Clarifying new language: 

Situational language clarification

As in all other areas of study there are numerous ways for teachers to clarify new
language, and the choices we make about how to do so depend on a string of
factors such as:

• The level of the learners

• Their age
• If the concept if very complex, like the perfect aspect.
• If the form, meaning how it is written, is complex.
• If the pronunciation is hard for students to reproduce
• If the concept is easy to clarify using through visuals or realia
• If students already have a notion of the concept you want to clarify
• Etc…

In the following we are going to look at situational language clarification, also

called a teacher fronted clarification. You can use this method to clarify
grammatical structures, vocabulary and functions, such as asking for and giving
advice.

In this clarification method the teacher uses pictures, anecdotes and/or real
objects to set a context. From this context the teacher tries to elicit* the target
language from the context he or she has set. Only if none of the students can
produce the target language* will the teacher give the students the target
language. Thereafter the teacher asks simple questions to ensure students have
understood the new language. To focus on pronunciation the teacher should
then drill* and finally provide a written record of the target language by
revealing it in a slide or writing it up on the board.

Using this method enables the teacher to avoid explaining the target language
structure, phrase or word. As a matter of fact, I would like you to keep this in
mind whenever you want to clarify new language: Language should not be
explained, it should be clarified in context.
Let us look at how we can clarify new language through a situational method
from a practical example, in the form of a lesson plan.

Bjarne Vonsild
 The aim of the lesson is: By the end of the lesson students will be better able to
express past habits using “used to” in the context of their school days.

Level: Pre-intermediate

Stage:
Lead-in (e.g. Ss discuss questions relatedto the theme of the lesson).
Present target language (e.g. through a story, anecdote, pictures, etc)
Aim:  
to generate interest in the theme/context of target language.
In this case we have a diagnostic warmer* which gives the teacher an idea of
whether anyone can already use the target language to present the target
language in a context.
Procedure:
Ask students if their lives are similar to their lives when they were last in a
formal educational situation. In pairs students discuss what they did differently
on a regular basis from what they do nowadays.
The teacher, mainly gives feedback on context but they do not correct language
related to the target language.
The teacher shows a picture of a person who looks very dapper in an expensive
suit, and who is drinking whiskey and smoking a cigar. And a 2nd picture of a
scruffy looking chap, who looks like an old hippie. The teacher clarifies that it is
the same person (Rupert) , but one picture was taken 10 years ago and the other
is of him now.
To elicit things he did that he doesn´t do anymore and things that were true for
him in the past but no longer true.

Stage:
Language clarification.
Aim:
Elicit, concept check*, drill and board.
Procedure: 
Point at something he did 10 years ago, like “smoke cigars”, and elicit a sentence
about this from students. They are likely to say “He smoked cigars”. The teacher
asks: Does he smoke nowadays? For which the expected answer is “no”. How can
I say he smoked in the past but not any longer? And try to elicit; “He used to
smoke cigars.” 

Bjarne Vonsild
 Students may not come up with this so the teacher simply gives the sentence:
“He used to smoke cigars.”
Concept check:
Did he smoke in the past? Yes
Did he smoke once or regularly? Regularly
Does he smoke nowadays? No
Drill the target language, including the negative, interrogative and short answer
forms.
Teacher re-elicits all the forms of the target language onto the board, making
sure he or she involves the students when doing so. The teacher will be using
different colours to highlight the grammar and yet another to highlight aspects
of pronunciation.
When the written record is complete, students should be given time to copy the
board record.

So what happened here?

In a nutshell the teacher did the following:

• After the diagnostic warmer the teacher set the context using two pictures.
• The teacher elicited/gave the target language from the visuals.
• The teacher asked concept questions to ensure students had understood the
meaning of the target language.
• They drilled the target language, to ensure students could produce it.
• They re-elicited to create a board record, highlighting the same sentences,
which had been drilled.
• Students copied the board record.
This procedure is often referred to as ECDB, which stands for elicit concept
check drill and board.

Have a look at the procedure above and answer the questions below: Quiz 1:
1) In what order were these clarified: Pronunciation, the written form, meaning?
2) Did the teacher try to elicit the target language?
3) Did the teacher provide a written record in different colours?
4) Did they talk to students while he was writing?
5) Did give students time to copy the written record?

Go to the next page to check your answers.

Bjarne Vonsild
Answers:

1) 1st meaning (elicit and concept check), 2nd Pronunciation (Drill) and 3rd Form
(Board).
2) Yes.
3) Yes.
4) Yes, we should involve students when providing the written record.
5) Yes.

But you may be asking yourself now; Why did the teacher not just do the
following?

1. Write “used to” on the board and explain in a clear slow voice that we use
“used to” to express past states and actions which are no longer happening.
2. Give a string of examples of this.
3. Have students repeat it
4. Write the structure on the board for students to copy.

As we are dealing with people whose first language is not English, it is almost
impossible to gauge how much of the explanation they will get. Secondly, there
is no learner participation in the above stages so chances are they will switch off
or simply get bored, and thirdly, if they have some knowledge of the target
language they may very well feel patronised by being told something they know
already.

Moreover, in this clarification there is no context, and I will cheekily claim that
without context language is meaningless. And finally, by giving students a lot of
examples you are likely to swamp them with information, and cause more
confusion than clarity. Therefore, use one example in a clear context and clarify
it thoroughly.

If you, like I, believe that “our learners are intelligent individuals who can
participate in discovering new language from context” we need to use a method
that makes use of a meaningful context from which students can make their own
conclusions about language.

Bjarne Vonsild
So in the method I suggest we go from meaning (the pictures/the situation) to
the word or grammatical form (how it is written), and not from the structure or
word to its meaning.

A few things to bear in mind when using a situational clarification:

• It can be useful to have a diagnostic warmer, which leads into the context, and
shows the teacher if any of the students have some knowledge of the target
language.

• Avoid using the target language before you have tried to elicit it. The reason
being, that if you do so students are likely to parrot you without necessarily
understanding the target language. For example, if I ask students “Did Rupert
polifuse whiskey?” They will say yes because they can see Rupert is drinking
whiskey without knowing what “polifuse” means. (I don´t either, but I will find
out).

• When drilling, you should isolate problem sounds, and drill these both
separately and in meaningful sentences. If I have anticipated students will say
/jusidtu/, I should isolate and drill/ˈjustə/.

• Avoid having students see the written form before drilling or while drilling.
The reason being, that there is no one to one relationship between spelling and
pronunciation in English, so learners are likely to say something that is close to
what they see rather then what they hear.

• Generally, I would not use this method of clarification for phrasal verbs and
idiomatic expressions as it is almost impossible to elicit such language from
students.

Bjarne Vonsild
Glossary marked by * in the text.

1) The target language is the language learners are studying, and also the
individual items of language that they want to learn, or the teacher wants them
to learn.

2) Elicitation is a technique by which the teacher gets the learners to give

information rather than giving it to them.

3) A drill is a classroom technique used to practise new language. It involves the

teacher modelling a word or a sentence and the learners repeating it. 

4) A warmer is an activity at the start of the class to warm up the learners. They
tend to be short, dynamic activities. Warmers can be compared to coolers, which
are short activities to finish the class.

5) Concept questions are used to find out if a learner has understood a new item.
The question is designed to test the key concepts of the item and normally
requires a yes/no or short answer.

6) When we talk about the form of the language we are teaching, we are
referring to how it is written out. For example, the form of the adjective “afraid”
can be written out as “to be afraid of doing”
                          “to be+adjective+of+gerund”

Bjarne Vonsild