Telephoning: one-sided dialogues
Read out one side of a coursebook telephone dialogue and get students to predict what speaker B will say. Then compare with the original.
Mirror the speakers on coursebook audio
Find a suitable audio extract, then ask your students to mirror it – speak at exactly the same time while following the script.
Put a cut-up audio dialogue into order
Photocopy an audio script and cut it up into double turns (speaker A turn and speaker B turn on same slip of paper). Students put the dialogue into order.
Pause a listening in the middle
You can have a lot of fun by pausing coursebook audio in the middle and asking the students what they think is going to come next (or continuing the dialogue themselves). Here are five mini activities along these lines.
Blank out key words from an audio script
Have you ever photocopied an audio script, blanked out key words with correction fluid, and then re-photocopied as a student worksheet? Here are some task design issues to consider the next time you do this.
Self-drilling: key phrases, mini dialogues
Ask students to repeat key phrases to themselves in a low voice several times. This simple activity increases the chance that they will be learned and used, and allows you to monitor pronunciation closely on a one-to-one basis.
A Telephoning lesson using just an audio script
This is a favourite activity of mine that involves using a coursebook audio + script but not the exercises in the book that go with them. In fact if you photocopy the audio script you don’t need the book at all.
Presenting key phrases
Classroom material often includes key phrases for a particular communication skill, grouped in a box according to function. How can these be presented in an active way?
Prepare both ideas and lexis before a writing activity
The tip is the same as the last post, with writing in place of speaking. The background and suggestions are different.
Prepare both ideas and lexis before a speaking activity
This is a simple tip, but one that I still constantly need to remind myself of.