Chapter1 APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING – A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The present course-book is aimed at introducing students of English to the principles, methods and procedures regulating the domain of English language teaching methodology.Commonly designated by various acronymic names such as ELT (English Language Teaching, TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) or TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), the domain is concerned with the theory and practice of teaching English to non-native speakers. Addressing students at the stage of initial ELT teacher-training, this course of lectures proposes to acquaint students with the current methods and procedures which represent the stock in trade of contemporary language teaching. Learning foreign languages is a long-standing human endeavour and has been a cornerstone of any system of education throughout history. Starting from the early Middle- Ages, foreign language study was mainly concerned with offering a classical education, with an emphasis on Greek and Latin. Later on, knowledge of modern languages came to be regarded as equally important for an accomplished education. So, in the course of time, any new concept or system of education has recognised the importance of foreign language learning and has contributed to the development of a time- honoured tradition in the pedagogy of language learning and 1
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Chapter1
APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING –
A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The present course-book is aimed at introducing students of English to the principles,
methods and procedures regulating the domain of English language teaching
methodology.Commonly designated by various acronymic names such as ELT (English
Language Teaching, TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), TESL (Teaching
English as a Second Language) or TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages), the domain is concerned with the theory and practice of teaching English to non-
native speakers. Addressing students at the stage of initial ELT teacher-training, this course
of lectures proposes to acquaint students with the current methods and procedures which
represent the stock in trade of contemporary language teaching.
Learning foreign languages is a long-standing human endeavour and has been a
cornerstone of any system of education throughout history. Starting from the early Middle-
Ages, foreign language study was mainly concerned with offering a classical education, with
an emphasis on Greek and Latin. Later on, knowledge of modern languages came to be
regarded as equally important for an accomplished education. So, in the course of time, any
new concept or system of education has recognised the importance of foreign language
learning and has contributed to the development of a time-honoured tradition in the pedagogy
of language learning and teaching. This tradition of language pedagogy has grown and often
changed with the times, according to new trends or systems of thought in the study of
linguistics, language learning psychology and pedagogy.
The major teaching approaches to language teaching and learning have always been
based on certain assumptions about language (linguistic theory) and concepts about ways of
learning a language (psycho-linguistics and pedagogy). Nowadays, the specific domain of
linguistics concerned with language learning and teaching is circumscribed to Applied
Linguistics or Second Language Acquisition (also known as SLA), which underlie most of
the contemporary teaching approaches and methodologies. The teaching approaches and
methodspresented below closely illustrate the changes and evolutions in linguistic and
pedagogical assumptions about language learning.
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1. GRAMMAR TRANSLATION
This is the oldest method used in language teaching. It was largely used for the study of both
classical and modern languages ever since the Middle-Ages. It remained popular throughout
the 19th and early 20th century, being regarded as a standard method until as late as the 1940s.
Theoretical approach: The assumption about language underlying the grammar translation
method was that language was a finite body/system of knowledge to be learnt.
Aims: The main goal informing this concept of language learning was gaining a theoretical
knowledge of a finite linguistic system, which requited a certain mental discipline and helped
develop the intellect.
Method: Teaching and learning dealt primarily with the written form of the language, with a
focus on mastering the grammatical and lexical system. Learning activities were based on
prescriptive grammar, which emphasised rote learning, i.e. the memorisation of grammar
rules and word lists, as well as the analysis of parts of speech and syntactical patterns.
Procedures: Written grammar practice consisted in translation exercises from and into the
target language. Classroom procedure was accuracy-oriented, requiring the learning and
application of rules. The teaching was of a deductive kind, based on prescribing rules to be
followed in order to produce grammatically accurate sentences or texts. The main procedure
was the study and translation of classical texts or outlandish sentences, with reading and
translation as the central linguistic skills. The target language was not used in class
interaction. As the mother tongue was the customary medium of instruction, neither the
teacher nor the students were supposed to speak the language studied. The teaching aims of
the grammar translation method concerned the ability to read literature and gain knowledge
of the culture of the target language via literary texts and to translate texts through the
accurate application of rules. Teaching materials consisted in classical literary texts.
Teacher/learner roles and interaction: The teacher hasa dominant role in the classroom as
the sole knower and source of knowledge, the model to imitate and controller of the class,
while students only relate their learning to the teacher and the text.
2. THE AUDIO-LINGUAL APPROACH/AUDIO-LINGUALISM
Regarded as an informed, modern-day alternative to the classical methods of grammar
translation, the audio-lingual approach was derived from the theoretical tenets of
behaviourism, a psychological trend which largely influenced language pedagogy starting
with the 1950s.
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Theoretical approach:Behaviourists held that linguistic behaviour was based on automatic
speech habitsacquired through a process involving three interconnected steps: Stimulus ->
Response -> Reinforcement. The formation of such linguistic automatisms was the result of
systematic exposure to this process of conditioning reflexes of correct language use. The
approach was largely influenced by the studies in behaviourist psychology of F. B. Skinner.
Aims: The approach aimed at establishing, developing and reinforcing the set of speech
habits necessary for accurate oral expression. Practice focused on spoken language for actual
use.
Method: The main assumption underlying this method is that speech habits can be
conditioned by means of sustained oral drilling consisting of conversational or structural
pattern drills. The emphasis on correct form entailed the use of recorded materials with
structural and syntactical patterns of ‘isolated’, de-contextualised form and meaning, in
which irregularities tended to be ignored.
Procedures: Teaching and learning was organised according to a strict sequence of skill
training – listening -> speaking -> reading -> writing and based on controlled drill-work.
Language lab classes consisted of listening to and repeating after recorded dialogues, used
both for structural presentation and drilling. The practice of structural patterns was graded so
as toprogressively follow a structure-based syllabus. Errors were not regarded as part of
learning, so they were to be avoided through immediate correction and through repetitive
pattern drilling, which often led to over-learning. In contrast with the grammar translation
method, there is almost exclusive emphasis on the spoken language and, obviously, on
phonetic practice for correct pronunciation. The concern for accurate structural patterning
also precluded a preoccupation with vocabulary building, which tended to remain limited.
Inductiveteaching involved learning by doing, based on the use of the target language. The
teaching materials are simple dialogue drills on written support or on tape recordings.
Teacher/learner roles and interaction: Despite the limitation of teacher talking time (TTT)
via intensive learner drilling, the teacher still occupies a centre-stage position in his/her role
as knower and fountain of all knowledge. Studentsworked exclusively with the
teacher,therefore they dependon the teacher to organise their learning, in which their role
remains limited. The approach, though highly popular for a while, declined in popularity
toward the end of the 60s, when its validity began to be questions by such linguists as Noam
Chomsky.
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3. THE COGNITIVE CODE APPROACH
The cognitive approach developed round Chomsky’s theory of ‘language universals’ and
their role in first language acquisition. Chomsky contradicts the tenets of behaviourism that
linguistic abilities are no more than learnt habits, arguing that people often produce language
strings they have never heard before.
Theoretical approach: His theory upholds the idea that our production of language is rule-
governed and creative at the same time, being based on our application of a grammatical code
(deep structure) to generate an infinite number of sentences (surface structure). This rule-
based creativity is rooted in the knowledge of a limited system of rules, a kind of linguistic
matrix or language universals which, once understood, enable us to produce original
sentences.
Aims: Learning means the conscious acquisition of language as a coherent and meaningful
system. The students should be aware of these aims and work actively towards an
understanding and control of the structure of the language.
Method: Language learning is seen as a cognitive process, the emphasis is on studying the
rules governing the creation of meaning. On the basis or their innate ability to learn
languages, learners should be engaged in exploring language and forming hypotheses about
its functioning. The cognition of the system constitutes a learner’s linguistic competence. In
their performance or productive application of the rules, students are likely to make errors,
which are regarded as fundamental to their adjustments of their internalisation of the rule
system.
Procedure: Classroom practice is centred on comprehension activities and the study of
structural meaning. Grammar is taught both deductively and inductively, with an emphasis on
guided discovery techniques, which engage students in the formulation and statement of
rules. Errors are regarded as inevitable and instrumental in the development of an internal
grammar which students can rely on for generating meaning through structure. Practice
activities presuppose a much wider use of a variety of materials, meant to keep students
mentally engaged in working with the target language.
Teacher/learner roles and interaction: While the teacher still holds a prominent role as a
guide to knowledge, students are taught to be responsible for their own learning and to
monitor their cognitive process. Given the more liberal attitude towards learner errors, the
teacher encourages peer correction and interaction during language activities.
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4. THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
The communicative approach or communicative language teaching (CLT) gained prominence
in the 70s and early 80s, as language theorists started questioning the validity of Chomsky’s
model of linguistic competence and focus on structure study and practice.
Theoretical approach: Applied linguists such as Henry Widdowson drew attention to the
limitations of structure-focused syllabi and de-contextualised structure practice, advocating
the need for adapting language teaching to communicational situations and for developing
communicative abilities and skills. The American linguist Del Hymesdeveloped the concept
of communicative competence as the main aim of language teaching. Language learning is
supposed to mean not only the mastery of the grammatical, lexical and phonological system,
but also the learning of social rules governing contextualised communication. In other words,
language should be appropriate to the social context. The rules of appropriacy are also
conjoined with rules of social interaction. The approach focuses on activities concerned with
language as discourse, language in action rather thanas isolated specimens.
Aims: The rationale behind communicative language teaching is modifying classroom
procedures so as to promote realistic and socially contextualised communication rather than
artificial language practice. Developing communicative competence is bound up with
creating realistic communicative contexts and developing strategies of communication
through student-student interaction.
Method: The methodological framework CLT relates to the theory of second language
acquisition advanced by Stephen Krashen, who argues that students acquire language when
they focus on meaning rather than on form. What distinguishes acquisition from learning is
the notion that learners can always encounter and absorb new language in real
communicative contexts. The underlying principle is the balance between the study of
language areas (grammar and vocabulary) and skills development, as well as the practice of
language functions.
Procedures: As the focus is on communicative functions in real life-interaction, learning is
organised on the basis of notional/functional syllabusrather than structure-based programmes.
Lessons are sequenced not in terms of grammatical content but rather on topic based areas of
communication and self-expression. The teaching has a wider scope, which envisages the
students’ needs, regarded as all-important. Language learning is part of the wider framework
of language education, meant to train students in learning strategies and thus encourage
learner autonomy and independence.
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Language and skills practice is based on the use of authentic materials (samples of
real discourse and different reading/listening text types)and authentic tasks (replicating real
communication situations). In communicative teaching, there is a greater emphasis on
fluency-building activities and skills practice relevant to the students’ needs and concern.
During fluency-oriented activities, errors are regarded as less important, since the focus is on
communicative efficiency. Errors are used to gauge the need for remedial work or re-
teaching. The use of interactive communicative activities is aimed at creating and developing
a clear sense of context and communicative purpose, which leads to informed choices about
relevant content and appropriate language (structure and lexis). The key distinctive principles
and features of communicative teaching are the following:
Task-based learning: The simulation of communicative contexts is realised by
means of tasks which require students to exchange information or opinions and
interact in a realistic way. In order to complete their task with the information they
need, the students have to ask and answer questions, to speak and listen to each other.
In other words, the task provides them with a purpose for communication.
Communicative tasks: So as to promote meaningful communication, the tasks have
to replicate real-life contexts of purposeful communication, with a focus on language
functions: enquiring, inviting, refusing, giving directions, asking for and giving
personal information, etc. These contexts can be simulated through such interactive
activities as information gap (students have to exchange information so as to carry
out a common task), role-play,interviews,problem-solving, priority ranking,
discussion and debates, surveys, games.
Task inter-dependency: The underlying principle of communicative activities such
as info-gap is that students will be unable to complete the task without sharing
information between themselves, which means they depend on each other and have to
cooperate on the task.
Pair-work and group-work: Organising communicative tasks requires a different
kind of class organisation, layout and seating arrangements. Most communicative
tasks require students to work in pairs or small groups of three or four, which creates
the proper conditions for working together on a task.
Collaborative learning: Task-based learning creates the premises for cooperation
among students, who have to work together to achieve a certain outcome. This allows
for working and learning collaboratively, which helps promote a positive, purposeful
and productive class atmosphere and the proper conditions for learning to take place.
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Communicative learning has also inspired the affective-humanistic approach, which
attaches great importance to a motivating and friendly class atmosphere and to
building a good rapport between teacher and students.
Teacher/learner roles and interaction: Incontrast with theapproacheswhich preceded it,
communicative language teachingradically redefines and changes the roles of both teacher
and students. To begin with the traditional teacher-centredclassroom is replaced by a learner-
centred classroom, with the students occupying the centre-stage of classroom activity and
acting not as passive recipients, but as active agents fully engaged in their own learning. In
this context, the teacher relinquishes the age-old dominant position as sole source of language
and class controller, assuming more flexible and motivational roles as class
organiser/instigator of language activity/motivator/informant to the learners/provider
of resources/guide for the students’ own learning. As for the students, they are encouraged
to take responsibility for their own learning, to study independently and act as autonomous
learners, less dependent on the teacher in organising their learning.
***
The present course-book in ELT methodology is draws largely upon the communicative
approach, being focused on illustrating the principles and general methodology underlying
communicative teaching and language learning practice. Of course, as the methodologist
Phillip Prowse contends, one of the most widespread myths in the field of language teaching
and learning is the myth of the ideal methodology. He warns that no methodology should be
adopted uncritically, as the teacher should constantly test and refine his/her methods in terms
of what works best in a particular educational culture, teaching situation and kind of learners
or learner needs. However, since communicative teaching comes closest to training the kind
of communicative competence and skills necessary in the contemporary context of
globalisation, this approach imposes itself as an informed choice. In an increasingly
globalised world of education and work, training our students for efficient, meaningful
communication and cross-cultural understandingconstitutes a goal worth pursuing.
Chapter 2
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TEACHING GRAMMAR
INTRODUCTION
The importance of grammar in foreign language teaching and learning need hardly be argued
for. To begin with, grammar provides the only systematic framework for organizing the
teaching and learning of the language, since a knowledge of grammatical structures and rules
provides useful generalisations which enable learners to formulate and generate correct
sentences. It also represents the basis for syllabus and course design, as it helps teachers and
course-book writers to organize content and plan what structures to present at the various
stages of language learning. The ruling organizing principle should be that of structural
complexity, that is we should proceed from simple to more complex structures, progressing
according to the learners’ age and language level. As far as learners are concerned, grammar
rules are reliable milestones guiding their learning and providing them with a sense of
security.
Of course, in a balanced teaching approach, aimed at both linguistic competence and
proficiency – such as the communicative approach – grammar teaching only represents a
means to an end, that is an indispensable starting point, a foundation or groundwork to build
for language acquisition and skills practice, rather than an end in itself. That is why, while
granting grammar its proper place in our teaching, we should not overemphasize the
importance of grammar work and grammatical accuracy. Exclusive focus on accuracy has its
downside, too, as it may inhibit the students’ progress towards communicative fluency.
Overcorrection may affect the learners’ confidence in their performance and ability
for free communication and self-expression. In this case, the teacher runs the risk of ignoring
the student’s preferred style of learning. We should not forget that, in our mother tongue, we
learn to communicate effectively even if our grammar is not entirely accurate.
At the same time, devoting too much time to accuracy-based grammar exercises
entails an artificial limitation of the exposure to the language, which can only be monotonous
and thus de-motivating, as it deprives the learner of valuable stimulus to use the language in a
variety of contexts. If we overemphasise the primacy of rules, our students will be
psychologically ill-prepared to accommodate the inevitable exceptions to grammatical rules.
1. PRINCIPLES IN GRAMMAR TEACHING
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a) Planning and organization
In devising a grammar syllabus, the teacher or materials writer should order the structural
items to be taught in terms of the following principles and criteria:
Complexity of form
This criterion has already been enounced above and is based on the commonsensical idea that
with young learners or at beginner level, structural items are ordered according to their
degree of complexity. For instance, Simple Tenses are taught before Continuous/Progressive
Tense forms, or the Past Simple is presented before the Present Perfect, because they are
more complex in form.
Teachability
The question of teachability derives from the complexity of form criterion mentioned above,
but also refers to the complexity of meaning. Again, the problem in question relates to
adapting structural content to the learners’ age and level. Needless to say, simpler forms,
expressing basic or everyday meanings and functions are more easily understood – and thus
more teachable – than more complex structure, such as the Subjunctive.
Communicative usefulness
An important question related to the ordering structural items for teaching and learning
purposes should be: ‘Is the structure useful/necessary/indispensible for everyday
communication?’ The answer to this will tell us which structures should be given priority in
our grammar course planning.
Linear or cyclical framework
This criterion is related to the teaching of a structure in all its aspects (range of meanings or
functions), or to the teaching of structural synonymy, i.e. presenting all the structures with a
similar meaning. For example, there are several structures whose meaning and
communicative function is ‘making a suggestion’: Let’s + infinitive, Shall we + infinitive?,
How/What about + ing-form?, Why don’t we + infinitive? We could + verb. In a linear
framework, all these structures will be presented at the same time. Or, if we think of
structures with multiple meanings, such as various tenses, all the meanings will be given from
the beginning. A cyclical approach would mean that a particular structure or function is
revised cyclically and taught gradually, focusing on one meaning, form or function at a time.
Our approach is likely to depend on the learning context, age and level of students. However,
for the sake of clarity and effectiveness, the golden rule would be to teach one thing at a time.
b) Metalanguage
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Metalanguage is the specialised grammatical terminology used to define/describe language
structures. How much or how little metalanguage we use in the classroom depends on the
learners’ age and previous experience of grammar in L 1 or foreign language learning. It goes
without saying that with (very) young learners, using metalanguage is irrelevant and
counterproductive, while with mature, advanced students, metalanguage can be used as an aid
to organizing learning, to clarifying and distinguishing between grammatical categories,
meanings and functions. Even in the latter case, it should be used with moderation, as
overusing metalanguage and rules can distract attention from the meaningful practice of
language in use.
c) Staging
The main stages of a grammar lesson or sequence are: PRESENTATION – PRACTICE –
PRODUCTION. The PRESENTATION stage comprises activities aimed at
introducing/presenting the new structure. The PRACTICE stage includes accuracy-oriented,
teacher-controlled exercises, focused on the students’ correct usage of the new structure. The
PRODUCTION or FREE PRACTICE stage contains fluency-oriented, communicative
activities, such as pair-work or group-work tasks, in which students use the new structure for
free communication so as to accomplish the task or express their own ideas and opinions on a
given topic.
Reflection task:
At each stage consider
the Teacher’s role
the student’s role
control over language
error correction
the aims of each stage
d) Teaching strategy
Grammar teaching strategies relate to our approach to presenting/introducing a new structural
item or rule. According to how directly or indirectly we present the new grammar structure or
rule, presentations can be overt/explicit/deductive or covert/implicit/inductive.
e) Grammatical structure and communicative function
Grammatical structures are linguistic forms conveying a certain meaning, used to fulfil a
communicative function. A grammar syllabus can be based either on the teaching of
structural items proper or on communicative functions such as Suggesting, Inviting, Refusing,
etc. The aspects to be considered when teaching a structure are listed and defined below:
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Form: the actual words (written) or sounds (spoken) used to express something in language,
as opposed to meaning or use. Form is often synonymous with structure.
Meaning: The conventional or literal meaning of a particular form: for example, that past
tense form means past time. The purpose of traditional grammar books is to explain form and
meaning.
Usage: Refers to examples of the generally accepted way of using the language in context,
especially in order to show the differences between quasi-synonymous structures, which are
related in terms of meaning but are used in different ways and contexts.
Use: The way in which a speaker uses a particular language form to communicate on a
particular occasion. The use of a form may be described in terms of its function or
communicative purpose.
Function: The function of a structure is the communicative purpose of that structure on a
particular occasion – what the speaker is trying to do through language. For example, ‘Have
you read this book?’ is present perfect interrogative in form but the speaker may be using it to
make a suggestion, to suggest that the listener read the book – suggesting is the function of
the structure here. The use of a form can often be expressed in terms of functions.
Reflection task: Grammatical structure or function? What are the differences? Provide
examples. Should we teach both? Why?
f) Attitude to errors
Considering what we know about how language learning takes place, we should treat errors
as steps to learning or partial learning rather than frustrating indications of non-learning. In
this light, errors provide information about the learners’ progress and our teaching priorities,
as they signal areas that need re-teaching or remedial teaching. Students should be made
aware of the areas of difficulty in English grammar and frequently provided with
opportunities of self-correction, peer-correction and error correction exercises in general.
2. PRESENTATION STAGE
A good grammar presentation is supposed to introduce the new structure in a context which
clearly illustrates its meaning (and communicative function). Here is a checklist for effective,
memorable presentations:
Presentations
need to contextualize the new language in a situation
need to have visuals for maximum impact (blackboard drawings, realia (i.e. real
objects), pictures, actions/mime
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need to use language which is appropriate for the students’ age and level
need to make sure there is no new vocabulary, which can be distracting – if
necessary, we can pre-teach any new lexical items
need to be generative, i.e. able to generate many examples of the structure
need to be short – no longer than 5 minutes
As already stated above, grammar presentations can be overt/explicit/deductive or
covert/implicit/inductive. Other terms used for these two approaches are giving and
guiding. Giving describes the process whereby the meaning of a structure is ‘transmitted’ to
the students in an overt way, and they are relatively passive recipients of new content.
Guiding describes the process whereby students are involved in working out the meaning for
themselves or in deriving a rule from contextualised instances of the use of a particular
language item.
Deductive presentations first formulate the rule and then give the example. The
presentation starts from the form to the meaning and use of the structure. Such a presentation
would go as follows: the Present Perfect Continuous (have/has been + Present Participle) is
used to express an activity/state which starts in the past and last up to/beyond the moment of
speaking. E.g.: She has been baking cakes for two hours.
Inductive presentations introduce the structure in a context or situation which
clearly illustrates its meaning and function. The teacher uses guiding questions, prompting
students to comment on the meaning of the new structure and infer the rule by themselves.
Demonstration: picture of a boy waiting at the bus stop
Situation: This is Tom. Where is he? What is he doing? When did he arrive at the bus stop?
He arrived at the bus stop at 10.00. What time is it now? It’s 11.00.
At this point, the students are likely to have inferred the meaning of the structure (i.e. an
activity or state which starts in the past and lasts till the moment of speech). The form of the
target structure (i.e. the structure to be taught) is then presented by the teacher in both
spoken and written form in an example sentence, called MARKER SENTENCE (MS),
which normally comes at the end of the presentation.
MS: Tom has been waiting at the bus stop for an hour.
The MARKER SENTENCE is also used after the presentation, for the repetition practice
meant to reinforce the form of the structure in terms of pronunciation/word
order/contractions.
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Guided discovery presentations combine elements of the deductive and inductive
strategies. Students are elicited to formulate the meaning of a structure or a grammatical rule,
which they are helped to reach by means of relevant guiding questions.
E.g.:
Teacher: ‘In the dialogue on the board, both the verbs underlined refer to the future.
However, there is a difference in meaning between the two future forms. Think of the
moment when the decision was made’:
A: Why do you want the corkscrew?
B: I’m going to open that bottle of wine I bought yesterday.
A: We drank it last night.
B: Oh. Then I’ll open a beer.
Reflection task:
Deductive or inductive? Which is better? Why?
Can we use both of them?
What are the advantages/disadvantages in either case?
To sum up, the presentation of a new language structure has to cover the following aspects:
PRESENTATION = MEANING, FORM(S), PRONUNCIATION, FUNCTION (SOCIAL
CONTEXT COMMUNICATION). For example, the meaning of the Present Perfect Simple
in the question ‘Have you read this book?’ is asking if an action has been performed at any
time up to the moment of speaking, while its function can be to suggest that the subject read
the respective book.
2. 1. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES
a) Situations
This has already been illustrated above. The situation and context chosen should be relevant
to everyday life, and, as already stated, appropriate for the students’ age, level, interests and
life experience. First and foremost, it should provide a meaningful context that will make the
meaning (and function) of the structure clear and easily understandable to the students.
Task:
What situation can you think of to introduce the following language items?
cleaning windows/about half an hour writing an essay/two days
waiting for the bus/ten minutes studying French/two semesters
A: How long has he been waiting for the bus?
B: He’s been waiting for the bus for ten minutes.
e) Find someone who
This activity is a more challenging kind of question and answer drill. Students are given a list
of actions/activities related to routines, habits, past experience, etc. They have to go about the
class asking their peers Yes/No-questions based on the prompts on the list and involving the
target structure, e.g. Do you (ever)...? Have you (ever)....? The aim of the game is to get the
most positive answers. If they get a positive answer, they ask for the person’s signature next
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to the respective question. The winner of the game is the one who gets the most positive
answers in the shortest time. E.g. Find someone who:
- goes to bed earlier than 10 pm
- has a full breakfast on weekdays
- goes jogging every morning
- reads English books
f) Model dialogue
Dialogues provide more meaningful practice as they replicate more closely the real-life
conversational patterns used in everyday communication. Here is one model for the Present
Perfect Continuous:
Ann: Hi Mary. How’s it going?
Lucy: Not too bad. What have you been doing lately?
Ann: Well, not much, really. I’ve been cramming for exams. What about you?
Marry: Oh, I’ve been reading War and Peace.
Substitution cues: working as a waitress/going to the gym/teaching myself French/writing a
play, etc. Alternatively, students can provide their own examples.
g) Dialogue chain/Skeleton dialogues
This is slightly more complex, as students create their dialogues by following a ‘dialogue
map’ or ‘script instructions’ for the interlocutors to flesh out.
A B
Greet B Reply. Ask about recent activities
Answer. Ask B about recent activities Reply. Suggest meeting for a drink this evening
Agree. Suggest a time and place agree with place but suggest another time. Give
a reason
Agree. Say goodbye Reply
h) Creative grammar practice – model poems
This is a concept developed by Günter Gerngross and Herbert Puchta, in which grammar
practice activities based on substitution provide a springboard for verbal creativity and
activating ‘the right side of the brain’ (Gerngross and Puchta, 1993). The students are shown
a model poem focused on a particular recurrent grammar structure. Sometimes they have to
work on the model itself – putting jumbled words in order, for example, but usually they have
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to reflect on the poem’s topic and ideas, and how these are relate to themselves. Using the
skeleton of the original, structure -based poem, they create their own, personalised version,
by substituting the words or phrases in the model with their own. Here’s the frame of a
Sensorial Poem for practising the 2nd Conditional, by referring to a person they like/love:
If he/she were a colour, he/she would be ........
If he/she were a sight, he/she would be a/the........
If he/she were a sound, he/she would be a/the........
If he/she were a smell, he/she would be a/the........
If he/she were a taste, he/she would be a/the........
If he/she were music, he/she would be a/the........
If he/she were food, he/she would be a/the........
The value of the above exercise resides in what Adrian Doff calls meaningful practice, i.e.
practice which requires personalization and adds some personal meaning to the activity (Doff
1988).
Below is a list of other types of drills used at the controlled practice stage, mainly
variations on Substitution or Question and Answer drills, which also involve such operations
as transformation, replacement, restatement, completion, expansion, contraction of items, etc.
i) Transformation DrillLanguage learners are required to change sentences from negative to positive, from positive to interrogative, or from simple present tense to simple past tense, depending on the instructions from the teacher. E.g.: T: The book is new. SS: Is the book new?
j) Replacement DrillLanguage learners replace a noun with a pronoun. It is the same drill as substitution drill but it involves with a replacement.E.g.: T: I like the bookStudent: I like it
k) Response DrillLanguage learners respond to somebody’s sentence. In this drill this answers are patterned after the questions. This drill may involve “wh-” questions or “yes/no” questions.E.g.: T: Alice is at school.T: Where is Alice?SS: At school.
l) Cued Response Drill
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In this drill language learners are provided with a cue before or after the questions.E.g.:T: What did the man buy? (A book)SS: The man bought a book.
m) Rejoinder DrillIt is similar to the cued response drill, but in this drill language learners are given instructions of how to respond in terms of style/register.E.g.:T: come to my house (be polite)SS: Would you like to come to my house?
n) Restatement drillLanguage learners rephrase an utterance and address it to somebody else, according to the content of the utterance.E.g.:T: Ask your friend what he has for breakfastSS: What do you have for breakfast?
o) Completion DrillLanguage learners are told to supply a missing word in a sentence or statement.E.g:T: I bring my cakes and you bring….SS: I bring my cakes and you bring your cakes.
p) Expansion DrillLanguage learners build up a statement by adding a word or phrase.E.g.:T: MathematicsSS: We study mathematicsT: everydaySS: We study mathematics every day.
q) Contraction DrillLanguage learners replace a phrase or clause with a single word or shorter expressions.E.g.: T: I didn’t mean to hurt the dogSS: I didn’t mean it.
r) Integration DrillLanguage learners combine two separate statements.E.g.:T: I know that lady. She is wearing a blue shirtSS: I know the lady wearing a blue shirt.
s) Parallel writing
This exercise offers controlled writing practice based on a model text. Students have to
rewrite the text by making certain structural changes, e.g. change the subject from Itohe/she
so as to use the Present Simple form for the 3rd person singular (hurries, goes, tries), put
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Present Tense verbs into the Past Simple or simply personalise the text content by writing
about themselves.
2. 2. 2. Semi-controlled practiceThis stage consists in structural practice based on a wide range of exercises, commonly found
in most grammar books. These exercises are less teacher-controlled, but do not offer
complete student control over language, as students have to use the structure correctly in a
given sentence or text, without actually producing language themselves. They have the
advantage of also being suitable for individual independent study, in class or at home, orally
or in writing, for reinforcement or consolidation purposes. The most common semi-controlled
exercises are:
a) Bracketed verbs/adjectives This is one of the most frequently used exercise type, extremely useful for tense practice,
adjective comparison forms, etc. Students operate with such categories as Tense, Aspect,
Voice, Infinitive/Gerund complementation, Subjunctives, having to choose between two
alternative forms – Simple/Progressive tense forms, Gerunds/Infinitives, etc, which always
involves a compare and contrast approach.
b) Dual/Multiple choiceThis exercise offers two or four items to choose from: verb forms, prepositions,
singular/plural nouns, modal verbs, time adverbs, etc.
c) Gap-fill These consist in sentences or texts containing gap or blank spaces to be filled in. It is used for
practice with verbs, prepositions, determiners, adverbial modifiers, etc.
d) Cloze passages A cloze is a text from which every 5 th or 7th word has been removed so that the students will
fill in the blanks. A grammar cloze devised in this way is a good way of testing general
grammar (and vocabulary) knowledge. Alternatively, teachers can tailor a cloze for practice
in a specific structure, by removing only the items related to the target structure
(infinives/gerunds, prepositions).
e) True/False statements These can be organized as pairs of statements or sentences (a, b) to choose from, referring to
the meaning or use of a structure (tenses, modal verbs).
f) Matching items
The items to be matched are arranged in two columns, in random order. They can be verb
tenses + adverbs, main + subordinate clauses, verbs + gerund/infinitive complements, etc.
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g) Error correction
Students are required to discriminate between correct and incorrect forms, and make
corrections where necessary. These exercises have an important formative value, as thinking
of and evaluating structural accuracy helps in developing the students’ ability for self-
correction.
Below are illustrated two game-like activities based on error correction, which, by
adding an element of fun and even excitement, can render dull correction exercises more
enjoyable.
h) Grammar auction
The students work in pairs or groups. They are told they are going to participate in a sentence
auction, for which each pair/group have £1,000. Some of the sentences are correct, while
others will contain grammar mistakes. Of course, the students are supposed to bid for correct
sentences. The winning pair/group has the largest number of correct sentences at the end of
the activity.
i) Grammar gamble
This is a variation on the game above, but instead of buying correct sentences, the students
will bet on their own correction of sentences containing mistakes. Each group (3 or 4
students) is given 1,000 and a list of incorrect sentences with mistakes in grammar, word
order, etc. These can be taken from the students’ mistakes in their written work. According to
the degree of difficulty, each sentence will be assigned different odds. In their groups,
students discuss the corrections they think necessary. The teacher calls out one sentence at a
time and asks students to place their bets on their corrected versions. On the board, the
teacher draws two columns headed Bet and Total, writing each group’s stakes and earnings.
The winning team will have the largest sum at the end of the activity (see Gates, 1994).
j) Jumbled words ordering
These exercises are particularly focused on word order, but they can also raise awareness of
such issues as cohesion, linking words, emphasis/fronting, inversion.
k) Rewrite/Rephrase sentences
Beside target structure practice, these exercises also raise awareness about meanings,
functions, polysemous structural or syntactic forms, as they require reformulating a sentence
in such a way that its meaning remains unchanged. In order to rephrase a given sentence,
students are provided with cues which can be either a different beginning or a word to be
included in the new sentence.
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l) Dictogloss/Grammar dictation
The teacher reads a short text at a reasonable, normal speech speed and students listen first, to
get a general idea of the content and grammar of the text. For the second reading, the students
are required to take as many and as detailed notes as they can of what they hear – sentence
chunks, key phrases/words. In groups of three or four, the students are required to put their
notes together and try to reconstruct the original text as accurately as possible. It can also be
done as a competition, in which the winning team ends up with a text which is the closest to
the original and the most grammatically accurate.
3. PRODUCTION/FREE PRACTICE STAGE
With free practice or production activities, the focus shifts from accuracy to fluency. These
activities are aimed at allowing students to practise the new language in meaningful
communicative contexts, which replicate real life communication. At this stage, control over
language is transferred to the students, since they work with or produce language as they
engage in communicative tasks requiring S->S interaction and are provided with
opportunities for free self-expression. A graphic representation of the staging in a grammar
lesson – in terms of activity sequencing, teacher roles, control over language and activity
aims – could look as follows:
Staging
Presentation Controlled practice Semi-controlled practice Free practice // /
Presentation Practice Production
Teacher roles
T as presenter T giving T organising activities so that of new language SS chance to practise language SS can use language meaningfully
Teacher-centred Learner-centred
Control over language
T ->S S-> ST. control over language >SS control over language Immediate correction Delayed correction
Aims
ACCURACY FLUENCY /T ssssssss s T s
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ssss sssssss ss
Of course, communicative activities for free oral practice commonly presuppose pair
work and group work.In order to motivate students to work together in pairs/groups, the
activities have to be task-based – if students know what they have to achieve, they will have
a purpose to work towards, i.e. solving the task. Of course, communicative grammar
activities must have a grammar focus – a structure/function they have learnt/revised
recently. Of course, task-based communicative activities require careful preparation on the
part of the teacher, who has to plan the activity well in advance, to organise the class and
provide the students with the necessary materials, such as handouts or visuals. Basically, the
most common communicative activities are of two types – Information Gap and Role Play
– but the range is in fact much wider. The most productive communicative grammar activities
for free oral practice are described below.
3. 1. INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES (Info-gap)
Usually suitable for pair work, but also in group work, these activities are based on an
information gap, i.e. the students have different information which they have to share in order
to fulfil the given task. In other words, the need to exchange information provides the need to
communicate, usually by means of question and answer patterns of interaction. In an
information gap activity, each student working in a pair (A and B) is given a handout
containing information his/her partner does not have. The task varies depending on the
grammar focus of the activity. Most often, they have to exchange information in order to
reach a decision, an agreement, a conclusion, a certain result (filling in a chart) or to create
something (a map, a drawing, a description, an object/handicraft item). As they are not
supposed to see each other’s information, the best seating arrangement for the pair is face-to-
face. Here are a few examples of tasks:
i. Agreeing on a common plan/action.
For instance, in an activity focused on the use of the Present Continuous for Future plans they
are asked to agree on a time to meet,based on handouts containing different diary pages with
scheduled activities, or, in a freer variation, based on their own plans for the next day/the
weekend/the holidays, etc.
ii. Achieving a result:
Pictures with differences
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The students are given quite similar pictures containing a number of differences
(number/colour of objects, different people/animals/furniture/street/position in space). They
are told there are 10 differences, for example. To fulfil the task, they take turns to ask and
answer questions, paying attention to and recording the differences they identify. It is useful
for practising questions such as: Is/Are there...?/Where is/are? + prepositions of place; What
is the girl doing?/Is the boy sitting? – No, he is standing.
Chart completion
The students are given charts with different missing information. To complete them, they
have to ask their partners, who have the information they need.
Map completion
The students are given handouts with the map of a street, village, town, zoo, store, etc. Each
student has elements the other has not, so they have to ask and answer questions in order to
complete their maps with the missing items put in the right place. The activity is useful for
prepositions of place, giving instructions. Another task can be giving their partners’
directions to their home.
Drawing instructions
The students are given handouts with different shapes/objects/places/people/animals. The
task requires that each of them draws the picture on their partner’s handout, listening to each
other’s descriptions and instructions. Without handouts, the task can be that each of them
describes his/her room so that their partner can draw a plan of the room. The grammar focus
is again prepositions of place, spatial directions.
There are also other types of communicative activities and games roughly based on
the information gap principle:
a) Guessing games: 20 Qs
This is a popular game. It can be played either in pairs or with the whole class. In a pair, the
partners take turns as ‘knower’ and ‘guesser’. Each thinks of an activity, person, job, animal,
country, continent, place, etc. They try to guess what the other is thinking of by asking
relevant Yes/No questions (up to 20) focused on structures and topics fit to the context. With
the whole class, one student is the knower, answering the questions asked by his peers.
b) Mime/Charades
This is another type of entertaining guessing game, also used for amusement at social get-
togethers. The knower has to mime the concept he/she has in mind, nodding or shaking his
head in response to the others’ questions.
c) Questionnaires/Surveys
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Students are asked to collect data about their classmates by devising a questionnaire on
various topics: hobbies, pastimes, sports, holidays, eating/reading habits, likes/dislikes, etc.
They have to go around the class asking questions and recording answers on their report
sheet. At the end the students process the data collected and present their findings, under the
form of pie-charts, stack columns, graphs or diagrams.
d) Interviews
The students interview each other on a given topic: future plans/career/holidays, past
experiences, family, relationships, friends, study or pastime preferences, etc. At the end each
student produces an oral or written account of the interview. It can be used for practising
tenses and reported speech. The interviewers/interviewees can act as themselves or play the
role of other people (family members, friends – an exercise in empathy!), of celebrities or
even animals! This really appeals to their empathic imagination.
e) Quizzes
It can be organized in pairs or groups. Each student or group devises a quiz based on a
structure and topic studied in class (wildlife, geographical/historical/cultural
facts/films/books/music, etc. It can be conducted orally or in writing. It is more challenging if
organised as a competition between two/three teams, in which the winning team has the most
correct answers.
3. 2. ROLE PLAY
The principles of role play activities are by and large the same as those for Info-gap activities.
The task involves achieving a social and transactional goal, as indicated in the Role Cards
allocated to students working in pairs or groups, which provide the information gap required
for a meaningful exchange of information. However, there is a stronger focus on functions:
persuasion, invitations, refusals, agreeing, disagreeing, etc. In designing a role play, we
should think of a context or situation presenting a potential conflict of interest, opinions or
ideas. At the same time role plays should reflect clear social role: teacher, parent, policeman,
driver, ecologist, salesperson, customer, public figure, artist, etc.
Role cards are essential in defining profile and goal of the person the student has to
impersonate while interacting with the others.
Example: Four roommates are discussing ideas for an evening out. They have to agree on
something to do together, even if they have rather different interests and tastes.
Role card 1: You are Sam. You like eating out and prefer fast-food restaurants. For a change,
however, you would try something more exotic. You like musicals.
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Role card 2: You are Annie. You like Chinese food, and would like to take the £5 eat-as-
much-as you-want offer at Mr Wu. You also like going to the theatre and prefer comedies.
Role card 3: You are Lucy. You like Italian food and would like to have some lasagne at
Mama Mia. You like going to the cinema and prefer romantic comedies.
Role card 4: You are Johnny. You’re fond of cooking curry and would prefer to cook a meal
for the others. You like dancing, especially Latino dances.
a) Agony columns/Agony aunts/uncles
This popular magazine column in which the columnist – called an agony aunt/uncle – offers
advice to readers requesting advice on a problem can be adapted for role play focused on the
function of asking for and giving advice. It works better in pairs rather than groups. Each
student receives a role card containing a problem (relationships, school, work, career, health,
etc). Every student complains about his problem and receives advice from his partner.
Alternatively, both the problem and the advice can be expressed in writing, with each student
receiving a problem card to respond to in writing. For this version, the role play can be
dropped in favour of a self-expression exercise, where the students can write their own
problems on unsigned pieces of paper, which the teacher distributes around the class, asking
students to offer advice on the problem in question. As students may be sensitive about this
self-revealing context, anonymity is obligatory. All the pieces of paper will be gathered on
the teacher’s desk, so the students can collect their ‘advice letter’ at the end of the lesson.
b) Letter-writing
Role plays can also consist of writing activities. Students can be asked to write various types
of letters (invitation, request, advice, complaint, application, etc.) from the perspective of a
certain role. Of course, the writing activity will be based on a given context, specifying the
writer’s purpose, audience and the appropriate style (formal/informal). The task will also
include cues about content, such as issues to complain about in a letter of complaint. More
imaginative activities can include writing letters or diary entries from the perspective of a
character in a story, a person they know well or a famous person.
3. 3. FREE DISCUSSION/DEBATE ACTIVITIES
a) Problem solving
This activity can be done either as a role play, with students in the group assuming a given
role in a given context, or, for a more realistic context, the students can discuss issues from
their own perspective, acting as themselves. The activity consists in asking the students to
discuss and agree on possible solutions to a certain problem. A real or imaginary problem is
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presented by the teacher, orally or on a fact-file handout. This can be in connection with a
real problem – solutions for cleaning a polluted area/reducing pollution in their
area/publicising an event or product/repairing a malfunctioning machine or
vehicle/converting or finding a use for an old building in town/refurbishing the school
building/raising funds for a cause/protecting an endangered species/community/area, etc.
Alternatively, the problems can be brain-teasers or puzzles to work out, or more imaginative
problems like being on a space mission and having to deal with a technical problem.
The example below is quite a popular riddle aimed at testing strategic and logical thinking,
called ‘Who owns the zebra?’
The students are given the following cues, and asked to work out the answers for two
questions: 1) Who drinks water? and 2) Who owns the zebra? The activity can be used for
practising modal verbs (may/might/could/must/can’t/couldn’t + infinitive) and such
functions as expressing possibility, positive or negative deduction/certainty, prepositions
of place, etc.
1. There are five houses in a row, each of a different colour and inhabited by people of
different nationalities, with different pets, drinks, and flowers.
2. The English person lives in the red house.
3. The Spaniard owns the dog.
4. Coffee is drunk in the green house.
5. The Ukrainian drinks tea.
6. The green house is immediately to the right (your right) of the ivory house.
7. The geranium grower owns snails.
8. Roses are in front of the yellow house.
9. Milk is drunk in the middle house.
10. The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left.
11. The person who grows marigolds lives in the house next to the person with the fox.
12. Roses are grown at the house next to the house where the horse is kept.
13. The person who grows lilies drinks orange juice.
14. The Japanese person grows gardenias.
15. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
b) Choosing candidates
The students are given a list of candidates for a competition, job, manager, as well as relevant
information about them. The candidates’ profiles should include details about their
background, qualities, abilities and skills, experience, interests, commitment or leadership
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potential. The group has to discuss their suitability and reach a decision about the most
suitable candidate. The functions practiced can be agreeing, disagreeing, suggesting,
A reader usually uses his previous knowledge of the topic to anticipate lexical content.
Students should be involved in brainstorming and activating the words they know about the
topic and compile a common list of words which they think might come up in the text. While
reading, they can be asked to check their vocabulary predictions. If the teacher thinks the text
contains words likely to hinder comprehension, he/she may choose to pre-teach them or ask
students to look them up in the dictionary. If not, it would be preferable to postpone working
with words until the post-reading stage, which will be more productive, as it gives students
the chance to deal with new words in a more natural and interactive way, that is to guess their
meaning from context.
2. WHILE-READING ACTIVITIES
At the while-reading stage of a reading lesson, the primary activity should consist in learners
reading texts silently and doing comprehension tasks set by the teacher. While the students
are reading, the teacher should keep a low profile and allow students to explore the text in
silence, without unnecessary interruptions. If the students work on reading task-sheet, the
class feedback session can be done at the end of each activity or, preferably, at the end of the
lesson.
Reading comprehension tasks should be aimed at training the two important reading
strategies and sub-skills: skimming (identifying the main idea or gist of a text) and
scanning (focussing on specific information/details in a text). During a reading lesson, it is
desirable that students should have both skimming and scanning exercises.
2.1. SKIMMING TASKS
Skimming (through) a text means reading quickly or perusing the text for the main idea/gist,
without reading word by word or sentence by sentence. It is the strategy we normally use for
global comprehension or getting a general idea of a text or book. It involves speed-reading,
i.e. browsing/leafing through pages or looking over a text to get the main idea in the shortest
time possible. That is why skimming activities should always be done within a set time-limit,
with the teacher specifying the allocated time from the beginning and timing the students’
reading. The time limit should be carefully thought out – it should be short to encourage
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speed, but realistic in terms of task complexity, as too short a time frame may frustrate
students who haven’t been able to finish the task. Matching a title to an article can take two
minutes, while ordering jumbled paragraphs may take 10 minutes.
a) Matching titles/headlines/headings/topic sentences to text/paragraphs
These activities can be done with several texts/excerpts or on a single text. With several texts,
the students can be asked to match 3-4 headlines/summaries with the corresponding news
items, or some titles/summaries with texts of different types. On a single text, the students
can do a multiple matching exercise based on a number of headings or summary statements
to be matched with the corresponding sections or paragraphs in the text. A variation can be
offering a text in which the topic sentences of the paragraphs have been erased, and the
jumbled topic sentences which the students have to match to the corresponding paragraph.
b) Identifying the topic (of a text or paragraph)
This is a variation of the above activity, requiring the skimming of a text or paragraph to
identify the topic. The students will state the topic themselves or can answer a multiple
choice question. They should also be taught to exploit the role of the topic sentence in a
paragraph.
c) Summarising the gist of a text/paragraph (by a title/heading/sentence)
Students are required to skim a text or paragraph and suggest a title, heading or sentence
which best summarises its main idea.
d) Ordering jumbled paragraphs
The students are given cut-outs containing the paragraphs of a text. In pairs or groups,
students have to put them in the right order within a relatively short time limit. The students
will have to take into account the logical sequence/coherence of the paragraphs, as well as the
linking words or topic sentences which can provide clues as to what may come before or after
each paragraph. The groups report their results and explain the ordering clues they have used.
e) Jigsaw reading
A variation on the above activity can take the form of a jigsaw reading, where each student
in a group is given a different paragraph. The one who thinks is the first will tell the others a
summary of his/her paragraph, and each of them will do the same when they consider they
come next. At the end they put their paragraphs together and check results. The activity
integrates reading with listening and speaking.
f) Comprehension/open-ended questions
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Comprehension questions can be aimed at checking general comprehension if they are
focused on important areas of meaning rather than on details. They help guide the students’
reading of the text – good questions should focus their attention on the main points and lead
them to think about the meaning of the text. E.g.: What is the writer’s main argument against
zoos? Do you agree with it?
2.2. SCANNING TASKS
Such tasks are aimed at training the students to scan the text for bits of specific information.
Scanning strategies also presuppose speed-reading, so the teacher should set time limits for
any such exercises. Scanning activities can be applied to any kind of text or to more
specialised texts. To replicate the real life contexts in which we use this reading strategy to
focus on the information we need, we should illustrate them by special purpose texts such as
transport timetables, TV guides, tourist brochures, travel information guides/leaflets, user’s
manuals, menus, directories, etc.
a) Yes/No questions/ True/false statements
This is a quite simple and common exercise, extremely useful for scanning activities, as it
focuses the students’ attention to items of specific information. It can also be organised as a
reading competition, whose winner is the first to answer the questions correctly.
b) Special/Wh-questions
Special questions provide students with both a purpose and a clear focus while reading. The
expected answers can be shorter or longer, depending on the complexity of the response
required. If used with systematised informative texts such as timetables, TV or tourist guides,
this exercise also lends itself to a competition, with the winner being the first one to find the
answers.
E.g.: What film is on Channel 4 on at 8 pm on Monday?/What time is the Docklands Museum
open at weekends? What is the entrance fee?
c) Detailed comprehension questions
Comprehension questions are, more often than not, the most commonly widespread exercise
for checking detailed comprehension and focusing the students’ attention on particular items
of information. They show the teacher and the students themselves how well they have
understood the text, and what needs to be more fully explained.
d) Inference questions
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Inference questions are meant to get the students probe into the meaning of the text at a
deeper level and infer or ‘guess at’ potential shades of meaning not explicitly expressed, but
rather suggested by the text. In other words, inference can be defined by reading between the
lines for meaning, ideas, attitudes, stances, motivations, moods or feelings which are only
obliquely or indirectly touched upon or understated. Inference questions also train the
students’ ability of identifying the writer’s purpose and tone. E.g.: Why do you think the girl
decided not to leave home after all?/Why does the story begin with a pre-view of the ending
scene? What is the role of the long enumeration in paragraph 3?
e) Information transfer (grid completion)
The students are given a grid/table with different headings referring to specific items of
information. They have to complete the table with brief notes of the relevant information
required by each heading – that is to ‘transfer information’ to a different kind of format. The
main purpose of completing the table is to help focus the students’ attention on the main
points of a text, and make it easier for them to organise the information in their minds.
Besides, by giving students’ practice in note-taking, the activity helps them to develop
efficient note-taking skills and systematise information in a concise manner – which is very
important for their study skills. For example, if working on a text concerning a personality
profile, the headings may be: Hometown, Family, Education, First job, First film/Hollywood
success/Oscar nomination/award, Home, Marriage and children, Earnings, Charity causes,
etc.
f) Reading race/competitions
Bringing an element of fun to a reading activity is a worthwhile variation, as it helps build
both motivation and confidence. Competitive activities may be concerned with either
skimming or scanning skills. Arranging jumbled paragraphs/sentences can be used for
skimming, while scanning activities, as already illustrated above, may involve finding
answers to a number of questions within a certain time limit, filling in gaps with the missing
phrases from a list. The activities can be played individually or in groups.
2.3. EXPLORING TEXT ORGANISATION
Text organisation constitutes an aid to comprehension in itself, therefore students should be
taught to exploit the logical, rhetorical and linguistic devices which hold a text together and
help clarify meaning. Apart from facilitating comprehension, exercises which draw attention
to text organisation features are essential in helping students with their own writing, as it is
commonly known that good readers usually make good writers. Consequently, such
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awareness-raising activities have a much wider scope, in that they are training reading sub-
skills and strategies which, implicitly and naturally lead into writing.
a) Examining text organisation elements
To begin with, thinking of text organisation features help consolidate the students’
knowledge of text types. Assigning the text to a type means an awareness of defining
organisational features, which we use in distinguishing between letters, articles,
argumentative essays, literary or scientific texts. Engaging students in evaluating paragraph
sequencing and the relationship between the different parts/sections of a text can be done
through any skimming exercise which requires multiple matching (main ideas and
paragraphs), identifying the topic or gist of each paragraph or ordering jumbled paragraphs.
After identifying the main topic and paragraph divisions of a text, students can be asked to
complete a diagram illustrating the format/plan/outline of the text, which they can use as a
model for their own writing assignments. For example, a text descriptive essay model for
describing people can be represented as follows.
Students can also be involved in examining paragraph construction, which also teaches them
how to write a good paragraph themselves. They can examine the way in which the main idea
and supporting details are organised within a paragraph by analysing the role/function of each
sentence – the topic sentence and supporting statements. E.g.: Decide how the other sentences
in paragraph 2 expand the information given in the topic/key sentence. Does any of them: a)
give examples? b) give a further explanation? c) give a judgement? d) do a mixture of the
above? e) do something else?
b) Text coherence
Text coherence concerns the logical connection and arrangement between ideas, paragraphs
or sentences in a text and the use of discourse markers (sentence adverbs or adverbial
phrases signalling order and sequence, additional new points, contrasting points, etc.) in
ensuring the logical flow of ideas. Activities focused on coherence can involve identifying a
paragraph or sentence which does not belong in the text, ordering jumbled sentences,
deciding the order of 3-4 expressions taken out of the text or examining the functions of the
linking phrases or discourse markers mentioned above.
c) Text cohesion
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Character/Personality
Final comments/present feelingsno
Physical appearance/Clothes Howyou met
Introduction How you met
Text cohesion concerns the syntactic and lexical mechanisms which hold the text together or
make it cohere at discrete level – how ideas and sentences are joined or related to each other.
Activities may involve identifying and analysing the use of the cohesive deviceswithin a
sentence or paragraph – linkers, conjunctions, demonstrative pronouns, articles, anaphoric
reference (backwards, to a previous element) or cataphoric reference (forwards, to a
subsequent element) references. E.g.: What does ‘it’/’this’/‘that’/‘do so’ in line 25 refer to?
3. POST-READING ACTIVITIES
Post-reading activities usually deal with the students’ reactions to the text. They encourage
students to comment on ideas, agree/disagree with issues, share opinions and impressions
about what they have read, make value judgements, assess experiences, etc. They also
promote the integration of reading with other skills (speaking, listening, writing), since, as it
happens in real life, reading is often a pre-text for talking or writing.
a) Evaluation and response
A reader usually evaluates and reacts to a text in various ways – discussing with others,
exchanging opinions, agreeing, disagreeing, arguing in favour or against points in the text,
writing/doing something in response, changing certain habits or behaviours, etc. Students can
be asked to react in a quite simple, yet telling manner:
E.g.: Read/say aloud the sentence in the text which:
- you like best- you most agree/disagree with- you will tell your parents/friends about- impressed you the most- set you thinking/gave you food for thought- changed your perspective on the matter- made you want to do/change something
b) Discussions, debates
These are more ample activities regarding the reactions mentioned about, in which students
can discuss in pairs or groups certain issues related to the text. They may be asked to
interpret/explain certain facts or ideas/comment on situations and people/find solutions to
problems presented/think or speculate on of causes and effects/plan a course of action, etc.
c) Jigsaw reading
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This is an approach to reading which involves the students in speaking and summarising
skills. It is very useful when working with short authentic texts such as newspaper
articles.Jigsaw reading is a great way to introduce speaking into a reading lesson. It provides
a real opportunity for genuine communication. In real life, we may tell people about a news
article we have read, so this is a classroom activity that is fairly authentic.Jigsaw reading can
be done in two ways:
i. Twoseparate stories
We can use two news stories which share a theme – for example two separate stories on
holidays gone wrong. The teacher prepares comprehension questions for each story andgives
one half of the class (Group A) one story, and the other half (Group B) the other. The
students read their article, answer the questions and check understanding. Students then pair
up with someone from the other group and tell them about their story, and listen to the other
one. To help students remember their story we may get them to take notes, but, in order to
keep the challenge, we should not allow them to take the article with them to refer to.
ii.One story split in two
Some stories can be clearly divided in two. We can follow the same procedure as above, but
giving each group only one half of the story. When the students are recounting their half of
the article, we should make sure that the student with the opening half goes first.The activity
integrates reading with listening and speaking.
d) Role-play
Role-play activities can be used with texts focused on people – personality profiles,
biographies, historical documents, outstanding people’s achievements, or with literary
characters. Assuming the role of certain characters in the reading, students can ask/answer
questions and speculate on the motives or reasons of their actions, the nature of their
experiences, etc.
e) Imaginary interviews
The students, acting as themselves this time, are asked to write interview questions they
would like to ask a person they have read about in a reading text. They can also be
encouraged to imagine the potential answers or can interview other students who will play the
part of the imaginary interviewee.
f) Written response activities
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Reading activities should also be used as a springboard for writing activities. Students are
asked to respond in writing to issues they have read about. For instance, they can write letters
(to the editor, complaint, enquiry), reports, proposals, leaflets, manifestoes, articles, etc. They
can write as themselves or, especially with human interest stories or literary texts, which lend
themselves to role-playing, they can assume the role of a character, writing a letter or a diary
entry from his/her perspective. Other challenging tasks may be writing a continuation to a
story ora different ending.
g) Vocabulary building tasks
Reading texts are usually a rich source of new vocabulary, therefore they should be used for
vocabulary expansion. Providing the new words do not hinder comprehension, it is usually
worthwhile postponing vocabulary matters to the post-reading stage, telling students not to
worry about the words they don’t know. This helps prepare students psychologically to deal
with unknown vocabulary and accustoms them to guessing meaning from context.
Consequently, post-reading vocabulary tasks should be based on discovery and inference
techniques: matching words/phrases with definitions; multiple choice
definitions/explanations; finding synonyms/antonyms for words given by the teacher; using
the words in sentences of their own, writing a text using the new words.
4. USING LITERARY TEXTS
Literature is an inexhaustible source of interesting, motivational and instructive texts, so
literary texts should also figure in a balanced reading programme. Of course, sources should
be well-adapted to the learner’s age, interests and language level. There is a wide variety of
children’s books the teacher can use, from classical to contemporary storybooks such as those
of Roald Dahl or J.K. Rawling, for instance. Teenage literature is also well-represented, a
good example being Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole books (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole,
Aged 13¾, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, etc.). Literary texts provide learners with
situations and characters they may identify with, or with flights of fancy which can develop
their imagination, creativity and linguistic ability. The texts can be exploited from many
different perspectives and using various strategies. They may also offer an incentive for more
ambitious projects such as dramatisations or script-writing and, why not, even short amateur
films. What is more important, however, is the potential of a well-chosen literary text to whet
the students’ appetite for reading literature outside the classroom, which would be a
tremendous gain for all those concerned.
5. ENCOURAGING EXTENSIVE READING
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Motivating students to read extensively outside the classroom should be the envisioned
corollary of any reading programme. Well-conducted intensive reading activities have their
role in increasing motivation for reading, but they should be supplemented by class activities
specially targeted at extensive reading. Some recommended strategies are presented below.
a) Using readers
The numerous graded readers available on the market, adapted for different language levels,
provide a goodsource of reading materials. There are also packages of teaching resources
specially designed for activities based on the use of readers in and out of class. The teacher
should of course have access to a reasonable number of readers which can be circulated
among the students. Setting up a class library can be a positive move, as the very visibility
of available books will help in raising reading interests, especially if all tastes are catered for,
in terms of a variety of topics and genres.
b) Let me recommend...
As in real life, the books we liked should be talked about, commented, recommended and
passed around. Therefore the teacher should organise regular sessions in which individual
students report on their writing and recommend a book to their peers. The teacher can provide
the students with a simple format for a book review, containing such headings as: Title,
Author, Plot, Characters, Why I liked it.
c) Book of the month corner
Students should be encouraged to enter the titles they liked on a list available on a wall
display/class notice-board. Any student who read the same book can write a mark (1to5) and
a short comment on a certain book card (see Harmer, 212). At the end of the school year, the
students can compile the ‘Book hit-list’ with the books ranking highest in their preferences.
Whatever strategies and activities we may devise to encourage our students to read
widely, they should highlight the value of reading as a pleasurable, rewarding and enriching
pastime which benefits them in the long run, both personally and socially.
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Chapter 6
DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS
Speaking and writing skills belong to the category of productive skills, as they require
learners to produce language input, oral or written. Of course, we can talk about learner
language production only with reference to free practice, communicative activities, based
entirely or at least to a large extent on student input.
Needless to say, productive skills are more difficult to develop than comprehension
skills, and require more time and effort on the part of both teacher and learners. With
speaking and writing, progress is often slow and not so readily evident or so accurately
measurable. Building fluency takes time and requires patience, sustained effort, plenty of
confidence-building activities, as well as constant encouragement and positive feedback from
the teacher.
As in the other areas of language and skills practice, speaking practice includes
controlled, semi-controlled and free practice activities, in which teacher or student control
over language depends on language proficiency level, activity focus and type
(accuracy/fluency). As various types of more or less controlled speaking activities have
already been illustrated in the previous chapters, this chapter will focus on free speaking,
interactive, fluency building activities, aimed at developing oral communication skills.
A balanced general English course should include activities illustrating the variety of
text types found in everyday communication, which can be categorised as follows:
a) Social/Personal: Small talk and social chat; Personal conversation; Anecdotes and
jokes
b) Everyday transactional/informational: Service encounters (shop, bank, healthcare);
Finding word pairs/compounds: from a list of jumbled words, the students have to
copy the words which are used together in fixed combinations (bread and butter, bits
and pieces) or combine to form compound words (raincoat, toothpaste).
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Word bingo: the teacher writes a 10 or 12words on the board. Learners are told to
copy any 6 words they want in any order. The teacher will then call out words from
the board. Students who hear all their words will call out ‘Bingo!’
Filling in speech bubbles: the students are given a list of sentencesor dialogue lines
which they have to copy in the right speech bubbles in a picture story or cartoon strip.
Ordering jumbled words in a sentence: by arranging words in their right order in
the sentence, learners get useful practice in grammatical structures and word-order.
Sorting out dialogues/stories/letters from jumbled sentences: copying to sort out
jumbled texts is a meaningful problem-solving type activity which gets learners
thinking about meaning, coherence and text organisation, thus providing them with
good useful models.
Statements I like/agree/disagree with: while reading a text, learners can be asked to
copy the sentences they most like, agree or disagree with.
Exchanging favourite poems/songs/proverbs/ quotations: students should be
encouraged to share such things with their classmates by pinning them up on the class
notice-board or wall display. They will be asked to copy them by hand. Students are
asked to copy the items they like best in a special scrapbook, which will really make
for a quite purposeful copying activity.
b) Dictation activities
A traditional technique in the language classroom, dictation has somehow lost popularity,
being regarded as a rather uninvolving and unchallenging activity. In recent years it has
made a comeback due to the work of Davis and Rinvolucri, who attempted ‘to put a
useful but now undervalued area of work back on the language-teaching map’ (Davis and
Rinvolucri, 5). In doing so, they have upgraded dictation for the communicative
classroom through activities involving student interaction and allowing for increased
student control. Some suggested activities would be:
Shadow dictation. The students are arranged in two parallel rows. The students in the
front row just listen to the teacher, while those behind them have to write. The
listeners are supposed to assist the writers, so during the dictation, the teacher will
allow time for spontaneous consultation. The students in the pair correct the text
together.
Running dictation. The teacher pins up to a board several copies of the same text.
The students are put into groups, with one member acting as ‘scribe’. Group members
take turns in running to the board and then back to dictate to the scribe what they can
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remember. The first group to finish and end up with a reasonably accurate version of
the text wins the competition. The activity introduces an element of task-
interdependency, as all the members contribute to the successful completion of the
task.
Mutual dictation. This is a text reconstruction exercise, in which the two students in
a pair have different gapped versions of the same text. So as to complete their text,
they have to dictate the missing parts to each other.
Delayed transcription. This is another text reconstruction activity involving a kind of
‘self-dictation’. Each student will go to the board to read and remember chunks of a
short text then back again to write them down. Students will run back and forth until
they finish transcribing the text.
Dictogloss. Also known as ‘grammar dictation’, this activity involves the
reconstruction of a text read by the teacher. The teacher reads the text once or twice,
at normal speed, while the students take notes. In groups of three or four, the students
use their notes and work together to recreate the text, as close to the original version
as possible. The activity is quite complex and involving, as it gets students thinking
about grammar, vocabulary, and word order. It also requires them to negotiate
language and meaning, as well as to cooperate on the task.
c) Parallel writing
Parallel writing provides students with controlled writing practice based on a model text,
which they have to rewrite by introducing different information or making certain changes,
according to given cues such as word or picture prompts. Students read a short text and
perhaps study its particular features (e.g. the way the sentences are joined, the use of verb
tenses/the passive). They then write a paragraph which is similar but which involves some
changes. This may mean structure or vocabulary changes – different tense (present to past
tense)/gender (masculine to feminine)/prepositions, using antonyms or synonyms, replacing
nouns by pronouns for back reference in narratives.
More often than not, parallel writing requires learners to write a similar text by
changing the key details in a text on a certain topic. For instance, they read a paragraph about
a student’s day, then write about their own day; after reading a description of a car, they write
descriptions of other cars from a given set of notes/cues; if reading the description of a room,
they will write a description of another room in the picture; after reading a text giving
personal information, they write about other people by using forms giving personal details.
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Albeit rather controlled, parallel writing provides students with useful practice at discourse
level, with paragraph and text organisation, which helps build confidence in tackling later
free writing tasks.
d) Sentence-linking
These activities help introduce students to the use of linking devices (conjunctions, sentence
adverbs) in creating complex sentences. They also raise awareness of the more complex
syntactical structures usually required in written English and of the various functions of
sentence connectors introducing time reference, condition, cause, concession, contrast,
purpose, result, etc. The exercises usually consist of a number of simple sentences to be
combined by means of a given set of connectors. These may require joining sentences by a
certain type of connectors; pairing up jumbled sentences by using one or several connector
types; completing gapped texts by inserting given sentences in the right place;
reconstructing texts from jumbled sentences, by supplying the right connectors;
paragraph/text building on anoutline of connecting devices; rewriting dialogues in indirect
speech, with students supplying the necessary linking words.
e) Guided writing
Guided writing tasks usually provide students with a format, outline or framework for
structuring content and organising ideas. The students are allowed a greater control over
language, while relying on the support of a given structure outline, plan of ideas or an
incomplete text. Guiding activities may include: writing the opening/middle/ending
paragraphs of a given text; constructing a text by following a plan of ideas/word
prompts/character prompts (a number of specific characters)/picture prompts/picture
stories or cartoon strip; writing dialogues from dialogue frames/maps.
f) Writing with oral preparation
Introducing freer writing activities,which require students to produce a text on a given
topic(e.g. ‘write a description of your town or village’) are likely to pose problems for
students, who might be at a loss about what or how to write and find the task frustrating
To make the task easier, we might involve the students in suggesting ideas about
content and organisation so that they will end up with a plan to follow. After introducing the
topic of the writing exercise, the teacher should ask a variety of questions about it, thus
eliciting suggestions for content from the students. In groups or with the whole class, students
will work on a common outline and list of key expressions to be written on the board, which
they can use as a basis for their writing.
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The advantage of oral preparation activities is that they are flexible and can be done in
different ways, according to the students’ abilities and interests. Moreover, the ideas about
what to write come from the students themselves, which makes the activity more interesting
and involves the students more, thus helping them gain confidence about tackling written
tasks. Finally, it integrates writing with listening and speaking skills practice.
2. CREATIVE WRITING – CREATIVITY THROUGH CONTROL
2.1.POETRY WRITING
Writing poetry in the foreign language must not necessarily mean a time of frustration, of
racking one’s brains for a topic, a figure of speech or for a rhyming word. Approaches like
‘I’d like you to write a poem today’, with or without a given topic, can be utterly off-putting
and confusing. The freedom of producing a poem by relying entirely on internal resources
cannot but prove a drawback and a return to the captivity of uninspiring helplessness. The old
saying ‘ninety-nine per cent of inspiration is perspiration’ might not be worth applying in this
situation.
That is why control can be the name of the game in this area. By control we do not
mean thought or content control, but a prescribed outline of form, something like fixed-form
poetry. The use of models is an essential first step. The model need not be a mere object of
contemplation; students should be given tasks by which they can interact with the text and
thus get involved in recreating it - to rearrange jumbled words or lines, to fill-in gaps or even
reconstruct the text from initial letters. The tasks may help to set the students’ minds in tune
or to whet their appetite to produce their own version, after having got familiar with the
overall structure and organization of the poem. Once the right mood has been created,
students are ready to endow their ‘skeleton poem’ with new flesh and blood.
Of course, creation is not seen as instantaneous. It is preceded by establishing a theme
– the model outline can lend itself to any topic area - by discussion and a session of idea
generating, selection and sequencing of ideas. The procedure can make full use of
collaborative writing, carried out in groups or pairs and can easily lead to integration of skills.
Writing a poem does not have to constitute an isolated activity, it can be a follow-up
or corollary to a sequence of lessons, where a discussion, a listening or a reading task centred
on a certain theme or topic are meant to strike a chord and stir the students sensitivity before
the model text is actually introduced.
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What is more, writing poetry does not involve abandoning more pragmatic concerns
such as grammar or function practice. In fact, this kind of activity can be extremely fruitful
and, most of all, a memorable opportunity for reinforcement of grammar.
As marvellously demonstrated by Gunter Gerngross and Herbert Puchta in Creative
Grammar Practice, poetry can become a vehicle for reinforcement, revision, or recycling of
language structure. The model text exploits a certain grammatical area, and the outline to be
filled out provides a highly melodic structure where various tenses or structures become a
kind of leitmotif.
In fact, their book offers a complete grammar course in disguise and teaches us the art
of mixing nothing more than a repetition or substitution drill with loftier elements of poetic
feeling, brooding mood and alert sensitivity distilled in the magic potion called memorability.
What more memorable way of learning grammar than one’s poem, where a personally
evocative association ofemotional content, language and rhythm is transfixed through the
means of a structural pattern. As in the procedure already discussed above, the production of
the students’ own texts is usually the final stage in a whole sequence of listening, reading,
speaking or other pre-writing activities, often carried out in groups.
Of course, the issues of formal control and language practice do not imply an
emphasis on form to the expense of content or personal expression; nor can they be a
hindrance to self-expression. On the contrary, they provide guidance and a foundation on
which to use language imaginatively and construct meaning and poetical effect.
Apart from the grammar-focused outlines mentioned above, there are several well-
known models which we can use with our students. Their virtue is that they lend themselves
to different levels of attainment or age-groups, and usually result in satisfaction and further
motivation to write. They are usually fairly simple poetical forms and though they might feed
on the language of imagination, it is clear and comprehensible language expressed in a simple
form. Some of the most popular forms used to enhance creativity through control will be
examined below.
a) Name poems (Acrostichs)
For those students who cringe when the word ‘poem’ comes up in conjunction with ‘writing
assignment’, writing name poems can be a fun way to help them with this problem. If they
start working on their names, the resulting poems will be a very telling embodiment of their
perceptions and opinions about themselves or about each other and the activity will help to
enhance mutual knowledge and understanding and good class relationships. They can also
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work with names of things, concepts, etc. They will write the word vertically and use each
letter as the first letter of a line. Here are some examples of name poems:
Jumping Maybe
Out of her chair she Another woman would not
Yells ‘That’s right!’ all the time.Understand, but she is
Really
Amazing.
ClassroomsWar
Have Anger
Alot of these Regret
Interesting and useful items,
but they’re not
Recliners.
b) Haiku
The teacher will introduce the idea of a haiku as a long-standing, culture-specific form of
expression, and provide some examples. Attention should be drawn to the characteristics and
conventions which distinguish such a text - the brevity and the way the essence of the subject
is conveyed in the three line structure: short - long - short, not necessarily observing the
precise number of syllables. However, the idea of the 5-7-5 syllable-lines may prove an
additional challenge, so we can encourage the students to try their hand at it.
As a preparation, we choose an object or a word with many associations. The students
will provide as many words as they can connected with this word. Each student will then
choose the ten or twelve words they like best, which to them are most strongly associated
with the subject. The teacher will construct a haiku with the whole class, using some of the
words and ideas on the board and asking for suggestions from the students. There may be
disagreement, and alternative versions produced. The students can be encouraged to say why
they think one version or another is better, or means more to them.
At the production stage, each group is given a different topic card or is allowed to
choose its own topic. We can set a time limit and ask students to write as many haikus as they
can in the time allowed. We can ensure further involvement if we ask them to write their
haikus on separate pieces of paper, without giving a title. When the haikus are displayed on
the wall, students will walk round, reading them all and trying to guess what the topic is.
Examples of haikus:
SUMMER grasses - SPRING: Clouds now and then
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All that remains A hill without a name Giving men reliefOf soldiers’ visions.Veiled in morning mist.From moon-viewing.***The winds of autumn You say one word A flash of lightning:Blow: yet still green And lips are chilled Into the gloomThe chestnut husks. By autumn’s wind.Goes the heron’s cry.
c) Diamondpoem
Structurally more complex than the haiku, the diamond poem draws on the same principle of
free association, both emotional and conceptual and of distillation of personally meaningful
notions.The format is characterized by a fixed morphological configuration disposed in a
diamond-shaped contour. The exercise requires the students to give the essence of their ideas
and to express them concisely (after a previous word association session, as with the haiku).
For lower level students, we need not use grammar terms in the instructions; rather, ‘noun’
can be replaced by ‘person/place/thing’ and adjective by ‘descriptive word’.
As far as the overall tone of the poem is concerned, the convention is that the top and the
bottom lines are antithetical in meaning. The top part is an exposition of a conflict in a
pessimistic tone, the middle section can be a point where opposites converge and intermingle,
while the bottom is a kind of resolution, a triumph of optimism and hope - like the silver
lining of every cloud…
Fall Fathermisty and sad stubborn and taciturnfalling, blustering, freezing doing, going, gettingcold, darkness, blizzards and thaws Parents, respect, man, womanmelting, dripping, blossoming supporting, watching, helping
misty and happy strict and reasonableSpring Mother
d) Prepositionalpoem
Similar to the diamond poem, a prepositional poem fosters self-expression along the same
Seeds Seeds and rootsSeeds and plantsSeedsSeeds and roots and plantsAnd life.
f) Chinese poem
This explicitly introduces the idea of imitation of form or repetition of theme as a matter of
keeping up literary tradition or paying homage to the past and one’s predecessors.As with the
haiku, a suitable amount of exposure to authentic poems is required. Tricia Hedge proposes a
work card including a short presentation of the particular form accompanied by several
examples. Besides giving the students a chance to exploit these forms creatively, these
activities entail cross-cultural interferences and expanding their aesthetic and cultural
perspective.
HSU KAN WANG JUNG(A wife’s thoughts, III) (In imitation of Hsu Kan)Since you, sir, went away, SINCE you, sir, went away,My bright mirror is dim and untended. My golden burner has had no incense,My thoughts of you are like flowing water; For thinking of you I am like the bright candle,Will they ever have an end? At midnight vainly burning itself away.
g) Shape poem
This draws more on the visual effect than the diamond poem and involves a freer choice of
language and shape. That is why the outcomes may be as various as there are learners. The
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principle of presenting model texts remains an essential one. The procedure involves
brainstorming and listing of things which have a distinctive shape, such as animals, flowers,
toys, machines. Another tip could be getting ideas together for the kind of things that might
be put into the poem, in order to ensure a perfect match between content and shape. With
elementary students upwards, irrespective of age, a shape poem would provide satisfaction on
several levels: intellectual, emotional and visual.
h) Sensorial poem
This offers the possibility of perceiving and capturing tones of meaning underlying abstract
notions or situations of everyday life. It entails a process of free association, of digging up
personal connotations attributed to a certain abstract noun and a synthesis between the senses
(sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) and the associated emotions. The outcomes can be some
outstanding evidence of deep insight, sensitivity and evocative power.
(Sunday morning) is … (colour)It looks like…It smells like…It sounds like…It tastes like…And it feels like…
i) Definitionpoem
This format appeals to the same faculty of making associations and encapsulating them in
self-contained gems of meaning and expression.Students are given a topic (things, people,
concepts) and asked to write metaphorical definitions on separate strips of paper. Each
student will contribute to the pool with three strips. Groups select the definitions they like
best and incorporate them in an up to ten lines poem sequence. Each line will repeat the topic:
X is/are …
j) Poem outline – sociological profiles
Starting from a given outline, the poem aims at discovering the essential features of a certain
human group. It can refer to age, sex or professional groups or people in certain situations.
Again, the activity draws on the power of association and on emotional glimpses into the
essence of human condition and existence – akind of quintessential poem, term equally
applicable to practically all the forms listed above.A possible outline can look like this:
Old people are like…Their clothes are/they dress…They walk…They like…They don’t like…
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They talk about…They are afraid of…Their secrets are…And they dream of…
A common feature characterizing all the poetic forms discussed above is their suitability for
collaborative writing and integration of skills, alongside with guidance through the thorny
paths of creative expression backed up by a success-oriented approach.Though most of them
offer a fixed structure to be observed, they are a springboard for language exploration, with
particular focus on lexis, in such areas as synonymy, antonymy, collocation and connotation.
Playing with language is encouraged as a means towards a product with content at its
core. Using form as a springboard for content-based poetry is an easy and smooth way
towards peaks of lyricism and poetic expression. The quite simple formats described above
can pave the way for more complex and ambitious forms of poetry - why not, the sonnet, if
we are to think of English literary traditions. And if we wax too lyrical or overawed by the
depth of our own poetic feeling and by the seriousness of our writing task, we can always
turn to the more playful resources of English literature: the limerick tradition and all the
range of nonsense rhymes which make a unique literary tradition.
Of course, controlled poetry writing is not to be regarded as the only approach to
poetry. At more advanced levels or within literature lessons, writing a poem can follow as a
response to reading authentic poetry. After careful reading and personalizing the ideational
and emotional texture of a text in the light of one’s own experience and outlook, attempting
to respond through poetry, would be in the natural course of things.
Writing poems in blank verse gives students the opportunity to explore the language,
to organize their ideas with great care, to manipulate sentence structure, to select words, and
to think about appropriate collocations. It also encourages the drafting process, as students
are anxious to make their poems sound right.Of course, the need for seeing their poetic
productions ‘published’ or at least displayed remains a sine-qua-non requirement, as it
provides satisfaction and furthers motivation to write.
2.2. IMAGINATIVE WRITING IN PROSE
Creativity is not the exclusive domain of poetry writing, and a great deal of imaginative
writing can be done in prose. Writing in prose is more likely to elude control than poetry
writing, as it lends itself to a more cursory flow of thought and pen. It involves greater risks
with language, as sometimes linguistic ability will not keep up with the faster pace of
imagination. But even if tight control is excluded, close guidance and carefully chosen
activities can provide the necessary support, at least at the earlier stages.
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The cornerstone of our approach to writing, irrespective of level or age, should be
adequate exposure to various text types, backed up by a careful study of the conventions,
structure or organization displayed by a certain text. Manipulation activities meant to get the
students to interact with the text are highly appropriate for the early stages of a writing
programme. These can take various forms, such as:
arranging jumbled paragraphs, which involves identification of key text sections and
awareness-raising about the conventions of opening, developing and concluding a
text;
providing a missing section of the text: the opening, the middle or the conclusion;
paragraph assembly – from given jumbled sentences;
paragraph completion – from opening sentences;
writing a text from a given summary;
rewriting a text/story from memory, after having read or listened to it.
These are just a few examples from a whole range of sensitizing exercises or more or less
controlled writing practice. They do not exactly give students the opportunity to exert their
creativeness, but they have a definite value for awareness-raising, familiarizing them with
different written products and with the conventions or organizational rules apparent in the
simple texts.
A) STORY WRITING
Actual production of creative texts can begin with fairly short texts sequences, done mainly at
sentence level. Though rather unambitious in form, they may appeal to our students’ sense of
humour (or sense of the absurd, occasionally).
a) Writing jumbled texts
In pairs or small groups, students write a dialogue or a four-to-five-sentence story sequence,
which they then cut up into separate sentences and give to another pair or group to put
together. Easy to do at elementary levels, the activity can introduce, even if in a nutshell, the
components of a proper story: exposition (conflict), complication (climax) and resolution. It
can be easily turned into a problem-solving exercise for others, leading to interaction and
enjoyment.
b) Jumbled stories
This is a variation of the activity above, except that the students have to write two short
stories of about four to six sentences, each about the same person or a similar event. The
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stories are then cut up into separate sentences and given to another group to sort out into the
original stories.
c) Mystery stories
This is a fairly controlled exercises where the students are given a series of WH-questions
they must answer in a particular order: Who? / Where? / What was X doing? / What did X
say? / What did X do after that? The students take turns to answer each question, then folding
the paper over, so that the next student cannot see what the other students have written before
him. When all the answers have been written, the paper is unfolded to reveal often a hilarious
and incongruous story, where the surprise element makes the writing (and reading) so much
more exciting.
d) Word story
The students are given the opening sentence of a story, and three words each. The paper is
passed round the class and each student has to continue the story by including his three
words.
e) Collaborative story
A sheet of paper containing only an opening sentence is passed round the class and students
write only one sentence each in order to continue the story.
f) Sentence into story
The students are given a single sentence and are asked to build the story around it, and of
course, include it somewhere in the text. The groups can be given the same sentence and at
the end they can compare the different outcomes generated by the same sentences.A variation
of this would be to give a speech bubble instead of a sentence and ask the students to make
up a story or a situation where the exact words would sound appropriate.
B) USING READING FOR STORY WRITING
a) Incomplete stories
This involves an opportunity for integration of skills, because the students have to read a part
of a story. The most usual procedure is to give students either the opening or the ending of a
story and ask them to provide a complete version. An easier start would be to give the story
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with only the opening or the ending paragraphs missing. The incomplete version can be
produced by the students themselves, working in groups, and given to other groups to provide
the opening, the ending, or the development of events.A major requirement here is looking at
sample texts beforehand, and giving the students an insight into how a story is divided into
three main parts: orientation – complication – resolution and how these differ from one
another.
b) Rewriting a story from memory
Albeit not very likely to leave much space for the students’ creativity, the task can allow for
personal interpretation and focus, together with the varied choice of vocabulary or structure.
To make the task more challenging, we may ask the students to rewrite the story they have
read, but feel free to change whatever they want.
c) Writing a story from different points of view
After reading a story told by an omniscient narrator, the students are asked to choose a
character and rewrite the story from his/her point of view. By assuming the character’s role,
the student may interpret the story from a new angle and choose to include or leave out
information as it may seem relevant to him. A more involving alternative is to give the
students role cards with a short presentation of the characters in a story and ask them to write
a first person narrative.
C) OTHER STORY WRITING TASKS
a) Fairy-tales, folk stories, fables or legends
These are undoubtedly very appealing genres, enjoyable and stimulating for any age group,
as there is always a grave significance in them; they are expressions or illustrations of
fundamental truths deeply rooted in the collective consciousness of any culture, and any fairy
tale brings about some kind of emotional experience or a moral illumination. Such stories
tend to follow much the same pattern, in which there is a problem that is resolved, leading to
the expression of some sort of moral. The students can be encouraged to write their own tales
in several ways.
Variation 1. The students are given a certain problem to be resolved in a fairy-tale. It can be
a problem relevant to their age, world or cultural background.
Variation 2. The students are given characters to bring together in a story. The characters can
be abstract notions or a few objects without any obvious connection between them. The value
of this exercise can be brought home along different lines: by encouraging the students to be
either absurd or logical in their imagination. The latter case seems more challenging because,
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by trying to turn the incongruity of different things into a perfectly logical and natural
relationship, they may write legends which explain the nature of existing things. This could
support the remark that originality often consists in discovering connections or analogies
between two or more objects or ideas between which no link has ever been demonstrated to
exist.
Variation 3. Students are asked to illustrate a proverb by means of a fable, an age-old genre
for conveying moral precepts. The selection of characters from the animal world will make
the task extremely exciting and motivating for younger learners.
b) Mini-sagas
The activities above can naturally lead to a mini-saga, a relatively new sub-genre, brought to
life by a writing competition organized by the Daily Telegraph and quickly developed into an
EFL text type in its own right.Basically, the mini-saga is a fifty-word story, with up to
fifteen additional words for the title. As it is a self-contained text, the story must be complete,
with a beginning, development and conclusion together with characters and a setting. Thus, it
is a kind of novel in miniature. It is an economical way of helping students to get used to the
organizing conventions of any story. Because of the word limit, the writer has to make every
word count, which means that it is a good exercise for developing care in the choice of
vocabulary and economy of expression.
c) Competition texts
Other possibilities for self-contained texts which could be completed in one lesson come
from two writing competitions organized by The Independent. The activities, mentioned by
White & Arndt, in their book on the process approach, consist in writing a ghost-story of 150
words or a newspaper article of 100 words or less to accompany a given headline.
If the students’ level is not appropriate for writing a proper newspaper account of a
story, they can be asked simply to discuss and write out the related story. The important thing
is that they use their imagination, and ideas will be seen as more important then formally
correct language. If, however, the headline comes from a real newspaper, their versions can
be compared with the original.
d) Story behind a book title
Real or imaginary book titles can also be used to stimulate the students’ imagination and lead
to surprisingly original ‘mini-novels’.
e) Story behind an advertisement
The students will be given the same advertisement. In groups, they will try to write a story
about the writer of the respective advertisement.
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f) Story behind a face/Life stories
Students are given a set of photos of people’s faces or reproductions of famous painted
portraits. They choose a portrait they like best and try to make-up a (life) story inspired by the
respective face/stance/mood.
The activities described above are meant to offer a springboard for other ideas and variations.
The teacher’s imagination in devising challenging writing tasks can spark the students’ own
imagination, since they may find imaginative and creative writing as a highly rewarding
activity, irrespective of age group, level or learner needs and interests.
3. COMMUNICATIVE WRITING TASKS
Even from the early stages of language learning, we should raise the learners’ awareness of
the communicative function of writing. That is why a balanced writing programme should
introduce, as early as possible, activities illustrating everyday forms of written
communication. An important principle in training students for written communication is
exposure to plenty of model texts.
a) Short notes and messages
Students are asked to write short notes or messages to other people in the class, with the
teacher acting as the postman. Each student has to send a reply note in response to the one
they received.
b) Invitation cards/letters
At first, student study models of invitation cards or letters. They are then given cards or paper
to write invitations to their classmates to certain events: birthdays, parties, outings, holidays,
festivals. The invitees will have to answer by a note or letter of acceptance or refusal.
c) Postcards/greeting cards
After studying relevant models and discussing useful language, students write greeting cards
related to forthcoming events – birthdays, Christmas, New Year’ Eve. The same can be done
with holiday postcards. Students are asked to imagine they are in their favourite holiday place
and write a postcard to friends or to the teacher. Alternatively, the teacher can bring to class
holiday brochures/leaflets and ask students to choose a location they like and imagine they
are writing a postcard home.
d) Notices/leaflets
Students study relevant models and write notices publicising a certain school or community
event, competition, public campaign, fund-raising campaign, charity event, etc.
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e) Brochures
After examining example texts and deciding on a suitable plan or outline, students write a
tourist brochure advertising their region or town. As the task is quite complex, it can also be
done in groups, each student dealing with a different topic or section of the brochures.
f) Advertisements
The teacher brings students handouts containing newspaper advertisements. The class discuss
text conventions and specific language. Students are asked to write ads with
selling/buying/renting/hiring offers.
g) Reviews
The students work on model texts of book/film/play/festival/museum/exhibition reviews,
discussing text organisation and useful language. Each student writes a review on one of the
above topics. These activities can become part of an ongoing class project, with groups of
students being responsible with updates on a certain topic which can be posted on the class
notice-board/gazette.
h) News reports
Like everyone else, students often share information of interesting news items they have
heard or read recently. As part of the same class publication projects, students can write news
articles on issues of interest for their age group and preoccupations.
i) Letters
Letter writing may be regarded as a rather obsolete activity in the age of the Internet,
electronic mail and social media, yet teaching our students to write letters may benefit them
for exam purposes or in their professional life, especially in the case of various formal letters.
They should be offered exposure to a variety of letter types, both informal and formal. The
teacher may set up a pen-friend writing scheme with students from a school abroad, which
could provide learners with a real incentive for writing. Most letter writing done in class
involves role-play elements, in which the context and reason for writing are simulated. The
teacher should set up motivating, purposeful activities which involve students in thinking
about relevant content, organisation and stylistic choices intended for efficient
communication.
j) Form filling
Filing in forms is quite a common writing activity, required in diverse application contexts,
so giving students relevant practice in this area is a highly practical and realistic activity,
preparing them for real-life situations such as university or job applications.
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k) CVs/Cover letters
In terms of long-term learner needs, it is undoubtedly worth teaching these specialised text
types requiring personal information adapted to a specific format. Of course, they are more
suitable for higher level students, but the idea can be introduced even earlier as a fun activity
using imaginary or strange job advertisements (see Hadfield 1990). The activity can be done
as a role play, in which students are given real job advertisements to respond to. Other
students will be involved in writing job requirements and descriptions for each advert, then
act as recruiters who will evaluate the received applications. In the context of an increasingly
competitive work market, teaching our students to present personal qualities and
achievements in an efficient, convincing and concise way constitutes a worthwhile pursuit.
4. FREE WRITING AT ADVANCED LEVELS: A PROCESS APPROACH
From the upper-intermediate level onwards, when learners are likely to have acquired
reasonable fluency in the written medium, we may safely provide them with more
opportunities for self-expression, usually under the form of lengthier texts types, essays in
particular. Although it may be argued that, in terms of learner-needs, an essay is a written
form rarely practised outside the classroom, it is still widely used in public examinations or
for academic assessment. Essay writing offers more varied challenges for fluency-building
writing programmes at secondary or tertiary levels. In giving our students confidence in
dealing with free writing tasks, we should observe a number of principles which offer a pre-
requisite to a fluency-building writing programme.
a) Raising awareness of the writing process
In order to promote a note of realism in our students’ approach to writing and to replicate the
practice of professional writers, we should rely on awareness-raising activities meant to
familiarize them with the stages and mechanisms of the writing process. They may be well
aware of the difficulties of getting started when confronted with a written assignment, which
shows that writing is hardly a spontaneous activity, but a time-consuming effort requiring
such operations as composing, planning, organizing, drafting, crafting, revising and editing. It
is the teacher’s task to highlight and illustrate these stages via relevant activities aimed to
mark a necessary departure from more traditional, product-oriented approaches,and to
promote a more realistic process approach.
b) Exposure to well-written models
It is a widely acknowledged pedagogical assumption that experienced and fluent readers
generally make good writers, as well. And although in a foreign language the transfer is not
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automatically realized, this assumption is tenable. Exposing students to pieces of good
writing via a well-balanced reading programme is a necessary pre-requisite for developing
writing skills. But mere exposure is not enough. We should devise activities that promote a
close analysis of the model text at different levels.
Firstly, knowledge of text types and their specific conventions and codes is of
paramount importance and a logical starting point. Consequently, students should be
presented with a variety of text types and formats, and made aware of general characteristics
such as layout or formulaic conventions (as in letters, for example), problems of
addressability, organization of content, paragraphing, discourse markers and linking devices
ensuring textual coherence and cohesion, style and register, communicative function,
efficiency and expressiveness. Therefore, a close examination of model texts should be an
obligatory first step in initiating any writing activity.
c) Stagingin the writing process
The main stages of the process are commonly sequenced as pre-writing, while-writing and
post-writing. Of course each stage comprises a number of sub-stages with a particular
function and various activities that guide us toward the construction of the text. The most
important phase is the one preliminary to the actual writing, which provides the students with
key data and material that will inform their writing and, more importantly, will help alleviate
such frustrating phenomena as the writer’s block.
Successful writing depends on careful preparation, where the need for guidance is
paramount. That is why approaches where the student is simply assigned a task without any
kind of guidance are not only pedagogically inadequate, but also hopelessly unproductive.
Preparing to write is as important as the act of writing itself, as it paves the way towards a
successful written product.
4.1. THE PRE-WRITING STAGE
a) Communicating
The stage of communicating has the role of drawing attention to the communicative function
of any piece of writing, which inherently pre-supposes an audience. Therefore text-type,
content and style will be dependent on the prospective reader we have in mind as the
recipient of our message. Creating a clear sense of audience is bound up with establishing a
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context for writing, a sense of purpose and function. The basic questions at this stage should
be: ‘Why am I writing?’ and‘Who am I writing for?’
Answering these questions will help writers decide on the kind of information that
must be included in the text. So clarifying information implies reconstructing the
impiedreader and his needs, according to which we have to decide on the content and the type
of details that may be relevant for that particular reader. The most pertinent questions for the
students to ask themselves would be:
What do I know about the topic?
What does my reader know about the topic?
What does my reader not know?
What is my reader’s attitude likely to be?
The crucial issue these questions are meant to establish is the ratio of shared and unshared
knowledge we can anticipate between writer and reader. An awareness of this is likely to
influence our decisions on what information we need to include or leave out. One line of
action usually recommended is to start with shared information and continue with new
information. The need for a correct estimation of shared and unshared knowledge and of the
necessity for explicitness is more relevant in the case of cross-cultural communication,
culture-bound or highly specialized texts (scientific, expert-oriented, etc.). It often happens
that when we write about things familiar to us, we tend to underestimate the need for further
explicitness of a reader who may not be acquainted with certain facts that we take for
granted. Encouragingstudents to anticipate and be alert to a prospective reader’s needs will
ensure clarity and eliminate ambiguity from their final texts. Moreimportantly, it provides the
writer with a sense of direction that will influence the selection of ideas and planning.
b) Composing
This is the stage initiating the exploration of a general outline and of content issues. It mainly
consists in the mental processes of idea-generation, although it may include more perceptible
manifestations like thinking aloud. It is usually the incipient phase of finding something to
say, humorously described by applied linguists as a “time of sighing, pencil-chewing, foot-
shuffling agony” (Tricia Hedge1983, 20) or, in a punning formulation, as “Anguish as a
Second Language” (Raimes1987,32). To illustrate the frustratingperplexities characteristic of
this stage, White and Arndt (Process Writing, 1991) quote a description of the writer’s block
by the Chinese poet Lu Chi, which metaphorically encapsulates the strenuous process of idea-
generating: ‘The anxiety is because buckets carried from the well are time and again
empty…’ (White and Arndt 1991, 17)
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Getting some ideas on the topic is a problem that requires support from the teacher
and collaboration with peers. Students should be given tasks which demonstrate basic
techniques for encouraging critical thinking, idea-generation, outlining and planning,
applicable to a wide range of topics or text-types. These guided techniques can be based on a
wide range of prompts – visual (pictures, films); auditory (tapes), reading materials or
discussion sessions – generally speaking, activities which lend themselves to the integration
of skills and function as a springboard for thinking out content.
c) Unstructured listing
Lists of ideas are a helpful device in helping students to put something down on paper.
Starting from the assumption that one idea sparks off another, this activity involves both
thinking and note-taking, and it is essential that no censoring should impede the random
emergence of ideas. Any attempt to structure or evaluate ideas at this stage would be
inhibiting or would stop the ball rolling. Judging the quality, relevance or usefulness of ideas
should be postponed until a subsequent stage involving focusing, selecting and structuring
operations.
d) Brainstorming sessions
These are based on using a long-standing and efficient technique for idea-generation.
Brainstorming may concern ideas for content or for ways of organization. The activity may
lend itself to many purposes: choosing a topic/title; identifying a purpose or reason for
writing; finding an appropriate text-type or format; developing a topic or a
plot.Brainstorming can be carried out individually, in pairs, groups or with the whole class. It
can also be done on the snowball principle, where individual lists of ideas are shared in a
pair, then in a group and, finally, among groups, so that the class ends up with a common
pool of ideas.
e) Sets of questions
The procedure employs questions intended as prompts which draw attention to the different
aspects of a topic or problem and provide a pretext for further idea-generation.
f) Cubing
This is a technique taking its name from the six facets of a cube, as it uses a set of six
questions under different task-headings:
1) Describe: what is the colour, size, shape, feel, smell, sound of X?
2) Compare: what is X like or unlike?
3) Associate: what does X bring to mind? What is it similar or dissimilar to?
4) Analyze: how is X composed? What is it part of? What is part of X?
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5) Apply: how can X be used? What can be done with X?
6) Argue: what points can be put for or against X? What reasons are there for taking a
position in favour of or opposed to X?
g) Classical invention
The procedure proposes five categories of questions, following the principle of classical
invention derived from Aristotle:
Definition: what are festivals? Classify them into types.
Comparison: to what extent are festivals similar to or different from what they are
being compared with?
Relationship: what caused festivals? What effect do festivals have on people? What
comes before/follows festivals? What is against festivals?
Circumstances: what kinds of festivals are possible? What things are possible in
festivals? What is not possible? What are the past facts about festivals? What can we
predict about festivals in the future?
Testimony: where did festivals originate? Who says so? What statistics are available?
What time-tested theories or laws support festivals? What personal experience of
festivals do you have?
h) The SPRE/R approach
The technique provides a highly productive way of organizing ideas and is proposed by
Michael Hoey in his book On the Surface of Discourse (1983). The acronym stands for:
Situation: what is the present situation? How did it come about? What are its characteristics?
Problem: is there a problem? What is it?
Response: how can the problem be dealt with? What alternative solutions are there? What
constraints are there on each possible solution?
Evaluation: which of the solutions is likely to be the best? What would be the result of
applying any of the solutions?
With a number of possible variations, this format can provide a basis for discursive writing
tasks. It also provides an ordered framework for the general organization of ideas and the
structuring of the future text.
i) Organizing content, planning and outlining
Once the students have finished listingideas for content, the subsequent activities are meant
to focus on problems of selecting, grouping and ordering ideas. Individually, in pairs or
groups, the students have to decide on items to be kept or left out, operating a selection of
content. Grouping or clustering ideas is based on the principle of relationships. Ideas
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relating to the same concept are grouped under a common heading. Ordering involves
ranking ideas in terms of their relevance or importance for the topic and deciding on the
hierarchy to be reflected in the overall structure of the text. Visually, the outline of the
envisaged text can be represented in different ways. Mind-maps or ‘spidergrams’ are useful
and visually suggestive tools for categorizing content and organizing points insofar as the
ramifications into categories and subcategories reflect the hierarchical relationships between
different content elements. Otherwise, any number of diagrams and layouts can be used to
reflect the initial provisional outline of the projected essay.
The end of this stage ushers in the subsequent process of drafting, and we may say
that the guidance offered at the pre-writing stage has taken the students halfway through the
writing task. The value of pre-text activities resides in their provision of relevant content
ideas.Emphasizing the pre-writing stage, with the sub-stages illustrated above, is not only a
pedagogical imperative, but the recognition of the old saying ‘well-begun is half done’.
4.2. WHILE-WRITING/DRAFTING STAGE
a) Drafting
This is the stage at which students engage in actual text writing. The main priority is getting
ideas down on paper, so drafting involves fluency rather than accuracy, which can be
considered at a later stage. Some useful techniques for encouraging written fluency are
presented below.
Fast-writing/Quickwrite. This is an exercise designed to eliminate ‘writer’s block
and get the learner started on the task and requires three to five minutes of continuous
writing for developing an idea.
Loop-writing. This exercise involves both a fast-writing and a subsequent reflection
activity, in which what has been written is revised and condensed in a main idea or
loop, which is developed in its turn. This is a good exercise in deciding on topic
sentences for each paragraph.
b) Revising/Peer consultation
After finishing a first draft of the text, students should be encouraged to revise what they
have written in order to add, cross out or improve points. Peer-revision activities are
extremely fruitful, as each student can get feedback from a reader who can point out unclear
or ambiguous ideas, areas needing to be clarified, completed, shortened, expanded, reordered
or omitted, as well as strong or interesting points which should be emphasised.
c) Redrafting
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d) Editing/Crafting
After revising a second draft, students should focus on the accuracy of their text. This
concerns grammatical and lexical accuracy. Students have to check sentence arrangement and
syntactic relations, vocabulary choice and rephrasing possibilities, as well as logical ordering
and organisation. Again, peer evaluation or peer editing may provide useful reader feedback
on accurate expression.
e) Re-editing/improving
Once students have finished their final drafts, the teacher may examine them and offer
suggestions for improving content or form. The teacher indicates mistakes or problem areas
which the student has to sort out.
4.3. POST–WRITING
The post-writing stage consists of activities concerned with the publishing, evaluation and
ranking of the students’ productions.
a) Publishing
Even if most student texts are intended for the eyes of the teacher-reader, we should find
ways in which the students can see their products ‘published’, even in the form of a wall-
display or in a class or school magazine. We can put texts up on display, with student judges
allowing each text points for strong points – based on clear evaluation criteria (clarity,
originality, creativity, communicative efficiency). The highest ranking three texts can, if
possible, be included in a school publication.
b) Discussion and evaluation of results
Students should be involved in discussing and evaluating their own written results,
comparing them with others and deciding on areas which they need to practise and improve
in their writing.
c) Evaluation and marking
The teacher’s feedback is essential in raising the students’ motivation for writing. That is why
students should be given a chance to improve their text before the final marking. Teacher and
students can devise a correction code in which the teacher can signal mistakes (e.g. WW for
wrong word, WT for wrong tense, WO for word order) (see Hedge 2005). Written comments
on the margins can be used to suggest areas needing to be improved. Having students re-edit
their texts according to the teacher’s suggestions before being marked motivated them to try
harder to improve their written products. Marking should be done on the basis of clear criteria
well-known to the students, which provides a warranty of objectivity and transparency. As
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already stated before, positive feedback and constant encouragement is essential in furthering
confidence and motivation for writing.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GUIDE TO FURTHER READING:
GENERAL METHODOLOGY COURSEBOOKS
Brumfit, C. Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge University
Press, 1984
Doff, Adrian. Teach English: A Training Course for Teachers: Teacher's Workbook.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd edition).Longman, 2001
Littlewood, W. Communicative Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, 1981
Nunan.Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom.Cambridge University Press 1989
Parrott, Martin. Tasks for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993
Scrivener, Jim. Learning Teaching: The Essential Guide to English Language Teaching.
MacMillan, 2011
Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Trainee Book. Cambridge: