More tested lessons, suggestions, tips and techniques which have
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The activities in this issue are taken from the Norwich Institute of
Language Education A–Z activity card set, which focuses on the
NILE trainers’ favourite activities for practising different skills in
the classroom. The four here are all speaking information exchange
activities, using different interaction patterns and techniques to
engage the learners. You can access these cards in their original
format, plus further examples, at www.nile-elt.com/news/launch-of-
Back row: Thom Kiddle, Tony Prince, Tom Sarney
Front row: Carole Robinson, Johanna Stirling, the-nile-a-z-activity-cards/534.
Alan Pulverness, Maria Heron
Job fair Corners
Focus: Speaking Focus: Speaking
Level: B1 upwards Level: A2 upwards
Key language: Questions, jobs Key language: Prepositions of place
Aims Aims
To develop fluency skills and build confidence To develop fluency skills and build confidence
To build lower-frequency vocabulary To practise prepositions of place
To practise question forms To get to know each other better
Procedure Procedure
1 Show the students some images of weird or strange jobs (clown, 1 Tell the students that you are going to ask
spy, ghostbuster). Ask for more examples of unconventional jobs. them to draw some shapes. They should draw them
2 Tell the students that they are going to attend a job fair where all
large enough to write inside.
the jobs offered will be odd. 2 Give each student a piece of paper and describe
3 Divide the students into pairs and ask each pair to pick a job they where they should draw each shape, eg In the top
would like to recruit people for. left-hand corner draw a cat; in the bottom right-
hand corner draw a star.
4 The pairs agree on six to eight questions which they could use to
find the best candidate for their chosen job. 3 Once the students have about nine shapes,
divide the class into As and Bs.
5 Divide the students into two groups: A and B. Student A will begin
as the interviewer. B will be the candidate. 4 Give each letter a different set of instructions as
to what to write inside each shape, eg In the cat,
6 Each candidate will spend three to four minutes being interviewed
write your favourite way of spending Friday night.
for a job, after which they change partners. The candidate’s objective is
to convince the interviewer that he or she is the best person for the 5 Each Student A pairs up with a Student B, and
job. They can embellish and/or lie, but they must try to get the job. they ask each other about what they have written
7 Aim to have each candidate interviewed three or four times, so as on each shape. They should try to follow up each
to provide the interviewer with some choice. After this, change the answer with more questions to get more
roles so that the interviewers become candidates. Continue until these information about that topic.
candidates have been interviewed three or four times. 6 Ask the students for feedback on what they
8 Put the students back into their pairs from stage 3. The aim is for have learnt about each other.
each pair to decide which interviewee to choose. Tip 1: You could leave one shape free for the
Tip 1: Try to include a correction slot at the end of the session. students to write what they choose inside.
Tip 2: Encourage the students to be as wild and creative as possible. Tip 2: You could describe the position of some
Tip 3: Set a task for the students to do while listening to each shapes, and let the students choose
other, eg one interesting fact, one new piece of vocabulary. where to put others.
36 • Issue 105 July 2016 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •
Quartered, drawn and hung Ask the expert
Focus: Speaking Focus: Speaking
Level: A2 upwards Level: A2 upwards
Key language: Prepositions of place Key language: Hobbies, questions
Aims Aims
To develop fluency skills and build confidence To develop fluency skills and build confidence
To practise picture description and spatial referencing To practise specific phrases and vocabulary
To practise question forms To practise question forms
Procedure Procedure
1 Choose a picture which can be divided into four 1 Ask the students to choose a topic they know a lot about (a
quarters, with a clear central theme and activity or sport, a hobby, a person, a place, etc).
content in all four quarters.
2 Tell them that they are going to be asked questions about the
2 Cut the picture into four quarters and stick each topic by another person.
quarter on a separate piece of paper in the appropriate
3 Give them time to look up vocabulary related to the topic. (This
corner.
could be for homework.)
3 Put the students in groups of four, seated in a
4 When the students are ready, organise them into dyadic circles
circle with their backs to each other. Each student
(two concentric circles, with the students in the outer circle facing
receives one quarter of the picture.
those in the inner circle), each with a maximum of 12 students.
4 Each student describes their quarter of the picture
5 Give each pair of students two minutes to find out as much as
while the other three draw what is being described in
possible from the expert facing them.
the appropriate quadrant.
6 After two minutes, the students in the outer circle move one
5 When all four students have described their
space to the right and face a new expert.
pictures, they show each other and compare their
papers with the original. 7 The students repeat the procedure as time allows.
6 Review the completed pictures and discuss with the Tip 1: The topics can be limited to a specific theme (eg sport,
class what was difficult in terms of vocabulary and holidays, work) in order to revise a vocabulary area.
prepositions when they described their sections. Tip 2: Students can look at their partners’ topics prior to the
7 Display the pictures on the classroom walls. Repeat speaking, in order to prepare questions.
the activity (on another occasion) with a picture Tip 3: The students could be set a task to do while listening to each
chosen by a student. other, eg one interesting fact, one new piece of vocabulary.
• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 105 July 2016 • 37
