur es of spoke n and wr itten disco urse.
The thre e chapte rs dealin g with the p roductive skills w ill give exe rcises at
various lev els. In g eneral the emphasis w ill be o n beginn er an d elementar y
materials, acti vities a nd techni ques, but there will also be ex amples of more
intermediate a nd ad vanced material.
J
In this ch apter we have st udied th e natu re of communication in or der to
come to some conclusions ab out the t ype of ac tivities our s tudents s hould be
involved in.
We have seen a need f or acti vities t hat in volve the stud ents in ha ving a
96

communicati ve pu rpose, u sing lang uage f reely with no teache r inte rvention.
We have also said, however , that stu dents w ill nee d contr olled expos ure a nd
practice of ne w languag e.
We have stress ed the n eed fo r the in tegra tion of skills, sho wing ho w in
real lif e people s eldom work w ith on e skill only when dealing w ith a topic,
and w e have sho wn ho w speaking and writing h ave some major differences
which must be de alt with in a t eaching p rogramme.
Discussion
Exercises
1 Which do you think a re more importa nt in a lan guage le arning
program me; p ractice acti vities o r com municati ve activities? W hy?
2 Do y ou think tha t all speaking and wr iting has a 'purpose'?
3 If y ou were learnin g a fo reign lan guage w ould y ou like t o work with
your class mates w ith no teac her su pervision ? What advantages a nd
disad vantages w ould ther e be in suc h an acti vity?
4 Ho w importa nt is the wr itten skill fo r your students ? Ho w important
would it b e for y ou if you were lea rning a forei gn langu age?
5 In wh at ways is wr iting 'more dif ficult' t han spe aking? Do all st udents
find wr iting more dif ficult?
1 Think of any conversatio n you have had in t he last t wo days. What was
your purpose in tha t conv ersation, a nd w hat purpos e did the o ther
participant in th e con versation h ave?
2 Take an e xercise f rom an English langu age text book and say where it
would occ ur on t he com munication c ontinuum.
3 Take an y piece of r eading mate rial from an English text book an d think
of ho w it could be u sed fo r integ rated p ractice o f othe r skills.
4 Try and wr ite do wn some English y ou hav e heard u sed b y a native
speake r exactl y as he o r she said it . Then n ote the n umber of 'mistakes',
hesitatio ns, re -phrasings, cha nges of su bject, etc. t hat occur .
54
TEACHING THE PRODUC TIVE SKILLS
97

Refer ences
5 Take an y piece of wr itten English tha t explains h ow something w orks
and t hen w rite do wn how you might explain t he same thing o rally to a
friend. What differences w ould there be?
1 I am gra teful to Ja ne W illis for he r com ments on an ea rlier v ersion of
this pa rt of th e chapte r. I also f ound a t ransc ript of a t alk b y
John Sinclair e ntitled 'The Teaching of O ral Com munication' ( given in
Singapor e in April 1980 ) extremel y useful. See also C Ma nual Cue nca
(1990) w ho has a dif ferent list of charac teristics th at make up a
communicati ve acti vity, althou gh the a ctivities she desc ribes co uld equall y
well be d escribed b y the 'com munication c ontinuum7 in this ch apter .
2 W Little wood (1 981) di vides the st ages of le arning i nto pre-
communicative and comm unicative activities . Under pre-com municative
he has struct ural activities (similar to 'in troduci ng ne w language ' in this
chapte r) and quasi -communicative activities (similar to t he pr actice stag e
in 5.4. 2).
3 This procedu re as a gene ral app roach t o langua ge teachi ng is ad voca ted
by C Brumfit (1978) an d K Johnson ( 1980 ).
4 For comments on hand writing se e D B yrne (1988 ), Chapte r 12 a nd the
references quoted there.
55
6
Introducing
new language
struc ture
6.1What do we introduce ?
6.1.
1The p resenta tion of
meaning a nd use
6.1.
2Types of co ntext
98

6.2The p resenta tion of
structu ral form
6.2.
1Forms and p atterns
6.3A gene ral model for
introducin g new
language
6.3.
1Explana tion techni ques
6.3.
2Accur ate re production
6.3.
3Correctio n
6.3.
4The importanc e of meaning
6.4Disco very techni ques
6.5The positi on of wr iting
during
present ation
6.6Introduci ng ne w language:
examples
6.6.
1The stu dents' w orld
6.6.
2Stories
6.6.
3Situations
6.6.
4Languag e examples
6.6.
5Formulated inf ormation
6.7Concl usions
Exercises/Refe rences
In this ch apter we will
conside r ways in which
studen ts can be
introduced to new
99

langua ge – in particul ar
langua ge str uctures. For
the most pa rt this is the
conscious le arning
mentioned in 4. 1.3 and
which w e calle d
'finely-tuned i nput'
in 4.3. B y 'new'
langua ge w e mean
langua ge w e think
studen ts are n ot yet able to use (altho ugh w e will need to ch eck that
this is the c ase – s ee 6.3 ). The sta ge of th e lesson w hen ne w language
is intro duced is of ten called present ation.
6.1
Wha t do we
introduce?
6.1.1
The pres entation
of meaning an d
use
Our job at this st age of t he lesson ( aided b y the materials w e are u sing) is t o
present the s tudents w ith clear in formation abo ut the la nguage t hey are
learning. W e must sho w them what the lan guage means a nd ho w it is us ed;
we must also sho w them what the g rammatical form of the n ew langu age is,
and h ow it is said an d/or wr itten.
We do not onl y have to s how stude nts w hat language means, w e also ha ve
to sho w them how it is used. An example w ill explain t he dif ference
between these t wo concepts .
We all kn ow that t he pr esent conti nuous te nse (is doing) is used to
descri be actions t hat ar e taking pl ace no w. However, nati ve speake rs do not
use this t ense to d escribe p eople's actions all th e time. W e don't spend o ur
100

time sa ying 'Look . I'm opening t he door . I'm drinking a cup of t ea … etc '
That's not h ow we use the p resent co ntinuous. W e actu ally use it w hen
there is some point, some va lue in c ommenting on p eople's a ctions. So w e
might r ing home and say 'Oh, wh at's Jo hn doing a t the moment?' If s a
reasonable q uestion since we can't see him and don 't kno w the ans wer to
56
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.1.2
Types of context
, to
d;
is,
not
c'
e
our question. If we are demonstra ting a r ecipe to a TV audience w e might
then d escribe wh at we are doin g, e.g. ' … So no w I'm mixing the butt er an d
the flo ur .. . '*
What we are sug gesting he re is th at studen ts need t o get a n idea of h ow
the n ew langua ge is used b y native sp eakers a nd the b est w ay of doing this
js tojjresen t langua ge in context
The context f or int roducin g new lang uage sh ould ha ve a number of
characteristics. I t should sh ow what the new language means an d how it is
used, f or ex ample. That is w hy man y useful co ntexts ha ve the ne w languag e
being u sed in a wr itten t ext or a dialogu e.
A good conte xt should b e inte resting fo r the st udents. This doesn' t
mean that all th e subject matter we use fo r presentatio n should b e wildly
funny or inventive all of th e time. But th e students should at least w ant to
see o r hea r the inf ormation.
Lastl y, a goo d context w ill provide t he backg round for a lot of lan guage
use so t hat stud ents can us e the inf ormation not o nly for the re petition of
101

model sentences b ut also f or making thei r own sent ences (s ee immediate
creativity on pa ges 60 a nd 62 ).
Often t he textb ook w ill have all t he cha racteristics mention ed he re and
the te acher c an confid ently rely on the material f or the pres entation. But
the te xtbook is n ot always so a ppropriate ( see 1 2.1): f or a n umber of
reasons the in formation in th e book ma y not b e right f or our stud ents. In
such cases we will want to c reate our ow n contex ts for la nguage use.
Context means the situation o r j2Q_d y of info rmation wh ich eause&_lan guage
to be -used. There a re a number of dif ferent con text t ypes, but fo r our
purposes w e will conc entra te on th ree; the studen ts' world, the outsi de w orld
and formulated info rmation.
The students ' world can be a major source of conte xts for l anguag e
presentation. There are two kinds of st udents' world. Clearly we can use the
physical su rroundings that the st udents a re in – the class room, school or
institution. But classrooms and th eir ph ysical properties ( tables, ch airs,
windows, etc.) a re lim ited. The studen ts' lives are not const rained in the
same way, however, and we can u se facts a bout them, thei r famil ies,
friends and e xperie nces.
The outside wo rld provides us w ith rich co ntexts fo r presentatio n. Fo r
example, the re is an almost infinite n umber of stories we can use t o pres ent
different tenses. W e can also creat e situations where p eople spe ak because
they are in th ose situatio ns, or wh ere the w riter desc ribes some special
information. This is especiall y usef ul for t he pr actice of fu nctional lan guage,
for example.
We can ask stude nts to look a t examples of langu age which show the
new language in o peration, tho ugh this last catego ry can sometimes have no
context . These th ree su b-cate gories, s tory, situation o r language, c an
be simulated or real. Most teache rs are f amiliar w ith 'made-up ' stories which
are often us eful fo r class work: r eal sto ries w ork w ell too, o f cours e. In th e –
same way we can c reate t he simulation of an i nvitation dialo gue, fo r
example. But her e again we could also s how stude nts a r eal inv itation
102

dialogu e. In ge neral w e can sa y that real contexts a re better simpl y becaus e
57
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
they are real, but t hey may have complexities of lan guage a nd com-
prehensibilit y which can be a voided b y simulated con texts – lif e-like but
clearl y made -up to some exte nt.
C Fo rmulate d information refers to all that information w hich is presented
in the f orm of timeta bles, notes, charts e tc. Once a gain w e can use r eal
charts and timetables, g rowth statistics, etc. o r we can design o ur own which
will be just ri ght fo r our students.
There a re variations on these dif ferent kinds o f context , of cou rse, but
we can b roadl y summarise w hat we have said so far in the follo wing w ay:
CONT EXT
The student 's
world
physical
surroundin gs
The outside
world
studen ts'
lives
stories
Formulated
information
situations
R
RS
langua ge
examples
R
103

R
6.2
The prese ntation
of struc tural
form
[R = r eal/S = simulated]
Figure 9 Contexts fo r intro ducing ne w languag e
The context we choose w ill depend o n the t ype of lan guage b eing
introduced. If we are creati ng ou r own cont exts w e will have to decide
what is right fo r our students . Will they find th at an in vented sto ry is not
motivatin g enou gh? W ould the y rather have some re al information in c hart
form to pla y around with? Perh aps ou r studen ts are i n the ri ght mood for a
light-h earted si mulate d situation, however . It is dif ficult to ge neralise, a nd
teache rs shoul d be sensiti ve to the v arying degrees of motiv ation that
different contexts p rovide.
Finall y it is worth pointing o ut that la nguage c an be p resent ed in on e
context (e.g. a dialogu e) bu t then t he contex t may change fo r accu rate
reproducti on or immediate creati vity.
One of the teac her's jobs is to sho w how the n ew langu age is fo rmed^how
the g rammar w orks and h ow it is put t ogethe r. One w ay of doing t his is to
explain t he gr ammar in det ail, using g rammatical terminolog y and giv ing a
mini-lec ture o n the su bject. This seems pro blematical, t hough, f or two
reasons; firstl y man y students ma y find gr ammatical concepts dif ficult, a nd
secondl y it will only be possibl e in a monolingual g roup a t lower levels if the
teache r cond ucts the e xplanation in the stu dents' mothe r tongu e. In a multi-
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.2.1
Forms and
patte rns
lingual g roup s uch as thos e found in Britain, America, Australia, etc. suc h
explan ations fo r beginn ers w ill be almost impossible.
104

A more ef fective – and less frigh tening – way of presenti ng form is_to
let the s tudents s ee and/ or he ar the new lang uage, d rawing their att ention in
a number o f different ways to th e grammatical elements of which it is made.
For whilst ad vanced stu dents ma y profit f rom grammatical expl anations t o a
certain extent , at lo wer lev els w e must usuall y find simpler and more
transpare nt ways of gi ving stude nts grammatical information.
Before we intro duce an y new langu age w e should ha ve analysed the form
we are going t o teach ( how the ve rb is formed, ho w certain n ouns b ecome
plural, for e xample) and als o the g rammatical patte rn we are going to t each
it in.
Suppose, f or example, th at the n ew langua ge to be introd uced is the
third perso n singula r of the prese nt simple t ense (e .g. 'The Presid ent gets u p
at six o 'clock'); t he gr ammar point we wish to te ach is clea rly the occu rrence
of the 's' on the v erb stem. But we can use the thi rd pe rson singul ar of t he
present simple in all sorts o f differen t constr uctions ( e.g. 'He l oves his w ife',
'It never rains but it pours ', 'She li ves in G uadalajara', 'She g oes to wo rk by
bus on Wednes days', etc.). In t he first sentence we have a subject + v erb
+ object constr uction. The second se ntence, o n the ot her h and, has two
clauses; t he first h as an a dverb o f frequenc y, the seco nd does n't. The third
sentenc e has a s ubject, a v erb, an d an ad verbial ( 'in Gu adala jara'). The last
sentenc e has th ree a dverbials ( 'to wo rk', 'by bus' , and ' on W ednesda ys').
As teache rs and materials wr iters we will make a c hoice abo ut the
grammatical pattern in w hich w e will introduce the ne w grammar p oint. In
other words, w e might decide t o concent rate o n a patt ern o f sub ject +
verb + adverbial. This would pr oduce such sentences as 'He li ves in
Cambridge', e tc. The p oint abo ut such a p attern is that it is made u p of
chang eable units. In 2.2 we saw an interp retatio n of a se ntence, a nd w e saw
how we could cre ate dif ferent sente nces w ith the same s yntax si mply by
changin g the w ords. That is w hat we are doing he re.
We can demonstrate the p rinciple of p attern and ch angeable units using
our S(ub ject) + V(er b) + A(dverbial) patte rn in the following w ay:
105

PATTERNSUBJEC TVERBADVERBIAL
ExamplesHe
She
It
Johnlives
stays
happ ens
worksin Lon don
at home
in the t own
at the airpo rt
Figure 10
If, when w e introduce th e pres ent simple (third pers on singula r) for the first
time, w e stick to a p attern such as th e one sh own abo ve it will help stud ents
to focus on the n ew grammar point ( e.g. t he 's' o n the v erb). Students w ill
59
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.3
A ge neral mod el
for introducing
new language
very soon, ho wever, be a ble to us e the n ew verb tense in dif ferent pa tterns.
This can be t ried at t he im mediate cr eativ ity stage (see 6 .3), o r even befo re
with a g ood class.
The idea of c hangea ble units is th at the y allow us to c reate models for
the stu dents to work with. A model is an example of th e patte rn. Thus the
teache r who is introduci ng the p resent simple ( third p erson si ngular ) will ask
the stu dents to work with a number of s entences all o f which con form to a
patte rn such a s the su bject + v erb + a dverbial s equence a bove. This will be
during the acc urate reproductio n stage ( see pa ges 61 a nd 65 ). As soon
as possible , however , students will be encou raged to use t he pr esent simple
with oth er grammatical patte rns.
So far w e have consi dered the cha ngeable u nits for a grammatical
struct ure. F unctio nal langua ge, too, will often con tain the s ame kind o f
units. If we are teaching s tudents h ow to in vite, for example, we might
introduce the form 'Would y ou like to' + verb. The latter part o f this
patte rn is clea rly chang eable, so t hat w e can intro duce models such as
106

'Would y ou like to come to the cinema/ha ve lu nch/pla y tennis?', e tc.
Certai n phr ases w hich te achers in troduc e, or wh ich appe ar in t he
textbo ok, ho weve r, may not ha ve such chang eable units – or at least t he
choices ma y be v ery restricted. F or the func tion of a greein g, for e xample,
we can s ay T'd ag ree w ith you there'. The onl y real possibilit y for
substitutio n would be to sa y 'I'd go a long w ith you there'.
The teache r nee ds to be cle ar ab out ho w the langu age to b e presented
is said an d written. Thus the 's' of o ur present simple en ding someti mes
sounds like 's' (e.g. w orks, laughs , writes, etc.); sometimes it sounds like a
'z' (e.g. pl ays, says, lives, etc .) and someti mes it sounds like 'iz'
(e.g. watches, cl oses, catches , etc.). We may decide to introd uce these verbs
in a de finite or der d ependin g on the different s ounds of t he endi ng. W e will
not d o so, of co urse, if we think th e different s ounds w ill not cause
problems.
We must also w ork out h ow the models w e are goin g to int roduce a re
normall y stress ed so th at in sa ying them to the stud ents w e will give a clear
idea of correct spoke n English.
We can now look a t a gen eral model fo r intro ducing ne w languag e which
gives an o verall pict ure o f the p rocedu re. All the examples w e are goin g to
show in 6.6 follo w this model to s ome de gree.
The model has fiv e components: lead-in, elicitation, e xplanatio n,
accur ate re production, and immediate crea tivity.
During the lead-in the context is introd uced an d the meaning o r use o f
the n ew langua ge is demonstrat ed. This is th e stage a t which stud ents ma y
hear or s ee some languag e (includin g the n ew langua ge) a nd du ring w hich
studen ts ma y become a ware of c ertain key c oncepts. The ke y concepts a re
those pi eces of inf ormation abou t the con text that are v ital if students are to
unde rstand t he cont ext and t hus the meaning a nd use o f the n ew langua ge.
If we are int roducing a dialogu e in w hich a v isitor to a town is asking for
directi ons from a local r esident it will be necessa ry for the stu dents to
unde rstand t hat:
107

60
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
1 The speake r is a str anger .
2 He o r she d oesn't k now where something is.
3 He o r she is t alking to someone w ho liv es in the t own.
With this kno wledge the s tudents w ill underst and w hat the speak er is sa ying
(and why) in the follo wing dialogue :
VISIT OR: Excuse me!
RESIDE NT: Yes?
VISIT OR: Where's th e station?
RESIDE NT: It's o pposite th e hospital a t the en d of this st reet.
VISIT OR: Thank y ou very much.
RESIDE NT: Don't mention it.
In the case of f ormulated info rmation (such a s the ai rline timetable in
6.6.5 ( a)) it w ill be n ecessar y for stu dents to u nderstand th e concepts of
destinati on, via, de partu re and arrival, for w ithout th ese the y will not
unde rstand t he meaning of s uch sente nces as ' Flight 30 9 goes t o Paris'.
During the lead -in stag e the te acher c an also d emonst rate th e pro bable
cours e of an i nteracti on (p articula rly at more ad vanced le vels). An example
of this is 6 .6.3 ( a). Du ring the lead-in stage, t hen, w e introduc e our c ontext
(making sur e that ke y concepts a re underst ood) a nd sho w the ne w language
in use.
During the elicitati on stage t he teach er tries to see if the stu dents can
produce the new lang uage. If t hey can it wo uld clea rly be w asteful and d e-
motivatin g for t hem if a lot of time w as spent practisin g the lan guage t hat
they already know. At the elicitation sta ge – d ependin g on ho w well (and if)
the stu dents can produce the n ew langu age – t he teac her ca n decide w hich of
the sta ges to g o to next . If the st udents ca n't produce t he ne w language a t
all, fo r example, w e will move t o the e xplanation stage. If they can, but
with minor mistakes, w e may move to t he accu rate r eproduction st age to cle ar
up th ose pr oblems. If they know the ne w language b ut nee d a bit more
108

controlled pr actice in p roducing it we may move di rectly to th e immediate
creativity stage ( this is indicate d by the d otted lin es in Fig ure 1 1). Elicitation
is vitally important f or it gi ves t he teac her inf ormation upon which to act :
it is also moti vating fo r the st udents a nd acti vely involves their l earnin g
abilities. Elicitation tec hniques w ill be d etailed in o ur examples in 6 .6.
During the explanation stage the t eache r sho ws how the ne w language is
formed. It is h ere that w e may give a liste ning drill o r explai n something in
the stu dents' ow n langu age; w e may demonstrat e grammatical form on the
blackboa rd. In other words, this is w here the st udents lea rn ho w the ne w
langua ge is const ructed; we will look at ex planation t echniques in more
detail in 6 .3.1.,
During the accurate r eproduction stage st udents a re aske d to r epeat a nd
practise a ce rtain number o f models. The emphasis he re will be on the
accur acy of w hat the stud ents sa y rather than meaning o r use . Here t he
teache r makes sure t hat the students c an fo rm the n ew langu age co rrectl y,
getting the g rammar rig ht and p erfecti ng thei r pronunciation a s far a s is
necessa ry. We will look at a ccurat e rep roductio n techniq ues in det ail in
6.3.2.
61
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.3.1
Explanation
techniq ues
When the students a nd teac her a re con fident th at the stu dents can form
the n ew langua ge cor rectly they will move to immediate c reativity . Here t hey
try to use w hat they have just lear ned to make sent ences of t heir o wn,
rather th an sente nces w hich th e teache r or book h as intro duced as models.
It is at t his stage th at both t eache r and st udent ca n see if th e students have
really unders tood th e meaning, use a nd form of th e new lang uage. If they
are able to p roduc e their own sent ences the y can feel co nfident t hat the
presentation wa s a success. W e will see man y examples of im mediate
109

creativity in 6.6.
We can rep resent t he model for i ntrod ucing ne w language i n diagr am
form:
Students
perform
well
Lead –
inElicitati
onExplana
tionAccur ate
reproduc
tionImmedi
ate
creativit
y
Stude nts
perform
badly
Figure 11 A general model fo r introducing n ew langua ge
Notice ag ain that if t he stude nts pe rform well durin g elicitation t he teach er
can mo ve strai ght to im mediate c reativity. If at t hat stage they perform
badly the teache r may find it necess ary either to r eturn to a short a ccurat e
reproducti on stage o r, in ext reme cases, to r e-explain the new lang uage.
In 6.6 we will sho w how the model can be applied t o a number o f
presentation sit uations, man y of w hich are t aken f rom published text books.
The model can also be used fo r disco very activities ( see 6.4 ) thou gh
elicitation w ill take a slightl y different fo rm.
We will look a t two procedu res fo r explainin g the fo rm of the ne w language .
In bot h cases th e intention is to demonstra te to th e student what the
grammar of the c onstruc tion is.
(a) Explaining stat ements
In this cas e the te acher w ishes to ex plain the fi rst model based o n the flig ht
timeta ble on pa ge 87. The model is:
110

Flight 309 go es to Paris.
Here is a proc edure we can f ollow:
Stage 1 The te acher s ays the sen tence in a normal w ay with a cl ear v oice
using co rrect stress a nd inton ation. This may be do ne two or three
times.
62
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
Stage 2 The te acher isol ates a pa rticula r featu re of t he model.
Stage 3 The te acher dis torts t his featu re sho wing how it is const ructed .
Stage 4 The te acher r eturns to th e isolated el ement.
Stage 5 The te acher gi ves the n ormal model ag ain.
We can rep resent t his proc edure in Fig ure 1 2:
T
normalIsolati
onDisto rti
onT returns toT
normal
model isolat ed
elementmodel
Figure 12
Sometimes, however, the teac her ma y not h ave to disto rt the isolated
featu re (where it is only a on e syllable w ord).
Where there is more than o ne item that nee ds isolating t he teach er go es
through th e proc edure in Figu re 12 with the fi rst item to be isolat ed and t hen
repeats the s equence with the sec ond item.
The follo wing ex ample clea rly shows the pr ocedur e in action. The
teache r wishes t o isolate bo th the v erb form and the p ronunci ation of t he
flight number :
T: Listen .. . F light 30 9 goes to Paris . .. flight 309 go es to Paris …
listen … g oes … g oes … g o … /z/ … go … /z/ … goes . .. flight 3 09
goes t o Paris … listen . .. three-oh-nine . . . flight 3 09 goes t o Paris …
flight 30 9 goes t o Paris.
The teache r may back up this o ral ex planation b y writing the follo wing on
the black board:
111

FLughi 309 g c^jto PCLTIA.
The use of a box to h ighlight th e main grammar p oints helps t o focus th e
studen ts' atte ntion on t hat point .
(b) Explaining qu estion fo rms
When we have to d o the same kind of e xplanatio n for a questio n form w e
may follo w the same proc edure as fo r (a) abo ve. However, particula rly
where a ques tion fo rm is taug ht afte r the af firmati ve version of t he same
grammar point h as alrea dy been t he subject of practice, some extra
techniq ues ma y help the st udents to unde rstand t he form of th e question .
Unlike man y languag es English uses in version to si gnal a qu estion.
Thus if w e take a n affirmativ e sentenc e such as ' He is ru nning' w e find that
the e quivalent q uestion fo rm has the subject and th e auxiliar y in a dif ferent
order, e.g. 'Is he r unnin g?'. E ven w here w e put a qu estion w ord (suc h as
'which', ' what', 'ho w', 'when', etc. ) at the beginnin g of the q uestion t his
inversio n is still used. Stude nts of English f requen tly find this co nfusing.
When introducing a questio n teache rs will follo w the same p rocedu re
as fo r (a) abo ve. They will, however, isolate a nd disto rt in a slig htly
different way, and it w ill be a dvisable to us e the black board and/o r gestu re
to make the in version clea r.
63
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Suppose w e wished to ' explain' t he ques tion model 'Is he r unnin g?' W e
might d o it in the following w ay:
T: Listen .. . Is he r unning ? Is he r unning ? … listen .. . he is r unning? . ..
no (teache r shakes h ead a nd cross es arms in an 'inv ersion' gestu re) … Is
he running? … Is he r unnin g?
We can write the follo wing on the bl ackboar d at the same time:
//e [M\ ruonrwng.
[s\hz running ?
If we wished to p resent t he questio n 'Does flig ht 309 g o to Lo ndon?' we
would follo w the same proc edure as fo r the p revious ex ample. O n the
112

blackboa rd, however, we might wr ite the f ollowing:
FLught 30 9 goet t o Lor bdan.
Do&s\FCoght3 09 go to LcrrvdU m ?
The i mportance of visual demonstrati on for gramm ar cannot b e exagg erate d.
Many students r eact f ar bet ter to written s timuli, and i n the ex amples w e
have sh own the t eache r's use o f the black board (to hi ghlight important
featu res) h elps stud ents to u nderst and the n ew point b eing ta ught.
Once th e teache r has g one th rough an expla nation p hase he o r she w ill
then mo ve to a ccurat e rep roductio n.
(c) Using han ds and g estures
Teache rs can us e their hands a nd various gestu res to make g rammatical
form clear er.
One of the thin gs we often need t o do is to s how how a full
grammatical form is co ntract ed in speec h. Two examples sho w this
happ ening: 't hey are leav ing' becomes 'they're lea ving'; 'I wo uld ha ve come
earlie r' becomes T'd've come ea rlier'.
One w ay of explainin g this to b eginning st udents is t o use the fingers of
one h and to r epresent th e different parts o f the se ntence, e .g.
would
have
Figure 13
As we say the wo rds w e point to t he finge rs of th e hand wh ich re presen t
those wo rds.
64
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.3.2
Accurate
reproducti on2
Now we can show how 'I would have' bec omes Td've':
I'd've,
Figure 14
113

The use of t he finge rs has gi ven a g raphic desc ription t o the class.
We can also use fi ngers t o hold imaginar y words, rather like a magician.
For example w e can pretend to h old the w ord 'do' in o ne hand and ' not' in
the ot her. By bringing the h ands to gethe r we show how 'don't' is fo rmed.
Some teac hers us e gestu ring o ver thei r shoulde rs to indic ate the p ast
and p ointing ah ead of t hem to indicate fut ure tenses.
Finall y, arms can b e used to indicate int onation p atterns (risin g and
falling) and st ress patt erns, b eating time rat her like a conducto r in an
orchestra. This is especiall y useful for c horal r epetitio n.
As we said on p age 61 , the pu rpose o f an acc urate r eproduction stage is to
give stud ents cont rolled p ractice in t he fo rm of th e new language. W e will
look at t hree s tages of t his par t of the l esson, choral r epetition, individual
repetition and cue-r espo nse drills.
(a) Chor al rep etition
When we have explain ed a model as in 6 .3.1 w e ask the w hole class to
repeat the model to gether . This is chor al rep etition. The technique is useful
becaus e it giv es all th e students a chance to sa y the new lang uage
immediatel y, with the teac her co ntrolling t he spee d and t he stress . It giv es
studen ts confidenc e (where im mediate in dividual re petition might cause
anxiet y) and it g ives the t eacher a gene ral idea of whether th e students have
grasped the model.
There a re three thin gs to r emember ab out cho ral re petition:
1 Clea rly indicate ( by cond ucting) wh en the students s hould sta rt the
chorus.
2 Clea rly indicate t he cor rect st ress du ring the c horus.
3 Sta y silent d uring t he cho rus so th at you can hear how well the students
are performing.
If we take our model se ntence f rom 6.3.1 ( a) the chor us m ight g o something
like this:
T: {finishin g the expl anation ) Flight 309 go es to Paris
Paris … e verybod y. (T makes a gest ure).
114

SS: Flight 30 9 goes to Paris.
T: Again, (gesture)
SS: Flight 30 9 goes to Paris.
. flight 3 09 goes t o
65
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
We will have to decid e how man y chor uses w e need base d on such f actors
as the d ifficulty of the model, the students, etc.
Chor al repetition can als o be use d durin g cor rection ( see 6. 3.3(b )).
(b) Indi vidual repetition
Individual r epetiti on is conduc ted in th ree sta ges. The t eache r nominates a
studen t, the stu dent r esponds, and th e teache r gives fe edback. Nomination
(selecti ng the st udent ) can be d one b y calling the st udent's n ame or by
pointing , althoug h the latt er sho uld be d one w ith ca re so as to avoid c ausing
offence.
We can sum marise the proce dure f or indi vidual re petition in F igure 15:
T
nominat
e—
>
șS
respons
e—
*-T
feedbac
k
Ackno wledge
Show incor rectness
Figure 15 Individual r epetiti on
If we continue w ith our se ntence a bout flight 3 09 indi vidual rep etition might
be something like t his:
T: (finishi ng cho ral rep etition) Again.
SS: Flight 30 9 goes to Paris.
T: Good . . . no w Juan.
SI: Flight 309 go es to Paris.
T: Good . .. Myra.
52: F light 30 9 goes to Paris.
T: Yeah … (Tpoints to S3)
S3: Flight 309 go to Paris.
115

T: Flight 309 go ?
S3: Oh … flig ht 309 g oes to Paris. etc.
With the fi rst two sentences th e teache r gave feedback b y ackno wledging
that t he stude nt's re sponse w as correct. This w as done b y saying 'go od' an d
'yeah'. The t eacher might also say 'yes' or just nod. Some teachers say
nothin g at all, bu t pass on t o anot her stu dent. A lot depen ds on th e
individual st udents a nd the t eacher . The main thing is that the stud ents
should b e quite cle ar that the r esponse was cor rect.
S3, ho wever , made a mistake a nd so th e teache r did n ot ackno wledge a
correct r esponse, b ut rather s howed inco rrectness. W e will discuss cor rection
in more det ail in 6.3.3.
When con ducting indi vidual rep etition w e should be s ure th at we do
not n ominate st udents in a clearl y discernible o rder, for t his has th e effect
of making the d rill less exciting. The stud ents al ways know who is goin g to
be nominated a nd w hen. A random order, however , keeps th e inter est lev el
high since anyone could be n ominate d at an y minute.
(c) Ci
(c) Cue-r espons e drills
Cue-r espons e drilling t akes place wh en the s tudents a re working w ith more
66
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
than o ne model. W hen we have presented the firs t model and or ganised
choral and indi vidual re petition w e will elicit t he second model. I f the
studen ts can p roduce t he model w e might go str aight to c horal a nd
individual r epetitio n. If the y cannot w e may go through an e xplanation stage
again. W hen the re has b een ad equate r epetitio n of the second model w e
start a cue -respo nse drill in wh ich w e ask st udents to choose o ne of th e two
models based o n a cue.
We can sum marise this p roced ure in F igure 16:
116

T
elicitsT
explanatio
nChoral/indi vi
dual
repetitionCue-
response
drill
'
I
Students1
perform
well
Figure 16 Introducing sec ond an d subsequ ent models
A cue-response d rill is conduct ed in th ree stag es:
Stage 1 Ins truct: Tell the stude nts w hat you want them to d o. You might sa y
'tell me' to indic ate that y ou want a statement or 'questio n' to
indicate t hat y ou want a qu estion. Oft en the inst ruction is n ot
actuall y said , bat is un dersto od by the class.
Stage 2 Cue : Indicate which model y ou wish the studen t to sa y. You might
do this b y giving a cu e word. Thus y ou could sa y 'Paris' to g et the
response ' Flight 30 9 goes t o Paris.' You might mi me an ac tion. Thus
you coul d mime 'smoking' to get t he stude nt res ponse 'J ohn smokes
three packets a day'. You can als o point to a particular pict ure o r
give a n umber (where y ou have previously assig ned numbers t o your
models).
Stage 3 Nominate: Select th e studen t you wish to give the r espons e (see (b)
above).
We can now see t he w hole process d escribe d so fa r in ope ration:
T: (conducting in dividual re petition ) Juan.
SI: Flight 309 sto ps in M iami.
T: Good . .. now can anyone tell me about flight 3 09 and Miami
(indica ting the w allchari) . . . anyone?
S2: Flight 309 sto p in M iami.
T: Yes … good .. . but list en
stops in Mi ami … st ops ..
117

Miami .. . ev erybody.
SS: Flight 30 9 stops in Mi ami.
T: Good . . . Myra.
S2: Flight 309 sto ps in M iami.
T: OK … Keiko.
S4: Flight 309 sto ps in M iami.
(The teac her co ntinues to conduct in dividual re petition a nd then says …)
67
… flight 3 09 stops in Miami
stops … flight 309 stops in
flight 30 9
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.3.3
Correction
T: OK … tell me … Paris … Ju an.
52: Er .. . flight 30 9 goes to Paris.
T: Good . .. Miami … Myra.
S2: Flight 309 sto ps in M iami. etc.
Notice ho w the teac her d oes not dist ort th e word 'stops' in the ex planation,
presumabl y because he or sh e thinks it is no t necessa ry this time. Notice,
too, h ow the sec ond model is elicited.
The teache r starts the cu e-response d rill with an ins truction (tell me)
but d rops this t he next time bec ause all the students u nderstand th at this is
what is requir ed of th em.
When introducing s ubseque nt models the teac her w ill do less and
less expla nation, sometimes cutting it out completel y.
As soon as th e teache r is confid ent that the stud ents can manage the
cue-r espo nse drill, a nd w hen all the models (us ually between four and six
examples) ha ve been i ntrod uced the s tudents c an be p ut in pai rs.
One stu dent can now act as the teac her, giving the cue, and th e othe r can
give the respo nse. Then the seco nd stude nt giv es the cue and the firs t one
118

responds, etc. We would include this st age so t hat as man y stude nts
as possible get a ch ance to p ractise.
The teache r should make su re tha t this pai rwork sta ge does n ot last
too lon g, for if it does t he stude nts w ill probably lose inte rest.
In ge neral it must be emphasise d that th e accur ate re production stag e
should b e dealt w ith as quickl y as p ossible. If it g oes on f or too long th e
studen ts start t o get b ored a nd sta rt making more and more mistakes: th e
drill is th en completel y counte r-producti ve. The len gth of time w ill depen d
largely on the siz e of the cl ass and th e difficulty and n umber of models, but
it is ra rely advisable to conti nue the a ccurat e rep roducti on stage f or more
than t en minutes, and e ven that will often be excessiv e. After all, the
accur ate re production stag e is onl y there to e nable st udents to get to more
creative par ts of the l esson.
During the accu rate r eproduction p hase th ere a re two basic cor rection
stages: s howing inco rrectness (in dicating to t he stude nt that s omething is
wrong – se e 6.3.2 ( b)) and u sing co rrection techniqu es.
(a) Sho wing inco rrectness
This means th at we will indicate to the st udent t hat a mistake has b een
made. If the st udent u nderst ands this f eedback h e or s he w ill be able to
correct the mistake a nd this self -correction w ill be h elpful to h im or her a s
part of the l earnin g proc ess.
There a re a n umber of tech niques fo r sho wing incor rectness:
1 Repeatin g: Here we simply ask t he stude nt to r epeat w hat he o r she h as
just said b y using the word 'again'. This, said w ith a questioni ng
intonati on, w ill usuall y indica te that t he res ponse w as unsatisfacto ry
(although it co uld be misunders tood as o nly indicating t hat the teache r
has no t hea rd the st udent's r espo nse).
68
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
2 Echoing: We will be e ven clea rer if we repeat w hat the stud ent has just
said, usin g a questi oning into nation since t his w ill clearl y indic ate that we
119

are doubtin g the accu racy or conte nt of w hat is being said .
Sometimes we can ech o the complete stu dent r esponse, p robably
stressin g the p art of t he utte rance t hat w as incorrect, for example:
Flight 309 GO t o Paris?
Another possibilit y is to ec ho the st udent's r espo nse, but o nly up to
the p oint w here the mistake w as made, fo r example:
Flight 309 GO?
This was the tec hnique us ed in ou r example on p age 66. Echoin g, in its
various forms, is pro bably the most ef ficient w ay of sho wing
incor rectness.
3 Denial: We can simply tell th e student that th e resp onse w as
unsatisfac tory and ask fo r it to b e rep eated. This seems some what drier
than t he techni ques so fa r discusse d; it ma y be a bit more disc ouragi ng.
4 Questioning: We can sa y 'Is that c orrect?' askin g any stud ent in th e class
to ans wer ou r questi on. This has t he ad vantage o f focusing e verybody's
mind o n the p roblem, thoug h it ma y make the st udent w ho made the
mistake s eem some what ex posed.
5 Expression: Many teache rs indicate t hat a r esponse was incor rect b y their
expression o r by some gestu re. This is v ery economical (a nd can b e quite
funny) but ca n be da ngerous if the st udent t hinks that t he exp ression o r
gestu re is a fo rm of mocke ry.
In ge neral, s howing inco rrectness should b e han dled w ith tact and
conside ration. The pr ocess of stu dent self -correction w hich it pro vokes is an
important a nd useful p art of the lea rning p rocess. Sho wing incor rectness
should b e seen a s a positi ve act, in oth er words, not a s a re primand.
Frequen tly, however, we find that sh owing inco rrectn ess is not e nough
for the co rrection of a mistake or a n error and th e teache r may theref ore
have to use some cor rection t echniques.
(b) Using co rrectio n techniqu es
If stud ents ar e unable to cor rect th emsel ves w e can res ort to one of t he
following techniques.
120

1 Stude nt cor rects stud ent: we can ask if a nyone else c an giv e the cor rect
response. W e can ask if a nyone can 'help ' the stu dent w ho has made the
mistake. I f anoth er stu dent can s upply the c orrect info rmation it w ill be
good f or that stude nt's self -esteem. However, the stude nt who originall y
made the mistake ma y feel humil iated if this tech nique is use d
insensiti vely.
2 Teacher corrects stude nt(s): Sometimes we may feel that w e should tak e
charge of co rrecti on becaus e the stu dents a re ext remel y mixed-u p about
what the cor rect r esponse s hould be. In that c ase w e can re-explain th e
item of languag e which is causin g the t rouble. This w ill be especiall y
69
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.3.4
The i mportance of
meaning
appropria te when we see tha t a ma jority of th e class ar e hav ing the same
problem. After t he re -explan ation w e can move t o chor al and indi vidual
repetition (if necessa ry) before mo ving on .
The ob ject of u sing co rrection techniqu es, of cou rse, is to g ive the
studen t(s) a chance t o (kn ow how to) get t he ne w language r ight. It is
important, t heref ore, t hat w hen we have us ed one o f the t echniques
suggest ed abo ve, we ask th e studen t who originall y made the mistake to
give us a correct res ponse.
The stages o f correction w e have sho wn her e are e speciall y usef ul for
accur acy work, where the main focus is g rammatical cor rectness. Anothe r
possibilit y, however , for the immediate cr eativ ity stage a nd fo r practice
activities (s ee Chapt er 7) is gentle correcti on. This in volves s howing th e
studen t that something is wr ong, b ut not a sking fo r repetition (s ee 11.1.2 f
a more det ailed accou nt of co rrectio n at dif ferent stages a nd fo r differen t
activities).
It is und oubtedl y import ant fo r the stu dents to u nders tand th e meaning of
121

the n ew langua ge the y are lea rning. This is conv eyed during the lead -in
stage wh ere k ey concepts cl early demonst rate w hat is going o n (see
page 6 0). W e also n eed to kn ow whether the s tudents h ave und erstoo d the
new language so that w e can or ganise ou r teachi ng acco rdingl y. Not onl y
is the lea d-in sta ge vi tal, th erefo re, bu t it will also be n ecessar y for the
teache r to ch eck fre quentl y that the stu dents ha ve unde rstood. If the y havi
not w e will have to r e-present t he ke y concepts.
Checking meaning c an be d one in th ree w ays, information ch ecking,
immediate crea tivity and translation .
(a) Info rmation checking
The teache r will often n eed to find out if students h ave understo od the
information in t he lead -in, o r whether stud ents und erstan d what a model
means. W e can do this in a number of wa ys. We might, fo r example, ask i
questio n. An example o f this w ould be 'Does Ca rlos like spa ghetti?' (see
page 7 4). If the stu dents ans wer ' Yes' they clearl y haven't unde rstood t he
way the c hart o n page 74 is or ganised, o r they haven't unde rstood t he
meaning of th e new lang uage. Anothe r way of checking is to s ay sentenc es
which a re inco rrect, e .g. 'Ca rlos likes spag hetti but h e does n't like fish' . Tl
studen ts will then, if t hey have unders tood, co rrect this er ror. The same
effect can b e crea ted b y reading s tudents ' models and asking t hem to say
whether the y are true o r false ( see 6. 6.5(a )).
(b) Immediate c reativity and different s ettings
The i mmediate cre ativity stage is a good in dicator o f whether or not
studen ts hav e underst ood the meaning and use of the n ew langu age (a s we
of cou rse, as its f orm). W e ma y ask stu dents to p roduce sente nces of th eir
own even befo re we get to this st age in o rder to check t hat the y have
unde rstood t he ne w language .
Another good ch eck of meaning is to a sk the stu dents something usi nj
the n ew langua ge w hich is no t part of the c ontext th at is being u sed fo r th<
70
122

INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.4.
Disc overy
techniques
presentation. Thus, fo r example, if the t eache r intro duces 'ca n' and 'can't '
with the ki nd of simulated sto ry contex t we mentioned o n page 5 7 he o r she
may ask ( at any stage d uring t he pr esentatio n) 'Ju an, can y ou run?'. Unless
Juan h as brok en his leg o r is in some w ay disa bled he sh ould ans wer ' Yes'
to this q uestion. If he does the teac her is co nfident t hat he h as unde rstood
the meaning o f 'can' that is bei ng intr oduced.
(c) Translation
Where the teac her is te aching a monolingu al class, tr anslation is o bviously
an exc ellent techni que if the teache r is fluent i n the stu dents' la nguage. The
main advantag es are t hat it is quick a nd ef ficient.
There a re, ho wever, two disadv antages to th e use of t ranslati on: the
first is t hat it is not r eally possi ble w ith groups of d ifferent n ationalities,
althou gh w here the re are two or more speake rs of a languag e one st udent
can t ranslate f or the othe rs, and s econdl y it is no t always possible to
translate exactl y. Not all la nguages h ave words fo r exactl y the same
concepts , and it is o ften the case that in a gi ven l anguag e ther e is not r eally
a word w hich means the s ame as a word in anoth er lang uage.
In ou r model for in troduci ng ne w language ( see 6. 3) we saw how the
teache r creates a co ntext ( or us es one f rom some materials) a nd elicits
langua ge w hich is th en giv en as models for the students to repeat. The
whole procedu re is basic ally teache r-led sinc e it is the t eacher 's job to
explain t he langu age an d conduct a cue-r espo nse drill b efore mo ving q uickly
to im mediate c reativity and pair work ( where t he stude nts star t to take o ver
control a bit ).
Discovery t echniques ? on th e othe r hand, aim to gi ve students a chance
to take charg e earlie r. The ide a is si mple: gi ve students a listening o r
reading text – or some examples o f English sentenc es – an d ask them to
123

discov er how the languag e works. We might giv e stud ents a tex t which is a
story, for example, and we could th en ask them to look a t it again to see
how man y ways they could find i n it for r eferring t o the p ast. They could
listen to a tape a nd w rite down any sentences which had ' if in them. Then
they could see if th ere w as any pattern to those se ntences.
What is bein g suggest ed is that t here is a range of tec hniques w here t he
teache r gets t he stud ents to d o most of the w ork. There are good
peda gogical and methodological r easons fo r this since the stud ents w ill be
more inv olved and since t his kind of acti vity invites them to use t heir
reasoning p rocesses.
The use of disc overy activities does n ot mean that ou r model in 6.3
should b e chang ed, ho wever. In g eneral we can still sa y that w e should giv e
studen ts a lead -in to th e topic, te xt or c ontext. But th e elicitation st age w ill
be dif ferent. Inst ead of sa ying 'Can a nyone tell me … Shiona …
yesterday . . . N ew Zeal and go . ..' to g et the se ntence 'Shio na w ent to
New Zealand y esterda y' we get s tudents t o look at t he material an d,
working indiv iduall y or in pai rs, the y find examples of the gramm ar we are
interested in. W hen the te acher a sks them what the y have fou nd and
discusses th e langua ge w ith them we have reac hed an e xplanatio n stage, b ut
becaus e the te acher is t alking w ith the students (rather t han to t hem) the
71
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.5
The position of
writing dur ing
prese ntation
process appe ars to b e more egalita rian, less d ictatori al (see t he discussion o r
the role of t he teach er in 1 1.1).
Of cou rse disco very techni ques ar e not suit able fo r all stude nts on all
occasions. F requentl y this probl em-sol ving app roach tak es more ti me th an a
more cont rolled p resentati on. And althoug h studen ts ma y be very involved
124

there is not t he kind of d ynamic tension that makes w hole-class
presentations s uch fun (w hen t hey go w ell). It is also t rue that desig ning
material fo r discov ery activities – o r findin g a text t hat w ill suit this
approach – is far e asier a t intermediate a nd ad vanced le vels t han it is w hen
teachin g beginn ers.
Despite some of th ese app arent d rawbacks, the us e of disco very
activities is a w elcome alte rnative to othe r types of pres entation: if it instils
an inte rest in la nguage and g rammar in o ur stud ents o ver and a bove their
learning of English, so much th e bette r!
In the examples of teachi ng contex ts and p rocedu res in 6 .6 some of our
examples w ill be of t he 'disco very' type.
In this ch apter we have been ad vocating a p rimaril y oral a pproach in w hich
the fi rst thing st udents d o with the l anguag e is to sa y it. At an y stage,
howeve r, the te acher ma y ask th e studen ts to w rite the ne w languag e.
Often t he teach er will use t he w riting as rei nforcement fo r an o ral
presentation s uch as th e type we have so fa r desc ribed. Thus eithe r
immediatel y befo re or afte r the im mediate c reativity stage the t eache r asks
studen ts to w rite sentenc es using th e new lang uage. The sentenc es ma y be
the o riginal models the t eache r used d uring t he accu rate r eproduction sta ge,
and t he stude nts m ight b e asked t o cop y these sente nces from the
blackboa rd. They might se e the same sente nces, but t he teac her might lea ve
out ce rtain w ords ( this is com monl y called a fill-in exercise).
The students might b e sho wn model sent ences and then b e asked to
write similar sent ences of t heir o wn. This is a wr itten v ersion of t he
immediate cre ativity stage. The stude nts m ight s ee a sho rt piece of conn ected
writing using the n ew langu age an d then b e asked t o write a similar piec e.
This is often called parallel w riting.
All of these tec hniques h ave thei r merits, althou gh cop ying is often
unchalle nging an d borin g. The main object, though, is t o rela te the sp oken
and wr itten fo rms of the ne w languag e, and t o enable t he stud ents to wr ite
the n ew patte rn as w ell as say it.
125

Sometimes, of cou rse, w e may want the students only to wr ite the n ew
langua ge, not s ay it. In this c ase w e might go th rough the ex planation p hase
in the n ormal way, but then, after giving a clea r written model w e can ask
studen ts to w rite sentenc es using on e of the techniqu es mentioned abo ve.
Where students wr ite in class a s part of the in troduc tion of n ew
langua ge it is ofte n advantageous t o 'co rrect' the w ritten w ork in fro nt of
the w hole class. One u seful w ay of doing t his is to ask th e students to do t ht
written w ork in their b ooks. W hen w e see that a stude nt has finish ed
(before t he othe rs) we ask him or her to wr ite the fi rst sente nce on t he
blackboa rd. The second st udent wr ites the s econd se ntence, a nd so on .
When all th e sentenc es are o n the b oard we go th rough them one by one,
asking th e class if the y are co rrect. If the y are not we can a sk anoth er
72
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.6
Introducing new
language:
example s
6.6.1
The students '
world
studen t to w rite the co rrect s entence o r correct t he sent ence ou rselv es. This
techniq ue is pa rticularl y useful since it gi ves the stud ents fee dback, an d
allows the t eache r and t he w hole class t o focus o n grammar points if suc h
focus is n ecessar y.
We will see a number of d ifferent w ays of intr oducing wr iting du ring th e
presentation s tage in 6 .6.
In this sec tion w e will look a t a number o f examples of lang uage
presentation. We will conside r procedu res fo r intro ducing ne w languag e
unde r five headings: the studen t's world, stories, sit uations, la nguage
examples and formulated info rmation.
126

In this sec tion w e will look a t examples that n eed onl y a teacher , the
studen ts and th e classro om.
\
(a) Physical sur roundin gs: pre positions
In this e xample t he teach er uses a n app roach much like Total Ph ysical
Response (see p age 36 ) to teach imperati ves a nd pr epositions.
The teache r starts by producing s ome objects. They can b e very
ordinary, for e xample a stapler , a pen, a bag, a pencil, a p encil case, e tc.
The teache r elicits the words for thes e objects from the studen ts and if t hey
do no t kno w them models the w ords and l eads cho ral and/ or indi vidual
repetition.
The teache r gives one of th e objects ( a book, f or ex ample ) to one of
the b etter st udents a nd then says something like 'Put th e book o n the ta ble.'
If the s tudent d oes not u nderstand th e teache r helps b y pointing and b y
gestu re. W hen the stude nt has p ut the b ook on th e table t he teach er sa ys
'Well done' a nd then chooses a nothe r studen t who is told t o 'Put the r uler
in the b ox', etc . As the students g radually do w hat they are asked t hey are
getting wonderful listening p ractice.
The teache r now asks the stud ents if the y can gi ve inst ructions, thus
eliciting the new lang uage. W hen the stud ents gi ve their inst ructions t he
teache r will decide wh ether it is necessa ry to int errupt and model some or
all of th e new lang uage o r whether to mo ve st raight o n to the immediate
creativity stage w here stu dents a re giving wh atever instructi ons the y want
(within reaso n!).
As a written stage th e teache r can wr ite up s ome inst ructions o n the
board as models. Students c an no w be asked t o write their o wn instructio ns
which the y give to th eir classmates w ho then ha ve to do w hat is w ritten
there (se e 8.2.1 ).
(b) Likes an d dislikes
This presen tation w ill consist o f two stag es. In th e first stu dents w ill learn to
127

say 'Do y ou like____ ?' and in the sec ond the y will be pres ented w ith 'He/she
likes/doesn 't like___ _'.
The teache r starts the se quence b y asking stud ents 'Do y ou like cof fee?' .
With mime and exp ression h e or s he w ill soon co nvey the meaning o f the
questio n and a s tudent w ill answer 'Yes' or 'No '. The t eacher then g ets
73
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
choral and indi vidual re petition of t he ans wers (' Yes I do/No, I d on't') if
this is necess ary. For a very brief perio d the te acher a sks students questions
and t hey give their ans wers. Then the te acher elicits t he ques tion ( which the
studen ts hav e heard t he teach er usin g). If n ecessar y the qu estion is
explaine d and t he teach er go es thro ugh the accura te reproduc tion stage ,
cueing st udents t o ask and a nswer different q uestions. The studen ts then
work in pairs d oing the s ame thin g. This is a fo rm of immediate crea tivity.
While the stu dents a re working in pai rs the t eacher puts the following
on th e blackboa rd:
NAMEFI5HCAVIA
RSPAG
HETTILIVERBANA
NAS
The teache r selects a student, for example, Ca rlos, an d puts his n ame in t he
name column. The othe r stude nts no w ask h im whether he likes the items
on th e chart and th e teache r puts a tick (,/ ) if he d oes and a cross ( x) if h e
doesn 't. The p roced ure is n ow repeated w ith other students u ntil the ch art
looks like this:
NAMEFISHCAVI
ARSPAG
HETTILIVE
RBANA
NAS
Carlos1/I/-XVX
MariaVXVX
J~UC
U1XXS
Cel'un\SV V
128

The teache r then asks the st udents w hat the y can say about Carlos a nd fish,
hoping to elicit 'Ca rlos likes fish'. This ne w presenta tion (o f the thi rd pe rson
singula r of the prese nt simple w ith 'likes') now proceeds in t he no rmal w ay
using Ca rlos' likes a nd dislikes fo r the acc urate r eproduction stage a nd the
others' preferences fo r immediate cr eativ ity, very like the flight timetable
example on pa ge 87. The teach er can l ater int roduc e the qu estion 'Do es
Carlos like fis h?', etc .
For the in troduc tion of wr iting the t eache r can use the fill-in i dea
(see (a) abo ve) or the stud ents can se e the follo wing model:
Carlos Lik es -Pish, CCOVUL T and Lever , but
he do esn't Uke s paghetti o r bananas.
They can the n be aske d to w rite si milar s entences a bout o ne of th e othe r
names on the list. This is a simple form of parallel w riting.
This type of p resent ation seems en joyable and motiv ating since it
immediatel y involves th e studen ts in talking a bout th emsel ves. The same
type of proce dure c an be us ed w hen teaching s uch langu age as ' It
looks/smells/tastes___ _', 'Ha ve you ever been to/visited/se en____ ?',
74
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.6.2
Stories
'What do you do/Where do you live?', etc. W e will see ho w questionnai res
(which are similar) c an be us ed in 7.1. 5(c) and 8. 4(a).
(c) Student li ves: bi rthda y chart/birthda y line
This activity shows another wa y in which th e studen ts themselv es can be
used t o help th e pres entation o f new language inclu ding the a ccurat e
reproducti on and imm ediate creati vity stages.
The teache r wishes to prese nt and t each numbers f or us e in dates
(e.g. Janua ry the t hirty-first, etc ). The p resen tation can start w ith a figu re
on th e boa rd and t he questi on 'When's her b irthday?' To help st udents
unde rstand t he teac her ca n dra w a quick bi rthda y cake like this:
129

or (in a monolingual cl ass) sing a snatch o f the t raditional bi rthda y song.
The teache r then says 'Her birth day's on April t he thirti eth' ( for example ).
The teache r now teaches th e numbers. He o r she c an hold u p different
numbers of o bjects and the stud ents ha ve to sa y 'first', 'second' , 'thir d', etc.
Then the t eacher elicits the names of t he months and g ets cho ral and/o r
individual r epetitio n so that t he stud ents' p ronuncia tion can b e worked on.
The teache r can wr ite dat es on the board (e.g. 24/5 f or Ma y the t went y-
fourth) a nd cond uct a cue -resp onse d rill by indicating t he numbers a nd
having t he stude nts sa y the dates co rrectl y.
The teache r now elicits t he questi on 'When's your birthday?' and gets
studen ts to re peat it.
Now the st udents' own lives get involved as t he teach er tells t hem tha t
they have to ge t in a line f rom January the first to December th e thirt y-first
depe nding on t heir bi rthda ys. In order to do this t hey have to ask ' When's
your birthd ay?' and giv e the answer.
The ensuing a ctivity is chaotic a nd ofte n fairl y noisy, especiall y in a big
class, but it is also fun. The teach er go es aro und making sur e that th e
studen ts ask and a nswer in English and g raduall y a line is fo rmed. Then the
teache r checks t hat stud ents ha ve got it ri ght b y conducting a q uestion a nd
answer drill w hile students a re still in th e line.
This activity is an example of a way to us e details ab out the s tudents a s
the raw material fo r a lesson . It is a lot more i nvolving tha n simply asking
about other people 's birth days – though t hat too ma y have its uses.
In the following th ree ex amples w e will see how different types of stori es
are used to p romote the p resentation a nd pr actice of ce rtain st ructur al
patte rns, th ough th e third e xample is to a la rge exte nt a 'f alse' pr esentatio n.
(a) Sylvie4
In the following ex ample on page 7 6, a sto ry and s ome pictu re prompts
provide the co ntext fo r the p ractice o f negati ve questions .
75
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
130

cold w ater
Ask and ans wer, like this:
dropped h er camera sunbu rnt
1
Read this a bout S ylvie and look at
the pict ures.
Sylvie is o n holida y. Yesterda y she
said, Tomorro w I'm goin g to get u p
early and go s wimming. Befo re
lunch I 'm going to take s ome
photo graphs. In the afternoon I 'm
going t o lie in the s un and wr ite
postca rds. In t he evenin g I'm going
to watch telev ision.'
Now it is the a fternoon. S ylvie
isn't wr iting postc ards a nd she ca n't
lie in the s un. This e vening she isn 't
going t o watch tel evision. In th e
morning S ylvie didn't get up e arly,
she did n't go s wimming an d she
didn't take an y photog raphs.
The teache r asks th e students to read the t ext. The t eache r can sa y 'get up
early?' to p rompt the qu estion 'Did sh e get u p earl y?', 'ph otogr aphs' t o
prompt the question ' Did she tak e any photogr aphs?' o r 'television' to
Why
didn't Sylvie take
photo graphs this morning?
–
Becaus
eshe d roppe d her
camera.
Why
can'tSylvie lie i n
131

the su n?
–
Becaus
eshe is sun burnt .
76
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
prompt the question ' Is she g oing to w atch tele vision? ' The a nswers w ill
obviousl y be 'no '.
The teache r will then wa nt to t ry and elicit t he neg ative questi on by
saying 'C an an yone ask " why"' to see if an y of the stu dents can ask 'Why
didn't she get u p early?'. If st udents se em comfortabl e with this qu estion
the te acher c an pr ompt th e use of t he oth er qu estions and answers. If the y
seem to be ha ving tro uble the t eache r can model the q uestion b y saying
'Did S ylvie get u p earl y? (No). Why? Why didn' t she get up ea rly?' etc.
If the s tudents n eed p ractice th e teache r can co nduct a q uick questio n
and a nswer drill befo re putti ng the st udents in p airs to p ractise w ith the
six models.
For an im mediate c reativity stage the t eache r can enc ourage the
studen ts to ask e ach othe r 'Did y ou get up early? Did you do y our
home work last ni ght? Are y ou going to watch TV this e vening?' If t he
answer is 'no ' they can go on t o ask ' Why didn't you do your home work last
night? ' etc.
(b) Martha5
This materi al, from a book p ublished man y years ago, is perhaps the p erfect
example of ho w teache rs can cons truct st ories w hich will not onl y provide a
good c ontext f or lang uage p resent ation, but also pr ovide the r aw material
for a large number of la nguage models.
The teache r tells the class the follo wing stor y:
„––—ș—> -^~~———x ^~^~
"A Series o f Coinci dences"
Quite b y chance Martha w ent into a cof fee-b ar
one Satu rday morning wh ere s he hap pened t o
132

meet an old f riend of hers wh o was goin g to the
races . His girl-friend wa s ill and he d id not f ancy
going al one, so h e asked Martha to come. She
had never been bef ore.
She decided to bet 1 0 shillings on a hors e called
"Dublin Bo y" simply beca use she h ad once
spent a very pleasant h olida y in that city. How-
ever, when she g ot to th e betting -window, all
she ha d in he r purs e was a £ 10 note. She did not
realise she could a sk for c hange a nd hesita ted.
The man behind he r shou ted "Hu rry up!",
Martha bec ame ne rvous a nd confus ed and b et
the w hole £10.
The odds o n the ho rse w ere 100— 1. At the last
fence it wa s run ning secon d. The lea ding ho rse
sudde nly stumbled and fell, a nd "Du blin Bo y"
won. When Martha w ent to collect he r £1,000,
a tele vision -reporte r hap pened t o hea r what had
happ ened be fore.
That ev ening she w as interviewed on a ne ws
program me. The regula r inte rviewer wa s ill and
his place wa s taken b y a young man w ho fell in
love with Martha. They got married sh ortly
afterwards a nd no w have three child ren.
77
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Comprehensio n questions are then aske d to check t hat the s tudents h ave
unde rstood t he sto ry, e.g. 'Did Martha plan to meet he r old f riend? W as
her old frie nd's gi rlfriend at the c offee bar ? Had M artha b een to D ublin on
holida y?' etc.
The teache r now asks the stud ents if an yone can make a se ntence w ith
133

'if, 'M artha', 'c offee bar ' and ' old frie nd' to p rompt the r espons e 'If
Martha ha dn't g one to t he cof fee ba r she w ouldn't h ave met her old frien d.'
If stud ents ha ve difficulty with this sente nce, the t eache r can b reak it u p
into segments, e .g.
T: Listen .. .. would not ha ve met . . . wo uld not h ave met . . . (makes
gestu re for cont raction) wouldn't've met … w ouldn't' ve met …
everybody
SS: Wouldn't 've met etc.
The teache r can gi ve more prompts, e. g. 'holida y in Dublin … ' 'won a lot
of mone y … int erviewed' etc. to p rompt more sente nces.
This story can provoke a lot of (not v ery serious) s entences, including
the inc redible ' If Martha h adn't g one to t he cof fee ba r she wo uldn't h ave
had t hree c hildren '!
This is the kind of teaching mate rial that co uld be use d for wh at one
colleagu e describ es as 'p ressu re teachin g'. Faced w ith younger studen ts
who are most relucta nt to talk a nd pa rticipate h e pla ys games w ith them
which fo rce them to pa rticipate. I n one e xample (which w ould be ap propriate
here) he makes th em all stan d up. They may only sit down when the y have
given a c orrect sente nce. Ev en w ith big cl asses this can b e great fun,
provided that the teac her d oes it w ith humour , not cruelty!
(c) Geor ge's Marvellous Medic ine6
There is n o reas on w hy teac hers sh ould lim it themsel ves to s tories f rom
their textbook or sto ries w hich they invent. There are tapes an d books all
over the place which can p rovide a rich r esou rce for more adv ance d classes.
In this e xample o f a disco very activity (see 6.4 ) the t eacher asks the
studen ts to decid e on an a djective to d escribe g randmothe rs (they will
frequentl y come up w ith words like ' nice' a nd 'wise'). They are now asked
to read the following ext ract f rom a children 's book calle d
George's M arvellous M edicine by the w ell-known writer Roald D ahl. Their
only task is t o decide o n an a djective which desc ribes this grandmother .
'You kno w what's the matter with you?' the ol d woman said,
134

starin g at Geo rge o ver the rim of the te acup w ith those bri ght w icked
little e yes. 'You're growing too fast. Bo ys who grow too fast b ecome
stupid a nd laz y.'
'But I can 't help it if I 'm growing fas t, Gra ndma,' Geor ge said.
'Of co urse y ou can,' s he snapp ed. 'G rowing's a nast y childish
habit. '
'But w e have to grow, Gra ndma. If we didn' t grow, we'd ne ver be
grown-ups. '
'Rubbish , boy, rubbis h,' she s aid. 'Lo ok at me. Am I growing?
Certai nly not.'
78
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
'But y ou did once, G randma.'
'Only very little,' the old w oman ans wered. ' I gave up gro wing w hen
I was extremel y small, along with all the o ther n asty childish h abits like
laziness an d disobedi ence and greed and slo ppiness an d untidiness a nd
stupidit y. You haven't gi ven up a ny of thes e things, h ave you?'
'I'm still only a little b oy, Grandma.'
'You're eight y ears old, ' she sn orted. 'That's old e nough t o kno w
bette r. If you don't st op gr owing soon, it'll be to o late.'
'Too la te for what, G randma?'
'It's ridiculous, ' she w ent on. ' You're ne arly as tall as me already.'
George took a good l ook at G randma. She cert ainly was a very tiny
person. Her legs w ere so sho rt she h ad to h ave a foo tstool to p ut he r feet
on, a nd he r head o nly came half-w ay up the b ack of the armchair .
'Dadd y says it's fine f or a man to b e tall,' G eorge said.
'Don' t listen to y our da ddy,' Gran dma said. 'Listen t o me.'
'But ho w do I stop m yself gr owing?' G eorge asked h er.
'Eat less choc olate,' G randma said.
'Does ch ocolate make y ou grow?'
'It makes y ou grow the wrong way,' she snappe d. 'Up inst ead of
135

down.'
Grandma sipp ed some tea but never took he r eyes from the little bo y
who stood befo re he r. 'Never grow up,' sh e said. 'Al ways down.'
'Yes, Gra ndma.'
'And stop e ating ch ocolate. Eat cab bage inst ead.'
'Cabb age! Oh n o, I do n't like cab bage,' Geor ge said.
'It's n ot what you like or don't like,' Gr andma snapped . 'It's wh at's
good f or you that co unts. Fr om now on, y ou must eat cabba ge th ree times
a day. Mountains of c abbage ! And if it's got c aterpilla rs in it, so much
the b etter! '
When the students h ave decid ed in pai rs and/ or groups w hat adjective t hey
wish to us e the te acher disc usses thei r choices w ith the w hole class. The
teache r now asks the stu dents to fi nd an y sentences w ith 'if in them and
work out ho w they are different a nd w hat they mean.7 They can work on
this in pai rs very much as a problem-solving acti vity.
The sentenc es the y will find in the text are:
1 'But I c an't hel p it if I'm growing fast, G randma,' Geo rge said.
2 'If we didn' t grow, we'd ne ver be g rown-ups.'
3 'If you don't stop g rowing soon, it'll b e too lat e.'
4 'And if it 's got cat erpilla rs in it, so much the b etter!'
The teache r can t hen check u p on th e studen ts' conclusio ns, making
sure they iden tify the p resent a nd likel y nature of sentence 1 which is
represent ed by the use of p resen t tenses; t he hypothetical but g enerally
present nat ure of sentence 2 which, in o rder to sign al that h ypotheticalit y
uses pas t tenses; t he futu re an d likel y natu re of se ntence 3, signified b y
present tens es and ' will'; and th e use of t he pr esent to talk abou t a gen eral
condition in sentenc e 4 (a nd the v erbless cla use w hich goes w ith it).
If necess ary the teache r can wr ite gr ammar tables, etc. on t he boa rd
before enco uragin g studen ts to make sentenc es of thei r own expressing the
same time and/ or de gree o f hypotheticalit y as th e examples. Fo r example
79
136

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.6.3
Situations
the te acher c ould sa y things like ' Why are you looking so glum?' a nd the
studen t has to r eply with 'I can't help it if … ' in sent ences like 'I c an't h elp
it if I'm feeling d epresse d'. The type 2 co nditional ( example 2) ca n be use d
to sa y what peopl e would do if the y won money, they were prime minister ,
they met the man or woman of thei r dreams, etc.
The point a bout this kin d of acti vity is th at it is in some w ays a 'false'
presentation: we know that stude nts w ill be able t o find th e sentenc es and
we expect that w e can discuss g rammar a nd meaning w ith them (as oppose d
to be ginners wh o would find it more dif ficult). They will pro bably have seen
all these g rammatical pat terns b efore, but w e are focusing on t hem in a
completel y different wa y. Disco very activities like t his frequentl y help t o
make language study at in termediate le vels a nd abo ve more inv olving than
some of the tec hniques w e use w ith beginne rs which ar e more app ropriate
to tha t level.
The examples in this sectio n sho w lang uage p resent ed in situatio ns. In th e
first t wo examples w e deal w ith function al languag e whereas the s econd t wo
use pictu res an d plans as c ontexts f or lang uage p resent ation and practice .
(a) Advice8
This example (from an America n English cours e) is te aching stud ents ho w
to ask f or an d giv e advice. It emplo ys a mixture of st raight p resen tation an d
an element of d iscov ery-like pr oblem solving which is app ropriate fo r this
(lower inte rmediat e) level.
Students look at the pic tures. The teach er asks t hem where Eller y and
Monica (two characte rs the y recog nise) a re. They listen to th e dialogue on
tape. N ow the te acher a sks them where s ome of t he dialog ue utte rances fit
on a map of t he con versation. ( 1 = a greeing, 2 = giving str ong ad vice,
3 = aski ng for advice)
The teache r now asks the stud ents to clos e their b ooks ( or co ver the
137

pictur es) fo r a bit. The dialog ue is elicited f rom the studen ts line b y line.
Each ti me a n ew line is ad ded the teache r models it (if this is t hought t o be
necessa ry) so that th e students gradually reass emble th e whole dial ogue, e. g.
T: OK. Ho w does the di alogue g o … Ki m?
SI: How do y ou think I sh ould go t o Shre veport, Mo nica? B y car or by
plane?
T: Go on, Akiko.
S2: You'd bet ter go by car.
T: Kim?
SI: Why?
T: Can anyone go on? etc.
The teache r will model the co rrect int onation a nd str ess, pa rticularl y with
expressions like ' Well, I guess you're righ t'.
Students n ow practis e the dialo gue in p airs, w ith or without their b ooks
open. For a w riting stage t he teach er can write th e dialogu e on the board,
omitting some w ords o r phrases. Students c ome to t he boa rd an d fill in the
80
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
How do you think I sho uld go to Shrevepo rt
Monica ? By ca r or by plane?
Well, for on e thing it's more convenien t, j
and t here's only one plane a d ay.
Yeah, but it's more
tiring b y car .
I kno w, but y ou do
want to g et the re
early, don 't you?
Sure. But… w ell, I guess
you r e righ t. I 'II d rive.
OK. Do you w ant me to call
ahea d and say y ou re coming?
138

Interacti on focus
1H
Look a nd listen. W here do t hese sen tences go in the
diagram?
1 I g uess y ou're ri ght. I'll d rive.
2 You'd bett er go b y car.
3 Ho w do you think I should g o to Shre veport, Monica?
By car or by plan e?
Asking for a dvice
Giving st rong advic e
Asking for r easons
Giving r easons
Agreeing
Questioni ng
the reasons
Disagre eing
Have similar con versations a bout on e of the s ubjects
below.
1 Goin g to the beach o r goin g to the mountai ns for y our
vacation.
2 Bu ying a n ew coat o r buying a ne w suit/dress.
3 Goin g by plane or going b y bus.
4 Taking exe rcise classes o r takin g art class es.
J. Harmer a nd H. Surgui ne Coast t o Coast
Student's Book 3 Page 29
81
THE, PR ACTIC E OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
blanks. The teache r then elicits more dialogu es, encou raging students t o use
the flo w diagram to st ructur e their conv ersations.
This example shows how language c an be p resent ed in a r ealistic
situation a nd w ith a social contex t. The use of flo w diagrams like this giv es
139

studen ts insights into how conversations a re structu red.
(b) Please and t hank y ou9
Please a nd thank you • Grammar question
PRESENTATION
Woman Excuse me. Could y ou open
the d oor fo r me, please?
Man Yes, of cou rse.
Woman Thank y ou very much.
Man Shall I take th e bags f or you?
Woman No, it's all r ight, t hank y ou.
Man I'm dying of thi rst. W ould you
make me a cup of tea?
Boy OK. I'll put th e kettle on .
Man And co uld y ou bring some
biscuits?
Boy Yes, I'll op en the n ew packet.
In the two dialog ues, und erline th ree
requests like this:__ _____
Unde rline thr ee of fers like t his:
PRACTIC E
Speak
Work in pairs .
You are i n a hotel.
One of you is the r ecepti onist, the
other a gu est.
The guest h as sev eral req uests, and
phon es rece ption fr om he r/his ro om.
Example
There's n o hot w ater.
A Hello. R eception. Ca n I help
you?
140

B Yes. There's no hot w ater in my
room. Could yo u see to it,
please?
A Certainly . I'll send s omeone
straig htaway.
– You'd like some tea in your room.
– You want the teleph one number
of the railway station.
– You're expecting a Mr Smith and
want to know if he 's in Receptio n
yet.
– The tele vision d oesn't wo rk.
– You want to change s ome
travellers' ch eques.
– You'd like to be w oken at 7.00 in
the morning and ha ve breakfast in
your room at 7.4 5.
– You want to leave a message f or
Mr Hallida y in ro om 30 1.
This example for stu dents at t he
same level as (a ) abo ve shows a
slightl y different disco very element.
The students read the two
dialogu es and th e teache r can t hen
check th eir und erstan ding b y saying
'What does the w oman w ant? W hat
does t he man suggest? ' etc. The
studen ts are t hen aske d to iden tify
the lan guage u sed fo r requests and
offers ( see 'G rammar qu estion' ).
The teache r can wr ite up t he langu age the students h ave fou nd, e.g.
141

Requests
Could y ou
Would y ou
Offers
Shall Ifor
I'lly
ou?
82
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
The teache r now asks students t o work in pairs t o make dialogues ( see
'Practice '). A decision w ill have to be take n as to w hether the teac her
should elicit s ome dialo gues f rom the students fi rst to make su re the y can
use this la nguage before the y do this w ork. The te acher ma y feel it
necessa ry to co nduct a sh ort drill, giv ing p rompts like 'open the w indow'
for students t o say 'Coul d you open the w indow?'.
When the students h ave had a chanc e to pr actise in pai rs the t eache r
will want to liste n to some of thei r efforts w ith the w hole class so th at
attenti on can b e dra wn to an y outstandin g pro blems an d mistakes, b ut also
so that students ma y see h ow well the y have completed th e task.
(c) There's an a ttic10
This example, from a beginn er-level book f or young adolesc ents, pr ovides
grammar practic e in the co ntext of a house p lan. Inst ead of a dialogue,
studen ts rea d a sho rt text a nd then answer comprehension questions a bout
it.
B
Ask and answer ab out the ro oms.
YOU: Is the re a kitch en on th e gro und floo r?
FRIE ND: Yes, there is.
YOU: Is the re a kitch en on th e next flo or?
FRIE ND: No, t here isn't
142

1. kitche n 4. bed room 6. t oilet
2. play room 5. di ning ro om 7. bathroom
3. sitting room
In pairs, ask each other ab out rooms i n
Iff Read and a nswer.
1. Ho w man y rooms a re the re do wnstairs?
2. Ho w man y bedrooms are there u pstairs ?
3. W hose is t he big b edroom?
4. W here is Kate and Lucy's bedroom?
5. W hose is t he small bedroom?
6- W here is th e pla y room?
83
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
When the students h ave completed th e 'Read a nd ans wer' sec tion of th e
material the t eache r can the n ask 'Is t here a kitchen o n the g round floor? '
to elicit th e ans wer ' Yes ther e is.' The teache r can con tinue asking questions
whilst the st udents p ractise gi ving the a nswers (the te acher ma y have to
model them, isola ting 'isn' t' if stud ents ar e having t rouble and ge tting cho ral
repetition).
Now the t eache r elicits the q uestion (w hich the st udents h ave bee n
listening t o), an d depe nding on wh ether the stu dents can say it cor rectly or
not ma y model it and ge t chor al and indi vidual rep etition. The students c an
now take part in a SQ-SA session with the w hole class and /or in p airs. F or
an im mediate c reativity stage the st udents ca n ask each o ther Ts there a
kitchen o n the g round floor in your house?' etc.
For a first w ritten stage t he teach er can wr ite sen tences on the bo ard
with some w ords missing. The students c an cop y and complete the se ntences
in thei r own exercise bo oks befo re the t eache r invites indi viduals up to t he
front to complete the sentences on the b oard.
(d) Appeara nces11
143

In the following ex ample fo r elementar y students, l anguag e is taught in a
more utilitari an w ay – without a s urrounding d ialogue o r text .
Sheila has go t long da rk hai r
Put t he ri ght names w ith the pictures.
Sheila has go t long da rk hai r and b rown eyes.
Helen has got long red h air an d gre en eyes.
Mary has go t long fai r hair and g reen e yes.
Lucy has got sho rt grey hair and blu e eyes.'
Ask the teacher questions.
JU W hat's this ? JP"| ^
It's your mooth. j ""t_ yff
W Test other students. D o they know these
words?
hair
arm
eyes
hand
nose ears
foot leg
mouth face
^W Talk about you rself and other people.
Examples:
'I've got small hands. M y mother h as got p retty h air.'
Write t hree se ntence s with ami, and three
with but. Example s:
'S aa£ c*xs~{<s
84
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.6.4
Lang uage
examples
144

The teache r first a sks the stu dents to match th e sentenc es with the p ictures
(the origin al of this material is in c olour , of course ). They can do t his in
pairs ( a disco very activity again) a nd the t eache r can hel p if the y are ha ving
difficulty with some of the wo rds. This mate rial is rel ying on the f act that a t
least some of th e students will know some of the la nguage a nd the y can help
each o ther t o unde rstand t he sent ences.
The students then ask t he teac her q uestions, a nd the t eacher 's replies
form the b asis for modelling a nd cho ral rep etition (if this is felt to b e
necessa ry).
The students use the words connected w ith the b ody, etc. in a kind o f
Total Ph ysical Respo nse session ( see pa ge 36 ), asking e ach othe r to touch
parts of the b ody, before the y move on t o making statements using ' have
got'. Here, o nce agai n, the te acher w ill decide if it is nec essar y to go
through ex planation a nd accu rate r eproduction st ages bef ore h aving stude nts
making their o wn sentenc es as pa rt of a n immediate cre ativity session. The
writing exercise t hen cons olidates th e new lang uage a nd allo ws stud ents
more time to make their o wn sentences .
In the following two examples students a re simpl y shown examples of
sentenc es or p hrases and aske d to iden tify grammatical differences (i n the
first e xample ) and f unctional dif ferences (i n the sec ond). Both examples
use a ' discov ery' or p roblem-sol ving approach, an d follo w the example of
the fi rst book wh ich made a special p oint of this kin d of acti vity,
Rod Bolitho an d Brian Tomlinson 's Discover English.12
(a) Can or will be able t o"?13
In this e xample st udents h ave read a text in
which the new lang uage occu rs and they have
done c omprehension work on the text . They
now look a t a grammar issue w hich arises in
the te xt.
Can o r will
he abl e io ?
145

WMStu dv the examples
Why is it necessa ry to us e will be able t o rather th an
can in two of them?
1 My eyesight is v ery poor at th e mo ment, but t he
docto rs tell me after the ope ration I 'll be abl e to
see almost pe rfectl y.
2 I'm ve ry busy toda y but pe rhaps I c an see y ou
tomorro w.
3 This article sa ys that some day soon we 'll be a ble
to cu re almost all forms of cance r.
4 You're y oung an d health y and you can find a job
if you really want to! You really can!
Which two are examples of:
a something th at hasn' t happe ned but which the
speake r can al ready do?
b an a bility purely in the fu ture – something tha t
needs s omethin g else to h appen fi rst, such a s a
new disco very or something else?
&MSee if y ou can dec ide
In which of these s entences is it p ossible to u se
can ? In which is it n ecessar y to use will be a ble to ?
Why?
1 He lost a leg in t he accident . But with a ne w
artificial o ne, he ____ walk again.
2 After a f ew more lessons, I think y ou____ski
very well.
3 I d on't r eally feel like g oing to t he cinema this
evening but w e____go t omorrow inste ad.
4 If w e meet in t own tomorr ow, we____ have lunch
in that n ew restaura nt.
5 Do y ou think tha t some day people ____li ve and
146

work on othe r plane ts?
6 I'm har d-of-hearing but if I get a d eaf-a id I___ _
hear everything pe ople sa y.
85
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Here t he teac her w ill probabl y ask the stud ents to w ork in pai rs on
exercise 1 bef ore ch ecking w ith the class. The f ocus is enti rely on th e
meaning and g rammar o f the lan guage. The teach er the n asks the s tudents
for their co nclusions, be fore le tting them do ex ercise 2. I f necessa ry the
teache r can s pend some time on an ex planation st age ( although the material
makes the fo rm of th e langua ge fairl y clear) and e ven conduc t an
accur ate re production stag e using can and will be a ble.
(b) Making the ri ght noises14
In this e xample st udents ide ntify examples of r eacting t o good o r bad news
before using t he lang uage in t heir o wn dialogues. Once ag ain the fi rst pan
of the activity is a disco very exercise.
D3 Which of th e follo wing a re ans wers to g ood
news and which to b ad ne ws? Put a tick (• ) for
good n ews and a cross ( X ) for bad n ews. (Two of
them could be g ood o r bad. )
's n-\
jlelJ^Lx
D4 Work in pairs You are A or B, Cover up your
partner's card. Your partner will tell y ou some
news Repl y with one o f the ph rases in D3
A Tell you r part ner th at . . .
1 Your cat has just died
2 You've passe d your driving t est
3 You're wo rried about the exam tomorro w
4 You've lost y our pass port a nd all y our mone y
5 You've won a free t rip to L os Angeles.
147

B Tell you r part ner th at . . .
1 You saw a UFO l ast night.
2 You've cr ashed y our car .
3 You've just go t engag ed.
4 You've just go t a ne w job.
5 You've scr atched y our pa rtner's fa vourite
record
Once th e studen ts hav e ide ntified w hich of the ex pressions are for go od or
bad n ews the te acher ma y wish to model th e phr ases, pa ying special
attenti on to into nation so t hat the pitch and rise-f all of exp ressions like
86
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
6.6.5
Formulated
information
'That's mar vellous ' is attenti on-catc hing and h elps stud ents to lea rn the
expressions co rrectl y.
The teache r now conducts a T-S drill by saying (e.g.) 'I've just cras hed
my car' and nominating a stud ent w ho must use o ne of t he 'ba d' ph rases.
When the students h ave sho wn that th ey can ha ndle thes e phr ases to some
extent they can work in pairs using the 'A' a nd 'B' ca rds.
In this sec tion w e will look a t two examples of co ntexts w hich provide
'formulate d information' – that is, where the info rmation used f or
presentation a nd practice is fo rmulate d as a ch art, in a graph or a s notes o r
some other t abula r form.
The adv antage of ch arts a nd tables, e tc. is that t here is potential f or a much
greater q uantit y of information th an in a pict ure o r a dialo gue.
(a) Fligh t timetabl e15
We have alre ady used t he follo wing flight timetable fo r examples in 6.3. The
flight timetable has the ad vantage o f intro ducing a p erfectl y natural use of
the p resent simple tens e (presente d her e for t he first time) b ut suf fers f rom
148

not sh owing that l anguag e being us ed in the context o f othe r langu age.
Nevertheless it ad equatel y conveys one meaning and use of the n ew verb
tense.
The students look at th e follo wing flig ht timeta ble:
FLIGHT
NUMBERDESTIN ATIO
NVIADEPARTUR
EARRIVA
L
714 New YorkDallas 08.1511.45
603 Chicago St. Louis14.3016.45
309 Paris Miami23.3016.40
873 MontrealDetroit 19.0521.50
312 Lond onBermuda 13.1007.55
The teache r then ascert ains that st udents u nderst and w hat a flight timetable
is, and wh at the wo rds 'destination ', 'via', 'dep arture' an d 'arrival' mean.
The teache r now tells the stud ents that t hey must listen to some
sentenc es and ci rcle the co rrect letter for each item. Here a re the letters:
1 Listen, an d put a circle ro und ID 2 D 3D
the correct l etter for eac h item V V V
(D = d estination; V = vi a; 6 Dp 7 D p 8 D p
Dp = departure; A = arri val). A A A
Here a re the sente nces the t eacher reads :
1 Fli ght 309 g oes to Pa ris. D
2 Fli ght 873 s tops in Det roit. V
3 Fli ght 714 a rrives in Ne w York at 1 1.45. D
4 Fli ght 312 s tops in Bermuda. V
5 Fli ght 603 g oes to St. L ouis. V
4 D
V
9 Dp
A
5D
V
10 Dp
A
149

87
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6 Fli ght 873 l eaves at fi ve past se ven. Dp
7 Fli ght 603 d eparts at 2.3 0. Dp
8 Fli ght 312 a rrives in Lond on at 7. 55. A
9 Fli ght 873 g ets to Mo ntreal at te n to ten. A
10 Flight 603 reach es Chicago a t a qua rter to fiv e. A
This proced ure h as a dou ble ad vantage: it gi ves the stu dents ample listening
practice and it t ells both th e teache r and the stud ents (d uring t he fee dback
session ) whether the st udents u nderst and the new lang uage ( see 6.3. 4).
The teache r now procee ds to teac h the ne w languag e using fo ur models
about , for e xample, 'flight 30 9' ('Flight 3 09 go es to/stops a t/leaves a t/arrives
at …'). For the immediate cr eativ ity stage s tudents c an make more
sentenc es of thei r own about th e othe r flights.
The teache r can als o intro duce the tw o questio ns 'Where does flig ht 309
stop/g o to?' a nd 'What time does flight 309 leave/arrive?'. Students ca n
obviousl y work in pai rs practising ques tions and a nswers.
For the wr itten st age the s tudents d o the f ollowing exe rcise:
Read th e follo wing sen tences a Flight …. goes to Paris. It st ops
and complete th em in……
appropria tely, acc ording t o the
depa rture boa rd.
i
b Flight …..at 1 4.30 an d it…..in
Chicago… ..16.45.
c What time…..? At 13.10.
d Does flight 3 09…..M iami? Yes, it does.
e Does flight 6 03….. ? No, it stops i n
St. Louis.
Once a gain the t eache r can w rite the ex ercise o n the black board and ge t
studen ts to fill in the blanks the re aft er they have done so o n a piece o f
150

pape r.
(b) Airmail zones16
In this e xample f or elementa ry students (stud ying American English ) a
world map, di vided into zo nes, fo rms the b asis for l anguag e pres entation
and p ractice o f 'How much does it c ost to sen d a lette r/postca rd to_ ____? '.
On the following pa ge is the materi al the stud ents see.
The teache r asks qu estions to fi nd out t he cor rect zon es for t he
different count ries (no te that t he ori ginal material is in colo ur): the stud ents
can th en ask an d ans wer 'Which zone is Venezuela?' e tc. They can do the
same with the p rice of stamps, e.g . 'How much are letters f or zo ne A?' etc.
The teache r then asks the q uestion 'H ow much does it cost t o send a
letter to Fr ance ?' to t ry and elicit t he ans wer '4 4 cents.' After a session o f
TQ-S A the q uestion can be elicited a nd the n students can pr actise in pai rs.
For an im mediate c reativity stage stud ents can imagine th at the y are in
an America n post of fice, askin g about the p rice of stamps and b uying th e
ones t hey need .
88
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
AIRMAIL ZONES
FROM THE UNITED STATES
US. ZONE
| | ZONE A
ZONEB
H ZONE C
1. This map shows airmail zo nes w ith different postal ra tes from th e
United St ates. F ind the airmail zo ne for eac h of these c ountries,
and write it on your pa per.
Australia
Bermuda
Canada
151

Colombia
Ecuador
France
England Is rael
Haiti I taly
India Japa n
Mexico
New Zealand
Panama
Saudi Arabia
U.S.S.R.
Venezuela
2. Look at the chart of rates f or let ters an d po stcards t o each zone.
Then ask an d answer qu estions ab out these rates.
AIRMAIL RATES
Letters Postca rds
United States 22c 14e
Zone A22c 14c
Zone B39c 33c
Zone C44c 33c
89
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
6.7
Conclusions
Exercises
In this ch apter we have disc ussed the introd uction of n ew langu age. W e
have se en ho w we need t o identif y what w e are going t o teach a nd w hat
patte rns it occu rs in.
We have seen h ow we can u se a number of dif ferent contexts for
langua ge pr esentatio n and w e have looke d at a g eneral model f or the
introduction of new lang uage w hich places special st ress on the importanc e
of elicitatio n to see h ow much of the n ew langua ge the st udents a re already
aware of.
152

We have discussed d ifferent w ays of giv ing feedback a nd leadin g drills
and w e have look ed at w ays of sho wing students w hen the y have made
mistakes, t hus gi ving t hem opportu nities for self-co rrectio n.
We have discussed t he place o f disco very activ ities an d seen h ow they
allow stud ents – t hrough pr oblem- solving – t o become deepl y involved in
the lan guage t hey are stud ying.
We have looked a t a number o f differen t activ ities fo r intro ducing ne w
langua ge w hich illust rate some of th e man y and varied contex ts for la nguage
presentation.
1 Which pa rts of t he model John's taller t han M ary would y ou isolat e
during an ex planation s tage? W hy?
2 Design a context of your own for introducing t he meaning and u se of th e
past co ntinuous ( e.g. Olivia w as playing the g uitar.)
3 Take a dial ogue f rom any textbook you know and w rite do wn exactly the
procedure you would follow when using it to in troduc e some new
langua ge.
4 Design a context and p resenta tion sequ ence w hich uses the stu dents'
world rather than material from a cou rsebook (for example).
5 You have use d a map of an imaginar y town to t each 'The re's a cin ema
on South Str eet; the re's a hospital o n Gre en Street ', etc. W hat could
studen ts do fo r an im mediate c reativity stage?
Refer ences
1 H W iddowson describ ed the dif ference b etween meaning a nd use a s the
differenc e bet ween signification a nd value ( 1972), conc epts w hich he
later develope d into usa ge and u se (1 978).
2 For more o n cont rolled drills s ee J W illis (1981 ) Unit 15 , L G Alexande r
(1985), D B yrne (1 986) Ch apter 5 and D B yrne (1 987) Ch apters 3-6.
3 For more o n discov ery techniqu es see R Bolitho a nd B Tomlinson (1 980)
who cons tructe d a seri es of materials on the basis o f this kind o f
approach, a nd J Harmer ( 1987 ) Chapt er 4.
4 From J Harmer (1 988a ).
153

5 From R O'Neill (19 70).
6 From George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Da hl (Puf fin 1982 ).
7 An extr emely interesting a rticle ab out ho w conditionals w ork – o ften in
ways which courseb ook w riters igno re – is D Maule (1988 ).
8 From J Harmer and H Surguine ( 1988 ).
9 From J Soars and L Soars ( 1986 ).
90
INTRODU CING NE W LANGUAGE STRUC TURE
10 F rom B Abbs an d I Fr eebai rn (1986).
11 From M Swan and C W alter (1984).
12 See r eference number 3 .
13 F rom R O'Neill and P Mugglestone ( 1989a ).
14 F rom V Black et al . (1986).
15 F rom R Rossner et al. ( 1979a ).
16 F rom G Ianto rno a nd M Papa ( 1986).
91
7
Practice
In this ch apter we will
conside r techniq ues and
materials design ed to
give stud ents pr actice in
specific items or areas o f
langua ge (se e 4.3 ' Input
and o utput' ). The
activities w ill all fall
some where b etween t he
two ext remes on the
communication co ntinuum
(see 5.3). We will look at
154

oral p ractice and
written p ractice.
7.1Oral pr actice
7.1.
1Oral drills
7.1.
2Information gap activities
7.1.
3Games
7.1.
4Personalisation a nd
localisa tion
7.1.
5Oral inte ractions
7.2Written p ractice
7.2.
1Sente nce w riting
7.2.
2Parallel writing
7.2.
3Cohesion
7.2.
4Oral compositions
7.2.
5Dictatio n
7.3Concl usions
Exercises/Refe rences
7.1
Oral practi ce
7.1.1
Oral d rills
In this sec tion w e will look a t ways of getting stud ents to p ractise o ral
English. W e will consi der oral drills, i nformation gap activities, games,
personalisation and localisation and oral a ctivities.
Drills ar e usuall y very cont rolled an d ther efore they have limited po tential.
Because the y are fairly repetitiv e and not ^yery creativ e they should n ot be
155

used f or too long o r too f reque ntly. However, they do giv e stu dents the
oppo rtunit y for 'sa fe' practice; accu racy can be focus ed on as t he stud ents
get a c hance to rehearse la nguage.
In the following ex amples th e first th ree co ncentr ate on p ractising
questio n forms w hilst the f ourth l ooks at a wa y of making drills a bi t more
fun.
(a) (Four)-phase d rills
(Four)-phase drills a re so c alled beca use the re are (four) phases o r stages ,
e.g. Q -A-Q-A. The reaso n why 'four' is in b rackets is, of cou rse, bec ause
we can als o have six – or e ight- p hase d rills – o r any number , for that
matter , althou gh fou r seems to be th e most useable
The students are e ncour aged to ask a qu estion and on the b asis of th e
answer follo w it up with anot her q uestion, fo r example:
A: Is John English?
B: No, h e isn't. f.
A: Where's h e from, then?
B: He's Australian.
92
PRACTICE
In this cas e the d rill is designe d for b eginne rs to p ractise th e question
form 'Is X [natio nality]?' and 'Where is she/h e from?'
We can start t he acti vity by showing flashc ards o f people w ith some
indication o f thei r nationalit y. We then con duct a cu e-response d rill
(see 6.3.2 ( c)) in w hich stu dents ask q uestions suc h as 'Is Jo hn English?'.
For example:
T: Question …. M aria
52: Is Maria French?
T: Answer …. Gloria
52: No s he isn't.
French? (Nominates SI )
etc.
156

We can then mo ve on t o the n ext questio n, addin g the w ord 'th en' if
the a nswer to the firs t question is negati ve, for example:
T: Question … Maria … F rench? (Nominates SI)
SI: Is Maria Fr ench ?
T: Answer … a nyone.
S3: No she isn 't.
T: Good . .. ask somebod y a question w ith 'where' …
S4: Where's she f rom?
T: Good . .. but y ou can sa y 'Where's she fr om, the n?' so . .. ask agai n
Jorge …
S4: Where's she f rom, then?
T: Answer, Glo ria.
52: She's from Mexico. etc.
The teache r cond ucts this drill w ith the w hole class for a sho rt space
of time and th e students then p ractise th e drill in p airs. The teache r can gi ve
them flashcar ds or t hey can thi nk of famous peo ple to ask a bout.
In ou r example the d rill depe nded o n a neg ative ans wer to th e first
questio n. But of cou rse (f our)-phase drills ca n be const ructed with an y
questio n sequenc e, for example:
A: What's your favourite hobb y?
B: Tennis.
A: How often do you play?
B: Once a w eek.
(Four)-phase drills a re us eful for practice and r evision of sp ecific question
forms and ca n be success fully used fo r quick fi ve-minute sessions af ter th ese
questio ns hav e been int roduced, perhaps in a p revious class .
(b) Mixed question a nd ans wer d rills
The dif ference between mixed q uestion an d ans wer drills an d (four)-phase
drills is th at the fo rmer ha ve more q uestions t han the latter a nd the y can
be aske d in an y order.
In the following ex ample th e teache r works with the w hole class w ho
157

see th e follo wing w all picture:
93
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
The teache r then elicits the
following q uestions:
– What's his/he r name?
– Where's h e/she f rom?
– What's his/he r job?
– What does he /she do?
– Ho w old is she/h e?
This can be d one b y
conducti ng a cue -response
drill:
T: OK. Ask me about
Pierre 's age, Ha ns.
SI: How old is Pier re?
T: Answer … H eidi.
52: He 's twenty-three. etc.
Students a re the n put in p airs to work with similar pictu res an d the y might
use th e ans wers to w rite short paragraphs, for e xample:
Jean -Paul's from Fr ance. He 's a pilot a nd he 's fort y-six y ears old.
Mixed question a nd ans wer drills p rovide a good o pportunit y for quick
revision of langu age the students h ave previously studi ed. Like ( four)-phase
drills th ey are s uitable fo r sho rt practice sessions.
(c) Talking about f requency of acti vities2
In this d rill studen ts work with a speciall y prepared set o f flashca rds. The
cards show various acti vities taki ng place.
Students a re put in gro ups of fo ur an d a set o f flashca rds is placed i n
front of them, face d ownwards. A stud ent picks up a card and has to ask
anoth er stu dent ho w often a r elative of that st udent p erforms the a ctivity
shown on the ca rd. The drill might go in th e follo wing w ay:
158

57: (Picks u p a car d sho wing a man b rushing his t eeth. )
How often does y our brothe r brus h his teet h, Tomiko?
52: Twice a d ay, I should think . (Picks up a c ard sh owing someone playing
tennis. ) How often does y our mother pl ay tennis, Mon ica?
PRACTIC E
S3: She doesn 't pla y at all! (Picks up a c ard sh owing a pe rson ge tting on a
bus.) How often does y our siste r travel by bus, Tarek?
S4: Never … she al ways gets me to dri ve her e verywhere!
This is a simple cue -response d rill, but th e studen ts are c onducting the d rill
themselv es rat her th an being contr olled b y the teacher . The r andom
selection o f the ca rds makes the d rill en joyable and quit e challengin g, and
the us e of gr oupwork means that man y stude nts get a c hance to particip ate
in a co -operative and frien dly way.
Cards o f this kind h ave a us e in man y kinds of d rill activities w here
studen ts can p ractise specific it ems of lan guage w ithout bein g inhibited b y
the te acher .
(d) Chain d rills
Chain d rills are wa ys of pr actising a p articula r struc ture o ver and ov er again
in the c ontext of either a game and/o r a pe rsonal el ement.
With larg e classes stud ents can sit in groups. Othe rwise this is a
whole-class activ ity. The teach er cho oses the st ructu re and then sa ys (for
example):
'My name's Katie a nd I'd like to t ravel round the world.'
The student next to t he teac her th en has t o say:
'Her name's Katie and sh e'd like to t ravel round t he w orld.
My name's Paul an d I w ould like t o write a novel.'
The third s tudent t hen has t o remember the fi rst two speaker 's
ambitions and th en giv e his o r her own. There a re man y othe r structures
that ca n be use d for t his kind of d rill, fo r example like DOING, I'v e always
wanted t o DO, I've n ever DONE, at s even thi rty last nigh t I was DOING
etc. Chain drills ar e an amusing w ay of getting quick and i nvolving pr actice
159

of a p articula r struc ture. I f the memor y element is added ( as in o ur ex ample
here) they can be made int o a game.
Drill w ork is very useful since it p rovides o pport unities fo r studen ts to
practise a ne w bit of lang uage in t he most controlle d way. Most drills can be
adapt ed fo r pair work and groupwork.
It is important t o remember the limitations of d rills, ho wever, and t o
use th em spa ringly.
7.1.2
Information g ap
activities
With information g ap acti vities dif ferent stud ents ar e giv en dif ferent bits o f
information. B y sharing this in formation the y can complete a task.
In 5.2 we saw that an info rmation gap w as an ing redient in much r eal
life com munication ( the maj ority of the acti vities in Chapte r 8 w ill have an
information g ap built int o them). The t hree e xamples we are g oing to s how
here, ho weve r, use th e information g ap to p rovoke t he pr actice of sp ecific
items of languag e. Info rmation gap acti vities, in othe r words, are drills,
but b ecause th ey have a slig htly com municati ve element built in to them
they are more in volving and moti vating th an a lot o f questio n and a nswer
practice.
95
THE PR ACTICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
(a) The map3
This example (from an elementa ry American English co urse) sho ws the
most straightf orward kind of i nformation ga p. It is desig ned to p ractise t he
patte rn 'Where's t he____ ?' to elicit t he ans wer next to , between, across
from.
Students a re put in pairs. In each p air one stude nt is A and t he oth er
studen t is B. This is the material th at Student A looks at:
160

Share in formatio n (Unit 7 ) ^
Student A: You and Student B ha ve different maps. Ask Stud ent B w here these
places a re:
the Art Theater
a libr ary
Don't lo ok at Student B's map. W hen Student B giv es you the info rmation ,
write the name of the place in th e right place on y our map.
Student B: Your map is on pag e 74.
a high school
a churc h
the Ga rden Restaurant
a men's store
McDonald's
Joe's Ca fe
Garage
Video
Store
Chinese
Restau rant
Bicycle
Store
Pacific
Avenue
Hospital
Post
Office
Pizza
Hous
eNatio
nal
BankW
omen'
s
Store
161

Recor d
Store
Lake
Hotel
Ba
ker
yPhar
macy
Jack'
s
Bar
E-Z
Hotel
Clinic
Atlantic
Avenue
Gym
Club
M.A.
Book
StoreState
BankBurge
rland
Notice tha t some of the squ ares o n the map ar e blank. Stude nt A is
told to fi nd out wh ere the Art Theat er is, fo r example. Student B has the
answer of cou rse since s he or h e looks at the follo wing material:
96
PRACTIC E
2 Share in formati on (page 6 1)
You and Stude nt A have different maps. Ask Stud ent A where th ese places a re:
the E-Z Hotel a hospital a Chinese r estau rant a rec ord st ore
a pha rmac y a bookstore th e National Bank
162

Burqerland
Don't lo ok at Student A's map. W hen Stude nt A gives y ou the inf ormation,
write the name of the place in th e right place on y our map.
Garage
Rita's
Resta
urantMcDo
nald's
. Park
Q.
Pacific
Post
Office
Library
Atlantic
Gym
Joe's
Cafe
Club
M.A.
Video
Store
Churc h
Avenue
Pizza
Hous
eHPW
omen'
s
Store
Gard
en
Resta
urant
163

Art
Theate r
Lake
Hotel
Ba
ker
y
Me
n's
Sto
reș
Jack'
s
Bar
Clinic
Avenue
State
Bank
High
School
Student B has bl anks, too, wh ich onl y Studen t A can fill.
The point is th at A and B will have to ask e ach othe r questi ons in or der
to complete thei r maps, e.g.
A: Where's th e Art Theate r?
B: It's across from Joe's g ym. (A"writes 'Art Th eater' in th e cor rect place
on his o r her map). Where's the Natio nal Bank? …
Reme mber t hat this acti vity only works if the stud ents re alise that t hey
are not sup posed to l ook at eac h othe r's maps. The inf ormation gap is
created pr ecisel y becaus e each st udent d oes not kn ow the inf ormation that
164

the ot her st udent h as.
(b) The Baile y Gold C up4
There is n o reas on w hy information gap acti vities can onl y be used w ith
pairs, however . In this ex ample fo r the in termediate le vel the stude nts ar e
put int o gro ups of th ree.
The activ ity is design ed to p ractise th e passi ve with questions like ' Who
is (name of h orse) owned by?' 'Who is (name of ho rse) traine d by?' 'Who is
(name of h orse) going t o be ri dden b y?'
When the teache r puts t he stude nts in gr oups Student A looks at t he
following material:
97
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Read this first
Which ho rse w ill win the Baile y Gold Cup? A lot d epends on the ow ner, traine r and
jocke y. Here is a list o f how
many winners t hey have ow ned, t rained o r ridden so f ar this y ear.
Owners
Lady Melchett 3
Sir John Presc ott 2
Jim Gr een 0
The Baile y Gold Cu p
Traine rs
Sally Flower 4
FredDubbs 2
George M akem 1
Jockeys
Leslie W hite 8
Mark Platt 5
Pete M ayer 3
Name of hors e:1
Trumpet Pla yer2
Luck y Lady3
Dublin Bo y
Owner:Lady Melchett
165

Traine r: Fred Dubbs
Jocke y: Pete M ayer
Student B get t he same information ab out o wners, t rainers a nd jocke ys,
but th e char t has dif ferent info rmation i n it.
Read this first
Which ho rse w ill win the Baile y Gold Cup? A lot d epends on the ow ner, traine r and
jocke y. Here is a list o f how
many winners t hey have ow ned, t rained o r ridden so f ar this y ear:
Owners
Lady Melchett 3
Sir John Presc ott 2
Jim Gr een 0
The Baile y Gold Cu p
Traine rs
Sally Flower 4
Fred Dubbs 2
George M akem 1
Jockeys
Leslie W hite 8
Mark Platt 5
Pete M ayer 3
Name of hors e:1
Trumpet Pla yer2
Luck y Lady3
Dublin Bo y
Owner: Sir John
Prescott
Traine r: Sally Flower
Jocke y:Mark Platt
Student C's mate rial is slightl y different, too.
Read this first
Which ho rse w ill win the Baile y Gold Cup? A lot d epends on the ow ner, traine r and
jocke y. Here is a list o f how
many winners t hey have ow ned, t rained o r ridden so f ar this y ear:
Owners
166

Lady Melchett 3
Sir John Presc ott 2
Jim Gr een 0
The Baile y Gold Cu p
Traine rs
Sally Flower 4
Fred Dubbs 2
George M akem 1
Jockeys
Leslie W hite 8
Mark Platt 5
Pete M ayer 3
Name of hors e1
Trumpet Pla yer2
Lucky Lady3
Dublin Bo y
Owner: Jim Gr een
Traine r:George Ma kem
Jocke y: Leslie W hite
98
PRACTIC E
The students ask each o ther q uestions a bout th e train ers, o wners, e tc.
They fill in the bla nks in thei r char t. When the y have done this th ey can
decide wh ich hors e the y would put th eir mone y on, b ased, o bviously, on
the p ast reco rd of t he owners, t rainers a nd jocke ys. In othe r words, the
filling in of t he cha rt has h ad some purpose.
Once a gain it is vi tal th at studen ts do not look at e ach othe r's cha rts.
(c) Applicatio n5
This information gap activity is design ed for intermediate st udents a nd
shows how such an a ctivity can be u sed not only for oral p ractice b ut also
for readin g and f orm-filling, etc.
Students a re ag ain div ided int o pairs w ith the us ual rest riction ab out not
looking a t each ot her's pape rs. They are told t hat the y must eac h complete
the p aper in front of them.
167

This is wh at Student A recei ves:
By asking Student B qu estions, fill in th e missing info rmation in the le tter
of ap plication belo w. (Student B w ill also ask y ou questio ns.)
Tel- . ………..
10, Gro ve Road,
Bristol
Personnel Ma nager ,
G. Hoov er & Co.,
Linton Estate,
Mancheste r
14th Janu ary, 19..
Dear Sir,
I should like to a pply for the p ost of
Expo rt Manager wh ich I sa w
advertised in last Satur day's Dail y
Chronicle.
I am ….. y ears old and unmar ried. At
present 1 am Assistant
Manage r at W right & Compan y, a firm
which makes r eproduction
furniture, much of w hich is sol d for e xport
to France an d German y.
Prior to this, I worked for . …….. y ears as
a secreta ry at I.E. M.
and thr ee years as ….. ………… ………… ..
I attende d ……… ………… ………. Scho o 1
from the age o f
eleven to eig hteen, wh ere I obtaine d …..
0-levels an d ….. A-lev el.
After this I w ent on to Brig hton College of
Further Educatio n, where
I obtained . ……….. ………… ………… ……..
At pr esent
168

I am atte nding cou rses in … …… an d
…….. an d hav e a work ing
knowledge of both lan guages.
Althoug h I enjo y my pres ent job, I
should like one which of fers more
responsibilit y and especiall y a job w here
I would be a ble to use my
own initiativ e and travel abroad. M y
present s alary is .. ………
I enclose m y present emplo yer's n ame
as referee a nd Took fo rward to
hearing f rom you.
Yours faithfull y,
When you have finishe d, compare b ooks ro c heck that y ou have fille d
in the missing info rmation c orrectly.
99
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
And this is w hat Stud ent B recei ves:
By asking Student A questions, fill in the missing information in t he
applicatio n form belo w. (Stud ent A will also ask y ou questi ons.)
Job ap plied fo r:
APPLICA TION FOR M
Name: …..>JU.!-.!^.
Address: ………. ………… ………… ………… ………… ……….. Tel:
Age: …»? >?…. single □ marrie d □
Education: School: ……. ..HpV E.CO MPRE.H ENSIV E……… ..
College/Uni versity: ……………… ………… ………… ………… ……….
Qualifications : School:
College/Uni versity:
. 7..O; LEVEL S,. 1.A-.LEVE L.
CERTIFICA TE OF BUSINE SS STUDIES
Present jo b: ……… ………… ………… ………… ………… ……… Salar y: £25,000
169

Previous jobs (state number of y ears and sta rt with most recen t):
SALES MANAGER AT SUFFOLK CHE MICALS ( }
(2. ^EARS)
Foreign la nguages s poken:
French 2 3 Ge rman Kl Italia n D Spanish □ Othe rs: … ………… ………… …
Reasons f or leavin g pres ent job:
Date:
Signatur e:.
When you have finishe d, compare b ooks to check that y ou have filled
in the missing info rmation c orrectly.
The material makes students a sk a lar ge number of questions i n ord er
to complete thei r task. I n ord er to a sk these q uestions b oth stude nts ha ve
to read thei r material an d work out what questions to ask.
This is an impressiv e example of a n information g ap exe rcise w hich
integ rates skills.
Information g ap tasks, t hen, p rovide st udents w ith a reas on to communicate
with each other , and can b e design ed to p ractise more o r less specific
langua ge.
100
7.1.3
Games6
PRACTICE
If stud ents ha ve not don e an ex ercise of t his type before t he teac her
would be well advised t o demonstrat e the tec hnique b efore p utting t he
studen ts in pairs . Thus fo r the fi rst example the t eache r could wr ite up a
similar ( but dif ferent) map on the black board with dif feren t information.
A student the n goes u p to the front of the class . The stud ent asks th e
teache r the q uestions; t he teac her gi ves answers and th e student has to
complete the map on t he blackbo ard.
When an a ctivity of this t ype is ov er the te acher c an conduc t feedb ack
by getti ng stude nts to ask a nd ans wer the q uestions w ith the w hole class
170

listening. This serves t o check no t only the s tudents ' langua ge pr oduction,
but also whether they have got t he info rmation r ight.
Games-ar e a vi tal pa rt of a teache r's eq uipment, n ot onl y for the languag e
practice the y provide, b ut also fo r the t herapeutic ef fect th ey have. They
can be used at a ny stage of a class t o pro vide an amusing an d challengin g
respit e from othe r classro om acti vity, and a re esp eciall y useful at the en d of
a long d ay to se nd the st udents a way feeling ch eerful a bout t heir English
class. W e will look at fou r well-known examples.
(a) Ask the right question7
Students a re divided into pai rs in w hich there is A and B. Student A in
each p air is gi ven cards s uch as the following:
a cas
Madonn anewspaper
Student A then has t o ask B questio ns so that B gi ves e xactly the a nswer
written on A's card . If B fails to gi ve the exact a nswer A has to a sk the
questio n again u ntil B gets it exactl y right.
This game, suit able fo r all lev els (although the teac her w ould choose
more dif ficult ans wers for more advance d students ) is gr eat fun and quit e
difficult since A has to think o f exactl y the right q uestion t o get ex actly
the right ans wer.
(b) Twenty questions and other 'yes/no' games
Twent y questions is a team game w hich origina ted fr om a p opular BBC
radio pro gram me.
Students a re divided into teams. Each team must think of a n umber of
objects. The game commences w hen one pe rson f rom Team A asks
someone fr om Team B a ques tion w hich ca n onl y be a nswered with 'yes'
or 'no'.
If Team B finds o ut what the object is af ter only a maxi mum of
fifteen q uestions t hey get t wo points. I f it takes th em bet ween sixtee n
and t went y questi ons the y get one p oint. They get no p oints if the y do not
discov er what the object is aft er askin g twenty questions.
171

There a re man y varieties of this g ame, of c ourse. Instead o f objects
the te ams could b e thinking of famous peopl e and th e questio ns could sta rt
with 'Is t his pers on a man?' ( notice th at 'Is this p erson a man or a wo man?'
is not acc eptable b ecause it is n ot a ' yes/no' q uestion) .
101
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
7.1.4
Personalisati on
and loc alisation
A charade e lement c an be a dded to the idea so that st udents ca n mime
eithe r actions ( 'Are y ou smoking a cigare tte?') or o ccupations ( 'Do y ou
work with othe r people ?').
(c) Noughts a nd cr osses/tic-tac -toe
This popula r childre n's game can easil y be adap ted fo r the English
classro om ena bling the t eacher to ensu re practice of s pecific langua ge items
in an amusing co ntext.
The class is div ided in to two teams; one represents n oughts ( 0) and
the ot her c rosses (X ). The te acher p uts the f ollowing on t he boa rd:
t
hisneve
rrunni
ng
t
hei
rcan'tare
i
sn'
tplaycan
The team selects the sq uare it wishes to pla y for, and a me mber o f the t eam
has to s ay a sent ence using t he w ord on th at squa re. If t he sente nce is
correct the squar e is filled w ith a n ought o r a cross, de pending o n the
team the pla yer comes from.
The game can be a dapted t o any language t he teach er wishes to have
172

practised. The s quares could all con tain questi on w ords, for e xample, or
modal auxiliaries, f requency adverbs, etc. More fun ca n be ad ded if the
teache r brings in the game on a ca rd and t he squa res a re all co vered.
The students select a sq uare wh ich the te acher u ncov ers, and t he team has
to make a sent ence w ith whatever is u nderneath.
(d) Quizzes
Quizzes can always be us ed to p ractise sp ecific languag e items in an
enjoyable and moti vating w ay. In this e xample students w ill be practisin g
the us e of the 'w as/were' past .
The students are di vided into t wo teams. Each team is given time to
write a number of g eneral kno wledge questions using the 'was/were' pas t.
Their ques tions might be like the following:
Who was the first man on t he moon?
What was the name of the las t American p resident ?
Where wa s the 1 990 W orld Cup?
When were the Seoul Ol ympics? etc.
In the game a member of Team A asks a q uestion to a me mber o f Team B.
If the q uestion is s aid cor rectly Team A gets one p oint. If t he me mber o f
Team B gets the ans wer im mediatel y the team gets two points. If he or sh e
has to c onfer with the r est of t he team to get t he ans wer the t eam gets one
point.
Games like these h ave been widely used f or man y years. They are great fun
and p rovide p ractice in an amusing conte xt.
Personalisati on and loc alisation r efer t o those st ages of p ractice wh ere
studen ts use lang uage th ey have recentl y learnt t o talk abo ut themselv es
and t heir li ves. Such st ages can o bviously be v ery cont rolled o r very free,
102
PRACTIC E
but h ere w e are co ncern ed w ith pe rsonalisatio n and loc alisation w hich have
been d esigned t o practise specific items of lang uage – rather than w ith
gene ral discussion sessions.
173

When stud ents ar e inv olved in immediate crea tivity (see 6 .3) w e ask them
to produce s entences o f their own using t he ne w language . But we tend t o
stop th ere. I n othe r words, studen ts often p roduc e langua ge one s entence a t
a time. In pe rsonalisation and localisati on for practice purposes, ho wever,
we will want to be a bit more realistic a bout th e way in which language is
used.
Lang uage te aching materials in g eneral someti mes giv e stud ents a hig hly
grammatical (and n ot ve ry real) idea of h ow questi ons ar e asked a nd
answered. Studen ts practis e questions such as 'D o you smoke?' an d are
expect ed to ans wer ' Yes I do/No I do n't'. E ven more e xagge rated a re
textbo ok drills such as the f ollowing, ' Where's Jo hn?', ' John's in the
kitchen' .
Resea rch8 has su ggested, h owever, that ans wers to q uestions in r eal life
are seldom grammaticall y parallel to the questions. The ans wer to a
questio n such as 'A re you happy?' is seldom 'Yes I am/No I'm not'. Mu ch
more likel y are resp onses such a s 'More o r less', 'C an't complain' o r even
'Why do y ou ask?'
Teache rs should encou rage this t ype of r espons e and a wa y of doin g so is
to.insist o n an ad ditional remark b eing made. This means tha t where a
studen t gives a y es/no t ype answer he or s he must then ad d a com ment to
it. The f ollowing example sho ws such a remark b eing p rompted:
52: Do y ou like s wimming?
57: Yes.
T: Yes … and?
SI: Yes … I go e very Sunda y.
Another featu re of co nversatio n is that p eople r arely ask a questio n, get a n
answer, and th en finish th e conv ersation ( althoug h man y textbook d rills are
like this). The follo wing exchang e the refore is unlikel y:
JOHN: Hello, Mar y. Have you been t o the mo vies rec ently?
MARY: Yes I have.
(John walks away)
174

The conv ersation w ould be more likel y to run in o ne of t he follo wing ways:
JOHN: Have you been to the movies r ecentl y?
MARY: Yes, actuall y. or No … n o I ha ven't.
I I
JOHN: What did you see? Reall y. Don't y ou like fil ms?
MARY: Oh … I saw Born on the Yes, but I don' t hav e the
4th of July. time to go t o the cin ema.
JOHN: Hadn't you seen it W hy?
before?
It's a ncient!
etc.
etc.
103
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
In oth er words, Joh n's ori ginal questio n starts a con versation w hich he
continu es by asking q uestions w hich follo w up the ans wer to th e origin al
conversation sta rter.
Particula rly durin g pers onalisation a nd localisation stages th e teache r
can p rompt the use o f addition al remarks an d follo w-up questio ns in or der
to enc ourag e realistic c ommunication.
We can now look a t three examples of pe rsonalisati on and loc alisation
stages, b earin g in mind the nee d for t he teac her to prompt the u se of
addition al remarks an d follo w-up questio ns, etc.
(a) Person alisation plans
In this cas e studen ts hav e recentl y been lea rning th e use of t he pr esent
continu ous to ex press fu ture pl ans (e .g. 'He's going to Rome tomor row').
The teache r then asks stude nts w hat they are doing at the w eekend
and t hey give sen tences usin g the p resent c ontinuous, for example:
T: What are you doing this w eekend, Gu nter?
SI: I'm visiting Scotland.
T: Oh really … W hen are you leav ing?
175

52: Earl y on Saturd ay morning. etc.
The teache r then gets stud ents to ask each ot her q uestions of t he same t ype
(making sur e the y use follo w-up questio ns in the same w ay). They can work
in pai rs or g roups t o do this.
This type of p ersonalisa tion ma y form an immediate cr eativ ity stage
(see 6.3) o r it ma y be use d at some stage a fter st udents h ave lea rnt the
new item of lang uage.
(b) Localisati on: Guad alajara
Students a re lea rning English in G uadalajara, M exico. They have rec ently
learnt ho w to talk about the locatio n of places (e.g. 'There's a cinema in
South Street ', etc. ).
The teache r then gets stud ents to ask and ans wer qu estions ab out
Guadal ajara in a similar w ay:
well … is th ere a n airpo rt in Gu adalajara?
T: OK
SI: Yes …
T: Where is it exactl y?
SI: It's o n the r oad to C hapala
about 11 kilometres from here.
etc.
Students a re the n encou raged to ask an d ans wer questio ns of the s ame type,
and t hey will be put in pairs t o do so. Once ag ain this acti vity could be
used as an im mediate c reativ ity stag e, but it w ould also be suitable fo r
langua ge pr actice some time aft er the new lang uage has been o riginall y
introduced.
(c) The hot seat
In this ac tivity a stude nt is put in t he 'ho t seat' a nd subjected to a b arrage
of qu estions. Ob viously the tech nique has to be us ed sensiti vely by the
teache r, but in t he rig ht atmospher e and ca rried out in th e right spirit th e
activity provides en ormous oppo rtunit y for practice.
104
176

PRACTIC E
7.1.5
Oral in teractio ns
A student is select ed to be the focus of atte ntion. The idea is to g et
studen ts to ask him or h er as man y questions as th ey know, for example:
T: OK Juan … a sk M aria about yesterday evening.
SI: What did y ou do y esterda y evening, Maria?
52: I we nt to th e supe rmark et.
(Pause )
T: Well Jua n …
SI: Oh … wh y?
52: Because I need ed some things.
53: W hat did you buy?
S2: Eggs . .. meat … th at kind of t hing. etc.
Supermarkets ma y not b e very exciting as a topic fo r social con versation o f
this t ype, but of c ourse t he topic w ill depend o n the stu dents. In t his
example the te acher wa s cont rolling the p rocee dings, e ven to the e xtent o f
encou raging J uan to u se a follo w-up qu estion. But the advantage of this
kind of wh ole-class c onversation is that t he teac her ma y, if necessar y, help
out w ith prompting an d gentle c orrection (s ee page 237) at the s ame time
as getti ng a go od idea o f how the students a re progressing w ith language
that h as rece ntly been u sed fo r conscious l earnin g.
Any subject of c urrent inte rest can b e used f or such a session a nd it w ill
be suita ble for the be ginning of cl asses pa rticularl y, where it w ill ser ve to
'warm the class up'.
Personalisati on and loc alisation, th en, ar e techniq ues for getting st udents t o
practise langua ge in a w ay that ens ures a ppropriate la nguage use. Students
have to be able to make the con nection be tween th e grammar that th ey
have le arnt a nd the wa y to appl y it to things t hat ha ve real meaning
for them. Pers onalisation a nd localisatio n are u seful fo r various stages o f
177

practice as w ell as t he immediate cr eativ ity stage t hat w e looked at in
Chapte r 6.
We will look a t three acti vities desi gned to e ncou rage p ractice of s pecific
4ang uage in a n enjo yable and acti ve way.
(a) Find someone w ho9
This activity is designe d to get t he stud ents asking a number of dif ferent
questio ns in an acti ve way.
Each studen t is giv en th e follo wing ca rd:
FIND SOMEONE WHO
1 likes chocolate
2often goes to the cinema
3has three brothers
4went to bed late last
night
5plays the guitar
(etc.)
105
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
All the studen ts then st and up a nd circul ate, asking e ach oth er qu estions
such as ' Do you like ch ocolate? '. If the y get the a nswer 'yes' they write that
person's name in th e space p rovided. They can o nly ask someone a q uestion
once. The acti vity ends when a s tudent h as got n ames fo r each q uestion.
The activ ity is ob viousl y noisy but it is g reat f un. Teache rs can ens ure
practice of w hatev er questions th ey like b y altering th e items on the
card. The acti vity is particula rly suitable f or a g roup that has only recently
met since it helps stu dents to g et to kn ow about each ot her.
It is a g ood idea t o check th at the 'w inning' st udent h as written do wn
the n ames co rrectl y.
()J a nd dislikes
This activity starts a s a w ay of practisin g like/dislike langu age an d the
langua ge of a greement an d disagr eement. If it is successf ul it ma y well
develop into a f ree con versatio n.
The teache r and t he stud ents decide on a to pic. The te acher t hen asks
178

the stu dents to wr ite do wn two reasons w hy they like o r dislike the t opic,
using th e follo wing formula:
I like/don 't like (the topic) because__ ____.
Before t he acti vity starts the t eache r will introd uce ag reement and
disag reement langua ge. In a f airly elementa ry class the f ollowing langu age
might b e intr oduced:
Agree I agree, an d + ad ditional remark
Disagre e I'm afraid I don't a gree. (I t hink) + o pinion
The teache r now asks a stude nt to r ead a se ntence a nd asks an other student
to ag ree o r disag ree w ith it. The opinio n or a dditional r emark consists
of what the seco nd stude nt had o riginall y written do wn for t hat topic.
Suppose th e topic w ere bullfigh ting, the s ession might start like this:
T: Read o ne of y our sent ences Juan .
SI: I like bull fig hting beca use it's v ery exciting.
T: Agree o r disag ree, Maria.
52: I 'm afraid I do n't ag ree …
T: I think .. .
52: I t hink it's c ruel beca use the b ull always dies.
T: (Nominates S3)
S3: I'm afraid I don't a gree. The bull s ometimes wins.
52: But h e doesn 't recei ve the ea rs of t he matador!
The teache r starts the acti vity by cueing st udents a nd treating it like a drill.
Thus he o r she has to prompt 5 2 to add an opinio n to he r disag reement.
52's fi nal cont ribution sh ows how the conv ersation is 't aking of f. If this
happ ens (a nd it w ill pro bably not h appen as quickl y as in o ur example ) the
teache r will stop t reating it as a d rill, and ce ase pr ompting o r correctin g,
perhaps jo ining t he discussion as a pa rticipant ( see 1 1.1.5 ).
This activity is equall y suitable fo r groupwork. O nce the s tudents
106
PRACTICE
unde rstand t he pr ocedu re the y can be p ut into g roups t o continue the
179

activity.
(c) Question naires
Question naires a re a u seful w ay of encou raging p ractice o f specific lang uage
items in an inte resting an d motivatin g way. In this example stud ents w ill
ask each other about films the y have (or have not) seen and what thei r
opinions o f the film were.
The teache r and t he stud ents discuss some of th e most recent films
that h ave bee n sho wn. The studen ts are t hen gi ven the follo wing form:
NAME OF
FILMTick
if
seengoodTick if
satisfact
orybad
Students th en questi on each o ther a sking ques tions such as 'Have you seen
Parenth ood?', 'What did you think o f it?/Did y ou like it?', etc. As the f orm
suggests they put ticks (V) w here indica ted.
When the y have filled in their q uestionn aires th ey will then wr ite a
short paragrap h such as t he follo wing:
More peo ple ha ve se en Family Business than a ny othe r film, but most
of them did no t like it ve ry much. The fil m that e verybody thou ght w as
good wa s Parenth ood. etc.
The activ ity thus p rovides p ractice o f the p resent perfect and p ast si mple
tenses a nd sho ws how oral and wr itten skills can b e integ rated. The w riting
also enc ourag es the us e of comparati ves.
The question naire, t hen, is a u seful p ractice tech nique. W e have
already seen its u se in p resentati on (se e 6.6.l( b)) and w e will see how the
idea ca n be consid erabl y extende d in 8.4 (a).
107
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(d) Changin g sex
180

The follo wing acti vity10 is designed t o practis e second a nd thi rd conditio nal
sentenc es, but inst ead of c reating a stor y situation it a sks students to make
statements abo ut themselv es. W hat would life be like if t hey were the ot her
sex?
or of
Level Intermediat e and a bove
Time 3O40 min.
Gramm ar Str uctures 'Second' and 't hird' c onditional
Prepa ration
Copy the completio n sentenc es belo w enough times for e ach pe rson to have one
copy.
In class
1 Ask each st udent to imagine wh at life w ould be like w ere the y a member of
the ot her se x, and t o indiv iduall y complete th e sentenc es you give out.
2 Ask the stu dents to g et out o f thei r seats an d to mill. When they are all up,
ask each perso n to find a partner, if possible of th e othe r sex, a nd explain t heir
sentenc e completions to th em. Get t he stude nts to r e-pai r 2 or 3 times.
Completio n sentenc es
• If I w as…
• If I belo nged to t he oth er sex.. .
• Had I be en bo rn (a)…
• Supposing I w ere (a)…
• My parents w ould'v e…
• If I w asn't the sex I am…
• W ere I (a)…
ADD 10 more sentenc es of y our own about w hat it w ould be like to belo ng to
the ot her se x.
This exercise c an be as lig ht-he arted or as s erious a s the stu dents an d
teache r want to make it. The poin t is that th e studen ts are p ractising specific
langua ge w hilst at t he same time talking about t hemselves.
181

108
PRACTIC E
7.2
Written
practice11
7.2.1
Sentence wr iting
In this sec tion w e will consid er ways of encou raging wr itten p ractice. W e will
look at sentence w riting, pa rallel w riting, c ohesion, o ral compositions and
dictation.
We will look a t three examples of sen tence wr iting w hich aim to gi ve
studen ts practic e in specific wr itten lang uage.
(a) The fill-i n
One w ay of providing cont rolled wr itten p ractice is to g et stud ents to fill in
blanks in s entences. This is extr emely restricted, of cou rse, tho ugh it is
often u seful du ring p resenta tion stages and as c ontrolle d home work p ractice.
In the following ex ample12 the auth ors use a postca rd with multiple fill-ins
for both p ractice an d humour .
The S wan-W aiter Univ ersal H olida y Postcard Ma cW
1 It's e asy to wr ite holida y postcar ds! W rite
one n ow and se nd it to a friend . _ _………_ -……. ..–
POSTCARD DICTION ARY
182

: N
(na
meiT (town.
')
JohnRorr-e
Maryi .
Mancneste'
!
Alex
andr
ai i Hottotu fu
I
Moth
erj [ate.
i w (piaott)
': my room
:șș..- r rcorr
I the b »
I the t each
The sun
IttS !
I tt is sno wing
There is a h urricane :
1 t I'ft.rjgf to look a! )
I the s ea
! 'ne mounta ms
; the t ourists
i Die fain
: the s heep
! etc.
exciting
interest
183

fTMQlvf! ș ' '
IV'…..*
the o
Mi irrn
L__––:__I
The students get a lot of goo d sentenc e-writing prac tice, and t he task is
made more inv olving an d challengin g by having them choose be tween all th e
alternativ es in th e various boxes.
109
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(b) What are the y doing?
In this e xample st udents a re aske d to look a t a pictu re and wr ite fo ur
sentenc es about what the people in the pictu re are doing . This is the
pictur e:
This exercise h as the a dvantag e of getti ng the st udents to use specific
langua ge (in t his case th e pres ent contin uous) t o make their o wn sentenc es.
It is thus slig htly more challengi ng than t he first example.
(c) Christmas
In this e xample st udents us e pers onalisation ( see 7. 1.4) t o write sentences
using time clauses.
The students have recentl y learnt ho w to make time clauses using w ords
such as 'befor e', 'after', 'when', 'while', etc. To start this s entence -writing
activity the t eache r might p rocee d in the f ollowing w ay:
T: What hap pens on D ecember 25th ?
SI: Christmas.
T: Right … d o you do the same thing e very
Christmas?
5/: Yes … more or l ess.
T: OK … do y ou go to c hurch J uan?
57: Yes.
184

T: OK … and wh at hap pens afte r you've been to
churc h?
SI: After w e've been to chu rch w e open the p resen ts.
T: Good . .. now I want y ou to write me fou r
sentenc es using ' after', 'when', 'b efore ' and 'w hile'
about what you will do this Christmas.
110
PRACTIC E
7.2.2
Parallel w riting
Clearl y this topic w ill only be suitable in Ch ristian co untries, a nd is p robabl y
appropria te for use nea r December t he 25th. But other national h olida ys,
both s acred a nd secula r will work (e.g. Di vali, Ha nnuka, Ne w Year,
Thanksgiv ing, etc .).
This exercise h as all the a dvantag es of o ral pe rsonalisation si nce it is
asking stu dents to u se specific lan guage in what is, fo r them, a meaningful
way. Topics such as this ca n ser ve as the b asis for composition wo rk, of
cours e.
The thre e examples w e have conside red ha ve all been c oncern ed w ith the
production of accura te written sentenc es. Connect ed w ritten discou rse is
also nec essar y, howeve r, and in t he next three sections w e will look at w ays
of enc ouragi ng stude nts to w rite in this w ay.
The concept o f parallel w riting is central t o the t eaching of connecte d
discou rse since it su ggests tha t students should h ave a model from w hich to
work. In othe r words, stude nts w ill first see a piece o f writing a nd the n use
it as a b asis for t heir o wn w ork. The origi nal piece th at the y look at w ill
show them ho w English is wr itten a nd guide t hem towards t heir o wn
ability to express t hemselves in written English.
We have alre ady discussed parallel wr iting d uring t he pr esentation
stage ( see 6. 5) W e can no w look at th ree p ractice ex amples usin g the same
techniq ue.
185

(a) Hotels
With this stimulating material stud ents ha ve to write descripti ons of ho tels
based o n a gui de book a fter fi rst seein g how the symbols are used in a
written model. On the f ollowing pag e is the material t he stude nts see.13
The teache r starts by getti ng the st udents to look at th e 'Ke y to symbols'
eithe r singl y or in pairs . He or s he then finds out if there is an y vocabular y
the stu dents do not un dersta nd. W hen it is cle ar tha t the stu dents un dersta nd
all the s ymbols the y study the e ntry for the Hotel Conco rde. They are t hen
asked compre hension q uestions to check the y have understo od the t ext.
If necess ary the teache r can t hen elicit similar sentenc es about , for e xample,
the Castille Ho tel as a fu rther check th at the y can appl y the symbols to
the model. Students are then aske d to w rite (eith er singl y, or in pairs, o r in
groups) a similar p aragraph a bout on e of the other hotels. They might wr ite
something like the f ollowing:
The W indmill Hotel in M ykonos is a simple hotel. It has n o telepho ne.
It is in th e count ryside.
The kind of wr iting w hich the stude nts ha ve to do he re is v ery cont rolled;
the acti vity is very like a n oral s ubstitution d rill. Nev ertheless th e fact tha t
studen ts hav e to interp ret symbols and r elate t hem both to th e origin al
text a nd to th e one th ey wish to wr ite makes the acti vity extremel y
involving fo r them.
Ill
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
This is a page f rom a hotel GUIDE BOOK.
(?) Read t he symbols and thei r meanings:
INTERN ATIONAL
TRAVEL GUIDEH
OTE
LS: KEY TO
SYMBO LS
* it it if good h otelBbreakfast
• • * average hot elxlunch
* * simple hotel dinne r
S telephon e number bathrooms
(S) cit y centre Hswimming pool
186

## co untryside"1showers
O time of ope ning railway station
ft*i bedrooms no stati on
[™j. cent ral heatin g
(2) Here is t he ent ry for the Hotel C oncord e, Paris.
HOT EL
CONCORDE:PARIS,
FRANCE
• •••8
8-
66-
21® O all y ear
40 t o*
(I
,„
).B7-9
'X11-3 Y8'11
25 ^1
5Sinhotel M
2km
It means:
The Hotel Conco rde in Pa ris is a good hotel. The
teleph one number is 8 8-66-21 I t is in the cit y centre
The hotel is o pen all y ear and t here are forty bedrooms
There is ce ntral h eating in t he hotel.
Breakfast is f rom seven to ni ne, lunch is f rom eleven to
three, and d inner is from eight un til eleven. There a re
twenty-five bath rooms and fifte en sho wers. There is
also a s wimming po ol in the h otel. The n earest railway
station is t wo kilo metres a way
Now read these symbols, and desc ribe the h otels in th e
same way:
——i
……ș II –
—
WINDMI
LLH
OTE
L,MYKON
OS,
GRE EC
E
• • ^1 ifO Octobe r
187

March
to
six <-.? ^:X¥
one s =5one
#1
112
PRAC TICE
(b) Het ty Gree n14
Of course p arallel wr iting do es not al ways need t o be as co ntrolled as in the
hotels example. In this e xample for upper in termediate classes, the stud ents
are drawn into t he acti vity by a sentenc e-orderin g task.
Writing skills
1 Here is a n account
of the life of
Hetty Gree n. Fit t he
sentences
a-e into t he text. W^l Mi
a His leg w as
eventuall y
amputate d. ^^^^^ m mkm rl '
b Hett y Green, o ne
of the
richest an d meanest
women
who ev er lived, was
born inș W\l . I
New Bedf ord. ș
c When Hett y Green
died at the1
age of 82 , she left
more t han1
100 m illion dolla rs. 1
d By the age o f six
she was1
188

reading t he stock
market1
reports for p leasur e.ș f;,. i'iil 1 ș I
e When her son Ne d
had an1
infected leg, s he
dragge d him1
around free clinics
rather1
than pa y for proper
treatment.
2 Write an accoun t of
the life of
somebod y you know
about -Cold c omfort f or miser 1
alive or dead!21 November , 1934
Massachusetts:
i …………… .. .1
2
Known as 'The W itch of W all
Street', Hett y1
Green a dded a n ew dimension to
the word
miserl y. As he r profits mu ltiplied,
she lived
with her two childre n in a se ries of
scjualid
boardin g houses. She w ashed
her own
clothes, liv ed on cold po rridge , and
chewed
onions fo r her h ealth.
3
4
She also stuffed he r childre n's
clothes w ith
189

newspape rs to kee p them warm.
5
102
113
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
When the teache r has ch ecked that the stud ents ha ve got the sentences
in the r ight plac e, the y then stud y the or ganisation of the t ext (se e 7.2.3
(c)). No w they are in a positio n to use t he text a s a model for t heir o wn
descri ption of a famous person.
These t wo examples sho w parallel wr iting at the cont rolled a nd free ends o f
the sp ectrum. It is pr obabl y the case tha t students at lower lev els w ill
respond best to more cont rolled ex amples w hile the freer ac tivities ma y suit
intermediate s tudents b etter. However p arallel wr iting is onl y one
techniq ue, and we will look at man y more w ays of encou raging f reer
writing in 8.2.
7.2.3
Cohesion
In 5.6 we discussed s ome of t he dif ferences bet ween speakin g and wr iting
and in p articula r we saw the nee d for c oherent or ganisation a nd logical
thoug ht. W e saw how this w as in some ways more dif ficult in w riting than in
speaking , partic ularly since r eade rs are often not in a p osition to cl arify
points t hey do n ot unde rstand w ith the wr iter in t he same w ay that
participants in a c onversation can st op the s peaker and ask f or repetition
and r e-explanation . In this secti on w e will look at a number of exercises
designe d to help students t o organise thei r writing clearl y and cohe rently.
This involves not o nly the o rdering of sen tences, b ut also the use of
cohesi ve devices (i.e . langua ge that is u sed to join sentences t ogethe r). W e
will look at th ree e xamples o f exercis es designe d to teac h students about
cohe rence a nd cohesio n.
(a) Co-o rdinat ors: Sunshin e
190

In this e xample w e will look at a simple exe rcise for elementar y students
designe d to teac h them how to join sentences w ith 'and' and 'but'.
The students are gi ven the f ollowing exe rcise:
Join the following pai rs of se ntences usin g 'and' or 'but'.
1 Sunshine makes pe ople hap py. Sunshin e can be b ad fo r you.
2 Sunbat hing feels g ood. People w ith light skins can get skin ca ncer f rom
sunbat hing.
3 People a re more ch eerful in the suns hine. People a re more f riendl y to
each o ther wh en the s un is out.
The students will not onl y have to select 'and' or 'but'; they will also
have to change 'sunshi ne' and 'sunb athing' to 'it'. The use of words like 'it',
'they ', 'she ', etc. to r efer back to subjects mentioned e arlier will be discussed
in detail in (c) below.
(b) Concessio n: The ph otocopie r
The ai m of t his exercis e for a dvanced s tudents is t o train them in the use
of conc ession langu age such a s 'in spite of and 'although ', etc. It als o
reminds stude nts ho w spoken lang uage can be fo rmalised f or written st yle.
This is the spoke n text w hich the stud ents eithe r read or listen to e n
tape.
114
PRACTIC E
You want to h ear a story? I'll tell y ou. Four weeks ago I finall y got
round to b uying m yself a brand ne w photocopie r – I've bee n needin g
one f or some ti me. Anyway so I fi nally got it, a nd quick as a flash it
started to g o wrong. Fi rst of all it co pied e verything completel y black.
Now the c opies ar e so faint y ou can h ardly see a thing. I phon ed
the compan y of course , but no body came. After a w eek I w as pretty
mad so I w rote a ra ther a ngry letter. Nob ody came. In the e nd I
turned up a t the sh op and, we ll, the y sent a man round afte r that,
I can t ell you. He said h e'd fix ed it but it s till isn't working pr operl y.
I just do n't kno w what to d o. Oh, an d to make matters w orse the y
191

sent me a bill. A bill! I ask y ou. The thing's unde r gua rantee . …
Re-tell t he basic fac ts of the s tory in wr itten st yle using 'in spite of ( the fact
that)', 'despite ( the fact t hat)' and 'although .'
Example: Althoug h the p hotocopie r was completely ne w it sta rted t o go
wrong immediatel y.
This exercise is f airly advanced, bu t the same princi ple can easil y be
used a t lower levels.
(c) Princes, g randmothers a nd be ars15
In this e xample w e will look at a less on seque nce design ed to t rain stud ents
how to wr ite more co heren tly by using p ronouns as coh esive devices ( see ( a)
above). A four-stage seq uence ex poses stud ents to th e issue an d gets th em
to practise using the p ronouns .
The teache r writes the follo wing on the blackboa rd:
a It w ill give her more time to w ash all the dish es so she's very happy now.
b John and Mar y have six childr en.
c It takes Mary three hou rs to clean it .
d They live in a lar ge flat.
e Luckil y she was given a vacuum cleaner for her birthda y this morning.
The students are a sked to r e-order the se ntences b y putting t he lette r of
the se ntence a gainst the f ollowing numbers.
1 ___ 2 __ _ 3 __ _ 4__ _ 5 _ __
When the y have done this indi vidually the te acher a sks them what
order they have chosen and asks them why. With luck t hey will have
realise d that se ntence b has to be t he topic se ntence b ecause it int roduc es
the su bject matter of t he pa ragra ph. Sentence d follows, an d the clue to
this is the u se of they which refers t o 'John ', 'Mary' and the ' six childr en'.
The sentenc e ends w ith the info rmation about t he flat w hich is then picke d
up by the secon d Hf in sente nce c. And so on. The teach er hel ps the
studen ts to be aw are o f elements of coh esion and h ow they are us ed in
paragraph or ganisation.
Of cou rse this d omestic tale o f typical ho usewifery may not b e to
192

everyone's t aste. Stories o f princ es rescuin g princ esses tend t o portray
women as subse rvient v ictims, too. That's w hy a child ren's story calle d The
Bear may therefore be something of a relief .
115
THE PR ACTICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
The students are told that Kitt y Redc ape's g randmothe r lives in the
woods and Kitt y frequentl y goes to ha ve tea w ith her. The st udents a re then
given th e follo wing ca rds an d told to r e-order them to finish t he stor y,
paying particula r atte ntion to clu es such as t he use of he and she. (The fi rst
one is d one fo r them.)
One d ay, on her wa y to vi sit he r grandmother ,
Kitty Redcape sa w a hands ome p rince.
'Oh, s hut up, y ou silly old w oman,' he retorted.
At that mo ment th e princ e rod e
by and charg ed into t he ga rden.
'I have come to sav e you, young maiden, '
he cried, knockin g the g randmother
down in his haste t o be b y her side.
Her h eart skip ped a b eat or two, but the
princ e har dly noticed h er as h e rode by.
By the time she got t o her g randmothe r's ho use, Kitt y
had f orgott en abo ut the p rince, b ut she w as horrified
to see t he old la dy being a ttacked b y a bear .
116
PRACTIC E
After pai rs and/ or groups o f students have completed t he task th e
teache r checks t o make sure th ey all ha ve the cor rect o rder.
The teache r could t hen ask st udents to imagine wh at hap pened a fter the
end o f the sto ry using p erson al pro nouns to s tart their sen tences, e. g.
He
She
193

The students are n ow puttin g into ef fect w hat the y have lear nt from the
previous sente nce-o rdering tasks.
Another exercise that coul d be use d is the follo wing:
Where you think it is n ecessar y replac e the w ords 'Kitt y Redca pe', 't he
princ e' and ' the b ear' b y 'she ', 'her', 'he', 'him' an d 'it'.
The Bear tells t he sto ry of Kitt y Redcape , her g randmothe r, a bea r and a
princ e.
Kitty Redcape o ften go es to vi sit Kitt y Redcape 's grandmother in t he
woods. One da y, on Kitt y Redca pe's w ay to Kitt y Redcape's g randmothe r's
house, Kitty Redcape sees the p rince and Kitty Redcape thinks the p rince is
very attracti ve. The p rince does not notic e Kitt y Redcape.
When Kitt y Redcap e arrives at th e cottage Kitty Redcape sees Kitty
Redcape 's grandmother b eing attack ed by a bear. Just t hen th e prince rides
into th e gar den to sa ve Kitty Redcape a nd the p rince is r ude t o Kitt y
Redcape 's grandmother .
The prince asks Kitt y Redcape b ack to his cas tle for l unch but Kitt y
Redcape says no b ecause Kitt y Redcap e doesn 't like the p rince's treatment
of Kitt y Redcap e's gr andmother a nd Kitt y Redcape d oesn't fancy the
princ e. Kitt y Redcape su ggests th at the p rince sho uld go b ack to the p rince 's
hunt a nd lea ve them alone. And that's what the Prince does.
The bea r follo ws the p rince in to the f orest a nd eats t he pri nce.
This lesson sequ ence clea rly shows stud ents ho w and w hy paragraphs
are organised in th e way they are (clearl y child ren's stories – however
witty – will not be suita ble for some classes ). The variety of exercis es
in the s equence g ives stude nts prac tice not o nly in working out th e logic of
such o rganisatio n but also in putting their n ewly acqui red und erstan ding
into p ractice.
7.2.4
Oral c ompositions
Oral c ompositions h ave been popul ar in lan guage t eaching f or a lo ng time.
The idea is th at the te acher a nd the class toget her b uild up a n arrative
194

before the s tudents a re then asked t o write it. This pr ocess allo ws the
teache r and the stud ents to f ocus in on a variety of langu age items from
verb tenses to cohesi ve devices, etc.
Oral c ompositions c an be h andled w ith visual16 or aural17 stimuli. In
other words, the te acher c an sho w the stude nts a se ries of pictu res, "mime a
story, or play them a tap e with a se ries of so unds. The example we are
going t o look at u ses pictu res.
117
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Saved by the rats!18
The teache r is going to work from the follo wing set of pict ures:
118
PRACTIC E
The teache r starts by getti ng stude nts to look a t the fi rst pictu re in
the se quence. The stude nts are encou raged t o say what the man is doing,
e.g.
T: So … what can you say abut th e man …
SI: The man sittin g?
T: OK .. but w hen . ?
52: L ast night?
T: Hmm … a bit bef ore that.
S3: Last Mo nday …
T: OK. So can someone gi ve me a sent ence.
SI: Last Mo nday evening a man w as sittin g on his p orch. He was smoking
a pipe. etc.
Of cou rse it p robabl y won't go t hat smoothl y!
The teache r then produces the n ext pictu re and elicits the same kind of
langua ge until th e first f our pict ures h ave been dealt w ith. Stud ents could
then b e giv en the last fou r pictu res as h omework.
Clearl y oral compositions w ork bette r if stud ents do n ot see all t he
pictur es at the same time.
195

Oral c ompositions a re us eful fo r the te aching of n arrative style and the
use of v arious p ast tenses . However, they take a long time and sh ould,
therefore, be use d spari ngly.
7.2.5
Dictation
Like man y teachin g techniqu es that g o completel y out of f ashion fo r a time,
dictation is making a c omeback. This is larg ely due to t he w ork of Paul
Davis and Mario Rinvolucri19 who ha ve lo oked at t he subject and chan ged
it out o f all reco gnition b y asking the q uestion, wh o should d ictate w hat and
to whom? In ot her w ords, th ey have found d ynamic alte rnatives to the
dictation o f larg e chunks o f uninte resting p rose b y a ster n teache r – the
situation t hat man y studen ts used to have to s uffer. Two examples sho w
how dicta tion can b e a usef ul way of ge tting into a topic.
(a) Beautiful thin gs
Teache rs frequentl y complain th at their students ' have nothing to say'.
Partly that is because t hey tend to sp ring discussions o n them w ithout a ny
warning. If y ou ask a class ' What is beaut y?' you probably won't get an
answer!
Little dicta tions can g et the p rocess mo ving, ho wever, as in the
following e xample.
Tell the st udents to get out a pen a nd pap er an d then dic tate the
following:
One of the most beautiful t hings I h ave eve r seen is…..
Now tell them the y have to complete th e sentenc e for t hemselves.
They may do it seriousl y or sup erficiall y. It doesn 't matter . The p oint is that
you now have something t o work with and all th e studen ts, becaus e the y have
had a chance t o write something d own, will have somethin g to sa y.
119
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
7.3
Conclusions
196

(b) Poetr y dictation20
In this ac tivity students d ictate to e ach oth er in a n inv olving a nd exciting
way.
The teache r brings one c opy of a p oem into the class room and eithe r
keeps it o n the d esk or pi ns it to a b oard. The stud ents ar e put int o gro ups.
Each gro up sends a member u p to the p oem where t hey read onl y the
first line . They take this line back t o thei r group and dic tate it. No w
a secon d me mber of the g roup g oes to th e poem and reads the second
line so th at it can b e dictated to the g roup. A third student goes up for the
third line and s o on.
The techniqu e works beautifull y because th e students are k ept guessin g
about what the next line (s) w ill be. They are far more inv olved in t he
meaning of th e poem than th ey would be if the y were just reading it, and
they are get ting w riting practic e.
A lot o f modern po etry – which is oft en sho rt and cle ar – is useful fo r
this kind o f activ ity. But y ou can also u se dialog ues and p rose p assages,
too, p rovided that th ey are n ot too l ong.
In this ch apter we have lo oked at wa ys of getti ng stude nts to p ractise
specific items of langu age bot h in speec h and in wr iting. W e have se en
that t he object of practic e is to allo w students to f ocus on t he accu racy of
what they are saying an d writing. But we have shown that t his does n ot
mean that such activities ha ve to be d ull and manipulati ve: o n the co ntrary,
many practice a ctivities are great fun an d pro vide the st udents w ith a
satisfacto ry blend of confid ence and enjoyment.
Exercises
Refer ences
1 Select a la nguage it em or items that you are goin g to teac h and th en design
an info rmation gap ac tivity to practise that l anguag e.
2 Take a u nit from a textb ook y ou are usin g (or are familiar w ith)
197

and d esign the f ollowing sup plementa ry practice material:
a) a noug hts and c rosses game
b) a pers onalisation/loc alisation stag e
c) a 'find someone wh o' acti vity.
3 Lo ok at y our textb ook (o r one t hat y ou are familiar w ith) and s ay
what kinds of written pr actice the b ook contai ns.
4 Take an English wr itten t ext from an y source a nd identif y cohesiv e
devices th at are used in t hat text.
1 Alexande r discusses th e relati ve merits of drills in a n article called
'To Drill or not to Drill' ( LG Alexande r 1985 ).
2 This idea origin ally comes f rom J Ker r (1979) Teacher's Book p age 7 4.
Kerr's cue ca rds ar e still ve ry useful fo r this kind of activity, but teach ers
can, of course , produce thei r own picture o r word cards . Another so urce
of bot h cards and ide as is De Bono's set (De Bono ( 1982 )). (S ee also
reference 7.)
3 From R Maple (1988 ).
4 From J Harmer and S Elsworth (19 88).
120
PRACTIC E
5 Taken f rom P Watcyn-Jon es (19 81), o ne of th e first se ts of materials
devoted exclusi vely to information ga ps. Othe rs include A Matthe ws and
C Read ( 1981 ). Watcyn-Jones' mate rial w as in t wo separa te books, o ne
for Stud ent A, one fo r Student B. Oth ers put the material fo r different
studen ts on dif ferent pag es of a b ook.
6 For more o n games see D B yrne (1986 ) Chapt er 9, A Wright et al.
(1984) a nd W Lee ( 1980 ). C Fr ank a nd M Rinvolucri (1 983) and
M Rinvoluc ri (1985) c ontain a we alth of int erestin g game-like acti vities.
P Ur (1988 ) is a ric h sourc e of g rammar acti vities.
7 A slightl y different v ersion of this game can be f ound in J Willis (1981 )
page 1 22.
8 See J Richa rds (1 977). An exc ellent comparison o f textb ook 'sho rt
198

answers' and real life e xchang es was made b y W Plumb (1 979).
9 This activity comes o riginall y from G Mo skowitz (1978). A nice
adapt ation can b e foun d in S Deller ( 1990 ) page 2 5.
10 F rom C Fr ank and M Rinv olucri (19 83).
11 For more on co ntrolled writing se e D B yrne (1988 ), especiall y
Chapte r 4, a nd J W illis (1981 ) Unit 20 .
12 Taken f rom M Swan and C W alter (1984 ).
13 F rom E Davies and N W hitney (1979).
14 F rom R O'Neill and P Mugglestone ( 1989b ).
15 This class sequenc e was plann ed by Anita Harmer .
16 See fo r example L Markstein and D G runba um (1981).
17 See fo r example A Maley and A Duff (1977 ).
18 The pictur es are f rom A Doff et al. ( 1983 ).
19 See P Davis and M Rinvolucri ( 1989 ).
20 This idea is base d on acti vities in Davis and Rin voluc ri (se e abo ve).
121
Communic ative
activities
8.1Oral c ommunicativ e
activities
8.1.
1Reaching a consens us
8.1.
2Discussion
8.1.
3Relaying inst ructions
8.1.Com munication games
199

4
8.1.
5Problem solving
8.1.
6Talking ab out y ourself
8.1.
7Simulation an d role p lay
8.2Written com municati ve
activities
8.2.
1Relaying inst ructions
8.2.
2Writing rep orts a nd
advertisements
8.2.
3Co-o perati ve writing
8.2.
4Exchanging le tters
8.2.
5Writing journals
8.3Correcting wr itten w ork
8.4Projects
8.5Learner t raining
8.6Conclusions
Exercises/Refe rences
In this ch apter we will
conside r acti vities w hich
compl y as far as possible
with the c haract eristics w e
said w ere necess ary
for communicativ e
activities (s ee Fig ure 8 on
page 5 0). In the fi rst half
of the chapte r we will look
at acti vities w ith a lar gely
oral f ocus (al though we should n ot forget the points ab out skill
integ ration in 5 .5); in the seco nd pa rt we will conside r written
200

communication. Ma ny teac hers w orry about th e management of such
activities an d the stu dents' us e of thei r mother to ngue. These issues
are dealt w ith in 11.1 and 1 1.2.4 .
8.1
Oral
communi cative
activities
8.1.1
Reaching a
consens us
The follo wing acti vities are all d esigned t o provoke spoke n com munication
between studen ts and/o r between the t eache r and th e studen ts. W e will
divide th e activ ities into s even cate gories: reaching a consens us, discussion,
relayin g instruc tions, com munication g ames, p roblem solving, talking a bout
yours elf, si mulation and r ole pla y. (Where the o rganis ation of t he acti vities
seems complicated, teaching s tages ha ve been i ncluded. )
In thes e examples studen ts hav e to agree with each other afte r a cer tain
amount of discussio n. The task is not complete until t hey do.
Consensus activities ha ve been v ery successful i n promoting f ree an d
sponta neous lan guage u se and we can no w look at th ree ex amples.
(a) Going t o Ne w York1
In this ac tivity students a re told that t hey are going o n holida y and ha ve to
decide wh at ten o bjects to tak e with them. They will have to re ach a
consens us on thes e objects.
Stage 1 All the stu dents a re asked to write down the ten items the y would
choose t o have in their lu ggage if t hey were going t o sta y in
New York for two w eeks.
122
COM MUNIC ATIVE ACTIVITIES
Stage 2 When all th e students have completed t heir lists th ey are
201

put into
pairs. Each pai r has to negotiat e a ne w list o f ten items. This w ill
involve each member of the pair ch anging t heir o riginal list to s ome
extent.
Stage 3 When the pairs h ave completed thei r lists t wo pairs ar e
joined
togethe r to ne gotiate a n ew list that a ll four s tudents c an ag ree to.
Stage 4 Groups can n ow be jo ined togeth er an d the lists r e-
negotiated .
Stage 5 When the teache r thinks th e activ ity has g one on for lo ng
enough a
feedback sessio n is conduct ed w ith the whole class in wh ich each
group e xplains an d justifies its choices.
This acti vity, which can b e used f rom the elementar y level up wards,
is great
fun and p roduc es a lot of English. Of cou rse the re is no p articula r
reason
for selectin g Ne w York as the d estination. O ther pl aces can b e
used.
(b) Moral dilemmas
Stude nts are given a situ ation an d alter nativ e sugg estions fo r
acting in such a
situation ar e giv en. The follo wing is an example:
Stage 1 Students a re told t hat the y are in vigilating an import ant
school/
university exam. They see a stud ent chea ting w ith no tes he o r she
has illegall y brought int o the ex am room. They have fou r possible
courses of action:
– Igno re the i ncident.
– Warn the stud ent that if she or he che ats again s he or h e will be
reported to t he auth orities.
– Ask th e student to lea ve the exam, tea r up his o r her exam and
mark him or her as a bsent.
– Repo rt the stu dent to t he aut horities, in which case h e or s he w ill
have to lea ve the scho ol/univ ersity.
Stage 2 Students a re put in small g roups to reach a consens us on
this iss ue.
Stage 3 Pairs of g roups a re combined a nd ha ve to reach a
consensus on
which altern ative to a dopt.
Stage 4 The proc edure can be r epea ted w ith groups joining each
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other.
Alternativ ely after Stage 3 t he teach er can conduct a feedb ack
sessio n in fr ont of th e whole class in which gr oups justif y their
choices.
(c) Le arning decisions
There are many other occ asions w hen we will ask stude nts in
groups t o
come to a c onsensus a bout thi ngs the y are lea rning. Re ading tasks
might
involve this kind of agreement ( stude nts decide wh ich is the co rrect
answer
togethe r); some v ocab ulary study involves reaching a consensus
about w hich
meanings a re co rrect ( see 9 .5.2 ( g)) or which words to select fo r
8 1 7 compre hension w ork (se e 9.6.1 ( d)).
0. l.Z
Discussion2Many teac hers ca n be he ard complaining t hat thei r studen ts 'ha ve
nothing to
say': the y complain, fo r example, tha t they have no opi nions and
are not
prepared to d iscuss an ything.
Part of the p roblem her e is the w ay in which some teache rs
approac h
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THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
discussion as an acti vity. If stud ents ar e asked t o expr ess themselv es
fluentl y on a dif ficult topic in f ront o f thei r pee rs in a fo reign lan guage ( often
with no wa rning ) they may find t hemsel ves r eluctant to do so !
Of cou rse some discussions d evelop spo ntaneousl y during the cou rse of
a lesson. A studen t reacts to something tha t is said, an other s tudent
joins in, an d soon t he w hole class is b ubbling w ith life. Such discussions
are often t he most successful sessions t hat the teache r and t he class e ver
have together , but th ey can't b e plann ed.
Between th ese t wo extremes (the s tudents w ith nothing to sa y and
the sp ontaneo us outb reak of c onversation) t here a re techniques t hat can b e
used t o get stu dents talking . Before lo oking at th ree e xamples, h owever, we
203

can gi ve some hints about o rganisin g discussions:
1 Put studen ts in gr oups first . Before aski ng stude nts to discuss a s a w hole ș
class, put t hem in groups to try out the t opic. This w ill allow them to
give opini ons in a less t hreat ening en vironment than in fro nt of the
whole class. I t will also giv e the teache r a ch ance to se e if the t opic is
interesting fo r the st udents. If it is not an d the te acher d ecides to e nd the
discussion, t his can be d one w ithout the ' loss of fac e' that a ccompanies
the ca ncellation of a discussion sessi on in fr ont of a whole class.
2 Gi ve st udents a c hance to prepare. W here a more f ormal discussion is
due t o take plac e students need a chance t o pre pare t heir o pinions.
If the y are to discuss the r ole of the famil y or the relati ve merits o f
radio and tel evision the y need time to marshal ^ their th oughts a nd come
up w ith arguments to s uppor t their c ase. This is esp eciall y true for –
debat es (see (c) below).
3 Gi ve st udents a t ask. One wa y of pr omoting discussion is to g ive
studen ts a task as p art of the discussi on pr ocess. They can be gi ven a list
of cont roversial statements abo ut a topic a nd aske d to sco re them from
0 (= very negati ve) to 5 ( = very positi ve). They can do this in p airs
and g roups; once ag ain this w ill be e xcellent p reparation fo r any full-class
session.
We can now look a t three types of discussion acti vity:
(a) The b uzz gro up
One w ay of encou raging short s harp b ursts o f discussion is t hroug h the us e
of 'buzz gro ups'. This is wh ere st udents a re pu t into loose groups of th ree o r
four (the number is unimporta nt) and asked t o think of t he topic.
Frequen tly the teac her ma y ask them to think of 'as man y …. a s possible' .
Examples might be: t he stude nts are going to read a text a bout ad diction.
First the te acher p uts them into g roups f or a t wo-minute session. They
should t hink of as man y forms of a ddiction as t hey can. The class po ols the
information. Pe rhaps th e students are d oing some w ork about se aside
holida ys (in an el ementa ry group this might be f or tense pr actice, e.g.
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'What's J enny doin g?' 'She 's swimming', etc.) . They could be put i nto buzz
groups to thi nk of as man y seaside activities as possi ble.
Buzz groups can fo rm the prelu de to a l arger discussion s ession (se e 1
above).
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COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
8.1.3
Relaying
instruc tions
(b) Cont roversial t opics
In (2) ab ove we said t hat cont roversial statements w ere good discussion
provokers. He re is an example. The stud ents ar e giv en the follo wing
statements abo ut smoking and told that th ey have to circle the number
which best reflects t heir a greement o r disag reement w ith the s tatement
(0 = totall y disa gree, 5 = tot ally agree).
1 Smok ing s hould be b anned in all public
places.
2 Smokers should b e forc ed to gi ve up the
habit.
3 People w ho smoke in no-smoking a reas
should b e put in p rison.
4 There sho uld be sep arate areas for smokers
in all re staur ants, ba rs and c afes.
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3 4 5
0 1 2 3
When the y have done this th ey proc eed as if f or a co nsensus acti vity
(they compare thei r ans wers in pai rs and t hen g roups a nd the y have to
agree a sco re).
This technique is a good e xample of using a small task to provoke
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discussion.
(c) The de bate
There is still r oom for the more formal debat e – w here t wo sides ar gue a
case w hich is then pu t to the v ote. The activity is suitable f or more
advanc ed classes.
Students a re given a cont roversial p roposition such as People w ho buy
fur coats shoul d pay a 1 00% tax. They are t hen pu t into t wo groups which
have to pre pare a rguments either in favour o f the p ropositio n or against
the p ropositio n. When the arguments a re ready the teams elect a pr opose r
and a seconde r who make fo rmal spe eches to a rgue t heir cas e. All the other
studen ts can the n take p art w ith short int erventi ons. At the end o f the
discussion t he teach er can o rganise a fr ee vote to see w hether t he
proposition w ins or not.
A variation o n the fo rmal debate is th e 'Balloon' d ebate. Stud ents must
each ch oose a ch aracte r. They are the n told th at all the ch aracte rs are in
the b asket of a h ot-air balloo n. The ballo on is losing ai r and s o people must
jump from the basket t o sav e the lives of oth ers. W ho should be c hosen as
the sole survivor? The ' charac ters' must make con vincing a rguments in
favour of th eir own survival. A final vo te deci des w hich cha racte rs should
jump and w hich sho uld remain.
Discussion acti vities a re an important pa rt of man y lessons . The main
thing t o reme mber is that p roper organisation c an ensu re thei r success.
Lack of it can pr ovoke th eir failu re.
In this t ype of acti vity students h ave to gi ve each ot her inst ructions.
The success of t he acti vity depends o n whether the st udents t o whom
instruc tions ar e being gi ven perform the tasks s uccessfull y – in othe r words,
were the inst ructions th e right ones, a nd w ere the y understo od?
125
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
8.1.4
Com munication
206

games
(a) Exercises
Stage 1 The te acher wr ites do wn the names of a number of common
exercises (e. g. press -ups, sit -ups sq uat jumps, etc.) – or better
still has d rawings of t hem. These ar e giv en to individual stu dents
(without the o thers s eeing).
Stage 2 Stude nts ha ve to get th eir colleag ues to d o the ex ercises usin g
only words (n o gestu res, etc. ).
This activity can be v ery amusing, an d cert ainly involves real
communication. Apart from physical exe rcises, stud ents can ins truct e ach
other in a d ance, in ce rtain mi mes, etc.
(b) Making models
Stage 1 A small gr oup of s tudents is gi ven material to make models w ith
(e.g. building b ricks, Lego, etc.) They are told to make a model.
Stage 2 The o riginal g roup n ow has to ins truct a nothe r group or groups so
that t hey can d uplicate the original model. It is, of cou rse, nec essar y
for the ori ginal model to be hi dden f rom the second g roup or o ther
groups at this s tage.
(c) Describe and d raw
One of the most popula r instr uction games is 'desc ribe a nd dr aw' in w hich
one st udent is gi ven a pictu re which the othe r stude nt canno t see. The
second s tudent h as to d raw an id entical pictu re (in content, not st yle) by
listening t o the fi rst studen t's instr uctions.
The students must be put in p airs and they must be told n ot to lo ok at
each o ther's pictur es until the y have finishe d the acti vity. It is b ecause
Student B cann ot see Studen t A's pict ure that the c ommunication takes
place.
Com munication games ar e based on the p rinciple o f the inf ormation gap
(see 5.2). Students a re put in to a situati on in w hich they have to use all
or any of th e langua ge the y possess to complete a g ame-like task.
(a) Find the dif ferences ( or similarities)3
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Students a re put into pai rs. In eac h pair Stud ent A is given a pictu re
and Stude nt B is given a pict ure w hich is similar , but different in some
vital res pects. They are told that t hey must not look at each ot her's mate rial
but th at the y must find o ut a ce rtain number o f differenc es bet ween the
two pictu res th rough d iscussion onl y. In th e follo wing e xample4 Stude nt A
looks at t his pictur e:
126
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
And Student B gets t his pictur e:
(Note that th e origin als are in colour s o that dif ferences in s hirts, etc. can
be use d.)
(b) Describ e and a rrange
Students a re told t hey are going t o work in pairs. I n each p air Studen t A
is giv en th e follo wing pict ures a nd told n ot to sho w them to Student B:
nnn
Student B, on t he othe r
hand, is given the same
pictur es, but cu t up so
they are not in an y
order, e.g.
127
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
It is no w Stud ent B's j ob to a rrange th e pictur es in the same or der a s
Student A's.
(c) Stor y reconstr uction: The hospital case5
Students a re given different p arts o f a pictu re sto ry. They have to
reconstruct t he w hole narrative even thoug h indiv iduall y they have seen
only a small part of it. This is done beca use each member of t he gr oup
has see n a dif ferent pictu re; by talkin g about t heir pict ures t ogethe r the
narrative emerg es.
Here is a proc edure for t he techni que:
208

Stage 1 The class is di vided into f our la rge g roups, A, B, C and D.
Stage 2 Each g roup is gi ven one o f the f ollowing pictu res and t old to
study it.
128
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
Stage 3 After a couple of minutes the te acher t akes the p ictures b ack fr om
the g roups.
Stage 4 The te acher makes ne w groups with one s tudent f rom each of t he
origin al gro ups (i.e. one f rom A, one f rom B, one from C, one
from D).
Stage 5 The stu dents in th e new groups h ave to t ry and r econst ruct th e
story by discussing w hat the y saw on each of thei r pictur es.
Stage 6 The te acher t hen gets the dif ferent gr oups to t ell their st ories. Of ten
with pictu re sequ ences the re will be more t han on e version of the
story. The t eache r then sh ows the stu dents all th e pictur es.
(d) Poe m reconstr uction
The same principle ( of reconstr uction) c an be a pplied to simple poems.
Students h ave to r eassemble lines w hich th ey are given. The activity
mixes r eading, listening an d discussion.
Stage 1 The stu dents a re put in to groups.
Stage 2 In each g roup e ach of th e studen ts is giv en on e of the following
cards and inst ructed n ot to sh ow it to an yone else:
8.1.5
Problem solving
Stage 3 The g roups a re told that th ey must reassemble the p oem – it is
a one stanza p oem. Studen ts can r ead the lines aloud, but the y may
not sh ow them to anyone else.
Stage 4 The g roups a re told that th ey must decide on a title for the po em.
Problem-solv ing acti vities encou rage stu dents to t alk toget her to find a
209

solution t o (a s et of) p roblems or t asks. W e will look at two examples:
(a) Deser t dilem ma6
Students a re given a complex situation a nd told t o work out a means
of su rvival.
129
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
All the studen ts are t old to r ead th e follo wing:
THE SITUATION
It is abo ut ten o 'clock in the morning in Jul y, and y ou have just crashe d in
a small aeropla ne in the Sonora d esert in Northe rn Me xico. The pil ot and
co-pilo t are d ead a nd the a eropla ne is a bu rnt-out shell. O ne of th e
passen gers is injured.
The aer oplane h ad no r adio, a nd the su rvivors think that t hey were abou t
100 kilometres of f course wh en the y crashe d. Just bef ore the cras h the pilot
told th e passeng ers th at the y were 12 0 kilo metres south o f a small mining
camp.
From experienc e you know that da ytime temperat ures ca n reac h 43°
centig rade ( 110°Fah renheit ) and night-time temperat ures r each f reezing. All
the p assenge rs are dresse d in light clot hes. The a rea is fla t and a rid as fa r as
the e ye can see.
Instructions
The follo wing is a list o f items that came out of t he cras h in goo d ord er:
— Flas hlight w ith four ba tteries
— Jack knife
— Detailed p ilot's cha rt of t he ar ea
— La rge plastic p oncho
— Compass
— Inst rument to measure bl ood pr essure
— Loa ded .45 p istol
— One r ed and w hite parachu te
— Bottle of 1 000 salt t ablets
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— One q uart o f water per perso n
— Book Edible Desert Animals
— One p air of s unglasses p er pe rson
— Two bottles of vodka
— One o vercoa t per p erson
— One p ocket mirro r
Now do th e follo wing:
(a) Indi vidually write down a list of t he se ven most important items on t his
list to ens ure su rvival and/ or rescue.
(b) Agree w ith the othe r members o f the g roup wh at thes e items are.
They are t hen pu t in gr oups. Each g roup must follo w the instructi ons and
work out ho w to sur vive this dese rt situation. The teac her ca n then ch eck to
see ho w ingenious ( or otherwise) th e solutions a re. (One p ropose d solution
is as follo ws: the se ven import ant items are the m irror, the flashlight, one
quart of w ater pe r person, th e plastic ponc ho, sungl asses, o vercoats an d a
parachute. W alking is inad visable owing to t he heat , so a sign alling m irror
(by day) and flashlight ( by night) w ill be u seful. The parachute can b e used
for shelter a nd as a sign fo r searc hing planes . Sunglasses can p revent
blindness a nd overcoats ke ep peo ple w arm in the col d dese rt nights. The
130
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
water is clearl y importa nt, and t he plastic p oncho ca n be use d to cr eate
more w ater, e.g.
8.1.6
Talking ab out
yourself9
stone
conde nsation
This readin g/discussion ex ercise is suit able fo r intermediate st udents. Apar t
from org anising the groups and co nducting f eedback, t he teac her ca n leav e
the stu dents v ery much on thei r own.
211

(b) Fas t food7
A welcome de velopment in languag e teachin g has be en the int roducti on of
computers int o the class room. Despite the sc epticis m of some teac hers th ey
provide a v aluable aid fo r langu age lea rning.8
Fast Food is one o f a seri es of computer g ames where t he use r has to
take d ecisions w hich w ill affect th e outcome of the game. In this p rogram
studen ts run a fast fo od stall and they have to decid e how man y rolls,
sausag es, drinks, etc. to o rder for t heir st all and w hat price t o char ge for
them. They are giv en inf ormation abo ut the w eather , etc. If the y make th e
right decisions th ey pros per, if th ey make the w rong decisions t hey start
to lose mone y.
After th e game has bee n explaine d, the te acher p uts stud ents into small
groups. Each gr oup is assig ned to a comput er an d told to r un th eir stall.
The discussion th at takes pl ace is fre quentl y fast and fu rious w ith students
anxious t o ensu re the s uccess of th e venture (see also 'Co -operative wr iting'
in 8.2. 3).
Where a school o nly has one or two mini-compute rs activ ities like
Fast Food can be reserved fo r stude nts w ho finish other groupwork e arly;
teache rs can s et up small English c ompute r clubs so that stu dents w ho are
keen ca n work after class .
The students themselves are o ften an unde rused r esou rce10: in pa rticular we
can use their li ves a nd feelin gs for a ny number o f inter person al exchan ges.
Such activ ities fall int o the 'Humanistic' ca tegor y (see 4 .1.5) and a re ofte n
useful a t the be ginning of classes to w arm things up ( 'warmers' ) or to cr eate
a goo d and p ositiv e atmospher e in ne w groups wh ich are a bit 'ic y' ('ice
breakers' ).
We will look a t three si mple ac tivities that a re quick a nd eas y to
organise:
(a) Your name11
The teache r puts t he stude nts in pai rs and asks them to tell each o ther:
• how they feel a bout thei r first n ame (do th ey like it, etc. )
212

• what name th ey would ch oose fo r themselv es if the y had to ch oose one
that w as different f rom the one t hey have (and why)
131
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Clearl y this activity is ve ry simple, but it demonstrates the ad vantages
of 'talking abou t yourself. M any people h ave strong opinio ns about their
names and f rom such simple qu estions an in terestin g pers onal discussion can
develop .
8.1.7
Simulation an d
role p lay13
(b) What we have in comm on12
This is an ideal ice b reake r. Students a re pu t in pairs at random and told
to disco ver five things w hich th ey have in c ommon. This encou rages
them to cov er a number o f areas and to pics including musical tastes,
sports, famil ies ('Do y ou have any brothers o r sisters ?'), e tc. It is also a
positi ve acti vity since it inv estiga tes w hat joins people t ogether , not w hat
breaks them apart!
(c) Musical associations
In this ac tivity the teac her e ncour ages the s tudents t o use th e title of a s ong
to provoke discussi on of fe elings and memories, etc.
Stage 1 The te acher a sks the stu dents to wr ite do wn the name of a song
which the y like. It can b e a po p song, a folk song, a song f rom the
opera, an ything. They should not show this title t o anybody else fo r
the moment.
Stage 2 The te acher t hen tells th e studen ts that th ey are going to discuss this
song w ith a partner. They should t ell their p artner the title of th eir
song a nd the f ollowing:
• how the song makes them feel
• what the song makes th em think o f
• what the song makes th em feel like d oing
213

• where the y would most like to hea r the s ong
Stage 3 When the stud ents ha ve had en ough time to tell e ach othe r abo ut
their songs th e teache r can ask if anyone heard anything partic ularly
interesting tha t they would like to sha re with the gr oup.
Most students se em to e njoy this acti vity since , like (a ) and ( b) above,
it is positi ve in t one an d allo ws them to talk a bout th emsel ves.
Any activities w hich in vite students t o sha re themselv es with oth ers – even
thoug h the y are fai rly light like the ones he re – should b e done i n a calm
and su pporti ve atmosphere. Teachers must decide wh ether studen ts want
to do a ctivities like this an d how far they should be e ncou raged t o reveal
their feelings.
The idea of a simulation is to cre ate the p retence of a r eal-life situation
in the class room: students 'simulate ' the r eal w orld. Thus w e might ask t hem
to pretend t hat the y are a t an ai rport, or w e might o rganise t hem to get
toget her to plan an imagina ry reunion. W hat we are trying to do –
artificiall y of cours e – is to g ive stude nts prac tice in re al-world English.
For a simulation to w ork it ne eds cert ain cha racteristics. J ones ( 1982 )
132
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
says that there needs t o be a 'reality of function ' (students must accept t he
function ; they must not thi nk of themsel ves as lan guage st udents b ut as the
people in the simulation), a simulated enviro nment (we do n ot take t he
studen ts to a r eal air port – that wo uld no lo nger b e a simulation, it w ould
be th e real t hing!) and structu re (there must be some str ucture t o the
simulation and esse ntial facts must be p rovided).
Within these g uidelines w e can add anothe r variable: someti mes th e
studen ts take pa rt as t hemsel ves ( if we ask t hem to o rganis e a pa rty, for
example, w e are not a sking them to pr etend t o be someone els e) an d
someti mes w e ask t hem to play a role , pretending t o be someone t hat the y
are not (we ma y ask t hem to be a dist raugh t policeman or a bad-t empered
child). I n the lat ter cas e we are talking a bout role plays. All role p lays
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are simulations, i n othe r words, but no t all si mulations are role pla ys.
However, even w here the students a re not asked t o pla y a role the y must
still accept Jo nes' ' realit y of function' : they must still be themsel ves at a n
airport (even th ough it is simulated) rather tha n studen ts in a class room.
And this accep tance means that students w ill have to b e pre pared to ente r
into th e activ ity with en thusiasm and con viction .
There is some cont roversy about t he useful ness of simulations,
particularl y where stu dents a re asked t o pla y roles, but man y teachers f eel
that t hey have certain a dvantag es becaus e students do not h ave to t ake
responsibilit y for their ow n actions a nd w ords – in o ther words, it's the
character t hey are pla ying who speaks, n ot themsel ves. It h as certai nly been
noticed t hat some sh y stud ents ar e more talkati ve wh en pla ying roles.
During a simulatio n teache rs ma y act as pa rticipants ( see 1 1.1.5 ), that is
to sa y as one of t he peo ple inv olved. The ad vantage of this is that t hey
can hel p the simulation alon g if it gets int o difficulty.
Where simulations g et off to a sh aky start – and where the te acher is
not a p articipa nt – h e or s he ma y want to act a s a pr ompte r (see 11.1.4),
making suggestions about wh at the st udents co uld sa y and do nex t. But this
must be done a s unobt rusively as p ossible and only when absolutel y
necessa ry for the success of the a ctivity. Otherwise th e simulation becomes
teache r-dominate d and this r estricts the stu dents f rom com municating
amongst themselv es.
After th e simulation h as finished the teac her w ill want to cond uct
feedb ack w ith the s tudents. The object here is t o discuss w ith them whether
the acti vity was successful, wh y certai n decisions w ere reached, e tc. If th e
teache r has b een r ecordi ng the p rocee dings (eit her b y writing d own goo d
and b ad points, or by using a ta pe rec order or a video) this w ill be a g ood
oppo rtunit y to sho w where stud ents pe rformed pa rticularl y well (they may
have us ed a con vincing ar gument or a p articula rly effectiv e piec e of English)
and t o point o ut where poo r English, for example, made communication less
effectiv e.
215

It is important f or the teache r to co nduct fe edback ab out the c ontent o f
an acti vity such as simulation as w ell as d iscussing the use of English. I f only
the latt er is foc used on t he stude nts w ill perc eive the o bject of the exercise
as bein g conce rned onl y with linguistic accu racy rather than th e abilit y to
communicate ef ficientl y – which is the main moti ve for this kind of a ctivity.
We will now look at fo ur examples of simulations.
133
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(a) The t ravel ag ent
In this e xample st udents a re divided into pai rs in w hich they play the roles
of a t ravel ag ent and a customer . The la tter w ants to bo ok a holida y in a
hotel, b ut insists tha t the ho tel should h ave a n umber of qualities (such a s
the right p rice, goo d food, e tc.). The tra vel agent h as all the in formation
about the hot els.
Stage 1 Stude nts are told that they are going to work in pairs.
Stage 2 Stude nts in each p air are given the lette rs A and B.
Stage 3 Stude nts are told that A is a tr avel agen t and B is a customer w ho
wants to book a h olida y in M iami.
Stage 4 The te acher t ells the stud ents not t o sho w each othe r the
information t hey are going t o get, a nd then g ives the f ollowing piece
of pa per to B.
B.CUSTOM
ER
Youwant:
(a)to go
toa hotel in Miami for a week and
you can spend up to $1400 on a hotel
(b)to be
asnear as possible to the town
centre
(c)to go
toa hotel with a good discotheque
(d)there
tobe a children's swimming pool for
your small son
(e)there be someone to look after your son
216

toat the hotel
(f)the
hotelto serve good food
(g)a comfortable room (with a good view)
Getall the
informationfrom the travel agent and then
write down the
hotel of
yourchoice
.
134
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
A gets th e follo wing h otel list:
A. TRAVEL AGENT
Study the following information carefully so that
you can answer B
(the customer)
SUN INN REGENCY PARK PARADISO OASIS
COST (double)
$180
per night$175 $210 $130
DISTANCE FROM 10
kms.
CENTRE12 kms. 20 kms • 3
kms.
DISCO * ** ***
RESTAURANT ** *** *** **
VIEW *** * ** *
SWIMMING POOL
Adults ***
Children **
**** *
*** _
CHILDCARE
FACILITIES** *
Note: Various features (e.g.
view, discos,
been given stars to indicate
quality.restaurants, etc.)
have
*** = very good,
can say that you
217

** = good, * = fair. As an
example we
better view if you're staying at
the
you're staying at the Regency
Park.get a
Paradiso than if
The students are told to stu dy their i nformation fo r a sho rt period.
Stage 5 B is told to s elect a ho tel based a s far a s possible o n the six q ualities
he or she is looki ng for . The acti vity com mences.
Stage 6 When all the pai rs ha ve complete d the acti vity (or wh en the
majority have finish ed) the stude nts and t he teach er will discuss
what choices ha ve been made. Clea rly, in this simulation, t he Regenc y
Park is the l ogical choice sinc e it has most of the qualities th at B
is looking f or.
135
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(b) Arrangi ng to meet
In this simulation g roups o f students are g oing to a rrange a r eunio n to
celeb rate some ev ent (a birthda y, anni versary, etc.). They have to ag ree
when and w here the r eunio n will take place.
Stage 1 The te acher t ells the class th at the y are goi ng to w ork in gr oups of
five, an d that th ey are going to arrange t o meet in honou r of …
(here the teache r can in vent a r eason b ased on t he me mbers o f the
class).
Stage 2 The te acher e xplains tha t each g roup must decid e where the y should
meet and w hen, based o n the in formation that they will be gi ven.
Stage 3 The te acher t ells the stud ents that they are going to get s ome pieces
of pa per, and that th ey should n ot sho w them to e ach oth er. The
teache r then distribu tes the f ollowing:
STUDENT A: You want to
have lunch in a
restaurant.STUDENT B: You want to
have dinner at your home.
You should think of
218

You should think of
reasons why this is
the best choice.reasons why this
is the best choice.
STUDENT C: You want to
have lunch at your home.
You should think of
reasons why this
is the best choice.STUDENT D: You want to
have dinner at a
restaurant.
You should think of
reasons why this is
the best choice.
STUDENT E: You are undecided. You should listen to
the others' ideas and then agree with
the suggestion you like best.
Stage 4 The te acher t ells the stud ents to t hink about their ins tructions
for a shor t time. Then the y are told to sta rt the acti vity.
This activity is ve ry succ essful and p roduces a g reat de al of spoke n English.
The teache r will need t o keep a n eye on each g roup a nd pe rhaps ac t as
a prompte r to make sur e that t hey realise ther e are two variables – wh ere
they are goin g to meet and wh en.
(c) The Loc h Ness monster14
The monster , who is su pposed t o inhabit L och Ness in Scotland , has long
been t he object of inte rest and s peculation. In this simulation, w hich forms
part of a u nit about ' Nessie', f our p eople ha ve seen th e monster an d describ e
it to a p olice inspecto r who has to build up an ' identikit' pic ture.
Stage 1 The class disc usses the L och Ness monster a nd the t eache r tells
them they are going t o take p art in a n acti vity about it. Students are
told th at the monster has bee n seen b y a number of people wh o are
going t o descri be it to th e local police in Scotland.
Stage 2 Stude nts are told the y are going to w ork in g roups o f five. One
studen t in each g roup will be the p olice inspecto r who should
questio n the ot her stu dents (w itnesses) about wh at the y saw and
then fill in t he follo wing identikit fo rm an d dra w a pictur e of the
219

monster in th e space p rovided .
136
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
Form PK
IR4IDEN TIKIT PICTU RE
Age :
Sex :
Height :
Weight :
Distinguis
hing
featu res :
Stage 3 The stu dents in e ach gr oup ar e giv en the follo wing role ca rds:
1ST WITNE SS
You were havi ng a st roll along t he sho re and y ou distinctly sa w a small, flat
thing moving on t he sur face of t he w ater. You believ e it w as the h ead of t he
monster . It had a la rge mouth, t wo bulging r ed eyes a nd two small horns.
2ND W ITNES S
You were havi ng a na p in the g rass w hen you w ere w oken up b y loud t ramping
noises. W hen you g ot up you had just e nough time to se e a very large g reenish
animal divin g into th e water.
3RD W ITNES S
As you w ere fishing ea rly one morning , you sa w the monste r splashin g on the
surface of th e water. You estimated its ove rall length to be p erhaps bet ween 20
and 3 0 feet a nd it had a very small head i n comparison w ith the size of its b ody.
4TH WITNESS l
You were su rveying th e loch f rom the t op of t he hill w ith a pai r of bin oculars.
You saw a larg e animal with a stout b ody, two humps-on its back, four l egs and
a long n eck, gr azing on the sho re of t he loch.
137
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
INSPECTOR CAMERON
220

Ask each w itness h ow and w hen he saw the monste r. Dra w up an ide ntikit
pictur e by putti ng toget her the vario us accounts you get.
The activ ity can st art aft er eac h 'witness ' has ha d a chanc e to stud y
the role ca rd.
Stage 4 The dif ferent gr oups stu dy the final i dentikit pictu re of t he monster
to compare t heir v ersions.
This simulation is hig hly amusing, and alt hough d esigned f or inte rmediate
groups could als o be suita ble for elementar y students since it mixes the b est
elements of simulation w ith the describ e and d raw technique w e discussed in
(d) Knife in the sc hool
In the following simulation all the particip ants ha ve definite r oles to
play – they are asked t o assume pers onalities and realities t hat ar e not t heir
own.
The situation r evolves a round a tr oublesome bo y at a seconda ry
school. After a report th at the b oy has be en seen a t school w ith a knife, t he
head t eache r decides t o call the p arents and th e boy in to discuss the
incident.
Stage 1 The te acher p uts stude nts into b uzz gro ups (se e 8.1.2 ( a)) and a sks
them to list va rious 'crimes' fo r which scho ol childre n are p unished.
Stage 2 The te acher g ets feed back fr om the g roups and th en asks the
studen ts what they would ex pect a he ad teach er to d o if a stu dent
was fou nd at scho ol with a flick knife . v nvMtu. ':Jcn
Stage 3 The te acher t hen tells th e studen ts that th ey are going to role pl ay
an inte rview between a b oy who reportedly brought a knife to
school, his p arents and t he head teache r of th e school.
Stage 4 The stu dents a re put in to groups of f our. They are given the r oles of
head t eacher , mother, fathe r, Brian ( the bo y). They are given the
following role ca rds and t old not t o sho w them to a nyone else:
Head teacher
You hav e been told t hat Brian w as seen in t he school w ith a knife. The
problem is tha t no teac her ac tually saw it; th ey were told abo ut it b y the
221

other pupils. You must not let this f act slip out.
If the sit uation b ecomes impossible y ou may conside r suspe nsion fr om the
school. Ot herwise a severe warning about Brian's be haviour will do.
138
T COMMUNIC ATIVE ACTIVITIE S
Father
You are aw are that Brian is a persist ent tr oublemaker
and y our own
patienc e with him has worn a bit thin. You suspec t,
thoug h, that h e is
always led o n by Sam Richa rds, an d you will try to use
the int erview to
establish t his fact.
Mother /
You think Brian is a much nicer bo y than pe ople gi ve
him credit for . You
think th e school is un fairly prejudiced a gainst him and
will do everything
in the in terview to suppo rt him.
Brian
It is true th at you had a knife: it belonge d to Sam
Richards and y ou
don't want an yone to k now abou t this beca use Sa m is
your friend – and
you are afraid of w hat he w ill do if you give him a way.
You will either
pretend th at it is y our knife o r that t he w hole story is a
lie – a fter all, d id
any teacher a ctuall y talk to y ou about it? The o ne thing
you are really
222

frightened o f is suspensio n from the scho ol. You will do
anything to a void
it.
Stage 5 When the role pla y is over the t eache r will lead a f eedback sessi on
discussing w hat happ ened in e ach gr oup an d whether the b oy, the
parents and the he ad teach er be haved ap propriatel y. The issues
raise d by the sit uation w ill be disc ussed an d onl y then will the
teache r discuss a ny langua ge er rors that he or sh e collected w hile
listening t o the g roups.
Simulations a re a v aluable pa rt of th e teache r's armour y. The examples
shown here a re on a fairl y small scale. Of c ourse t hey can b e conside rably
bigge r and las t for lo nger t han th e ones h ere, b ut whatev er the size and
design o f the acti vity they give st udents a c hance to step out of the r ole of
langua ge stude nts and t o use th eir lang uage in r ealistic (b ut safe ) contex ts.
8.2.
Written It is o ften e asier to p rovide oppo rtunities fo r spoke n
communication in t he
communi cative class room than it is fo r the wr itten medium. Frequentl y writing
is rele gated
activities to the stat us of home work. This is a pit y since wr iting,
especiall y
communicati ve writing, can pl ay a valuabl e part in the class.
We will look a t Relaying inst ructions, W riting r eports and
adve rtisements, Co-op erative wr iting, Exchangin g letters and Writing jou rnals.
8.2.1
Relaying Just as i n 8.1.3, o ne group of students h as info rmation f or the
performance
instruc tions of a task, a nd the y have to g et anoth er group t o perf orm the same
task b y
-giving them written inst ructions. W e will look at t hree examples.
139
223

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
I
(a) Making models
This is the same as the ac tivity in 8.1.3 (b) except th at instead of passing on
oral i nstructio ns the o riginal g roup of students h ave to wr ite di rections.
Stage 1 A small group of stud ents is gi ven mate rial to make a model w ith
(e.g. building b ricks, Lego, etc.) and the y are told t o make a model.
Stage 2 The g roup n ow writes instructions which w ill enable other people
to du plicate the model.
Stage 3 Other stu dents a re given t he inst ructions an d told to b uild the
model by reading the i nstructio ns.
There is, o f cours e, immediate feed back. The o riginal g roup c an see h ow
well the y have written instr uctions b y watching the ef forts of t he othe r
studen ts to duplica te thei r model.
(b) Giv ing di rections
In this ac tivity students wr ite di rections w hich other students have to f ollow.
Stage 1 Stude nts are told to wr ite dir ections f rom the place w here the y are
studying to some other place in th e same town or city. They are told
not to mention the desti nation b y name.
Stage 2 Stude nts giv e thei r directions to a partner w ho has to g uess w hat the
destinati on is b y follo wing the di rections.
The same effect c an be c reated by letting t he stude nts w ork from a street
plan of a town with clearl y marked b uildings, etc .
(c) Writing com mands15
Students wr ite each o ther messages which contai n com mands.
Stage 1 The te acher t ells students t o write a com mand fo r one o f their
classmates on a piec e of pa per. The student might w rite something
like this:
Maria:
Tcukz off you r left shoe !
224

8.2.2
Writing
reports a nd
advertisements
Stage 2 The wr itten messages a re then passed t o the stu dents w ho have to
obey the com mands.
This activity is especiall y appropriate fo r begi nner st udents a nd is most
enjoyable.
We will look a t three acti vities in w hich students write news rep orts o r
advertisements.
(a) The n ews bro adcast16
Students wr ite items for a n ews broadcast w hich they then org anise fo r
'transm ission' .
140
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
8.2.3
Co-o perati ve
writing
Stage 1 The te acher a sks all the stu dents in t he class to wr ite two news
items on a piece o f pape r.
Stage 2 The te acher t hen collects all t he pieces o f pape r and forms the class
into small groups.
Stage 3 The te acher t hen dist ributes th e pieces of pape r equall y between
the g roups in no special o rder. The stud ents ar e asked t o combine
the items (making chan ges w here necessa ry) to make up a complete
news broadcast .
Stage 4 Each g roup t hen r eads its b roadcast to the r est of t he class. Id eally,
of cou rse, eac h gro up could r ecord thei r broadcast to make it more
realistic.
This activity is attr active becaus e it inv olves all t he skills, as w ell as t he
ability to order and o rganise ideas. It als o inv olves cu rrent events a nd is
225

thus int eresting and moti vating.
(b) The t ourist b rochu re
In much the same w ay as the ne ws broadc ast, stude nts can be asked to join
toget her to write a b rochure a bout the place the y live in or a re studying in.
Stage 1 The stu dents a re all told t o write two sentenc es (o r more) a bout th e
attractions of t he place t hey live or stud y in.
Stage 2 The class is t hen di vided into small groups.
Stage 3 In each g roup t he stude nts pool th eir sent ences an d use them to
devise a s hort b rochu re ab out the p lace the y live or stu dy in fo r a
tourist magazine.
Stage 4 Stude nts from each g roup ma y read out t heir fin al ve rsion . A bette r
alternativ e, ho wever, is to p ut the t exts in a f older wh ich can be
passed r ound the class o r to stick t hem to a notice b oard i n the
classro om.
(c) The ad vertisement
After discussin g what succ essful ad vertisements contain, s tudents c an w rite
and d esign thei r own.
Stage 1 The class disc usses (to gethe r and/o r in pai rs/groups) wh at makes a
successful a dvertisement.
Stage 2 The class is di vided into g roups. They are told th at thei r task is to
select a p roduc t and wr ite an a dvertisement fo r it w hich will appear
in a magazine.
Stage 3 When they have completed thei r adv ertisements t hey can p ass them
round the class . Alternativ ely they can be gi ven a pe riod of time
(e.g. a w eekend) t o design t he art work fo r thei r text. The
advertisements can the n be pinn ed to th e class notice b oard.
In this sec tion w e will look a t more activ ities w here stud ents actu ally
write things tog ether; where the p rocess of c o-ope ration is a s important as
the act ual fact of the w riting itself. In t he first two of th ese acti vities th ere
is a definit e game-like qualit y present.
141
226

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(a) The fai ry story
In this ac tivity students a re put into g roups a nd told t hat the y are going to
write joint stories. This example sho ws a fairy story being u sed fo r this
process.
Stage 1 Stude nts are put into g roups. W here possible, th ey should b e of
equal n umbers.
Stage 2 Stude nts are told to t ear a p age f rom their exe rcise bo oks and wr ite
the follo wing sente nce on it:
Once u pon a time ther e was a be autiful pri ncess w ho lived in a larg e
custle at t he edg e of a f orest.
Stage 3 The stu dents a re then instruct ed to con tinue the story by writing t he
next se ntence.
Stage 4 The stu dents a re then told to gi ve their p iece of p aper t o the
studen t on thei r left. They should n ow continu e the ( new) story they
have in f ront o f them by writing the nex t sentenc e. The p rocedu re is
repeated u ntil the pa pers h ave gon e rou nd the w hole gr oup but o ne.
The teache r then tells the stu dents to wr ite th e penultimate sent ence.
Stage 5 The st ories a re no w returned t o their o riginat ors (by passing t he
pape rs to th e studen t on the left). They must write the concluding
sentenc e. Students ca n rea d the r esulting t ales to the rest o f the
class.
This activity can be immensel y enjoyable, and ofte n pro duces w ildly
differing st ories. Of course there is no r eason w hy the acti vity should
conce rn a fai ry story. Anothe r alter nativ e is not t o suppl y the origi nal
sentenc e.
(b) Stor y reconst ruction
This activity follo ws a similar pr ocedu re to th at for o ral sto ry const ruction
(see 8.1.4 ( c)). In oth er words, stud ents ar e put int o fou r groups
(A, B, C, D) eac h of w hich is shown a pict ure from a story sequence.
Instea d of talking a bout t he pictu res, ho wever, the a ctivity continues as
227

follows:
Stage 1 The stu dents indi vidually write two sentences (in th e past) about
the pict ures th ey have se en.
Stage 2 The te acher f orms new groups of f our (i.e. one student f rom the
origin al gro up A, one from the o riginal g roup B an d so on ).
Stage 3 The stu dents sho w each oth er their sent ences and they then use
them to const ruct a n arrative.
The finished st ories can be circul ated r ound th e class, put o n the b oard or
used f or stud ent-st udent co rrecti on (se e 8.3) .
142
(c) The w ord pr ocessor17
One of the best uses fo r the compute r in langu age teac hing is as a word
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
processor . When students h ave bee n asked t o complete a w ritten task – the
writing of a sto ry, a letter , a report, etc. – they can, of c ourse d o it on
their own in th eir books or on their ow n with a wo rd processor .
However, we have al ready seen the b enefits t o be gain ed from stude nts
writing in gro ups in the tw o examples abo ve. There seem to be distinct
advantages w hen such co -operation tak es place in f ront o f a scre en.
Groups w orking on a pi ece of wr iting w ith a word processo r seem to
focus much more clea rly on the languag e. Editing decisions c an be t aken fa r
more quickl y, and cha nges can b e effected simpl y and cle arly. The end
result looks neat and tid y, not a mess of crossing o ut. And the piec e of
work can be sto red so that it ca n be conti nued o ver a se ries of class es.
8.2.4
Exchanging
letters
In this sec tion w e will consid er ways of getting s tudents t o exchan ge lette rs
with each other . Particularl y with the more r ealistic tasks stu dents ha ve a
good c hance to practise real wr itten communication.
228

(a) Writing messages
The most basic form of lette r writing is the message. This can be use d
at be ginner l evels to ge nerat e written questions a nd ans wers, as in this
example:
Stage 1 Stude nts are told to wr ite a message to anothe r member o f the
group w hich demands a n ans wer.
Stage 2 The completed messages a re then giv en to the stu dent w ho has bee n
written to.
Stage 3 The stu dent w ho has rec eived the message t hen wr ites a r eply which
is passed b ack to th e origin al writer.
The origin al message might b e something like this:
Id Ma/rLa
h/hcvt
șfrom Jose
o~f h awse do you Love
and t he re ply might b e:
To
lC a J/maU aa/nfan, o ut
TVUuru u
143
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(b) The a gony column
This activity has long been a favourite w ith bot h teache rs and students. It
involves stu dents w riting lette rs to 'a gony columns' – those p arts of
newspapers a nd magazines w here supp osed exp erts gi ve advice on
everything f rom marital p roblems to trouble w ith the neighb ours. I n this
activity stud ents inv ent s ome p roblem and the n have it a nswered by other
members of the class.
Stage 1 The class a nd the t eache r discuss 'a gony columns', get ting examples
from the stu dents' k nowledge o f their own coun tries. W here
studen ts sa y there is no s uch thing in their n ewspape rs and
229

magazines the t eacher will show them examples from English or
American a gony columns.
Stage 2 The te acher a rranges th e class into small groups and asks each
group to thi nk of a p roblem and th en w rite a letter .
Stage 3 The lett ers from eac h gro up ar e then gi ven to an other group who
have to conside r the b est ans wer and t hen w rite a re ply.
Stage 4 The r eplies ar e then g iven to t he origi nal gro ups to co nsider . The
teache r can p ut them into a f older w hich can be p assed r ound t he
class. If th ere is a notice bo ard the best a nd/or most amusing lette rs
can be pinned u p for all to see.
This activity is partic ularly suita ble, of cou rse, af ter th e studen ts hav e been
working on the languag e of ad vice. It can b e used a t a fairl y element ary
level, but is even more succ essful w ith inte rmediate and a dvanced s tudents.
(c) The complaining cust omer
In this ac tivity students wr ite complaining lett ers ab out goo ds the y have
boug ht afte r seeing a n advertisement. The stu dents r epres enting th e
compan y who make the g oods the n have to repl y to these le tters.
f
Stage 1 Stude nts are divided into small gr oups. Each g roup is gi ven an
advertisement. It w ould be ideal if t hey could b e giv en
advertisements prepared b y their class mates.
Stage 2 The g roups a re told to imagine the y have boug ht the item that is
advertised but are n ot satisfied w ith it for some reason. They should
write a letter of complaint to th e compan y.
Stage 3 The lett ers a re then given to dif ferent g roups. The ne w group h as to
study the lette r of complaint and d ecide w hat to do a bout it. W hen
the d ecision has b een re ached t hey can wr ite a r eply to th e origin al
letter .
Stage 4 The lett ers a re then returned t o the o riginal g roups w ho rea d them
and disc uss w hat they have been sent.
This is an enjo yable and us eful acti vity involving a number of different
230

skills. It is pa rticularl y suitable fo r intermediate a nd ad vanced classes.
(d) The job application
This activity involves ap plying for a job. The application w ill then be judged
and a decision tak en abou t whether it shoul d be successf ul. There is no
144
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
reason w hy students sho uld not b e giv en role car ds. In this e xample,
howeve r, we will ask them to c reate th eir own roles.
Stage 1 Stude nts are shown the follo wing a dvertisement:
GREAT FUTURE: GREAT PAY
Work in Public Relations fo r A Major Airline.
Experienc e in tra nsport not nec essar y, but g ood pe rsonalit y and brig ht ideas
are essential.
Applications in wr iting ar e requested, g iving an y information abo ut yourself
you think might b e rele vant.
Write to: The Manager , Box 247.
8.2.5
Writing journals
Stage 2 Stude nts are asked to a pply for the job in writing, making th eir
applicatio ns as att ractiv e as p ossible.
Stage 3 The te acher di vides the class i nto small groups. The gr oups a re then
given some of th e lette rs (which must not b e the wo rk of a nyone in
the g roup).
Stage 4 Each member of the group must read e ach letter , giving the
applicant a scor e of 0 ( = very poor) to 5 (= excellent) depen ding
on suita bility for the job.
Stage 5 The sco res ar e adde d toget her a nd the w inning applica nt chosen.
Stage 6 The g roup wr ites t wo letters. O ne is to th e successful a pplicant
asking him or h er to c ome to a meeting. The ot her is t he lette r
they will sen d the ap plicants w ho were not successful.
Stage 7 The le tters o f the w inning applicants can be r ead t o the w hole class
231

and comments made o n them.
This is a good e xercise f or skill integ ration a nd fo rces the s tudents t o write
for a purpose. It is p articula rly suitable f or int ermediate and advance d
classes.
One a rea of writing t hat w e have not to uched o n so fa r is the wr itten
communication b etween stu dents an d teache rs. In a n important a rticle
Mario Rinv olucri d escribe d how he had bec ome in volved in lette r writing
with his stu dents.18 At the b eginning o f the co urse h e wrote to them telling
them somethin g about h imself an d inv iting them to wr ite lette rs to him
which he wo uld re ply to pe rsonall y (they all g ot the same lette r). Some of
them took up his offer, and o ver the pe riod of th e cours e he en gaged in a
length y corresponde nce abo ut langua ge lea rning, th e students ' expe riences,
how he and th ey felt abo ut the class es, etc.
The adv antage of t his activity is that st udents g et a cha nce to use
writing for genuinel y comm unicati ve purposes and t hey get a n ext raordi nary
level of in dividual atte ntion fr om the t eacher . The disad vantages o f this
procedure, as Rinv olucri rea dily admits,19 are firstly that some stude nts get
'too cl ose' to t he teach er an d secondl y that it takes a lot of time. His gr oup
was small, but imagine doing it w ith a gr oup of t hirty or forty studen ts!
145
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
8.3
Correctin g written
work21
Reading a nd w riting that n umber of lett ers e very week on top of
preparati on and o ther ki nds of home work markin g would be quite
impossible.
There is a wa y of using this com munication w hich is not so impractical,
howeve r, and t hat is the u se of stu dent journals. In t hese dia ries stude nts
232

can wr ite what they want about an ything tha t inter ests them. They can
comment on t he classes th ey are e xperi encing, th ey can w rite about their
personal liv es, th ey can talk a bout politics ( not a n eas y subject in the
classro om) or they can w rite stories. O n more than one occasi on teach ers
have been su rprised and delig hted b y the lev el of English d isplayed in
journals and b y the inte rest an d creati vity which the y have foun d the re.20
Two issues have to b e conside red if st udents a re to b e asked t o keep
diaries , however . When shoul d the y write them and w hat should t he teach er
do w ith them if and w hen he or s he re ads them?
Lono n Blanton (1 987) got he r stude nts to wr ite thei r journals for five
minutes at the e nd of e very class, b ut othe rs feel t hat stud ents should write
their journals wh en the y themselves want to, n ot when they are told t o.
There a re ad vantages in the regular journal -writing spat: it e nsures
frequent wr iting pr actice and it means that all stu dents ha ve a chanc e to use
English to r eflect thei r own thoughts a nd feelings . On the o ther hand it is
a bit a rbitrary in th e sense t hat stude nts ma y not ha ve much to s ay in
those p articula r five minutes.
When stud ents ha ve written t he journals teach ers ha ve to decid e
whether the y should r ead th em or not. If t he ans wer is y es – and th e
teache r collects t he journals ev ery week or fortnight, fo r example – t hey
must then decid e how to react t o them. What is important is th at teach ers
should n ot treat these diaries a s the y do other pieces of wr itten wo rk.
They are n ot the re primaril y to be co rrecte d, but r ather to be react ed to.
Content feedback is clearl y more importa nt than f orm feedback h ere.
Teache rs can wr ite sho rt reactions to wh at the y read. These do n ot ha ve to
be len gthy, but the y should r espond t o the spi rit of th e journal. Areas
of lang uage dif ficulty can be point ed out, o f cou rse, but t his should b e done
more in a wr itten con versatio nal w ay than in a 'marking ' way.
Students r espond well to teac hers w ho are i nterest ed in thei r journals:
teache rs ha ve the ad vantage o f inter acting w ith their stu dents as in dividuals.
The cor rection of written work can be or ganised o n much the same basis as
233

the co rrecti on of o ral w ork (see 6 .3.3 an d 11.1.2). In othe r words the re
may well be times w hen the t eacher is concer ned w ith accuracy and othe r
times w hen the main conce rn is the content o f the wr iting. Ce rtainl y the
tende ncy is for t eache rs to be o ver-preoccupied w ith accurac y. This means
that t he stude nt's w ork is often c overed with red ink and n o com ment is
made about wh ether the w ork w as inte resting o r succe eded in its p urpos es.
Correction of written work can be don e by both teache r and s tudent. I f
you are co rrecting written work always remember to react to th e content of
the w ork, sho wing the stu dent w here the work was effective and w here it
was not.
Where teache rs wish to co rrect the English in th e written w ork, they
may wish to use a v ariety of symbols. They can un derline t he mistake in the
146
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
8.4
Projects22
written w ork and put a mark in the margin t o sho w what kind of mistake it
was. The following example sho ws how the t eache r can indicat e that t he
studen t has made an e rror in w ord or der:
WO I like Verxj much "tennis.
The teache r will need s ymbols fo r spelling, wr ong t ense usa ge, conco rd (the
agreements between subject an d verb), wrong w ord or der, inap propriate
langua ge, punc tuation, a word missing and unclea r meaning, among othe rs.
Whatever the s ymbols ar e the stu dents sho uld unde rstand cl early what the y
mean.
When teac hers fi rst use t he system of symbols they may underlin e
the w ord in th e text a nd put t he symbol in the margin. L ater f t will only be
necessa ry to put the s ymbol in the margi n for t he stude nts to ide ntify the
error. When students c orrect each o ther's work (see b elow) no symbols will
be nec essar y.
When teac hers h and back wr itten wo rk with comments on conte nt and
234

the co rrecti on symbols in the margin, t hey should a llow the stu dents time,
during the class, to identif y their mistakes and correct them. In this ac tivity
the te acher is a cting as a resou rce, a nd can h elp w here studen ts do not
know what is w rong. If this kind of stage is not go ne thr ough, h owever,
studen ts ma y not be able to take a dvantag e of the system of correction
symbols.
Ideall y written w ork can fo rm the basis fo r stude nt-stud ent co rrection ,
which in itself c an be class ed as a communicativ e activ ity. Stud ents w ork in
pairs, exchangi ng thei r work. They then l ook for mistakes in e ach oth er's
writing and att empt to c orrect them.
Where a piece of student wr iting co ntains a n umber of com mon e rrors,
the te acher ma y want to phot ocop y the work (erasin g the wr iter's n ame)
and sh ow it to th e whole class, a sking them to identif y probl ems. In t his way
the at tention o f the class ca n be d rawn to common mistakes a nd the
photoc opied doc ument c an form the b asis for r emedial w ork.
Another variatio n which w ill help st udents to concent rate o n partic ular
aspects o f langua ge is to tell t hem that you are goin g to co rrect a piece of
work for onl y one thin g. It could b e tense usage, it c ould be s pelling, it
could b e punctu ation. B y doing t his you ensure th at the st udents' work will
not b e cov ered by red marks, and y ou also e ncoura ge them to conce ntrate
on pa rticula r aspects o f written languag e use.
One w ay of ensu ring ge nuinel y com municati ve us es of spok en and wr itten
English is thr ough th e use of p rojects – longe r pieces o f work which inv olve
investigatio n and r eporting. The end-p roduct is the most i mportant t hing
here, and all t he lang uage use that tak es place is di rected t owards t he final
version. Altho ugh stud ents stud ying in tar get lang uage comm unities (B ritain,
the USA, etc.) o bviously have much g reate r access to English speake rs, TV
stations, r adio a nd w ritten material, etc. , ther e are a whole range o f project
types that do n ot req uire this ki nd of con tact. W e will look at onl y two
kinds of p roject here.
235

147
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(a) The smoking re port
In this p roject students de vise a questi onnair e and th en use it t o get r esults
which a re inte rpreted and wr itten u p as a r eport. The p roject can easil y be
used in n on-target languag e situations si nce stude nts can inte rview each
other – or stud ents in oth er classes – to get the r esults th ey want.
The project is organised in th e follo wing w ay:
Stage 1 Stude nts are told the y are going to w ork in g roups t o write a report
on attit udes to smoking bas ed on a question naire t hat the y will
design.
Stage 2 The te acher disc usses w ith the class w hat kind of info rmation
they might w ant to obtain a nd the kind of q uestions th ey could use
to get it. Fo r example the f ollowing ar eas might be select ed:
Smokers:
• their smoking h abits
• thei r reas ons fo r smoking
• thei r feelings a bout smoking in pu blic places an d on pu blic
transport
• thei r attitud e to smokers w ho complain
Non-smokers:
• thei r reas ons fo r not smoking
• thei r reas ons fo r hav ing gi ven up ( in some cases)
• thei r attitud e to smoking in public pl aces and o n public t ranspo rt
• thei r suggesti ons for change
Stage 3 The g roups wr ite thei r differen t question naires. TJb£_leach er can a ct
*5ja_resou rce_(see 1 1.1.6 ) or a sjijjiompter ( 11.1.4).
Stage 4 The g roups t hen administer t heir qu estionnai res. In a n
English-spe aking com munit y they can questi on me mbers o f the
public. In other count ries the y can questio n fello w classes a nd fello w
studen ts (see a bove).
236

Stage 5 The g roups st udy the inf ormation the y have collecte d and wr ite a
report in wh ich the y reach co nclusions abo ut the r esults of t heir
investigatio ns. The r eports can th en be compar ed. Gr oups can r ead
other groups' w ork and d iscuss the similarities an d differences with
their own.
Clearl y this project requires com mitment and dedic ation fr om the
studen ts. It could we ll occup y twxi_s &££ksjof an inte rmediat e class's time.
Smaller v ersions coul d be do ne, ho wever, simpl y focusing on h ow man y
people smoke a nd ho w man y ciga rettes th ey smoke a day. The same kind
of thin g could be done w ith other topics like ho bbies, t ravel to a nd from
work/stud y, eating ha bits, etc.
148
(b) Wheelchai rs
One of the best -known projects for ad vanced stu dents has been t he
'Wheelchai r User 's Guide t o Bath' re ported in the ELT Jou rnal by Diane
Fried-Booth (Fried-Booth (1 982)).
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
8.5
Learner training
Students at the Bell School in Bath, England , surveyed Bath to se e how
easy it was for people in w heelchairs t o gain acc ess to public b uildings,
shops, e tc. This in volved making a number of v isits, u sing w heelchairs,
interviewing w heelchair use rs and t heatre managers, e tc.
The final re sult of all th ese inv estiga tions w as a guide fo r wheelchair
users telling them w hich sites a nd buildings were appropriate/i nappr opriat e
for them in terms of access. The guide w as a genui nely useful pi ece of w ork
which achie ved a real com municati ve purpose and w hich, along th e way,
involved st udents in a wide ra nge of i nteracti ons both wr itten a nd spoke n.
This particula r project, like man y othe rs of the same sco pe and size ,
was possible because it was done in an English-s peaking e nvironment.
Similar lar ge-scale projects are possible in no n-English en vironments,
237

howeve r, and st udents ca n use tap e-record ers an d video cameras t o reco rd
interviews with an y native-speakers t hey can fin d, or t hey can c onsult
libraries, the Britis h Council, etc. f or so urce material.
In recent y ears emphasis has b een place d on t raining stu dents to t ake
charge of th eir own learnin g (see 4 .1.6 a nd the r eferences qu oted th ere).
The thre e main areas t hat ar e inv olved in t his are Personal a ssess ment,
Learning st rategies and Lang uage a wareness.
(a) Personal a ssessment
Try the f ollowing quiz. Tick (>/) your ans wers to the q uestions.
U
sual
lySome
times(Almost)
neve rDon't
know
1. Did/d o
you get good
results in
grammar
tests?
2. Do y ou
have a good
memory for
new
words?
?. Do y ou
hate making
mistakes?
4. In cl ass,
do you get
irritated if
mistakes
are not
corrected?
5. Is y our
pronunciatio
238

n
bette r when
you read
aloud t han
when you
have a
conversation
?
6. Do y ou
wish you had
more time to
think
before
speaking ?
7. Did/do
you enjo y
being in a
class?
X. Do you
find it dif ficult
to pick u p
more than
two or three
words of
a new
langua ge
when you
are on
holida y
abroad?
9. Do y ou
like to lea rn
new
239

grammar
rules,
words, etc.
by heart?
One of the aims of lear ner
traini ng is to make stude nts think
about what kind o f lear ners th ey
are and ab out w hat they can d o
to help themselves . A vital stag e
in this p rocess is ge tting stud ents
to think a bout t heir o wn learnin g
beha viour, as in t his example:23
149
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
The students are n ow given a score f or usu ally/never, etc. and b ased on
their total sco re ha ve their a nswers e valuated, e .g. 'Your score d oes not
mean that y ou are n ot a go od langu age lea rner. Perhaps this is t he first time
that y ou have thought a bout th e way you learn… ..' (Ellis and Sinclair
1989: 8)
In the same b ook, stude nts ar e encou raged t o keep a pers onal
motivatio n gra ph, talk a bout the best w ay of tackling r eading o r extending
vocabula ry knowledge, etc.
The point of all these ac tivities is to let stu dents think hard about t heir
learning and t o use th e insights th ey gain to help them to bec ome more
effectiv e as lea rners.
(b) Lea rning st rategies
If the t eache r's job is to help stud ents lea rn in a b etter wa y (see above) then
he or she w ill have to enco urage students to de velop lear ning str ategies.
This will involve the stu dents in p ersonal a ssessment (see a bove) but it w ill
also in volve actuall y training stud ents to b ehav e in c ertain wa ys. This w ill
include:
240

1 training students to use textbooks. Teachers c an spend some time taking
studen ts thro ugh a n ew textbo ok, sho wing them how to make the bes t use
of it.
2 training students to use commu nicativ e activities pro perly. This inv olves
the issue of mother to ngue us e. Most of the acti vities in this chap ter w ill
be rather inef fectiv e if the students u se thei r own language. This point is
discussed in more detail in 1 1.2.4.
3 training students to read f or gi st (see 10. 4.4). W e must give stude nts the
ability to co pe w ith tex ts outside t he classr oom an d if w e can h elp them to
approach suc h texts con fidentl y – and no t to get h ung u p on e very word
they do not un dersta nd – t hen w e will have done t hem a service.
4 training students to deal with unfamiliar vocabulary . How should students
cope w ith new words? An example is given in 9. 5.2 (g ).
5 training students to use dictionaries (see 9.6 .1).
(c) Langu age a wareness
Teache rs can d esign material th at makes students more aw are o f the w ay
in which lan guage is u sed. Ma ny of th e discov ery activities in Chap ters 6
and 9 of this bo ok use th at kind of aw areness activ ity (see 6.4 a nd 9.5. 2).
One w ay of doing t his is to make studen ts do an e xercise a bout
langua ge just as t hey do ex ercises a bout oth er topics like hobbies, films,
adventure, e tc. Fr eque ntly such acti vities c an be d one b y the studen ts
studying on thei r own. The pa y-off is that as stu dents complete the exercise
they are bein g made more aware of ho w language works.
A small example will show the ide a. Here students a re involved in
studying the w ay in wh ich phr asal ve rbs ope rate.24 This is the exe rcise the y
have to do:
150
COMMUNICA TIVE ACTIVITI ES
Complete the follo wing w ith 'before' and 'after':
Sometimes the pa rticle (o n, up, d own, away, etc.) comes_____the
241

object. Someti mes it comes_____ the object. It always comes____ _an
object which is a pronoun ( it, him, her). If the o bject is a n oun, it can
come_____o r____ __the o bject.
8.6
Conclusions
Learner t raining is vital if stude nts are to achie ve their f ull potential a s
learners. I n its dif ferent forms it encou rages t hem to t hink abou t their
expe riences, disc uss them with the te acher a nd take a ction to make the
whole process more ef fective.
In this ch apter we have lo oked at a ctivities designe d to ha ve the
characteristics w e said w ere desir able fo r com municativ e acti vities ( see 5. 3).
We have looked a t both s poken a nd w ritten activ ities, an d we have seen
how journals an d project writing ca n cont ribute to t he stud ents' abilit y to
communicate in English. W e have also seen h ow learner training c ontribu tes
to the students ' success.
The feedb ack that a t eache r gives in suc h activ ities is seen as vitally
important. It cannot b e stress ed eno ugh that we have a resp onsibilit y to
react to cont ent and n ot just to t he lang uage th at we hear from ou r
studen ts. Com municativ e acti vities mean ge tting stud ents to act ually do
things w ith languag e, and it is t he 'd oing' th at should f orm the main focus
of such s essions.
Exercises
1 Design y our own oral c ommunicativ e acti vity for a be ginners ' class base d
on th e ideas in t his chapter .
2 Design y our own w ritten com municativ e acti vity for an el ementa ry class
based o n the id eas in this ch apter .
3 Take an y simulation acti vity from a cours ebook th at you are familiar
with and write out a pr ocedu re for using th at activ ity using t he 'sta ges'
type of proce dure wh ich w e have used in t his chapte r. Then gi ve your
plan w ith its stages to colleagues a nd ask t hem to t ry the a ctivity
following y our sta ges.
242

4 Design y our own symbols for the correction of wr itten wo rk.
Refer ences
1 I fi rst sa w this ac tivity demonstrate d by Peter Taylor.
2 On disc ussions see t he excellen t P Ur (1981 ).
3 This type of acti vity (and t he one t hat follo ws it) were describ ed in
M Geddes and J McAlpin (1 978). C ommunication games like this a re
still w idely in use.
4 From J Richards, J Hull and S Procto r (1990).
5 I fi rst sa w this t echnique d emonst rated b y Alan Ma ley. The pictu re
seque nce is from D B yrne and S Holden ( 1978 ).
6 I h ave never been able to t race t he sou rce of this a ctivity which w as used
by teac hers at the Instit uto Anglo M exicano de Cultu ra in G uadalajara.
151
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
7 De veloped b y the British Council a nd publishe d by Cambridge
University Press.
8 See C Jon es and S Fo rtescu e (19 87). I n Chapte r 9 the y discuss acti vities
similar t o (an d including ) Fas t Foo d althou gh the y describe t hem as role
plays. I would dispute this categ orisation ( see 8 .1.7).
9 See P Davis and M Rinvolucri (1 990) for a series o f activ ities w hich
centre on h aving stude nts talk ab out themsel ves in o rder t o become
more confide nt.
10 See S Deller ( 1990) who shows how students ca n be enc ourag ed to
gene rate t heir o wn languag e activ ities.
11 I was firs t told ab out this acti vity by Gillie Cunningh am,
12 F rom C Fr ank and M Rinv olucri (19 83).
13 F or more o n simulation see esp eciall y K Jones (1 982). See also
G Sturt ridge ( 1981 ) who discuss es the dif ference in meaning b etween
simulation and r ole pla y.
14 Taken f rom D Hicks et al. (1 979).
15 See D B yrne (19 88) p ages 40 -2.
243

16 F or this and ot her id eas in 8.2. 2 see D B yrne (1988) Cha pter 5 , althoug h
I have often a dapted his ideas.
17 F or more o n the u se of th e word process or in g roupwork see t he
excellent a rticle b y Alison Piper (Pip er 19 82). F or a variety of w ord
processing acti vities se e C Jones a nd S Fortescue ( 1987 ).
18 See M Rinv olucri ( 1983 ).
19 Pers onal com munication.
20 A slightly different e xample can be f ound in T Lowe (1987) who records
an ex periment w here teach ers of English k ept journals w hile the y were
taugh t a fo reign lang uage.
21 F or more o n cor recting wr itten wo rk see J Willis (1981 ) pages 1 72-4,
R White (1980) p ages 1 06-9 a nd D B yrne (1988 ) Chapt er 10 .
22 F or more o n project w ork see especiall y D Fried-Booth ( 1986 ).
G Cart er an d H Thomas (1986) an d L Munro a nd S Parker (1985).
T Hutchinso n (19 85) b ased a co urse fo r secon dary students a round a
series o f small projects.
23 F rom G Ellis and B Sinclai r (1989).
24 F rom J Harmer an d R Rossne r (1991).
152
9
Teaching
vocab ulary
In this ch apter1 we will
look at issu es which a re
raise d by the t eaching
and le arning o f
vocabula ry and we will
study examples of
vocabula ry teac hing. W e
will discuss the
importance o f dictiona ry
244

use an d we will look at
exercises designe d to
train students i n the
use of (mon olingual)
dictiona ries.
9.1Languag e struct ure a nd
vocabular y
9.2Selecting v ocabula ry
9.2.
1Frequenc y, coverage and
choice
9.3What do stude nts need to
know?
9.3.
1Meaning
9.3.
2Word us e
9.3.
3Word formation
9.3.
4Word grammar
9.4Teaching v ocabular y
9.4.
1Active an d passiv e
9.4.
2Interactio n with words
9.4.
3Disco very techni ques
9.5Examples of v ocab ulary
teaching
9.5.
1Presentation
9.5.
2Disco very
9.5.
3Practic e
9.6The importanc e of
dictio naries
245

9.6.
1Examples of diction ary
training
material
9.7Concl usions
Discussion/Exercises/R efere nce
s
9.1
Language
struc ture a nd
vocab ulary
r
If lang uage st ructur es make up the skel eton of la nguage , then it is
vocabula ry that provides the v ital o rgans a nd the flesh. An abilit y to
manipulate gr ammatical structu re do es not h ave any potential fo r exp ressing
meaning unless w ords a re used . We talk a bout th e importance o f 'choosin g
your words carefull y' in cert ain situations, but w e are less co ncern ed abou t
choosing structu res ca refull y – unless of c ourse we are i n a langu age
classro om. Then structu ral accu racy seems to be t he dominant foc us. In r eal
life, ho wever, it is e ven possible th at where vo cabul ary is use d cor rectly it
can canc el out st ructur al inaccur acy. For example the stude nt who says
'Yesterd ay … I h ave seen him y esterda y' is comm itting o ne of t he most
notorious tens e mistakes in English but he o r she will still b e unde rstood a s
having s een him yesterday because of the wo rd 'yesterd ay'.
The need t o teach la nguage structu re is ob vious as w e have seen i n
Chapte rs 2 an d 3. G rammatical knowledge allows us to g enerate sent ences
(see 2.2). At the same time, thou gh, w e must ha ve something t o say; we
must have meanings that we wish to e xpress, a nd w e need to h ave a sto re of
words that w e can select f rom when w e wish to express these meanings. I f
you want to desc ribe ho w you feel a t this v ery moment y ou have to be a ble
to find a word which re flects the complexit y of your feeling. The words you
choose t o use w hen y ou want to in vite s omeone out – especiall y if you think
they may be reluctant – can make all the difference b etween acceptanc e and
refusal.
246

153
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
9.2
Selecti ng
vocab ulary
9.2.1
Frequenc y,
coverage an d
choice
Eor man y years vocabula ry was seen as incident al to the main pu rpose
of lang uage te aching – namel y the acquisitio n of gr ammatical knowledge
about the lang uage. V ocabula ry was necessar y to giv e stud ents something to
hang o n to w hen lear ning str uctures , but w as frequently not a main foc us for
learning itself.
Recentl y, howeve r, methodologists a nd linguists h ave incre asingl y been
turning thei r attenti on to v ocabular y,2 stressi ng its importance i n langua ge
teachin g and r eassessing s ome of t he w ays in wh ich it is taug ht and le arnt. I t
is no w clea r, for e xample, that th e acquisition o f vocabula ry is just as
important as t he acquisitio n of g rammar – t hough t he two are ob viously
interdepend ent – a nd teac hers sh ould ha ve the same kind of e xpertis e in the
teachin g of v ocab ulary as they do in the teac hing of st ructu re.3
Part of t he pr oblem in teaching v ocabular y lies in the f act that w hilst there
is a conse nsus abo ut what grammatical struc tures s hould be t aught a t what
levels the s ame is ha rdly true of v ocabular y. It is t rue, o f cours e, that
syllabuses inclu de w ord lists, but t here is n o gua rantee that th e list for o ne
beginn ers' s yllabus w ill be similar to the list for a different s et of be ginners.
Whilst it is possible t o say that s tudents s hould lea rn the v erb lto be' before
they learn its us e as an a uxiliar y in the pr esent conti nuous te nse (fo r
example) th ere is n o such cons ensus abo ut which w ords slot int o which
future meanings.
One of the p roblems of vocabula ry teac hing is ho w to select w hat words
247

to teac h. Dictiona ries for u pper intermediate st udents f reque ntly have
55,00 0 words or more – and t here ma y be man y meanings fo r a w ord – a nd
they represent a small fractio n of all th e possible w ords in a l anguag e.
Someho w we have to make sens e of this h uge list an d red uce it to
manageable p roportions fo r our lear ners.
A general p rinciple in t he past h as bee n to teac h more concr ete w ords
at lower lev els an d gra duall y become more abst ract. W ords like ' table',
'chair', 'ch alk', etc. h ave figu red in b eginne rs' syllabuses because t he things
which the words represent a re the re in f ront o f the stu dents an d thus easil y
explaine d. Words like 'ch arity', however, are not ph ysically repres ented in
the class room and ar e far more difficult to explain .
Othe r crite ria w hich are rather more scientific ha ve been us ed, amongst
which two of the more importa nt are frequency and cover age.
A general p rinciple o f vocabula ry selection has bee n that o f freq uenc y. We
can deci de w hich w ords w e should teach on the b asis of ho w frequentl y they
\ are used b y speake rs of the languag e. The w ords w hich are most com monl y
/ used a re the ones we should t each first .
\Q\ "Anothe r principle that h as been used in t he selection o f vocabul ary is
that o f cov erage. A word is more use ful if it co vers more things t han if it
only.has one v ery specific meaning – so t he ar gument g oes.
These t wo principles w ould suggest t hat a w ord like ' book' w ould be
an ea rly vocab ulary item. It is fr equentl y used b y native speake rs and has
greater c overage than ' noteb ook', ' exercise b ook', ' textbook ', etc.
In order t o kno w which are the most frequent w ords w e can r ead o r
listen to a lot of English a nd list the w ords th at are used, sh owing w hich
154
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
*
ones a re use d most often an d which ar e used le ast often . This w as done
notabl y by Michael W est (1953 ) who scan ned ne wspapers a nd bo oks to list
248

his fr equenc y tables. M ore recentl y Hindmarsh p roduc ed a list w hich is still
used b y exam and material desig ners t o sho w what words should be ' known'
at what level.4
Perhaps t he gr eatest . revolutio n in vo cabul ary investig ation an d design,
howeve r, has be en the ( harnessing of the computer to the t asks of findin g
out w hich words are us ed and h ow they are use d. The massi ve Cobuild
computer -based co rpus a t Birmingham Univ ersity has been used no t only
for the desig n of a lea rner's diction ary5 but als o as a r esourc e for a
vocabula ry-driven co ursebo ok.6 Many other univ ersiti es and r esea rch
projects hav e compute r-bas ed cor puses too a nd no w it is even possi ble for
teache rs and students t o buy relativ ely small compute r programmes which
will scan texts a nd tell th e users which w ords are used most often a nd ho w
they are use d.7 That is t he beau ty of a computer , of cou rse; y ou can ke y in
a word and it w ill immediatel y give you examples sho wing y ou the sentenc es
and/o r phrases th e word occurs in a nd the frequenc y with which it is used.
It shoul d be possibl e, then, t o design v ocabula ry syllabuses o n the b asis
of computeris ed info rmation. I f we feed in enou gh text – from ne wspapers,
magazines, books, letters, conv ersations, etc. – we will be able to make
accur ate statements a bout w hat words to teach.
There is n o doubt a t all that t he use o f computers h as giv en us insi ghts
into th e use of wo rds, a nd teach ers an d materials design ers ha ve gained
enormousl y from the information t hey have been abl e to access. But e ven
with such scie ntific po wer at ou r finge rtips the probl em of selec tion has n ot
been c ompletel y solved.
The fact r emains th at the f reque ncy count w ill still be heavily influe nced
by the t ype of t ext that is f ed into t he computer . If you key in scien tific
textbo oks y ou will get a different frequenc y coun t from the r esults y ou
would get if y ou keyed in 10, 000 Superman comics. If y ou keyed in the
newspapers of twenty years ago you might w eikget a d ifferent f reque ncy
order from what w ould ha ppen if y ou used t oday's newspape rs. In ot her
words, w hilst computer -gene rated t ext stud y is consider ably quicker , larger
249

and more r eliable t han the word lists o f an ea rlier a ge it does not nec essaril y
give us t he onl y information w e need when selecting v ocab ulary. If you find
that t he w ord 'way' (for example) is the fi fth com monest w ord in th e
English langua ge acco rding to o ne computer -base d corp us does th at
necessa rily mean that y ou will teach it fifth ?
The point is th at othe r facto rs come into pla y. Do the s tudents n eed to
know 'way' yet? How useful is it fo r them? And ho w well does it fit into t he
topics, fu nctions, st ructur es and situ ations tha t we want to teach?
Recentl y I wa lked into a group of up per int ermediate stud ents w hom I
had n ot taug ht befo re. I ask ed them to tell me what ne w words they had
learnt and r emembere d rece ntly. They all chose t he w ord 'cuddle '. It tu rned
out th at this w as because th ey had come ac ross it in an amusing t ext w hich
had f ormed part of a class w hich the y had reall y enjoyed – because they
thoug ht the t eacher was so go od. There were othe r equall y import ant
reasons, too. The stud ents liked th e meaning of the word (it's a nic e thing
to do !) and the y liked its s ound. Per haps the word 'cuddle' would ha ve been
155
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
a suitabl e word for beginne r students if it could p rovoke s uch enth usias m.
I i /j^But this w ould ne ver be p ossible (e ven if it w as desirable ) if frequenc y (and
coverage) were taken as th e onl y information to be u sed w hen selecting
/vocabul ary,. [
The decision a bout w hat vocabula ry to te ach and le arn w ill be heavily
influence d, then, by information we can get about f requency and u se. But
this info rmation will be assessed in the light of othe r consid erations such as
topic, fu nction, st ructur e, teach ability, needs and wa nts (s ee 3.6 ).
9.3
Wha t do
students nee d to
know?
9.3.1
250

Meaning
9.3.2
Word use
In Chap ter 2 we looked a t what native speake rs nee d to kno w about
langua ge and i n Chapte r 3 w e used this to d iscuss the ling uistic
unde rstandin g that w e should ex pect of o ur stu dents. W e can no w develop
the comments we made there about v ocabula ry (see 2 .3 and 3.3) a nd look a t
words in more detail sinc e it is clear t hat the re is fa r more to a vocabula ry item
than just one meaning. F or a start we must look at w hat 'meaning' r eally is.
The first thi ng to r ealise abo ut vo cabul ary items is that th ey frequentl y^ have
more than o ne meaning. The w ord 'book' , for e xample, obviously refers t o
something y ou use to r ead f rom – '(a wr itten wo rk in th e form of) a set of
printed pag es fastene d toget her insid e a co ver, as a thin g to be r ead',
accor ding to o ne lea rner's dictiona ry.8 But th e same dictionar y then go es on
to list eigh t more meanings of ' book' as a noun, two meanings of ' book' a s a
verb and th ree meanings w here ' book' + preposition makes ph rasal v erbs.
So we will hav e to say that t he w ord 'book ' someti mes means the kind of
thing y ou rea d from, but it c an also mean a n umber of oth er thin gs.
When we come ac ross a w ord, the n, and t ry to decipher its meanin g we
will have to l ook at th e context i n which it is use d. If w e see a w oman in a
theat re arguing a t the ticket of fice s aying 'But I b ooked m y tickets th ree
weeks ago' we will obviously unde rstand a meaning of the verb 'book' wh ich
is different from a policeman (acc ompanie d by an u nhapp y-looking man at
a police st ation) s aying to his c olleague ' We booked him for sp eeding.' In
other words, studen ts need t o unde rstand t he importance of meaning in
context.
There a re oth er facts about meaning t oo. Someti mes w ords have
meanings in rel ation to o ther words. Thus stude nts need t o kno w the
meaning of ' vegetable ' as a w ord to d escribe a ny one o f a number o f othe r
things – e.g. c arrots, cabba ges, pot atoes, etc. 'Vegetable' h as a ge neral
meaning w hereas 'ca rrot' is more specific. W e unde rstand the meaning of a
251

,,-\ word like ' good ' in the co ntext of a word like 'bad '. Words ha ve opposites
ș 7 (antonyms) and the y also hav e other w ords w ith similar meanings
; (syn onyms) – e.g. ' bad' a nd 'e vil'. Eve n in that e xample, however, one thin g
Ms clea r: words seldom have abs olute s ynonyms, altho ugh cont ext ma y make
them synonymous on pa rticular occasions. As far a s meaning goes, t hen,
studen ts need t o kno w about meaning in contex t and t hey need to kno w
about sense r elations.
What a w ord means can b e chang ed, str etched o r limited b y how it is use d
and t his is somethin g studen ts need t o kno w about.
156
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
4
c)
9.3.3
Word formation
9.3.4
Word grammar
Word meaning is fr equentl y stretche d thro ugh the use of metapho r and
idiom. We know that the w ord 'hiss ', for example, describ es the n oise that
snakes make. But w e stretch its meaning t o descri be the w ay people t alk to
each o ther ( '"Don't mov e or y ou're dead, " she hisse d.'). That is metapho rical
use. At the same time we can talk a bout t reache rous pe ople as sn akes
('He's a r eal snake in the g rass.' ). 'Snake in t he gr ass' is a fixe d phr ase that
has bec ome a ri-idiam, like countless o ther phras es such as ' rainin g cats and
dogs' , 'puttin g the cat among the pige ons', 's traight from the ho rse's mouth',
etc.
Word meaning is also g overned by collocation – that is w hich w ords go
with each other . In order to know how to use th e word 'sprai ned' w e need
to kno w that w hereas w e can sa y 'spraine d ankle', ' sprai ned w rist', w e
cannot say *'sprain ed thigh ' or *'sp rained r ib'. W e can ha ve a hea dache,
stomachache o r earache, b ut we cann ot ha ve a *'throat ache' o r a *'legac he'.
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We often use wo rds o nly in cert ain social and topical cont exts. W hat we
say is go verned b y the style and regist er we are in. If you want to tell
someone y ou are an gry you will choose ca refull y between the neutral
expression of t his fact (T'm angry') and the inf ormal version (T 'm really
pissed of f). The latte r would certainl y seem rude to liste ners in c ertain
contexts . At a dif ferent le vel we reco gnise that two docto rs talking a bout a n
illness w ill talk in a dif ferent r egiste r than o ne of th em who then talks t o the
patient in questio n – w ho has ne ver studie d medicine.
Students n eed to r ecognise metaphorical lan guage u se and t hey need to
know how words collocate. They also nee d to und erstan d what stylistic and
topical co ntexts w ords and e xpressi ons occu r in.
Words can ch ange th eir shap e and t heir g rammatical va lue, t oo. Students
need t o kno w facts about word formation and h ow to twist words to fi t
different gramm atical con texts. Thus the verb 'run' has the pa rticiples
"running " and ' ran'. The p resent p articiple ' runni ng' can b e used a s an
(adjectiv e and ' run' can also b e a no un. There is a clea r relationship b etween
the w ords 'd eath', ' dead ', 'dying' and ' die'. _ _
Students also need t o kno w how suffixes and p refixes w ork. Ho w can
we make the w ords pot ent and e xpensi ve opposite in meaning ? Why do w e
preface one with im- and the o ther w ith in-1
Students n eed to kn ow how words ar e spelt a nd ho w they sound.
Indee d the w ay words are stressed ( and th e way that stress ca n chang e when
their gramm atical fu nction is dif ferent – as with nouns and v erbs, fo r
example) is v ital if st udents a re to b e able t o unde rstand a nd use words in
speech. Part of lea rning a word is learnin g its w ritten and sp oken fo rm.
Word formation, t hen, means kno wing ho w words ar e written and sp oken
and kn owing ho w they can ch ange th eir fo rm.
Just as w ords cha nge acco rding t o their g rammatical meaning, so t he use o f
certain w ords can tri gger t he use o f certai n grammatical patterns . Some
examples w ill show what this means.
We make a distincti on bet ween counta ble and uncountabl e nouns. The
253

former ca n be bo th singula r and pl ural. W e can sa y 'one ch air' o r 'two
157
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
chairs '. The latt er can only be sin gular; we cannot s ay 'two furnitu res'. This
differenc e, then, h as cer tain gr ammatical implications. 'C hair' c an collocate
with plu ral ve rbs (provided t hat it is plu ralised) wh ereas 'fu rniture ' never
can ( unless it is th e name of a po p gro up, fo r example). There a re also
nouns t hat a re neith er cou ntable no r unco untable b ut which have a fixed
form and t hefor e collocate o nly with singula r or plural v erbs, e .g. 'pe ople',
'the n ews', 'mathematics', etc.
I _ V erbs t rigge r cert ain gr ammar too. 'T ell' is follo wed by an o bject + to
+ infiniti ve, for example ( 'He told her to wake him up at six ') and so is
'ask'. But 'say' does not w ork in th e same way. Knowing modal v erbs like
'can', 'must', etc. means also k nowing th at these v erbs a re follo wed b y a
[^are infiniti ve without 't o'. W hen st udents d on't ha ve this kind o f
knowledge the y come up w ith erroneous s entences wh ich all teach ers
instantl y recognise , e.g. *'He said me to come', *'I must to go ', etc.
There a re man y othe r areas of g rammatical beha viour that studen ts
need t o kno w about: w hat are p hrasal verbs a nd ho w do the y behav e? Ho w
are adjectives o rdered? W hat position can a dverbs be used in? W ithout t his
knowledge can w e really say that stude nts kno w vocabular y items such a s
'look u p' (as in a diction ary), 'tire d' and 'worn', or 'greedil y'?
What we have been saying in this s ection is tha t kno wing a word means fa r
more than just unde rstandin g (on e of) its meaning (s). Someho w our
teachin g must help studen ts to und erstan d what this k nowledge implies both
in gen eral an d for c ertain words in particula r. By being a ware stu dents w ill
be more r ecepti ve to the co ntextual b ehav iour of w ords w hen they first see
them in texts, etc . and th ey will be bett er abl e to manipulate b oth the
meanings and f orms of the w ord.
We can sum marise 'Kno wing a word' in the following w ay:
Meaning in cont ext
254

Sense rel ations
WORDS
MEANING
WORD USE
WORD IN FOR MATION
Metaphor a nd idiom
Collocation
Style and r egister
Parts of s peech
Prefixes a nd suf fixes
Spelling and p ronunciation
WORD GRA MMAR
Figure 17 Knowing a w ord
Nouns: co untable a nd
uncou ntable, etc .
Verb comple mentati on,
phrasal ve rbs, etc.
Adjectiv es and a dverbs:
position, e tc.
158
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
9.4
Teaching
vocab ulary
9.4.1
Active and passi ve
li
9.4.2
Interaction w ith
words
Teaching vocabula ry is clearl y more than just presen ting ne w words. This
255

may, of cou rse, ha ve its place ( see 9. 5.1) b ut the re are othe r issues, to o. Fo r
example, stude nts see a lo t of w ords in the c ourse o f a w eek. Some of th em
are used st raight a way, others a re not . Should w e teach some words (which
we need for s tructu re practice, fo r example) a nd not t each oth ers (w hich
occur incidentall y in readin g texts, fo r example)? Is the re an y way in which
we can e ncour age stud ents to r eally learn a w ord? W e will look at 'Active'
and ' passive', I nterac tion w ith words, and Discove ry techni ques
A distincti on is fre quentl y made bet ween 'ac tive' and 'passi ve' vocabula ry.
The former r efers to vocab ulary that studen ts hav e been tau ght or learnt –
and w hich the y are exp ected to b e able t o use – whilst the latt er refers t o
words which the st udents w ill recognise wh en the y meet th em but wh ich
they will probabl y not be a ble to p roduce.
This distinction bec omes a bit blurred, ho wever, when w e consid er what
'knowing a w ord' means and wh en w e consider t he w ay stud ents seem to
acqui re thei r store of words.
It is tr ue that s tudents ' know' some w ords bette r than othe rs, but it h as
not b een demonstr ated tha t these a re nec essaril y the words which teach ers
have taught th em, esp eciall y at highe r levels. They might b e words that a re
often u sed in th e classro om or words that ha ve appea red in t he re ading tex ts
which stud ents ha ve been e xposed t o. If w e have any belief in langu age
acquisition t heori es (see 4 .1.3) it is clear t hat man y words which stude nts
know do come th rough that r oute r ather than t hrough lea rning (s ee
page 3 3). O ther wo rds ma y be th ose that st udents h ave looked up beca use
they wanted to u se them. Or th ey may be words that stud ents ha ve met an d
someho w 'liked' ( see 9 .4.2.)
At beginne r and e lement ary levels it c ertainl y seems a g ood idea t o
provide sets of v ocabula ry which stud ents can le arn. Mo st of t hese ea rly
words will be consta ntly practis ed and s o can, p resumabl y, be conside red as
'active'. But at inte rmediat e lev els and above the situation is rather more
complicated. W e can assume that stu dents ha ve a sto re of w ords but it
would be difficult to sa y which are ac tive and w hich are p assiv e. A word
256

that h as been ' active' through consta nt use ma y slip back into the passi ve
store if it is not us ed. A word that students h ave in th eir passi ve store ma y
sudde nly become active if the situation o r the c ontext p rovokes its use. In
other words, the sta tus of a v ocabula ry item does not se em to b e a
permanent state of af fairs.
The students who remembered t he w ord 'cuddl e' (se e 9.2.1 ) beca use the y
liked the e xperi ence of le arning it and bec ause the y liked the w ord seem
to provide an other example of ho w students lea rn an d retain w ords. W e
could p redict th at 'cud dle' is a w ord the y are g oing to r emember f or a l ong
time – thoug h it ma y eventuall y fade thr ough lack o f use. This word touched
them in some way. They had some kind of a relatio nship w ith it. I t was not
just a w ord the y had repeate d because it refe rred to a pict ure they had b een
shown, e.g. 'It 's an ap ple'. It wa s a w ord that h ad pe rsonal meaning fo r
them.
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THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
9.4.3
Discov ery
techniq ues
Not all v ocabular y items ha ve the w armth of a word like 'cuddle ',
howeve r. But it w ould be nice if w e could pr ovoke the s ame kind o f
relati onship w ith the w ords w e teach as those s tudents s eemed t o have had
with thei r word.
Experiments on v ocabular y seem to suggest t hat stude nts remember
(best when th ey have ac tually done somethin g with the words they are
llearni ng.9 There is a defi nite ad vantage in g etting stu dents to d o more than
; just repeat them. Tasks such as chan ging them to mean thei r opposit es,
making a noun a n adjective, putting wo rds to gether , etc. help t o fix the
words in the lea rners' minds.
Someho w or other, then , it seems that w e should get st udents t o
interact w ith words. W e should ge t them to 'ado pt' words that t hey like an d
257

that t hey want to use.( We shoul d get th em to d o things w ith words so that
they become p roperly acquain ted w ith them^j Vocabula ry learning nee ds the
'deep expe rience' we mentioned on p age 3 4.
Especiall y at inte rmediat e lev els and above, disc overy techniques (w here
studen ts hav e to work out rules a nd meanings fo r themsel ves ra ther t han
being gi ven everything b y the teac her – see 6. 4) are an a ppropriate
alternativ e to st anda rd presentation techniqu es. This is cer tainly true of
vocabula ry learning w here stu dents w ill ofte n be aske d to 'disco ver for
themselv es' w hat a word means a nd ho w and w hy it is b eing used .
At intermediate le vels we can assume that students a lread y have a
conside rable sto re of v ocabula ry. Rather th an teach them new words we can
show them examples of w ords in acti on (in t exts, etc. ) and a sk them to use
their previous kno wledge to w ork out w hat w ords can go w ith others, w hen
they should be us ed and wh at conn otations t hey have.
Even at be ginner l evels, ho weve r, we may want to a sk students to try
to work out w hat w ords mean, r ather than just handi ng them the meanings:
when students h ave 'ha d a go' with the w ords w e can lead f eedback sessi ons
to see if they have unde rstood t he w ords cor rectly.
Discov ery techniques u sed w ith vocabular y materials allo w stud ents to
activate their p revious kn owledge a nd to sh are w hat the y know (if th ey are
working w ith othe rs). They also p rovoke t he kind of interac tion w ith words
which w e have said is d esirable ( see 9. 4.2). W e will look at a number of
discov ery activ ities in 9. 5.2.
The conclusions we can d raw from this discussio n about active and passiv e
vocabula ry and about in teractin g (an d about discov ery techniques ) are best
summed up b y a quote from Adrian Unde rhill:
' … e ngaging the lea rner … is essenti al to an y activity that is to h ave a
high lea rning y ield.' (Un derhill 1 985: 10 7)
We know that lea rners will select the words they want to learn . We
know that the w ords the y have acq uired s eem to mo ve bet ween acti ve and
passi ve sta tus, and we know that inv olvement w ith words is likel y to help
258

studen ts to lea rn and r emember them. In othe r words, if w e provide th e
right kind of ex posur e to w ords for the stud ents and if we provide
oppo rtunities f or stu dents to p ractise t hese w ords then there is a goo d
160
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
9.5
Examples o f
vocab ulary
teaching
9.5.1
Presenta tion
is
: a
chance t hat stud ents w ill lear n and r emember s ome o r all of th em. As
Richard Rossner wr ites:
The facto rs that a re crucial, sur ely, are those least easil y controlled,
such as t he rel evance of a word to an in dividual's im mediate w ants,
needs a nd inte rests, th e impact o n his or her ' affect' on the firs t few
encou nters, a nd the n umber of o pport unities to b ring it int o activ e use.
(Rossn er 19 87: 302 )
We have said th at vo cabula ry teac hing is as importan t as the t eaching o f
struct ure, a nd in th e follo wing ex amples w e will look at a r ange o f activ ities
which a re design ed to te ach and p ractise words and thei r various uses. W e
will look at Presentation, Discov ery tec hniques and Practice.
Not all v ocabular y can be lea rnt th rough interac tion and d iscov ery
techniq ues. Ev en if such t echniques a re possible, ho wever, they are not
always the most cost ef fective. There are man y occasions w hen some fo rm
of presentati on and/ or expl anation is t he best w ay to bri ng ne w words into
the class room. We will look at s ome ex amples:
(a) Realia
One w ay of presenting w ords is to b ring t he things t hey represe nt into th e
259

classro om – b y bringi ng 'realia' into the room. Words like ' postca rd', 'ruler',
'pen', 'ball ', etc. can obviously be prese nted in t his way. The teache r holds
up th e object ( or points to it ), says the word and then gets stud ents to
repeat it.
(b) Pictures
Bringing a pen into the class room is not a pr oblem. Bringing in a c ar,
howeve r, is. One sol ution is the u se of pict ures.
Pictures can be boa rd drawings, w all pictures a nd cha rts, flashca rds,
magazine pictu res and a ny othe r non -technical v isual rep resent ation.
Pictures can be used to explain the meaning of v ocabula ry items: teachers
can d raw things on the b oard or b ring in pic tures. They can illust rate
concepts such as above and opposite just as easil y as ha ts, coats, w alking
sticks, cars , smiles, f rowns, etc.
(c) Mime, action a nd gestu re
It is ofte n impossible t o explain t he meaning of wo rds a nd gr ammar eithe r
through th e use of r ealia o r in pictu res. Actions, in pa rticular , are probably
bette r explain ed by mime. Concep ts like running or smoking are easy to
present in this wa y; so ar e ways of wa lking, exp ressions, p repositio ns ('t o',
'towards', e tc.) a nd times (a han d jerked back o ver the sh oulder to
represent the past , for e xample), v ^ I a W<^ ml^o iu|£ >
(d) Cont rast
We saw how words exist bec ause of t heir sens e relati ons (se e 9.3.1 ) and t his
can be used to t each meaning. W e can p resent t he meaning of ' empt y' by
contrasting it w ith 'full', 'c old' b y contrastin g it w ith 'hot', 'big' b y
161
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
contrasting it w ith 'small'. W e may presen t these co ncepts w ith pictures o r
mime, and by drawing attention t o the co ntrasts i n meaning w e ensu re ou r
studen ts' und erstan ding.
(e) Enumeration
Another sense r elation w e looked at i n 9.3.1 wa s that of gene ral and specific
260

words. W e can use this to prese nt meaning. W e can sa y 'clothes' a nd
explain t his b y enumerati ng or listin g various items. The same is true of
'vegetable' o r 'furniture', fo r example.
(f) Explanation
Explaining the meanin g of v ocab ulary items can be very difficult, es peciall y
at be ginner a nd elementa ry levels. But w ith more int ermediate stud ents such
a tech nique can b e used. It is w orth remembering tha t explaining the
meaning of a wo rd must include e xplaining a ny facts of word use (see 9.3.2 )
which a re rel evant. If we are e xplaining t he meaning of 'mate' (= friend ) we
have to point o ut that it is a colloquial w ord use d in info rmal cont exts and
that it is more o ften us ed for males th an for females.
(g) Translation
Translatio n is a quick a nd eas y way to present the meanin g of w ords but it
is not w ithout pr oblems. In the fi rst place it is n ot always easy to translate
words, and in t he secon d place, e ven where tra nslation is possi ble, it ma y
make it a bit too e asy for students by discou raging t hem from inte racting
with the words.
Where translati on can q uickly solve a p resentati on pr oblem it ma y be a
good i dea, but we should b ear in mind th at a consist ent polic y towards th e
use of t he mother t ongue is h elpful fo r both t eache r and stu dents ( see 1 1.2.4
for a discussion o f this point ).
All of these p resent ation tech niques eith er singl y or in combination a re
useful w ays of intr oducing n ew words. W hat must be remembered w ith
vocabula ry presentatio n, too, is t hat pr onunciatio n is just as importan t here
as it is fo r struc tural material.10 We should n ot int roduce w ords w ithout
making sure that stude nts kno w how they are said. No t only will this mean
that t hey can us e the w ords in spe ech, it w ill also h elp them to remember
the w ords.
There a re a n umber of w ays of pres enting th e sounds o f words:
1 Through mo delling. Just as with structur es (see 6 .3.1) the te acher c an
model the w ord and t hen get both ch oral an d indiv idual r epetitio n.
261

When the teache r is modelling the w ord he o r she can use g estur e, etc.
to indicat e the main stress in a w ord.
2 Through visual represe ntation. When teac hers wr ite up n ew words on the
board the y should al ways indicate w here the stress in t he w ord is. They
can do this b y underlining, e.g.
photograph
162
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
They can use a stress s quare, e.g.
a
They can use a stress mark b efore the st ressed s yllable, e.g.
9.5.2
Discov ery
They can w rite the st ress patt ern o f the w ords next to it, e.g .
photo graphy □ □ n □
3 Through p honetic symbols. Some teache rs get th eir stud ents to le arn th e
phon etic s ymbols, at least fo r recognition p urposes . Certainl y for more
advanc ed stude nts a basic kn owledge o f the s ymbols w ill help them to
access p ronuncia tion info rmation f rom their dicti onaries ( see 9 .6).
We will look a t a number o f discov ery techniqu es from si mple matching
tasks to more c omplex u nderst andings o f connot ation and context.
Use y our dictiona ry'. Match the words
and t he pictu res.
intelligent young slim
fat strong old
(a) Adjectives11
This example from a book fo r elementar y
studen ts sho ws the simplest fo rm of
matching discov ery activ ity:
Students w ill be u sing thei r bilingual dic tionaries (see 9 .6), though s ome
of them ma y know these wo rds al ready.
262

Teache rs can e asily prepare their o wn versions o f this acti vity. For
example, stude nts can be given number ed pictu res and t he teach er can then
write words o n the bo ard w hich the y have to match w ith the pictures .
The use of simple matching acti vities like t hese as a p relud e to
repetition an d practic e allo ws the st udents more in volvement t han a
presentation l ed by the teacher . However the same proc edure rep eated fo r
the int roductio n of all ne w words would become bo ring.
163
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(b) Parts of t he bod y12
This activity for in termediate stu dents b roadens the matching of wo rds to
pictur es by not a ctuall y giving t he stude nts the w ords. They have to find
them from their o wn me mories o r from thei r pee rs.
164
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
Notice ho w students a re encoura ged to c ome up w ith an y more w ords
they know to exte nd the list o f vocabula ry.
It is ofte n a goo d idea to have stu dents w orking in pai rs or groups for
this acti vity. Frequen tly a word that is u nkno wn to one stud ent w ill be
known by anothe r.
(c) Around th e house13
In 9.3 .1 we talke d about s ense r elations an d about gene ral and s pecific
words. The follo wing activ ity expa nds the c oncept to include w ord fields –
i.e. a reas w here a n umber of w ords gr oup tog ether .
The activ ity uses t he 'mind map' techniqu e to help s tudents t o put a list
of words into dif ferent g roups.
3 Here is a ' voca bular y network'. Ca n you comple te it w ith words fr om the
box? (Then add one more object for eac h room.)
saucep ans sh ower sofa towels alarm clock k ettle v ideo
sheets sink washbasin ches t of dr awers cof fee ta ble
b In which ro om do you normall y:
263

listen to music? waste time?
daydream? think a bout y our problems?
have arguments? feel most rel axed?
Now compare y our ans wers w ith a part ner.
C Wh y do you hav e certai n things in certai n rooms ? For e xample, w hy not
put the televisio n in t he bathroom? Wh y not put the sofa in the kitchen?
Think o f some more example s and ask your partner t o explain them.
165
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Once a gain, beca use this acti vity is for inte rmediate stude nts, w e can
assume that some of th e students know some of the words. By sharing th eir
knowledge the y can complete the map – a nd add t he ext ra bits of
vocabula ry. Notice ho w the follo w-up acti vities in t his material encou rage
practice of the words.
Using mind maps to creat e vocabula ry fields is something t hat teac hers
can inco rporate into t heir r egula r vocabul ary teac hing. Ind eed such a ctivities
can fo rm a useful pr elude to work on specific topics. Thus if stud ents ar e
going t o rea d a text a bout mo vement, the class might sta rt with the basis fo r
a mind map like t his:
It would then be up to t he stude nts (in p airs o r groups) t o expan d the
map as far a s possible.
(d) Ways of mo ving14
In this e xample – for students wh o are just app roachin g the inte rmediate
level – the ne w words a re given in texts fi rst:
Words in C ontext Read th e follo wing pass ages an d do the exercises.
From the hotel w indow, you could see
the g reen hills c overed with tall tre es,
and in t he distanc e was a little lake .
'Let's put o n some st rong sh oes, take
some sandwiches and spend t he day
264

hiking in the mountains, ' thei r fathe r
said. (N ow answer question 4 .)
chnH^ l°°k a hard P™ch on the
chin. Hesto odslillfor a s econd a nd then
his legs b ecame w eak. Almost falling he
carted'to stagger like a d runken man
One more p unch and he w as down
^"'^t.nme.ten.It wasaknocki
out. ( Now answer question 7 )
r-
i
The bo ys were sixteen years old and
they were in th e arm y. Every day they
had t o practis e marching as the
sergeant called out, ' Left, ri ght. Left ,
right. Left.' (Now answer qu estion 5. )
166
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
4
i
When the y have read th e texts th ey are i n a position to guess t he
meaning of th e words, and th e follo wing ch art hel ps them to do it:
Match eac h of thes e verbs w ith its m eanin g. Put a cross (X) in th e right box, as in
the ex ample.
strol
lwand
ermarc
hlimphiketipto
estagg
ercraw
l
with each step eq ual X
quietl y, on y our toes
pressi ng more on o ne
foot t han the o ther
in a slo w, relaxed w ay
in an u nstead y way
in the c ountr yside
265

on your han ds and
knees
in no p articula r direc tion
This discovery activity is made u sable bec ause stud ents had a chance t o
see th e words in context. At thei r post -elementar y level they would
probably not k now the wo rds al ready so the text provides the info rmation
on w hich they can b ase thei r deduc tions – a nd, the refore, fill in th e chart
correctly.
This kind of acti vity can be use d by teac hers w hen w orking w ith an y
text. If there are a number of words that gr oup into a vocabula ry field
(see (b) abo ve) it w ill be eas y to design a similar c hart – which is a matching –
word-and -definitio n activ ity.
(e) Suf fixes and prefixes15
We said in 9.3.3 t hat stud ents nee d to kno w about w ord fo rmation. This
exercise is designe d to make them aware o f how suffixes a nd pr efixes w ork.
After th e students are reminded of h ow suffixes and p refixes wo rk the y
are asked to l ook at a list o f words and see what the y mean:
1 Suf fixes and p refixes
In Unit I (page 4) we saw how
prefixes and suffixes are used to
form dif ferent parts o f speech .
fashion able = adjectiv e
happin ess = noun
electricia n = person
They can also a dd a n ew meaning.
Example
bi = two
bilingual
biplane
If you unders tand th e meaning of
the suf fix or prefix, y ou can often
guess t he meaning of a n ew word.
266

2What meaning do
the follo wingm.pro-
Americ
an
suffixes and prefixes
add?n.defrost
a
.non-fiction o.microsc
ope
b
.dishones tP-post-
gradua t
e
c
.misund erstan dq-predict
d
.oversleep
c
.unde rcook
f
.redecorat e
g
.an ex -president
h
.a manager ess
i
.helpless
j
.useful
k
,anti-s ocial
1
.autog raph
167
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Once a gain the p oint he re is that students a re being asked to inte ract
with the words and w ork things ou t for t hemselves. Beca use this is an
activity for uppe r inte rmediat e students they can p robably do so.
(R) Exercise 2
267

(f) Fear16
Unde rstanding h ow words relat e to eac h othe r also in volves u nderstanding
which w ords ar e weaker or st ronger tha n othe rs. In this a ctivity at the uppe r
intermediate l evel studen ts are b eing p repared to r ead a short story by
Janet F rame called You ar e No w Entering the Human Heart . The materials
designe r takes t he opp ortunit y to do a quick disco very activity on words
associate d with 'fe ar' – a ma jor theme of th e stor y:
Everybody experienc es fe ar at some t ime or ot her, for ex ample w hen
you are w oken by a strange no ise a t night, b efore you go to the
dentist, or w hen you are on top of a high b uilding. The following
words describe di ffere nt kinds of fear. Usin g a d ictionary if necess –
ary, put the words in t he appropriate place on the lines. You may
want to put more t han on e word on a line.
afraid n ervous terrified pet rified sc ared fri ghtened
A little f ear
A lot o f fear
Notice the letter 'K ' in the ci rcle w hich indica tes that u sers ca n find the
answers to this e xercise in t he ans wer ke y. It is w orth reminding o ursel ves
that eit her the teach er or a self -stud y key must be o n hand t o help gi ve
studen ts feedb ack on the discov eries they have made.
168
(g) Gibr altar17
The follo wing ex ample co uld onl y be u sed w ith very advanced stud ents, but
the p rinciple ( using a modified fill-i n passage ) can b e adap ted to almost all
levels.
Students a re goin g to r ead an a ccount o f the inq uest into sh ootings
which took place in in Gi bralta r some years ago. This ext ract r elates to the
death of one o f the v ictims, called Sa vage.
The students are told that in the pass age a n umber of w ords ha ve been
blocked o ut by the symbol xxxxxx (this s eems less dis ruptive to the r eading
eye than the more n ormal blank). Indiv iduall y they have to think of a s
268

many words as p ossible to r eplace t hese s ymbols w ith, an d the y then ha ve to
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
compare th eir possibilities in pairs a nd gr oups until t hey have decided w hich
words should b e replac e the xxx xxs (this c onsensus ac tivity is similar to that
in 9.6. 1 (d)).
This is the text:18
Kenneth Asquez, a twenty-year-old bank clerk, alle ged last April tha t he
saw a man w ith his f oot on Sa vage's chest, fi ring xxx xxx him at point-
blank xxx xxx two or three times. Asquez made th e clai m in t wo
statements, on e hand -written and a nothe r made before a la wyer, which
he refused t o sign, bec ause, he said he w anted to p rotec t his xxxxxx.
Thames Television use d sev enty-two words from his statements. But at
the inq uest Asquez – a surp rise xxxxxx given his p revious a nonymity –
said he h ad in vented his acco unt und er 'xxxxxx' a nd 'of fers of mone y', the
first u nspecified a nd the s econd un quantified (he received n one, in a ny
case) . Sir Joshua Hass an, the c olony's most distinguish ed la wyer and
former chi ef minister , represente d him in co urt. The coro ner sai d that,
retracted o r not, his first a ccount sh ould still be xx xxxx b y the jury.
Then the re is Robin Arthu r Mordue. He w as a British h olida ymaker ,
walking to wards Sa vage in Land port L ane w hen the sho oting sta rted, a nd
he w as pushed t o the g round b y a woman on a b icycle (he rself pus hed b y
a third xxxxxx ). He sa w Savage fall at th e same time. The sh ots stopp ed
for a time, a nd then resumed as Mordue stru ggled to his xxxxxx; as h e
ran for xx xxxx behin d a car , he looked back to se e a man standing over
Savage an d pointing d own with a gun. Mordue w as a co nfused ( and
perhaps f rightene d) witness; coron er an d counsel e xamined him ten times
before he wa s releas ed xxxxxx h is oath.He ma y also h ave bee n a
confuse d and f righten ed w itness b efore he ar rived in Gi bralta r: in th e
weeks before t he inques t, he r eceiv ed a n umber of xxx xxx phon e calls
('Basta rd…sta y away'). His telepho ne number is e x-director y.
269

to
This activity reinf orces th e point a bout meaning in c ontext ( see 9.3 .1),
and g ains a lot t hroug h the discussi on that t akes place b etween st udents
about what the words should be. Interestingl y enough some of the words
are easy for a nati ve speake r to gu ess because they form pa rt of cliche d or
fixed p hrases ( at point-bla nk range, h e ran for cover , st ruggled t o his/ee/ ),
whilst othe rs are more inte resting a nd sho w the writer stre tching w ords and
meanings to his p articula r purpose ( firing into him) and some res pond to t he
legal r egister of the pi ece (a third party, released from his oath ).
Clearl y this extrac t is dif ficult because o f the complexit y of the
information, t he re gister a nd the g eneral lev el of th e langua ge. But the s ame
procedure can be u sed b y teachers with texts a t virtuall y any level.
The examples in this sectio n hav e all e ncour aged stu dents to wo rk out
meanings, etc. f or themsel ves. B y provoking this in volvement w ith words,
we make it likel y that st udents w ill remember th em at leas t for a short time
(see 9.4.2 ). Clearl y, thou gh, w e will want to enco urage students t o practise
using th e words so that t hey become more familiar . That is w hat w e will
look at in the nex t section.
169
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
9.5.3
Practice
In this sec tion w e will look a t activ ities desig ned to e ncour age stud ents to
use w ords in an involving w ay.
19
(a) Actions and ges tures
In this e xample st udents h ave studied words connected with bod y language
and mo vement (e.g . shru g, shake, c ross + s houlde rs, fist, arm). They have
done a n exe rcise on t he w ay verbs and n ouns colloc ate (you can't s hrug
your fists, for example). No w they complete the follo wing questio nnaire :
What actions or gestures d o you use to do t he follo wing?
270

INTER VIEW EE
NUMBER1234
say hello
say goodb ye
express ange r
express sur prise
express
indifferenc e
express
agreement
express
disag reement
Do peo ple from dif ferent cultures do an y of these t hings
differentl y?
20
(b) Bring, tak e and g et
In this e xample st udents at elementar y level h ave studie d the dif ferent uses
of get , bring and tak e, ve rbs that a re frequentl y confused. After doing a fill-
in exe rcise the y then take part i n the follo wing prac tice activ ity.
PRACTICE
2 Susanna Davies is an of fice manager . She
keeps h er staf f very busy. It's Mo nday
rnorning, a nd the re are various j obs th ey will
have to do bef ore midda y.
Look a t the illust ration an d information, a nd
give Susanna 's orders. The first o ne has b een
done f or you.
Example: Bob, w ould you take the office car
to the garage, get s ome pet rol an d
bring it back he re?
1 Tracy . . .
2 Eric . . .
271

3 Phil . . .
4 Is th at Miss Jones at Speed -o-Bike? . . .
3 In p airs, gi ve each ot her inst ructions t o move o bjects abo ut
Examples: Hans , take this b ook to M arie, and give it to h er.
Sam, go a nd get Kate 's pen, a nd bri ng it he re.
„
170
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
This is a very straightf orward pr actice acti vity which will help studen ts to fix
the meanings a nd uses o f these dif ficult v erbs in th eir minds.
(c) Traits o f cha racter21
In this e xample f or ad vanced stu dents, stu dents a re led th rough thre e
exercises w hich p ractise the use of ' charac ter' v ocabula ry.
Ladies a nd gen tlemen, wh ich of thes e traits o f cha racter d o you most dislike in a
partner? Place them in order.
vanity
obstinacy
arrogance
shyness
hypocrisy
selfishness
snobbishnes s
mean ness
pom posity
dishonesty
timidi ty
rash ness
stubborn ness
pettiness
posses siveness
aggressi veness
272

Ladies a nd gen tlemen, wh ich of thes e qualities is most important f or you in a
partner? Place them in order of importanc e.
comp assio n vivacity frankness
tolerance patience generosit y
sincerit y imag ination passion
mode sty sensitivity coura ge
self-ass urance
ambiti on
humili ty
creati vity
Discuss or wr ite do wn the p ersonal c haract eristics ( good a nd bad ) that y ou would
expect t o find in t hese pe ople.
1 a n urse
2 the chairman of a multination al compan y
3 an a ctor
4 a p olitician
5 a t eacher
We must assume that th e studen ts hav e a k nowledge o f a ma jority of
the w ords. That being so , the ge nuine discussio n in exe rcise 2 ab out the
characteristics w e would w ish to see fo r various prof essions w ill provoke the
use of a number of t hese w ords.
The same kind of acti vity can be do ne w ith emotional r eactions, f or
example. Ho w would students e xpect to f eel if the y went to se e a ho rror
movie, a love sto ry, a Shak espear e pla y?
This activity demonstrates the desi rabilit y of making the words and
what they stand f or the centr e of a p ractice sessi on.
(d) Innismullen21
In 9.3 .2 we discusse d the importa nce of th e metaphorical us e of lang uage.
The follo wing disco very-practice a ctivity shows how students c an be made
aware of metapho rical use, a nd in a co ntrolled p ractice s ession, ho w they
can be encou raged t o use some of th e idioms.
273

171
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Students at the up per int ermediate le vel a re sho wn the follo wing text
from an imaginar y novel called The Keepe r of In nismullen:
Their ill-fat ed marriag e start ed badl y on the fi rst night, f or when the y
arrived at t he hotel a nd ha d unpacke d their things Cha rles fou nd that h e
was una ble to hid e his unha ppiness. Despit e his apolo gies, and h is clai ms
that h e had n ot meant to hu rt her feelings, Matilda's pride was deepl y
wounded and sinc e she w as unable to guess at t he cause of his dist ress she
jumped to all so rts of conclusi ons.
Charles was, by this time, ill at eas e but h ad no w ay of explainin g the
true situation t o his ne w bride. Sick at h eart h e continu ed to gi ve
uncon vincing apolo gies or merel y to mur mur i n monos yllables.
Finall y, after three hou rs, du ring w hich Matilda's injured p ride
pained her more w ith ev ery passing sec ond, she e xploded . 'I am sick and
tired of this ill-manne red be haviour,' she exclaimed. 'I c onsider o ur
marriage t o be al ready at an en d.' She spoke in ange r; how could she
know that it w ould be five long y ears before her w ish finally came true?
After bei ng asked t o speculat e on the reaso ns for t he situatio n the stu dents
see th e follo wing q uestion:
How are the w ords 'sick' , 'ill', 'injured', 'wound ed' an d 'hu rt' use d in the
extract from The Keeper o f Innismullenl What other meanings can you find
for these w ords in th e dictiona ry?
When the teache r and st udents h ave discussed the ans wers to t he questi on
they are given this pr actice acti vity:
Read this s ummar y of a st ory called Runa way Hea rt.
Sylvia a nd Gr egorio are terribly in lov e and hope t o get marri ed.
However, at a dinn er pa rty (which w as the first time that G regorio had
met Sylvia's famil y) Sylvia's lo ver and h er fat her h ad a te rrible a rgument
and G regorio w as thrown out of the house a nd told n ever to retu rn. W hat
274

are Greg orio an d Sylvia to do no w?
Tell the st ory in your own words, trying to use as man y expressions w ith
'sick', 'ill ', 'injured', ' wounded ' or 'hurt' from the t ext as possi ble.
This activity shows how the metapho rical use of la nguage can be
approached . Notice that the p ractice acti vity has elements of pa rallel w riting
(see 7.2.2 ).
172
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
(e) Restau rants22
Once a gain fo r this acti vity at the inte rmediat e lev el practice is pr eceded b y
a disco very activity.
a W orkin g with your part ner, put the following events into the correct
order . The firs t one has been done for you.
look at t he menu …. …..
give the waiter a tip …… …
have dessert . ……..
pay the bill ………
book a table ….. ….
decide t o go ou t for a meal ….!…
leave the rest auran t ………
have the star ter …….. .
go to the rest auran t ………
have the main course .. …….
sit do wn …….. .
order the meal ……. ..
ask fo r the bill …… …
Here t he vocab ulary is dealt w ith in p hrases r ather than single w ords
since in th e context of res taura nts the re would not be a ny point in listin g the
words without th e vocabula ry they collocate w ith. Stud ents listen t o an
account of a meal w here the se quence o f events w as different f rom the one
given here a nd the y are then giv en this practice activity:
275

Events do n ot always follo w this sequenc e. What happens in:
• a hamburge r (fast food ) rest aurant?
• a pu b?
• a restau rant o r bar in your count ry?
As the stude nts discuss th ese situations they are rec ycling the p hrases
they have just bee n (re-)learnin g.
Using sequ ences of e vents in ce rtain w ell-defined situations ( shoppin g,
travellin g by air, getting u p, going t o bed, e tc.) te achers c an pr ovide
practice for a lot of t he langu age that concer ns those sit uations. The
material sho wn here p rovides a clear example of ho w practice ca n lead o n
naturally from a disco very activity in such circumstances.
(f) Headlines
Headlines ( both r eal a nd imagin ed) a re a v ery good way of providing
practice, pa rticularl y if they refer to c ertain we ll-defin ed topic a reas.
Suppose th at stude nts ha ve been stud ying w ords relat ed to ag e and a geing
(infant, child, middle age, etc.) t hey could b e asked t o write an article to
accompan y the h eadline:
OLD L ANGUAGE LEARNEI
PENSIONE R GR ANDMA
173
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
If stud ents ha ve been stu dying vocab ulary related t o famil ies a nd
weddings they could be asked to expa nd a he adline like this:
BIGAMY DOUBTS C AUSE WAR AT WEDDING
Students w ho hav e been stud ying vo cabula ry related to d eath a nd dying
might wr ite a st ory to accompan y this headlin e:
CEMETER Y FACES M-WAY THRE AT
9.6
The import ance
of dictionaries23
Of cou rse, the re is no reaso n why teac hers sh ould onl y use newspap er
276

headlin es. They coul d equall y well use radi o news items; the y coul d
descri be the situ ation in a ' gossip' s ession w ith a ' neighb our' or they could
tell the st ory in a letter .
The point is th at headlin es, etc. p rovide a powerful sti mulus f or freer
work. They are eas y to construc t, too.
In this sec tion w e have looked a t a number o f prac tice activ ities desig ned
to provoke th e use of c ertain ( areas of ) vocabula ry. For free p ractice, of
cours e, the id eas in Chapt er 8 a re just as valid fo r vocabula ry as th ey are f or
struct ures. At that s tage it is n ot the p articula r type of languag e being u sed
that is t he main focus: it is the spontan eous use o f langu age, bot h struct ural,
function al and lexical.
We have alre ady said ( see 9.2 ) that selecting w ords fo r teachin g pur poses is
very difficult. W e base d this on t he eno rmous n umber of w ords that any
langua ge contai ns. Fo r the s ame reason w e can be su re that studen ts will
want to know the meaning of man y more words than w e, their t eachers , can
teach t hem. Where can t hey get t his information?
Obviously the dictiona ry provides one o f the b est res ources f or stu dents
who wish to increas e the n umber of w ords the y underst and – or at least fo r
studen ts who wish to unde rstand w hat a w ord means w hen they come
across it in a text or in a conv ersation. Mo st stude nts in such ci rcumstances
consult a bilingual dictio nary to find an e quivalent in their ow n langu age.
There is n othing wr ong w ith bilingual diction aries exc ept that t hey do n ot
usuall y provide suf ficient in formation fo r the stu dents to b e able t o use. W e
frequentl y find that on e word in the L 2 (English) h as fiv e or six equi valents
listed in th e LI. But the student c annot t ell which one o f these meanings is
referred to. There is of ten no in formation eithe r abo ut the le vel of formalit y
of the word, its gramm atical be haviour, or its ap pearance in idioms, etc. Such
a lack of i nformation could lead to s erious e rrors of t ranslatio n: one t raine r
used a n Italian -English dictiona ry to produce a completel y inaccur ate (a nd
fanciful ) lette r which sta rted 'Expe nsive Mary'!24
174
277

TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
9.6.1
Examples of
dictiona ry training
material25
One r esponse to the limited natu re of i nformation a vailable in man y
bilingual dicti onaries is t o say that they should not b e used. This will not be
sensible, h owever, sinc e most students w ho are a t all inte rested in l earnin g a
langua ge w ill use a bilin gual diction ary whether t heir te achers wa nt them
to or not. O ur job is not to t ry to prevent their use , ther efore , but to t urn
it to ou r advantage b y incorp orating them into good d ictionar y practice
using monolingual d ictionari es.
Perhaps t he gr eatest r esou rce w e can give our studen ts is a goo d
monolingual diction ary. In it the re are man y more words than stu dents w ill
ever see in class. There is more g rammatical info rmation about t he w ords
than st udents g et (us ually) in class. There is i nformation ab out
pronunciation, spelling, w ord fo rmation, metaphorical a nd idiomatic use – a
whole profile of a particular w ord. There sho uld also be examples of words
in sente nces and p hrases. Of cou rse not a ll dictiona ries do this e quall y well,
and t eachers (and students ) have their p references; b ut we can and sho uld
expect t his kind of in formation fr om a g ood diction ary.
The pro blem is that students a t begin ner a nd elementar y levels simply
cannot access this inf ormation. Ev en w here the la nguage used in t he
dictiona ry definitio ns has be en rest ricted t o make those definiti ons easie r
to un dersta nd, it is j ust to o difficult for st udents at lower levels.
Such studen ts do not have any altern ative to usin g bilingual dicti onaries. But
as thei r English star ts to improv e we can begin t o intr oduce th e monolingual
dictiona ry to complement their bilin gual one . We can encou rage th em to
look up a word in their bilingual dictio naries a nd then check w hat they have
found against t he info rmation in the monolingual dicti onary. We can allo w
them to check inf ormation from thei r monolingual dictiona ries ag ainst
278

translations tha t they find in their bilingual dictio naries.
It is w hen students g et to t he inte rmediate levels and a bove that we can
seek to c hange c ompletel y to monolingual dictiona ry use, a nd to p rise th e
studen ts away from thei r bilingual d epend ence. As their v ocabula ry
improves so th ey can un dersta nd the d efinitions an d app reciate th e
information t hat the y can find. Advanced students c an (a nd should ) use
their monoling ual dictiona ries as th eir chief s ource o f info rmation a bout
meaning, pr onunciatio n and g rammar. There is no b etter resou rce fo r the
learner.
A note of cau tion should be add ed he re, ho wever. Whilst we wish to
encou rage s ensible diction ary use, we do n ot want this t o inte rfere w ith
other methodological co ncerns. We do n ot want students t o be checki ng
every word of a re ading te xt in thei r dictiona ries w hen they shoul d be
reading fo r gene ral und erstan ding (s ee 10.4. 4). W e do no t want the
studen ts' abilit y to be spont aneous t o be limited b y consta nt ref erenc e to
dictiona ries. W e will see one e xample o f good dic tionar y use in r eading
classes belo w (see 9 .6.1 ( d)).
The fact tha t some students d o not use monoling ual dictiona ries v ery much
is not just because o f langua ge dif ficulty, however. Diction aries a re very
daunti ng pr ecisel y because they cont ain so much technical in formation.
Unless w e train stud ents in ho w to und erstan d the info rmation and us e the
I
175
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
dictiona ries, the mone y they spend in bu ying them will be la rgely wasted
since the y will never open th em.
In training ou r stud ents in diction ary use we will want to a chiev e three
things: in the.firs t place w e will want to remove the fear t hat the y may have
when faced w ith the mass of information a dic tionar y contains. Secon dly we
will want to t rain stu dents to u nderstand th at info rmation, a nd thi rdly we
279

will want to make the d ictionary a normal and comfortable p art of l anguag e
study and pr actice. W e will look at fou r examples of acti vities wh ich seek to
achie ve some o r all of th ese aims.
(a) Authorit y26
In this ac tivity for int ermediate lea rners , the stu dents a re first a sked to r ead
texts a bout go vernment in Britain a nd the U nited States w ithout a
dictiona ry. This is one of t hem:
HOW BRIT AIN IS GOVERNED
Britain consists o f four count ries: England, Scotla nd, W ales an d North ern
Ireland. Lon don, th e capital, is th e cent re of go vernment fo r the w hole of
Britain, bu t local auth orities a re pa rtly responsible fo r educ ation, he alth
care, roads, the p olice and some othe r things .
Laws are made b y Parliament. There a re two 'houses': the House of
Com mons and t he House o f Lords (which has little po wer). Me mbers of
the Hous e of Com mons a re called M Ps (Members o f Parliament); an M P
is elected b y the p eople f rom a p articula r area.
The material then a sks the
studen ts:
mm Read this en try from a
dictionary. It gives sev eral
meani ngs f or th e word
authority . Which o f the
meani ngs i s the one used in
the first paragra ph o f the text
in Exercise 1 ?
CJuUtJi
f
176
respec ted store of knowledge or i nformation: We
want a dictionary that will b e an authorita tive record
of modern E nglis h —comp are DEFINI TIVE —~ly adv
280

authority /3:'8oriti, a -Ua'da -, s'8>/ " 1 [ U] the
ability, power, or right, to control a nd comman d:
Who is in authority here ?\A teach er mus t show h is
authority 2 [C often pi. ] a perso n or gro up with this
power or righ t, esp. in p ublic affairs: The govern –
ment i s the highest a uthorit y in t he country.\The
authorities a t the town hal l are slow t o deal w ith
compl aints 3 [U] power to influence: / have some
authority wi th the young boy 4 [U9 ] right or o fficial
power, esp. for some s tated purpose: Wha t authori-
ty have y ou for e nteri ng this h ouse? 5 [C usu. sing. ] a
paper gi ving this righ t: Here is my a uthority 6 [C]
a pers on, b ook, etc., w hose knowledge or in forma-
tion is dependable, g ood, and res pected: He is a n
authority o n plant diseases 7 [C] a person, book,
etc., menti oned as the pla ce w here o ne found
certai n informatio n
au thor i zation. – isation /,3:8»rai'zeiJ,»n|| ,3 :8jr3-/
»1[U ] righ t or o fficial p ower to do some thing: /
have th e ow ner's authorizati on to use his ho use 2 [C]
a paper giv ing this rig ht
This simple acti vity helps to tr ain stude nts \o be able to p ick out
rY different meanings and t o stop t hem from bein gi_daunt ed>by long ent ries fo r
one w ord. It is n ot a dif ficult acti vity for teachers t o intro duce w hen using
reading texts.
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
(b) Ferry27
This activity, again for intermediate st udents, in volves lear ners in a ctively
discov ering w hat the info rmation i n the dictio nary actually means.
1 using t he diction ary
/ port of spj&ech = verb
281

Here a re two definitions o f the w ord 'ferry'. Fill in th e boxes u sing the wo rds b elow.
' part of sp eech = v erb
/part of spe ech= no un
3 plu ral
– past ending ; pres ent pa rticiple
takes a n object
pronunciation
' stress
example sentenc es
first meaning
. secon d meaning
ferry^feri/ v- ried, -r ying [T] to ca rry (as if) on
RY : ferrying th e childre n to and from school in my car
ferry n -ries 1 also ferryboa t- a boat th at car ries
people a/d thin gs across a narrow stretch of wa ter: You ca ricross
the rivej by fei rry. 2 a plac e from w hich the ferry leav es: We
waited th ree n ours a rthe f erry.
o
Tr
The point is th at the st udents a re bein g activ ely involved in lear ning w hat
the dictio nary conventions mean r ather than t elling them. The latte r cou rse
of actio n will not ha ve much impact and ma y be d emotivatin g. The fo rmer,
done o ver a perio d of time, will train th em to u nderst and diction aries
effectiv ely.
In the exercise above st udents a re ha ving to de al with a v ariety of
different information. W e can ge t to this p oint b y graduall y training st udents
to recognise s ymbols and c onventions one o r two at a time o ver a period o f
days or weeks. This can ofte n form a follo w-up to a readi ng or list ening
seque nce. The t eacher can ask th e studen ts to find o ut if a w ord the y have
encou ntere d can be p luralised or not and ask them to find the information
in thei r dictiona ries, fo r example. This is a w ay of training them to re cognise
282

the s ymbols for countabl e and u ncountabl e nouns.
177
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
9.7
Conclusions
(c) 'Write yourself in'28
This activity will help to make stud ents more confid ent w ith their
dictiona ries. At the same ti me it is q uite amusing.
Students a re given words which the y probabl y don't k now. They have
to look t he w ord up in t he dictiona ry and t hen wr ite a sent ence using the
word and th e pro noun T or 'We'. If one o f the w ords the y look up is
'janissa ry', a se ntence like ' I don 't unde rstand t he meaning of "janissar y"' is
not allo wed, w hereas a se ntence like ' We think janissaries we re probabl y
extremely handsome but very rough' is accep table. ( Janissaries were
Turkish soldie rs in fo rmer ti mes. )
'Write yourself in' ca n be tu rned in to a team game. Team A is given a
different list of words from Team B. The me mbers of Team A look up thei r
words and wr ite thei r sentenc es. Team B guesses t he meaning. Team A
scores a point o nly if Team B gets th e meaning.
There a re man y othe r dictiona ry games, such as ' Call m y Bluff
(originall y a BBC TV game) w here a team looks up the correct definitio n of
an obsc ure w ord an d then in vents two incorrect but pla usible definitio ns.
The othe r team has to g uess w hich is th e right d efinition.
(d) Word conse nsus
It is important t o make dictionar y use a p art of n ormal classes ra ther t han
just a r ather exotic ext ra. This proced ure d oes j ust tha t.
After stu dents ha ve read a text a sk them to list the fi ve words they
would most like to kn ow the meaning of . When the y have done this the y
have to compare thei r list w ith a c olleague's . The t wo have to a gree o n five
words they most w ant to k now the meaning o f. No w pairs are joined
toget her a nd the n ew groups ha ve to agree on t heir lists.
283

By this stage man y of the origi nal w ords have been explain ed by the
other stude nt(s). What the g roups now end up w ith is a list o f words w hich
they all really want to kno w the meaning of – words that the y want to a dopt
(see 9.4.2. ) Tell them to find the meanings o f the w ords in t heir dictio naries.
In the case of a word having multiple meanings make sure the w hole group
agrees on t he cor rect on e. They can then wr ite example sent ences much like
those f or the 'Write yourself in' acti vity above.
These dictiona ry training acti vities r epresent onl y a small p roportion of t he
ones t hat can b e used. Time spen t on such a ctivities w ill not be wasted fo r
in giv ing st udents a k ey to thei r dictiona ries w e are giving them one of th e
most useful tools t hat the y are likel y to be able t o use.
In this ch apter we have lo oked at t he dif ference bet ween teachin g langua ge
struct ure a nd teachi ng vo cabul ary. We have identified p roblems of selecti on
with the l atter wh ich are not so p revalen t with the f ormer . We have seen
how counts of f requenc y alone a re not enoug h to det ermine what words
should b e taug ht.
We have seen t hat kno wing a w ord means more than just knowing its
meaning. Ev en that is p roblematical, since meaning includes sens e relati ons
and co ntext, fo r example. To kno w a word we also nee d to kno w about its
use, h ow it is formed an d what grammatical beha viour it p rovokes o r co-
exists w ith.
178
T
TEACHING VOCABUL ARY
of
Discussion
We have discussed t he methodolog y of vocabul ary teac hing, placin g
special st ress on t he desir ability of get ting stude nts to 'in teract ' with words.
Rathe r than just learn t hem, students sh ould manipulate w ords and be
involved w ith them. For this re ason w e plac ed special emphasis o n discov ery
activities.
284

We have looked a t acti vities desi gned to p resent and p ractise
vocabula ry, showing – in the la rgest sec tion – h ow disco very techniq ues can
aid v ocabular y acquisition.
We have discussed t he importance of monolingual dictio naries – and
how they do not suffer from the same limitations as biling ual dictiona ries
do. W e have lo oked at w ays of training stud ents so th at their dictiona ries
can be a useful r esou rce fo r them.
Abov e all, in this c hapter , we have seen ho w vocabula ry teaching and
learning nee d to be emphasise d in or der fo r stud ents to b e competent
langua ge use rs.
1 What do you think are the most appropriate ways of te aching v ocabular y
at dif ferent lev els? Ho w useful a re disco very activities at b eginne r levels?
2 Which is more importa nt for l anguag e learn ers: st ructu re or v ocabula ry?
Why?
3 Is it p ossible to t rain all stu dents to u se dictiona ries? W hy? Why not?
4 Ho w importa nt is it to lea rn idioms? Do idioms ever ch ange?
e
Exercises
ies.
'P
ike
ion
ts
3ns
its
Refer ences
1 Lo ok at y our textb ook. Fin d vocabula ry exercises and say what aspect of
vocabula ry they are dealing w ith (see 9. 3.1 – 4 ).
2 What words r elating to the famil y would y ou teach to a group of
elementar y students? Ho w could y ou teach th em?
3 What metapho rical or idiomatic use of lang uage ca n you iden tify with
285

the follo wing w ords:
die d ream heart dog
4 Which of t he follo wing words would y ou not teach b eginne rs? W hy?
orange ta ble ca r pilot p ocket gi rlfriend companion spa ghetti
unde rtake r ang ry con ductor
1 Mu ch of th e content of this cha pter is h eavily influenc ed by work w hich
I have been d oing on v ocabular y material w ith Richa rd Rossner . I have
made use of man y of his i nsights he re, tho ugh the final res ult is entir ely
my own respo nsibilit y.
2 See esp eciall y the excelle nt Gair ns and Redman ( 1986 ) written for
langua ge teach ers, a nd the more t heoretical Carte r and McCarthy (1988)
which expl ores some of th e issues be hind ho w words w ork and h ow they
are learnt and acq uired. Mc Carthy (1991) looks at vocab ulary and how it
is tre ated in te aching materials a nd pr actice.
3 See Chan nell (19 88) w ho states t hat '.. . there is justification fo r teac hing
approaches wh ich make vocabula ry learni ng a sep arate a ctivity.'
(page 94 ). Widdowson g oes fu rther and wr ites 'I thi nk we arrive at a
179
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
recognition of t he nee d to shift g rammar f rom its p re-eminenc e and to
allow for the r ightful claims of lexis.' ( 1989 :136) .
4 See R Hindmarsh ( 1980 ).
5 The Cobuild Dictiona ry (see J Sinclair (1 984)).
6 See D W illis and J W illis (19 88).
7 See, fo r example, the L ongman M ini-Concor dancer (1989).
8 The Longman Dictiona ry of Contempor ary English, Ne w Edition ( 1987).
9 See Gai rns and R edman ( 1986 ) pag es 90 an d 91, fo r example.
10 See J Ch annell (1 988) who emphasises the impor tance of word stress in
the lea rning o f words.
11 From M Swan and C W alter (1984).
12 F rom J Soars an d L Soars (1986).
286

13 F rom S Redman a nd R Ellis (1989 ).
14 F rom B Seal ( 1987 ).
15 F rom J Soars an d L Soars (1987).
16 F rom R Rossner (1988).
17 F rom J Harmer ( 1990 ).
18 The extr act is from 'Gib raltar ' by Ian J ack. Granta magazine
no. 2 5 (19 88).
19 F rom J Harmer an d R Rossne r (1990).
20 F rom J Shephe rd and F Cox ( 1991 ).
21 F rom G W ellman (19 89).
22 F rom J Harmer an d R Rossne r (1991).
23 F rom S Redman a nd R Ellis (1989 ).
24 I am gr ateful to D elia Su mmers and Sue Ma ingay for first i nvolving me
with diction ary desig n and dicti onary use and f or enc ouraging me to
pursue the s ubject.
25 'Expe nsive Mary' was written b y Nick Da wson.
26 Training manuals f or diction ary use do exist, f or ex ample A Underhill
(1980) a nd J M cAlpin ( 1989 ). On dictio nary use in gene ral see R G airns
and S Redman (1 986) p ages 7 9-82, R Ils on (e d). (1985 ) and J W hitcut
(1984).
27 Taken f rom M Swan and C W alter (1987 ).
28 F rom S Elsworth (19 88).
29 F rom J M organ a nd M Rinvoluc ri (1986).
180
1
1 ^\ Receptive 10.1 Basic pri nciples
\J skills 10.1.1 Cont ent
1 10.1.2 Purp ose and
expectations
10.1.3 Rece ptive skills
10.2 Me thodol ogical
287

principles for
teaching r ecepti ve skills
10.2.1 Rece ptive and p roduc tive
skills
In this ch apter we will 10.2.2 Authentic a nd non –
authentic text
look at materi al 10.2.3 Purp ose, desi re and
expectations
designe d to t rain 10.2.4 Recei ving and d oing
studen ts in re ading an d 10.2.5 Teaching r ecepti ve skills
listening skills. In 2.5 w e 10.3 A basic methodological
model fo r the
called th ese receptive teaching of r ecepti ve skills
skills and w e 10.4 Rea ding material
emphasised the p oint 10.4.1 Rea ding to co nfirm
expectations
that r eading and 10.4.2 Rea ding to ex tract
specific
listening in volve activ e information
participation on the pa rt 10.4.3 Rea ding fo r
communicative tasks
of the reader or listener . 10.4.4 Rea ding fo r gene ral
underst anding
We said that man y 10.4.5 Rea ding fo r detailed
compre hension:
studen ts can cop e with a information
highe r level in r ecepti ve 10.4.6 Rea ding fo r detailed
compre hension:
skills than th ey can in function an d discours e
langua ge pr oduction a nd 10.5 List ening material
we discusse d the v alue 10.5.1 Liste ning w ith video
of listenin g and r eading 10.5.2 Liste ning to co nfirm
expectations
material ( where it h as 10.5.3 Liste ning to e xtract
specific
been a dapte d for information
studen ts) as r oughl y- 10.5.4 Liste ning fo r
communicative tasks
tuned input ( see 4.3 ). 10.5.5 Liste ning fo r gene ral
underst anding
288

10.5.6 Liste ning fo r detail:
information and
disco urse st ructu re
10.5.7 Ma king y our own tapes
10.5.8 Dealin g with listening
problems
10.6 Concl usions
Discussion /Exercises/Refe rence
s
10.1 We will look a t some basic principl es that a pply to bot h
reading and
Basic pri nciples listening, f or des pite the f act that t he acti vities a re pe rformed
with dif ferent
media (written and s poken tex t) the re are und erlying characte ristics and
skills which appl y to both wh en bein g practis ed by native or non-native
speake rs of th e langua ge in qu estion. W e will look at content, p urpose and
expecta tions and receptive skills.
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THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.1. 1
Content
In ou r dail y lives w e read a nd listen t o a gr eat de al of langu age, an d it is
possible t o div ide this la nguage i nto two broad c atego ries: interest and
usefuln ess.
Very often we read or liste n to something b ecause it int erests us – or
at least we think it w ill inte rest us. Magazine rea ders ch oose to r ead t he
article o n, sa y, page 3 5 rather t han the story on page 6 6 beca use the y think
the fo rmer w ill be inte resting wh ereas the latte r will not. Bu yers in a
booksh op often select books because t hey think t hey will like them, and th e
discer ning ra dio listene r tunes in especiall y to programmes that h e or sh e
expects w ill be stimulatin g. This categ ory of interest , then, incl udes re ading
and liste ning fo r enjoyment, pleasu re an d intellectual stimulation, e tc.
Sometimes, however, it is not the fact that a text might be in terestin g
289

which caus es someone to r ead it: it is r ather the u sefulness o f the tex t which
prompts this ac tion. If y ou wish to op erate a cof fee machine fo r the fi rst
time it is a good id ea to r ead th e instructi ons first s o that y ou don't get
cold sou p instead o f hot cof fee. No one w ould sugges t that th e instruc tions
you read a re int rinsicall y inter esting, but then n either a re directo ries,
maintenance manuals o r rules and r egulations . Nev ertheless w e have a
desir e to re ad or listen to t hese 'us eful' texts because t hey will tell us
something w e want or n eed to k now.
The t wo cate gories a re no t always inde pendent of each o ther anyway.
We ma y well read something that is useful an d find th at it is inte resting –
as stud ents re ading fo r thei r studies o ften do. The pe rson w ho listens to
the radio in o rder to lea rn ho w to build sola r pan els may do s o with mixed
motives. The instr uctions on t he ra dio ma y have the joint char acteristics o f
interest and u sefulness.
10.1. 2
Purpose a nd
expect ations1
When dealing w ith listenin g and r eading we need t o add ress the s ame
issues of p urpos e and d esire th at we discusse d in rel ation to communicativ e
tasks in 5. 1 and 5 .3.
In real life peo ple gene rally read or listen to something b ecause t hey
want to (in th e sense th at we used 'want' in 5.1 ) and b ecause th ey have
a purpose in d oing so. The pu rpose ma y be ho w to ope rate t hat cof fee
machine or t o find out what has h appen ed rec ently in an e lection ( for the
listene r to the n ews) or to disc over the latest t rends in l anguag e teaching
(for the liste ner to a talk at a langua ge teach ers' c onvention ). In r eal life,
therefore, rea ders a nd listene rs ha ve a purpose w hich is more f undamental
than t hat in volved in some language learnin g tasks w hich seem onl y to be
asking a bout det ails of langu age.
Another charac teristic of r eaders an d listeners outside t he classro om
is that t hey will hav e expectations o f what they are going t o rea d or liste n
290

to bef ore they actuall y do so. If y ou tune t o a ra dio comed y program me,
you expect to h ear something f unny (although this is sadl y not always the
case! ) and t he British citizen w ho picks up a newspap er an d sees the
headlin e 'Storm in the Com mons' e xpects to r ead a bout a heated political
debat e in the Ho use of Comm ons, t he British pa rliament. The re ader who
picks up a book in a store w ill have expec tations ab out the b ook bec ause of
the title, the front co ver or the desc ription o f the bo ok on th e back co ver.
182
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
10.1. 3
Recepti ve skills2
People re ad and listen to lan guage, t hen, b ecause th ey have a d esire t o
do so a nd a p urpose to achie ve. Usuall y, too, the y will have expect ations
about the cont ent of t he text b efore they start – except w hen the y turn on
the radio at r andom, fo r example.
The concepts o f desir e, pu rpose an d expect ations w ill have import ant
methodological implications fo r langua ge lea rning as w e shall see in 1 0.2.3
and 1 0.3.
Reade rs or list eners emplo y a number of speci alist skills when re ading o r
listening a nd thei r success at u nderstanding t he cont ent of w hat the y see or
hear depe nds to a la rge e xtent on their e xpertis e in these s pecialist skills.
We can look at six o f these skills, some of w hich w e will be foc using on in
this chap ter.
(a) Predicti ve skills
Efficient r eade rs or listeners p redict wh at the y are going to h ear a nd re ad;
the p rocess of unde rstanding the text is the p rocess of s eeing ho w the
conten t of the t ext matches up t o these p redictions . In the fi rst insta nce
their predicti ons w ill be the result o f the ex pectations t hey have – which we
discussed a bove. As_the y continue to list en andj ^ad, ho wever, thei r
predictions w ill, chan ge as the y recei ve more information f rom the text. On e
of the main fu nctions of t he lead-in stage wh en teac hing rec eptiv e skills (se e
291

10.3) will be to e ncour age p redictiv e skills, an d the ex amples of mate rials
and t echniques in 10.4.1. and 10 .5.2. a re especi ally designed f or this
purpose.
(b) Extractin g specific info rmation
-Very often w e read something o r listen t o it becaus e we want to extr act
specific bits o f information – to find o ut a fac t or two. W e ma y quickl y
look th rough a film review just to fin d the name of t he star . We may listen
to the news, onl y concent rating w hen the p articula r item that inte rests us
comes up. In b oth cases w e may largely disregard the oth er info rmation in
the review or the ne ws bulletin. W e will be aware of t his information an d
may even at some lev el take it in, but we do so a t speed a s we focus in on
the sp ecific information w e are se arching f or. This skill w hen applied t o
reading is ofte n called scanning and w e will conce ntrate on the skill o f
extracting specific in formation in 10 .4.2. an d 10.5. 3.
(c) Getting t he gen eral pict ure
We often re ad or listen to t hings beca use w e want to 'ge t the ge neral
pictur e'. W e want to h ave an id ea of th e main points of th e text – an
overview – without being t oo conce rned w ith the d etails. W her^applied t o
reading this skill is oft en called skimming and it -.entails t he re ader's abilit y*^ <^ ,-r
to pick o ut main points ra pidly, disca rding wh at is not e ssential o r rele vant # W iwtf
to tha t gene ral pictu re. Listen ers oft en nee d the same skill too – listening
for the main message and dis regarding the repetition, false st arts a nd
irrelevances t hat ar e often f eatures of spok en langu age (s ee 10.5 ).
183
r
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.2
Methodological
princ iples for
teaching
recep tive skills
292

10.2. 1
Recepti ve and
productiv e skills
(d) Extracting detailed in formation
A reade r or liste ner o ften has t o be a ble to access t exts fo r detailed
information. The info rmation r equired can b e of man y kinds. Exactl y what
does t he w riter mean? W hat precisel y is the s peake r trying to say?
Questions like 'Ho w man y?' 'Why?' 'Ho w often?' a re often ans wered b y
reference to this kind o f detail. Someti mes the detail w e are lookin g for is
the wr iter's or sp eaker 's attitudes ; how do they feel a bout th e situation/ perso n
they are desc ribing? W hat, precis ely, is thei r intenti on? In o ur ne ed to te ach
purposeful r eading a nd listenin g with an emphasis o n skimming a nd
scanning (in reading ) we should not fo rget t he importance o f detaile d
reading and listening.
(e) Recognisin g function and disco urse p atterns
Nativ e spe akers of English know that when th ey read or h ear someone s ay
'for example' this p hrase is likel y to be follo wed b y an e xample. When the y
read 'in ot her w ords' a concept is a bout to be explai ned in a dif ferent w ay.
Recognising such discou rse markers is an important p art of unde rstandin g
how a text is const ructed. W e understan d par agraph struc ture a nd pa ragraph
organisation a nd w e recognise d evices fo r cohesion. We know which ph rases
are used b y speakers to str ucture t heir disc ourse o r give them 'time to
think'. W e need to make studen ts aware of thes e featu res in o rder to help
them to become more ef ficient r eade rs and listen ers.
(f) Deducing meanin g from context
The othe r important su b-skill has al ready been de alt with. As we have seen
in Chapt er 9 ( 9.4.3 a nd 9.5 .2), o ne of th e things w e can do f or stu dents is to
help th em to d evelop th eir abilit y to deduce t he meanings of u nfamil iar words
from the co ntext in w hich they appear.
All the skills mention ed he re are larg ely subconscious in the minds of
expe rienced a nd frequent r eaders – in othe r words, most literate a dults. But
293

reading or listening in a forei gn langu age cr eates ba rriers for the lea rner
(often th rough f ear of failure o r through simple f rustrati on) w hich may make
these skills a nd sub -skills more d ifficult to use. Ou r job, then, is to
re-activ ate these skills w hich lea rners ha ve in t heir o wn langua ge but wh ich
may be less ef fectiv e when the y are face d with English. If w e can make
studen ts feel less a nxious and thus r emove some of t he ba rriers , that alo ne
may dramaticall y impro ve their r ecepti ve abilities.
Our d iscussions in 1 0.1 ha ve import ant implications for t he teac hing of
receptive skills w hich w e can now consi der. We will look at receptive a nd
productive skills, aut hentic and non-a uthentic t exts, desi re and e xpectatio ns,
receivin g and d oing and teaching r eceptive skills.
We said in the int roductio n to this ch apter that stu dents can g enerally deal
with a hig her le vel of langu age in r ecepti ve skills th an in p roducti ve
skills. This, afte r all, is the point of r oughly-tuned input f or stud ents w ho
might h ave difficulty with completel y authentic w riting and s peaking. It
should b e remembered h ere th at being a ble to u nderst and a pi ece of tex t
184
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
ion
h
10.2. 2
Authentic an d
non-authe ntic text
1
o
ds
it
does n ot necessa rily mean that stu dents ha ve to be a ble to wr ite or speak like
that! R ather t heir job will be to inte ract w ith the text i n ord er to u nders tand
the message, a nd this seems possible e ven w here the t ext cont ains langua ge
which the students a re not able t o pro duce. All over the world there a re
294

studen ts who can r ead English ( often for scie ntific or a cademic purpos es)
but w ho are u nable t o speak it v ery well.
Recepti ve skill w ork, the n, should in volve stude nts in re ading o r
listening w here t hey are able to p rocess t he lang uage suf ficientl y at least to
extract meaning, w hether th e langua ge has b een r oughl y-tuned f or them or
whether – f or more a dvanced st udents – the la nguage is c ompletel y
authe ntic (see below).
One as pect of r eading a nd listenin g that co ncerns man y teac hers a nd
methodologists is th e differenc e bet ween Authentic and n on-authentic t exts.
The former a re said t o be th ose w hich a re_ desi gned fo r nati ve speake rs:
they arejrea£.texts d esigned n ot for languag e studen ts, but fo r the s peake rs
of the languag e in questi on. Thus English -langua ge ne wspapers a re
composed of w hat w e would call authen tic English, and so a re radio
program mes fo r English speake rs. A British a dvertisement is an example of
authe ntic English, so is a ch apter from a novel wr itten fo r an
English-spe aking audie nce.
A non-aut hentic text in langua ge teachi ng terms) is o ne that h as been
written especiall y for langu age stud ents. Such texts sometimes concent rate
on th e langua ge the y wish to teach a nd w e end up w ith examples like this:
John: How long ha ve you been collecting b utterflies ?
Mary: I've been collecting th em since I e ntered second ary scho ol.
John: How man y butterflies h ave you collec ted?
Mary: I've collected a bout f our h undre d foreign ones.
John: Are t here any rare ones among them?
Mary: Yes, there are some. I got t hem in Thailand.
John: My hobb y is playing foot ball.
Mary: How long ha ve you been pla ying it?
John: I've been playing it since last y ear. I can pla y it pretty well now.
Mary: Anoth er ho bby of mine is cooking.
John: Will you cook me a meal?
Mary: Yes, of c ourse.
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There a re a n umber of clues wh ich indicate a t once t o us that t his
langua ge is ar tificial. In the fi rst place , both sp eakers u se pe rfectl y formed
sentenc es all the time. But con versation b etween p eople is just not like that !
Especiall y noticeabl e is the fact that w hen one sp eaker a sks a ques tion using
a particular g rammatical st ructur e, the y get a full ans wer usin g the same
struct ure. F or example, the ans wer to ' How long h ave you been collectin g
butte rflies?' wo uld, in r eal life, p robabl y be something like 'sinc e seconda ry
school .. n o .. y es just after I start ed', r ather than t he pe rfect g rammar w e
get h ere.
Another clue to this t ext's ina uthenticit y is the fact th at the la nguage is
extremely unvaried ( see 5. 3). The repetition of th e pres ent pe rfect
185
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
continu ous ('H ave been doing' ) and simple (' have done') sho ws what the
purpose of t his text is – to teac h or r evise thos e struct ures.
Othe r clues a re John 's sudde n change of subject and the c onstant
repetition of t he verb 'pla y'. The con versation just doesn 't 'sou nd righ t'.
All over the world language t eaching materi als use such d evices. Their
aim is to is olate bits of languag e so that students c an conce ntrate on it. Such
material should not be u sed, ho wever, to h elp stud ents become bett er
listene rs or r eade rs. The o bviously artificial natu re of th e langua ge makes it
very unlike an ything that t hey are likel y to enco unter in real lif e. Whilst
some may claim that it is useful f or teaching st ructur es, it cann ot be use d to
teach r eadin g or liste ning skills.
Should w e, theref ore, o nly use aut hentic material fo r teac hing re ading
and liste ning? On t he face o f it this seems like a go od idea, b ut what effect
will it hav e on students ? Imagine giv ing a g roup of elementar y students
a pag e from Shakespea re or an edit orial f rom a q uality Sunda y newspaper .
They would p robabl y not und erstan d it and t hey would become very
demoralised. And th at demoralisation wo uld und ermine the v ery reasons fo r
giving stu dents r eading a nd listening mate rial. There are three reas ons:
296

(a) Being bett er reade rs, being b etter listeners
Clearl y the most obvious r eason fo r giving st udents r eading and listenin g
material is to e ncoura ge them to be b etter readers an d listene rs! In th e
broadest sens e, it is clea r that th e more re ading an d listening w e give them
(and which the y suceed w ith) the b etter they will become at r eading and
listening in English.
(b) Acquiring lan guage
Students w ho rea d and listen a lot seem to acq uire English be tter than thos e
who do not. In o ther words, one of t he main advantages of r eading a nd
listening f or stud ents is that it improves thei r gene ral English lev el. Some of
the lan guage in the texts they read an d listen to is ac quired by them –
provided, of c ourse, t hat the input is compreh ensible (s ee 4.1. 3 and 4. 3).
Indee d we could g o further: without a l ot of exp osure t o reading an d listening
material stude nts w ho learn lan guages in cl assrooms are u nlikel y to make
much progress.
(c) Success
Students a re frequentl y made n ervous b y reading and listening material. I t
looks inc redibl y difficult to th em and it is incredi bly difficult. When teach ers
present stud ents w ith tex ts the y cannot und erstan d, the ef fect is
extraordin arily demoralising. But when teac hers ch oose the right kin d of
material (a nd use a ppropriate t eaching t echniques ) and t he stude nts ar e
successful, t hen the benefits a re obvious. In o ther wo rds, if we can sa y to
our students t hat the y have read ( or listen ed to ) something dif ficult but th at
they have managed to u nderstand it t hen the y have every reason to f eel
triumphant. And b ecause th ey have been successf ul the ba rriers to r eading
and liste ning ar e slightl y lowered. A freque nt diet of successful r eading
makes students more c onfident wh en the y read i n English: successful liste ning
classes make studen ts bette r able t o cope w ith listening to English.
186
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
We have now seen ho w obviously non-authe ntic material w ould not
297

necessa rily make our stu dents be tter liste ners o r readers, especiall y since
they would not b e acquiri ng re al languag e. But w e have also seen h ow
studen ts would bec ome uns uccessful an d demoralised if t hey were pres ented
with lang uage th at was simpl y too dif ficult for t hem (as auth entic material
can be ). Both ext remes are o bviously not u seful fo r our purposes.
What we need, the refore, are texts wh ich studen ts can un dersta nd the
gene ral meaning of, wh ether they are truly authe ntic or n ot. But texts –
whether aut hentic or not – must be realistic models of wr itten o r spoke n
English. If teac hers ca n find ge nuinel y authentic material w hich their
studen ts can cop e with that w ill be advantageous; if not the y should b e
using material wh ich si mulates a uthentic English. In simple terms the texts
should b e roughly-tuned3 rather than finel y-tuned ( see 4 .3).
An example may show this distinction. The follo wing readin g material
for intermediate stu dents4 may not us e completel y authe ntic reco rds of wh at
four real p eople act ually said, bu t we recognise th eir w ords as bein g pre tty
much like t he re al thing.
Who's spe aking?
These fou r people were asked to t alk about wh at the y eat.
Can y ou guess w ho is speaking?
se
of
ing
Dom inic Ride r
Maria de Lisse o
1
lat
ung
I I e at a gr eat de al of foreign foo d; Italian,
French, L ebanese … that s ort of thing.
Strangel y enough , I think I 'd rat her h ave
ordinary, well-cook ed English food . My
298

favourite is still steak! I prefer it r are.
I'm also very fond of g ood r ed w ine,
particularl y Burg undy.
2 I'm j ust not v ery interested in food. I
usuall y have only a cu p of tea and a b owl
of co rnflakes fo r breakfast, a nd ofte n
skip lunch. F or dinner , I often b uy a tin
of sou p or p erhaps a fr ozen hamburg er,
and h eat it up. Occasionall y I get
something fr om a Chines e takea way, or
one o f those f ried chicke n places. I
never touch alc ohol. It d oesn't a gree
with me. IB
3 Food is still one of life's m ysteries f or
me. It's all m y parents ' fault. They're
awfully conventional in t heir tas tes. M y
mother insists o n cooking t hings like
roast beef o r lamb and boile d potat oes
with some car rots or bruss els sprou ts.
In fact, the kind o f food I have to e at is
so disgusti ng that I 'd rather n ot talk
about it, if y ou don't mind. * |
' 4 I a bsolutel y adore fis h, pa rticularl y
white fish, s uch as sole o r haddock,
cooked i n a little w hite wine, w ith
some garlic an d lemon. R ecentl y, I've
been e xperimenting w ith Japanes e
recip es, par ticularl y raw fish. Oh, and
I love fresh v egetables suc h as
courgettes, b roccoli an d aspa ragus, a nd
fresh gre en beans . But I hate t hem
299

overcooked. O h, and I 'm terribly fond
of past a… but it must be freshl y made!
187
,
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.2. 3
Purpose, desire
and e xpectations
10.2. 4
Receiv ing a nd
doing
10.2. 5
Teaching recep tive
skills
The autho rs of this mate rial hav e roughl y-tuned t he lang uage an d conten t
to suit t heir stu dents, bu t they have not sac rificed th e feel of t he langu age.
Their simulated auth enticit y will be hel pful to stu dents w ho are practising
reading.
What is bein g suggest ed, the refore, is that mate rial designe d to foste r
the ac quisition of r ecepti ve skills must at leas t simulate a uthenticit y. The
need f or lan guage c ontrol a t lower levels must not be us ed as an e xcuse
for extreme ar tificialit y.
In 10. 1.2 w e said that pe ople usuall y read o r listen t o something beca use
they have a desi re to d o so and some p urpose to achie ve. Furthermore the y
gene rally have some ex pectations a bout w hat the y are goin g to r ead o r hea r
before the y actuall y tackle t he text.
The methodolog y for teachi ng rec eptiv e skills must reflect t hese facts
about real life, and th e tasks w e ask s tudents t o per form must be s ufficientl y
realistic a nd motiv ating fo r the stu dents to p ercei ve a useful p urpos e for t ext
study. We will not get stud ents to int eract p roperly with spok en and wr itten
material unless we ensu re that t heir d esire to r ead o r listen h as bee n
300

awakened. Especiall y where the su bject matter of t he texts ma y not b e
immediatel y appe aling to th em we have the r esponsibilit y to make students
interested an d to enc ourag e them to tackle th e text w ith positiv e anticip ation.
Our method ological model in 10.3 will reflect t hese points about
creating a desi re to r ead a nd allo wing students t o develop expectati ons, and
the material in 10.4 a nd 10.5 w ill be designe d to get students t o read and
listen fo r a pu rpose.
The pur poses fo r which pe ople re ad and list en ar e, of cou rse, ext remel y
varied. Ho wever, we can sa y that w hen people r ead o r listen t hey do
something w ith what the y have just seen o r heard. W e discussed this point
in some detail in 5. 5 where w e saw how skills are not pe rformed in isolatio n
but int egrat ed w ith oth er skills. As a gene ral methodological p rinciple,
therefore, we would expect stu dents to u se what they have read o r heard in
order to p erform some task. W hen they have done work on comprehension
skills, in othe r words, w e would expect t hem to r eact t o, or d o something
with, the text. This might take t he fo rm of gi ving opinions a bout w hat
they have just re ad, follo wing instructi ons, w riting a postca rd, summarising
the co ntent of t he text o r having a con versation based o n the te xt.
Many of the materials we will look at in 1 0.4 an d 10.5 w ill have just
such a f ollow-up task w hich is called in 10.3 a text-r elate d task.
The j ob of th e teache r is to t rain stu dents in a n umber of skills the y
will need f or the unde rstanding of reading an d listening t exts. W e can div ide
these skills int o type 1 and type 2 skills.5 Type 1 skills are those op erations
that st udents p erform on a text w hen the y tackl e it for t he first time. The
first t hing stude nts ar e asked to do w ith a t ext conce rns its t reatment
as a w hole. Thus stu dents ma y be aske d to look a t a text a nd ext ract
specific info rmation. They might re ad or list en to ge t the ge neral pic ture.
They might r ead o r listen t o perf orm a task, o r they might be a ttempting
to confi rm expectations t hey have about t he text. Type 1 skills are t hose
188
10.3
301

A ba sic
meth odological
model for the
teaching o f
recep tive skills
REC EPTIV E SKIL LS
that w e detailed in 10.1.3, (a), (b) and ( c), and it is sug gested th at such
tasks fo rm the basis fo r the fi rst activ ities tha t students are a sked to
perform when lea rning r ecepti ve skills. Type 2 skills are those tha t are
subseq uentl y used when stu dying re ading o r listening materi al and th ey
involve detailed comprehe nsion of t he text ( after studen ts hav e performed
type 1 skills ); the st udy of vocabular y to develop guessing st rategi es; the
identificatio n of discou rse marke rs and co nstructio n and a n inv estigatio n
into th e speake r's or writer's opini on and a ttitude. Type 2 skills, then, a re
gene rally conce rned w ith a more det ailed anal ysis of text an d for t his reas on
are gene rally prac tised afte r type 1 skills have been w orked on ( see
10.1. 3 (d), (e) and ( f)).
We can now look a t a model for t eaching t he rec eptiv e skills w hich is b ased
on th e discussion of methodological p rinciples in th e first p art of t his
chapte r. Just as in our model fo r introducing n ew langua ge (se e Figu re 9 o n
page 5 8) this model is n ot design ed to be followed sla vishly but is inten ded
to provide ge neral method ological guidelin es.
The model has fiv e basic st ages w hich are:
Lead -in: Here t he stud ents and t he teac her p repare themsel ves fo r
the task and familiarise th emsel ves w ith the topic o f the
reading or listening ex ercise. O ne of th e ma jor reaso ns for
this is to c reate e xpectatio ns and a rouse t he stude nts'
interest in the s ubject matter of the spok en or wr itten t ext
(see 10.2.3 ).
T directs Here the t eache r makes sure th at the st udents kn ow what
comprehensio n they are goin g to do. Are they goin g to ans wer qu estions,
302

task: fill in a cha rt, complete a message p ad or try and re-tell
what they heard/sa w? This is wh ere the teac her ex plains and
directs the stud ents' p urpose for reading or listeni ng (se e
10.2. 3).
SS listen/ The stu dents the n rea d or liste n to a t ext to pe rform the
read for t ask: task the teac her h as set.
T directs When the stud ents ha ve performed the task t he teac her w ill
feedb ack: help stu dents to s ee if the y have completed th e task
successfull y and w ill find out how well they have done. This
may follo w a stage i n which stud ents check t heir ans wers
with each other first. (Se e 8.1.1 ( c) and examples in 10 .4
and 1 0.5.)
T directs The teache r will then p robably organise some kind of
text-r elate d follow-up t ask relat ed to th e text. Thus if the stu dents ha ve
task: answered qu estions abo ut a lette r the t ext-related t ask m ight
be to a nswer that lette r. The r easons f or tex t-related tasks
have been a rgued in 5.5 an d 10.2.4 .
The fiv e stages are c oncern ed w ith type 1 skills. In ot her w ords the
studen ts perf orm one skill ope ration o n the te xt and t hen mov e on to a
189
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Q/GO/L
/ute.
10.4
Read ing material
text-relate d task. This proced ure ma y vary, however, in two particula r
circumstances.
When the students h ave performed tasks f or type 1 skills the t eacher
may then ask th em to r e-examine th e text fo r type 2 skill work. Thus if the
first t ask inv olved getting the gene ral pictu re (se e 10.4.4 ) the t eache r might
303

return to the text (after directing fee dback) f or a t ype 2 skill task s uch as
inferring at titude o r deduci ng meaning. This tak es place be fore t he stude nts
move t o a text -related task.
If the s tudents p erform' very unsuccessfull y in thei r first c omprehension
task ( type 1) the te acher ma y redirect t hem to t he same task to t ry again.
This will take place b efore t he text -related task.
These pr ocedur es are represente d diag rammaticall y in Figu re 18. The
solid lines ( _____ _) repres ent a co urse of action th at will gene rally be tak en.
The four stages of type 1 skill w ork and t he th ree stag es of t ype 2 skill -work
(if the type 2 option, is t aken up ) are examples of this. The brok en lines
(–––) represe nt option al cours es of action . Thus the text-r elated task is
option al (altho ugh w e have stressed that it is a goo d idea) and so is
the re-reading o f/listening t o the te xt for t ype 2 skills o r for r epair work on
type 1 skills. The latte r case ex plains the ( 1) in bracke ts.
In ge neral, t hen, this is t he model w e will follo w when looking at
materials fo r reading and list ening in 1 0.4 and 1 0.5.
-TYPE 1 SKILLS
T
directs
compre
hension
task—
*
~SS
read/list
en
for task
—»-j T directs feedback
7" directs tex t-
related task
TYPE (1) 2
SKILLS
T directs
comprehensio n
task
SS read/listen
for task
304

L- | T directs fee dback | ––––––'
Figure 18 A methodological model fo r the te aching of r ecepti ve skills
Before lo oking at e xamples o f reading material w e will make some general
comments abo ut rea ding in th e classroom.
Reading is a n exe rcise dominated b y the eyes and the b rain. The e yes
recei ve messages and th e brai n then h as to w ork out th e significance o f
these messages. U nlike a listening t ext, a r eading text mov es at the speed o f
the reade r (exc ept w here the r eader is t rying to r ead a n adv ertisement t hat
flashes p ast a t rain w indow). In ot her w ords it is u p to the r eader to d ecide
how fast he or she w ants to (or can ) read a text , whereas listene rs often
have to do thei r best w ith a text wh ose spee d is chosen b y the sp eaker . The
fact th at rea ding texts a re stationar y is clearl y a huge a dvantage .
190
10.4. 1
Reading t o
confirm
expect ations7
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
It is ofte n difficult to con vince students of English as a f oreign languag e
that t exts in English can b e unde rstood even th ough th ere a re vocabular y
items and struc tures t he stude nt has n ever se en befo re. But this is t he case,
not o nly for non-native speake rs, but also fo r some speakers o f English
as a fi rst langu age. Skills such as ext racting s pecific info rmation ( see
10.1. 3 (b)) can be satisfact orily performed e ven thoug h students do not
unde rstand t he w hole text; the same is t rue fo r stude nts w ho want to 'g et
the g eneral i dea' of a text. I t is conside red v itally importan t to tr ain stude nts
in these skills (e.g. t he abilit y to understand w hat is i mportant e ven thou gh
the reade r canno t unde rstand e verything) since t hey may well have to
comprehen d rea ding in just such a situatio n in re al life.
The same is of cours e true for liste ning, but b ecause t he re ading tex t is
static stud ents ar e often tempted to r ead slo wly, worrying abo ut the
305

meaning of eac h par ticular w ord. And y et if they do this t hey will never
achie ve the abilit y to read t exts in English in a nything b ut a slo w and
pond erous wa y. Certainl y they will continue to have difficulty in quickly
scanning (see 1 0.1.3 ( b)) or skimm ing (see 10. 1.3 (c )) unless the t eacher
insists on t hese skills being p erformed rapidl y. In ot her w ords th e teache r
should insist on the c omprehension t ask being p erformed in a lim ited
amount of time: if this is r egularl y done th e teache r will find th e amount
of limited time nec essar y becoming less a nd less.
We will now look at a n umber of ex amples of r eadin g materials both
publishe d and u npublished u sing a v ariety of types of ex ercise.6 We will
look at reading t o confi rm expect ations, r eading t o extrac t specific
information, r eading for comm unicative t asks, re ading fo r gen eral
unde rstandin g, reading fo r detaile d comprehension {information ) and reading
for detailed compre hension ( function a nd discou rse).
In the following ex ample of a reading exe rcise the s tudents a re involved in
reading in o rder to confi rm thei r expect ations ab out the in formation the y
think th e text w ill cont ain. This tech nique places great emphasis on the
lead-in stage (w here stude nts are encou raged t o become inter ested in t he
subject matter i n the tex t), enc ourages stude nts to p redict the content o f the
text ( see 10. 1.3 (a )), and gi ves t hem an inter esting and motivating purpose
for readin g.
The E mpire State Building8
The students are g oing to r ead a text ab out the Empire State Building.
This text is design ed fo r intexr neitiate..st uderits. The subject is not
necessa rily inter esting in itself t o some of the st udents, a nd so much of th e
teache r's job will be to a rouse th at inte rest.
The teache r puts t he follo wing chart o n the b oard:
Things y ou knowThings y ou are
not sure ofThings y ou would
like to kno w
f
306

191
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
The students then sa y what things they know about t he Empire State
Building, and t he teac her wr ites them on the chart i n note f orm.
In the same w ay the next two columns are fille d with not es which
reflec t facts w hich the stude nts ar e 'not s ure of and thin gs which the y
don't kno w. The ch art might begin like this, fo r example:
Things y ou know
USA
Things y ou are not s ure o f
m New York ?
Things y ou would
like to kno w
how wia/ny – flours 7
wheu bu tit?
When the students h ave come up w ith sufficient facts to p ut in the
chart they are told t o rea d the follo wing text as
quickl y as p ossible: thei r only task is t o confirm (o r
not) the info rmation on th eir cha rt. This is th e T
direct comprehension t ask stage.
THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
NEW YORK CI TY is si tuated
at the mout h of the H udson
River on the East c oast of
the US A. It is mad e up of
five bor oughs w ith a
combi ned po pulation of
over 17 million p eople. The
heart of New York Ci ty is the
island o f Manhattan, where,
in the Midtown and
307

Downtown distric ts, th e
buildings scrape t he sky'.
One of these sky -scrap ers is
the Empire State Building o n
Fifth Avenue, between 33rd
and 34th Stree t. Lik e the
Statue of Libert y and
Brooklyn Brid ge, it is
instantly recognised as a
symbol of New York – a
symbol w hich captures th e
power, energ y and exci te-
ment o f one of the world's
most -loved a nd mo st- hated
cities.
Whe n the 102 -storey
struc ture w as built in 193 1,
it was the tallest building in
the world. From th e top, on
a cle ar day, you ca n see ove r
a 50-mile radiu s. Its
towering height and
distinctive Art Deco s tyle
made t he Empire State
Building an instant suc-
cess w ith the public.
Its rec ord as t he w orld's
tallest b uilding h as si nce
been beaten – the World
Trade Ce ntre i n Ne w York
and the Sears T ower in
308

Chic ago are both taller – but
the Empire State Building
remain un iquely fascinating.
At night it is floodlit with
coloure d lights. Some
people love th e lights but
others c omplai n that their
favourit e Ne w York building
has bee n turne d into the
biggest Christmas tree in the
world.
EMPIR E ST ATE FACTS
*The Empire Stat e is
'stee ped' a bove a cer-
tain height, rat her like
a pyramid, to prevent i t
from bl ocking light and
air from the nei ghbouring
area.
•kThere are 6,500 w indows
nearly seven miles of ele-
vator shafts and enough
floor sp ace t o shelter a
town of 80,000 p eople.
*Thc b uilding w as first
cleaned in 196.2. I t
took thirty people six
mon ths t o comple te th e
job. Th ey were a ll exper-
ienced a t high alti tudes,
including on e who was
309

a forme r para trooper.
*ln th e famous f ilm 'King
Kong', th e giant gori lla.
King Ko ng h as his final
battle from the top of the
Empire Sta te.
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
When the students h ave done this ( and check ed thei r work in pairs o r
groups) t he teach er leads them throug h the p oints on th e boa rd again and
asks w hether th e text co nfirmed w hat they knew, or answered an y of their
unce rtainties. This is the T directs fe edback stage.
For a tex t-related task s tudents c ould rol e pla y an in terview between
a reporter an d someone w ho works at th e Empire State Building ; you could
tell them that it is t he year 1931 a nd that they should w rite an article for
a magazine desc ribing this n ew wonder; th e students could desc ribe a
famous building in t heir cit y or area.
The 're ading to c onfirm expectati ons' tech nique is hig hly motivating and
successful sinc e it inter ests stude nts, cre ates expec tations, a nd giv es th em
a purpose f or reading. The text -relat ed tasks w e have sugg ested w ill produce
a great de al of spoke n or wr itten lan guage.
10.4. 2
Reading t o ext ract
specific
information
We will look a t three examples in w hich students a re aske d to re ad a te xt
to ext ract specific i nformation, a skill w e said w as important (see
10.1. 3 (b)). A vital featu re of this t ype 1 skill is tha t students should se e the
questio ns or t asks the y are goin g to ans wer or perform before rea ding the
text. If they do this it w ill be possibl e for t hem to read i n the r equir ed w ay;
they should scan t he text o nly to ext ract the information w hich the ques tions
demand (se e 10.4 ): the y do not h ave to w orry about pa rts of t he text t hey
310

have dif ficulty with but onl y those that they need to ext ract th e req uired
information. W e can n ow look at o ur ex amples.
gives stud ents
s in a n ewspape r
(a) Small ads: o pen-e nded q uestions9
The example on pa ge 194, f rom an inte rmecli
practice in a uni versally usef ul skill – scanni ng the sma
to find wh at you are looki ng for .
The teache r may start by asking stud ents w hat is advertise d in
newspapers, aski ng them how often the y consult small ads in their own
langua ge. No w they are t old that t hey are going t o look at s ome
advertisements in English.
The teache r now asks the stud ents to fin d the inf ormation in ques tions
1 to 1 5 as quickl y as p ossible.
A way of making this activ ity even more enjoyable is to div ide th e class
into g roups. Each g roup has fiv e piec es of info rmation to find. W hich group
can find their in formation first ?
As a text-r elate d task stud ents can r ing the advertisers o r write letters
to on e of the p eople w ho are advertising for friends . If stude nts ar e living
(tempor arily) in the UK you might w ant to g o through some of t he special
langua ge used h ere (e.g. ' 3 dble b eds/excelle nt clean co ndition', e tc.).
193
ș
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
A Fast re ading p ractice. L ook at th e small ads
and se e how quickl y you can a nswer the questio ns.
1. W hat does the c heapest metal de tector c ost? 9.
2. A man in South Essex is lo oking fo r a frie nd.
How old is h e? 10.
3. W ill Christine impro ve your mind o r your
body? 1 1.
311

4. W hich costs more — a 400 -year-old c ottage
near Wincheste r or a 5-bedroom house i n
Wales? 12.
5. W hy is to day a special d ay for Paul?
6. Ho w much w ill two bottles of Chat eau Lat our 13.
1964 c ost y ou?
7. W hat town do y ou write to for b ath, b ody and 14.
face oils? 15 .
8. W here can y ou buy things for a party?
How long w ill it take y ou to learn t o make a
guita r?
Does the lady who is bored w ith the cat prefer
tall or short men?
How much will it cost y ou to give somebod y a
poun d of smoked salmon and a b ottle of
champagne (w ith a message) ?
You can bu y somethin g that w as produced on
the d ay you were bo rn. W hat?
Somebod y is of fering a b aby bath for s ale.
How much for?
Does the nice 42 -year-old w oman smoke?
How man y nationalities h as Olga g ot?
BILLIARD TABLES bo ught and
sold. Mr V illis. (02 805) 6 6 (B ucks ).
GIFT CH AMPAGNE. We post a
bottle with vour messag e. From
£14.5 0 inc l. 6rder» or de tails 0642
4573 3
CHRISTINE 'S beaut) treatme nt
and bo dy therap y. 402 6 499, 04 73
4004
312

SMOKED SALMON
8oz s liced £5.75 . lib s liced £11, 21 b
4oz s ide £ 16.90, 21b 8 oz si de £19.50,
400gms offcuts £5 . Prices i nclude UK
1st class p ostage. Ch eques w ith
order . Cornis h Smoked Fish Co. L td,
CharleM own, St. Austell, C ornwall.
400-YEAR-OLD t hatched c ottage
between Winches ter/Basin gstoke : 3
dble beds, sec g dn & extras. £ 110,00 0.
(0962) 8 8109
CHATEAU LATOUR, 1964. 2 4
bottles, £7 5 eac h. Pho ne (0227 ) »848
evenin gs.
GOING IN T O BUSINE SS ? Sen d
£7.45 inc p &p for ' Th e Begi nners
Guide to Suc cess i n Busi ness . Cot n-
cuip Ltd, 189 Hi ghview, Meopham,
Gravesend, Ke nt. (0732) 2 2315.
SILVER CROSS detach able
coach Pram (n avy), shopping
tray excellent clea n condi –
tion. E3O: Ca rry Cot. £5: Bab y
Bath. £2 50 ; Atari system,
loystick and p addle sticks, i n
good work ing o rder, needs a
new mains adapt er. £40 ; 5
Atari Cassett es. £10 e ach,
very good con dition, ideal
Xmas pr esents. — Apply 34
Kynaston Roa d. Didcot.
313

Oxon. evenings. 4Uio:
C-SCOP E MET AL DETECT ORS.
The ideal famil y gift to treas ure from
£39.9 9 to £449. 50. T el. Ashford
(0233) 2 918 t oday for fre e col our
broc hure.
BEAUTIFUL farm est ate, t otal 700
acres. Di plomats 4 bed 183 2 house.
£220, 000 o no. 0639 7 3082
5 MEDROOMED HOUS E in q uiet
mid-W ales village. 1 acre of land,
fishing and shooting available.
£42,0 00. T el : 059 7 87 687 ( after 6
P.m.).____ ______ ______ ______ ______
W. ANGLESEY. 2 dble b eds. S/d
bung. Lge with patio drs t o >2-acre
gard en, T cit/b'fast ro om, bathroom.
Dble g laz/ins. GCH. G arage & ut il
rm, summer hse, gr n hse. Scop e for
extensions. £29,5 00 o. n.o., qu ick
sale. T el 040 7 41031.
MAKE A GUIT AR
12 w eek courses. De tails : Totnei
Scho ol of Guitarmakin g, Col lini R d,
Totnes. D evon. 080 3 6525 5.
HAVANA CIG ARS
And other fi ne ci gars at w holesale
prices. Se nd for lis t to James Jor dan
Ltd, Sh elley Hall, Shelley , Hudden-
field. Tel: 0484 6 0227
THE TIMES (U14 -1985 ). Thii
314

Xmas g ive someo ne an origi nal iss ue
dated the very day they were born.
£12.5 0 or 2 f or £21. T el 01-486 6305
or 0492 3314
PARTYMANIA, everything
(or your part y in one " fun-
tastic" st ore. 1 79 Kingston
Road. Oxi ord 5 1 3397. ow n
parki ng. ."6 85
HAVE A very happy birthday Paul.
NICE WOM AN, 42, seeks close, affectionate
friendship w ith ind epende ntish man. Non
smoker , sense of fun, c reativ e Enp ys walks,
talks, sens uality Photo pleas e. Lond on ar ea
Box (50 ! 2059 NKM
OLGA: RUS SIAN/FRENCHW OMAN from Lille,
seeks an English man, tall 5 0s, ope n minded ,
with whom she can h ave a clos e, but sta ble
relati onship. Box ( 50) 2 051 . MM?
OXFORD: liv ely uivorcee, mid Tomes, bo red
with solitud e and th e cat, seeks male,
prefecabl v tall, t o shar e local pleasu res an d
pastimes, mus ic, th e arts e tc Box (5 01 2050
VERY PERSON ABLE, attracti ve, charming,
amusing, conside rate g radua te, pr ofessional
– 40 o wn lov ely coastal h ome, seeks lad y
– friends hip/marriage – person ality more
important th an age All nation alities w elcome
Box (50 ) 205 2. M m*
WARM, ATTRACTI VE, humorous w oman, 3 5
lover of music, literature, cinema, theat re an d
315

leftish politics, s eeks man of sim ilar
inclinations, t o sha re it all w ith L ondon Box
(46H 899. N49 8
SENSI TIVE. TALL, ca ring, un attached man,
bb ltt-.es pe ople, music, walking, seeks
tntellujent, helpful n s woman mid fo rties
SouthEssex Box'49 )2011. M«IJ
CIVE HER a luxurious Christmas
with a special gift set of soothing
bath, b ody and face o ils. Se nd £9.50
to Claydon Aromathera py, 107 Mar-
ine Parade, Worthi ng BN1 1 3Q G.
LADIES NARROW SHOE S. AA
and narro wer, sizes 2I2-111:. Also
wide EE. SAE Muriel Hitc hcock
Shoe s, 3b Castle Mews, Arundel
BN18 9DG
194
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
studen ts rea d about t he cr uise
(b) QE2: yes/no q uestions10
In this t ext, design ed fo r elgrgg
liner t he QE2.
For the le ad-in st age the teache r and st udents disc uss dif ferent t ypes of
holida y, eventually com ing round to the s ubject of lux ury cruises. The
teache r then tells the st udents th at the y are goi ng to r ead a t ext abo ut the
QE2, one o f the most luxuri ous liners i n the w orld.
The students are a sked to r ead t he eight y es/no qu estions – o nly the
questio ns. They are the n told to r ead t he text a s fast as t hey can in o rder to
answer those q uestions. They do n ot ha ve to unde rstand e very word. The
objective is o nly to find t he ans wers to th e questio ns, and t hey should d o
316

this as q uickly as possible.
A Rea d these q uestions. Then
read t he passa ge to find ou t
whether you r answer is 'Yes' or
'No'.
The ship in th e pictur e is the
Queen Elizabe th II, usu ally called
the QE2. It is a large, modern
passen ger ship . There are n ot
many ships like the QE2 n ow.
Most people p refer to travel by
air and not b y sea. The QE2 is
very slow and ex pensiv e
compared w ith a modern jet
plane. But s ome pe ople do n ot
like to t ravel by plane, and the
QE2 is. . . well, different.
The ship is re ally an en ormous
floating h otel, almost a small
floating t own. The five-day
voyage from Sout hampton;
England to N ew York is a real
holida y.
1 Is t he ship in t he pictu re small? …..
2 Are th ere man y ships like t he QE2? … ..
3 Do most peo ple pre fer to travel b y sea?
4 Is th e QE2 expensi ve? …..
5 Can t he ship ca rry 2,950 p eople? …..
6 Can t he passe ngers s wim on the ship? . . . .
7 Do t hey sell dri nks on the QE2? …..
8 Can b oys and gi rls watch films on the ship?
317

The QE2 can ca rry 2,000 passe ngers, a nd it has a staf f of 95 0 run ning
the ship and lookin g afte r the p assenge rs. The ship has th ree
restauran ts, eight b ars, a l adies' hai rdresser's1 and a men's ba rber's2
shop. I n addition , ther e are four s wimming p ools, t wo cinemas (t hey
show man y films fo r adults b ut the re are some films for c hildren, too),
a casino, two libra ries, a h ospital, a b ank, an d a g ymnasium. There a re
also some shops3. Yes, it is like a small city. But the re are no ca rs, bus es
or trucks, a nd the re is no smog; the air is clea n and th ere is p eace an d
quiet.
195
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
When the students h ave finishe d ans wering the q uestions t hey can ch eck
their answers with each o ther. The teache r then conducts f eedback, finding
out h ow well the y did and ex plaining an y misunde rstandin gs. It might be
sensible t o find out how man y students got ho w man y answers co rrect a nd
which on es these w ere.
As a text-r elate d task stud ents ar e told th at the y are themsel ves takin g
a cruise on th e QE2 and t hey should wr ite a p ostcar d to an English f riend
of thei rs. The st udents a nd the t eache r might disc uss the kind o f things
they could sa y in such a postca rd (particula rly the u se of th e pres ent simple
and t he pr esent conti nuous – often f ound in t his kind of wr iting). After
studen ts hav e written th eir ca rds, the more i nteresti ng Ones Ca n be r ead out
to the class or ci rculated among t he stud ents.
(c) Across Canada: transf erring info rmation11
As a lead-i n to this te xt for Inwer intermediate, st udents th e teache r can
ask the s tudents if t hey have ever given any mone y to charity. Why did th ey
do it? W hat is the most dese rving cause they can t hink of? e tc.
The teache r then asks the st udents to look at th e page, and be fore
reading an ything asks th em what they think t he text (s) w ill be a bout. This
gives them a cha nce to ex ercise th e pre dictiv e skill we mentioned
in 10.1 .3 (a).
318

The students are n ow asked t o look at t he cha rt (se e Reading 1 )
and t old to find i nformation in o rder to complete it. Onc e again t hey are
told no t to tr y to und erstan d every word. This is a scanning exercise .
When stud ents ha ve compared th eir ans wers the t eache r can ge t them
to fill in a c hart o n the b oard – or the fee dback can b e giv en orally.
The students will be asked t o rea d the te xt(s) again, a nswering more
detailed questions ( see 1 0.4.5 ).
For a foUo ^upJask students co uld be ask ed to r ole pla y an inter view
with Stev e Fonyo7*tKey could wr ite a ne wspaper article a bout him. Another
possibilit y is fo r them to discuss w hat the y thought o f these ch arity runs, an d
then t o design t heir o wn fund -raising a ctivity.
196
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
Across Cana da
Read ing
1
Copy and complete the cha rt about
eithe r Terry Fox or Steve Fonyo.
(You can g et info rmation from the
text a nd/or t he pr ess rele ases.)
Name:
Disease:
Date of s tart o f run:
Age at sta rt of r un:
Distance co vered:
Amount of money raised:
Answer the follo wing q uestions.
1 Where did Ste ve Fonyo begin and
end his r un?
2 Ho w man y differences can y ou
319

find be tween Ste ve Fonyo and
Terry Fox?
Terry Fox was a colle ge athlet e
who lost a l eg due t o bone c ancer .
At the age of 21, o n a cold
February da y, he set o ut to r un
across Canada. H e wanted t o raise
money for the Canadia n Cancer
Society , but on September 1s t, he
was forc ed to give up. He h ad
raise d more than 2 3 million dolla rs
ana h ad become a nati onal he ro.
He died t he follo wing June.
Steve Fo nyo lost a le g duri ng his
childhoo d due to cance r. He neve r
completed high sch ool. But at 19 ,
Steve Fo nyo still managed to
complete a ru n all the w ay across
Canada , passing t hroug h all the
major cities.
Below are some of th e press
releases made durin g Steve's ru n.
STJVR MM* TBF lM«iK» (MM VICT IM, TODA Y NM MM ARTIFICIAL EM
1WD THE MUM1C ON THE STAKT OF HIS BUN AC8Q SS CANADA.
m w is STARTING « mmm wmtmm mo
TOKYO MK2VK AT TM SW SBSREISOT pox HAD TO~G M; UP'WS
A WOBEN BOARD THERE REA M "FERS Y rox. 3,3 39 M ILES.' AFTER
INSC MPi'IQN, f&m SUB HE WGSJU) HX-.WI AGAIN UMH. -K
tVrCTORTA, WiTISH OXUHSI A
CTKVS PON YC^ TODA Y OTPT OD HT S M7TTPTCTAL I.FG TNTO TOE
320

PACTFTC OCE AN IH
OF A CHEERING OiC WO. HIS ARRIV AL AT TOE SR ASia W MARKED THE END
Of HIS
5,000 -MLB BUN ACK1S S CAN ADA ON HIS 'JOURNE Y BOB LIVES." IN 425
MYS M rlAS
RAISHD 59 MI LLION F OR CANC ER RE SEARCH,
The thre e examples sho wn here h ave demonstra ted the u se of scanning
as a t ype 1 skill – t he w ay it is f requen tly used in r eal life. It is also
perfectly possible, o f cou rse, to r ead a t ext fo r gene ral und erstan ding first
and t hen look f or det ails (see 1 0.4.5 ).
We have looked a t three examples of ex ercises d esigned to train
studen ts to ext ract specific in formation. Ob viously there are man y more
possibilities.
197
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.4. 3
Reading f or
communicati ve
tasks
In this sec tion w e will look a t thre e examples in w hich th e rea ding of a text
is designe d to fost er a communicativ e inter action of some kind.
(a) Find the sto ry: jumbled text12
A popular r eadin g techniqu e is the r eassembling of a t ext that h as become
disor dered . In sol ving t he puzzle st udents w ill be working in a ra ther
different way: the p rocess o f reading – t he pr ocess of sol ving the p uzzle –
becomes an en d in itself. This example from an intp rrng,j j^|e ranrsphnnlr
conce rns Jill Robinson, a journalist, w hose father bitterl y opposed h er going
to uni versity. The stude nts ha ve al ready read p art of the sto ry. Now they
have to put th e follo wing bits t ogethe r to make the e nd of it.
Find the story
321

Here is t he re st of Jill Robinso n's
,*stor y, in sev en fragments (a – g).
Part a is t he begin ning. But the
others (b – g) are not in the
correct o rder. Read out p arts b t o
g in w hat y ou think is t he co rrect
order. _. — <,
I ' unde rstand it a ll more
£) clea rly. Father and I
$f belong ed to w idely
different gene rations,
held dif ferent
expect ations; a
volution in attitudes
oppo rtunities t hat had
been d enied him.
A neighbou r sent me
the a nnouncement of h is
death in the local p aper.
The fune ral w as to b e
the d ay after 1 rec eived
Questions
1 What explanation does Jill give
for her father 's attitud e to he r?
2 Desc ribe w hat happen ed w hen
she lea rned t hat he h ad died.
3 Ho w have her feelings ch anged
since he piathef die d?
<
—e time,
all I could f eel w as
322

bitter rese ntment
becaus e he w as not
proud of me (as I
thoug ht he sh ould be )
had
198
T
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
The students can do t his activ ity in pai rs and t hen the teache r can ask
different pairs t o rea d the sto ry out lo ud in the (correct) order.
As a text-r elate d task the t eache r can ask t he stude nts w hether the y
think Jill w as right not to go t o the fu neral. W hat do pa rents a nd thei r
childre n arg ue most about? H ow important is ed ucation? This kind of te xt
lends itself n aturally to discussion.
(b) The last ci garett e: stude nt questio ns
In this ac tivity some of the stud ents re ad a te xt so that they can a nswer
their colleagues ' questio ns. The te acher st arts th e session b y asking stud ents
the follo wing questio n:
Which of th e follo wing w ould y ou find most dif ficult to gi ve up if y ou
were asked to d o so?
alcohol smoking meat chocolate men/ women ( something else )
They can discuss t his in pairs or groups b efore talking ab out it w ith the
whole class – probabl y in a light-h earte d manner .
The teache r now tells the class th at the y are goin g to r ead a t ext
called 'That L ast Cigar ette' a bout gi ving up smoking. Half of t he class ar e
given th e text a nd told to read it so that t hey will be a ble to ans wer thei r
colleagu es' questi ons. The o ther h alf ar e put into a group to d ecide w hat
questio ns the y would like to ask in o rder to h elp a fri end of t heirs gi ve up
smoking ( for example ' when should y ou smoke y our last cig arette ?').
This is the text t hat half t he class r ead:
That Last Ciga rette
323

Having deci ded y our tim ing, y ou are now ready to smoke th at last ciga rette.
Before y ou do so just check on t he two essentials:
1 Do y ou feel ce rtain of s uccess?
2 Your frame of mind. Ha ve you a feelin g of do om and g loom or a fe eling of
excitement that y ou are about to achie ve somethin g marv ellous?
When you feel quite r eady, smoke that last ci garett e. Do it alon e and d o not
smoke it s ubconciousl y. Concen trate o n every puff, conce ntrate on the t aste
and smell, concent rate o n the ca ncero us fumes going into y our lungs,
concent rate o n the p oisons gun ging up y our arteries and v eins, concent rate
on th e nicotine g oing into y our body and, wh en you put it out , just think
how marvellous it w ill be not to have to g o on d oing it. The joy of bein g
freed from this sla very. It's like coming out of a world of black sha dows into
a world of suns hine.
From The Easy W ay to Stop Sm oking by Allen Ca rr (Pen guin 198 5)
They now put
downth
etext and
tryto answer
theircolleagues'
questio ns on th e
basis ofwhat the y
haveread. They
mayhave to ans wer
'I don't kno w' if the t ext h
a
snot giv en th em an y
answersto the oth ers'
questio ns.
199
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
The rea ding he re is pu rposeful a nd com municati ve. Those w ho read
know that the y will have to ans wer re al questio ns (in co ntrast t o pre -written
textbo ok material) in o rder to communicate. Clearl y if this techniqu e is used
more than o nce it is importan t to be s ure th at both h alves of t he class ha ve
a chanc e to r ead.
(c) The Ten Tors Expeditio n: pooling i nformation13
In this ac tivity from a book f or elementa ry studen ts dif ferent s tudents r ead
different texts in o rder to complete a task by sharing thei r information
324

(this is r elated to the c oncept of the info rmation gap ( see 7.1 .2): w e will
expan d on th e concept o f jigsaw listenin g (and re ading) i n 10.5.4 ).
The students are di vided into t wo gro ups, A and B. Group A reads the
following a rticle:
TEN T ORS ENTR Y
LIMITED T O 2,400
MORE THAN 2,000 y oung w alkers
are taking pa rt tod ay and t o-
morro w in the 24th annual Ten
Tors Expe dition on Da rtmoor
The massed start a t Okehampton
Camp provides a spectacula r
sight as t he 2,40 0 walkers, all aged
between 14 an d 19, a nd w earing
brightly-colou red saf ety clothing,
set of f to co ver some of th e wildest
and most bea utiful moorland in t he
Westco untry More walkers
wanted to ente r this y ear but the
number has been r estrict ed to 40 0
teams of six to p rotect t he coun –
tryside and fo r safet y
The Ten Tors is an ad venturous
event d emandi ng endu rance a nd
team work. The w alkers c ome
from a w ide variety of organisa-
tions w ith boys aged IS and
17 co vering 4 5 miles. Young men
aged 1 8 and 1 9 hike 5 5 miles and
girls w alk 35 miles, alt hough some
can tak e longe r routes.
325

Each team has 24-routes to
choose f rom, but the y must v isit 10
tors i n a cer tain, or der a nd the y
have to car ry enou gh food t o last
for the two days as w ell as t heir
tents a nd bed ding. Times for com-
pleting t he cou rse can v ary wide-
ly but it is e xpected t hat the main
group w ill return to the camp b y
5 p.m. on Sunda y
Hund reds of Ser vice men and
women have given up thei r week-
end t o help to r un the ev ent. There
will also be su pport from the Da rt-
moor Rescue G roup, t he police,
the St. Joh n Ambulance Brigad e,
volunte er doct ors, n urses a nd
others.
The expeditio n is org anised b y
the Army's South W est Dist rict
Headqu arters at Bulfor d Camp.
There w ill also b e suppo rt from the
Royal Navy the Ro yal Marines,
and t he Ro yal Air Fo rce. A special
one-day event is also bein g run for
handica pped p eople. These w ill
be tacklin g rout es cross c ountr y or
on army roads w ith support from
volunte er help ers.
and a nswers some simple comprehension q uestions.
200
326

REC EPTIVE SKILLS
Group B reads a different
text a nd ans wers si mple
comprehensio n questio ns
in the s ame w ay. This is
the te xt:
Beat en by Dartmoor
One b oy was burned a nd ha rsh
weather fo rced more th an 450
other youngsters to drop out of t he
24th a nnual Ten Tors e xpedition
on Da rtmoor at th e weekend .
Ronald W heeler, age d 15, a
member of the Eastbou rne Sea
Cadets t eam was burned when a
gas c ylinder he wa s using in a tent
explod ed afte r his team had se t up
camp at Rough Tor, near
Postbndge.
He w as taken by a Wessex
helicopte r to the Ro yal Naval
Hospital, Pl ymouth, w here he is
expect ed to sta y for two days.
A young man, w ho had been
flown on Saturda y back to th e
medical centre a t Okehampton
Camp, suffered f rom hypothe r-
mia, left the cent re yesterda y
after treatment
The othe r casualties we re main-
ly youngsters w ith blisters an d
327

twisted a nkles.
The arm y, which organis es the
expediti on, sa ys the Ten Ibrs is a
test of e ndurance, Exete r Schools'
combined caded force wa s first
home in the 3 5-mile section, a
group from Exeter c alled Ope ra-
tion Da rtmoor was firs t home in the
35-mile section, a nd RAF Halto n
was first home on the 5 5-mile
route.
The class is then d ivided into p airs w ith one me mber of each p air
coming from Group A and t he othe r from Gr oup B. They tell e ach othe r
about their a rticles an d then u se thei r shar ed info rmation t o complete the
following task.
ș^—^––<—<-~
E2 Work togeth er to c omplete t his sum mary.
The Ten Tors Expedition tak es place o n……….. ………..
every…………….The competito rs walk in teams of
……… ….peopl e. They wear………. ………a nd the y must
carry……………. ………… ……and ………… ……… with them.
They walk……… ………… ……o r 35…… ………… ………
accor ding to t heir ag e.
In 19 83……… …………s tarted the cou rse bu t more than
……… ……could n't finish b ecause th e………. ………… was
very bad. One boy had to go t o hospital b y
……… ……… when a gas c ylinder ……………..in his tent.
There w ere a lot of…….. ………. with………… …….on t heir
feet a n………. ………a nkles. The ' winners ' were the
……… ………combined ca det fo rce, the g roup called
……… ………… ….from Exeter , and RAF ………….. ……….
328

There a re man y possible f ollow-up tasks her e; stude nts could wr ite thei r
own newspape r article a bout th e Ten Tors expe dition. They could use t he
information t o write an item for the r adio n ews. They could do th e same for
feats o f endu rance w hich are p erformed in their count ry.
The thre e examples her e have sh own how reading can be u sed as more t han
a comprehe nsion ques tion-a nswering e xercise. There are, o f cou rse, man y
other ways of making r eading c ome ali ve and of g etting stud ents
interactively involved in the task.
201
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.4. 4
Reading f or
gene ral
unde rstandin g
We will look a t three examples of this kin d of r eading, wh ere st udents a re
skimming to 'get the ge neral pict ure' (see 1 0.1.3 ( c)).
(a) Famous pe ople: matching14
In this e xample f rom an American English te xtbook fo r false b eginne rs
studen ts are simpl y asked t o identif y the main featur es of a f our-part t ext.
The teache r could st art by asking stud ents the n ames of film
stars/ directo rs that t hey know about. W hat do the y know about them?
Follo wing this lead -in stud ents ar e asked t o match the names and
descri ptions on t he basis of the reading t ext.
Read on your own
Famous pe ople fr om the mo vies
This woman is a popular actress He r name
is Sonia Braga. She wa s bor n in Paran a,
Brazil. People in o ther c ountries know her
becaus e of movies tike / Love You, Kia * of th e
Spider W oman, and Gabncla
329

Akira Kurosa wa is a gr eat film director .
His more w ell-kno wn fil ms include
Raslwmon and Ran. His films are us ually
about impor tant e vents in Japa n's histo ry
Joan Collins is o riginall y from Englan d, but This man is very funny. His n ame is
Eddie
she is v ery popul ar on American tele vision Mu rphy. He's a n American
comedian and
now, especi ally in "Dynast y." In that se ries, mo vie star . He is still young (born in
1961 ),
she is a r ich and beautiful wo man – but n ot a b ut he al ready has a movi e
contract fo r
very nice one! fifl een mil lion d ollars ( 515,00 0,000 ).
► Ma tch the names and the d escriptio ns of thes e
people .
1 Sonia Bra ga a) a directo r of films
2 Akira Kuros awa b ) a British act ress in a TV series
3 Eddie Murph y
4 Joa n Collins
c) a movie sta r from South America
d) a young actor f rom the United
States
When stud ents ha ve compared th eir ans wers the t eache r can ask t hem
to talk a bout act ors the y know in th e same way. They can bri ng thei r
own pictu res (from magazin es) to class and wr ite a pa ragraph ab out
the act or conc erned. These co uld then b e stuck u p on a b oard f or all t he
studen ts to look a t.
202
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
(b) The d eveloping w orld15
The follo wing ex ample comes fr om a tex tbook fo r u^rjejjnjejjagd^atg _
330

studen ts pre paring f or the Cambridge F irst Ce rtificate ex am. They are going
to write an essa y on the t opic of h unger , but first t hey must read the
following p aragraphs. All the y have to do is match t he pictu res w ith the
correct pa ragraphs.
PARAGRA PH
1 Debt has bee n cripplin g the Third W orld over the last
five years. Count ries can b e forc ed to sac rifice as
much as half thei r expo rt earnings as repayments o n
debts t o Western ba nks. And, before the W est offers
new loans, it insists on d rastic cuts in welfare
spendin g which hit t he dep rived ha rdest. De bt
repayments should ne ver amount to more than te n
per cent of a count ry's exp ort ea rnings.
2 Hung er onl y affects the po or — th ere a re no hung ry
count ries, j ust big ger o r smaller numbers of hung ry
people within count ries. The government 's
commitment to s ocial j ustice isn't t he icing o n the
cake — it is t he cake itself. The onl y way to end
hung er is to r educe poverty and ine qualit y, and make
feedin g people a priority.
3 Mu ch of th e world's cultiv able lan d is o wned by
people with larg e farms — pa rticularl y in the
Americas. L eft to itself , this situatio n will worsen, not
get b etter, since it is the la rge fa rmers who can
borrow and afford mechanizati on and f ertilizer . Land
reform is not onl y esse ntial for reaso ns of justice — it
also inc reases fo od pr oduction, sinc e smallhold ers
farm much more ef ficien tly than th e big land owners.
But sharin g out th e land w ill not work if inequalit y
persists elsewhere in societ y.
4 The world is n ow a supe rmarket fo r the r ich w orld's
331

consumers — a nd the manage rs of th at supe rmarket
are the multinational a gribusiness corpo rations. These
companies cont rol pr oduction p rices, oft en holdin g
small fa rmers unde r cont ract fo r their expo rt crops .
This way they can buy harvests at c ontrolle d prices
while lea ving the risks o f bad we ather and pla nt
disease o n the sh oulders of the in dividual fa rmer.
5 De veloping count ries a re still locked int o a fa rming
system created for the bene fit of the r ich w orld. Their
best lan d and r esou rces ar e used t o gro w cash cro ps
for export rath er than food. The tr end a way from
crops for loc al consumption must be halte d and
farmers p aid more fo r their h arvests .
203
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
As a follo w-up task ( befor e writing their ess ays) students could use the
information in t he pa ragraphs to make an imagina ry speech t o the Unit ed
Nations a bout w orld debt. The use o f pictur es in this w ay can be v ery
rewarding. Any narrative text can be accompanied b y pictur es which
studen ts hav e to put in th e cor rect o rder, for example.
(c) Gene ral comprehensi on: gen eral qu estions
In all th e discussions a bout r eading so far, we have missed out a v ital
questio n which stud ents should be asked . It occu rs in the f ollowing ext ract,
howeve r:16
The Ainu people o f Japan
tell this story.
The Fir e Goddess
One d ay, the Fire Goddess 's husba nd w ent
for a walk and n ever returned. After many
months, the F ire G oddess look ed ov er the
world. She saw her husban d living w ith the
332

out. The Rain God dess's d ress beg an to bu rn.
She cried, "Please stop. I'm sorry!"
The Fir e Goddess stopped the flames. She
left the house w ithout he r husba nd.
The husban d returned with man y gifts, but
the F ire G oddess said n othing t o him. After
that, h e sta yed at home.
Did y ou like t his story? Dyes Dno
Think of a sto ry about fire o r rain.
What is the n ame of the sto ry?
Rain God dess. She w as very angry and we nt
to talk t o them.
She said, "R ain Goddess , let us compare our
powers. If I lose , you can k eep m y husband. "
She took o ut her fan. It wa s painted with
pictur es of sunlig ht and fi re.
The Rain Godd ess took o ut her fan. It wa s
painte d with pictu res of clou ds and r ain.
The Fir e Goddess shook he r fan a nd sunlig ht
came out. The Rai n Goddess b ecame very hot.
She shook h er fan. Rain came out.
The Fir e Goddess shook he r fan. Fire came
The fire g oddess
204
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
The question 'Do y ou like t his stor y/text?' is import ant fo r any reading
(or listening ) text. I t is one of the ge neral q uestions th at can al ways be
asked.
333

In an a rticle in t he ELT Journal Michael Scott a nd his colle agues
descri bed a 's tanda rd exe rcise' w hich could be u sed b y their stud ents w ith
any reading t ext (Scott e t al. 198 4). W orking in Br azil they desig ned a
series o f questio ns in Portug uese w hich could be a nswered by stude nts abou t
any text they read. The questions were detailed a nd the re were man y of
them, but thei r useful ness w as assu red. Any stude nts, e ven t hough t heir
spoken English wa s very poor, could go to a text in English a nd tackle it
with the h elp of t his gene ral re ading 'kit '.
The students that Scott an d his colleag ues w ere teaching were involved
in English fo r Special Purposes a t university level. But the p rinciple is
equall y good fo r gene ral English classes, e ven w here the nationalities a re
mixed. I n the lat ter cas e we will have to content oursel ves with simple
questio ns in English.
Here a re five standa rd ques tions fo r gene ral und erstan ding w hich aim
to achie ve the same kind of effect as Scott's sta ndard exercis e for st udents
of ge neral English a nd w hich ca n be use d with most readin g texts:
1 What is t he text a bout?
2 Who was it written b y?
3 Who was it written f or?
4 What is t he w riter's inte ntion?
5 Do y ou like it?
Students ca n look th rough a text in p airs an d discuss the a nswers to
these q uestions. The ans wers ar e not al ways obvious. Ho w would stude nts
answer the q uestions, fo r example, w ith the follo wing text?17
Where can you find a school w ith a team called
The Rockets? Where can y ou take y our child ren to
a Missile Park— full of old g uided missiles? And
where can y ou find a ch urch w hich actuall y has a
missile on t op?
The ans wer is El Paso, a n American cit y of
489,0 00 inhabit ants. This is th e cent re of th e
334

American missile pro gram me, an d all kinds of
missiles, bot h nuclea r and n on-nuclear a re tes ted
in the a rea. Mi ssiles ar e everywhere in El Paso.
People collect t hem an d putthem in thei r
gardens. Their asht rays are made from bits of old
missiles, an d farmers b uy old missi les fo r thei r
cows to d rink w ater fr om!
If you live near El Paso, th ough, life c an be a b it
frightening! I n 1947, for example, a rocket was
Church wit h a missil e on
fired and It fl ew north. Then, f or some re ason, it
chang ed direc tion and fl ew back o ver El Paso. 'It
made a noise like a n exp ress tr ain,' said o ne old
inhabita nt of th e city. The m issile fle w over the
bordei and la nded in t he M exican to wn of Juar ez.
Recentl y the Americans w anted to simulate a
nuclea r explosio n. They used chemicals to make a
mushroom cloud. It look ed very realistic, b ut
many people h ad not b een w arned a bout the
simulate d explosion. They saw the cloud a nd
thoug ht it w as the start o f World War III!
If you visit the ar ea and f eel ne rvous, ple ase
don't worry. You can al ways relax w ith a drink a t
the 'M issile Inn' hotel. The best d rinks ar e in the
'Rocket Ba r'.
205
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.4. 5
Reading f or
detailed
comprehensio n:
335

information
Reading f or general c omprehension is a skill that in volves absor bing onl y
the main points o f the te xt. The r eade r is not lo oking fo r specific points , but
rather fo r whatev er is n ecessar y to get a n overall understanding o f the t ext.
We have sho wn three d ifferent e xamples o f gene ral comprehe nsion.
So far the skills w e have asked the students t o perform have been of th e
type 1 kind. W e can no w look at type 2 skills which conce rn work that th e
studen ts do aft er the y have read in o ne of th e ways so fa r mentioned.
(a) Across Canad a: open -ende d questio ns
In 10. 4.2 (c ) stude nts w ere asked to complete a cha rt about the inc redible
cance r victims Terry Fox a nd Stev e Fonyo. When that has been d one the
teache r can a sk them to look at t he text a gain to a nswer these qu estions:
1 Where did Ste ve Fonyo begin and end his r un?
2 Where did Terry Fox begin a nd end his run?
3 Why did Ste ve Fonyo stop r unning a t Thunde r Bay on No vember 29?
4 Ho w man y differences can y ou find bet ween Ste ve Fonyo and Terry Fox?
The students can ask a nd ans wer the q uestions in p airs be fore t he teach er
leads fe edback a nd then o rganises a text -related task o f the kind we have
mentioned on p age 1 89. Notice th at the a nswers to these q uestions a re not
essential f or an overview of the t ext; the y are the details w hich we expect
studen ts to be a ble to acc ess on the second r eading , not on the firs t.
(b) Murder : detailed q uestions18
The teache r might start t his lesson b y asking w hat students kn ow or
don't kno w about Sherlock Holmes. If stu dents a re una ware o f this
greatest of all fic tional det ectives then t he teac her might explain somethin g
about him.
As a type 1 task studen ts are a sked to r ead t he follo wing passage
(at the upp er inte rmediate lev el) to ans wer the q uestions Who was
murdere d? W ho does Inspect or Lest rade t hink did it? W hat is Sherlock
Holmes' o pinion of L estra de's concl usions?
206
336

REC EPTIVE SKILLS
y
, but
art.
he
ox.'
iV
e
lot
:t
ing
'An ext raordi nary case, Hol mes,' said Inspec tor
Lestrade, smiling, 'but q uite simple, reall y. We
made an ar rest im mediatel y.'
i see,' s aid Sherlock Holmes, lighting h is pipe.
'Tell me about it. '
'Well,' Lestr ade be gan, 'fi rst the p eople. Old Sir
Clarenc e Forbes marri ed his secon d wife – the
present Lad y Forbes – just a y ear or tw o ago: v ery
attractive, long d ark h air, and y oung enough t o
be his d aughte r. He has a son, too , Geor ge, w ho's
22, a nd a bit o f a disapp ointment to the ol d man.
Which is w hy he made t his rather strange w ill.'
Holmes r aised his e yebrows. 'Go on .'
'Well, h e clearl y wants his son to get mar ried
and se ttle do wn,' continu ed Lest rade. 'The w ill
says that when he dies hajf his f ortun e is to go t o
his w ife, and half to the son – but o nly if the s on
is married. '
'And if not ?'
'Then it all g oes to th e wife.' L estrad e paused .
337

'Well, to cut a lo ng stor y short, the son is – or was
– about to g et married. To a local girl calle d
Anna Young. The w edding w as to be next month. "
'Was?' asked Sherl ock Hol mes.
'Yes. This morning Anna Young w as found
dead – shot t hrough the h ead – in Lad y Forbes'
dressi ng ro om. The g un w as in her hand, an d
there was a suicid e note b y the bo dy. It said
"Forgive me. I ca n't liv e with my guilt an y more. "'
'And w hat guilt w as tha t?' Holmes asked.
'I'm com ing to that. Accordi ng to Ge orge
Forbes, Anna h ad once h ad an af fair with the
famil y chauffeur – a man called Grimes. And it
turns out th at Lad y Forbes w anted to get a ll Sir
Clarenc e's fo rtune f or he r self. She th reate ned to
tell Sir Clarence about this af fair if Geo rge didn't
cancel th e wedding. And t here's no do ubt that Sir
Clarenc e would have stopp ed the w edding if h e
had kn own.'
'And the c hauffeur ? '
'Oh, h e's out of it. He w as out in th e car all
morning an d didn't r eturn till afte r lunch.
Anyway, nowadays he's more inte rested in L ady
Forbes – and sh e appa rently doesn't disc ourag e
him. There w as a bit of t rouble b etween him and
George the o ther day. They had a quarrel, a nd
Grimes hit Geo rge an d brok e his glasses. Sir
Clarenc e is out of it too – he w as out in the c ar
with Grimes w hen the murde r took plac e.'
'And w hy,' asked Holmes, ' do you say it was
murder a nd not s uicide?'
338

'Well for on e thing th e gun w as in the d ead
girl's r ight h and, an d we know she w as left –
hand ed. But the bi g mistake w as the suicide n ote.
We checked the h andwriting, and do you know
whose writing it w as? Lady Forbes'! Of all t he
stupid mistakes to make."
'So who have you arrested ? '
'Lady Forbes! W ho else? She de nies ev erything,
of cou rse. She claims that she h eard the sho t
while she wa s in the b ath – n ext to t he dr essing
room an d that sh e put a towel round he r and
rushed out t o find Anna on t he floor . But she's
guilty, all right. She though t her t hreat to tell Sir
Clarence wouldn't w ork, and decided t o stop th e
wedding properly – by killing Anna Young. She-
had pl enty of time to fake the suicide, too."
'Hmm,' said Holmes. ' Tell me, Lestr ade. Am I
right in thinking t hat Anna Young w as dark-
haired ?'
'Why, yes,' replied Lest rade, in a su rprised
voice. 'But – how did you know that ? That's got
nothin g to do w ith . . .'
'I'm afrai d, my friend,' s aid Hol mes, ' that
you've arrested th e wrong pers on."
(With ap ologies to Sir Arthur Cona n Do yle)
207
THE PR ACTIC E OF
ENGLISHLANGU AGE TEACHING
The ob ject of t his rea ding acti vity is fo r stud ents to sol ve the
murder
and h elp Holmes to pro ve Lestr ade w rong. But in o rder to do
339

so the y need
to un dersta nd the t ext in det ail. Here a re qu estions to h elp
them do it.
i a) Explain the te rms of Sir Clarence Forbes' will.
b) W hy did he make his w ill like this ?
2 a) What was Anna Young's sec ret ?
b W hy did s he w ant it to remain a sec ret ?
c) W hy did Lad y Forbes not w ant it to r emain a secret ?
? a) What two indications w ere the re tha t Anna 's deat h had
been s uicide?
b) W hat two reasons did L estra de ha ve for deciding that her
death had in
fact be en murder ?
4 a) According to Lestr ade, w hat motive did Lady Forbes
have for murde ring
Anna ?
b) Ca n you see a weakness in his re asoning?
S What alibis did the o ther three suspects h ave ?
6 Complete the f ollowing sent ences
a L estrad e accused L ady Forbes . ..
b) Lady Forbes d enied .. .
c) L ady Forbes t hreatened .. .
d) Lady Forbes cl aimed …
7 Why was Lestrad e surp rised b y Sherlock Holmes'
questio ns about t he da rk
hair? Giv e two reasons.
Who was the murdere r? This activity can be p ursue d by
studen ts
working in detecti on teams and sho uld pr ovide conside rable
amuse ment fo r
them.
Most texts lend t hemselves t o detailed comprehension work.
It can gi ve
studen ts a v aluabl e oppo rtunit y to study written English in
340

detail a nd thus
learn more about the topic a nd ab out ho w language is u sed.
The same is
true of the n ext cate gory of reading skills.
10.4. 6
Reading f or
detailed
comprehensio n:
function and
discou rseWe have said th at it is i mportant f or stud ents to u nderst and
the w ay in
which texts are st ructu red, a nd to r ecognise t he functio ns that
are being
performed. Three examples w ill sho w how this can b e done
and h ow
studen ts can be made a ware o f the disco urse st ructu re that
goes int o writing
– and w hich th ey must be able to d ecode if t hey wish to
unde rstand t he
text full y.
(a) Coelacan ths: conte xt questio ns
In this e xample st udents a re aske d to re cognise th e function
of coh esive
devices in a text much as w e saw in 7.2.3. The idea is t o trai n
them to
recognise the wa y in which suc h dev ices r efer t o info rmation
elsewhere in
the te xt.
The students have read th e follo wing te xt for t he pe rformance
of type
1 skills (af ter an app ropriat e lead -in, etc. ):
208
k___ ______ ______ __
_
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
They are t hen aske d to
explain wh at the f ollowing
words in the te xt ref er to:
341

1 the y (1.3)
2 them (1 .4)
3 its (1.4)
4 this (1.6)
5 them (1 .7)
6 the y (1.7)
7 its (1.8)
8 we (1.9)
Coel acan ths are some of the w eirdest cr eatur es on this
earth – o r at le ast in the s ea, fo r they are big u gly fish.
They first inh abited th e planet o ver four million years
ago, making th em its oldest living beings. C oelacanths
are only foun d in the I ndian Oce an at quit e
extraordin ary depths. This means tha t few people ha ve
actuall y seen them. Still, they provide the w orld's
inhabita nts w ith on e of its oldes t living species a nd a
throwback to a time long before we occu pied the pl anet.
i Notice that w hereas n umbers 1-7 refer back t o things w ithin the text ,
^item 8 refers ou t to the r eader's u nderst anding o f who 'we' ar e.
(b) Polenta: ide ntifying func tion
In the following ex ercise stu dents a re asked t o rec ognise the writing
functions and see how the s ame fu nction can b e performed w ith two distinct
langua ge types.
Students w ork w ith type 1 skills on th e follo wing recipe:
POLEN TA
Polenta is finel y ground Indian c orn meal; it makes a filling bu t excellent
dish an d this is the r ecipe as it is cooked b y northern I talians w ith large
famil ies to feed.
1 lb of p olenta w ill feed 6 hu ngry people. F irst p repare a v ery large hea vy
pan f ull of boiling salt ed w ater; w hen the w ater boils po ur in t he polent a,
little b y little, sti rring all the time to eliminate lumps and addi ng more salt
342

and p epper . It will take ab out 30 minutes to c ook, and when ready is th e
consistenc y of a thick p uree ( rather like a puree of d ried pe as) an d is
poured out on to a very large w ooden bo ard, w here it s hould fo rm a la yer
about a qua rter o f an inch thick. Ov er it is pou red a h ot and r ich tomato or
meat sauce (s ee sauce b olognes e for s paghetti ), which is to pped w ith grated
Parmesan cheese. The boa rd is plac ed in the c entre of the t able and
everybody helps himself. W hatever is left over is trimmed into squ ares
about the size of a piece o f toast, a nd grille d over a very slow charco al fire;
the to p crust o f sauce a nd chees e remains undist urbed and th e unde r side,
being n eares t the he at, is deliri ously browned.
They are t hen aske d to do t he follo wing exercise :
Re-wr ite the r ecipe f or Polenta b y filling in the b lanks:
Prepa re
Pour__
Add___
. Stir
.. Cook f or
Pour on to
.. Trim what is lef t
.. Pour
.. Top w ith
____ __Grill
209
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
The origin al recipe is a mixture of inst ructions u sing imperati ve fo rms
('First p repare a v ery large hea vy pan .. . ') and desc riptions of t he
procedure using passi ve forms (' (it) is p oured out ont o a v ery large wooden
board.'). This re -write asks stude nts to con vert the whole tex t into a se ries
oXinstructio ns, the reby chan ging some of the f unctional v alue of p arts of t he
texU but not its un derlying aim. The e xercise is r evealing about t he use o f
these t wo langua ge fo rms and t he uses t o which the y are b eing put .
343

Two text-related tasks suggest t hemselves h ere. The first is f or the
studen ts to w rite a reci pe for one of t heir f avourite dishes in English, a nd
the ot her is t o make Polent a.
(c) Mean people: i dentif ying paragraph st ructu re 19
The uppej ^nterrnediat e material in this ex ample is d esigned to make
studen ts aware of ho w paragraphs s tart w ith topic sent ences, an d by asking
studen ts to match dif ferent paragraphs with thei r topic sen tences it b rings
home that r elationship. After studen ts hav e discuss ed various human vi ces,
partly through looking at a ca rtoon st rip, th ey are a sked to r ead t he follo wing
text:
We all kn ow about Paul Getty I, the
richest man in t he w orld. He's th e one
who, in his 72-bedroomed co untry
mansion, used t o hav e a p ay-phone fo r
his guests . He's also t he one wh o
refused to p ay the r ansom for the
release of Paul Gett y III, his g randso n,
until the poor boy's ear was cut off —
and e ven then , the mone y paid wa s a
loan to Paul Getty II at an inte rest r ate
of fou r per cent.
J
magazine rec ently asked its r eaders to
write in with thei r tales of miserliness
done t o or b y them. Obviously, this is a
subject close to man y people 's hea rts.
Many readers said t hey could h ardly
bear to remember th e tight-fis ted
habits o f their p arents, w hile oth ers
reported that y ears of stin giness had
eithe r brok en up t heir marria ges or
344

had made th eir liv es a miser y.
3.
One man bou ght his
wife a d ustpan fo r a Ch ristmas
present. W hen his workmates asked
him about the b rush t o go w ith it, he
replie d, LOh, she 's gettin g that fo r her
birthday.'
4.
Every year on h er birthda y her
husba nd w ould give her t he same
birthday card, until on e year she hit
upon t he idea o f burning it ( one
wonders w hat took he r so long ). What
did he r husb and do? He boug ht the
cheap est substitut e he could find,
which ha ppened t o be a c ard for
belate d birth day greetings, so h is wife
suffered the ad ded insult o f recei ving
the ca rd late.
There's
the w oman w ho for birthda ys gives
delightf ul home-made cards, w ith the
message w ritten on a se parat e piece of
pape r. With the ca rd she 'll enclose a
short note aski ng for the ca rd back in a
few days' time.
6.
His w ife wrote, 'He's always
charging the f amily for the thin gs he
does a round the ho use. He g rows
345

vegetables in the b ack ga rden, b ut I
have to pay for them out of m y house –
keeping money. When he giv es ou r
daug hter a lift to w ork, he'll ask h er for
the b us fare and a little bit more
becaus e it's a d oor-to-door se rvice.'
17.
Putting out
the pilot light on g as cooke rs and
fires is c ommonplace. So me p eople
refuse to let o thers o pen th e freezer
without t heir p ermission. One man
unash amedl y wrote in to say how he
cuts do wn on his h eating bill. His w ife
never has t he cent ral he ating on
during the d ay while he 's out at work
becaus e he's t old her that gas is twice
as exp ensiv e in the day-time — so th e
heatin g conv eniently comes on at six
o'clock in time fo r his re turn.
8.
You might mar vel a t the man —
a Frenchman at t hat — w ho ordered
half a b ottle of w ine and ei ght glasses,
or shake y our head at the c ouple w ho
boaste d the y could make a tin of b eans
last a w eek, but th ere is something
very upsetting a bout p utting bac on
rashers en d to en d so that e ach po rtion
can be measu red to t he nea rest
millimetre.
346

9.
She
has dec reed t hat famil y and friends
must limit themselves t o three sheets
of pa per p er visit to t he lav atory.
10.
There w ere
tales of p eople w ho scrap e salt fr om
dirty plates back in to the salt -cellar ,
retrieve clo ves f rom eaten a pple pies,
save lemon slices fr om dir ty glasses
and p reserve them in w ater to be r e-
used lat er, or put use d pape r tissues t o
dry on the r adiato r. Life w ith a Scrooge
is not a l ot of fun .
210
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
Their task is as follows:
2 The topic sentenc es (in this case,
the fi rst sente nce of eac h
paragraph) h ave been remov ed.
They are list ed he re.
Match them with the co rrect
paragraph. W rite the
correspon ding pa ragraph number
in the b ox by the topic sent ence.
] a. W hen it comes to countin g
the p ennies, ho w about t his
charming man?
b. Ma ny of th e stories were to
do w ith the giv ing o f pres ents.
347

i c. I ncidentall y, the w oman w ho
used t o measure the bacon so
carefully, rations ot her
aspects o f her family's life.
i d. The meann ess of the r ich is
legend ary.
Lie. On e woman's attempts to
reform her hus band's
meanness w ere a complete
failur e.
I f. Common ideas of hos pitalit y
do no t inhibit mean peo ple,
then, a nd no r do
conside rations o f hygiene.
] g. F uel eco nomies a re a w ide-
spread fo rm of p enny-
pinching,
I I h. Stories abo ut stinginess o ver
food we re ple nty,
i. But the meanness of more
humble people is n o less
breathtaking.
I j. Gi ving w ith one h and and
taking w ith the oth er is a
common trick.
10.5
Listening
material
The teache r can g o on to s how the t ypical relati onship bet ween topic
sentenc es and t hose that follow – wh ich tend t o expan d or e xemplif y the
348

openin g line(s ).
As a follo w-up task stud ents can c hoose on e of the people f rom the
article a nd cr eate dialo gues ab out situatio ns the y find themselves in.
The teaching of listening skills w ill follo w the methodological model in
10.3 in the same w ay as fo r the t eaching o f reading skills. But trai ning
studen ts in listening skills p resents p roblems for both te acher a nd stud ent
which a re not f ound w ith readin g material.
Listening as a skill cer tainly shares man y similarities w ith readin g, but
the dif ferences a re the re, to o. Most import antly, the text itself is different.
A written text is static. It ca n be cons umed at the spe ed of th e rea der,
and r ead a gain and again. Not so spoken text: if it is o n audio o r video
tape it c an cer tainly be repeat ed, but it s till happens a t its spee d, not th e
listene r's. Of co urse in c onversation a listen er can a sk the sp eaker t o rep eat
what is being said, b ut the same is not t rue o f a lectu re you are listeni ng to,
or the ra dio pr ogramm e tha t flashes p ast.
Spoken lang uage dif fers markedl y from w ritten text. Mo st peo ple w hen
they write do so with an e ye to gr ammatical correctness. A good piec e of
writing develops a n arg ument o r a point of v iew (or story, etc.) logicall y
becaus e the wr iter is a ware of the ne ed for clarit y (see 5.6 ). Introducto ry
sentenc es begin p aragraphs a nd on e sentenc e is finished b efore the oth er is
begu n. Eve n more i mportantl y, writers can amend, r e-draft a nd cor rect
what they have wr itten b efore r eleasin g their fi nal ve rsion.
We can compare this id ealised vi ew of wr iting w ith a piece of natural
dialogu e, ev en though t he setting is s tructu red. I n this ext ract20 an act ress in
a pop ular British s oap ope ra is bei ng inte rviewed ab out w hat it feels like to
be cons tantly in th e public e ye.
211
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Interviewer. Do . . . has t his ever . . . does t his cause y ou any any
problems? I mean d o you get, do y ou get a lot o f atten tion
349

that y ou don' t want from the media?
Sue: Um yeah, y ou know, sort of k nocking on m y door , eight
o'clock in t he morning sa ying er . . . tell y ou a funn y story
… I mean I h aven't h ad a lot o f hassle f rom the press .
Both speake rs seem to be h aving trouble – or at least to b e unsu re of
what they are trying to say, and yet on tape t heir co nversati on is, pe rhaps
surprisingl y, unde rstanda ble. It is w hen y ou read w hat is actuall y said t hat
it looks so mess y! In a forei gn langu age, ho wever, some of the speech
phen omena d emonst rated h ere c an act as a barrier to comprehensi on. W hat
are the spe ech phen omena i n this sho rt ext ract?
The inter viewer sta rts by trying to a sk a questi on w hich he then q uickly
decides t o reformulate. Perha ps he w anted to ask ' Do the media … ?' but
then c hanges his mind to a sk about p ast exp eriences b efore changin g his
mind a gain to ask about t he gen eral p resent r ather than the past . On t wo
occasions h e repeats w ords or phras es unnec essaril y ('any … any', 'do you
get, d o you get') before finally gettin g a cohe rent q uestion o ut. Such
repetition is r edunda nt.
Sue Tully, the act ress, beh aves in a similar fashio n. She star ts off by
using common hesitation d evices – to give herself thinking time, pe rhaps –
('Um y eah, you kno w ..') the n she sta rts to sp eak almost in note f orm
before decidin g to tell a s tory, an ide a which she q uickly aband ons befo re
putting a view which appea rs to cont radict h er firs t resp onse to t he questio n.
As the inte rview progresse d, ho weve r, she did develop a cohe rent attit ude
to the question, telling a fu nny story and complaining t hat w hile she didn't
mind media att ention she objected t o them harassin g her family and friends .
All these speec h phenomena, hesitation, r eformulation, r edun dancy , and
topic cha nge are a n atural p art of sponta neous sp eech. Mu ch of this
beha viour seems to sho w the spe aker ' re-draftin g' what they are going t o say
rather in t he same way as a wr iter d oes. The difference is t hat w e don't
have to rea d the wr iter's fi rst drafts!
It is pa rt of o ur job when tr aining stud ents in listenin g skills to help t hem
350

to dis regar d these p henomena an d to conce ntrate instead o n the main
message of w hat is being said . They do this in thei r own language, a nd ar e
not side tracked by speech phenomena – at least a s far a s comprehensio n is
conce rned. W e must make su re the y can do th e same in English, althoug h
clearl y in acceptabl e stages. W e would not pla y the Sue Tully interview to
our beginne rs' class w ith an y confi dence th at the y would unde rstand it !
(see 10.2.2 ).___ ______
^The ma jor pr oblem that teach ers an d students encount er when tackling
listening material, however , is not thes e speech p henomena, b ut rat her th e
actual w ay in which listenin g material is pr esented t o studen ts. Thejnosi
common form of doi ng this is th rough t he use o f the ta pe rec order. There
are many good re asons fo r this: th ere is n o limit to th e variety of voices th at
tapes c an contain . Tapes are small, and modern cassett e pla yers are e asily
portable. There is more a nd more goo d taped mate rial av ailable f or stud ents
of English.
212
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
Using tap e reco rders ca ji^e_jjieryejrackirigx xperie nce, ho wever. In
the fi rst place it is h ardly natural f or thi rty or forty people t o sit in silence
listening t o a tape , especiall y when the p eople in th e back r ow find it
difficult to hea r. Students o ften feel v ery threate ned in this sit uation
particularl y since, if the y begin not t o unde rstand wh at the y are hearing, they
graduall y lose th e thread, w hile the tape c ontinues o n rele ntlessl y. And of
cours e disembodied v oices in a foreign lang uage a re much more dif ficult to
cope w ith – as a nyone w ho has use d a telep hone in a nothe r langua ge the y
are not esp eciall y compet ent in w ill tell y ou.
Some of t hese dr awbacks ( though not all) can be a nswered through
the us e of vi deo t apes ( see 10. 5.1) b ut audio t apes a re still the most
common w ay of gi ving stude nts listening p ractice. No t only are the y cheape r
and more p ortable, but t hey also foc us the stu dents' a ttention e xclusiv ely
on spok en English – r ather than on vi sual co ntact, gest ure, s urrounding
351

events, e tc.
Many objections to the use o f listening materi al are met, also, b y
individual acc ess to tap e reco rders where the re is teach er sup ervision – for
example in a lan guage la borat ory or in a lea rning ce ntre. The number o f
schools a nd institutes t hat ha ve such facilities is limited, ho wever.
The dif ficulties inher ent in th e use of liste ning material in t he classro om
lead us t o a number o f conclusions about h ow such material s hould be
handle d.
(a) Lea d-in
We must be su re to gi ve as clea r a lead -in as p ossible, beca use the st udents'
expect ations ar e vital he re. If t hey hay,e_some idea of wh at is coming the y
are less likel y to put a 'pa nic barrier' between themselves and th e tape
recorder. It is vi tal, too , that th ey should b e inte rested in wh at the y are
going t o hea r since the y are u nlikel y to be v ery success ful without t he
commitment th at such inte rest w ill bring.
(b) The us e of v isual material
It is ofte n extr emely usef ul to gi ve st udents a v isual setting f or the tape t hey
are going to listen to, some picto rial back -up that will create e xpectatio ns
and r eassu re the liste ners.
(c) Listening tasks
It is important t hat listenin g tasks shoul d be desig ned to h elp stude nts to
listen more ef fectively rather than a s traps for t hem to fall into. W hen
studen ts look at t he tasks th ey have to complete before listening t o a tap e,
they should be a ble to p redict th e content of what they are going t o hea r –
at least i n part .
(d) The e quipment
It is important t o make sure that both machine a nd tap e are in good
condition before taking t hem into class. Nothing is more demoralising tha n a
tape t hat cann ot be u nderst ood beca use of p oor q uality. Tapes ca n become
damaged, an d tape r ecorders c an ha ve poor s peakers or tone cont rols.
213
352

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.5. 1
Listening with
video21
In 10. 5.2 to 1 0.5.7 w e will look at a n umber of dif ferent types of listening
material using a variety of listening t asks. W e will look a t listening w ith
video, liste ning to co nfirm expectations, list ening to e xtract s pecific
information, liste ning fo r communicative tasks, listeni ng for gene ral
unde rstandin g, and listeni ng for detail (i nformation and discours e struct ure).
Video t apes ha ve many of the p roblems we have already discussed fo r audio
tapes, b ut of co urse t he ma jor ad vantage is tha t students can (s ometimes)
see pe ople speaki ng and c an ha ve a visual conte xt for wh at is bein g said.
The principles for usi ng vi deo a re very much the same as those for
using listeni ng, and t here is an especi al need f or teac hers t o set motiv ating
iand ch allenging t asks. This is pa rtly due t o the v ery natu re of v ideo material
which is, aft er all, so like telev ision. Stude nts, like all of u s, see tele vision
as a fo rm of relaxa tion, y et teachers are trying to use it as a positiv e
learning aid. The pro blem is not insurmountable and tele vision has a lo ng
and r especta ble histo ry in first la nguage educatio n, but it is w orth b earing i n
mind w hen setting viewing tasks.
Apart f rom general p rinciples, h owever, there are s ome v ideo-specific
techniq ues that we can mention he re:
(a) Silent vi ewing
One of the com monest t echniques w ith video material is sile nt viewing.
This acts as a p owerful p redicti ve exercise. The teac her pla ys the v ideo tape
with the s ound tu rned of f. The stude nts speculat e about what the charac ters
are saying. Onl y then do t hey watch the tap e with soun d to check wh ether
their predicti ons ar e right.
(b) Freeze f rame
The teache r might creat e expecta tions b y freezing a frame on th e scree n.
353

The students can pr edict w hat the cha racte rs will say.
(c) Sound onl y
Video is sometimes used v ery much like a udio tap e. Students liste n to the
sound o nly (the teache r can t urn the cont rast do wn or co ver the screen
with ca rdboa rd). Their listenin g task ma y be to sa y where the con versation
is taking pl ace and wh o the sp eakers a re, for ex ample. Then the y watch the
extract to see if the y were rig ht.
(d) Jigsa w viewing
We have alre ady seen jigsa w reading in actio n (10. 4.3) a nd w e will see
its use w ith listening material ( see 10. 5.4). W ith video, on e techniqu e is to
let half t he class w atch without so und and the oth er half hear without a
pictur e. They can then compar e notes a nd build a complete pictur e of w hat
happ ened be fore wa tching th e video w ith both pictu re an d sound. A-variaiian
of this22 is for half t he stud ents to sit w ith their b acks to th e scree n while the
other half tells t hem what is happe ning w hile the video is b eing sho wn. When
214
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
10
10.5. 2
Listening to
confirm
expect ations
al
the fi rst half th en w atch the vi deo t hey can se e how accu rately it has been
descri bed to t hem.
Video material c an conte xtualise listenin g material in a v ery beneficial
way. There is s till a place fo r audio cassettes, h owever. They provide a
focus fo r the s poken lan guage w ithout the distractio ns that pict ures ca n
someti mes brin g.
Just as w e can ask stu dents to r ead t o confi rm expec tations ( see 10. 4.1) so
we can a sk students to listen fo r the s ame reason. The techniq ue has t he
354

same advantag es for list ening as it h as for readi ng: the st udents'
expect ations and interes t are a roused, and t hey have a definite purpose fo r
listening.
in
pe
:rs
r
he
o
lat
itinn
the
fhen
(a) The Empire State Building
In 10. 4.1 w e saw how a tex t about t he Empire State Building could b e used
for readin g to confi rm expectations: t he teac her elicite d information f rom
the stu dents ab out w hat they knew/didn't kn ow/weren't su re of conc erning
this buildin g.
In this e xample t he teach er would start in exactl y the same w ay, using
the same pr ocedu re to elicit inf ormation from stude nts. The te xt used in
10.4. 1 (a) can se rve as a model fo r a talk t he teac her co uld giv e and which
would se rve as a listening tex t. The te acher wo uld modif y the o riginal
written ve rsion so that it wo uld soun d more like a r eal talk. It c ould be
done like this:
Now you all know abou t New York, don't y ou? It's on the e ast coast o f the
States . . at the mouth of t he Hudson Ri ver actu ally .. and its fi ve boroughs
have a populatio n of .. o f .. er .. sev enteen mil lion p eople. That's rig ht!
Seventeen million peopl e……
The teache r feed back and t ext-related t ask can b e the same as in
10.4. 1 (a).
(b) EastEnders23
355

In this ac tivity for _uppe r intermediate class es teache r and students h ave
been d iscussing soa p ope ras. Students h ave told e ach oth er which ones ar e
most popular in their count ry and w hether t hey like them. In g roups t hey
look at a photo graphic s till from a soap o pera a nd specul ate on w hat it
might b e abou t. Then, p robably again in g roups, the y make a list of t he
topics w hich soap op eras te nd to d eal w ith.
The teache r now tells the stud ents that t hey are going t o listen to t he
first h alf of an i nterview with Sue Tully who acts in Britain's most pop ular
soap o pera, EastEnders. She is g oing to d escribe t he pr ogramm e. The
studen ts hav e to answer the follo wing questions :
1 Lo ok at y our list of soa p ope ra topics. W hich o f them does Sue Tully
mention? W hich of t hem do es she not mention ?
2 What was the big st oryline in t he first year of EastEnders?
215
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
This is wh at the st udents h ear:
File Two. Eas tEnder , Part One.
Sue: Basicall y, it's um it's life in the East End o f Lond on
i.e. um the Cockne y, the Cockne y way of life but t hat
isn't w hat, y ou know, the most impor tant thin g about t he
program me; tha t isn't th e the r eason f or its success . The
reason fo r its success is it d eals w ith social . . . social
problems tha t othe r soap o peras h ave never dealt with
before. I mean ou r aim isn't to shock but it's just that w e
can't, we belie ved that w e couldn't d o a realistic situation
drama abo ut the East End w ithout inco rpora ting topics
like dr ugs, homosexualit y, um divorce, a dulter y all those
things t hat othe r soap operas ha ve only skimmed on or
done . . .
Interviewer: Prison . .
356

Sue: . . . very nicely . . .
Interviewer: . . . priso n and b reaking t he la w
Sue: Prison , nervous br eakdo wns – I mean it's no t just all
gloom and do om . . . um . . . There is a lot of h umour
um and the re is a lot o f love and warmth in the
program me as w ell; er so r eally if an yone sa ys what is
EastEnders ab out? it's n ot abo ut Cockne ys, I mean,
becaus e the situa tions that we deal w ith are ch aracte ristic
of a lot of, um, inner cit y communities all ov er Britain,
and I 'm su re, in oth er cities in t he w orld. But it's just that
we we cover them w ith an e dge o n how a Cock ney and
how a Cock ney com munit y reacts and d eals w ith those
problems.
Interviewer: What part do you play?
Sue: I play um a girl called Mi chelle F owler; we ll no,
Michelle Hollo way – she got marrie d last y ear. Um she
was Michelle Hollo way to st art w ith, she w as in a family.
She liv ed in th e same house w ith her mother a nd fat her
and h er grand . . . grandmother . The son ru n away and
then t he mother h ad anot her b aby and t hen she g ot
pregnant b y the local la ndlord – this is M ichelle got
pregnant, n ot my mum – um b y the landlo rd of th e local
pub, e r, which nobod y knows about; n o one k nows who
the fa ther is – that wa s the big storyline um in th e first
year. And aft er she had th e bab y she married a a local lad
who she'd kno wn for a few years.
Interviewer: Is she at all like you?
Sue: U m, she speaks like me, that 's where it ends. N9
she's n ot at all like me; I mean, m y circumstances ar e . . .
if, if ma ybe if I ha dn't go ne into ac ting the re probabl y
would have been more similarities b ut beca use m y life is
357

chang ed and m y circumstances ha ve chang ed so much
over the past couple of years, um, no, there are . . . the
only similarities bet ween me and M ichelle is our a ccent.
Interviewer: Do you like he r?
Sue: Yeah I like her . I think she's very brave, very
courageous t o have the bab y and very stron g to kee p the
secre t of w ho the fath er is bec ause um the
conseq uences of e veryone kno wing who the f ather was
would just be so catas roph . . . catast ro . . . blblblble r er
strophic . . . st ropha . . .
Interviewer: Cata-something o r othe r
Sue: I'm such a good sp eaker ! Yeah, cata-somethingo r
other; um, so she's g ot the st rengt h to kee p such a bi g
secre t with he r and sh e she belie ves that sh e'll keep it
with he r for the rest of he r life.
They can no w compare thei r lists w ith Sue Tully's. They shoul d do this
in groups bef ore the teach er leads feedback .
The students will now be ask ed to listen t o the t ape agai n to find o ut
more abou t Michelle's family and backgr ound. Then the y can move o n to a
follow-up task. On e possibilit y is to gi ve them some info rmation about a
fictitious famil y situation a nd ask th em to c reate t heir o wn soap op era
scenes, like t his:
Follo w-up: W rite your own 'soap o pera'
Q Kev in runs a pub in the co untry, but h e has p roblems.
• Kev in's w ife has just gi ven u p smoking and sh outs at him all da y.
• Kev in's da ughte r is ha ving a n affair w ith his wife's bes t frien d's husb and.
• Kev in's son Michael h as just got a place at u niversity but he d oesn't wa nt to
go; th e police ha ve just ar rested him for shoplifting .
• the d octor has told Ke vin that he must take a rest.
Kevin is suddenl y taken ill …
Give the s oap op era a n ame and then conduct a script co nfere nce in w hich you
358

decide wh at hap pens to e ach of th e char acters mentione d her e in the n ext two
episodes .
By making th eir own list a nd comparing it with Sue Tully's students
have not onl y created t heir o wn expecta tions, but t hey have become
personall y involved i n the act o f listening; d o thei r perc eptions of soap
operas match her d escriptio n?
216
1
REC EPTIV E SKIL LS
When stud ents listen t o confirm expect ations the y have a cle ar view of what
it is the y are goi ng to listen t o. This helps them to cope w ith the material
and ac hieve success.
10.5. 3
Listening to
extract specific
information
id
IS
The skill of listening t o extr act info rmation is a s important as it is f or
reading. Thanks to the s peech p henomena w e mentioned i n 10.5 a nd the
other difficulties associate d with tap e reco rder use it can be ext remel y
difficult.
The t wo examples w e are goin g to look a t both in volve filling in cha rts,
but th ere is n o reas on, of co urse, wh y othe r questio n types should not b e
used.
(a) Weather forecast24
This first example is an e xercise in listening to e xtract specific info rmation a t
its most simple and d irect. Stud ents ar e told th at the y are goin g to listen t o
a weather fo recast. They are then gi ven this listenin g task:
The teache r will make sure
that t hey unde rstand the
359

meaning of th e words 'cold,
cool, r aining, d rizzle' an d that
they know what 'temperature'
and ' outlook f or tomor row'
mean. Students w ill be
reminded th at all the y have to
do to c omplete t he task is t o
note wh ich of the words and
numbers wr itten in f ront of
them appea r on th e tape. This
is what they hear:
3 w LIST ENING
Listen a nd note the w eather w ords an d
temperatu res y ou hear.
WEATHER REPO RT
TODAY S WEATHER:
cold co ol dr y
rainin g drizzl e
TEMPERATURE (°C):
0 2 4 6 8 1 0
OUTLOOK FOR TOMORRO W:
foggy cloud y sunny windy
TEMPERATURE (°C):
0 2 4 6 8 1 0
Good a fternoon f rom the Weather Cent re. This is
the report on th e weather for toda y at 14.00
hours. It is cool a nd mainl y dry but with some
drizzle in places. There is a g round temperatu re
of 4°Celsius. The outlo ok for t omorrow.
Temperatu res w ill fall to a bout 2°Celsius. The
day will be mainl y cloud y but with some sunn y
360

periods. Thank y ou for calling the we ather line.
The task is simple but the list ening ext ract itself is f airly complex w ith
some difficult co nstructio ns and some ext ra vocab ulary. But notice th at the
extraction of t he specific inf ormation (in t his case the actual w ords and
figures) is easil y achiev able a nd helps t o train students i n this t ype of
listening skill.
In the material from w hich this e xtract c omes, stu dents go o n to
descri be the w eather in dif ferent cities using th e vocabula ry here. Anothe r
possibilit y would be to ask them to write their o wn weather forecast.
217
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(b) The r oad accid ent25
This listening material is fo r lower intermediate students. They are going to
hear three dif feren t versions of a r oad accid ent and t hey must work out
what actually happ ened.
To sta rt with, th e students are s hown the f ollowing map and ch arts:
SECO
ND
NATI
ONAL
BANKBRO WN'
S
TOYS
HOP
––––––––
––––––<%,
––––––––
–GO<g)–––––––––––––––
–- ~ ș""'
L lorry
LLCJJ-*- –––
,g, traffjs |,-qht
361

sJONE
S
(BUTCHE
R'S)
A
c
c
c
V
lr
Firding to:
anks Jim my Adams
Mrs Ball
colou r of light f or
lorryGREEN
colou r of light f or
carRED
speed o f lorry lOmph.
speed o f car 50rv..p.k
driver responsibleCAR
timeof accide nt 2 43
EXACTL
Y
The teache r explains that th ere h as been a n accident , and makes sur e that
the stu dents un dersta nd the in formation that they have to listen f or
(e.g. dri ver responsible/time of accide nt, etc. ). Notice th at some of the
entries ha ve al ready been made; this w ill help the stu dents since t hey have
less detail t o concent rate o n.
The students hear three short conv ersations. He re are the fi rst two:
Conve rsation 1
POLICE MAN: NOW, Mr Franks. I 'd just like t o rea d your statement back to
you and then y ou can sign it.
MR FRANKS: Fine.
POLICE MAN: 'I was standing in f ront o f the Secon d National Bank b uilding
362

at ab out 2.40 p.m. I saw a small red ca r app roaching t he
junction o f Churchill Avenue and York Roa d. It w as coming
towards me along Chu rchill Avenue at about 4 0 miles pe r
hour. The tr affic lights on York Road ch anged t o gre en and a
delivery lorry began t o move f orward at a bout 5 m.p.h. The
driver of th e car di dn't se e that his t raffic light ha d change d
from amber to r ed an d ran into the si de of th e lorry.'
MR FRANKS: That's co rrect. I 'll sign it.
Conve rsation 2
POLICE MAN: NOW, Jimmy, did you get a good v iew of the a ccident?
JIMMY: Oh, yes. I was standing o utside Bro wn's to yshop and I sa w it
all quite cle arly.
218
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
10.5. 4
Listening for
communicati ve
tasks
POLICE MAN: DO you kno w what time it w as?
JIMMY: Yes, I ch ecked m y watch. It's a quartz w atch, y ou kno w. It was
2.43 e xactly.
POLICE MAN: Good. N ow, how fast w as the deli very lorry movin g?
JIMMY: Well, quite slo wly – abou t 10 miles an hour . It w as coming up
York Road a nd I sup pose the driver realise d the lights were
going t o chang e. But the y were still re d when he went over
them.
POLICE MAN: I see. W hat about t he ca r?
JIMMY: It wa s a re d Volkswagen. It w as coming al ong
Churc hill Avenue at a bout 30 miles pe r hour . The dri ver
braked w hen he saw the lorry crossing the Avenu e.
363

POLICE MAN: Did y ou see what colo ur his t raffic light w as?
JIMMY: Yes, it cha nged to amber just bef ore h e crosse d it.
During the fee dback session the teac her ca n check w ith the stude nts that t he
charts hav e been filled in c orrectly as a r esult of t he thr ee con versations. As
a follo w-up task st udents ca n be aske d to w ork in gr oups in w hich they have
to write the p oliceman's r eport to his s uperio r abo ut what he thinks r eally
happ ened. This will involve the stu dents in a d iscussion of t he th ree
different accounts a fter wh ich the y will have to re ach a co nsensus be fore
writing the re port.
Of cou rse this material c ould also b e used fo r jigsaw listenin g
(see 10.5.4 ( c)).
The thre e examples in this sectio n ask stud ents to listen in ord er to p erform
some kind of com municati ve task w hich is as much like r eal life as p ossible
(given the a rtificial natu re of liste ning in th e classroom), a nd w hich, in t he
third example, inv olves stud ents w orking toge ther t o solv e a p roblem.
(a) Filling in forms
The si mplest kind of listening mate rial of this kind involves filling in f orms
of on e kind or anoth er. Teachers and th eir colleag ues can e asily record thei r
own dialo gues fo r this as in t he follo wing example for beginne rs.
The students might b e sho wn a picture o f a w oman going into a
parachute clu b to re gister a s a ne w member – o r some othe r place w here
people sign up f or something. No w they are sho wn the follo wing chart:
PENTONVILLE PARACHUTE CLUB
Last name: _______________
First names: _____________
Address: _________________
Telephone:________________
Age: –––––-
They are t old to listen to the t ape an d complete it w ith info rmation
they hear. The dialogue is o n page 220.
219
364

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Woman: Hello. W hat's your name?
Mattie: Mattie Sch wartzenhof.
Woman: Oh right. C ould y ou spell that, ple ase?
Mattie: Of course. M-A-T-T-
Woman: No, y our surname. Schwatz … e r ..
Mattie: Oh. OK. S-C-H- …
Woman: Please .. . er .. . Write it down here?
Mattie: Sure.
Woman: Thanks. W hat's your add ress?
Mattie: In Miami or in Lo ndon?
Woman: Oh, here in Lond on, pleas e.
Mattie: OK. That's 24 Kilbur n Road.
Woman: And y our ph one number h ere in Londo n?
Mattie: 071-65 7-7573
Woman: OK, an d how old a re you?
Mattie: Well, let's sa y 32.
Woman: OK. W ell, thanks v ery much Ms Schwar .. Schwartz .. e r
Mattie: Call me M attie.
Woman: Phew. Thanks M attie!
When the teache r and st udents h ave checke d that th ey have filled in the
chart correctly they can or ganise a f ollow-up task in w hich stu dents
interview each ot her to fill in similar p erson al details. To make it more fun
the te acher c an pr epare a seri es of rol e cards so that st udents a re no t
repeating inf ormation abou t themselv es which the y have already used in
smalle r chunks fo r lang uage p ractice.
(b) Directio ns26
Unde rstanding d irections is clearl y a vital skill and in this e xample at the
elementar y level students h ave to liste n to the tape in o rder to find a spot
on a map.
Students a re involved in a nine -part murder m ystery and the y start b y
365

recapping th e stor y. Then t hey look a t the pictu re. W hat can the y see? They
discuss w ho the pe rson is an d where she is.
Listening IS
Murd er at Walton Hall: a radio d n
, in 9 p arts
The stor y so far… Inspector Wade and Serg eant Pride
ham visite d Walton Hall to ask q uestions a bout th e
murder o f Mrs Walton. M rs Walton w aspoisoned Br uce
Carte r, Sally Walton's boyf riend, has accused Anne, the
maid, of Mrs Walton's murde r.
Part 3: A Telephone Call
Study the map. No w listen to !he c assette a nd put a
cross (X ) where y ou think Stan's ho use is.
I Using th e map in exercise 1 have phone coi
ș\i in wh ich studen t A rings up stud ent B and a
VJ direc tions. M ark B's hous e on the map.
220
he
f
ley
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
Now the t eache r asks the st udents t o look at t he map. They must
realise that Anne is in th e phon e box an d the y must tr y and find o ut where
Stan's ho use is. This is w hat they hear:
ANNOUN CER: Murder at W alton Hall.
ANNOUN CER: Part 3. A Telephon e Call.
STAN: 377023. Hello .
ANNE Hello, Stan . It's me. Anne.
STAN: Anne?
ANNE: Yes, Stan, it's me!
366

STAN: Well. . . hello.
ANNE: Can I come and see y ou?
STAN: What, now?
ANNE Yes, now. I've got t o talk to y ou.
STAN: But y ou've ne ver bee n to m y house be fore.
ANNE: I know. But I've got to talk to you.
STAN: What about?
ANNE: I can't talk o n the p hone. Ca n I come over? Please !
STAN: All right . All rig ht. You'd bette r come.
ANNE: Oh thanks, Stan. H ow do I g et to y our hous e?
STAN: W here are you now?
ANNE At a p hone bo oth next to the b ridge — there's a
churc h opposit e.
STAN: OK. Right, n ow listen. G o across t he bri dge an d
keep g oing until y ou reac h the c rossro ads. Take the
first t urning o n your right and c ross the sec ond
bridge. OK so fa r?
ANNE. Yes. Yes, I think so.
STAN: So you're o ver the second b ridge. Go do wn the
second t urnin g on y our left u ntil you get t o Riv er
Close. Then turn right a nd go al ong Ri ver Close for
about 50 metres an d it's on y our right, o pposite th e
cinema.
ANN E: So it's fi rst on th e right. . . over the b ridge. . .
second r ight.
STAN: No, n o, no. F irst right, s econd left. . . left. Hello?
Anne? Can y ou hear me, Anne? Are y ou there?
(The tap escript h ere omits the so unds of a n app roaching car a nd the
clear e vidence t hat Anne has b een inte rrupted – t hat's w hy she does n't
finish the conv ersation.)
The students see if the y agree where Stan's ho use is. The t eacher can
367

then a sk students what the y think has h appen ed to Anne an d why. As a
follow-up task th ey can ha ve similar p hone co nversatio ns in w hich one
studen t gives dir ections an d the ot her h as to guess where the locatio n is.
Once a gain the st udents ca n check eac h othe rs' maps to see if they have the
same information. The teache r can hel p if necessa ry.
(c) Jigsa w listening27
Jigsa w listenin g is the te rm popularise d by Marion Ge ddes and Gill
Sturtri dge28 to desc ribe a n activ ity in which different stu dents ge t different
information f rom different listenin g passag es which the y then ha ve to sha re
in order to perf orm some kind o f task. In o ther words three s tudents ma y
each liste n to a ta ped con versation . The con versation they listen t o is
different in each cas e (eac h pers on listens to only one c onversation) t hus
giving eac h studen t a dif ferent piece of the 'jigsa w'. The stu dents th en join
221
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
toget her to use thei r 'pieces ' to pu t the jigsa w together . In man y ways the
idea is similar to th e stor y construc tion acti vities w e looked at i n 8.1.4 (c)
and 8 .2.3(b) exce pt that h ere the ori ginal input c omes f rom listenin g
material, not p ictures o r written sent ences.
In this e xample, c alled 'The meeting' stu dents a re told t hat the re is to
be a b usiness meeting in Birmingham next w eek that fou r men are going to
atten d. So me of t hem will be t ravelling b y train.
The class is then d ivided into t hree groups. Each gr oup is goin g to hea r
one t elephone conv ersation in w hich two of th e men discuss ar rangements
for the meeting. Using t his information th ey should a nswer the follo wing
two questions and fill in the follo wing char t using info rmation from the
railway timetable t hat is gi ven t o them:
1 When exactly is the meeting?
2 Where exactly will the meeting be?
NAMETime
ofPlaceTime
ofPlace
368

depa rt
urearrival
1
2
3
4
WEEKDA Y TIMETABLE S
LONDON (Euston )
09.10
Watford
09.26
Coventry
10.17
BIRMINGHA M (New St)
10.45MANCHES TER
08.10
Stoke -on-T rent
09.42
Stafford
10.19
Wolverhampton
10.39
BIRMINGH AM (New St)
10.59
These ar e the th ree co nversatio ns that t he gr oups hea r:
Conve rsation 1
BRAD WELL:
WHITE:
BRADWELL:
WHITE:
BRADWELL:
WHITE:
BRADWELL:
WHITE
BRADWELL
WHITE
340 1 148. Jack Brad well speaking.
Oh hello J ack. It's Do n. Don W hite here.
Oh hello D on. Ho w are things u p in Birmingham?
Oh not too ba d. Listen .. . I'm just phoning a bout t he meeting.
369

It's n ext Thursday.
Aha … y es, yes. I've got my diary here, let's h ave a lo ok.
Er … y es, next Thursda y the 14th.
That's rig ht. No w it'll b e her e in Bir mingh am at 1 1.15 o n
Thursda y in the Rose Ho tel.
Good. L et's se e, the re's a t rain lea ving just afte r 9 o'clock. I'll
get th at. That'll give me thirty minutes to g et from the sta tion
to the hotel. W here is the R ose Hotel b y the w ay? Is it the on e
opposit e the pa rk?
Oh no . .. that 's the Red R ose rest aurant. Don't g o the re. No,
the Rose Hotel is j ust a round t he cor ner from my office her e.
it's op posite the lib rary.
Right. See y ou on Thursday. Bye Don.
OK. Bye Jack.
222
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
Conve rsation 2
STEVE NS: Hello. Tony Stevens speaking.
WHITE: Oh hello Tony. It's Don W hite here. H ow are y ou?
STEVE NS: Oh hello Don .. . fine … fi ne. W hat's the w eather like in
Birmingham?
WHITE: Oh not too bad. No w look Tony, it's a bout t he meeting next
Thursda y here.
STEVE NS: Ah yes … yes … it's for 11.15 isn't it?
WHITE: That's r ight. No w it's at th e Rose Hotel a t a qua rter past
eleven. N ow you know where it is don't y ou?
STEVE NS: Oh yes … of c ourse I know the. Rose. Right. Thursd ay the
14th a t 11.15 at t he Rose. I 'll catch the 1 0.17 f rom here a nd
that g ets in ar ound 1 0.45.
WHITE: Right … OK. No w listen, lo ok out fo r Jack Brad well … He's
coming up on t he same train f rom London.
370

STEVE NS: Right . I'll see him on th e train t hen.
WHITE: Oh there's just on e more thing Tony. Can y ou telephon e Bob
Gordon fo r me and make sure h e kno ws where an d when to
come?
STEVE NS: Of course I 'll do th at no w. Oh, b y the w ay, I'm just going of f
on a b usiness t rip so y ou won't be able to c ontact me again
before next Thursd ay.
WHITE: All right . Well I think everything's all r ight.
STEVE NS: Fine. I'll r ing Bob Go rdon n ow. See y ou in Birmingham on
Thursda y. Bye.
WHITE: OK, y eah, thanks. C heers Tony.
Conve rsation 3
GORDON: Bob Go rdon s peaking.
STEVE NS: Hello Bob. I t's Tony Stev ens he re. Ho w are thi ngs?
GORDON: Fine. Ho w about y ou?
STEVE NS: Oh not so b ad. Listen , I wanted to talk to you Bob abo ut next
Thursda y. I hope you haven't f orgott en.
GORDON: NO … no. I've got it in m y diary … just looking it up .
Thursda y the 14th … meeting in Birmingham. Don 't kno w
when or where tho ugh.
STEVE NS: Right , well Don W hite ask ed me to tell y ou. It's in Birmingha m
at a q uarte r past e leven in t he Rose.
GORDON: D'you mean the Rose H otel or t he Red Ros e resta urant
opposit e the pa rk?
STEVE NS: The on e opposit e the pa rk. I've never heard of th e Rose Hotel.
Er … no w you've g ot the time rig ht? 1 1.15. OK?
GORDON: Yeah . .. fine. 1 1.15. I may be a fe w minutes late. There 's a
train from here at 8.10 . I'll take t hat one . Which train are y ou
getting ?
STEVE NS: I'm catchin g the 10 .17. It g ets in at a bout 10 .45.
GORDON: OK. See y ou Thursd ay then. Ch eers Tony.
371

STEVE NS: Bye Bob.
223
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.5. 5
Listening for
gene ral
unde rstandin g
In eac h gro up the st udents h ave now filled i n their t able as f ar as p ossible
and t hey will hav e listen ed fo r the ans wers to t he ques tions. The t eache r will
have st ressed t hat the y must find o ut when and w here exactly the meeting is
to be.
The teache r then rearranges the class . A stude nt is taken f rom each
group and n ow forms pa rt of a n ew group of t hree. The w hole class is
divided u p into g roups o f thre e in this w ay, so th at each st udent comes fr om
one o f the o riginal g roups. I n each n ew group of th ree e ach stude nt will
have liste ned to a different c onversation. They are then giv en the follo wing
'discussion stage' q uestions:
DISCU SSION STAGE
1 Find out f rom the othe r groups th e names of the o ther p eople at tending
the meeting. Complete th e table.
2 Check w ith the ot her g roups t hat e veryone knows when the meeting is
and exactly where it is.
3 Who told each p erson wh ere the meeting is?
4 If t here a re any problems w hat do you think w ill happe n?
Clearl y there w ill be pro blems w hen the stud ents come to ques tion 2 if th ey
are alert. I n the t hird con versatio n Stev ens told G ordon that th e meeting
was to b e in the Re d Rose r estaur ant w hereas bo th White and Brad well are
going t o meet at the Ros e Hotel. Students can the n discuss w hat they
think w ill hap pen: w ill Brad well meet Ste vens o n the t rain an d cor rect
Stevens's mistake? W hat will Gordon d o if he a rrives a t the Re d Rose
restauran t and fin ds no on e ther e?
372

'The meeting', th en, w orks as a listenin g exe rcise: stude nts listen fo r the
answer to t wo questions in o rder to fill in a table/cha rt (which w e suggested
was a us eful and r ealistic skill). But t he jigsaw activity is also communicativ e
in the s ense that students c ommunicate info rmation t o each o ther a s a re sult
of what they have heard.
Getting t hree different g roups using th ree dif ferent tap e reco rders ma y,
of cou rse, caus e difficulty. We will look at th e use of t ape r ecord ers
in 10.5 .8.
Exercises th at inv olve the students in doing s omething with what they hear
(such as the f our ex amples a bove) are ex tremel y beneficial b ecause th ey
reflec t real liste ning and are hi ghly motivati ng.
In the following two examples students liste n to con versations in ord er to
get a g eneral idea of what the main poi nts are . Once ag ain, the a bility to
get th e gene ral pictu re without getting t oo stuck o n indiv idual w ords an d
phrases is something tha t students can be t rained for.
(a) Anna's dou bts29
In this v ideo example for elementar y students, stu dents w atch one of t he
central char acters in a video st ory talking about h er new frien d, Jef f, and
her son Terry.
The teache r starts by asking s tudents t o recall t he sto ry so far . Ask
them if they think Anna likes J eff. How does sh e get on with he r son?
224
T
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
There a re sec rets. It s just a feeling
Tell stude nts that t hey are going t o watch th e video in w hich Anna will
talk abo ut he r worries. Their viewing task is simpl y to ans wer thes e two
questio ns:
1 Ho w did Anna f eel befo re Jef f came into he r life?
2 What does she f eel about Jeff now?
373

They are t old not t o worry abou t anything else; can t hey just get a
gene ral idea o f the a nswers to these q uestions?
This is wh at Anna sa ys on the vi deo:
THE STORY
Anna, in monologue , tries t o explain a nd justify
her feelings of doubt a nd mistrust fo r Jeff.-She
admits that the re is a lack o f open ness in he r
relati onship w ith him.
FILM TRAN SCRIP T
ANN A: Befor e Jef f came into my life, I t hought I was
secur e I had m y work and Terry, my son, I
thoug ht I w as really safe. -But then J eff walked
into m y house th at da y and I kne w I wasn't.-l
knew I was hiding. -He surp rised me, I su rprised
myself.-l suddenl y realised h ow cautio us I had
become since the divorce-Seeing Terry with
him, so o pen, so at ease, made me re alise ho w
much I had cha nged.
––-After Jef f came to sta y, we spent some time
toget her, Terry, Jef f and I. -Then I r elaxed a
little, still I felt I had to b e car eful, still I felt I
need ed more time.-Perhaps I was wrong.-l k now
Jeff sensed t hat I w as holding back but I co uldn't
help m yself.-l do n't want to be h urt again, and I
don't want Terry to be h urt.-Jeff is important
to him too, I must think of that.-And someho w I
feel Jef f is holdi ng something back -He a voids
talking a bout himself and his h ome in Ne w
Zealand.-The re are secr ets.-lt's just a feeling I
have.
ANN A;
374

225
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
For a follo w-up task students c an rol e pla y an in terview with Anna a nd
ask he r how she feels an d why. They could r ole pla y a conv ersation w ith
Jeff in w hich someone t ells him what she has said and he reacts. This w ould
involve the students predicti ng w hat will happen in t he futu re – somethin g
they will be a ble to ch eck against f uture episodes.
(b) Dav id Attenbo rough30
Once a gain, in this e xample for, inte rmediate stude nts, stude nts are simply
asked t o get th e gene ral gist of q uite a lo ng inte rview.
The students have discuss ed va rious are as of the world and the t eache r
now introduces t he topic o f the e nvironment. Students are a sked to g et into
groups and make a list o f the th ree main causes f or worry about th e eart h's
environment. When the y have don e this the cl ass can discuss t hem.
Now that t hey have been int roduc ed to th e topic the y are s hown the
following:
T.34 | You're goin g to he ar an
interview with Dav id
Attenbo rough.
Here is t he int roduction.
'David Attenbo rough knows the
world better than most peo ple.
He's spe nt much of the last seven
years globe -trottin g for h is hugel y
successful t elevision pr ogrammes
Life on Earth and The Living
Planet.
But his next s eries might w ell be
named The End of Life o n the
375

Dying Planet. David
Attenbo rough is v ery gloom y
about much of what he 's seen. '
David Attenbo rough t alks about
the plac es mentioned on p age 6 9.
What do y ou think is h appening in
these pl aces that makes him
'gloom y'?
Listening for g ist
Listen t o the inte rview.
What is making David
Attenbo rough gl oomy about each
place?
Is the re a common cause?
John a nd Liz Soars H eadway
Student's Book I ntermediate
Page 70
226
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
They are t old to listen for the ans wers to th e gist questi ons and n ot to w orry
about difficulties they have, especiall y since this is quite a long ta pe ext ract.
This is wh at the st udents h ear:
"Ground well" Broadcast 1 3.4.84 .
Radio 4
"Releas ed by Arrangement w ith
BBC Enterp rises Limited"
I — Inte rviewer
A = David Attenb orough
I Da vid Attenh oroug h is ve ry
gloom y about much of w hat he's
376

seen. W hat's dep ressed him most
has be en the h uge spe ed and sc ale
of cha nge that human beings a re
inflicting on the w orld. A
powerful s ymbol of that c hange is
the simple act of t elling tre es.
A In the Himala yas, for e xample,
people cut do wn forests simpl y
becaus e ther e are an awful lot of
people who nee d fire wood to
keep w arm. And so t hey cut do wn
huge h illsides, in a fe w years . . .
are strippe d of thei r forests.
I This leaves fer tile Hi mala yan hills
naked, unprotected f rom the
heavy rains. The trees were
umbrellas, but now the r ain
washes o ut the g ood soil, w hich
ends u p as mud a thous and miles
away in the chann els of the r iver
Ganges .
A When the next rains come,
instead o f the f orests o n the
hillside holdin g the r ains and
letting it o ut a bit a t a time as
thoug h it w ere a spon ge, the
forest isn't th ere, s o the r ain
water runs s traight off and w hen it
goes d own in a h uge floo d; and it
gets int o the cha nnels w hich are
clogged with mud. so it then
377

floods, s o then t he w hole area is
unde r water, people l ose thei r
farm land a nd peopl e dro wn.
I So cutting down trees in Nep al
drowns people in Bangladesh. In
Africa the g athering of w ood is
making the dese rt grow.
A In parts o f the Sudan , the des ert
in just 15 y ears has ad vanc ed sixt y
miles. And it's a . .. it's a . ..
devasta ting statistic a nd . ..
what's more , it's a h eart-breaking
one. b ecause h ow can y ou go to
these p eople a nd sa y, "You
mustn't cut do wn that t ree in
order to c ook y our food "?
I But is it uni versally so b ad'.' O r
are some e nvironmentalists just
getting into a fla p about is olated,
extreme ex amples'. ' Dav id
Attenbo rough us ed to w onder
that. t oo.
A 1 remember very well flying ov er
the Amazonia n jungle fo r hou r
after hou r afte r hou r and n ot a
sign of t he han d of man benea th
me. just this gre en car pet of t rees.
And I said to myself. "It can't b e
true, it can't be true that t his w ill
disappe ar by the end o f the
centu ry". And so 1 l ooked into the
378

questio n as to h ow people made
these e stimates. I mean. I
thoug ht, w as it one of th ese things
where y ou suddenly multiplied
one st atistic b y 500, 000 an d you
get a n extr aordin ary answer? The
fact of t he matter is th at those
statistics a re base d on su rveys by
satellites w ith infra-red c ameras
which actu ally measu re the
chang e of a p atch of g reen le aves
into a p atch of b are g round. And
even on that le vel the rate at
which the jungle is bein g .. . e r
destroyed amounts to about
29,00 0 squa re mi les in a year.
I That's an a rea th e size of th e
whole of Scotland disapp earing
every year. Trees a re a v ital p art
of the water cycle, and o f cours e
they give us the o xygen th at we
breathe. And cuttin g down the
rain f orests kills t he plants
bene ath the t rees as well, plants
which help us fight dis ease.
A Forty per ce nt of ou r drugs, ou r
medicines, are d erived from
plants a nd most of those c ome
from the t ropical r ain fo rests, and
most of those come fr om the
Amazon.
379

I Those plants also help fight the
diseases t hat th reaten o ur food.
The fungus es and moulds that
attack w heat, fo r example, ar e
continu ally growing stron ger. But
they only evolve to match specific
varieties of w heat. So plant
breeders b eat th e fungus es by
changin g the v arieties.
A What does a pla nt breeder need
to cha nge a v ariety? Answer –
new genes. W here do th ey come
from? Answer – wild plants. That
happ ens w ith all ou r food plants.
With rice, w ith potato es, w ith
wheat, with barl ey, all th at
applies. And if w e lose those w ild
strains , we could we ll be …
devast . .. I mean the field could
be de vastated a nd mankind w ould
starve.
I Da vid Attenb oroug h insists that
none o f what he's said is
exagg eratio n. It's n ot just a
distant p roblem some where o n
the ot her sid e of the wor ld.
A What we 're talking abo ut is the
survival o f human beings, o f men.
women and child ren. It is
happ ening no w. The floods t hat
we hear of in I ndia an d Pakistan,
380

the sta rvation t hat w e hear o f in
parts of Africa, thes e are n't
accidents. These a re dir ect
conseq uences of wh at we are
talking a bout. And the t ragedy is
that t he peopl e who suf fer first
are the de prived people, th e
people who are living on t he edg e
of prospe rity. And. but if we
think th at we are insulate d from
that, t hat it's al ways going t o be
them, we are wrong. They are the
start. As su re as fat e, the y are
coming our way.
I Da vid Attenb oroug h's tho ughts
after sev en years of t ravelling
around the world.
Students sh ould be allo wed to discuss what the y think the a nswers to
these q uestions a re be fore t he teach er lea ds feedb ack.
As a text-r elate d task, stud ents can disc uss w hether the y are as
pessimistic as Attenb orough appe ars to b e. Ho w do they think p eople ca n
be made to st op damaging the environment? G roups could desig n poste rs
which a re aimed at stop ping peo ple from causing t heir o wn env ironmental
problems.
We have alre ady note d that t his listening ext ract is q uite long, a s is a
lot of liste ning material at in termediate le vel a nd abo ve. In 10 .5.8 w e will
discuss some of the probl ems stude nts ha ve with listening a nd ho w to solve
them.
227
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.5. 6
381

Listening for
detail:
information a nd
discou rse struc ture
The t wo examples w e have looked a t here were designe d to enco urage
studen ts – on their fi rst listening – to c oncent rate on t he gen eral message
rather th an conce ntratin g on det ail. As such t his is a t ype 1 skill. After this
first liste ning, teac hers w ill want to rewind the t ape and have stu dents listen
again t o pick up p oints of d etail, including, for example, lin guistic detail.
A first listening w ill not be en ough to e nsure the stu dents' u nderst anding
of a t ape ext ract. In deed, fo r stud ents to b e able to u nderstand th e
information o n the ta pe the y will probabl y want to g o back to it again a nd
listen fo r more info rmation, or for a greate r und erstan ding of th e langua ge
used. The thr ee examples he re sho w how such de tail can be a ccessed.
(a) English w riter and l awyer31
In this material, at the a dvan£e d.Je, y£;l, students listen t o the t ape at le ast
twice. On t he secon d rea ding the y try to extract more d etail tha n on the
first.
Students h ave read the f ollowing pa ragraph abo ut the English wr iter,
John Morti mer.
John M ortimer is primarily known as a
playwright, no velist a nd journalist, fr om
his man y books an d tele vision pl ays and se ries,
such as Rumpole of t he Bailey , Para dise
Postponed, and t he award-w inning Brideshea d
Revisited. Althoug h the su bjects he wr ites abou t
and his c haract ers a re tho roughl y English, his
work is as popula r in the United States as it is in
his nati ve Brit ain. Apart f rom being a w riter, he
was, until r ecentl y, an eminent la wyer and
became famous in the 1 960s fo r defe nding a
382

large number of in terna tional w riters w hose
works were banned o n the g rounds of obsce nity.
In this ca pacit y, he is a QC o r Quee n's Counsel, a
type of advocate found o nly in Britain a nd the
Com monwealth. As the British t erminolog y for
various types of lawyers is of ten m ystifying to
foreigners, John Morti mer explai ns the
differenc es.
After listenin g to the tape fo r the fi rst time they listen a gain fo r more
detailed information. This is the tape they hear:
John M ortimer First of all, y ou've got to realise that in Engla nd w e have two
different
sorts o f lawyers: one a re called s olicitors, a nd the y're th e people wh o
prepare c ases, sell ho uses, ru n businesses , do all th ose sort of things,
but d on't ap pear a s advocat es in the hi gher c ourts. And if y ou want an
advocat e to ap pear f or you in a high er cou rt, you have to h ave a
barrister who is inst ructed b y a solicitor . So the barrister is a partic ular
breed of la wyer who is a … an a dvocate. And o ut of the barristers, t he
kind of . .. most expensi ve ones become something called 'The Queen 's
Counsels' which i? r ather a mysterious an d ancient titl e. I supp ose it
means you're meant to help the Que en w hen she's in a ny trouble, but
228
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
age
e
this
sten
nd
ige
it,
she ne ver aske d me to help he r. And y ou wear a special s ort of
383

unifo rm. You wear a silk robe i nstead of an or dinar y one, an d by and
large you have to ha ve an or dinar y barrister w ith you in a c ase, on t he
same side. So it becomes rat her a n expensi ve and a bi g deal to have a
QC in a cas e, With the r esult tha t if you're a QC y ou onl y do rather
elabo rate a nd gr and cases.
Tom Boyd You do so man y different things. H ow do y ou apportion y our time?
John M ortimer I'm not a ba rriste r any more, so that 's not a p roblem. I mean, I
suppos e
on go od da ys I start a bout fi ve, b ut I ne ver write afte r lunch, f or the
day is finish ed for me by lunchti me.
Tom Boyd Your work is w ell kno wn and app reciate d in the Unit ed States. Is it t oo
English in cha racter to app eal to the Continent ?
John M ortimer I'm very surprised how successf ul it is in America. I mean,
Paradise
Postponed is an eno rmous succ ess, and Rumpole's a great success in
America. And I t hink that t he re ason fo r that is t hat it's v ery English. I
think th e worst thing to t ry and b e is a so rt of M id-Atlantic w riter, you
know, who offends nobo dy, and then y ou end u p like a so rt of t asteless
dinne r in the Hilto n Hotel, w hich doesn't taste of a nything. So I t hink
that y ou should b e as English as p ossible, but it probably is too English
to ap peal to L atin rac es, althou gh it's r ead a lo t in Nordic c ountri es.
And these a re the questio ns the y answer fo r the s econd listenin g:
COMPREH ENSION B
1 Name thr ee things t hat John Mortimer s ays solicitors d o.
2 W hat is s pecial abou t the r obe a Q ueen's C ounsel w ears?
3 W hat kin d of cases d oes a Q ueen's Co unsel do?
4 When does John Mortimer d o his w riting?
5 Name t wo works of Joh n Mortim er that a re great successes in the Unite d
States.
6 W hat does John Mortimer c ompare a M id-Atlantic w riter w ith? W hat does h e
mean?
384

)re
As a follo w-up studen ts ma y compare the p ractice of la w in England
and t heir cou ntry. They coul d try to profile a writer that t hey know about o r
they could conduct a cou rt case.
(b) Script dictati on
One w ay of having s tudents liste n to a t ape in a d etailed w ay is to giv e them
a scrip t dictation. All this means is that t hey are giv en (some of) the
tapesc ript w ith some of th e words blanked o ut. All they have to do is fill in
the w ords. This is es peciall y useful f or lon ger ex tracts, wh ere teache rs can
focus o n the pa rts tha t inter est them especiall y.
It is eas y to crea te script d ictations. L et us imagine that s tudents h ave
already listened t o the int erview with David Attenboro ugh (s ee 10.5 .5 (b))
and a nswered the gist q uestions. The teach er no w asks the stu dents to t ry
to fill in th e gaps in t he follo wing extract before listening t o the ta pe again :
Attenbo rough: In the Himala yas, for ( 1)____
simply (2)______the re are an aw ful lot of p eople ( 3)
, peo ple cut do wn fores t
____ need
huge h illsides, in a fe w
firewood to ke ep w arm. And so the y cut (4)___
years … are stripp ed of th eir fo rests.
Interviewer: This lea ves f ertile Himala yan hills nake d, unp rotecte d
(5)____ ___the h eavy rains. The t rees w ere umbrellas, b ut no w the rain
229
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(6)
out th e good s oil, w hich ends up as ( 7)
a tho usand
miles a way in the cha nnels of t he river Gang es.
385

The students now listen t o the ta pe again w ith intense c oncent ration. Are
their languag e pre dictions co rrect?
Script dictatio ns encou rage st udents t o listen in de tail. They can be very
useful in h ighlighting f eatures w hich th e teache r wishes to concent rate o n.
They are e xtremel y useful in reminding stud ents of th e differenc e bet ween
tidy written pr ose and t he w ay people spe ak.
(c) j Hesitation p henomena
In 10. 5.2 (b ) stud ents listene d to pa rt of a n inter view with Sue Tully, who
acts in a Britis h soap o pera. Sue Tully demonstrat es a number o f featu res of
informal spoke n style, especi ally in her u se of ' time-to-think ' expr essions
and w ords. After st udents h ave listened to the t wo par ts of the i nterview
they see this:
Follo w-up: Spoke n style
Q W hen people a re speaki ng the y use noises, w ords an d exp ressions to gi ve
them 'time to think'. W hat_2mT_e^tc-think' wo rds o r exp ressions is Sue Tully
using in t hese ext racts f rom the tapes?
a) 'Basicall y, it's um it's life in the East End of L ondon, i. e. um the Cockne y, the
Cockne y way of life but t hat isn't what, you know, the most important t hing
about the p rogramme . . .'
b) 'I mean it's not just all gloom and do om . . .
c) '. . . it's n ot abo ut Cockne ys, I mean, b ecause t he situatio ns that w e deal w ith
are charac teristic of a lot of, um, inne r city com munities all o ver Britain, a nd
I'm sure, in o ther cities in the wo rld.'
dl 'I mean if e ver they … if ev er I'm out some where a nd the y take a p hoto of me
it's very rare the y put Sue Tully.'
e) 'Um yeah, y ou know, sort of k nocking on m y door , eight o 'clock in the
morning sa ying, er . . .'
What other words or expressions ha ve you heard which perform the same
function ?
10.5. 7
Making your own
386

tapes32
Notice tha t students are n ot asked t o produce this kin d of spe ech; the
point o f the ex ercise is to g et them to r ecognise w hat its functio n is and t o
get to know typical British English wa ys of cr eating v erbal thinki ng time.
Some teac hers fin d it dif ficult to use c ommerciall y produced ta pes eithe r
becaus e the ta pes don 't quite suit the le vel o r inte rests of t heir g roup o r
becaus e the y are una vailable or of poo r qualit y. In suc h cases it makes sense
for teache rs to p roduce t heir o wn tapes. W e will look at t hree p ossibilities.
(a) The dial ogue
There is n o reas on w hy teac hers a nd thei r colleagu es should n ot write and
record their own dialogues. They can eit her wr ite a sc ript and t hen r ecord it
or simpl y have a conv ersation a round a given to pic. W ritten dialogu es can
sound a bit stilted – they are some of th e most difficult material t o write –
but, o n the ot her h and, te achers c an be su re tha t they are at t he righ t level,
in cont rast to t he freer to pic-base d discussion.
230
REC EPTIVE SKILLS
of
10.5. 8
Dealing w ith
listening p roblems
ense
BS.
id
rdit
in
vel,
(b) The int erview
One of the thin gs it is fairl y easy to do is t o rec ord int erviews. These can
be w ith interviewees as themsel ves or playing a r ole. Id eally the int erviewee
387

will be a n ative speake r, but w here t hat is not p ossible a g ood speak er of
English w ill certainl y be OK. Othe r teache rs in th e same school or i nstitute
can be used; f riends, f amilies and n eighbou rs can b e pressed into s ervice
here.
(c) Stories a nd re adings
Teache rs can make thei r own tapes of sto ry-telling or st ory reading. They
could a dapt a t ext in the wa y we sugg ested in 1 0.5.2 ( a) or they could re ad
something fr om a bo ok. They could tell a sto ry of th eir own.
Tapes w hich the te acher makes a re ofte n the most exciting o nes fo r the
teache r and the stud ents to us e. Two warnings nee d to be gi ven, ho wever.
In the first plac e it is dif ficult to get g ood q uality on some tapes a nd tap e
machines. The ta pe ma y be difficult to hea r and it ma y sound very shodd y.
Secondl y, if students a re only given home-p roduc ed tapes t hey may miss out
on on e of the main ad vantages o f using t aped material – the v ariety of
speake rs and v oices that t he stude nts can b e expose d to.
As we have already said, listening ca n cause p roblems. In ge neral t hese can
be summ arise d as panic and difficulty .
Students of ten panic wh en the y see the t ape r ecord er bec ause the y
know that the y are face d with a ch allenging task . Two things a re gu arant eed
to inc rease th at panic! The first is t o refuse to pla y a tape more t han onc e
and t he second is to expos e an indi vidual studen t's lack of s uccess in the
listening t ask.
It is almost al ways a good idea t o pla y a tape all th e way through o n a
first liste ning so th at studen ts can get an idea o f what it sounds like. Of ten
they will be a ble to complete t he type 1 skill task – p rovided t he teac her a nd
the materials h ave given t hem enough h elp to do so. But often , too, th ey will
have had conside rable dif ficulty in following the extrac t, par tly because t hey
have not yet become accus tomed t o the v oices or the 'soun d' of t he tape. It
seems sensible, in suc h circumstances, to p lay the t ape agai n, with very little
comment – h aving firs t ascert ained th at it is necessa ry.
The teache r must obviously be p repared t o rep eat segments of t ape fo r
388

detailed work (e.g. sc ript dictatio n – see 10.5.6 ( b)) and must be able to g et
back to t he begi nning of t he ext ract quickl y. Students ca n become unne rved
and i rritate d by your inabilit y to find your place! I t is w orth making
absolut ely sure t hat y ou set the co unter t o zer o befo re you start.
If stud ents ha ve list ened to a tape t o ans wer a comprehe nsion task it
can be very threate ning fo r the te acher t o point t o indiv iduals a nd ask th em
for their a nswers to questions – esp eciall y when th ey know that they don't
know! That's w hy, with listenin g especiall y, it is a goo d idea to let stude nts
check th eir ans wers tog ether i n pairs o r groups b efore o rganising a fee dback
stage. The indi vidual 's lack of succ ess can be e xtremel y demotiv ating:
shared confusi on is not n early so d amaging.
Some teac hers a nd stude nts find th at listening t o tapes is e xtremel y
231
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
10.6
Conclusions
difficult, especiall y when tapes a re fairly long. And y et we may want to use
fairly long ext racts beca use the y contribut e to ou r overall teachin g plan an d
becaus e the to pic is interes ting. If th e tape is p roving d ifficult there a re a
number of t hings y ou can do t o make it more manag eable.
(a) Don't pl ay all the tape strai ght away. Play half of it a nd then get
studen ts to pr edict w hat will happen n ext.
(b) Give students t he first t hird o f the tapescript. They can r ead it at h ome
if the y want. In class t hey discuss h ow the sto ry is going to end o r what
is going t o happ en (if it is a n inte rview program me, etc. ).
(c) Give one group a t ape recorder and gi ve othe r groups dif ferent sections
of the tapesc ript. Exa mple: G roup A has a t ape re corde r, Gro up B has
the middle chunk o f the st ory (in written form) and Grou p C has the
end o f the sto ry (in wr itten f orm). Gr oup A listens t o the b eginning o f
the ta pe w hilst at t he same time G roups B and C r ead t heir ta pescripts.
389

When the y have finish ed you reform the g roups, creatin g new groups o f
three stude nts (on e from A, one from B and on e from C). B y pooling
their information th ey can w ork out th e whole sto ry. Now you play the
whole tape fo r everyone to liste n to.
(d) Preview vocab ulary. Choose a small number of ke y words that stude nts
might n ot be e xpected t o kno w. Teach them to th e students before the y
listen. Then get th em to g uess w hat the inte rviewee w ill say based on
the w ords.
(e) Use t he tapescript. In (c) above we saw one w ay of using t he tapesc ript.
In ge neral it ma y be a good id ea for the stud ents to lo ok at the
tapesc ript afte r the fi rst cou ple of listenin gs if the y are ha ving difficulty
in coping with the t ape. You could also cu t the ta pescript in to
paragraphs – o r even smaller p ieces – wh ich the y have to p ut in the
right order as th ey listen to t he tape .
(f) Give students t he interviewer's q uestions. Especiall y with interviews it
may be a goo d idea to g ive stude nts the q uestions th at the int erviewer
asks. This will help them to pre dict w hat the inter viewee's ans wers w ill
be. They can e ven role pl ay the int erview before t hey listen to it. No w
they listen to the t ape to s ee if thei r predictions w ere righ t, and b ecause
they have 'ha d a go' themselves they are prepared and in terest ed.
These ar e just some ideas to make y our listening more moti vating a nd more
successful, e speciall y where the re are difficulties.
We have discussed t he teac hing of r ecepti ve skills in s ome det ail and w e
have st ressed t he importance o f the t eacher 's role in crea ting expec tations
and e nthusiasm for the text th at is to be read or heard. W e have discussed
the us e of aut hentic texts a nd st ressed th e need f or au thentic-like texts, e ven
where studen ts are a t a relativ ely low level. W e have provided a
methodological model fo r the te aching of r ecepti ve skills.
In sho wing a consid erable v ariety of listening a nd re ading exe rcises w e
have explore d some of the man y ways to help stude nts acqui re the
232
390

REC EPTIV E SKIL LS
confide nce to use their r ecepti ve skills with English text. Ma ny of the
comprehensio n questio n-types can easil y be used b y teache rs with thei r own
texts w hich they choose for their ow n classes.
We have discussed d ifferences b etween v ideo and a udio material a nd
we have discussed solu tions to some of th e pro blems (both linguistic a nd
psychological) w hich students h ave with listenin g material.
Discussion
1 Do y ou think the re are an y kinds of aut hentic text which begin ner
studen ts could cop e with? If s o, what kind of listening a nd reading t asks
would be app ropriat e?
2 Which do you think a re the most useful crite ria fo r choosin g listening
and r eading texts?
3 Are the re an y situations in wh ich you would not us e a lead -in stage ?
4 Do y ou think tha t a teach er might star t the t reatment of r eading/liste ning
material w ith type 2 skill w ork?
5 What are the adv antages in ge tting stud ents to r ead q uickly?
6 Think of your own speaki ng st yle in y our firs t langua ge. W hat spe ech
phen omena d o you particula rly use?
Exercises
1 Lo ok at the t extbook y ou are using ( or are familiar w ith). Fin d out if
the te xtbook h as material specificall y desi gned fo r the t eaching o f
reading or listening skills.
2 Find a r eading t ext in the book y ou are u sing w ith stu dents. Ho w
authe ntic is it? Ho w interesting a nd/or useful is it?
3 Find a r eading t ext that wo uld be a ppropriate f or the confirming t ype of
exercise w e saw in 10.4.1.
4 Write a co nversatio n which could be used for a 'com municati ve task ' type
of listenin g.
5 Take a wr itten tex t from an y source an d re-write it so that it co uld form
the b asis for a talk to be used fo r listening c omprehension ( see t he
391

example in 10.5 .2 (a)).
Refer ences
1 Ma ny of th e points a bout exp ectations, in terest, etc. ar e raise d in
N Coe ( 1978 ).
2 For more o n the skills in volved in listening a nd re ading se e J W illis
(1981) p ages 13 4 and 1 42.
On reading se e F G rellet ( 1981 ) and a n excellent s hort s ummar y on
methodolog y by R W illiams (1986 ).
On listenin g see P Ur (1984) a nd M Und erwood (19 89).
3 It is w orth p ointing out that some 'aut hentic' material might be
conside red roughl y-tuned! For example, a pla y uses auth entic English
but roughl y tunes it to make it compreh ensible to a n audie nce: the
dialogu e ma y be naturalistic, but it is still a rtificial to some exte nt. W hat
is special ab out a g ood pla y, howeve r, is that we can r ecognise t he
dialogu e as being similar to authen tic spontan eous spe ech.
4 From R O'Neill and P Mugglestone ( 1989a ).
233
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
5 Me thodolo gists and te achers h ave frequentl y talked ab out extensive
(i.e. g eneral w hole text) an d intensive (i.e. det ailed) skills. The reaso n
for preferring the te rms type 1 and type 2 skills is because i n so doing we
emphasise the methodol ogical pr ocedur es inv olved and also b ecause
much of what has traditi onall y been called intensi ve skill work would
automaticall y come at the fi rst re ading ( or listeni ng) of a text, t hus
making it, to some extent, extensi ve wo rk.
6 For an excellent s ummar y of dif ferent questi on-types and th eir uses s ee
J Suarez ( 1979 ).
7 I fi rst sa w this t echnique d emonst rated b y Mick W adham.
8 From B Abbs and I Freebai rn (1989).
9 From M Swan and C W alter (1987 ).
392

10 The questions and tex t are f rom R Rossner e t al. (1 979b ).
11 From J Ha rmer and H Surg uine (1 988).
12 F rom R O'Neill and P Mugglestone ( 1989b ).
13 Taken f rom V Black et al. ( 1986 ).
14 Taken f rom R Ma ple (1988 ).
15 Taken f rom J Na unton ( 1989 ).
16 F rom M Helges en et. al ( 1990 ).
17 F rom J Harmer ( 1988b ).
18 The text an d questio ns are t aken f rom A Doff, C Jo nes and K M itchell
(1984).
19 The text is tak en from J Soars a nd L Soars (19 87).
20 The extr act is from an inte rview in J Ha rmer and S Els worth ( 1989 ).
21 Two excellent books on the u se of v ideo in langu age teac hing ar e
M Allan (19 85) a nd J Lon ergan (19 84). Articles in J Mc Govern (1983)
are also v ery interes ting.
22 I fi rst sa w this t echnique demonstrate d by Ingrid Fr eebai rn.
23 See r eference 20 f or the sourc e of this material.
24 The material is from B Abbs a nd I Fr eebairn ( 1990 ).
25 F rom R Rossner et al. ( 1980 ).
26 F rom J Harmer ( 1988b ).
27 The material sho wn in this example is from M Geddes an d G Sturt ridge
(1979).
28 See M Geddes a nd G Stur tridge ( 1978).
29 See B Abbs and In grid F reebairn ( 1985 ).
30 F rom J Soars an d L Soars (1986).
31 F rom T Boyd (1988 ).
32 I h ave ben efited f rom discussin g teache r-created tapes w ith Gillie
Cunning ham. See also G Cunningh am (1990).
234
11
Class
393

mana gement
PARTC: MANAGE MENT AND
PLANNING
11.1The role o f the te acher
11.1.
1The teache r as con trolle r
11.1.
2The teache r as assess or
11.1.
3The teache r as o rganise r
11.1.
4The teache r as p rompter
11.1.
5The teache r as pa rticipant
11.1.
6The teache r as a r esou rce
11.1.
7The teache r as tut or
11.1.
8The teache r as
investigat or
11.2Student g roupin gs
11.2.
1Lockstep
11.2.
2Pairwork
11.2.
3Groupwork
11.2.
4The use of t he mother
tongu e
11.2.
5Individual s tudy
11.3Disrupti ve beha viour
11.3.
1Causes of discipline
problems
11.3.
2Action in case o f
indiscipline
11.4Conclusions
394

Discussion/Exercises/R efere nce
s
In this ch apter we will
conside r various aspects
of class management
including t he rol e of the
teache r, stude nt
groupings, a nd
disru ptive beha viour. We
will show that class
management skills are
important since they
help to ensur e the
success of t he teac her
and t he acti vities w hich
are used. The most
effectiv e acti vities ca n be
made almost us eless if
the te acher d oes not
organise them pro perly,
and dis ruptive behaviour
can spoil t he best
classes if it is n ot checked. Teachers w ho do not use a v ariety of st udent
groupings ( pairs a nd gr oups, etc. ) may be miss ing v aluable
oppo rtunities t o crea te a coo perati ve atmosphere in the class a nd to
maxi mise student p ractice.
11.1
The role o f the
teacher1
In Part B of t his book w e have looke d at a v ariety of activities that h ave
ranged f rom tightl y controlle d accur ate re production w ork (in Ch apter 6 ) to
free com municativ e acti vities ( in Chapt er 8); from cont rolled r eading t o
395

extract specific info rmation to the more com municativ e jigsaw listenin g and
reading (in Chapte r 10).
It will be clea r that the w ay the teach er be haves in th ese dif feren t kinds
of acti vities w ill change acco rding t o the n ature o f the ac tivities.
Perhaps t he most impor tant distinctio n to be d rawn here is b etween the
roles o f controller and facilitator , since thes e two conc epts re prese nt
opposit e ends of a cline of c ontrol a nd freedom. A cont roller sta nds at th e
front of the class like a pu ppet-master or mistress con trolling e verything; a
facilitato r maintains a lo w profile in o rder to make the stud ents' o wn
achie vement of a task possible .2 We will repres ent thes e extr emes in th e
following w ay (see p age 23 6):
235
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
11.1.1
The teache r as
controller
Contr olling
Facilitati ve
Figure 19
We will indicat e where the dif ferent r oles w e are abo ut to discuss
can be placed o n this cline. W e will examine the roles of controller , assessor ,
organiser , prompter , participant, r esou rce, tuto r and inves tigato r.
As we have said , teache rs as con trolle rs are i n complete char ge of th e class.
They contr ol not onl y what the s tudents d o, but als o when they speak a nd
what language t hey use. O n our diagr am this r ole is placed at the e xtreme
end o f the cline:
Contr olling >
Facilitati ve
Figure 20
Certai n stages o f a lesson le nd themsel ves to this r ole v ery well. The
396

introduction of new lang uage, w here it makes use o f accur ate re production
and d rilling tech niques, ne eds to b e caref ully organised. Thus the instruc t-
cue-n ominate cycle is the p erfect example of the t eache r acting as c ontrolle r.
All attention is f ocused on the front of t he class, an d the stu dents a re all
working to the s ame be at (se e 11.2.1).
The teache r as con trolle r is closel y allied to the image that t eache rs
project of themsel ves. Some appea r to be n atural leade rs and p erformer^
while some are q uiete rjmd feel h appierfwfien stude nts are inteTacting
amongst themselv es. W here teache rs are addicte d to bein g the cen tre of
attentT on the y tend to fi nd it dif ficult not t o perf orm the cont rolling r ole and
this has b oth ad vantages a nd disad vantages.
We can all recall t eache rs in ou r past w ho were able to inspi re us.
Frequen tly this w as bec ause the y possessed a certai n indefina ble qualit y
which att racted a nd motiv ated us. F requentl y, too, it wa s becaus e the yjiad
interesting thin gs to sa y and do w hich held ou r atte ntion and enthusiasm.
The same is true in la nguage classes. So me te achers h ave a gif t of inspi ring
and moti vating us even th ough th ey never seem to relax t heir co ntrol. And
at thei r best t eache rs who are able t o mix the contr olling role w ith a goo d
'performance' a re extremel y enjoyable to be ta ught b y or obs erved.3
When teac hers a re actin g as cont rollers, they tend to do a lot of t he
talking, a nd w hilst we may feel u neas y about the ef fect t his has on the
possibilities fo r stude nt talking time it should be remembered t hat it is
frequentl y the teache r, talking at the stud ents' le vel o f comprehensi on, w ho
is the most i mportant so urce t hey have for roughl y-tuned c omprehensible
input ( see 4. 3).4
We should not le t these a dvantag es fool us, h owever, into acceptin g the
controller r ole as th e onl y one that th e teache r has. I t is vi tal that c ontrol _.
should b e rela xed if stud ents ar e to be allowed a c hance to l earn ( rather
than b e taug htJTEven du ring im mediate c reativity (6.3) teache rs will hav e
236
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
397

ve
11.1.2
The teache r as
assesso r
ive
1
IX.
nd
begu n to rel ax thei r grip, a nd du ring comm unicati ve speaking a nd w riting
(see Chapte r 8) their r ole must be fun dament ally different, o therwise the
studen ts will not ha ve a chance to pa rticipate p roperly.
Clearl y a major part of the te acher 's job is to ass ess the stu dents' wo rk, to
see ho w well the y are pe rforming or how well they performed. Not onl y is
this important p edago gicall y, but the stu dents quit e natu rally expect it , even
after com municati ve acti vities ( see b elow).
We must make a differenc e bet ween t wo types of assessment: coxx££tio n_
and organising feedback .
During an accu rate r eproduction st age, w here the teache r is totall y in
control, stude nt error and mistake w ill be cor rected almost inst antly
(see 6.3.3 ). The te acher 's function , we have suggeste d, is to sho w where
incor rectness o ccurs a nd help t he stude nt to see what has g one wr ong so
that it c an be p ut right .
A slightl y less formal st yle of co rrecti on can occ ur where stud ents ar e
involved in immediate creati vity or in d oing a d rill-type activity in pai rs
(askin g and a nswering s et questio ns, for example). Teache rs will still want
to co rrect, b ut we have sugges ted that such co rrection will be 'ge ntle'
(see 5.4.2 a nd 6.3. 3). Gentle cor rection involves sho wing st udents th at a
mistake h as been made b ut not making a bi g fuss ab out it. W hereas, in th e
accur ate re production stag e, we insist o n students saying the sentence ,
phrase or word correctly once th ey have been told a bout t heir mistake, w ith
gentle c orrection the teache r says things like ' Well that's no t quite r ight …
398

we don't say "he goe d …", we say "went".' The i mportant p oint is that
nothin g more happ ens. The st udent d oesn't h ave to r epeat h is or h er
sentenc e cor rectly; it is en ough th at a mistake has be en ackno wledged. This
kind of g entle co rrectio n, used in the ri ght w ay, will not se riousl y damage
the atmosphe re of p airwork or f reer con versation.
We can rep resent t hese t wo kinds of co rrectio n in the f ollowing w ay on
our cline:
correction
d
ho
the
Contr olling
Facilitati ve
gentle c orrection
Figure 21
Organising fee dback occurs when stu dents ha ve performed some kind of
task, an d the int ention of t his kind of a ssess ment is f or them to se e the
extent of thei r success o r failur e and t o be gi ven ideas as t o how their
(language ) problems might be sol ved.
We must make a distinction b etween t wo dif ferent kinds of fe edback.
Content feedback conce rns an ass essment o f how well the studen ts
performed the ac tivity as^an activity rather th an as a la nguage exercise .
Thus, w hen students h ave completed a r ole pla y (see 8. 1.7) t he teach er firs t
discusses w ith the stud ents the r easons for their decisio ns in the simulation.
237
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
In the travel a gent acti vity (see 8 .1.7 ( a)) teache r and st udents disc uss w hy
the p airs chose a particular h otel and if it was the most sensible choice. In
other words, w here studen ts are a sked to p erform a task (includi ng w riting
tasks – see 8.3 ) it is thei r abilit y to perform that task w hich should be t he
focus of the firs t feedb ack session. If t he teac her merel y concentr ates on t he
399

correctness o f the stu dents' la nguage then th ey will conclude t hat the t ask
itself w as unimpor tant.
Form fee dback, on the ot her h and, do es tell the st udents h ow well the y
have performed lin guisticall y, how accur ate the y have bee n. When stu dents
are involved in a communicativ e acti vity the teache r will reco rd the errors
that a re made so th at the y can be b rought to the st udents " attentio n after
whateve r cont ent feed back is app ropriate.
There a re a n umber of w ays of reco rding e rrors and organising
feedb ack:
(a) Pen and p aper
The teache r can liste n to w hat is being said a nd w rite do wn the er rors t hat
are made. This kind of r ecord keeping can be d one w ith a simple fo rm, in
the follo wing w ay:
style CMd appropriatey
When the activity is ov er and th e class ha ve discussed it ( durin g the
conten t feedb ack stage ) the te acher c an w rite some of the more p rominent
and se rious e rrors from the list o n the b oard. In pai rs students have to
identif y the er rors a nd co rrect t hem. Alterna tively the te acher c an go to
class armed w ith a number of small cards or piec es of pa per. These can be
given to individual stu dents, de tailing the e rrors the y made a nd sugg esting a
cure. This is especiall y suitable fo r small g roups.
(b) Tape re corde r
The teache r might want to r ecord the st udents' p erformance on ta pe. After
the acti vity and the content f eedback t he stud ents listen to it and discuss the
errors. W ith very small groups the te acher c an take t he tape h ome and
transcribe it. The next d ay individual s tudents c an be gi ven their errors a nd
a correct v ersion. This is often d one in a v ariation o n Com munit y Language
Learning ( see 4.1. 5). W ith large g roups t eacher and stu dents can list en to
the ta pe toge ther, though this is o ften n ot ve ry successful.
(c) Video
Video is f ar more success ful for wh ole class fe edback th an the t ape
400

recorder. It can b e done in the follo wing w ay:
First of all th e teache r makes sure t hat the a ctivity is filmed. W hen it is
over, students ca n watch th e video fo r cont ent feed back, and then th ey can
238
the
k
hey
nts
rs
iat
in
ent
be
ing a
tfter
ss the
i and
uaj
to
11.1.3
The teache r as
organiser
n it is
y can
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
watch it a gain in o rder to conce ntrate on the l anguag e. One g roup c an be
detailed to watch/listen for a ny grammar m istakes, anothe r group can be
asked t o listen fo r pronunciation p roblems, anot her for vocabular y
problems, etc. That w ay students a re acti vely involved in th e feedb ack
process.
Teache rs should be aware, ho wever, that feedb ack of this kind using
401

audio o r videotape w ill take a long time and o nly a small amount o f the
recording c an be d ealt w ith.
Two final points ne ed to b e made. Firstl y it is impor tant to st ress ag ain that
feedb ack does n ot just include correcting lan guage mistakes. It als o means
reacting to th e subject and conte nt of an a ctivity. Secondl y we have been
discussing e rrors and mistakes, b ut feed back also means telling st udents
what 'went rig ht'. W here the y have achie ved a successf ul outcome, or wh ere
they have used g ood an d app ropria te langu age, the y need t o be told t his.
One of the g roups of students wa tching th e video pla yback (se e (c) abo ve)
can be watching f or an ything w hich they think w orked p articula rly well;
when the teach er records l anguag e using pe n and p encil, stude nt successes
should b e written do wn as well as pr oblems.
We can put th e org anising fee dback functi on in the f ollowing place on
our cline.
Contr olling
Facilitati ve
Figure 22
Perhaps t he most impor tant an d difficult role t he teach er has t o pla y is th at
of organiser . The success o f man y activities depe nds on g ood or ganisation
and o n the stu dents kno wing exactl y what the y are to d o. A lot o f time ca n
be w asted if the t eache r omits to g ive stude nts vi tal info rmation o r issues
conflicting a nd conf using instr uctions.
P The main aim of the teac her w hen or ganising an activity is to tell t he
studen ts what they are g oing to t alk about (or write or read abo ut), gi ve
) clea r inst ructions ab out w hat exactly their task is, g et the acti vity going, a nd
j then o rganise feedback when it is o ver. This sou nds remarka bly easy, but
« I can be disast rous if t eachers have not thoug ht out ex actly what they are
going t o say beforeha nd.
Certai n things sh ould definit ely not be d one w hen or ganising an
activity: teac hers sh ould ne ver, for example, assume that stud ents ha ve
unde rstood t he inst ructions. It is a lways wise to ch eck that t hey have
402

grasped w hat they have to do, a nd w here possibl e, the stu dents' n ative
langua ge can b e used f or this. Teachers sho uld ne ver issue uncle ar
instruc tions; it is w ise to plan out what you are going to sa y beforehand a nd
then s ay it clearl y and concisel y. In lo wer le vel classes with monolingual
groups, the s tudents ' langua ge could b e used f or this if a bsolutel y necessar y.
It is essen tial for t he teach er to p lan exactl y what info rmation the stud ents
will need. F or example, if an info rmation gap e xercise is b eing used (such a s
those in 7.1.2 ) studen ts must be told not to look at each ot her's mate rial. If
they do the ex ercise w ill be r uined. If stude nts are readi ng for specific
239
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
information ( see 10 .4.2) t hey must clearl y underst and that they are not t o
try to unde rstand e verything, but o nly read to get t he ans wer to ce rtain
questio ns. If the y do not u nders tand this a lot of th e point o f the ex ercise
will be lost. L astly teache rs must be ca reful abo ut when they get st udents t o
look at t he material the y will be using f or the activity. If they hand out
material and t hen t ry to gi ve ins tructions they will find t hat the st udents a re
looking a t the material a nd not liste ning to t he instr uctions!
In Part B of t his book w e have see n man y activities and d escribed h ow
the te acher w ill organise them. Especiall y in Chapte r 8 w e have listed the
stages t he teach er sho uld go th rough when organising communication
activities.
The org anisation of an acti vity and the inst ructions t he teac her gi ves are
of vital importa nce since if th e studen ts hav e not unde rstood cl early what
they are to d o the y will not be able to pe rform their t ask satisfacto rily.
The org anisation of an acti vity can be di vided into th ree main par ts. In
the fi rst the t eacher gives a lead-in. Like the lead -in fo r presentation or for
the treatment of r ecepti ve skills this w ill probably take the form of an
introduction to the subject. The teac her a nd stude nts ma y briefly discuss t he
topic in o rder to sta rt thinking about it. This proc edure is detailed i n
8.1.7 (d), for example. I n 8.1.3 (c) (the 'describe and d raw' game) t he
403

teache r's lea d-in might be v ery simple, e.g. ' You're goi ng to test your
artistic p owers b y drawing a pictu re. The idea of t his exercise is to see h ow
well you can talk abo ut a pictu re and give instr uctions.' I n the cas e of man y
of the readi ng and liste ning exe rcises w e look ed at in Ch apter 10 the l ead-in
conce rned a f amiliarisati on w ith the topic (s ee, fo r example 10.4.l (a) and
10.4. 2(a)).
When the lead-in stage h as been a ccomplished the teac her instructs.
This is wh ere the stude nts ar e told exac tly what the y should d o. The te acher
may (as in man y of ou r examples in Chap ter 8) tell the students t hey are
going t o work in pairs a nd then designat e one member of eac h pair a s A
and t he othe r as B. In th e 'desc ribe an d dra w' example the te acher t hen
gives eac h student A a pictu re and says, 'Do n ot sho w this p icture t o B until
the e nd of th e game.' W hen all th e A stude nts ha ve their pict ures th e
teache r says, 'I want all the B students t o dra w the same pictur e as the o ne
A has. A will give you instructions and y ou may ask q uestions. You must
not look at A's picture until the g ame is complete.' At this st age,
particularl y in a monoling ual class, it ma y be a g ood idea to get a transl ation
of thes e instruc tions to make sur e the stu dents ha ve unde rstood. In cer tain
cases th e teache r may well organise a demonstr ation of t he acti vity before
giving inst ructions ( see th e information g ap pr actice acti vities in 7 .1.2).
Finall y the teach er initiat es the acti vity. A final c heck is giv en that
studen ts hav e underst ood, e.g . 'Has an yone got a ny questi ons … no ? .. .
good. Then of f you go!' The teache r may ask the stu dents to s ee if the y can
be th e first to finish, thus a dding a competiti ve element which is ofte n highl y
motivatin g.
The lead-in —* instruct { demonst rate) -* initiate —* organise fee dback
seque nce can almost al ways be follo wed when the t eache r is setting u p
activities – when th e teache r is acting a s org aniser . For the sequ ence to h ave
the right ef fect th e teache r must reme mber to w ork out ca refull y what
240
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
404

i tO
ire
3W
are
t
In
or
the
11.1.4
The teache r as
prompte r
any
d-in
i
:her
jntil
instruc tions to gi ve and w hat the ke y concepts fo r the a ctivity are (much as
we work out w hat ke y conce pts are necessa ry at the lead-in stage w hen
introducing ne w languag e). The j ob is then to organise th e activ ity as
efficientl y as possibl e, fre quentl y checki ng that t he stude nts ha ve unders tood.
Once th e activ ity has st arted the teac her w ill not inter vene (where p air/
groupwork is b eing use d) unl ess it is to use g entle co rrecti on (se e 11.1.2) o r
to prompt (see 1 1.1.4 ).
The teache r's role as o rganise r goes o n our cline in the following w ay:
Contr olling
Facilitati ve
Figure 23
Often t he teach er ne eds to e ncoura ge stude nts to pa rticipate o r needs to
make suggestions a bout h ow studen ts ma y proceed i n an acti vity when the re
is a silence o r when the y are conf used abo ut what to do nex t. This is one o f
the te acher 's important r oles, the role o f prompter .
405

In 7.1 .4 we looke d at follo w-up qu estions an d real a nswers a nd w e saw
the te acher p rompting the students t o use th ese de vices. The teach er
encou raged the stud ents to ask follow-up questions and w as ready with
suggesti ons abou t what those questio ns m ight b e in case t he stude nts could
not thi nk of an y themselves. W e also sai d that in simulations th e teache r
might n eed to p rompt the st udents w ith information the y have forgotte n.
The role o f prompte r has to b e performed w ith disc retion fo r if teac hers
are too ag gressi ve they start to take o ver from the stude nts, w hereas the
idea is th at the y should be h elping th em only when it is necess ary.
The teache r's role as p rompter go es on ou r cline in t he follo wing way:
Contr olling
'
^
Facilitati ve
Figure 24
»ne
;t
ition
lin
re
can
ighly
have
11.1.5
The teache r as
participant
There is n o reas on w hy the teache r should n ot pa rticipate as an equ al in an
activity especi ally where a ctivities like simulations are taking plac e. Clearl y
on a lo t of occasio ns it w ill be dif ficult fo r us to d o so as eq uals (since we
often k now all the mate rial and all t he details, e tc. such as w ith information
gap e xercises, jigsa w listening, etc .). In 8 .1.7 w e said that t eache rs might
406

join simulations as pa rticipants, s ometimes playing roles themselv es.
The dange r is that the teac her w ill tend to dominate, a nd the s tudents
will both allo w and exp ect this to h appen. It will be up t o the t eacher to
make sure it d oes not.
Teache rs should not be a fraid t o participate since n ot onl y will it
probably improv e the atmosphere i n the class, b ut it w ill also gi ve the
studen ts a chanc e to pr actise English w ith someone wh o speaks it b etter
than t hey do.
241
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
11.1.6
The teache r as a
resource
11.1.7
The teache r as
tutor
11.1.8
The teache r as
investigat or
242
The teache r's role as pa rticipant g oes on o ur cline in the follo wing w ay:
Contr olling____ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ___^_____ Facilitativ e
Figure 25
We have stress ed the import ance of t eacher non-i ntervention w here a
genuin ely com municativ e acti vity is taki ng place in t he classr oom and this
means that th e teache r is left, t o some extent, w ith nothing t o do. There a re
still two very important r oles, ho wever. One is t o be a ware of what is goin g
on as a n assesso r – alt hough disc reetly – and t he othe r is to b e a kind o f
walking r esourc e cent re. In ot her w ords th e teache r should always be ready
to offer help if it is n eeded. After all we have the lang uage th at the stu dents
may be missing, a nd this is esp eciall y true if the stud ents ar e inv olved in
407

some kind of w riting task. Thus w e make oursel ves available so that
studen ts can cons ult us w hen (and o nly when) the y wish.
We can see, th erefo re, th at when the teach er is actin g as a r esourc e we
are at the f acilitativ e end o f our cline:
Contr olling
Facilitati ve
Figure 26
We can talk abo ut the te acher a s a tuto r in th e sense of someon e who acts
as a co ach and a s a res ource wh ere s tudents a re involved in thei r own work,
and call u pon th e teache r mainl y for ad vice and g uidance. This is the rol e the
teache r ado pts w here stude nts are involved in self -stud y or where the y are
doing p roject work of t heir o wn choosing ( see 8. 4). The teache r will be abl e
to help them clarify ideas a nd lim it the task, fo r example; the t eache r can
help th em by pointing out errors in r ough drafts ; the te acher c an also of fer
the stu dents ad vice about h ow to get the most out o f their l earnin g and w hat
to do if they want to stud y more.
This tutorial r ole – which app roximates to a c ounselling fu nction – is often
appropria te at inte rmediate and a dvanced levels. It is a b roader role than
the ot hers w e have mentioned si nce it inco rpora tes pa rts of some of the
other roles , i.e. or ganiser , prompter a nd re source . It is, ne vertheless, a
facilitati ve role and therefore o ccurs t o the ri ght on o ur dia gram:
Contr olling
Facilitati ve
Figure 27
All the roles we have mentione d so fa r hav e had to do with the t eacher 's
beha viour as it r elates t o the st udents. But te achers t hemselves w ill want to
develop their ow n skills and th ey will hope f or a g radually deepeni ng insight
into th e best w ays to foste r langua ge lea rning.
Of cou rse it is possibl e to go o n teach er training cou rses an d to att end
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
11.2
408

Student
groupings
11.2.1
Lockstep5
e
he
le
r
lat
ten
lve
to
ght
d
teache rs' seminars. These w ill certainly help t eachers to come across n ew
ideas a nd keep a breast of w hat is happeni ng. But teach ers can d evelop b y
themselv es or w ith colleagues , too. The best w ay to do this is b y
investigatin g what is going on, o bserving what works w ell in class a nd w hat
does n ot, trying out n ew techniqu es and ac tivities and e valuating th eir
appropriac y.
Teache rs who do not in vestigate th e efficienc y of ne w methods and w ho
do no t activ ely seek t heir o wn pers onal and p rofessi onal de velopment ma y
find th e job of te aching bec oming inc reasingl y monoton ous. Teache rs who
constan tly seek to e nrich th eir un dersta nding of wh at lea rning is all ab out
and w hat w orks well, on the other hand, w ill find the te aching of English
constan tly rewarding.
In previous cha pters we have often talked about a ctivities w here studen ts
work in pairs o r in g roups.
We will now consider briefl y the rela tive merits and us es of v arious
studen t groupings. W e will consider lockstep, p airwork, gro upwork, t he use
of the mother tong ue, and individ ual stud y.
409

Lockstep is the class g roupin g where all the stu dents a re working w ith the
teache r, where all the st udents a re 'lock ed into' the same rh ythm and p ace,
the same acti vity (the te rm is bo rrowed from the la nguage l abora tory).
Lockstep is the traditional t eaching situ ation, in ot her w ords, w here a
teache r-controlled session is takin g place. The accur ate re production stag e
usuall y takes place in lockst ep (alt hough t his is not nec essaril y the onl y way
it can b e done ) with all th e students working as one g roup a nd the teache r
acting as contr oller an d assessor .
Lockstep has ce rtain ad vantages. I t usuall y means that a ll the class a re
concent rating, and th e teache r can us ually be su re that everyone can h ear
what is being said. The studen ts are u sually gettin g a goo d langua ge model
from the te acher , and lockstep c an ofte n be v ery dynamic. Many students
find th e lockstep sta ge (where ch oral r epetition , etc. takes place) v ery
comforting. There a re, in o ther words, a number of r easons why lockstep
is a goo d idea.
There a re also r easons , thoug h, why the u se of lockst ep alone is l ess
than s atisfactor y. In the first p lace, stud ents w orking in lockste p get little
chance t o practise or t o talk at all. Simple mathe matics w ill sho w that if a
ten-minute a ccurat e rep roductio n stage t akes place in a class of f orty, and if
each st udent r esponse takes thi rty seconds (includin g instructi ng and
correcting ) only half t he class w ill be a ble to sa y anything a t all. If this is
true of cont rolled se ntences, t hen the sit uation w ith languag e use is fa r more
serio us. In a class o f forty only a very small percent age of t he class w ill get a
chance t o speak.
Lockstep always goes a t the wr ong sp eed! Eithe r the te acher is t oo slo w
for the goo d studen ts (an d ther efore there is a dan ger th at the y will get
bored) o r the l esson is too f ast fo r the w eak students ( in which case the y
may panic and n ot lear n what is being taug ht). Sh y and ner vous stude nts
also find l ockstep w ork extr emely bad for t he ne rves since th ey are likely to
be ex posed in f ront o f the w hole class.
243
410

THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
11.2.2
Pairwork
Most seriousl y, thoug h, lockstep, wh ere the teac her acts as a cont roller ,
cannot be the i deal gr ouping f or com municati ve wo rk. If st udents a re goi ng
to use t he lang uage th ey are l earnin g the y will not b e able t o do so lock ed
into a t eache r-cont rolled d rill. And if they are to at tain stude nt auto nomy
they must be a ble to do s o by using t he lang uage on their ow n. Lockste p, in
other words, inv olves to o much teaching a nd too little l earnin g!
This rather bleak v iew of lockstep a ctivities does n ot mean w e shoul d
aban don the wh ole-class g rouping completel y. As w e have said, it has its
uses. W here fee dback is taking place aft er a r eading or listeni ng task clea rly
it will be ad vantageo us to ha ve the w hole class inv olved at the same time
both s o that th ey can check their a nswers a nd so th at the t eacher can assess
their performance as a g roup. Where pair an d gro upwork a re to be set u p
clearl y the w hole class has to liste n to inst ructions, etc .
We have mentioned pai rwork b efore (e.g. for q uestion a nd ans wer pr actice,
information g ap exe rcises, simulations, etc. ) and st udents ca n be put in pairs
for a great va riety of w ork including wr iting an d rea ding.
Pairwork s eems to be a go od idea b ecause it imm ediatel y increases the
amount of stu dent p ractice. If we refer back t o our imagina ry class of f orty
studen ts we can im mediatel y see that a t any one time (in an o ral pai rwork
exercise) t went y studen ts are t alking at o nce instea d of one . Pair work all ows
the stu dents to u se langu age ( dependi ng of cou rse on the task s et by the
teache r) and also e ncour ages stud ent co-o peration w hich is itself impor tant
for the atmosphe re of th e class and f or the motivatio n it giv es to le arning
with oth ers. Since the teache r as cont roller is no long er op pressi vely present
studen ts can help each ot her to use and learn l anguag e. The te acher w ill
still be able to act as a n assesso r, prompte r or r esou rce, of co urse. W ith
pairwork, th en, stude nts can p ractise lan guage u se and joint learni ng.
411

Certai n pro blems occu r with pai rwork, h owever. Incorrectness is a
worry, but as w e have repeatedl y said accur acy is not th e onl y stan dard t o
judge le arning b y: com municati ve ef ficienc y is also vitally important an d
pairwork enc ourag es such ef ficienc y.
Teache rs someti mes w orry about noise a nd indiscipline wh en pai rwork
is used p articula rly with child ren and adolescen ts. A lot de pends h ere o n the
task w e set and o n our a ttitude d uring t he acti vity. If we go and co ncentr ate
on on e pair i n the co rner of the r oom to the e xclusion of t he othe rs, the n
indeed the rest of th e class ma y forget t heir t ask and sta rt pla ying about ! If
there is a da nger o f this hap pening t he teach er sho uld pro bably remain at
the front of the class (w here without int erfering in a ny way we can get a
gene ral idea o f what is going on ) and t hen o rganise f eedback w hen the
pairwork task is o ver to see ho w successful it w as. We should try and make
sure that th e pair work task is n ot car ried ou t for t oo long. Stud ents w ho are
left in p airs fo r a long time ofte n become bor ed and a re then not o nly not
learning, but a lso become restl ess and p erhaps badly behaved. If t he noise
rises t o excessi ve le vels t hen th e teache r can simpl y stop th e activ ity, explain
the p roblem and ask t he stude nts to con tinue more qui etly. If this does n ot
work the acti vity may have to be disconti nued.
It is important, though , to remember tha t the t ype of pai rwork the
teache r will organise de pends on the type of acti vity the class is w orking
244
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
with. In Ch apter 6 we saw man y examples w here stud ents w orked in pai rs
doing d rills, or asking an d ans wering questi ons using la nguage t hat ha d just
been p resented. Someti mes the y will merel y be practisin g a lea rnt dialog ue
(see, for e xample, 6.6.3(a) w here stu dents ha ve a bri ef pair work sessio n in
which the y repeat the di alogue b efore u sing it – later – as a model fo r thei r
own conversatio ns) o r working togeth er to a gree on the answers to a
reading exe rcise.
The point b eing made her e is that it ma y be a good id ea to familiarise
412

studen ts with pai rwork at the be ginning of a cours e by giving t hem this kin d
of very shor t, simple, t ask to pe rform. As students ge t used to the idea of
working in pairs the teac her ca n exten d the r ange o f activ ities bein g offered.
A decisio n has to b e taken about h ow stude nts are put in p airs.
Teache rs will have to decide w hether they will put st rong s tudents w ith
weak students o r whether the y will vary the c ombinatio n of the pairs f rom
class to class. Man y teachers a dopt a random app roach t o puttin g students
in pai rs while othe rs delibe rately mix students who do n ot necess arily sit
toget her.
There se ems to b e no r esearc h to gi ve an ans wer to the ideal
combinations fo r eithe r pairs o r groups ( see 1 1.2.3 ).
Teache rs should probably make their d ecision base d on the particul ar
class and o n whether th ey wish to pu t special stud ents tog ether , whether
they want to do it at random (e.g. b y the lette r of the alpha bet w hich begins
the stu dent's n ame) or w hether they simpl y put stude nts sitting n ext to eac h
other in pai rs
Pairwork, then, is a way of inc reasing st udent p articipatio n and
langua ge use. I t can be u sed fo r an e normous number of activities w hether
speaking , writing o r reading.
11.2.3
Groupwork6
n
Many of the ac tivities in Chapte r 8 w ere desig ned fo r stude nts in gr oups
(see for example 8 .1.1(a), 8. 1.4(c ), 8.2.3 (a), etc.) a nd teac hers h ave bee n
realisin g for s ome time now the a dvantages of o rganising t he stud ents into
groups of fi ve, for example, t o complete cert ain tasks.
Groupwork s eems to b e an ex tremel y attrac tive idea fo r a number of
reasons. Just as in pair work, w e can mention the inc rease in the
amount of stu dent talking time an d we can pl ace emphasis on th e
oppo rtunities it g ives stude nts reall y to use lan guage t o com municate w ith
each o ther. When all the stu dents in a g roup are work ing togethe r to
413

produce an a dvertisement, f or ex ample, th ey will be com municating
with each other and more importa ntly co-o perati ng among themselv es.
Students w ill be t eaching a nd lea rning in t he gr oup exhibiti ng a de gree o f
self-r eliance t hat simpl y is not possible w hen the t eache r is acting as a
controller .
In some w ays groupwork is nipr e.djaiami &4han p airwork: the re are
more peopl e to re act w ith an d against i n a gr oup an d, the refore, the re is a
greater p ossibilit y of discussio n. There is a gr eater chance t hat at le ast one
member of the g roup w ill be a ble to sol ve a problem when it aris es, and
working in gr oups is pot entiall y more rel axing tha n working in pairs, for the
latter puts a g reater demand o n the stu dent's a bility to co-o perate closel y
245
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
with onl y one othe r person. It is a lso tru e to sa y that gr oupwork tasks can
often b e more exciting and d ynamic than some p airwork tasks.
Of cou rse the worries that a pply to pai rwork (like the u se of th e
studen ts' nati ve languag e (see 1 1.2.4), n oise and in discipline) a pply equall y to
groupwork: the p roblems do not se em insup erable, though , and th e
solutions w ill be the same as thos e for p airwork.
Once a gain the bi ggest p roblem is one of s election of g roup members.
Some teac hers us e what is called a sociog ram where, fo r example, stud ents
are asked to wr ite do wn the n ame of t he stude nt in the cl ass the y would
most like t o have with them if they were stra nded on a dese rt island. This
techniq ue cert ainly tells the t eache r who the popula r and u npopula r stud ents
are, but w ill not h elp to f orm groups o f equal siz es since pop ularit y is not
shared ro und a class i n such a n eat w ay.7 At the begin ning of a c ourse a
sociog ram ma y not be a ppropriate anyway since s tudents w ill often not
know each other .
A lot o f teache rs form groups w here w eak and st rong stu dents a re
mixed t ogethe r. This is ofte n a goo d thing fo r the we ak stude nts (alt hough
there is a da nger t hat the y will be overpowered by the stron ger members of
414

the g roup a nd w ill thus n ot pa rticipate) and p robabl y does not h inder the
stronger st udents f rom getting th e maxi mum bene fit from the acti vity.
Sometimes, however, it is probably a go od idea t o make groups o f stro ng
studen ts and g roups o f weaker studen ts.
The teache r can t hen gi ve the gr oups dif ferent tasks to p erform. It is
worth pointing o ut he re that one of t he ma jor possibilities of fered b y
groupwork is just this fact: t hat w here the re are stude nts of dif ferent le vels
and int erests in a class, dif ferent gr oups can b e formed so t hat not all the
studen ts are n ecessa rily work ing o n the same material at t he same ti me.
Group size is also sligh tly probl ematical: in g eneral it is pro bably safe t o
say that groups of more th an sev en st udents ca n be unmanag eable
since the amoun t of stud ent pa rticipation o bviously falls an d the
organisation o f the g roup itself may start to disint egrat e. But this is not
always the case and a lot de pends on the acti vity being pe rformed. W here
decisions h ave to b e taken as a res ult of the a ctivity it is pr obabl y a good
idea to have an odd number in each g roup si nce in that way a split d ecision
is impossible ( see f or example the activity in 8.1. 1(b)). In more gene ral
tasks ( e.g. desig ning material to gethe r or d oing the fi rst stag e of ji gsaw
listening, e tc.) th e necessit y for od d numbers in th e gro ups is ob viousl y not
so gr eat.
A major possibilit y for groupwork is the id ea of flexibl e gro ups. Here
studen ts start i n set gr oups, a nd as an a ctivity progresses t he gr oups split u p
and r e-form; or they join toget her u ntil the class is full y re-formed. An
example of this t ype of flexibl e gro uping is 8.1 .4(c) where students start in
groups of six a nd then re-form with each member of th e origin al gro ups no w
being a member of a nothe r group. The activities in 8.1 .1, ho wever, in w hich
studen ts work to reac h a conse nsus, sta rt by having small gr oups of
studen ts. Gra duall y these g roups are joined tog ether . Thus if the class s tarts
in groups of t hree, two groups w ill then be joined t o make groups of six,
then o f twelve, etc . (see p ages 1 22 and 1 23).
One ot her issu e confr onts us w ith groupwork, a nd that is t he possibilit y
415

246
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
)f having gr oup lea ders. W e have al ready said that dif ferent g roups ma y be
doing dif ferent tasks . There is nothing intrinsicall y wrong w ith the idea t hat
while one group is doing a fluenc y activity, another g roup should b e doing
something like an a ccurat e rep roductio n stage o r a liste ning or readi ng
activity. It may be adv antageous in s uch cases t o hav e one stude nt
acting as a group lead er. The g roup l eader could ha ve two functi ons: one
would be to act as the group o rganis er, making sure that a task wa s pro perly
done, that th e information w as properly recorde d or c ollected, etc. , and th e
other could b e as a mini-teach er where a s tudent c ould cond uct a drill o r a
dialogu e, etc. In t he latte r case t he teach er would have to make su re that
the stu dent w as properly primed fo r the t ask. Certai nly in mixed-abilit y
groups ( where st udents d o not all h ave the same le vel of English) the i dea
of a st udent acti ng as a mini-teac her is at tracti ve. In practice, thou gh, e ven
where gro ups ar e leade rless, stud ents tend to take o n definite roles. W hile
one st udent is p ermanentl y com menting o n what is happenin g (e.g . 'We
seem to be ag reeing on this p oint') a nothe r is pe rmane ntly disagr eeing w ith
everybody! Some students s eem to n eed to p ush the group towards a quick
decision w hile others keep q uiet unless t hey are force d to spe ak. This seems
to be a matter of in dividual pe rsonalit y and few teac hers a re eq uipped t o
make reason ed judgements ab out exactl y how to handle such sit uations.
Ideall y all teachers would take a trai ning in ps ycholog y including a lot of
work on group d ynamics: if teach ers ha ve not d one this, common sense and
a deg ree o f sensitiv ity seem essential.
Groupwork of fers eno rmous potential. I t can be used fo r oral work,
tasks w here decisio ns hav e to be take n, joint re ading tasks , listening tasks ,
co-operati ve writing a nd man y othe r things: it a lso has th e gre at ad vantage
of allo wing different g roups of stude nts to be doing dif ferent thin gs in the
same class room.
11.2.4
416

The use of t he
mother ton gue
One of the bigg est pr oblems in the use of pairwork and g roupwork is th e
use of t he mother t ongue b y students i n monolingual gr oups. It s ometimes
seems that the y are unable o r unwilling to take pa rt in acti vities i n
English. Ho w can a teache r try to discou rage th e use of t he mother t ongue?
Should a te acher a lways discou rage it?8
If stud ents ar e speaking in their own lang uage r ather than English
during an o ral com municati ve ac tivity then clea rly the a ctivity is fairl y
pointless. I f, howeve r, stude nts are comparing thei r ans wers to r eading
comprehensio n questio ns, or t rying to do a v ocabular y-matching exe rcise in
pairs t hen th eir occasio nal use of t he mother t ongue n eed not concer n us.
They are c oncent rating excl usively on English, an d if a bit o f their ow n
langua ge helps t hem to do this in a relaxe d way that is all to the g ood. W e
have al ready said that t eachers may want to ha ve students t ranslat e the
instruc tions the y have given t o check if t he stude nts ha ve underst ood them
(see 11.1.3). I n othe r words, our attitude t o the st udents' u se of th eir own
langua ge w ill chang e, depe nding on t he acti vity they and w e are in volved in.
It is important t hat stud ents re alise that o ur attitude to t heir la nguage
depe nds on th e activ ity in qu estion. If t hey don't kno w this t hey will not
know why and w hen we are insisting on 'En glish onl y'.
247
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
11.2.5
Individual s tudy
There a re three thin gs we can d o abou t the use of the st udents'
langua ge:
(a) Talk to the class
Have a disc ussion w ith the students (in th eir own language if the y are
beginn ers) about t he use o f their l anguag e. Get th em to u nderst and that
417

whilst someti mes it is not too much of a p roblem, duri ng or al activities it is
not h elpful. Ask them what the y think the poin t of com municati ve ac tivities
is and g et them to ag ree tha t it is essential f or them to t ry and stick t o the
use of English i n such acti vities e ven w here it is dif ficult.
(b) Durin g an acti vity
Encoura ge the st udents to use English. Go r ound the class room helping
studen ts away from thei r langu age fo r this acti vity. Students w ill naturall y
slip into th eir lang uage u nless y ou remind t hem an d prompt them.
In most classes the u se of discussi on and e xplanatio n, and t he pr ompting o f
studen ts durin g activ ities, ens ures t hat English is used most of t he time.
With some groups , however , your efforts ma y not ap pear t o be success ful.
(c) Back to basics
With some groups your attempts to have them use English do not work;
despite y our explanations and p romptings, stude nts w ill not use English. In
such cases tell them that as a consequ ence of t his you are not g oing to us e
that t ype of acti vity any more. Use onl y tightly cont rolled acti vities f or
pairwork until y ou are confiden t that th ey will take pa rt properl y. Then
become a little more a dventurous and gradually move b ack in stag es
towards the us e of f reer a ctivities in gr oups.
Sometimes we must let s tudents wo rk on t heir o wn at thei r own pace. If w e
do no t we will not b e allo wing th e indiv idual a ny learni ng 'spac e' at all.
Individual s tudy is a g ood idea p recisel y because stu dents can relax
from outside p ressu re (provided the re is no time li mit or competiti ve
element) an d becaus e the y can rely on themselves rather tha n othe r peopl e.
Both re ading an d writing wo rk can b e the f ocus fo r indiv idual stu dy –
althou gh as w e have seen i n Chapte rs 9 an d 10 the re are man y uses fo r pair
and g roupwork he re as w ell.
Individual s tudy is also f reque ntly quiet! This attrib ute shoul d not be
unde restimated. So metimes w e need a pe riod of r elative silenc e to
reass emble o ur lea rning at titudes.
Of cou rse lang uage lab orato ries, listenin g centr es, lear ning cent res an d
418

individual compute r terminals ar e ideal fo r stud ents w orking on th eir own.
Where such facilities exist, teache rs should t ry and ensu re that s elf-stud y is a
planne d par t of the we ekly programm e. Where the y do not e xist, ho weve r,
teache rs shoul d not fo rget t he importance o f indiv idual st udy in thei r
enthusi asm for pair a nd gr oupwork.
The use of dif ferent stu dent g roupings must be sensitiv ely handled. W hile
we, as t eachers , may be clear o n the v alue of g roupwork, fo r example,
studen ts ma y resent al ways having to work with their p eers.9 There a re
248
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
t
it is
ities
he
lly
gof
id.
.In
lse
11.3
Disrup tive
behaviour10
f we
jple.
pair
X
and11.3.1
wn.Causes of
ly is adiscipline
ver,problems
tile
419

occasions wh ere a class needs to ha ve a teache r cont rolling w hat is going o n.
The natu re of th e task has a lot to d o with this as we ll, as do t he stude nts'
reactions to e ach othe r. In oth er words, w hile we may rightly conclud e that
the us e of dif ferent stude nt gro upings is v ital in a ny langu age p rogramme we
should als o use th ese gr oupings int elligentl y and a ppropriatel y in ord er to
create positi ve le arning f or our stud ents, not provoke negati ve reacti ons.
At some sta ge of th eir liv es all te achers e ncounte r disr uptiv e behaviour – a
studen t or st udents w hose beha viour g ets in the wa y of the cl ass. Such
outbu rsts a re frequentl y hostile to th e teache r or the oth er stu dents an d the y
can be difficult to deal w ith.
Disrupti ve beha viour is not c onfined t o one a ge gr oup. Ele ven-year-
olds can b ecome incredibl y unruly and nois y, and a dolescents ma y become
completel y unresponsi ve and unco -operative. Adult stude nts ar e disrup tive in
different ways. They may publicl y disa gree w ith the te acher o r try to
become the class c haract er to t he det riment o f their peers . There are l ots of
ways of dis rupting a class!
One w ay of avoiding most dis ruptive behav iour (tho ugh not all) is b y
making sure that all y our stude nts of w hatev er age kno w 'where you stan d'.
Someho w you and t hey have to agr ee upo n a code o f conduct. With man y
adult class es this is an u nspoken a rrangement: w ith younger s tudents it ma y
need t o be sp elled out.
A code of con duct inv olves t he teach er an d students in forms of
beha viour in t he classro om. Ce rtain things do not c omply with such forms of
beha viour – for e xample arriving late, inte rrupting oth er stu dents w hen the y
speak, b ringing drinks a nd food into the r oom, forg etting to d o home work,
not p aying atte ntion, etc. W here a c ode of c onduct is est ablished b oth
teache r and students w ill recognise these acts as outside the cod e.
The teache r's role in the first fe w classes w ith a n ew group w ill be to
establish t he code t hrough discussion a nd example. If t his is done it w ill be
easie r to sho w students w here t hey are going wr ong lat er on . It
is worth emphasising that t he establishment of a code w ill be done
420

differentl y, depending o n the a ge of th e students . With adults y ou ma y
discuss the norms of beh aviour t hat shoul d appl y, whereas w ith younger
childre n you may be a bit more dictato rial – alt hough h ere too the
agreement of the class about wh at the c ode shoul d be w ill greatly improv e
the ch ances of succ ess,
Now that y ou have a code o f conduct t hings sho uld be all r ight. And
yet stud ents still beh ave badl y. Why is this?
There se em to b e thre e possible r easons f or disciplin e pro blems: the
teache r, the st udents a nd the instit ution. W e will examine each of t hese in
turn.
(a) The te acher
The beha viour an d the attit ude of t he teach er is pe rhaps t he single most
important fac tor in a classroom, and t hus can h ave a ma jor ef fect o n
discipline. W e can make a list of t hings that teache rs should p robably not d o
if the y want to a void pro blems:
249
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Don't g o to class u nprepared : Students a utomaticall y identify teach ers w ho are n ot
sure what to d o in the cl assroom. Particula rly for those classes t hat might cause
trouble, the t eache r has to a ppea r to be well pre pared and kno wledgeable about
the su bject.
Don't b e inconsiste nt: If the t eache r allo ws stud ents to come to class la te without
taking ac tion one we ek the y cannot b e rep roache d for d oing th e same thing again
the w eek after . Teachers ha ve to be c onsistent, in other words, about wh at the
code o f conduct is o therwise the stu dents w ill lose r espect f or it.
Don't issu e threats: Teache rs who threat en stude nts w ith terrible p unishments and
then d o not ca rry them out are d oing bo th the class a nd themsel ves a diss ervice.
Hopefull y threats a re not necessa ry, but it is abs olutel y fatal t o say that some
action is g oing to b e taken if it is not.
Don't r aise you r voice: One of the great mistakes o f man y teachers is to try and
421

establish c ontrol b y raising t heir v oices and sh outing. This almost al ways has
disastr ous conse quences f or it con tributes to a ge neral r aising of the le vel o f noise
in the class room. V ery often a quiet v oice is far more ef fective.
Don't giv e bori ng classes: We saw in Cha pter 1 how important s tudents f ound it
that class es should b e inter esting (s ee pag e 6). I t seems true th at pe rhaps th e
greatest single c ause of in discipline is bo redom. Interested stu dents do n ot
misbeh ave in the s ame w ay.
Don't b e unfai r: Teache rs cann ot allo w themsel ves to b e unfair , either to the class
as a w hole or t o indiv iduals. Teachers sho uld al ways try to avoid h aving fa vourites
or picki ng on p articula r indiv iduals. Mo st teac hers, o f cours e, ha ve st udents t hat
they like o r dislike more th an othe rs, but a ma jor par t of thei r job is not to sho w
these p references a nd pr ejudices in th e classro om.
Don't h ave a n egative attit ude to le arning : A teacher wh o does n ot really care a nd
who is inse nsitiv e to the students ' reac tions to w hat is happ ening in th e classro om
will lose the r espect o f the st udents – the fi rst step t o pro blems of dis ruptive
beha viour.
Don't b reak t he code: If part of th e code is t hat the st udents sh ould ar rive on time,
then t he teach er must too. If there is a ban o n che wing gum then the t eache r
should n ot che w gum. If h omework must be hand ed in on time then it must also be
corrected p romptl y. A teacher who beh aves in a w ay that is consi dered anti-soci al
and w hich is disapp roved of if imitated b y the stu dents w ill dest roy the code of
conduct , for it e ither e xists for the g roup as a whole (including t he teach er) or it
does n ot exist at a ll.
250
(b) The stu dents
A teacher wh o does e verything to a void trouble ma y still ha ve problems bec ause
of the students: and all p ractising t eachers know that while one g roup may caus e
no trouble, a nothe r may be difficult to han dle.
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
There a re, of c ourse, a number of reaso ns why stud ents beh ave badl y and w e can
mention a fe w of these:
422

Time of day : The attitude of the st udents is o ften af fected by when the class takes
place. If the stud ents ar e all tire d afte r a long d ay of stu dy they may find ex acting
classes too challenging . If the class takes place just befo re lunch s tudents ma y
tend n ot to p ay too much atten tion as th e lunch ho ur ap proac hes. Earl y morning
classes ma y cause stu dents to b e sleep y; class es afte r lunch a re oft en full of
drowsy students. The teac her must take t hese facto rs into a ccount w hen plannin g
the class ( see Cha pter 1 2).
The student 's attitud e: A lot d epends o n how the stude nt views the class , the
teache r, and t he subject being lea rnt. Clea rly, therefo re, it is importa nt for these to
be see n in a positi ve – or at least neutral – light . For man y reaso ns, thoug h,
studen ts are o ften h ostile to English classes a nd thei r teach ers. W here a stu dent
starts with a ne gativ e attitu de, ho wever, much can be d one: if t he class is
interesting – if students can become inte rested e ven agai nst their bette r judgement
– a lot of the probl em will disappe ar.
A desire t o be n oticed: It is g enerally accepte d that a dolescence is a difficult time
and t hat y oung adolesce nts often n eed to be notice d or h ave a d esire to b e
recognised in some w ay. This is not just special to a dolescents, h owever, and
most teachers are familiar w ith students i n their cl asses w ho demand a ttention a nd
who are quite prepared t o be dis ruptive in o rder to g ain the r ecognitio n the y need.
It seems some what shor t-sighte d, then, to label suc h bad b ehav iour as in some
way wicked a nd punish it hars hly. Much more important is t he possibilit y of
chann elling this beh aviour a nd in volving t he stud ent; if r ecognition is wh at is
need ed then t he teac her sh ould tr y to make sure that it can b e giv en w ithin the
context of the la nguage class.
Two's company: Two students bei ng disru ptive toge ther a re far more ef fective than
one! They may encour age eac h othe r in thei r anti-s ocial beha viour an d gra duall y
influence the w hole group. Action in such cases has to b e taken f airly rapidly, and
much can be ac hieved if stu dents a re res eated, if t he troublemakers a re
sepa rated, a nd if pa rticularl y disrupti ve students a re made to sit at the f ront.
Students h ave a number o f reasons fo r beha ving badl y: they canno t always be
easily cont rolled a nd much will depend o n the p articula r group and the pa rticular
423

teache r. In ge neral, t hough, a bored stud ent is a discipline probl em, w hereas an
interested stu dent w ho knows and u nderstands th e code is n ot.
(c) The instituti on
A lot d epends o n the a ttitude o f the institu tion to dis ruptive st udent b ehav iour.
Ideall y there w ill be a rec ognised s ystem for dealing w ith probl em classes a nd
studen ts. It is to b e hope d that th e teache r can c onsult co -ordin ators o r dep artment
heads wh en in t rouble, a nd tha t cases of e xtremel y bad b ehav iour can be acted
upon b y such pe ople.
If the i nstitution d oes not h ave a recognised policy for dealing w ith discipline
problems the n it is up to the teac hers t o press f or suc h a s ystem.
251
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
11.3.2
Action in case o f indiscipline
Ultimatel y a student wh o causes a severe pro blem has t o be ha ndled b y the
school a uthorit y rather than by teach ers on their ow n and it is, therefore, in the
teache rs' int erest t o see tha t ther e is a cohe rent p olicy.
Teache rs should be ca reful abo ut sho wing that the y disagr ee w ith the policy of th e
institution (where the y do) since this can h ave a ba d effect gene rally on o ther
classes in th e same area. Teachers w ho disagr ee abou t things like t he choice o f
textbo ok, for example, should n ot sho w this d isagre ement t oo ope nly to the
studen ts, but w ork w ith the administration t o hav e the decision ch anged.
There a re man y causes o f discipline p roblems, some of wh ich w e have looked a t
in this sectio n. Gene rally we have been d ealing w ith classes of child ren an d
adolesce nts, but man y of the com ments w e have made appl y equall y well to a dult
classes fo r here too t he teach er must hav e some kind of code of c onduct a nd must
take acc ount, fo r example, of t he time of day when the class t akes place.
There a re a n umber of thin gs a teach er can do w hen students b ehave badly, but in
gene ral two points can b e made. Any 'punishment' tha t hurts a stude nt ph ysically
or emotionall y is probably dange rous a nd ha rmful in man y ways. Its effect cannot
be measure d and it p robably encou rages in t he stud ent beh aviour a nd ps ycholog y
424

that w e would w ant to avoid a s educat ors.
The abilit y to co ntrol a g roup of stud ents w hen things get out of h and de pends to a
large extent o n the p erson ality of the t eacher , and some teach ers ce rtainl y appear
to find it easier t han ot hers. There a re, however, a number of measur es that ca n
be tak en.
(a) Act imm ediatel y
We have stress ed the n eed fo r a cod e. When it is b roken t he teach er sho uld act
immediatel y. If the indiscipline involves anti -social beh aviour in the class room the
teache r shoul d take ste ps at once . Where it i nvolves things like not b ringing b ooks
to class th e teache r shoul d speak to the stud ent eithe r during o r immediatel y after
the class.
The longe r a discipline p roblem is left unc hecked, th e more dif ficult it is to tak e
action.
(b) Stop the cl ass
Where the indiscipline i nvolves disr uptiv e beh aviour t he teach er sho uld
immediatel y stop t he class. This is a cl ear indic ation to all t he stude nts that
something is w rong. The t eache r may then tell the s tudents wh o are beha ving
badly what is w rong. M any teache rs ref use to r e-sta rt the class until the student
has settl ed do wn; they simpl y stop the class, make it cle ar tha t the stu dent's
beha viour is uns atisfacto ry, and wait until t hings improv e.
(c) Reseatin g
An effectiv e way of controlling a stude nt who is be having ba dly is to make the
studen t sit in a dif ferent place immediatel y. Certainl y where tr oublesome students
are sitting tog ether t hey shoul d be sep arate d. Often if s tudents a re mo ved to t he
front of the class the y will behave bett er.
252
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
(d) Chang e the acti vity
Particula rly where a ma jority of the class seem to be g raduall y getting ou t of
control, a cha nge of ac tivity will often r estor e ord er. Thus a quick w riting task w ill
often q uieten st udents d own and a t the same time provide good wr iting p ractice.
425

The same effect c an ofte n be achie ved by a readin g task or a listening e xercise.
In ge neral, a nti-social b ehaviour can us ually be cu red if stu dents a re giv en
something to d o which w ill involve them.
(e) After the class
Where one stud ent is contin ually giving trouble t he teach er sho uld pro bably take
that st udent to one side a fter the class is o ver. It w ill be n ecessar y to explain t o the
studen t why the b ehaviour is anti -social. At the same time the student s hould be
given a c hance to say why he o r she beha ves in this w ay. The teac her ca n also
clearl y spell out th e consequ ences if th e disrup tive beha viour con tinues.
11.4 C onclusions
(f) Using th e institution
When problems become extreme it w ill be nec essar y to use the institution – the
school o r institute – to s olve them. Many instit utes w ill then s eek the h elp of th e
child's p arents (where childr en ar e conce rned). This seems a reasonable t hing to
do since it is impor tant fo r parents to b e inv olved in their c hildren 's educatio n. They
can be contacte d in cases of continual la teness, Xniang y,, forgettin g to b ring
materials and b ad be haviour.
The institution, o f cou rse, has t he final po wer of e xpulsion o r exclusio n; it is to be
hope d that it is almost ne ver used . The instituti on does als o have the po wer to
warn students o f the co nsequenc es of thei r action, to chan ge stude nts from one
class to a nothe r and to explain to students its attitude t owards bad be haviour.
Teache rs should not ha ve to suf fer serious p roblems on th eir own. They should
consult t heir co -ordinators, depa rtment h eads a nd princi pals w hen they need help.
There a re, of c ourse, other possible co urses of action w here indisciplin e takes
place; t he options we have lo oked at a void the p ossibilit y of eith er ph ysical assault
or humiliation: b oth a re seri ously wrong par ticularl y for childr en and a dolescents .
In this ch apter we have disc ussed the subject of class manag ement. W e have
seen t hat a te acher h as a number o f differen t roles a nd that the ad option of o nly
one o f these ( e.g. t eacher as cont roller ) will be det riment al to a v aried an d
interesting class. Teache rs must be aware of t he dif feren t roles t hey can a dopt an d
know when and h ow to use t hem.
426

We have discussed s tudent g roupi ngs and s hown how locks tep on its ow n is not
sufficient. W e have sho wn the ad vantages a nd disad vantages o f pair work,
groupwork a nd indi vidual stud y and discussed t heir importa nce du ring the le arning
process, sho wing that it is du ring g roup-and p airwork that a l ot of r eal lear ning
(rather than t eaching ) takes plac e since the s tudents c an re ally use langu age to
communicate w ith one ano ther.
253
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
We have discussed t he dif ficult pr oblem of discipline and said that it involves a
code o f conduct d esigned s o that le arning c an be ef ficient a nd ef fective. W e have
shown some re asons fo r indiscipline a nd w e have also sug gested some action that
can be taken w hen the co de of co nduct is not adhe red to.
Discussion
1 When do you think the te acher s hould act a s a cont roller? Why?
2 Can y ou think of any other roles the t eacher might a dopt in th e classro om apa rt
from the o nes mentioned he re?
3 Ho w much time do you think should b e devoted to lockste p, pair work,
groupwork a nd indi vidual stud y?
4 Why do y ou think g roupwork is important ?
5 Can y ou think of any other reasons w hy discipline pr oblems might occu r othe r
than t hose qu oted in 1 1.3.1 ?
6 Do y ou agr ee w ith the various c ourses o f action in 11.3.2? W hat other a ction
would you be p repared to t ake in cases o f indiscipline?
Exercises
1 Take an y two activ ities f rom Chap ters 6 -10 of this book a nd sa y what roles t he
teache r will be a dopting f or eac h activ ity and wh y.
2 Lo ok at the t extbook y ou are using ( or one you are familiar w ith) and id entify
those a ctivities w hich a re inten ded fo r pair -and/ or groupwork.
3 Take an y activity from y our textbook ( or one y ou are familiar w ith) w hich is
conce rned w ith practice o utput o r com municati ve output a nd sa y how you would
organise the a ctivity.
427

4 Take a r eading a nd/or listening e xercise f rom your tex tbook ( or one you are
famil iar with) and sa y what y ou will do f or the lead-in stage. W hat instructio ns will
you give?
5 What items w ould you include in a 'code of cond uct' fo r a class of t hirtee n-year-
olds? Ma ke a list a nd then d ecide ho w you would present the co de to th e class.
Refer ences
1 On t he rol e of the t eache r see A Wright ( 1987 ), and H W iddowson ( 1987 ) in
more philosop hical ve in. A McLean 's pro vocative views on the traditional r ole of
the te acher (McLean 198 0) are also w orth r eading.
R Go wer and S W alters (19 83) Cha pters 2 and 3 d iscuss the b ehav iour of the
teache r and the management of a cl assroom.
2 K Blanchard et al. ( 1987 ) in thei r book Leaders hip and t he One M inute M anage r
– written fo r corporati on management in the USA – see th e extr emes in fo ur sta ges:
directi ng – co aching – suppo rting — d elegating where d elegating is di rectly
opposit e to the d irecting (or contr olling) r ole.
3 See C Cr ouch (1 989) for examples o f successful ' perfo rmance teachin g'.
4 See T Lowe (1985 ).
5 The teache r's rol e in lockstep c an chan ge. W Plumb (1 978) s hows examples of
this.
254
CLASS M ANAG EMENT
6 On g roupwork see D Byrne (1 986) pp. 76 -80, A Littlejohn ( 1987 ) and G Jacobs
(1988).
7 D B yrne (see r eference 6 ) sugges ts gro ups of r oughl y equal size.
M Long (1 977) s uggests t hat it is not n ecessa ry to ha ve groups of eq ual size if the
sociog ram (or similar de vice) indicates u nequal g roups .
8 D Atkinson (1 987) argues that w e have ign ored t he ben efits that mothe r tongu e
use can bring.
9 See J Reid ( 1987 ).
10 A number of the ideas in this s ection r esulted f rom colla boratio n with Jean
Pender a nd oth er collea gues at t he Institut o Anglo -Mexicano de Cult ura in
428

Guadal ajara.
255
12
Plan ning
12.1 Planning, tex tbooks an d the s yllabus
12.2 Planning p rinciples
12.3 What teac hers sh ould kno w
12.3. 1 The job of teachin g
12.3. 2 The institu tion
12.3. 3 The stu dents
12.4 The p re-plan
12.5 The pla n
12.5. 1 A specimen lesson pla n
12.6 Conclusions Discussio n/Exercises/Refe rences
In previous cha pters we
have come to
conclusions a bout a
gene ral methodological
approach ( see Chap ter 4)
and w e have look ed at a
number of i deas fo r
various learni ng and t eaching st ages (s ee Chapte rs 5 to 10). W e have
discussed t he nee d for t he teach er to a dopt dif ferent r oles and f or
different student g roupings (se e Chapte r 11). We are now in a p osition
to consid er ho w we can inclu de such ide as in ou r own classes i n less
than a purely random way.
The best tec hniques a nd acti vities w ill not h ave much point if t hey are not, in s ome
way, integr ated into a program me of st udies and f ew teach ers w ould take an
activity or piece of mate rial into class w ithout first h aving a r eason for doing so.
The best te achers a re those w ho think care fully about wh at the y are going to d o in
their classes and wh o plan h ow they are goi ng to o rganise t he teachi ng and
429

learning.
In this ch apter we will conside r such issues a nd come to some conclusions a bout
the g uiding pri nciples behin d lesson pla nning. W e are concer ned ab out ho w to
plan a cl ass ( whether it is o f forty-five, fift y, sixty or sev enty-five minutes' du ration )
taking int o conside ration w hat the st udents h ave rec ently been doing a nd w hat we
hope t hey will do in t he futu re. W e will not consid er an o verall pl an of stu dy (for a
term or a year), since d ecisions abo ut the s yllabus and g eneral c ourse c ontent a re
often t aken no t by the in dividual teac her b ut by a sch ool autho rity: we will confine
ourselves to th e teache r's role in plan ning (al though i n 12.1 w e will make some
comments abo ut ho w such courses are g enerally describ ed).
We will look a t plannin g, textbo oks and th e syllabus, pla nning p rinciples, w hat
teache rs shoul d kno w, the p re-plan and the plan.
12.1
Plan ning, textbooks an d the sy llabus
All too often o verall d ecisions abo ut cours e conten t are n ot take n by teach ers, b ut
by some highe r autho rity. Of cours e it w ill be nec essar y for a la rge institu tion to
know that the same kind of teaching is t aking place in all of its classes at the s ame
level, but previous decisions a bout the exact s yllabus and th e textbo ok to be u sed
can oft en tie te achers t o a st yle of teaching a nd to t he conte nt of th e classes if
they are not caref ul.
Many institutions p resent t he syllabus in terms of the main text book to b e used: b y
a certain dat e teache rs are expect ed to ha ve covered a ce rtain
256
PLANNING
number of u nits in the book. At the same time teache rs are o ften p rovided w ith a
list of sup plementa ry material an d activ ities tha t are a vailable. W hether o r not t he
cours e is tied to a particular te xtbook, its s yllabus w ill gene rally have a list of
langua ge items at its cor e (see 3 .6): the assumption bei ng made is that th ese
langua ge items will be new for the st udents a nd should t herefore b e intr oduced t o
them in the o rder of the s yllabus.
430

Where a textbo ok is inv olved there a re obvious ad vantages fo r both teache r and
studen ts. Good t extbooks o ften con tain liv ely and i nteresti ng material; the y provide
a sensible progression o f langua ge items, clearly showing w hat has to be l earnt
and in s ome cases summarising w hat has bee n studied s o that st udents ca n
revise g rammatical an d function al points th at the y have been concent rating o n.
Textbo oks can be s ystematic about the amoun t of v ocab ulary present ed to th e
studen t and allo w students t o stud y on their ow n outsid e the class. G ood text books
also r elieve the t eache r from the p ressur e of ha ving to think o f origi nal material fo r
every class. Inde ed the re is a g reate r variety of publish ed material fo r teachin g and
learning English than ever before.
But textbo oks can also h ave an a dverse effect on te aching fo r a number o f
reasons.1 As we have already said t hey tend to conce ntrate on the introd uction of
new language a nd cont rolled w ork: a te acher r elying to o hea vily on the text book
will often n ot be e ncoura ged to p rovide e nough roughly-tuned input o r output
practice (see Chapte r 4). Textbooks also te nd to follo w the same format fr om one
unit to t he next . There are g ood r easons wh y this should be the c ase: the y are
thus e asier to ' get to know' and to ha ndle, bot h for t eache r and st udent, a nd the y
are also easie r to desi gn and wr ite. But this similarit y of format gene rally involves a
rigid s equence. Almost all textbooks a t the el ementa ry level sta rt by introducin g
new language, f or ex ample, a nd the y then follo w a sequenc e of pr actice combining
the n ew langua ge w ith lang uage th e studen ts alrea dy know. Readin g and liste ning
gene rally have a set place in the se quence a nd each u nit looks more o r less like
those t hat come befo re and a fter it .
Discernin g teache rs with time to spa re can mo ve around t he material selectin g
what they want to use and discardin g par ts of the u nits that s eem to them to be
inapp ropriate. M ost teache rs, tho ugh, a re und er consid erable pressu re bo th
becaus e the y are oblige d to complete the syllabus and because t hey teac h a
number of cl asses. They are also i nfluenced b y the at titude of t he institutio n, thei r
colleagu es and th e studen ts who someti mes see the text book not just as the
provider of a syllabus b ut also as a programme of stu dy and acti vities that has to
be closel y followed.
431

There a re two major reasons wh y such an attitude ma y not b e in the best inte rests
of eith er stud ents or teache rs. In t he first pl ace teach ers w ho over-use a t extbook
and t hus re peatedl y follow the seq uence in e ach unit ma y become bo ring o ver a
period of time for t hey will find th emsel ves te aching the same type of acti vities in
the same or der a gain and again. I n such a situ ation, e ven with goo d textbo oks,
studen ts ma y find the stud y of English becoming ro utine an d thus less a nd less
motivatin g. Classes w ill start appe aring inc reasingl y similar an d the r outine w ill
become incre asingl y monotonous. O ne of t he cor nersto nes of go od planni ng is the
use of v ariety in teaching p recisel y to offset this ten denc y (see 12.2 ). The o ther
main
257
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
12.2
Planning
principl es3
reason fo r worrying abo ut textb ooks is that t hey are not wr itten fo r your class.
Each gro up of stu dents is po tentiall y different from an y other (see 12 .3.3) a nd
while most published b ooks a re written w ith a ' gene ral' stud ent audi ence in mind
your class is unique . It ma y not confo rm to the ge neral p attern, and t he stude nts
need t o be t reated individuall y.
Another worry is whether the t extbook h as a bala nce of skills an d activ ities that we
said w as desirable f or the balance d activ ities ap proach (see 4 .4). The need for
balance is also a moti vational co nsiderati on since, as we have sai d, a teac her w ho
follows a p rogramme of sim ilar activities da y after d ay will bore the stud ents. In
12.2 we will study the n eed fo r variety in lesson p lanning in some d etail. The
balance d activ ities ap proach realises t he nee d for b alance, in t erms of the dif ferent
activities w ith which the stu dents a re faced , in or der to provide them with an
interesting an d varied programme of stu dy. And the b est pe rson to a chiev e the
correct bala nce is the t eache r who kno ws the stud ents and c an gau ge_the n eed
for variety and w hat the balanc e should b e. This is pa rticularl y true in the plan ning
432

of acti vities d uring t he pr e-pla n stage ( see 12 .4(a)).
It is not b eing sug gested t hat textb ooks ar e someho w dest ructiv e: the bette r ones
are written b y teache rs and writers with conside rable k nowledge a nd skill and h ave
much to recommend them; textbook wr iters a re inc reasingl y respon ding to t he kind
of worries ex presse d her e, attempting to b uild flexibilit y and balance i nto thei r
materials. But the t extbook r arely has the p erfec t balance t hat the teache r is
looking f or. The t extbook, in other words, is an aid ( often t he most impor tant on e
there is) a nd not a sacred text. Teache rs will hav e to work out the b est w ays to us e
their books; th ey should n ever let the tex tbook use them, or dictat e the d ecisions
they take about the acti vities in which the st udents a re goi ng to be involved. The
conten ts of the p re-plan ( see 12. 4) will sho w how othe r conside rations ( apart from
just textb ook and s yllabus) a re inco rporated int o the pla nning p rocess.2
The t wo overriding principles b ehind g ood lesson planning are j^gxihility ,. Variety
means involving stud ents in a n umber of dif ferent types of acti vity and where
possible int roducin g them to a w ide selection of materi als; it means planning s o
that le arning is i nteresti ng and n ever monoto nous fo r the stu dents. F lexibilit y
comes into pla y when dealing w ith the pla n in the class room; for a ny number of
reasons w hat the teach er has planned may not be app ropriate fo r that class on
that p articula r day. The flexibl e teache r will be abl e to chan ge the pl an in such a
situation. Flexibilit y is th e char acteristic w e would exp ect from the g enuinel y
adapt able teac her.
We have alre ady com mented o n the d ange r of ro utine an d monoton y and how
studen ts ma y become de -motiva ted if the y are al ways faced w ith the same t ype of
class. This da nger c an onl y be avoided if the teac her b elieves that t he lea rning
expe rience sh ould be p ermanentl y stimulating and interes ting. This is dif ficult to
achie ve, b ut at le ast if the ac tivities the stu dents a re faced with are varied there will
be th e inter est of doin g different things. If n ew langu age is al ways introduc ed in the
same way (e.g. if it is al ways introduce d in a dialo gue) t hen the introd uction stag es
of the class w ill become gradually less and l ess challengin g. If all r eading ac tivities
always
433

258
PLANNING
concent rate o n ext racting specific i nformation an d nev er ask the st udents t o do
anything else, r eading w ill become less int erestin g. The same is tru e of an y activity
that is co nstantl y repeate d. Our aim must be to p rovide a variety of differen t
learning acti vities w hich will help indi vidual s tudents t o get to grips w ith the
langua ge. And this means giv ing th e studen ts a pu rpose a nd telling th em what the
purpose is. Studen ts need t o kno w why they are doing s omething and w hat it is
suppos ed the y will achi eve. We have stressed the need f or a p urpos e partic ularly
with com municati ve ac tivities (see 5 .3) and re ceptiv e skills (s ee 10.1. 2): but
teache rs must have a p urpos e for a ll the acti vities t hey organise in a class and
they should com municate t hat pu rpose to their st udents.
In an y one class th ere w ill be a number of different p erson alities w ith dif ferent
ways of lo oking at th e world. The acti vity that is pa rticularl y approp riate f or on e
studen t may not be ideal f or another . But t eache rs who vary their teaching
approach ma y be abl e to satisf y most of th eir stud ents at dif ferent times.
Variety is a princi ple that a pplies especiall y to a se ries of classes. O ver a tw o-week
period, fo r example, w e will try and do dif ferent thi ngs in the cl asses. V ariety also
applies t o a lesse r extent t o a single cl ass perio d. Although the re are some
activities tha t can last f or fift y minutes it se ems gen erally true that changes o f
activity during tha t time a re ad visable. An introduc tion of n ew langua ge that las ted
for fifty minutes would p robabl y be counte r-producti ve, and it is n oticeable h ow an
over-long a ccurat e rep roductio n stage ti res stud ents and fails to be v ery effective.
We would not ex pect, eith er, to ask t he stud ents to e ngage in r eadin g
comprehensio n for a whole class. W e might, ho weve r, be abl e to base a whole
class on o ne re ading pass age, bu t only if we varied th e activ ities tha t we could u se
with it. Thus we might g et stud ents to r ead to extrac t specific info rmation ; this
could b e follo wed by some discussi on, some intensi ve work and s ome kind o f
written or o ral follo w-up. Child ren, es peciall y, need to d o different things in f airly
quick successio n since the y will generally not be a ble to co ncentr ate on o ne
activity for a long s tretch o f time.
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The teache r who believes in v ariety will have to be flexible since the o nly way to
provide va riety is to use a number of dif ferent tec hniques: n ot all of t hese w ill fit
into on e methodolog y (teache rs should be im mediatel y suspicio us of an yone w ho
says they have the answer to langu age teac hing fo r this w ill imply a lack of
flexibilit y).
Good less on planni ng is the a rt of mixing tech niques, acti vities a nd materials in
such a wa y that a n ideal bala nce is cre ated fo r the class . In a g eneral l anguag e
cours e the re will be w ork on th e four skills (althou gh a te acher w ill probabl y come
to a d ecision abo ut the r elativ e merits of e ach skill): t here w ill be pres entation a nd
controlled pr actice, r oughl y-tuned in put (r ecepti ve skill w ork) a ndjx>m municati ve
activities. Dif ferent studen t groupings w ill be us ed.
If teac hers h ave a la rge v ariety of tec hniques a nd acti vities th at the y can use w ith
studen ts the y can then a pply themselv es to the centr al question o f lesson
plannin g: 'What is it t hat m y students w ill feel, k now or be able t o do at the en d of
the class ( or classes) th at the y did not fe el or kn ow or w ere no t able to d o at th e
beginni ng of th e class (o r classes )?' W e can sa y, for
259
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
12.3
Wha t teachers
should know
12.3. 1 The job of teaching
example, that t hey will feel more p ositi-v e about lea rning English at t he end of the
class than they did a t the b eginning as a res ult of acti vities t hat w ere enjo yable; w e
can sa y that the y will know some new langu age that they did n ot kno w before ; we
can sa y that the y will be able to write a t ype of let ter th at the y were no t able to
write before, for e xample.
In ans wering t he cent ral questio n teache rs will cre ate the o bjectives fo r the class.
Students ma y be in volved in a game-like a ctivity because the teac her's objective is
to ha ve them relax a nd feel more p ositiv e abou t their English cl asses. The
435

studen ts ma y be given a r eading passage t o work on beca use the t eacher 's
objective is t o improve thei r abilit y to ex tract sp ecific information f rom written tex ts.
New langu age ma y be int roduced b ecause t he objective is t hat stud ents shoul d
know how to refer to the past , for e xample.
We will return to these issues in 12. 4 and 1 2.5 but fi rst w e will look a t what the
teache r shoul d kno w before st arting t o plan.
Before t eache rs can sta rt to co nsider pl anning th eir classes t hey need to kno w a
conside rable amount a bout th ree main ar eas: the job of teachi ng, the ins titution
and the studen ts.
Clearl y well-pre pared teache rs nee d to kno w a lot abo ut the job they are to do
before the y can sta rt to make successful pl ans. There are six ma jor are as of
necessa ry knowledge.
(a) The la nguage f or the lev el
Clearl y teachers must kno w the lang uage th at the y are to t each. B y 'kno w' we
mean that te achers must be a ble to us e the lan guage t hemsel ves a nd also h ave
an insigh t into the rules t hat go vern its fo rm and the fac tors w hich affect its use.
This is obviously the r esult n ot onl y of the teac her's ow n kno wledge of English b ut
also of p reparation a nd stud y where facts abo ut langu age can b e abso rbed.4
(b) The skills fo r the le vel
Teache rs nee d to 'kn ow' the skills th ey are going to ask thei r students to pe rform. It
is no go od asking st udents t o do a r eport if y ou cannot do it yourself!
-, (c) The learni ng aids a vailable for the le vel
We need to kn ow what aids are a vailable an d app ropriat e for t he le vel w e are
teachin g. These ma y include wa ll pictures, flashcar ds, flirjeharts, ca rds, cha rts,
tapes, t ape r ecord ers, v ideo pla yback machines, Q verhead pr ojectors, c ompute r
hardware a nd soft ware, se ts of books and materials a nd, of co urse, t he boa rd.
(d) Stages an d techniqu es in teachi ng
We need to kn ow and r ecognise different t eaching t echniques a nd stag es. W e
need t o kno w the differenc e bet ween accur ate re production and communicativ e
activities so t hat w e do not, fo r example, act as contr oller in b oth cases. W e also
need t o be a ble to r ecognise st ages in th e textbo ok
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260
PLANNING
12.3. 2
The institution
we are using so that w e realise w hen an acti vity is controlle d rather th an free and
vice versa. In pa rticular , then, w e must ha ve a working kno wledge of th e issues
discussed in Chapte r 5 and the p rinciples behi nd the t eaching of recep tive skills.
(e) A repert oire of activities
Well-prepared teachers have a la rge repertoire o f acti vities fo r thei r classes. They
can o rganise p resen tation an d cont rolled out put pr actice; the y can dir ect studen ts
in the a cquiring of rec eptiv e skills and o rganise genuin ely com municativ e acti vities.
This repertoire of acti vities e nables them to ha ve varied plans an d achie ve an
activities bala nce.
(f) Classro om management skills
Well-prepared teachers will have goo d classro om management skills (see Ch apter
11). They will be able to adopt a number of dif ferent r oles, w ill be a ble to use
different student g roupings, and will be able t o ma intain discipline.
These ar eas ar e all vi tally important f or a t eacher and th ey all imply a lot of work
particularl y where a le vel is being t aught fo r the fi rst time. W ithout thes e are as of
knowledge a teac her is in a poor position t o make decisions abo ut lesson
plannin g.
Teache rs nee d to kno w a lot abo ut the instit ution in so f ar as it is i nvolved w ith their
teachin g. The follo wing fiv e areas of kn owledge a re crucial.
(a) Time, length, f requency
It soun ds sill y to emphasise that the teac her sh ould kno w at what time, for how
long a nd ho w often classes t ake place. Ne vertheless this is clea rly impor tant since
it will affect all planni ng.
(b) Ph ysical conditions
Teache rs nee d to kno w what ph ysical conditions exist i n the plac e(s) t hat the y are
going t o teach. I t is no go od taking i n an elect rically powered ta pe rec order if the re
437

is no socke t for a plug in t he classro om! W hen planning it w ill be important to bear
that kin d of det ail in mind as we ll as more ma jor conside rations like t he conditi on of
the ch airs and blackboa rd, the bright ness of th e lighting, t he size of t he ro om, etc.
(c) Syllabus
It is clea rly important to b e familiar w ith the syllabus the i nstitution h as for t he
levels that are b eing tau ght. W e will have to b e sure in gene ral te rms that we can
cover the ma jority of the syllabus w here p ossible. It is impossible to pla n within an
institution w ithout such knowledge .
(d) Exa ms
It is also e xtremel y important to k now what type of ex ams (if a ny) the stude nts w ill
have to take an d when, since clearl y a major respo nsibilit y of
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THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
12.3. 3
The students
the te acher w ill be to t ry and e nsure t hat the s tudents a re succ essful in tests a nd
exams.
(e) Restrictio ns
Teache rs should be aware of a ny restrictions imposed b y the institution upon t heir
teachin g: apa rt from the o bvious re strictions o f physical size a nd shap e of the
classro om, the re are also th e limitations o f class size, a vailability of aids a nd
physical con ditions (s ee (b ) abo ve).
Clearl y a knowledge of all thes e things is v ital if t he teac her is to make pla ns that
are realistic in t he circumstances.
Teache rs nee d to kno w a conside rable amount a bout thei r stude nts. W e have
already made the poi nt that e ach class is uniq ue (se e 12.1 ) and a s a res ult, each
class w ill need t o be t reated differentl y. Nowhere is this more t rue th an in plan ning,
where w e select t he acti vities th at will be suita ble for o ur students. I n ord er to d o
so we obviously need to kno w a lot abou t them.
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Teache rs nee d to kno w who the stud ents ar e, what the students bring t o the class
and what the stud ents nee d.
(a) Who the s tudents a re
It is ob viously necessa ry for teache rs to kno w about t he follo wing things:
Age: How old a re the students ? Are the y child ren? Adolescents ? In eac h case the y
will need t o be t reated dif ferently (see 1.3 ) from each o ther and f rom an adult
class. Are the y all more or less t he same age?
Sex: Are the y all girls/ women? Is th ere a mixture of the sexes? Are th ey all men?
In an i deal w orld the sex o f the st udents sh ould make no dif ference to th e activ ities
and co ntent of the lesson . In pr actice, ho wever, there are still count ries w here a
teache r may well feel that what is suita ble for o ne sex is n ot suitable for the othe r.
Social backgr ound: It is import ant to kn ow if your students are rich or poor;
whether or not th ey are u sed to lu xury or are opp ressed b y it. What kind of
beha viour is usu al in the soci al class to w hich they belon g? In a cl assless societ y
where w ealth was adequ ately shared this might not b e so important . Such
societies d o not exist, howeve r! Especiall y where a small minorit y of the stu dents
come from a different s ocial backg round t o the r est of t he class it w ill be v ital to
take this f act into acc ount w hen plannin g the con tent of y our class.
Occupatio n: Clearl y the occupa tion of y our stud ents w ill help y ou to make
decisions a bout y our plan ning. W here a teac her is fo rtuna te enou gh to h ave thirt y
studen ts who all ha ve the same occup ation (s ee 1.1 ( d)) the t ask w ill be
conside rably easie r since ass umptions c an be made ab out w hat things the
studen ts kno w and what acti vities t hey are used t o. Cert ainly this is the c ase w ith
second ary scho ol classes, etc., b ut with adults the re is usuall y a variety of different
occupati ons re presen ted b y the studen ts.
Of thes e four items the most dif ficult to a scertain will be the st udents' s ocio-
262
PLANNING
economic backg round. Teachers might w ell prepare a confide ntial questio nnaire at
the b eginning o f the te rm/se mester t o help t hem get an idea o f such inf ormation.
439

(b) What the students b ring t o the class
Teache rs nee d to kno w how the st udents fe el about l earnin g English and w hat
they 'know'. Again the re are fou r major ar eas for them to inv estigate :
Motivation a nd attitu de: How do the stude nts feel ab out lea rning English? Are t hey
gene rally positi ve about coming to class ? Do the y feel frien dly or hostile to wards
the cult ure th at English re presen ts for t hem? What is their a ttitude t o teache rs and
to thei r English teach er in p articula r? Clea rly special ef forts will have to b e made
with hostile s tudents h aving ne gativ e attitu des and t eache rs might we ll place a
greater emphasis o n motivatin g the stu dents th an on a nything else, at least f or a
time.
Educational b ackgro und: Closel y tied to moti vation an d attitud e is the ed ucational
backg round o f the stu dents. Clea rly the co ntent of the class w ill be d ifferent if t he
studen ts are p ostgr aduates t han if th ey have never got be yond primar y education.
At the same ti me th e educatio nal expe riences o f the stu dents a re important. Some
studen ts who have been p reviousl y unsuccessful ma y need more encou ragement
than u sual. The st yle of thei r previous lea rning is also import ant. Students wh o
have been ri gidly disciplined in a classroom w here the t eacher is the onl y person
speaking may find t he sudd en insistence on com munication a nd inte raction dif ficult
to take (and vice versa). Again the t eache r may think it a goo d idea to iss ue a
questio nnaire – or at least t alk to the s tudents in formall y – at the begin ning of th e
term/semester .
Knowledge: Teachers w ill want to kno w about v arious as pects of th e studen ts'
knowledge. Fo r example w e will obviously want to k now how much English each
studen t kno ws. At the same time, though, we will want to k now how well the
studen ts perf orm in their ow n langu age: can t hey write academic pape rs, do th ey
write informal letters fl uentl y?, etc.
Another impor tant ma jor ar ea of kn owledge co ncerns t he w orld in gen eral. Ho w
much do stude nts kno w about cu rrent af fairs? Are the re pa rts of t he w orld about
which the y appea r to b e largel y ignora nt? Are the re large ar eas of kn owledge t hey
do no t hav e? It is vi tal to kno w this since much plannin g will be unsucc essful if w e
assume knowledge of cur rent e vents, etc. which the st udents d o not h ave. It might
440

be w orth ad ding he re that t eache rs are often &cathin g_pbout their st udents'
appa rent ig noranc e; if this is th e case the y should t ry and wo rk out what world
knowledge they are unf amiliar w ith. It is a salut ory experienc e.
Interests: Teachers w ill want to kno w what the s tudents ' inter ests are (and we will
be luck y if we can find a majority inter est in v arious subjects). Often we will take
plannin g decisions o n the basis o f stude nt inter est rat her than an ything else ( see
12.4): it shoul d not be forgotten th at inter est is a p rimary ingredi ent of moti vation.
263
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
(c) What the st udents n eed
We have said th at dif ferent types of st udent w ill need to b e trea ted dif ferently (see
1.3): we also sa w that pe ople lea rn langu ages fo r a variety of dif ferent r easons
(see 1.1). Particularl y in the light o f why our stude nts are studying language we
must analyse what their n eeds a re.
If we are teac hing a g roup o f medical students w ho are unlikel y to have to use oral
English in thei r professional li ves, b ut who need to b e able to read medical
textbo oks in English, w e might at o nce identif y the abilit y to read sci entific texts
(medical, in this cas e) as t he stude nts' ne ed and t heref ore d esign a co urse
consisting e xclusiv ely of ex ercises an d texts d esigned o nly to giv e stu dents this
ability. If our students a re training t o be t ravel guid es, on th e othe r hand, we might
identif y their big gest nee d as being the abilit y to giv e quick o ral desc riptions a nd
answer factual q uestions in English ( as well as the abilit y to 'organise' p eople an d
give directions, etc . in English). The point b eing made is that wh ere p ossible
teache rs or co-o rdinato rs shoul d find out exactl y what it is their s tudents r eally
need English f or5 and use t his knowledge to make decisions ab out cou rse desig n.
What skills should h ave greate r emphasis? Is the re a n eed fo r com municati ve oral
activities o r should t he emphasis be o n writing? The anal ysis of studen t needs
helps to answer these q uestions an d pro vide a sou nd basis fo r cou rse decisions.
The fact tha t a stude nt need has bee n identified , however , does n ot necessa rily
mean that all d ecisions abou t cours e design a nd planni ng can b e taken
441

immediatel y. Two more c onsider ations ar e important; st udent w ants and
methodological p rinciples.
The fact tha t the medical stude nts' nee d is to be a ble to r ead medical texts i n
English does n ot necessa rily mean that all t hey want to do fo r all and e very
English class is re ad medical texts. They might w ant to lea rn some oral English, b e
able to write inf ormal letters, e tc. The t ravel guid e's nee ds ma y be largel y oral but
the stu dents might also w ant to be a ble to r ead English n ovels. In ot her w ords,
needs a nd w ants are n ot necess arily the s ame an d the job of the co urse d esigner
and less on plann er is to t ry and reach a compromise between t he two. Thus the
main theme running t hrough ou r cours e for medical stu dents might be th e rea ding
and u nderst anding o f medical texts. But this might be inte grate d with oral work
about the texts , or might e ven run sid e by side w ith work on oral s ocial English.
What is bein g suggest ed is that we will have to p ay atten tion to w hat the stu dents
want even where it seems to conflict w ith student n eeds.
Even where w ants and needs are c ompatible a nd w ell-established, however , there
may be good r easons for usi ng material w hich is not especiall y directed t owards
those n eeds. W e have al ready stressed t he conce pts of v ariety and flexibilit y in
lesson pla nning an d the y are no l ess important w ith specialist classes th an for the
'general' cl ass. Eve n where studen ts are s tudying English fo r a sp ecific purpose
(ESP, see l.l(d)) teac hers w ill want to include a variety of motiva ting acti vities. The
initial enth usias m of st udents w ho are studying ESP can easil y be dest royed
unless th e teache r remembers ge neral pl anning p rinciples.
The ma jority of stude nts, ho wever, will be stu dying English fo r a re ason tha t makes
their needs dif ficult to identif y (see 3.6. 4). In such cases
264
PLANNING
7
12.4
The pre-p lan
we will teach t he fou r skills, making our d ecisions abo ut ho w much w eight to giv e
each skill ( and th e langua ge to be used) as best w e can.
442

A detailed kno wledge of t he stude nts, then, is essential w hen plannin g what
activities to u se and wh at subject matte r to teac h. It is important f or the studen ts to
be inte rested in the su bject, but it is als o important th at the y should be a ble to
cope w ith its lev el of dif ficulty (not just of the lang uage, b ut also th e content ):
where the re are clearl y definable st udent n eeds it is important for the stude nts to
see th at the te acher h as taken account o f these n eeds an d is org anising classes
accor dingl y – although we should b ear in mind ou r com ments ab out nee ds and
wants and the importa nce of g eneral p lanning p rinciples.
Knowing the s tudents (w ho th ey are, what they bring to class an d what their nee ds
are) will give the teache r a go od idea o f how to provide a programm e of b alanced
activities tha t will be most moti vating a nd most beneficial t o the stu dents.
Teache rs who are kno wledgeable about t he institutio n, the p rofession and th e
studen ts, are ready to sta rt making a plan. Befo re actu ally writing d own the e xact
conten ts of such a plan, h owever, we will need to t hink abou t what we are going to
do in a gene ral w ay so that ou r decisions a re tak en on th e basis of s ound
reasoning. This is wh ere the pre-plan is formed.
The idea of t he pr e-pla n is for t eache rs to get a gene ral idea o f what they are
going t o do in t he next class or classes . Based on o ur kno wledge of t he stude nts
and t he syllabus w e can conside r four main areas: activities, lan guage skills,
langua ge type, and subject a nd conte nt. When we have ideas o f what we want to
do as a result o f conside ring th ese ar eas w e can d ecide w hether s uch ideas a re
feasible gi ven the ins titution an d its rest rictions. W hen this has b een do ne w e have
our pre-plan a nd w e can t hen mo ve to wards the fi nal detailed plan. The concept o f
the p re-plan and h ow it ope rates is s ummarised in figu re 28 .
Teacher's knowledge of the students- who
they are – what the y bring t o class – wh at thei r needs are
Teacher's knowledge of the syllab us
T
Activities
Language skill s
T
443

Language Type
Subj ect a nd content
J
The institution and its restricti ons
T
The plan
Figure 28 The pre -plan
265
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
We will now consider the fou r major elements of th e pre -plan:
(a) Activities
'Activi ties' is a loos e term used t o giv e a g eneral d escriptio n of w hat will happen i n
a class. It is import ant to r ealise th at her e we are not t alking in an y way about
items of languag e; we are talking a bout w hat, gene rally and physically, the
studen ts are g oing to d o.
A game is an a ctivity; so is a simulation. The introd uction of n ew langu age is an
activity; so is p arallel wr iting or story reconst ruction. L istening is a n activ ity and so
is an info rmation gap t ask; 'The hot s eat' ( see 7.1. 4(c)) is an a ctivity, so is a n oral
composition.
An activity is what teachers think of w hen the y are ask ed. 'What a re you going t o
do in class t oday?'. Rathe r than gi ve details th ey will often sa y, 'Oh, I've got a nice
group-wr iting task a nd then we're going t o do a so ng.'
When teac hers t hink of w hat to do in t heir class es it is vi tal to co nsider t he
studen ts and w hat the y have been doing r ecentl y. If, fo r example, the y have bee n
doing la rgely controlled work (e.g. p resenta tion and c ontrolle d prac tice) th en the
teache r may well take a p reliminar y decision t o plan a freer acti vity. Onl y
subseq uentl y will he o r she d ecide w hat skill o r skills this might inv olve. If r ecent
work has been very tiring, challe nging, an d over-serious the t eacher may make an
immediate decision t o include a n acti vity whose ma in purpose is to giv e the
studen ts an enjo yable time. If, on th e othe r hand , the last t wo classes ha ve largel y
444

consisted o f com municati ve acti vities t he teac her ma y decide t o include la nguage
input o r cont rolled w ork.
Teache rs should make d ecisions abou t activ ities inde pendentl y of what language
or language skills they have to teach. Their fi rst planni ng thou ght should centr e
round w hat kind of class w ould be ap propriate fo r the p articula r group of s tudents
on a p articula r day. It is in this c onsider ation of a ctivities as a sta rting p oint fo r
lesson pla nning th at the te acher c an ensu re a moti vating b alance of t he type we
have disc ussed (s ee 4.4 a nd 12.1 ).
It will also be necessa ry to consid er acti vities n ot onl y on the b asis of what the
studen ts hav e been doin g rece ntly but also i n terms of-tk e class pe riod itself. In
other words w e must consider what acti vities t o include in a period of, sa y, sixty
minutes , and h ow to bala nce the dif ferent acti vities w ithin that p eriod o f time. We
have al ready said (see 12.2) that a l ength y sessio n of accu rate r eproduction wo uld
probably be d e-moti vating an d unsuccessf ul. W here presentation is inclu ded in a
class w e will want to make sure that stude nts ar e not onl y involved in a l ockstep
accur ate re production stag e, but a re also i nvolved in ot her moti vating ac tivities. In
gene ral ou r aim will be t o provide a seq uence th at is va ried and d oes not f ollow
one ac tivity with a completel y similar activ ity and t hen follo w that w ith one that is
the same.
The decision a bout w hat activities ar e to be i ncluded in a plan is a v ital first sta ge
in the pl anning p rocess. The teach er is fo rced to c onsider , above all, w hat w ould
be most beneficial a nd motiv ating fo r the st udents.
266
PLANNING
(b) Lan guage skills
Teache rs will have to decide w hat langu age skills to includ e in the class .
Sometimes, of cou rse, this decisio n will alrea dy have been take n when th e activ ity
has be en selecte d (e.g . listening ). In the case of more g eneral activ ities, tho ugh
(e.g. com municati ve acti vity, roughly-tuned inpu t, etc.) we will then d ecide w hether
we wish to c oncent rate on one skill or a combination of skills. E ven wh ere the
choice of activity has d etermined the skill t o be studi ed (e. g. listening ) it w ill still be
445

necessa ry to decide w hat sub-skills the cl ass are g oing to p ractise. In Chapt er 10
we looke d at a n umber of dif ferent ways of liste ning: w hen planning , the te acher
will select w hich of these t ypes of listenin g is most appropriate.
The choice of l anguag e skills to be p ractised a nd studie d will be take n in
accor dance w ith the syllabus. The latte r will often s ay what skills and sub-skills
should b e taug ht duri ng the t erm or year and it w ill be the te acher 's job to co ver
these o ver a p eriod of time. Teachers w ill also make thei r choice o n the b asis of
their students ' needs. They will also be ar in mind w hat the stude nts ha ve been
doing r ecentl y, just as t hey do w hen thinking o f acti vities.
(c) Lang uage t ype
Teache rs will have to decide w hat langu age is to b e focused on du ring the class.
There is, o f cours e, a gr eat range of possibilities he re. W e may decid e that w e
want the langua ge to b e used to be 'g eneral a nd un predicta ble'. This would be th e
case if w e were going to o rganise a 'reaching a consensus ' activ ity or perhaps a
simulation (see 8 .1.1 an d 8.1.7 ). We might deci de, ho wever, that we want to focus
on yes/no questio ns using ' was' and 'were'. These are the two extremes
(completel y free lang uage an d completel y contr olled). Teachers ma y choose t o
concent rate o n a lang uage a rea: w e might w ant our students t o 'talk a bout th e
past' u sing a v ariety of past tenses or in g eneral to conce ntrate on 'in viting'. Mu ch
will depen d on the languag e in the s yllabus.
The choice of l anguag e type is a n ecessar y decision: all t oo often it is the fi rst
decision t hat teach ers make and t hus classes tak e on th e monotonous co ntrolled
aspect t hat w e discuss ed in 12. 2. Here it is onl y one of fou r major are as the
teache r has t o think of wh en drawing up the p re-pla n.
(d) Sub ject and content
We have conside red w hat kind of a ctivity would be suitable fo r our stude nts and
we have decided o n langu age skills and t ype. The las t and in s ome w ays most
important d ecision still has to b e made. W hat kind o f conten t will our class h ave?
We ma y have decided th at a simulation acti vity is ap propriate bu t if the su bject of
that simulation do es not int erest t he stude nts in an y way the choice of acti vity is
wasted. Althoug h we have said it is the t eache r's job to interes t students in a
446

reading passa ge, fo r example, it w ill surel y be more motiv ating to gi ve the stu dents
a reading p assage th at the y would find inte resting w ith or w ithout the teacher .
Teache rs who know who their stud ents ar e and w hat the y bring to class w ill be in a
much better position to choose su bject and c ontent t han a
267
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
12.5 T he plan
teache r who does not. And t his knowledge is vital since on e of lang uage's main
functions is to com municate int erest a nd ideas.
These fou r areas, then, form the basis o f the p re-plan. It sh ould be n oticed tha t two
of them ar e not in a ny way conce rned w ith decisions a bout lan guage, b ut are
based o n what will interest a nd motiva te the st udents. This reflects e verything w e
have sai d about l anguag e use since la nguage is a tool fo r doin g things, n ot just an
abstract s ystem.
Teache rs who concentr ate on a ctivities and su bject and c ontent w ill benefit the
studen ts far more t han th ose w ho only concent rate o n langua ge skills and t ype.
When we have a ge neral id ea of w hat w e are going t o do in o ur class a s a res ult of
conside ring the four a reas i n the p re-plan w e will then conside r the institu tion and
the restrictio ns it i mposes. If we have decided t hat w e want to tak e a song i nto
class w e must make sure th at this is possibl e: is a tap e of the s ong a vailable and
are the tap e reco rders in goo d working order? Is t he acti vity we would like to tak e
into class suit able fo r the n umber of stud ents w e have to teac h? Ho w should w e
organise the a ctivity for that number o f stude nts? W ill we be abl e to do all t he
things w e want to in the time available, a nd if w e can how should w e order the
class? W hat sh ould come first?
Experienc ed teach ers consid er all th ese details w ithout, pe rhaps, consciousl y
realisin g the y are doin g so. The n ew teach er, or the teac her st arting a job in a n ew
school o r institute will have to b ear all t hese poin ts in m ind.
We now have a cl ear ide a of w hat we are going t o do in o ur class: w e are ready to
make a detailed p lan.
447

The plan w e are going to co nsider is e xtremel y detailed a nd it sho uld be
unde rstood t hat most expe rienced t eachers do not wr ite do wn w hat they are going
to do i n such a complicated wa y. The detail in o ur plan and in t he specimen plan in
12.5. 1 is felt to b e necessa ry, however, for two reaso ns. Fi rstly, the inexpe rienced
teache r nee ds a clea r frame work of referenc e for t he task of planning, and
secondl y the fo rm of th e plan fo rces th e teache r to co nsider as pects of pl anning
that a re consi dered desira ble.
There is o ne pa rticular situ ation in w hich a detaile d plan is be neficial and t hat is
when a teache r is to be obser ved: by providing a plan such a teach er clea rly
shows why he or s he is doing things in t he classro om, an d where an acti vity is not
totall y success ful, the o bserver can se e how it would ha ve gone if it h ad been
performed or o rganised more ef ficientl y.
The plan has five ma jor components: description o f the class, recen t work,
objectives, c ontents and addition al possibilities. When we have disc ussed thes e
we will look at a specimen plan.
(a) Descripti on of th e class
Teache rs ma y well carry this pa rt of the plan in th eir he ads: the more f amiliar t hey
become w ith the g roup the more th ey will know about them. The desc ription o f the
class embraces a descripti on of th e students , a statement of time, f requenc y and
duration of t he class, an d com ments abo ut
268
PLANNING
physical con ditions and /or restrictio ns. W e will see h ow this w orks in the s pecimen
plan o n page 2 70.
(b) Recent work
Teache rs nee d to ha ve in their heads – or on pap er – details of r ecent work the
studen ts hav e done. This inclu des thg ^activities the y have bee n inv olved in, the
subject and conte nt of thei r lessons a nd the l anguag e skills and type that th ey
have st udied. Onl y if all this is kno wn (or remember ed) ca n teache rs make
reasonable pl anning d ecisions abou t futu re classes ( see especi ally 12.4(a)).
448

(c) Objectives
We will write do wn what ou r objectives a re for the class. We will usuall y have more
than o ne since t here w ill be a number o f stages in t he class an d each o ne w ill be
there to achi eve some kind of objectiv e.
Objectives a re the aims that teache rs ha ve for the students and a re written in
terms of w hat the stud ents w ill do o r achie ve. They are written in gen eral te rms
(e.g. 'The objective is t o rela x the stu dents' ), in te rms of skills ( e.g. 't o giv e
studen ts practic e in ext racting specific i nformation f rom a t ext') a nd in te rms of
langua ge (e .g. 'to g ive stude nts prac tice in the u se of th e past simple tense usi ng
regular a nd irregula r verbs, questions a nd ans wers' ). The wr itten objectiv es will be
more or l ess specific dep ending o n how specific t he teac her's a ims ar e.
The ob jectives, t hen, a re the aims the t eacher has fo r the stu dents. They may refer
to acti vities, skills, la nguage type or a combination of all of thes e.
(d) Conte nts
By far the most detailed pa rt of t he plan is t he section in which the c ontents a re
written do wn. Here we spell out exac tly what we are goi ng to do in the class. The
'Conte nts' sectio n has fi ve headings:
Context: Here we write do wn what cont ext w e will be usi ng for the acti vity. Context
means 'what the situation is: what the sub ject of t he lea rning is'. The conte xt for
introducing ne w languag e might b e a flight timetable; the cont ext fo r an o ral
composition m ight b e a sto ry about a man going t o the zoo . The cont ext fo r a
simulation might b e 'The tra vel agenc y'.
Activity and class o rganisatio n: Here we indicate wh at the a ctivity will be (se e
11.4(a)) and w e say whether the class w ill be work ing in lockstep, p airs, g roups o r
teams, etc.
Aids: We indic ate w hether w e will be using th e blackboa rd or a w all pictu re, th e
tape r ecorder o r the textbook , etc.
Lang uage: Here we describe t he langu age that will be used. I f new language is t o
be int roduce d we will list some or all of t he models. If the activity is an o ral
communicati ve acti vity we might o nly write 'unpredictable'. Other wise w e may write
'advice l anguag e', fo r example, and gi ve some indication of wh at kind o f langua ge
449

items we expect.
269
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Possible pro blems: Many activities ca n be ex pected to be pr oblematic in some
way. We can o ften an ticipate tha t the ne w languag e for a pres entation s tage ma y
cause p roblems because of its fo rm. The introd uction of t he past simple ma y
cause p roblems because of the dif ferent v erb endings: ques tion fo rms ar e often
difficult because of word ord er, etc. W e should be aware of t hese possible
problems an d hav e considere d ways of sol ving them. Certain a ctivities ha ve
complicated or ganisation. Again w e should b e aware of this a nd kno w how to
overcome it.
12.5. 1
A specimen lesson
plan6
(e) Additional possibilities
Here we write down oth er acti vities we could use if it becomes necessa ry (e.g. if
we get t hrough the pl an quicke r than we thoug ht or if one of o ur ac tivities has to b e
stoppe d becaus e it is not w orking w ell).
All these details, t hen, fo rm the ma jor part of the pl an.
We can now look a t an ex ample of t he kind o f plan w e have bee n discussing.
We will now look at a s pecimen less on plan w hich closel y follo ws the model we
have described . It is design ed fo r an ad ult class that h as been studying for ab out
two hundred hours – the students a re near the begin ning of th eir sixth t erm.
In order t o sho w how the pla n ope rates most of the a ctivities w ill come from earlier
chapte rs of t his book. The rea ding material comes from a text book at t his level
which it is assumed th e students are u sing as a class text (s ee pag e 192 ). The
recent work is based o n the s yllabus of the t extbook.
Where page n umbers and ot her references a re given t he teac her sh ould re fer to
earlie r sections of this bo ok.
A – Descriptio n of the cl ass
Specimen p lan
450

Level: Intermediate
Students b etween th e ages o f 16-2 5. 21 w omen, 9 men ( 6 secr etaries, 5
house wives , 10 uni versity stud ents, 3 te achers, 1 docto r, 1 busin essman, 4
second ary stud ents).
The class takes pl ace from 7.45 -9.00 p .m. on Monda ys and W ednesda ys. The
studen ts are g enerally enthusias tic, but oft en tire d: concen tration sometimes
suffers as a result . Students ha ve completed app roximatel y 200 h ours of English.
270
PLANNING
B – Recent work
Students h ave been studying the passi ve – disco very activ ities follo wed
by lang uage p ractice.
Writing complete passi ve se ntences a bout e.g . the w orld's fi rst postag e
stamp, the V W Beetl e, etc.
Listening work (listening fo r detailed comprehensi on).
Writing notes b ased on the listenin g.
C – Objectiv es (for details s ee 'Conte nts' below)
1 To cre ate inte rest in th e topic of b uildings: to p romote discussion .
2 To raise expectati ons and c reate i nvolvement in a re ading task .
3 To read to con firm expectations.
4 To stud y relevant words.
5 To prepare a desc ription of a famous building.
D – Con tents
Objective 1: (Estimated time: 15 minutes)
(a
)Context:Stude nts' o wn lives –
buildings.
(b
)Activity
/class
organisa
tion:Discussion (buzz g roups ) in
small groups to ag ree o n the
five most famous buildin g and
say how they make them feel.S
S
;s
inar
e
th
easke
d
world
(c)Aids:None.
(dLang uagAll and a ny.
451

)e:
(e
)Possible
problem
s:Stude nts ma y not ha ve much to
say. The t eache r prepared to
prompt if necessa ry – or sho rten th e
if that seems appropriat e.will
be
activit
y
uim
Objective 2: (Estimated time: 10 minutes)
(a)Context:'Creating expectati ons' ab out the Empire
State Building.
(b)Activity 1
class
organisa
tion:Whole cl ass contri butes sug gestions to T
who w rites them up i n 3 columns on the
board ( see 1 0.4.1 ( a) page 191 ).
(c)Aids:Board; chalk o r boa rd pe n, etc.
(d)Lang uag
e:All and a ny; 'buildin gs' vocab ulary.
(e)Possible
problem
s:Stude nts don' t kno w anything abo ut the
Empire State Building! T can p rompt with
'Is it tall?' ' Where is it? ', etc.
271
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
Objective 3: (Estimated time: 25 minutes)
(a) Context: A text ab out the Empire State Building ( see pa ge 192 ).
(b) Activity/class Students r ead indi vidually and t hen check in pairs t o see
organisation: if the questio ns/doubts written o n the b oard have been settled by the
information in t he text. T then leads t he feed back session a nd discusses w ith the
whole class.
(c) Aids: The text (i n the te xtbook ): the ' expectatio ns' cha rt on
the b oard.
(d) Lang uage: All and an y – especiall y vocabular y relate d to buildin gs.
(e) Possible The ' expectatio ns' questi ons ma y not be a nswered in the
problems: text. T will have prepare d a se ries of t ype 2 questio ns for d etailed
comprehensio n (or will find them in the b ook bein g used ) e.g. 'H ow man y
boroughs make up Ne w York City? Where exac tly is the ES B situate d in
452

Manhattan? W hen was it built ?', etc.
Objective 4: (Estimated time: 10 minutes)
(a) Context: Words a bout dif ferent kinds o f building.
(b) Activity I class In pai rs stude nts ha ve to put ' buildings' w ords
organisation: (e.g. block of flats, sk yscraper , house, b ungalo w, hut, palace,
cottag e, semi- detache d, detach ed, te rrace d, etc.) in ord er of h eight, o verall size,
privacy, worth, etc. T then discusses th eir conclusio ns.
(c) Aids:
Wordlist/textbo ok.
(d) Lang uage: As in (b) abo ve); discussion l anguag e. 'Buildings' w ords.
(e) Possible Stude nts don' t kno w any of the w ords. Ma ybe they problems:
know all of them. T assesses the situati on and is
prepared for more e xplanatio n or t o cut the activity short and mo ve on.
272
PLANNING
Objective 5: (Estimated time: 15 minutes)
(a) Context: Buildings – the w orld/stud ents' li ves.
(b) Activity/class T and SS talk abo ut par agraph or ganisation o f a text
organisation: about a f amous b uilding (e .g. Para 1 : identif y building, sa y where
and w hen it w as built; Para 2: d escribe t he buildin g and its disti nctive featu res;
Para 3: s ay what people think o f the b uilding, w hy it is f amous, wh at
happ ens/happ ened th ere, e tc.). Stude nts get int o gro ups to pla n a composition
about a particular b uilding. They are then asked to write the composition fo r
home work.
(c) Aids: The boa rd and/ or ha ndout a nd/or t extbook w ith notes/
hints ab out pa ragraph o rganisatio n. SS's n otebooks, e tc.
(d) Lang uage: As in (b) abo ve. T will try to elicit passi ves a nd buildin g
vocabula ry when discussing o rganisatio n.
(e) Possible SS might no t kno w much about any famous building ! problems:
T has some info rmation a bout o ther f amous b uildings, e.g . Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal,
etc. to h elp out just in case.
453

E – Additional possibilities
1 Find the dif ferences ( see 8. 1.4 (a )). The teach er gives e ach pai r two pictu res of
urban landsca pes – w ith dif ferent b uildings, etc . They have to find a t least te n
differenc es bet ween their p ictures w ithout lookin g at eac h othe r's.
2 Desc ribe and d raw (see 8. 1.3 (c )). In pairs o ne stud ent tells an other s tudent t o
draw a building ( of the first st udent's c hoice). Then the y do it the other way round.
3 A co-operative writing exe rcise (se e 8.2.3 ( a)) in w hich students g roup-write a
story starting 'When she saw the b uilding fo r the fi rst time she kne w there w as
something w rong.'
A number of points c an be made ab out this lesso n plan. I n the fi rst place d ecisions
were taken b ased on wh at stude nts had b een doi ng rec ently (recent w ork). I t
appe ars tha t students had no t been d oing much rea ding and that a lo t of thei r oral
work had bee n eithe r in lockstep o r was at best co ntrolled p ractice o utput. There
had n ot been many opport unities fo r students to exp ress themsel ves, but the
studen ts had d one some listening p ractice.
The reco rd of r ecent work led t o a number o f decisions b eing take n, the refore. In
the fi rst place it wa s clearl y time for some reading work. Secondl y students n eeded
involving in s ome com municati ve oral inte raction. They did n ot appe ar to h ave
been d oing much vo cabul ary work, either , so this w as a good time to w ork on
some words.
273
THE PR ACTIC E OF ENGLIS H LANGUAG E TEACHING
12.6 Co nclusions
These w ere the consi deratio ns that af fected the p re-plan. The plan then all owed
for a detailed respo nse base d not onl y on rec ent w ork, but also on w hat we wished
to achie ve. The lack o f previous or al interac tion is w hy the openin g buzz g roup a nd
the 'c reatin g expecta tions' acti vity were us ed since th ey allow the st udents t o use
sponta neous sp eech. The readin g text w as appropriate here since w e recognised
the n eed fo r reading. V ocabula ry work follows natu rally from a re ading so t hat
slotted in nicely. Finally we used the p recedin g stages t o build up to a piec e of
guided writing.
454

Note th e 'additio nal possibilities' p art of the pla n. We realise th at things ma y well
go slo wer than planned , so an y of these ac tivities would be good alt ernati ves to
the wr iting pr eparation ( for ex ample ) since the y can be completed i n less time.
Alternati vely the teach er might w ant to use ( one of ) them to liven up the class if
eithe r the r eading p rocess a nd/or the v ocabular y study have been t oo 'he avy'.
In this ch apter we have consider ed an a pproac h to the planning o f langu age
classes. W e have shown how an over-relia nce on th e textbo ok and t he syllabus
may well cause teach ers to g ive classes w hich are not as motiv ating as t hey could
be. W e have st ressed t he nee d to choos e app ropria te acti vities fo r the class ,
highlightin g the n eed fo r variety, flexibilit y and balanc e.
We have discussed wh at teac hers n eed to kn ow befo re making a plan. This
includes a knowledge of ho w to teach – including i deas fo r different activities and a
knowledge of usef ul techniqu es. Teachers s hould also b e familiar w ith the (rules of
the) institution t hey are working in. M ost impor tant, ho wever, is a k nowledge o f the
studen ts; who they are a nd w hat needs t hey have.
We have looked a t a pre-pla n in w hich te achers make ge neral d ecisions abo ut
what they are going to teach: t hese decisions are made o n the basis o f acti vities,
langua ge skills, langu age t ype and subject and con tent. W e emphasised the f act
that la nguage t ype (the traditional s yllabus) w as only one of t he necess ary
components of t he pr e-pla n and th at acti vities an d subject and conte nt were
equall y importa nt since he re teachers c ould base d ecisions on h ow the st udents
were feeling a nd w hat they had b een doi ng rec ently.
Finall y we have look ed at h ow an actu al plan can be put t ogethe r, stressi ng that
expe rienced t eache rs seldom write plans in such de tail but th at to do s o forc es us
to consid er importan t aspects o f planning (and will be useful if we are to be
obse rved).
Discussion
274
1 If v ariety is th e corn erston e of goo d plannin g, is it possible t o have too much
variety?
2 Do y ou think acti vities c an (o r should ) last fo r a w hole class pe riod? Gi ve
455

examples to back u p your opinions.
3 Ho w importa nt is it for teache rs to kno w about t heir stu dents? W hat else should
they know apart from the thi ngs mentioned in 1 2.3.3?
4 What do you think of the s pecimen pl an in 12. 5.1? W ould it be a ppropriate f or
the stu dents y ou teach?
PLANNING
Exercises
1 Lo ok at a u nit in a text book y ou are usi ng (o r are famil iar with). W hat activ ities
are there in the u nit? Do y ou think y ou would ha ve to include e xtra material wh en
teachin g the unit ? Why?
2 Lo ok at a u nit in a text book y ou are usi ng (o r are famil iar with) and sa y what
langua ge skills and la nguage t ype are included in the u nit. Is the la nguage for
presentation o r con trolled p ractice o r is the re some pr ovision for communicativ e
interaction?
3 List t he rec ent w ork that y our/a class h ave bee n doing. Plan t he next cl ass.
4 Ma ke a r ough pla n to co ver the n ext six classes b earin g in m ind the nee d for
variety, but keeping a cohe rent pat tern.
Refer ences
1 For a memorable discussi on on th e value o r othe rwise of t eaching materials s ee
R Allwright (19 81), wh o argued ag ainst thei r use, a nd the n oted tex tbook wr iter R
O'Neill (O 'Neill 1982 ), who replied in d efence o f textb ook use. The articles a re
reprinted i n R Rossner and R Bolitho ( 1990 ). N Gr ant (1 988) s hows how teachers
can ad apt the t extbook mate rial the y have to de al with, and S Delle r (1990,
Section 2) gives a g raphic ex ample of how stag es of a u nit in a text book can b e
adapt ed and a dded o nto w ith extra a nd more stud ent-ce ntred a ctivities.
2 Not all t extbooks e xpect th e teache r to follo w the w ritten sequ ence, ho wever. A
notabl e exceptio n is The Sourcebo ok (Sheph erd a nd Cox, 19 91) w hich pro vides
teache rs and students w ith a w ealth of grammar , vocabula ry and skills material
which the teache r can selec t from onl y if an d when it is a ppropriate.
3 For more o n plannin g see M Underwood (1 987) C hapte r 6, P Hub bard e t al.
(1983) Ch apter 4 , S Hill ( 1986 ) and S M cClennan ( 1987 ). J Harmer ( 1984 ) and i n
456

Rossne r and Bolitho ( 1990 ) sho ws how a game-like acti vity can be us ed to make
plannin g decisions o ver a se ries of class es.
4 M Underwood points o ut (Un derwood 1987 :7) th at a pe rfect kn owledge of
English is not n ecessar y for English te achers, e ven tho ugh such a state might be
desir able: y ou need to k now the la nguage you are teachin g (an d more) b ut much
of the most success ful langua ge teachi ng is done by peopl e who are not n ative
speake rs but wh o are competent use rs of th e targ et langu age (s ee Chapte r 2).
5 For a d etailed n eeds an alysis see R M acka y (1978). P Shaw (1982) is p robabl y
a more usef ul model for the classroom teach er. A detailed and c ontro versial
approach in its time w as J Mu nby (1978 ).
6 This specimen lesso n plan is ext remel y detailed a nd contai ns a lot of mate rial.
Especiall y where the y are bein g obse rved teac hers sometimes try to inclu de too
much. In such situ ations it is p robabl y better t o cut do wn on th e amount y ou
actuall y plan to get through but h ave a n umber of ad ditional possibilities u p your
sleev e.
275
457