ru basics Jill Hadfield CharlesHadfield www.ru Oxford University Press Great Clarendon Street,Gdord ox2 5Dp Oxford NewYork Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotd BuenosAires Calcutta CapeTown Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris SZo Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan oxFoRD and oxronp ENGLIsH are trade marks of Offord University Press ISBN 0 19 rt42l59 4 @ Odord University Press1999 First published 1999 Third impression 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Ordord University Press,with the sole exception of photocopying carried out under the conditions describedbelow. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishert prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purcbaser. Photocopying The publisher grants permission for the photocopying of those pagesmarked'photocopiable' according to the following conditions.
Individual purchasers may make copies for their own use or for use by classesthey teach. School purchasers may make copies for use by their staff and studen6 but this permission does not extend to additional schools or branches. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale. Illustrations by Margaret Welbank Typeset by Mike Brain Graphic Design Limited, Ordord Printed in Hong Kong www.ru Gontents Foreword AL AN M AL BY Introductlon Activltles L Greetingsand introductions 2 The alphabet 3 Numbers 4 T.llirg the time 5 Personalinformation 6 Countries 7 Nationalities I Locatingobjects 9 Feelings 10 Families LL Colours L2 Shapes 13 Partsofthebody L4 Describingpeople 15 Clothes 16 Roomsin a flat LZ Furniture 18 In town 19 Directions 20 In the market 2L Shopping 22 Foodand drink 23 Leisureactivities 24 Daily routines 25 lobs 26 Housework 27 Abilities 28 Rules:'must'and'mustn't' 29 DescribingactionsI 30 Describingactions2 www.ru Foreword There is a formidablerangeof materialspublishedworldwide for teachersof English as a Foreign Language.However,many of thesematerials,especially thosepublishedin English-speaking countries,assumethat the teachers using them will be working with smallish classesand have abundant resourcesavailableto them.
Also many, if not most, of thesematerials make implicit culturally-biased assumptionsabout the beliefs and valuesof the teachersand learners. This situation is ironic in view of the fact that the vast majority of Englishas a ForeignLanguageclassroomsdo not correspondat all to theseconditions. Typically,classesare large,resourcesare limited, and teachershavevery few opportunities for training and professionaldevelopment.Also, the cultural assumptionsof teachersand learnersin many parts of the world may vary quite significantly from those of materialswriters and publishers. This book is an attempt to addressthis situation.The authorspresent 30 lessonsat elementarylevel,eachwith the samemethodological framework.The lessonsare explainedin clear,accessible language,and none of them require sophisticatedresources.Instead,they call on the basic human resourceswhich all teachersand learnersbring with them to class.
The languagepoints coveredare onesfound in a typical elementarycourse, and the topics are those which form part of everybody'sdaily lives,for examplefamilies, homes, and leisure activities. Most importantly, however,the book offers a framework for teacherswho lack training and support. The hope and the expectationis that such teachers will begin by following eachstep of a lessonquite closelybut, as their confidenceincreases, will adapt and add to the techniquespresentedhere, respondingto the particular needsand abilitiesof their learners. This is an important book: one of the few attemptsto addressthe problems of the'silent majority' of teachersworldwide who havelittle or no training, and few resourcesto work with.
AL AN M AL EY Assumption University Bangkok, Thailand www.ru Introduction Englishis taught all over the world, by all sortsof teachersto all sorts of learners.Schoolsand classroomsvary enormouslyin their wealth and their provision of equipment.Learnersarevery different from placeto place.But, whateverthe conditionsin which you are working, there is one resourcewhich is universaland unlimited: the human mind and imagination.This is probablythe one singlemost valuableteachingand learning resourcewe have. Nothing can replaceit. In eventhe most'hi-tech' environment,a lack of imagination and humanity will makethe most up-to-date and sophisticatedresourcesseemdull; conversely, the most simple resourcescan be the most excitingand useful. We havebeenfortunate to spendquite a lot of our time working not only in'hi-tech' environmentswith computersand video,but alsoin classroomswhere there is little more than blackboardand chalk and someout-of-datecoursebooks.Someof our most interestinglearningand teachingexperiences(asConfuciussaid,a teacheris 'alwaysready to teach;alwaysready to learn') havebeen not in the comfortablewell-resourcedsmall classroomsof a private Ianguageschool,but in classroomswhere only the minimum of equipmenthasbeen available.Equally,someof our most memorableteachingexperiences in'hi-tech' classroomshavebeen when we haveabandonedthe cassetteor video or glossy coursebookand got to work with that most preciousresourceof all, the learners'ownexperienceand imagination.
Teachersoften haveto usematerialswhich are out of date,or contain subject-matterirrelevantto their particular group of learners.For example,we havehad greatdifficulty explainingthe conceptsof the fridge -freezerand microwave oven to Tibetans.In the sameway,learnerswho havespentall their livesin northern countries might have difficulty with an exercisefrom an African textbook which asksifthey preferyam or cassava. So over the last few yearswe havebeen trying to design materialswhich can be usedin aswide a rangeof teachingsituationsaspossible. The activitieswe suggestare as flexibleasthe human imagination is creative;they are'teacherresourcematerial'which teacherswill be ableto adjustto suit their particular environment.In thinking about universallyapplicable,'lo-tech'materialswe havecome up with a list of criteria that needto be met. The materialswill needto: be usablein largeclasses aswell assmall.
be suitablefor adult learnersaswell assecondarylearners,and if possibleeasilyadaptableto a primary context. be centeredon the universalsof human experience.ru Introduction :f: cover the main languageskills and have a useful baseof grammar and topic vocabulary. ',,, b€ traditional enough to be recognizableby all teachers,and thus give them a senseof security,while providing communicative activitiesfor learners. ,, be non-threateningin the demandsthey make on learners.
teacher-based'resource material' rather than books for learners. assumethat no technical and reprographic resourcesare available and be basedon the human resourcerather than the technical. , be culturally neutral,not context-bound,and thus be flexible,easily adaptableby the teachersto their own culture and teaching context. be flexibleenoughto complementa standardsyllabusor coursebook.
Simple SpeakingActivities This book containsthirty activities,designedaccordingto the criteria above,for developingthe speakingskill at elementarylevel. Eachactivity hasthree main stages: r, Settingup-This introducesthe learnersto the topic. The activity may be demonstratedto the whole class,or learnersmay make materialsto be usedduring the speakingpractice. ' Speakingpractice-This is the main part of the activity.
The learnerscommunicatewith eachother in pairs or groups,or competeasteams rl Feedback-The learnerscomeback togetheras a whole class.A few of them may report to the rest of the classon things they have talked about in their pairs or groups.This is the time when the teachergivesfeedbackon the languagepractised,and dealswith anv oroblems. Settingup It is especiallyimportant in speakingactivities,when learnersare often working in pairs or small groups, that they know exactlywhat to do. If they are confused,much valuablespeakingtime will be wastedand no-one will enjoy the lesson.Many of the activitiesin this book start with a demonstrationof things the learnerswill do later in their pairs or groups.A demonstrationcan be done: r; On your own in front of the classas,for example,in 16'Rooms in a flat' and 25'Jobs'. ::r With a learner,or learners,in front of the classas,for example,in 3'Numbers'and 14'Describingpeople'.
, With the whole classas,for example,in 2'The alph4bet'and 7 'Nationalities'.ru Introduction However clear you think the demonstration has been, it is alwaysa good idea to double check that everyoneknows what to do. Other activities begin with the learnerspreparing materials that they will uselater on. For examplein 5'Personalinformation'the learners copy a form that they will later fill in with their partner's details,and in 29'Describingactions I'they preparepiecesof paper with actions written on them that they will later share. The setting-upstageof the lessonis also a good time to practisethe pronunciation of any words and phrasesthat you know your learnerswill find difficult.
You will find help with many common problemsin the'Pronunciation points' sectionof eachlesson. Speakingpractice A speakinglessonis a kind of bridge for learnersbetweenthe classroomand the world outside. Olacece *eakinB Iearningnew language using languageto in the classroom communicate in real life In order to build this bridge, speakingactivities must have three features.They must give the learnerspracticeopportunitiesfor purposefulcommunicationin meaningfulsituations. Compare thesetwo activities: Activity 1 TEAcHER 'Youmust do your homework.
LEARNERS'Youmust do your homework.'Youmust arrive at eighto'clock.'Ben? BEN 'Youmust arriye at eighto'clock.'Listento the teacher.' Sara? sARA 'Youmust listen to the teacher.' Activity 2 Setting up f Tell the learnersthat you would like them to think of good rules for learning English.Write one or two exampleson the board: Youmuet epeakEn7liahin claae. Youmuatn'Lepeaklmolher longueJin class, Give them a few minutes to think on their own.ru lntroduction Discussion 2 Put the learnersin groups of three or four and ask them to sharetheir ideas.Remind them to use'must' and'mustn't'. 3 Tell them to prepare Ten Rules for Learning English and to write them down on a sheetof paper. 4 When all the groups have finished making their rules, collect their ideasand write them up on the board.
The most obvious differencebetweenthe two activitiesis in the way they are organized.In Activity 1 the teacher is talking, first to the whole class,then to individual learners.In Activity 2 the learnersare talking to eachother in small groups. This type of learner-learnerinteraction in pairs or groups provides far more practicein using the languagethan the more traditional teacher-learnerinteraction.In a classof twenty learners,a twenty- minute activity where the teacherasksthe learnersquestionswill give the learnersa total of only about ten minutes' speakingtime, i. half a minute each.And the teacher(who doesn'tneed the practice!)getsten whole minutes' speakingtime. In contrast,a twenty-minute activity where learnersare working in groups, askingand answeringeachother's questions,will give them many more opportunitiesfor practice.
Both activitiesprovide a lot of repetition of the structure'must (+ verb)', and both do so in a fairly controlled way. In Activity 1, the control is provided by the teacherwho tells the learnerswhat to do. In Activity 2, control is provided by the examplesentenceson the board. However,Activity I providesrepetition with no context.
The sentencesare random and unrelated.Such repetition is virtually meaningless:the learnersare simply repeatingthe structure.They haveno idea why they are sayingthe sentences, and in fact it would be possible to do the activity without understandinga word! In Activity 2, there is a context-making rules for learning English-and all the communication is relatedto this context. This makes the activity much more meaningful for the learners. In Activity 1, the learnershaveno senseof purpose in producing their sentences; they are merely doing what the teachertells them, and the only purpose of their repetition is to practisethe structure. In Activity 2, however,the learners have a goal-making the rules-and the languageis used for the purpose of achievingthis goal.
This mirrors real-life situations much more closely,as well as making the activity more interesting and motivating for the learners.ru Introduction There are many different techniqueswhich can be used to create meaningful contextsfor speakingpractice in English. For example: Ask and answer-Learners ask and answerquestions. Describeand draw-Learners work in pairs.LearnerA has a picture which learnerB cannot see.LearnerA describesthe picture and learner B draws it. Discussion-Learners work in pairs or groupsto find out each other'sideasor opinions on a toprc.
Guessing-The teachet or someof the learners,haveinformation which the others have to guessby asking questions. Remembering-Learners closetheir eyesand try to remember,for example,items from a picture or the location of objectsin the classroom. Miming-A learner mimes, for example,a feeling or action which the others have to identifi'. Ordering-Learners arrange themselvesin a particular order (for example,alphabetical)by asking questionsuntil they find their correctposition.
Completing a form/questionnaire-Learners ask and answer questions,or provide information, in order to completea form or questionnaire. Role play-Learners act out an imaginary situation. The learners either use a dialogue,or the teachergivesthem instructionsabout what to say. There are examplesof all thesetechniquesin this book.
Materials Severalof the activities in this book need no materials at all. Where materialsare needed,they are usuallyvery easyto prepare.For example,some activities require every learner to have a small piece of paper or card with information on it: 4 'Tellingthe time'and 7 'Nationalities' are two of these.The information is alwaysvery brief, so they will not take long to prepare.Indeed,in somecases, for example12 'Shapes'and30'Describingactions2', the learners make the piecesof paper themselvesas part of the activity. In severalof the activities,we haveprovided pictures, plans, or questionnairesfor you to copy.Thesemay be drawn on the board, on largepiecesof paper ('posters'),or on piecesof card ('flashcards').