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 contribution. Don’t forget to include your postal address.
All the contributors to It Works in Practice in this issue of ETp will receive
copies of Writing Sentences and Writing Paragraphs by Dorothy Zemach
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Problem, what problem? Back to black

I’d like to describe a pre-intermediate- doesn’t want one. He doesn’t want to go I would wholeheartedly
level activity which went especially well for walks with me. What should I do? recommend the game Black
and was very much appreciated by my Moving house Stories (published by MOSES and
senior students (aged 60 and over). They I am moving into a smaller house. I have available online via amazon.com)
not only enjoyed the activity but also a lot of books which belonged to my for use in the language classroom.
successfully mastered a rather difficult parents. I can’t take them all with me to It works like this: The students
grammar point. my new house. How should I get rid of get the end of a strange (usually
them? Should I throw them into the bin? very macabre) story (eg ‘When
Step 1 Introduction
the fire was finally brought under
After spending several lessons on Step 4 Speaking control, a diver in a wetsuit was
teaching modal verbs (should, have to, Next, I asked the students to work in found under the burnt remains of
must, don’t have to, etc) at a pre- groups and take turns to tell the other a tree.’). The teacher has the
intermediate level, we came to a section students in their group about their whole story and the students have
of our coursebook that involved a problem. Then I collected all their to find out what actually
‘problem page’ text. problem letters, created new groups of happened by asking questions. It
The students seemed to find it quite two or three people and distributed the is a fun way to practise questions
difficult to remember all the new letters randomly. I asked them to work in the present or past tense and
grammar, and I wanted them to be able together and discuss the problems in usually gets the majority of the
to practise it by focusing on the meaning their new groups and to produce some students in the class involved. I
of the text rather than the grammar written solutions. generally have them ask yes/no
itself. I came to the conclusion that they
Step 5 Reading questions and tell them that they
should speak about their own problems,
The groups took turns to read the letters have to come up with their
creating their own problem page.
version of the story after the
and the solutions aloud.
Step 2 Writing tenth no. There are various
I asked the students to write their own The students began eagerly to solve the versions of the game available in
problem-page letters using modals, each problems, looking for the best and German (crimes, ghost stories,
on a separate piece of paper and about fairest solution to each one. They strange deaths) and there are
one paragraph long. We could have done stopped thinking about the grammar and now also two versions in English
this in class but, unlike my younger developed confidence in their speaking (and several other languages),
students, these students like working at ability. Afterwards, they noticed that which of course makes it much
home, so I decided to set it for they had practised all four language easier to use in the English
homework. skills in the course of one lesson and had classroom because you can assign
been able to express their own ideas the role of the storyteller to one
Step 3 Correction (advice, suggestions, recommendations) of the students (who is only
I then collected the letters and corrected and to discuss problems with each other allowed to answer correctly-
them. Here are some examples:
– in English. formulated English questions).
Shall I buy a dog? Magda Horakova Britta Hoffman
I would like to buy a dog but my husband Bratislava, Slovakia Leipzig, Germany

38 • Issue 77 November 2011 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •

 Mobile business challenges
There’s nothing like a challenge to bring gestures and body language were used activities competitive by giving pairs a
out the best in a student and that’s why by the speaker. time limit to collect as many as possible,
adding a bit of competition can liven up ● The pair with the most notes wins, but or by asking for the first pair to find a
a class. With the popularity of mobile they must replay the video and certain item to raise their hands.
devices and m-learning, we teachers show/explain their notes to the 5 Photos
have a whole new world of teaching others. You could also ask them to
Get the students used to photographing
activities available to us. In the field of copy the gestures.
boardwork so that they can refer to it
business, a mobile is essential – so why 3 Appointments later. You can also upload their photos to
not for the classroom too?
● Set up a mingling activity where the net to form a record.
These activities are all variations of
students must book appointments with Then in a subsequent class ask them
old favourites, but they use mobile
each other for the following week, but to look back and explain all the items
phones to create a more interesting
let them record them on their phones from a certain lesson in one minute, or
classroom dynamic and they can all be
and also swap phone numbers. The to find an item and explain it.
done competitively. They also teach
person who makes an appointment 6 Video feedback
students that they can and should be
with every student wins.
using their electronic devices to help Making a video recording of a student
● You should also add a ‘news flash’ at
them learn. speaking activity allows you, and them,
some point by announcing that certain
to pinpoint any problems they may have.
1 Mobile dictations students have been asked to attend a
However, getting the students used to
● Let the students video record you conference on Wednesday and so
being filmed and assessed can be
speaking, explaining or presenting cannot keep any appointment on that
difficult. So, start with yourself and post
something. day. They then have to call anyone
a video online of you speaking and get
● Ask pairs to replay the recording and they have arranged to meet on that
the students to assess you. Then repeat
use it as a dictation exercise. day to cancel or reschedule the
this with a recording of a different
● The first pair to finish wins and reads meeting.
student every week, but keep it positive!
out what they have. 4 The net in the class You can make this challenging by asking
2 Body language Most mobiles have internet access, so let the other students to give two pieces of
● Ask the students to video record one your students use it. An online advice to the student who was recorded.
member of the class delivering a dictionary, a thesaurus or just a Google That student then selects the best piece
presentation. search for a new term can all be useful, of advice.
● Ask them to replay the video in pairs but you should set very specific rules Phil Wade
and make notes of what types of about this to avoid surfing. Make these Bordeaux, France

Meet the podcast producers

I learnt about podcasts a few years ago when I wanted to Note: The best way to learn how to download podcasts is to go to
brush up on my Spanish. I was immediately amazed to Russell Stannard’s website TeacherTrainingVideos
find so many free resources for learning not only foreign (www.teachertrainingvideos.com) and watch the video on iTunes.
languages but a wide range of subjects. I was totally Here are some popular podcast providers:
inspired by the TED Talks (www.ted.com). Soon I wanted ● Listen to English (www.listen-to-english.com)
to be part of this community of content providers, so I ● ESL Pod (www.eslpod.com)
started my first series of QualityTime-ESL Podcasts. There ● Fun English Lessons (www.china232.com)
were already many excellent series going, so I had to ● Splendid Speaking (http://splendidspeaking.podomatic.com)
choose a niche that was different from the usual ● Just Vocabulary (www.justvocabulary.com)
monologues or dialogues. I chose oral exercises based on ● Podcasts in English (www.podcastsinenglish.com)
grammatical structures, which is how I learnt both French ● ESL Aloud (http://esl-aloud.com)
and Spanish. Today I also produce exercises to work on ● Culips ESL Podcast (http://esl.culips.com)
vocabulary and oral training using quotes and song lyrics. ● English in the Real World (www.learnoutloud.com)
This has become my hobby, and I enjoy getting all the ● Better at English (www.betteratenglish.com)
positive feedback from learners who have progressed Marianne Raynaud
thanks to my podcasts. Crolles, France

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 77 November 2011 • 39