Oxford`s teachhing methods of english language — страница 9

to try to complete.) Sentences to read out They used a … angled lens Wide He looked at her with a … smile Broad The socialists won by a …. Margin Narrow/broad She is very … minded Broad/narrow He speaks the language with a … London accent Broad You were wrong what you said was … of the mark Wide You had a … escape Narrow Of course they’re … open to criticism Wide They went down the canal in a … boat Narrow She opened her eyes … Wide The news was broadcast nation … Wide The path was three meters … Wide The light was so bright that she … her eyes Narrowed Variation You can play this game with many sets of grammar exponents: Forms of the article; a, the and zero article Prepositions Etc. Cognitive games Spot the differences Grammar: Common mistakes Level:

Elementary Time: 20-30 minutes Materials: This activity can be adapted for use with all levels One copy of Late-comer A and Late-comer B for each student In class Pair the students and give them the two texts. Ask them to spot all the differences they can between them. Tell them that there may be more than one pair of differences per pair of parallel sentences. Tell them one item in each pair of alternatives is correct. They are to choose the correct form from each pair. Late-comer A Late-comer B This women was often very late This woman was often very late She was late for meetings She was late for meeting She were late for dinners She was late for dinners She was late when she went to the cinema She was late as she went to the cinema One day she arrive for a meeting half an

hour early One day she arrived for meeting half ah hour early Nobody could understand because she was early Nobody couldn’t understand why she was early ‘Of course,’ someone said, ‘clocks put back last night.’ ‘Of course,’ someone say, ‘the clocks were put back last night.’ 3. Ask them to dictate the correct text to you at the board. Write down exactly what they say so students have a chance to correct each other both in terms of grammar and in terms of their pronunciation. If a student pronounces ‘dis voman’ for ‘this woman’ then write up the wrong version. Only write it correctly when the student pronounces it right. Your task in this exercise is to allow the students to try out their hypotheses about sound and grammar without putting them right too

soon and so reducing their energy and blocking their learning. Being too kind can be cognitively unkind. Variation To make this exercise more oral, pair the students and ask them to sit facing each other. Give Later-comer A to one student and Late-comer B to the other in each pair. They then have to do very detailed listening to each other’s texts. Feeling and grammar Typical questions Grammar: Question formation-varied interrogatives Level: Beginner to elementary Time: 20-30 minutes Materials: None In class Ask the students to draw a quick sketch of a four-year-old they know well. Give them these typical questions such a person may ask, e.g. ‘Mummy, does the moon go for a wee-wee?’ ‘Where did I come from?’. Ask each student to write half a dozen questions such a person

might ask, writing them in speech bubbles on the drawing. Go round and help with the grammar. Mommy, where did I come from? Get the students to fill the board with their most interesting four-year-old questions. Variations This can be used with various question situations. The following examples work well: Ask the students to imagine a court room-the prosecution barrister is questioning a defense witness. Tell the students to write a dozen questions the prosecution might ask. What kind of questions might a woman going to a foreign country want to ask a woman friend living in this country about the man or the woman in the country? And what might a man want to ask a man? What kind of questions are you shocked to be asked in an English-speaking country and what questions are you

surprised not to be asked? Achievements Grammar: By+time-phrases Past perfect Level: This activity also works well with: present perfect+yet, like doing, like having done, and modals Lower intermediate Time: 20-30 minutes Materials: Set of prepared sentences Preparation Think of your achievements in the period of your life that corresponds to the average age of your class. If you’re teaching seventeen-year-olds, pick your first seventeen years. Also think of a few of the times when you were slow to achieve. Write the sentences about yourself like these: By the age of six I had learnt to read. I still hadn’t learnt to ride a bike by then. I had got over my fear of water by the time I was eight. By the time I was nine I had got the hang of riding a bike. By thirteen I had read