I hope that it will save you time, energy and stress and help you to feel more confident, well- informed and one step ahead of the students. M odern coursebooks are generally excellent but sometimes we and our students feel the need to step away from their texts and exercises.
You will find lots of ideas here to help you present and practise grammar points. Presentation The Presentation ideas in this book usually involve the teacher upfront, introducing and modelling language items, possibly using the board. They are particularly suitable for working with language items your class has not met or studied before. Many of them involve creating a context or situation which will help to exemplify the meaning and use of the target items.
Practice The Practice ideas are based around students using the language themselves. These sections list a range of possible ideas you could use to practise various features of meaning and form.
They are not intended as a sequence of activities to be used in a single lesson. Select the idea most relevant for your lesson and your class. Many teachers prefer to introduce newr items through activities that involve lots of student language use and less teacher modelling or explanation. Depending on your own teaching approach, you may find that you prefer to use ideas from the practice sections to introduce new language.
All the teaching ideas are given as quite brief notes. There are many steps that I do not mention and I have to assume that you will fill in missing details yourself - and in doing so you can start to make the ideas your own and more relevant for your class. The Presentation sections mainly describe situations or contexts to help you present the meaning and use of the language. However, you will invariably also need to focus on the way that the item is structured, even if that is not explicitly stated.
You may find that some ideas seem unsuitable for your class as they stand - but I hope that they can still inspire you to think of other related activities that are suitable. These are simple, easy-to-convey situations, scenes or stories that will help to clarify the meaning or use of a language item. You can create the context by drawing pictures on the board, holding up flashcards of photos or sketches or by creating a mini-situation in class using students to act out simple roles following your instructions.
A really good context will seem to lead inevitably to natural use of the target language. Typically, after creating a context, you might elicit language from the students to see if they already have any idea about the target language. Eliciting You elicit by giving cues asking a question, miming, showing a picture, giving a keyword, etc that encourage the students to say something themselves - perhaps in order to draw out their ideas or to see what they know of the target language you are wTorking on.
This may help to involve students in a lesson, as they will be doing more than simply listening to you speaking. They can also show7wrhat they already know7and this can help you to adjust the level of the work. Eliciting can help to reduce the amount of unnecessary teacher talk in class.
Modelling You model by saying something aloud once or a number of times because you want the class to hear a well-pronounced example of a language item. You should take care to speak as naturally as possible and not artificially exaggerate any features.
Drilling You drill by modelling a sentence perhaps to exemplify a specific grammatical item then getting the students to repeat - often chorally ie as a whole class. Alternatively, you could also ask different individuals to repeat - or pairs to say the sentence s to each other. Drilling is a very restricted use of language to help students notice, focus on and improve things like verb endings, word order, pronunciation etc.
If a student repeats incorrectly during a drill it is usually helpful to correct. This type of controlled manipulation of language items is very useful. Introduction Pair work Students do pair work when each student in class works with one partner. Often the students in each pair are referred to as A and B. Pair work allows lots of students to speak and work simultaneously, maximising interaction time in class.
Mingling In a mingling activity, each student in class stands up and walks around the room, meeting and talking to a number of other people - and perhaps after completing a task, moving on to meet others. Students will learn little or nothing if they do not find the work interesting and involving. It needs to attract them, fill their minds and hold their attention. This may be because the topic is relevant, the task is stimulating, the end result appeals to them - or for many other reasons.
One key factor to bear in mind is to pitch the level of challenge appropriately - neither too high nor too low - and of course this level will vary for different people in your class and at different times. Creating the right challenge level may, for example, involve the teacher varying the difficulty of questions as they ask different people around the class.
What are timelines - and how can I use them? Timelines are a simple visual aid that you or a student can quickly draw on the board. Past Now Future Timelines are valuable both as a a teaching tool to introduce the meaning and use of verb tenses and b as a checking tool like concept questions to find out how much learners have understood.
Use timelines as an aid when explaining the meaning and use of a tense. Ask concept questions based on the timelines.
Try using incomplete timelines as a way of eliciting ideas from students When do you think it happened? Invite students to come to the board to draw their suggested timelines - and let other students agree or disagree - and make alternative suggestions.
Draw wrong timelines and invite students to correct you. But just remember that their meaning may not be immediately transparent to everyone - and there may be different interpretations. Many students seem to find timelines very helpful but others may remain puzzled. Example sentences Where possible and appropriate, example sentences in the main text are real samples of language in use, taken from the Macmillan English Dictionary corpus.
Most are exactly as listed in the corpus, but in some cases, they have been edited slightly in order to help focus on the language point being exemplified by removing or changing words that seem potentially confusing or distracting for the levels in which the lessons are likely to be taught.
Even so, you may find some of the samples unusual - and may consider them unsuitable for their classes.
For example, the present perfect examples include Someone has just waltzed off with my drink. Feedback and correction In order to get better at grammar, students need more than input and practice. They also need to get lots of feedback on how well they are doing. We can distinguish some important ways of responding to errors. Here is one way that some teachers have found very useful to help students who never use contractions.
This technique works a treat - but it needs to be introduced and used a few times on different occasions before its power and simplicity becomes clear. From your perspective, behind the fingers, the sentence will seem to go right to left! Repeat the action and words a few times.
Get the student s to repeat the whole sentence. This will have become a very quick and wordless way of reminding students that they need to contract the pronoun and auxiliary verb. But finding out if they understand the meaning of something is much harder. Traditional teacher techniques such as asking Do you understand? Concept questions CQs are questions that you can ask students in order to check if they have understood the meaning of language items they are learning. CQs are often used as an integral part of presentations, especially when working on verb tenses, and especially for checking if students understand what time is referred to, but they are valuable for a number of other grammatical items.
However, not everything can be easily or usefully concept checked. In class, you can ask CQs to several students, listening to their answers and evaluating whether they have understood the meaning of the language item well or not, perhaps not confirming a student answer until you have heard from a number of them.
While asking individual students, you also hope that all the other students in class are thinking through the question and preparing their own answers. A n exam p le In this book, I have included some concept questions for a number of grammatical items. These are ready-to-use in class - but please make sure you are clear how the entries work. Are Harry and Bill the same height? No One of them is 1. Which one is 1. Harry Make a sentence about Harry and Bill using shorter.
This is an example sentence you to read out to students. The concept questions to ask students about that example sentence then follow, with sample correct student answers in brackets. Introduction H ow m ig h t th is exam p le b e u sed in class? Then ask the same question to one or more other students.
In fact, it is vital that to check a range of learner levels within class. You are aiming to see if students understand well enough to answrer confidently and, perhaps, quickly. What if students give wrong answers to concept questions? If, at any stage, one or more students give a wrong answer to a CQ, it may be best to avoid launching straight into an explanation or correction. Wrong answers give you feedback that there is some teaching that still needs to be done to help clarify the problems!
In contrast, the sentence asked for here a is clearly set within the context that has already been established b has a specific challenge to form a sentence for which the meaning is known.
Little is left to chance; only a small num ber of sentences would answer the challenge. But we can count a subdivisions or containers - even if they are not stated two grains of rice, five bags of rice, three teas, four sugars b types twenty cheeses.
A number of words that act as a noun and could be substituted by Noun a pronoun. The man I met at the cafe is going to phone me tonight. The phrase underlined words are a noun phrase which could be substituted by he. Strictly speaking, a noun is a one-word noun phrase! A word that can replace a noun or noun phrase. They take different forms with Verb regard to tense present, past , aspect progressive, perfect , person first, second, third , number singular, plural and voice active, passive.
State verbs are not usually used in progressive -ing tenses. The subject and object of the verb are the same I cut myself shaving. It is made up of two or three words that act as if they were a single verb get over, make do with, look after. She walks for half an hour every morning. The walking happens but is not being done to something. He hit his boss. The action is done to the boss. In these sentences the underlined words are verb phrases: Fm going to swim.
Next June we will have been living here for ten vears. She ought to be able to guess the answer. Confusingly, there are different definitions of the term verb phrase but this seems to be the most widely accepted one. Typically column 1 of 3 in a coursebook verb table. Typically not listed in a coursebook verb table but easy enough to make from column l.
T he gerund has the same form - but refers to the noun: Swimming is mv favourite sport. Typically column 2 of 3 in a coursebook verb table. Typically column 3 of 3 in a coursebook verb table. A word which describes or tells us more about a noun green, tall', bad. A word which tells us more about a verb, adjective or adverb.
Although widely taught at lower levels, they may be classified under other headings eg time expressions. A word or words that help us understand the relationships between things in terms of place, movement, time or ideas. For example, many nouns, verbs and adjectives have a strong link to a specific preposition. Conjunctions can work as part of a pair neither red nor white wine, both Jurgen and me. She gave him a karate chop to the neck.
She is the subject because she did the action. A karate chop is the direct object because it is the thing given. Him is the indirect object because he was affected by the karate chop. Diphthongs A diphthong is the result o f a glide from one vowel sound to another within a single syllable. Consonants In the production o f a consonant sound, the air flow is restricted by closure or partial closure, which may result in friction. Consonants can be voiced or voiceless. A voiceless consonant is one made without the voice-box vibration.
Uncontracted form A possible contraction wThich is nevertheless pronounced and written as two separate words: they are rather than they're. Check that students know w7hat your drawing shows! Add in Federico, the farmer and a visitor, Isabella.
Write a year from the past at the top of the board. Explain that Federico has been very successful. Practice If you are teaching at very low levels, you will need to adjust your classroom language to suit the level.
Many of these ideas can be introduced by gesturing rather than giving instructions. Counting Bring a number of different toys, objects and pictures into the room - including more than one of many items. Now7tell me about some numbers in your home. Place the four signs at different places on the walls of the room around the open space. The signs should not be too close to each other - but they should all be easily accessible for all students no chairs or tables in the way.
Choose some singular nouns. When you say a noun, every student must decide individually how the plural is made - and move to stand in front of the correct sign. Students are allowed to change their minds wThen they see w7here other students are going!
When everyone has made their final decision and stopped moving, announce the real answer - and award one point a token to each student in the right place. Gather everyone back in the middle again - and go on to the next noun. How many people are in the room? One Is there one person in the room? More than one Is there one person in the room? Help them by pointing out that words like cooks and walks are one syllable but they are using two.
Teaching tip: memory practice Some methodology books may give the impression that the only worthwhile classroom activities are ones which involve realistic communication between students. However, while communicative practice is essential, there are some things that are probably best learnt by fairly traditional techniques involving simple input, memorisation, reminders and recall. Plurals is one area where some memory practice helping students to know what the plural of child is can be helpful - alongside chances to actually use language with lots of singulars and plurals in realistic tasks, dialogues and situations.
These include space, food, glass, cake, sauce, sugar, light, Coke, bread, curry, class, yoghurt, lamb, wine, business, perfume, football, glue, cheese, deodorant, juice, paint, salad, whisky. Sometimes, the countable and uncountable nouns have very different meanings.
Explain that she is going to the supermarket. Point at the two boxes on the board and ask students wrhat wrord they think should go in the space. When they agree, draw an icon representing rice into the some column. She needs to get some petrol. In the shop she asks for some information about special offers. Explain briefly about countable and uncountables.
In English it is possible to count some nouns. Others cannot be counted. Uncountable nouns have no plural form. You always use a singular verb with uncountable nouns There is some snow on the upper slopes. Check if students can correctly recall the sentences about Anna. Practice Countable and uncountable nouns are often introduced alongside a focus on some and any. T ired h ou seh u sb an d A man at home struggles to do the housework example uncountable nouns: polish, washing-up liquid, air freshener, patience.
Countable or uncountable? Invite students to work in groups to decide which words go into which box. After some time, invite students to come up one by one and write words into boxes. Other students can agree or disagree with their decisions. Can you count. An even simpler teaching and checking activity is to ask questions to see if students can distinguish between nouns that can be counted and those which can't.
Ask them cCan you count rain? Picture differences On one sheet of paper sheet A draw sketches of about fifteen countable and uncountable food items apples, loose rice, milk in a bottle, potatoes. On another sheet of paper sheet B draw many of the same items - but with a few variations flour instead of apples. Make photocopies of sheet A and B. In class, make pairs, A and B. Give sheet A to As and sheet B to Bs. So have I etc. I went to the market If your students need a reminder, start by writing the alphabet on the board.
Say 'I went to the market and I bought an apple. Continue with other students trying to remember the list so far and then correctly adding their own item.
As the list gets longer it will get harder and students will make more errors which results in more laughter. Make sure you encourage students to use a mix of both countable and uncountable nouns. What does Hiro w7ant to buy? Some books Do we know7how7many? Yes, three Can w7e count books? What does Sara want to buy? Some rice Do we know7how much? No Watch out for these problems. For example, sheep is the same word for singular and plural - but sheep are countable.
Be careful. Some uncountable nouns have an 5 ending and may look as if they are a plural countable noun eg tennis, news, politics, chess, physics, snakes and ladders, linguistics, athletics, measles, billiards, aerobics, economics, diabetes. We can count suitcases but not luggage or baggage, rooms but not accommodation, cars but not traffic. X I forgot my homeworks. X Can you give me some advices? Make a second set of cards of uncountable foodstuffs toothpaste, wine, cheese, rice, tea, shampoo, ketchup, chocolate.
Stick up the container cards on the left in a list going down the board. Stick up the food cards in the middle column to make a separate list. When someone makes a suggestion, move the cards together in the right-hand column. Elicit the phrase a bottle of cheese and ask the class if they think it is a good combination or not.
If you and the class agree that it is wrong, replace the cards to their original lists. If you agree that it is good a box of matches , leave them there. This task might be a useful preparation for the Shopping lists activity.
Practice In my cupboard Make pairs, A and B. Students start sentences for their partner to complete. Partners continue to challenge each other in this w7ay. Shopping lists Shopping lists are always good for this language point. Students can prepare for a party, first discussing and agreeing what they w7ill need We must get eight bottles of lemonade , then writing a shopping list, then role-playing going to the shop Two kilos offlour, please.
Shopping phonecalls Prepare a set of flashcards showing foods and other shopping items. Give five or six to each student. What do I need? Ask students to wrrite a list of ingredients for a dish they know pizza but leave out the quantities. They then meet up with other students and orally explain how to make the dish, adding in quantities Take half a kilo of flour. You need ten slices of pepperoni. A dd a pinch of salt.
What did Fernando drink? Some apple juice Do we know how much? What did Faisal eat? Bread Do we know how7much? Yes - two slices Did he eat the wThole loaf? No Teaching tip: countable and uncountable Students are often puzzled to hear people say things like Could I have two milks? They have learnt that milk is uncountable and believe that this must be wTrong. Like many foodstuffs, milk can be both countable and uncountable.
The same is true of many other nouns although food and drink are probably the most common. When it is countable we are usually counting the container or quantity two glasses of milk, or two packets of milk or two litres of milk - but we are not actually saying the container or quantity. The container is implied rather than stated. I bought two teas means I bought two cups of tea. Ordering two teas is only possible if the listener will unambiguously understand what container is referred to.
C o u n tab le U n co u n tab le Two coffees, please. We need some more coffee. Your hair feels so soft. Would you like apiece of chocolate? We use them to avoid repetition. The machine's broken. It isn't working properly. S ubject p ron ou n s The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that does the action of a verb.
I woke up at about 3 am. You need a dictionary. It isn't working. We lived in the room above the shop. They offered her a job. O bject pron ou n s D irect o b jects The direct object of a sentence is the person or thing that the action of a verb is done to. It often comes directly after the verb.
I called h im I her. We bought it. They saw us. Let's ask them. In d irect o b jects T he indirect object of a sentence is a person or thing that the action of the verb is done for or given to - but not the person or thing.
Bring m e the towel. I gave yo u the book. She bought him an M P3 player. I showed her the rules. We threw it a biscuit. They sang us a new song. Give them a chance. For example, Bring me a towel.
W hat did he bring? A towel - this is the direct object. Who did he bring it to for? Me - this is the indirect object. Give an instruction using a direct object drop it, throw it, hide it,punch it. Do a little mime to help the student follow the instruction if they have a problem.
In d irect objects In the same lesson. Indicate student B and give an instruction to student A using an indirect object Give her the pen. Student A must follow the instruction and hand the pen on to Student B. B then throws the pen to C. When possible, encourage students to use the instructions themselves without prompts. Jobs and roles Subject p ronouns 1 Hand flashcards showing various locations a hospital, Moscow to different students.
Explain that the pictures show their lives. They live in Moscow. Get students to repeat sentences. They live in Vienna. Pm Anna. Reference At higher levels, the biggest problems tend to come with recognising wiiat a particular pronoun especially it refers to in a complex sentence or text. To tackle this, get students to go through a text, drawing boxes around all instances of a pronoun every it - and then drawing lines back to the word or words that the pronoun refers to.
Concept questions Subject pronouns Write these notes on the board. Object pronouns Write these notes on the board. Meaning and use Backward reference Pronouns generally refer backwards to things that have already been mentioned. The word him refers back to Jack.
Forward reference Pronouns can also more rarely refer forwards to things that have not yet been mentioned. He refers forward to Tony, which has not been given before this point. Pronouns are only useful if it is absolutely clear what they refer to. In the following short text, the referent ie the person or thing that is referred to of the pronoun is not entirely clear.
Is it the snake, the bedcover or the arm? The snake slid over the bedcover and curled round his arm. I carefully lifted it up. Other uses Apart from the standard meanings, pronouns have some other important uses. It's raining Isn't it a pity? I really like it in this cafe. It would be hard to say precisely what the it referred to in these sentences.
You never see men at these conferences any more. They knocked it down in When the interviewee comes in, give them a copy of the test.
This may be to avoid saying things that might seem personally embarrassing but this use of one is a little old-fashioned. This use is unlikely to be encountered by beginners.
Watch out for these problems. Idea: Place two silhouette images on the classroom wall - a male and a female figure. When students use the wrong pronoun, simply point at the wrong image, look worried and w7ait for them to correct themselves! X The picture it is very nice. Teaching tip: spotting the direct object Be careful - if there are two objects, you need to take care that students identify them correctly. In the sentence She gives the man some cash the direct object is some cash - the thing immediately affected by the action of giving.
I rewired the house myself. Make yo u rself comfortable! He repaired the window himself. M y brother does all the paperwork h im self She locked herself in. The door opens by itself. WeyUdo it ourselves. I hope the children behave them selves. The tw ins are only three, but they can aheady dress them selves. These refer back to the subject of the verb. Reflexive pronouns can be used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same I cried myself to sleep or to emphasise the subject We ate all the cake ourselves.
We use each other or one another to say that each person does something to the other or others. They talk to each other on the phone every night. Our youngest boy can already dress himself.
Model each sentence yourself first, get students to repeat and then try saying it in pairs as question and answ7er. Did Georgi do your homework? I did it myself! Did the other class arrange the chairs like this? We did it ourselves! Practice This item is quite hard to practise communicatively. It may be best to focus on traditional pen and paper exercises, finding the correct pronoun to fill in the gap in a sentence.
Planning decisions Ask students to imagine that they are wrorking on a big project changing to a different classroom. Brainstorm a list of about ten tasks that need to be done move all the books. The teachers can move their stationery themselves.
M ary will design the floor plan by herself You can do that yourself! Who did the homework? Sharzia Did she do it with someone else? No Did she have any help?
Who repaired the car? Darina Did Miguel repair the car? No Did Darina repair the car? Yes Did she do it with someone else? No Meaning and use We use reflexive pronouns when the subject and the object are the same. I cleaned myself up and got ready for dinner. In this sentence I and myself are the same person. He tried to kill him describes an attempted murder. He tried to kill himself describes an attempted suicide.
In imperatives, the subject you is understood but not said. Phone him yourself We can use many verbs that take an object with a reflexive pronoun. He cut himself shaving. If wre want to emphasise that someone does something without help, wre use a reflexive pronoun at the end of a clause.
I decorated the whole room myself! We use reciprocal pronouns to say that each person did the same action to another or others. Jacques and Frida painted pictures of each other means that Jacques painted a picture of Frida and Frida painted a picture of Jacques.
Jacques and Frida painted pictures of themselves means that Jacques painted a picture of Jacques and Frida painted a picture of Frida or they both pointed pictures of both of them. X The two men introduced themselves and shook hands. X They felt themselves quite ill. Idea: use concept questions to help here, ask cWho did they kiss? My, your, his, her, its, our, their come before a noun phrase. Add a picture of a shop with some desirable items an iPod, a camera, a book, a watch.
As you tell the story, keep pausing and interrupting yourself as if you are forgetting the story to ask lots of little questions Is it his? Is it hers now? Whose is it? Get students to ask questions like yours. Practice Circle practice Ask everyone to stand in one large circle or, if your class is too large, keep them at their desks.
Give each student a flashcard or small object a pen. Continue adding more items. More complex circle practice You can fairly easily vary or extend the simple drills in the idea above to make use of more complex sentences and possessive pronouns as well as adjectives Is this your pen? Give it to him. Is this your pen? Yes, it's mine. Don't give it to her;give it to me. For maximum confusion, you could also have different objects being passed simultaneously! V ariation Teach a number of different verbs pass, throw, give and some adverbs slowly, angrily, secretly and get students using them to pass on the items in this manner passing secretly, throwing quickly.
Flashcards: famous people, possessions and relations Find colour pictures of celebrities, pop groups or politicians who your students will know and their possessions, parents, friends. Cut the pictures up so that possessions are separated from the people. Students work to match pictures and describe the relationships This is hers. That's theirs. Students should not see what others contribute. Make a museum on a large table at the front of the room by displaying the items in an interesting way.
Is that his? Is that your pen? Invite pairs of students to visit the museum. They can wralk around and look at objects and discuss the objects. Encourage them to guess wThich items belong to which students. When students have had some discussion in pairs, lead a whole class discussion still using the pronouns to agree which objects belong to which students.
Is that yours? Story building Bring in lots of small real objects or pictures of them and pictures of some people. If they find it tough, suggest that they include dialogue in their story.
Is this my book? No Is this your book? No Is this his book? No Is this her book? Yes Who does the book belong to? This is hers Adapt this model for This is mine, This is ours etc. Meaning and use Belonging Possessives often tell us who things belong to.
Ours is the third house on the left. Isn't that your Uncle Gunter? That friend of yours - what's her name again? I do my own cooking and food shopping. This letter is in her own handwriting. Connection Sometimes they indicate other types of connection or association knowing something, having responsibility, doing an action, special occasions etc. Does he know his ABC? His birthday is two days after mine. Our guide was a quiet man in his forties.
The couple who booked into the hotel were both in their twenties. Body parts We use possessives to talk about parts of the body. Her lips met mine. Comparisons We can use possessives to compare possessions, qualities, attributes etc between different people. There was barely a scratch on his car, but mine was wrecked. Your system is completely different from ours. X This great country of us ours.
We use this and that with singular countable nouns and uncountable nouns this evidence that cup We use these and those with plural nouns. For most of this month. We can also use this, that, these and those on their own, as pronouns substituting for a noun or noun phrase.
Not this again! That was a real surprise. Place these visibly in different locations around the room. Some things should be close to individuals or groups of students and some further away. This student should recap what the previous student said changing the demonstrative if necessary and then adding to it That's Dmitri's calculator and that's my scarf. Practice Open spot the difference Find two pictures of the kind that are commonly used for pair information gap exercises ie two similar but slightly different pictures.
Place picture A on the board blow7it up much larger if possible - or project it on a computer, interactive whiteboard or O H P. Give a copy of picture B to each pair of students. Their aim is to discuss the differences, then write down them in a list, using this, that, these, those This table has five apples on it but that one only has four. These people are wearing hats but those aren't. Students will need to use this and these for the picture closest to them and that and those are for the more distant board picture.
Am I holding my pen when I say this? No Is my pen very near me? No Is my pen in another town? No Is my pen in another room?
No Can I see my pen? Yes Can I point at my pen? Do I have one friend or more than one friend? More than one Are my friends in another building? No Are my friends in the same room? Yes Are my friends on the other side of the room? Probably not Are my friends standing or sitting near me?
Yes Do I move my hand when I say the sentence? These and those We use these and those to refer to plural items. They usually identify things visible to the speaker which could be pointed at or indicated. We often do this when showing pictures or objects or when introducing people to each other. We choose which word to use depending on how near to us we think an item is. We use this and these when something is considered close. We use that and those when something is further away.
This is a subjective choice rather than a factual measurement and either form can often be used without substantially changing the meaning. This is the total price of your holiday. These are my friends Claudia and Jack. Those must be our seats over there. Reference within text conversation We can use demonstratives to refer backwards or forwards to things that are mentioned in other parts of a conversation or text. X Those books mine. TUeve ave always lots of people tUeve. Construct the text carefully so that the article usage exemplifies the points you wish to teach.
Discuss and confirm answers. Elicit or state reasons for article choice as issues come up. A nsw ers Every day I walk to the town centre. There are always lots of 0 people there. I usually buy an ice cream, a packet of 0 sweets and a newspaper. Then I go to the beach and sit on a bench reading the newspaper. Sometimes I look up at the clouds in the sky and w7atch the seagulls flying over the sea.
Practice The classic practice activity for articles has always been the humble gap-fill text made either on a computer or with correction fluid.
Students then work individually or in pairs to fill in the missing articles. Text reordering Many teachers will be familiar with tasks in which students are asked to reorder a text that has had its sentences mixed up - but may have been unsure as to exactly what the point of such tasks might be. Well, one really sound purpose is to help students focus on the use of articles to shape a conversation or text. Write up the following sentences on the board or photocopy them and ask students wrorking in pairs to find the best order.
Tell them that sentence a is in the correct position at the beginning of the story. When they have got the correct answer a , d , b , e , c ask them to reflect a little on how they worked it out.
New -» Known This activity focuses on the key use of articles to introduce new information or to refer to knowTn information. Check that students know the word lion maybe showr a photo of one. Write the following frame on the board and tell students that it is a conversation in a zoo. Ask pairs to fill every gap with either lions, a lion or the lion. Dad: Hey, look. Child: Where? Where d id. When you check answers at the end, discuss why each form is used. Get students to practise acting the dialogue, encouraging them to use lively intonation.
Afterwards, challenge students to write a new short dialogue set in a new location that uses all the nouns in one of these sets of words: eggs, an egg, the egg or books, a book, the book.
What does the baby want? A toy Does it matter which one I give it? The toy Does it matter which one I give it? Yes, it wants a specific one - possibly one that it can see now Meaning and use There are two key reasons why a speaker or writer may choose indefinite or definite articles.
General or specific? The indefinite articles a and an show that we are talking about things in a general way - without saying precisely which people or items we are referring to to a whole type, class, species or variety of something. It stands out in a crowd ie any crowd - not a specific crowd.
You need a dictionary ie any dictionary, not a specific one. Children must be accompanied by an adult ie any adult, not a specific one. The definite article the shows that we are talking about something specific - when we know precisely who or what is being referred to an individual person or thing. New focus or known focus? The second means that I want a specific biscuit, and both listener and speaker know7exactly which one is referred to.
But, what about this short text? Round the corner was a ruined barn - and, next to the building, a tall oak. The tree had lost all its leaves. The brown and orange litter covered the flowerbeds.
Would your students know. In many conversations and text, there will be different articles used at different points in the text. A dog needs regular exercise. Did you have a shave this morning?
Her husband seemed a very pleasant man. Easton became an American citizen. We can use the with. Suddenly all the lights went out. I looked up at the ceiling. I like 0 chocolate. Chinua loves 0 fast cars. How do 0 whales communicate? He switched off the television and went to 0 bed ie to sleep. This In contemporary UK English the word this is sometimes used as a sort of indefinite article in personal stories and jokes.
The meaning is slightly different from a. The word this seems to have the effect of identifying the person as an important character in the story. Friday starts with an f ' Stress Articles are usually unstressed and pronounced with weak forms. You would normally only use strong forms when you want to emphasise something. No, he's not a boss.
He's the boss. The perfect companion for both trainees and teacher trainers following courses such as the Cambridge CELTA, and the Trinity Certificate in TESOL, as well as teachers who are unsure of how to present grammar or those who are looking for new ways to present it. Teaching EnglishGrammar aims to combine language information and methodological help in a straightforward, authoritative way and thus help English language teachers prepare and deliver grammar lessons within their syllabus.
The book provides teachers with an authoritative and practical handbook on teaching grammar and helps to make preparing grammar lessons easy and straightfoward. The links: Teaching English Grammar Paperback. No hay comentarios:. Suscribirse a: Enviar comentarios Atom.
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