Express Publishing ELT

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”
Chinese proverb

When students are repeating, doing drills and practice tasks they are not really communicating as one would naturally where the interaction has the purpose of getting messages across in a specific context.
Compare this IRF (initiation – response – feedback) exchange with the one following it:

1. Teacher – Student

A: Where do you live?
B: I live in Paris.
A: Good.
A: What do you do?
B: I’m a student.
A: Good.

2. Two Friends

A: So, where do you live then?
B: You mean here in Oxford, or where I’m from?
A: Oh, I know you’re French, but I meant where are you staying while you’re here?
B: Not far from the centre. I’m with a family in Walton Street.
A: Where’s that then?
B: Only about ten minutes from the bus station, after Worcester College.
A: Oh, right. I’m much further out. How’s your host family there?

In dialogue 1 the questions might come from the teacher with different students answering or the task could be done in pairs, but it’s not a realistic conversation even though the answers may be true (not made up). The responses may be the same whoever is answering (especially if prompt cards are used: Live? Paris. Do? Student)
and the focus is on “getting it right”.

In 2 a wider variety of language is used; it sounds more like a real exchange. There is negotiation of meaning and it’s this, the meaning rather than the form, which is the centre of concern. The language used is unpredictable and improvised; the speakers are free to use any structure and vocabulary for their particular purpose in reacting to each other. The responses are true and individualized.
By giving students communicative activities we hope they will develop their confidence, fluency and flexibility in using the language. We’d like them to be engaged in the activity rather than concentrating on the language they use.

Here are some ways we can provide students with an impetus, a reason to communicate in English in the class through confession, collaboration, cooperation and competition.

Information gaps
These occur when one person knows something the other doesn’t that the other wants to know. (“Where’s the toilet? “Up the stairs on the right.”) Here are some examples:

* Find the difference. A has a picture card similar to B’s and without looking at each others’ cards, they have to find ten differences by describing their pictures to one another or asking questions (“In my picture there’s a cat on the roof.” Is there a cat on your roof?”).
* Describe and draw. A has a picture and describes it to B, who draws it. (“The monster has got three round heads…. a long thin body …with four little arms…”). A waits for B to complete each part before moving on to the next part of the description. Then B describes their picture for A to draw.
* Fill in the grid. A has a grid with days of the week. B asks questions to find out what A is doing or usually does on these days. A popular class activity is Find somebody who… Give each student a worksheet like this example:

Students go round asking questions and when they find someone who answers yes, they write that person’s name in the space next to the question they answered. This practices question forms in a variety of structures, but is limited. It can be made more communicative by students having to ask one or two follow up questions when they receive an affirmative response.

Have you got a pet?
Yes, I have.
What is it?
It’s a tarantula!
Oh! Has it got a name?
Yes. I call it Terry.

* Conduct a survey. Each student writes the name of every other student (or group of students if the class is large) in a list and goes round finding one thing they have in common with each other student. They note this down next to name on their list. Once they’ve found a particular thing they share, they move on to another name on their list. The same information cannot be written twice. So if I’ve discovered that Igor was born in the same month as me I do not ask Ivan “What month is your birthday?” I might ask “What’s your favourite colour?” or “Have you got a bicycle?”
* Guessing games. A has a card with a picture or name of a person, place or action. B has to guess what’s on the card by asking questions. This can be done in several ways in pairs or groups: A mimes what is on the card, can only answer yes or no or starts off by giving a clue.
* Celebrity Interview. Students pretend to be a famous person and are interviewed.

Discussions and debates
Group discussions are better than whole class ones as more people have the chance to speak and do so at normal volume. It may be a good idea to appoint a chairperson for each group whose job it is to ensure everybody in their group contributes.
The prompt and topic for a discussion can be anything:
* Current events. (You can use newspaper headlines, articles, graphs and visuals either in paper form or tape an item from the TV news. (It doesn’t have to be in English. If the class speaks the same mother tongue you can use local material.) If you’ve got a smart classroom, you can just show what’s on CNN, BBC World or select something from You Tube.
* Provocative or controversial topics. Be aware of the local culture and sensibilities here; some topics may be considered too sensitive or inappropriate to discuss.
* Simulations and role play. The difference is that in the former the students are themselves in an imaginary situation and in the latter they are someone else. Here’s a simulation: Let’s imagine there’s an empty space in your town or area. What do you think should be done with it? This can become a role play by giving each student a card; for example:

Students in both cases have to give opinions with reasons and try to persuade their group to support their suggestion. Here are a few more topics where students discuss in order to come to a consensus:

A debate is more formalized, with teams being given a statement such as This house believes that technological progress improves peoples’ lives or This house proposes that cars should be banned from city centres. Students are divided into teams of for and against and prepare their arguments, after which a spokesperson is appointed from each team to present their case. This can be done in front of the whole class with the class voting for the view they agree most with at the end by putting their hands up.
The whole class can have the same topic or each group be given a different one.

Projects and speeches. Students either individually or in pairs choose a subject they are interested in; research it and give a short talk on that subject to the class. They can use visual aids or make a power point presentation if they wish.

Short speaking activities. These can be done in groups or students can take it in turn to come up to the front of the class. In either case assign every student to team A or B. Each student in turn is given a topic, has 10 seconds to think about it and then a minute to talk about it. If they can keep going for the full minute, they get a point for their team. Some examples:

* The person I most admire
* The best film I’ve ever seen
* My worst nightmare
* Something I would never do for any money
* The best country to live in
* My ideal job
* If I were king / president…
* Mobile phones
* The English language
* Ice cream

Advanced classes might like to try this playing by the rules of the radio show Just a minute. Divide the class into groups of around four with a chairperson and a stopwatch timekeeper. The chairperson gives one person a topic card and that person has a minute to try and talk about it without repetition, hesitation or deviation from the subject. They are allowed to repeat the words on the card. Any time one of the players thinks the speaker repeats, hesitates or deviates, they say beep and the timekeeper immediately stops the watch. The beeper says which of the three rules the speaker broke and if the chairperson agrees, the same topic passes to the beeper, who has the remaining seconds to continue. If the chairperson disagrees with the beeper, the speaker who was interrupted continues. A point is awarded at each beep; either to the speaker if the interruption is unsuccessful or to the beeper if they are successful. A point is also awarded to the person speaking at the end of the minute when the timekeeper says stop. The chairperson then gives a card to another player to begin the next round. Here’s an example:

Other activities
* What happened next? Students in groups are dealt out several picture or word cards each. One student puts down a card and begins a story involving the picture or word on their card. The next student puts down one of their cards and continues the story and so on round the group until the last card is put down to finish the story. Tell students they must use a verb to continue the story each time they put down a card. The cards do not have to be of any specific story so there are no “right” answers; the students make the story up as they go along using their imagination.

* Tell us a joke.

“What’s the name of your dog?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never asked him.”

“Why do birds fly south in the winter?”
“Because it’s too far to walk.”

Everybody knows some jokes in their own language. Get students to share them using English.

* Tell us why. Give students a list of questions. They have to come up with an answer (silly answers accepted). Here are some on the natural world.

Why is the sky blue?
Why is the sea salty but rivers are not?
Why does the sun look bigger at sunset?
Why do icebergs float?
Why do camels have humps on their backs?

Getting students to talk in class is a matter of creating an atmosphere where people are willing to personalize – open up about themselves and their views, and imagine – put themselves or a fabricated self in another situation. The subject matter has to be engaging and challenging and there has to be a reason to talk.

Such interactions and activities may be different to those our students have encountered in their own educational system. They may find themselves for the first time encouraged to do these things, so you might expect an initial reticence.

When students are involved in the ways suggested above they may actually forget they are speaking in a foreign language. Probably my best moments as a teacher have been when I know I can leave the class in what to an outsider may seem a state of chaos but is in fact groups of people animatedly relating and laughing – singing their songs – in English.