Classroom English

OXFORD UN IV ERSITY PRESS

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0x2 6 d p Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sao Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan o x f o r d and o x f o r d E n g l i s h are registered trade m a rk s of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

© Oxford University Press 2000 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer Photocopying The publisher grants permission for the photocopying of those pages marked ‘photocopiable’ according to the following conditions. Individual purchasers may make copies for their own use or for use by classes they teach. School purchasers may make copies for use by staff and students, but this permission does not extend to additional schools or branches Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale Illustrations by Margaret Welbank i s b n o 19 437173 5

Printed in Hong Kong

Contents Foreword ALAN MALEY

Introduction Part One 1.1

How to use classroom English

1.2

Teaching classroom English

Part Two 2.1

Starting the lesson

2.2

Pronunciation and repetition

2.3

Activities in class

2.4

Working alone and together

2.5

Boardwork

2.6

Working with books

2.7

Cassette recorder and video

2.8

Games and songs

2.9

Checking understanding

2.10

Classroom control

2.11

Teacher comments

2.1 2

Ending the lesson

Foreword There is a formidable range of materials published worldwide for teachers of English as a Foreign Language. However, many of these materials, especially those published in English-speaking countries, assume that teachers using them will be working with smallish classes and have abundant resources available to them. Also many, if not most, of these materials make implicit culturally-biased assumptions about the beliefs and values of the teachers and learners. This situation is ironic in view of the fact that the vast majority of English as a Foreign Language classrooms do not correspond at all to these conditions. Typically, classes are large, resources are limited, and teachers have very few opportunities for training and professional development. Also, the cultural assumptions of teachers and learners in many parts of the world may vary quite significantly from those of materials writers and publishers. This book shows how, with no sophisticated materials or equipment, teachers can capitalize on the ways English can be used in the classroom to establish routines, give instructions, and evaluate performance. Classroom language has the advantage of being a highly authentic use of language: there is a real communicative need for it. It also allows for almost unlimited repetition in a natural context: classroom instructions are part and parcel of every lesson, so there is no need to invent contexts of use. In this way the language gradually becomes absorbed unconsciously by the students. Much classroom language can also be linked to actions, as in Total Physical Response: ‘open your books’, ‘get into groups of four’, ‘look at the picture’, etc. This close link between saying and doing can help further strengthen the acquisition of language items. Most importantly, however, the book offers a framework for teachers who may lack training and support. The hope and expectation is that such teachers will begin by following the suggestions for using classroom English quite closely, but that, as their confidence and proficiency increases, they will adapt and add to their repertoire of classroom language. This is an im portant book: one of the few attempts to address the problems of the 'silent majority' of teachers worldwide who have little or no training, and few resources to work with. ALAN MALEY

Assumption University Bangkok, Thailand

Introduction Who is this book for? Classroom English has been written to help teachers choose the right words and phrases when they want to use English to give instructions, ask questions, make comments in the classroom, and encourage their learners to respond in English. W hen we began writing the book, we were thinking of the teachers we had trained to teach English. None of them were specialist teachers of English, and most of them had few opportunities to learn and use English themselves. They all taught learners who were beginners— either complete beginners or learners who were in their second or third years of learning English. To help these teachers, we have tried to use easily understood English. We have also tried to write the book as if we were talking directly to the teacher. In this way, we hope the book will be friendly and easy to use.

What is in the book? The book is divided into two parts. In Part One, there are two chapters about giving classroom instructions in English. These chapters are not about the theory of teaching; they are about what you can do in the classroom. Then, in Part Two, you will find all the language you need to give the most common classroom instructions, ask simple questions, and make brief comments to your learners in English. Also, where appropriate, we have added replies that you can teach your learners to use. We have chosen the simplest ways of saying things. To help you find the expressions you need, we have divided Part Two into sections, each containing a different type of classroom activity. And sometimes we have added a ‘Language note’ to give extra help with words which we know cause problems.

How to use the book We suggest that you read Part One before you look at Part Two. It may be very tempting to turn immediately to Part Two, but please don’t. Part One is designed to help you use Part Two as well as possible. Also, we suggest that when you have read each chapter, you stop and think about your classroom, your learners, and your teaching. You could ask yourself if you already do the things that we talk about. If you do, then we hope that by reading about them you 1

will become even more confident. If you don’t, then you could ask yourself which things would improve your teaching. Then you could think about how to start doing them. You will probably find it easier and better to change a few things at first, then gradually change a few more— and so on. Changing everything at the same time could be very difficult for both you and your learners. If you are teaching English for the first time, then we hope that Part One will help you make a good start. Part Two, as we said, contains the most common classroom expressions in English which you will need with beginners. By ‘beginners’, we mean learners in their first three years of learning English. You can turn to Part Two whenever you need to, but we suggest that it will be most helpful when you are planning your lesson. You will know the expressions you want to use and which of them you want to give in English, so you can turn to the appropriate sections to check on the correct expressions to use. For example, you may want to use English to give the learners instructions about getting ready to use their coursebooks, so you would turn to Section 2.6, ‘Working with books’, and check that what you want to say is: ‘Take out your books, please’ and ‘Open your books at page__, please’. You will see that some of the expressions have a word or phrase in brackets, for example, ‘Tell me in [the name of your language] what you have to do’ or ‘[Name], collect the books, please.’ Obviously, these are occasions when you would put in the words which you want to use. You will also see that we have added the words ‘Teacher’ and ‘Learner’, or ‘Learners’, before some expressions. This is to indicate where the learners need to give answers to the teacher’s questions. Some expressions appear in two or more sections. That is because we thought it would be easier for you to have all the language you need for a particular type of activity in one place. This means that you don’t have to look through all the sections for the expression you want to use. Finally, we want to remind you that these are all quite simple expressions. As your learners become better at using English, you will be able to change some of the wording. For example, you will be able to put some instructions together to make one longer instruction— ‘Take out your books and open them at page__, please.’ So really, Part Two is a starting point for you. It provides you with simple instructions in English that you can use with beginners. If you are not very confident at first, this section will give you confidence. You can start with a few instructions, then use more, until finally you begin to use instructions not given in this

Introduction

book. But please don’t confuse your learners with more instructions in English than they are ready for. That’s all we want to say as introduction. We hope that this book will help you in your work, that you will enjoy your teaching, and that your learners will enjoy learning English. BRYAN AND FELICITY GARDNER

3

Part One

How to use classroom English We thought it would be a good idea to start this book by looking at two basic questions you will need to ask yourself: ‘Why should I use classroom English?’ and ‘How much classroom English should I use?’ What we want to do in this chapter is to put together the most im portant answers to these questions. Many of you will have heard the answers before, but we hope that bringing them together here will be a useful reminder for you. For those of you who are less experienced, we hope that this chapter will give you a good introduction to the topic. For everyone, we hope that the chapter will help discussions in your schools.

Why should I use classroom English? Using English as much as possible in your classes will emphasize to your learners that the English lesson is very different from any other lesson in the school day. It will help to maintain a good ‘English-speaking atmosphere’, and this will help your learners focus on learning and using the language. Also, if you give them instructions, ask questions, and make comments in English, the learners will have to listen carefully to what you say all the time. This will keep them thinking in English. You only use a language well when you think in it and don’t have to translate everything in your head before you speak. So it is important, from the early stages of learning, to avoid translation as much as possible and make the learners think in that language. When you use classroom English, you are helping that process. As well as listening carefully to you, the learners have to do something in response. If you say to a girl ‘Come to the board, please’, she has to leave her place and move to you. This means that she is both thinking and doing something—in other words, she is an active learner. To learn actively is better and more effective for the learner than learning passively (for example, when learners just sit and listen to the teacher). Active learning is better because it links words and phrases to actions, objects, ideas, and people in a strong and positive way. This helps the learners learn and remember. When you give an instruction or ask a question in English and the learners do or say something in reply, they quickly realize that they can understand something in English. This gives them a feeling of success and will help improve their confidence. Remember how im portant a feeling of confidence is when you are learning a language. Feelings of success and confidence will help your learners

How to use classroom English

-X — ■

overcome the difficulties in learning a foreign language. If you keep using the same instructions, questions, and comments, even the weaker learners will begin to understand— and this will help their confidence too. Also, it will increase your own confidence as a teacher, because you will see that the learners understand you and that they are learning to use English. You will feel very satisfied when you don’t have to keep changing from English to your own language and back to English again. It will show you that the learners are making progress and that they really are thinking in English. And don’t forget that saying something in English only saves time. To say it in English and then to repeat it in your own language takes twice as long!

How much classroom English should I use? Some people, and this includes some head-teachers, feel that teachers and learners should never speak their own language in English lessons. But any teacher of English knows that this can cause problems. There is an im portant place for the learners’ first language, especially with beginners and with young learners. To start with, you know that beginners will not understand you if you say everything in English. For example, if they don’t understand your instructions, they won’t know what to do and they will become confused and stressed. If your learners are confused, they may decide that English is too difficult for them and will stop trying. Certainly, if your learners are stressed, they will stop enjoying English and this will become a real problem for you. You know that everyone learns better when they enjoy their lessons. W hen learners stop enjoying them, they will have more difficulties in learning the language and they will become more difficult to teach. This will be especially true for the weaker learners. When learners stop trying to learn, their behaviour in class may become a problem. Younger learners will definitely be confused if their teacher suddenly refuses to speak their own language. Think how confusing this will be for a young child. One moment, the teacher is talking normally. Suddenly it’s an English lesson and the teacher refuses to speak the child’s language. To the child, the teacher has become a different person. This will be a very difficult experience for him or her. So, too much English too quickly may be bad for the learners’ confidence and for the way they learn. But if you translate all the

7

How to use classroom English

classroom English you use, this will also be bad. For example, you give the instruction ‘Take out your books, please’. Then you translate it into your own language. Then you say ‘Open your books at page twenty-six, please’ and again you translate. Very quickly the learners may stop listening to the English because they know you will give a translation. In this way, you may create lazy learners. All the positive things we have talked about may disappear. The learners will stop taking an active part in lessons. They will stop thinking—and especially thinking in English. They will get into the habit of translating everything, and, as we have already reminded you, this is not the best way to learn a language. Instead of giving instructions in English and then translating them into your own language, you should be choosing between English and your own language. It is better to give some instructions and make some comments in English and some in your own language. But which? When is it better to use English and when is it better to use your own language? When should you use English? You should aim to use English for all simple instructions, questions, and comments. You will see that all the expressions in Part Two are linked to things which learners will often have to do or say in English lessons. This is the language that will keep the lesson running smoothly in English. If you use it, then we believe your learners will benefit. When should you use your own language? You will need to use your own language when the situation in your classroom requires more complicated language than that provided in Part Two. For example, an activity may be too complicated to explain clearly in English, or you may have a problem in your classroom which cannot be handled using the language presented in Section 2.10, ‘Classroom control’. Also, it may sometimes be appropriate to use your own language to compare its grammar and vocabulary with that of English, or to talk about life in an Englishspeaking country such as Britain or the USA. And you may sometimes need to check that your learners have understood your instructions in English (see Section 2.9, ‘Checking understanding’).

The best advice we can give you is to plan when you will use English and when you will use your own language. We suggest that you make these decisions at the same time as you plan your lesson. You can ask yourself these questions: W hat classroom language do I need to use? Which classroom language is simple and could be in English?

How to use classroom English

■

1.1

Which classroom language is more difficult and needs to be in my own language? (For example: Is there a complicated task which needs careful explanation in my own language? Do I need to explain anything about grammar or vocabulary in my own language? Do I need to check understanding in my own language?) When you have made your decisions about which language you will use and when you will use it, make notes for yourself in your lesson plan. We suggest that you write down the times you will use your own language and assume that everything else will be in English. O f course, using your own language is a part of the process of teaching the meaning of words. But we strongly advise using translation only when every other m ethod has failed. It is im portant to make the learners think, so you should try using pictures, actions, descriptions, and so on, and only use translation if these don’t work.

9

Teaching classroom English In Chapter 1.1, we said that the instructions, questions, and comments contained in Part Two are the ones you will often use in English lessons. But before they can be used, the learners will have to learn to recognize and respond to them. That means you will have to teach them. So there are two more questions which you will need to ask yourself: ‘When do I teach classroom English?’ and ‘How do I teach classroom English?’

When do I teach classroom English? In lessons in other subjects, the teacher gives instructions in the learners’ first language. At first, most of the instructions which you will give in English lessons will also be in the learners’ first language and will be the same as they hear in other lessons. But there are a few simple instructions, and also greetings and comments, which can be given in English right from the first lesson. We believe that learners can begin to learn classroom English from very early in their course. There will be no problem as long as you choose language which will occur frequently in your lessons and which can have the meaning demonstrated easily. For example, ‘Open your books at page twenty-six, please’ can be demonstrated by opening your own book, showing the page to the learners, and pointing to the num ber on the page. Choosing instructions When you plan your first few lessons, ask yourself what instructions you will be giving. Also ask yourself which of these instructions you will be giving in every lesson. Then ask yourself which of the instructions have movements connected with them. For example, think of instructions like ‘Sit down, please’, ‘Come to the board, please’, or ‘Take out your books, please’. These instructions are easy to teach and easy for the learners to understand and to learnt because the meaning is obvious from the movements. The meanings are also obvious because of the context (everything that is going on in the lesson at that time). Next select three, four, or five simple instructions from those you have just chosen. Three to five instructions are enough for a class of beginners. These will be the ones you will give in English. All the other instructions you will give in your own language.

Exactly which instructions should you choose? Well, you have already begun to make a choice by selecting instructions which you are going to use frequently and which have movements connected to them. These next ideas might help you in your final choice.

Teaching classroom English

1.2

MMMNMI

mm

nHNRMHB

We suggest that you choose instructions which are not linked together. For example, choose only one instruction about using books. If all five instructions you choose are about using books, then you will probably confuse a lot of the learners. They will mix up the instructions and get the meanings confused. It will be much easier for them if there is just one instruction about books. Also, if you spend time teaching five instructions about books, you will be spending so much time on this one stage that it will break up the flow and completely unbalance the lesson. So, for example, you could choose one instruction about boardwork, one about pronunciation, one about working with books, and two about activities in class. Another suggestion to guide your choice of instructions is to choose those that are at the beginning of a sequence. For example, ‘Sit down, please’ comes before ‘Take out your books’, and ‘Come to the board, please’ comes before ‘Write [a word] on the board, please’. If you choose something at the beginning of a sequence, you can build new instructions onto it later in the course. Just a final word about not giving the learners too many new instructions. Remember that you will also be introducing the learners to questions like ‘Who hasn’t got a book?’ (Section 2.6) and comments like ‘Well done!’ and ‘Try again’ (Section 2.11). So the learners will be getting used to questions and comments as well as instructions. Please don’t give them too many at once! Introducing classroom English So, in your planning, you have chosen the instructions which you will say in English. The next question m ust be at what stage in the lesson do you teach them? For example, do you teach them all at the beginning of a lesson? The answer to that is definitely ‘No!’ We suggest that you teach each instruction at the point in the lesson where you use it for the first time. Why? Well to start with, it links the words to a real situation which is happening now— so it is natural. Also, we always learn best when the need to learn is obvious to us. By teaching the instruction at the point in the lesson where you use it for the first time, you are making the need to learn it very obvious. The same thing is true for questions and comments.

Teaching classroom English in this way will mean that you will teach it at different points in the lesson. This will help avoid confusion— five new English expressions at five different points in the lesson is much less confusing to a learner than five new things all together. Also, spreading the new teaching out like this

11

Teaching classroom English

interrupts the flow of a lesson less than teaching everything together. It avoids the learning of the new expressions becoming more im portant than the lesson itself. The new language is there because it is appropriate— it is in context. Finally, by spreading the learning out in this way, there is less pressure on you and the learners. It can be quite stressful for teacher and learner to have a concentrated ‘new learning’ session at the start of a lesson!

How do I teach classroom English? W hen you teach learners a new classroom English expression, it is best to teach it in the same way as you would teach any new vocabulary. This will mean making the meaning clear to the learners, and practising the expression and the learners’ response. It will also mean emphasizing and practising the new expression in the next lesson. W hen you are showing learners the meaning of new expressions, you will be relying on context, hand movements, and demonstration. Context It is a good idea, right from the beginning of the course, to start every lesson with a greeting in English, for example, ‘Good m orning’ or ‘Good afternoon’, and to teach the learners to return the greeting. It will be clear from the context that these expressions are greetings, though you may have to use a clock, or a drawing of a clock, to teach ‘morning’ and ‘afternoon’. Hand movements Many instructions can be made clear by the use of hand movements. For example, your learners may be standing at the start of the lesson. In this case, you can easily introduce and use the instruction ‘Sit down, please’ by using your hands to show that you want the learners to sit. Put both your hands out flat in front of you and move them down a few inches. You can then practise the instruction by asking one of the learners, in your own language, to stand up. Then say in English, using the same hand movement, ‘[Name], sit down, please’.

Another instruction that it is useful to introduce early in the course is ‘Listen!’ This is easily demonstrated by putting your hand behind your ear. You will probably find all that is necessary is to say ‘Listen!’ two or three times with the action, and then wait for silence.

Teaching classroom English

12 —I — ■ dLmm

Here are some hand movements which we have found useful: ‘Sit down, please.’

\ ‘Stand up, please.’

t ‘Quiet, please.’

‘Listen!’

‘Watch!’

13

1.2

Teaching classroom English

‘Watch and listen.’

‘Everyone,...’

(This movement can also be used to pick out a group, using the expression: ‘This g ro u p ,...’ or ‘Now, this g ro u p ,...’). ‘Say it louder, please.’

‘Say it quietly, please’

‘Say the whole sentence, please.’

14

Teaching classroom English

12

Demonstration Another way of making instructions clear is by demonstration. ‘Take out your books’ is easily demonstrated by taking your own books out of your bag and then gesturing to the class to do the same. Again, it is worth practising this action with the whole group and then with individual learners. Development When you think the learners are ready, use the expression without making the hand movements or demonstrating. If there are learners who have problems, you will have to return to using hand movements or demonstrations for another lesson or two. Obviously, you will be watching the learners and their responses carefully, so you will see when they are confident about the expression. You will also see how soon it becomes part of their store of language. The more confident the learners’ response is to the new language, the less emphasis it will need. Don’t expect the learners to learn every expression at the same speed. Some expressions they will learn very quickly. Others will take longer.

When the learners are confident with an expression, introduce a new one. In the case of instructions, we suggest that it is very helpful for the learners, and for you in your teaching, if you link the new instruction to the old one. In other words, build onto the instruction which the learners are confident with. For example, your learners are confident with the instruction ‘Open your books at page__’. We suggest you build on that confidence by taking the learners on to the next instruction in the sequence. So, when the learners have opened their books, what do you want them to do? Perhaps it is to look at a picture, so you would teach them ‘Look at the picture, please’. And then you might ask them to point at an object in the picture. This building process should be used as often as possible. Learners will find it helpful because of the logical pattern that the instructions make. And you will find it helpful because the new English instructions are grouped naturally at particular points in the lesson. O f course, it won’t always be possible to teach all new instructions in this way. There will be times when there is no instruction which will follow on logically, or when you won’t be using another instruction in the sequence, or when you need to introduce a new sequence. The best plan, though, is to try to build step by step whenever possible. We also suggest that you try to teach the use o f ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ by using them yourself as often as you can. So use ‘please’ with your instructions and then, when the learners have responded and 15

Teaching classroom English

the action is complete, you can say ‘Thank you. This will help the learners to acquire the typically British and American habit of using these expressions frequently. Comments In Section 2.11, ‘Teacher comments’, we have arranged the comments in groups ranging from the most to the least positive. We suggest that you start by teaching the most positive comments because, especially early on, you need to encourage the learners as much as possible. Good examples to choose are ‘Good’, ‘Very good’, and ‘Well done’. We suggest you use these comments from the first lesson onwards— accompanied by smiles! When you want to use new expressions, you could build on the positive comments by adding ‘That’s better’ and ‘That’s nearly right—try again’.

How to check understanding We have talked about introducing a new expression when the learners seem confident with a familiar one. But how do you check that all the learners understand the expression you taught before? The main way is through observation. The most im portant thing, when you give the learners an instruction, is to observe and see if they do what you say. If you see some learners hesitating, looking to see what other learners do, and only then doing what you have asked, this means that they have not fully learnt the instruction. Another sign that not all of them have understood is when some learners tell others what to do, probably in their own language. Also, look at the learners’ faces. Do they look as if they understand? Or do they look puzzled, or doubtful, or blank— or even panic-stricken? If not all the learners have understood, repeat the instruction more slowly, remembering not to change the words. And remember, too, not to translate it. If the learners still need help, go back to using hand movements or demonstration to remind them of the meaning. It is important, though, to give the learners time to hear an expression and to think what to do or say. Responses will not always be immediate. You will know when a learner has fully understood and is really confident with an expression because the response will be immediate. Another way of checking understanding is through language. In Section 2.9, ‘Checking understanding’, we provide expressions you can use to do this through language. Learners can be taught to respond in English to questions like ‘Is that right?’, and to ask if they do not understand something. It may be necessary for the

Teaching classroom English

1.2

learner to describe the problem in his or her own language. Another way of checking understanding is to ask a learner to repeat the instruction in his or her own language. With beginners, at first you will need to use their own language to tell them to do this. But as soon as possible you should use English, for example, ‘Tell me i n ___ what I said.’ You can vary this technique by waiting until you have given an instruction and a learner has said or done something as a result. Then ask another learner what the instruction was. Then ask a third learner if the instruction was carried out correctly.

17

Part Two

2 .1

Starting the lesson te a ch e r

learn ers

‘Good morning.’ (or ‘Good afternoon.’) ‘Good morning, [teacher’s nam e].’ ( o r ‘Good afternoon, [teacher’s name].’)

‘Sit down, please.’ ‘Take out your

books.’ pens.’ homework.’

‘Open your books at page [number].’

‘Give me your homework, please.’

Language note 20

Remember, ‘homework’, n o t ‘homoworks’.

2.2

Pronunciation and repetition ‘Listen.’ ‘Listen carefully.’ ‘Listen to

me. [name].’

‘Watch and listen.’ ‘Everyone, ‘[Name], ‘Say it

‘Say ‘Repeat ‘Read

repeat after me: [a word or phrase].’

again, more slowly, louder,

please.’

the whole sentence, please.’

‘Say it in English please, not [the name of your language].’ ‘W hat is this word in

[the name of your language]?’ our language?’

‘Where is the stress in this word?’

Language note

m

Useful words for practising pronunciation: • • • ‘syllables’ tomorrow

‘tongue’

21

Activities in class ‘Listen to me!’ ‘Everyone, | repeat after me.’ ‘Girls, ‘Boys, ‘[Name], ‘Take out your pens.’

‘Take out your pencils.’ ‘Take out your coloured pencils.’

‘Draw a picture of a(n) [object].’ ‘Colour the picture.’ ‘Copy these words into your books.’

Activities in class

■

‘Rule a line under the word [a word], please.’ ‘I want you to do exercise six.’

‘Answer the questions on page eight.’

le a rn e r

‘Please, will you repeat that?’

te a ch e r

‘Yes, certainly.’

‘Do you understand what to do?’ ‘Don’t start yet.’ ‘You can start now.’ ‘Put your hand up if you

Language note

■

■

have haven’t

finished.’

‘Ruler’ is sometimes confused with ‘rule’: ‘ruler’ is a noun (for example, ‘Take out your rulers.’) ‘rule’ is a verb (for example, ‘Rule a line under your name.’) Remember ‘a car’ but ‘an orange’. When the noun begins with vowel we use ‘an’.

2.4 One learner

Working alone and together ‘I want you to work on your own.’ ‘[Name], come to the front, please.’ ‘Go back to your seat, please.’

Two learners (pairs)

‘I want [name] to work with [name].’ ‘Get into pairs.’ te a ch e r

learn er(s)

‘Has everyone got a partner?’ ( o r ‘[Name], have you got a partner?’) ‘Yes’ o r ‘N o’. (oR‘Yes, I have.’ or ‘N o, I haven’t.’)

‘[Name] and [name], come to the front, please.’ ‘Go back to your seats, please.’ ‘Compare your answers with your partner.’

Three or more learners (groups)

‘I want you to work in groups of three four ‘Get into groups of five ‘This is group one. two.’

people.’

‘I want [name], [name], and [name] to work in group one.’ ‘Get into your groups now, please.’ te a ch e r

learn er(s)

‘Is everyone in a group?’ ( o r ‘[Name], are you in a group?’) ‘Yes’ o r ‘N o’. ( o r ‘Yes, I am.’ o r ‘N o, I’m not.’)

‘Group [number], come to the front, please.’ ‘Go back to your seats, please.’ ‘I need a volunteer from each group to ‘Pick one person from your group to

Language note 24

write the answers.’ draw a picture.’

‘Work on your own’, but ‘Work in pairs / groups.’

2.5

Boardwork ‘Everyone look at the board, please.’ ‘[Name], come to the board, please.’ ‘Write [a word] on the board, please.’

‘Draw a picture of [an object] please.’ I

or

‘Put your picture on the board, please.’

2.5

Boardwork

‘Underline [a word], please.’

TkiS is a red awd 4^11 ow car

‘Thank you. Go back to your seat, please.’ ‘Everyone, ‘[Name],

read this word.’

‘Say it again.’ ‘Everyone, ‘[Name],

read these words.’

‘Say them again.’ ‘Everyone, ‘[Name],

repeat after me: [a word or phrase].’

‘Copy these words into your books.’ ‘W hat is this word in

our language?’ [the name of your language]

‘Do you understand?’ ‘Put up you hand if you don’t understand.’

Language notes

26

If your board is black you can say ‘blackboard’. If it is green or white, then you will find it easier to say just ‘board’. But you can also say ‘board’ for ‘display board’, so when you say ‘board’, you may need to point to the board you are talking about. Remember, ‘Write on the board’, but ‘Write in your book’.

2.6 Getting books ready

Working with books ‘Take out your books, please.’ ‘[Name], give out the books, please.’

te a ch e r le a rn e r

‘Who hasn’t got a book?’ ‘I haven’t.’ ( o r l e a r n e r s ‘We haven’t.’)

‘[Name], share your book with [name], please.’

Looking at books

‘Open your books at page [number], please.’ ‘Turn to page [number], please.’

2.6

Working with books

‘Turn over, please.’

‘Look at the picture, please.’ te a ch e r

‘Can you see

le a rn e r

‘Yes, I can’. (or ‘N o, I can’t.’) ‘Yes, we can’. (or ‘N o, we can’t.’)

learn ers

a o r an [item in picture]?’ some [items in picture]?’

‘Point to a [item in picture], please.’ ‘Point to some [items in picture], please.’

‘Look at exercise [number], please.’ ‘point to

Language notes

Remember these combinations of verb and preposition: take out give out open at look at turn to point to turn over' fill in start at You can say ‘textbook’ or ‘coursebook’, but always say ‘dictionary’, not ‘dictionary book’.

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Cassette recorder and video Cassette recorder

‘Let’s listen to the cassette now.’ ‘Listen to the cassette.’ ‘Can you all hear?’ ‘Put up your hand if you can’t hear.’ ‘Stop talking and listen.’ ‘Listen carefully.’ ‘Did you hear th e ______?’ ‘Listen again.’ ‘I’ll play it again.’ ‘Listen and repeat all together.’ ‘Listen and tell m e ______’ ‘Listen and answer the questions.’

Video

‘Let’s watch the video now.’ ‘Watch the video.’ ‘Can you all see?’ ‘Put up your hand if you can’t see.’ ‘Stop talking and watch.’ ‘Watch carefully.’ ‘Did you see th e _____ ?’ ‘Watch again.’ ‘I’ll play it again.’ ‘Watch and answer the questions.’

Language note

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2.8 Games and songs Games

‘Now we’ll play a game.’ ‘Get into two teams.’ ‘Guess

what where who

it is.

‘Guess what’s missing.’ te a ch e r le a rn e r

LEARNERS

‘Whose turn is it?’ ‘It’s mine.’ ‘It’s [name’s].’ ‘It’s OUrS.’

‘Now it’s your turn.’ ‘It’s [name’s] turn now.’

‘A point for team

t w o .’

‘This team has won.’ ‘Well done!’ team

o ne

n w -iw -

Songs

t e a m tw o

7 m - (i/

‘Now we’ll sing a song.’ ‘Let’s all sing a song.’

Language note

■ ■

■

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Remember, ‘Guess what/ where/ who it is’, not ‘who is it’. Useful words and phrases for playing games: ‘winner’ ‘The next round.’ ‘loser’ ‘It’s a tie.’ Useful words and phrases for singing songs: ‘verse’ ‘chorus’

Checking understanding te a ch e r

le a rn e r

‘[Name], is that right?’ ( o r ‘[Name], is that right or wrong?’) ‘Yes, it is.’ o r ‘N o, it isn’t.’ ( o r ‘It’s right.’ o r ‘It’s wrong.’)

‘W hat is the right answer?’ ‘W hat do you think?’ ‘Has anybody else got an idea?’ ‘Put up your hand if you don’t understand.’ le a rn e r te a ch e r

‘Please, I don’t understand.’ ‘W hat don’t you understand? Tell me in [the name of your language].’

‘Tell me in [the name of your language] what you have to do.’ ‘[Name], tell [name] in your own language what you have to do.’ ‘Put up your hands if you know the answer.’

r

= 4 1MCT

via

m

| ir

j

1

31

Classroom control If things are going well in the lesson, it is a good idea to begin to use English for simple classroom control. This is what this section is about— simple instructions for normal situations. But if there is a disciplinary problem, your own language is more natural for you and for your learners. It is also more forceful, and the learners will respond more quickly to it than to English. In fact, it can make things worse if you try to use English. Many of the instructions can be found in other sections, but we thought you would find it helpful to have them collected together in one section.

‘Sit down, please.’ ‘Everyone ‘[Name]

sit down, please.’

‘Quiet, please!’ ‘[Name] be quiet, please.’ ‘Stop talking!’

‘Listen carefully!’ ‘Listen to

me. [name].’ the tape.’

Classroom control

2.10

‘[Name], turn round, please.’ ‘Sit still, please.’ ‘Sit still and listen.’ ‘Sit still and listen to

me. [name].’ the tape.’

‘Look at

please.’

me, the board,

‘Are you ready?’ ‘Don’t start yet.’ ‘Start now!’ ‘Stop

writing, working, what you are doing,

please.’

‘Stand up, please.’ ‘ [Name] stand up, please.’

‘[Name] come here, please.’ ‘Hurry up!’ ‘Go back to your seat, please.’ ‘Be careful!’ ‘Don’t touch!’

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2.11 Teacher comments We know that sometimes English teachers can be worried about what comments to make to their learners. They don’t want to say ‘Good’ all the time, but they are not sure what else to use. Often they will use ‘OK’—but that worries us because we know that it is poor example to give the learners. It can make them very lazy witl their English if they start to use ‘OK’ all the time. So this section will be different from the other sections. It will give you several expressions which mean the same thing, so you have a choice. Never say ‘Wrong!’ It sounds very harsh and does not help the learner to improve. It will also damage his or her confidence. ‘That’s not right’ means exactly the same as ‘wrong’, but it doesn’t sound as bad and the learner will find it easier to make another attempt. Give the learner another chance by using ‘Try again’. We have placed the comments in groups ranging from the most tc the least positive. Differences are shown by star ratings, like hotels, with the very best as five stars and the poorest as one star or nothing.

★★★★★

‘Excellent!’ ‘Very good!’ ‘That’s

excellent!’ very good!’

‘Very well done!’

★★★★

‘Good!’ ‘That’s good!’ ‘Well done!’ ‘Great!’ ‘Yes, that’s right—good!’

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2 11

Teacher com m ents 4 -—» ■ —I — X

★ ★★

‘That’s it!’ ‘Yes!’ ‘OK!’ (but please only use this occasionally to avoid lazy use by learners) To show improvement ‘That’s better!’ ‘That’s better—well done!’ To encourage progress ‘That’s nearly right— try again!’ ‘That’s almost right— try again!’

★★

‘Not quite right— try again!’ ‘Not quite right— will someone else try?’ ‘Not quite right! [Name], you try!’

‘No— that’s not right. Try again!’ ‘No— that’s not right. Will someone else try?’ ‘No— that’s not right. [Name], you try!’

Language note

■

Remember, ‘very good’, not ‘very well’. 35

2.12

Ending the lesson ‘This is your homework.’ ‘I want you to

do exercise nine.’ learn the song.’ colour the picture.’ draw a picture o f . learn these new words.’

‘Close your books, please.’ ‘Put your books away, please.’

or‘

[Name], collect the books, please

and put them on my desk.’

36