IT WORKS IN PRACTICE

More tested lessons,

suggestions, tips and
techniques which have
all worked for ETp
readers. Try them out
for yourself – and then
send us your own All the contributions to It Works in Practice in this issue of ETp are ideas for promoting
contribution. Don’t speaking, and the contributors will each receive a set of speaking-related books by various
forget to include your authors in the Macmillan Business English Skills series. Macmillan have kindly agreed to be
postal address. sponsors of It Works in Practice for this year.

Speed talking
One way I make sure all the students in a bell to tell them that their time is up. classroom and make a note of any
my classes participate in a speaking Then it is the students of the inner circle grammar or vocabulary points that you
activity is something I call ‘Speed who have to talk for the same period of might want to comment on later. With
talking’ and, as the name of the game time about the topic on their card. When an odd number of students, I usually
implies, the idea comes from speed their time is up, they will hear the take the role of someone in the inner
dating. The students arrange their chairs buzzer or bell again. The two students in circle, but I get the outer-circle students
so that there are two circles of chairs each pair now have to exchange their to talk about their topic and then ask
facing each other: an inner circle file cards and the student in the outer me questions in correct English about
(students sitting here stay put during circle moves on one chair. It is the topic I have on my card.
the activity) and an outer circle important that they swap cards as this Experience has shown that this
(students sitting here will move around makes the game more interesting: the works quite well. Although there might
the circle). In many classrooms, the students now have to talk about the be the temptation, especially for the
‘circles’ will probably not be true circles topic they have just listened to. They pairs furthest away from the teacher, to
but rather more random geometric soon realise that they have to listen slip back into their native language or
figures, so it is important to keep track carefully each time as they can probably simply use the time as a short break
of which students are in the outer circle use some of the ideas their partners from their English class in which to chat,
and to establish which direction they brought up when it is their turn to speak the chances are very slim that you will
have to move in before the game starts. on the same topic. When the students of have two very unmotivated people
I then distribute small cards with the outer circle have moved on one pairing up. And even if this is the case,
topics on them, one to each student. chair, they start talking again, repeating they will get a new partner after a few
There have to be at least as many the whole activity. minutes who will probably want to spend
different topics as there are students, When I do this with my students, I the time usefully.
but it doesn’t hurt to have more, just in am not too bothered about how One minor problem might be the
case you find it useful to exchange any grammatically correct their utterances distracting noise level during this
of the cards for ones with different are; I am more concerned about activity. However, funnily enough, the
topics during the course of the activity. improving their fluency and, if the topics more pairs you have talking, the less the
The students in the outer circle start are relevant for an upcoming exam, their students become concerned with what is
the activity by talking about the topic ability to collect new ideas based on happening around them and, instead,
on their card to the students sitting what they have heard. However, if you concentrate on their own activity.
opposite them for a given period of have an even number of students you Britta Hoffman
time, after which I press a buzzer or ring can, of course, walk around the Leipzig, Germany

34 • Issue 76 September 2011 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

 Talking clothes Emotional dice
In these more environmentally friendly times, I have a This idea was inspired by an article I saw in ETp on the use of dice
couple of ideas to save you carrying a sheaf of in the classroom.
handouts. These activities have been successful at a When we are learning adjectives which denote emotions, instead
variety of levels, with the learners providing the of asking my students to complete the gapped sentences in their
material, quite literally. Both activities are designed to coursebook or make their own sentences with the same adjectives,
maximise speaking and review structures which have I bring into the classroom a big dice with words on it, such as
been covered in earlier lessons. They give the students frustrated, bored, excited, etc. I ask each student in turn to throw
the opportunity to exchange personal information, this ‘emotional dice’ and try to recollect the last time they felt the
which helps to bond the class and encourages laughter way indicated on the dice. Then I ask some follow-up questions
with learning. I have always been a great believer in like What happened? Who was with you? What did you do? and
the power of laughter as a learning tool and an aid to encourage the other students to join in asking questions.
memory.
This activity could be changed a little and made more relevant to
1 The first activity is for practising vocabulary of students’ learning experience by asking them to recollect the last
materials and patterns and/or reviewing passives. Ask time they felt this or that way in the English classroom or while
the students, working in pairs or threes, to find out speaking/writing/learning English. Apart from giving the students
the details of what their partners are wearing: they language practice, this can provide feedback for you on how your
need to specify the material and the pattern, or the classes are being received. It will also help you understand your
material, the country of origin, the make and where it students better – their emotional selves – which is very important
was bought. With a class in which the students are for an effective teaching-learning process.
quite comfortable with each other, this can result in a Nataliya Potapova
Uzhhorod, Ukraine
lot of fun, with people helping to turn shirt collars
back to read the labels, etc.

Another good thing about this activity is that you can Colourful conversation cards
extend it by asking the students to tell another person If you are a very busy teacher with several different levels of
what their partner (someone else in the room) is classes and many hours of teaching per week, it can be very
wearing. This can be turned into a team game, difficult to prepare extra materials for each class. Also, sometimes
involving identifying the person described, or you can you may find yourself with extra time in the lesson and nothing
ask the students to provide the voice-over for a catwalk prepared. To deal with situations like these, I always carry in my
demonstration by their partner. If you would like to bag a set of small colourful cards with an interesting conversation
extend this into a longer milling activity, simply ask question written on each. I use these to get some of the students
everyone to draw a chart and fill it in with the details to choose a card and answer the question written on it.
of what five or six students are wearing. The cards are colour-coded according to level, so, for example,
2 The second activity is for practising or reviewing red cards are for advanced learners, yellow are for beginners, etc.
question tags. Ask the students to do the milling I give each student two or three minutes to think about their
activity described above, but without a chart, paper or question before they have to give their response. If the question
pencil. At the end of five to ten minutes, they sit down is very interesting, other students sometimes also join in and talk
again and try to fill in a chart about the students they about it. Once you have prepared the cards, you can use them in
spoke to. They then have to check that they have any class. Here are some examples of the questions written on my
remembered correctly, using question tags, eg ‘Leticia, cards:
● Would you date someone much older or younger than you?
your top’s made of cotton, isn’t it?’ ‘Yoshi, you bought
your jacket from a designer shop, didn’t you?’ Why or why not?
● What is your ideal teacher like?
This has worked very well at different levels and it also ● If you could ask God one question, what would it be?
creates a situation for learners to mix active and ● If you could date a celebrity, who would you choose?
passive structures realistically. ● How would you describe your family?
Jane Neill Serife Kalaycı
Cheltenham, UK Kahramanmaras, Turkey

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 76 September 2011 • 35