Technologies of teaching a foreign language as a second

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Find the Differences

Duration:  10–15 min

Aim:  Oral fluency practice

Summary:  Students speak in order to find the differences between two similar pictures.

Introduction

This is a well-known activity, and a classic example of the principle of an "information gap" in communicative activities. If you put two pictures in front of a pair of students and tell them to talk about the differences, there is not much to motivate them. But if you arrange the activity so that each student only sees one picture, then an information gap is created. Cooperating with their partner to identify the differences becomes an act of genuine communication.

Although suitable pairs of pictures are provided in many modern textbooks, this activity is included here to remind teachers that it is not too difficult to create picture pairs by oneself, especially with access to the internet. For example, cartoons can be adapted. A suitable picture can be found to fit with almost any theme-based lesson.

Preparation

The first step is to find a suitable picture. These might come from books and magazines, or from the internet. For example, try a search on Google Images (note that the Advanced Image Search allows you to limit your results to black and white, or a particular size). There are also several websites which sell cartoons online, such as Cartoon Stock.

 

 

In Discussions that Work (Cambridge University Press, 1981), Penny Ur writes:

"The preparation of such pictures is fairly simple and fun to do. You need a black and white line drawing (not photograph) with a fair amount of detail but without shades of grey (these do not reproduce well). The content of the drawing should not entail vocabulary beyond the level of the students. You photocopy it and then make the requisite number of alterations to the original drawing, using either a black fiber-tip pen (for additions) or white type-correcting fluid (for erasures)."

Alternatively, the modifications could be done on a computer using even the simplest "paint" application. If you create any picture pairs in this way, please send them to us for inclusion on this page.

See the Resources section for examples.

You need to make enough copies so that each student will receive either one copy of "Version A" or one copy of "Version B".

Procedure

If the students are already familiar with the concept, then you just need to repeat the "check" questions. But the first time you do this activity, it is helpful to explain the concept using the blackboard: draw two simple pictures with one or two differences and explain that partners will each receive one version. They must not show their pictures to each other, instead they have to talk to each other and circle the n differences. Check:

* Are these pictures the same? (no)

* How many differences are there? (n)

* Can you show your partner? (no)

* What do you do when you find a difference? (circle it)

After the activity, you can either provide the answers, or elicit the answers from the students, or simply tell the students to put the pictures side by side so that they can check whether the differences they found really exist or not.

Brainstorming

 

Questioning Authority Divide the class into small groups (4-6 students). Have each group make a list of ten unwritten rules that they seem to follow each day. Examples might be where they buy groceries, what time they get up in the morning, and what television programs they watch. Have the groups discuss why they follow these "rules" and what it would take to get them to break them. Alternative: Try the same sort of activity, this time having students list beliefs they accept without question-truisms like "Recessions are bad" or "It takes money to make money."

New Devices Break students into groups of three. Have each group member draw a picture of someone doing something. (The ideal subject will be someone caught mid-movement.) After all the drawings are complete, have the students study them with the object of creating for each a device that will support the position shown in a steady state. Explain that the devices the students create can be made of paper, wood, plastic, or metal. (What the students will end up with are various forms of furniture, but they will have designed their creations without limiting themselves to their prior knowledge of furniture. The object of the exercise is to show the value of ambiguity in stimulating creativity.)

Troubleshooters Once again, break the students into groups of three. Name a problem with which everyone is familiar—say, how to reduce the number of homeless people on the streets. Then assign each group a familiar figure from history, fiction, or current events, and have them determine how that person would solve the problem. For example, what if Martin Luther King, Jr. were to tackle the homeless problem? What if the Ninja Turtles were to try it? Barbara Walters? General Schwarzkopf? As a starting point, suggest that the students consider what particular expertise the person would bring to the problem and what his or her objectives would be.

Not Just for Breakfast Place a box of ready-to-eat cereal (like Cheerios or Trix) on a desk or ledge at the front of the room. Ask the students to generate as many uses for the product as they can in two minutes. (Some of the more creative suggestions students might come up with—using the cereal as fertilizer or a component in jewelry.)

 

 

 

FAIRY TALE FUN – JIGSAW STYLE! [1]

 

Divide students into five equal groups. Each group will get one fairy tale to read. The stories are "The Ugly Duckling," "Snow White," "Hansel and Gretel," "Jack and the Beanstalk," and "The Three Little Pigs." Each group is responsible for collecting the following information:

• Who are the characters in the story?

• Where does the story take place?

• What are the major events of the story?

• Are there any magical or supernatural events? If so, what are they?

After the students read, discuss, and record the above information, split them into jigsaw groups. One person from each fairy tale assemble in a new group. In their new groups, students are each given three minutes to tell the other group members about the story they had read as well as the information they have collected. After that, the group has to create a poster and give a presentation that addressed two points:

1. What do all five stories have in common?

2. Using what you found in common, write your own definition for a fairy tale.

 

Debate Activities

 

 

 

INTRO

This is a well known theatre exercise which is extremely effective for encouraging controlled but spontaneous interaction in ESL classes.

STEP 1 PRESENT

Begin by presenting a list of debate expressions such as those listed.

STEP 2 MODEL

Model a discussion. Choose yourself as conductor and 4 other students to be conducted. First, the conductor presents a topic. He then selects a student and an expression for the continuation of the discussion.

Conductor: Elephants shouldn't be allowed into Bangkok. Student B "Furthermore"

Student B: Furthermore, the government should fine their owners.

Conductor: Student A "On the other hand"

Student A: On the other hand, people in Bangkok are very generous when they see elephants.

Conductor: Student C "For example".

Student C: For example, when they see elephants they feel compassion and give them food and money.

Conductor: Student D "You may have a point".

Student D: You may have a point. Nevertheless, the pollution and traffic are terrible for the elephants' health.

STEP 3 WRITING

To reinforce the use of these expressions further, follow this activity by a debate or writing exercise

 

Project method Activity

№1. My Favorites. Children      prepare at home material (press-cuttings, pictures) which illustrates their interests, hobbies. At the lesson on the lists of colour paper they design the album where every pupil tells about his favourite things and pastime (about favourite colour, sport, town, etc.)

Pic.1

	№2. Picture poem. Children are suggested to draw picture – poem, so that its shape is concerned with its meaning.
Рiс.2.

 

	№3. Washing Line. Children draw different kinds of clothes, write the names on it and then hang them on the clothes-line with the help of the pegs.
Рiс.3

 

Housemates Role plays

 

Duration:  20–25 min

Aim:  Oral fluency practice; politely disagreeing

Summary:  Two housemates try to resolve their conflicts.

Introduction

This short role play activity requires no materials apart from a blackboard. The situation is actually role played twice, with some phrases for "politely disagreeing" introduced before the second round. The idea behind this is that the first round will hopefully help the students realise the importance of being polite in order to avoid arguments, and so they will be more receptive to the new language which helps them achieve this.

Preparation

Write this on the blackboard before the activity:

A

* I can't live without music!

* I have a bad memory.

* I'm a bit short of money right now.

B

* I can't concentrate on my study.

* I'm always tripping over your things.

* Didn't we agree to take turns buying food?

 

Procedure

Explain only that these sentences are from two different people, A and B. Ask, "Who are these two people and what are they talking about?" Give the students a minute or two to discuss it with a partner (make it clear that they should only discuss your question, not attempt to role play the situation yet!).

Elicit the fact that A and B are housemates, and then explain the situation in more detail: they are not close friends, but they are living together in order to save money. However, lately B has been quite annoyed by some of A's habits. Write these habits on the blackboard, explaining them at the same time:

A: * plays loud music (all the time!)

* leaves his/her things all over the house (books, clothes, bags, etc on chairs, tables, and even the floor)

* doesn't pass on messages (if one of B's friends calls and leaves a message, A never remembers to pass it on)

* never buys food (when they moved in they agreed that A would buy the food one week, B the next week, and so on)

Ask who probably starts the conversation. B, of course. Suggest a polite conversation starter, such as:

"Could I have a word with you please?"

Then get the students to role play the situation in pairs. Afterwards, get some feedback from a few pairs. Was the conflict resolved, and if so how?

Now introduce and drill some phrases for politely disagreeing:

* No offense, but... (I don't like your music)

* I see your point, but... (I have a bad memory)

* I understand your feelings, but... (I can't concentrate)

Now get the students to swap roles and repeat the activity, making use of the new phrases. It's a good idea to get them to swap partners too—this should help keep the momentum up. At the end, get more feedback on how their conversations turned out.

Notes

If you intend to ask the students to swap roles and also swap partners before the second round, you should plan it carefully to avoid wasting time. In most of my classes, the desks are arranged in three columns which are each two desks wide, so here is the way I managed it: for the first round, I assigned roles so that everybody on the left-hand desk was A and the others were B (check that everybody knows their role by getting them to put their hands up). Then for the second round, I simply asked all the "A" students to stand up and move to the desk in front of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                              CONCLUSION

 

From all above-stated it is possible to draw the following conclusions.

The purpose of this work was to discover the most effective ways of teaching a foreign language to children.

For achievement of the purpose the works of home and foreign authors on the given problem have been studied.

In formation of interest to a subject the huge role is played by the person of the teacher. Therefore a pledge of successful mastering a foreign language by the pupils is professionalism of the teacher which should in the work not only take into account the methodical principles underlying teaching, but also to be in constant search of new receptions and means of teaching which will recover a lesson, will make it fascinating, cognitive and remembered.

The most useful for this purpose are the following receptions and methods: methods of constructivism, communicative methods, methods of projects and discussions, games and role games, etc.

One of the primary goals of using constructivist teaching is that students learn how to learn by giving them the training to take initiative for their own learning experiences.

According to Kunanbaeva S.S learning a new language is easier and more enjoyable when it is truly meaningful and that is why communicative method of teaching is really important.

In course work have been analyzed all these methods and the receptions raising quality of training to foreign language on the basis of studying of various techniques of teaching, used in work with children. Many of receptions can be applied with success at teaching children of younger and more advanced age. The resulted techniques are interesting from many points of view, simple in application and can add essentially existing operating time of teachers foreign (including English) language.

While some of the methods are let be omitted by the teacher (like silent way, synthetic or analytic (every teacher choose his own way to work with students) all of these must be included in the learning process. They act like general concepts giving you a full length of techniques to apply within one method. They do not give strict directions of how to apply them but a wide space for creative work.

 

 

Bibliography

1. Кривобокова И.Я., Лотарева Т.В. Некоторые приемы обучения английскому языку на начальном этапе // Иностранные языки в школе. - 1989. - № 1. - с. 22-23; c. 52
2. Негневицкая Е.И., Никитенко З.Н., Артамонова И.А. Книга для учителя. М., Просвещение, 1997.
3. Витт Н.В. Эмоциональное воздействие речи учителя иностранного языка. // Иностранные языки в школе. - 1999. - №6. – c. 34
4. Корнаева З.В. Об отборе коммуникативного минимума для начального этапа обучения в средней школе. // Иностранные языки в школе. - 1989. -№ 1. - с. 36.
5. Бим И.Л., Биболетова М.3. Возможные формы и содержание курсов обучения иностранным языкам в начальной школе. // Иностранные языки в школе. - 2001. - № 2. - с. 3.
6. Jonassen, D. H. Constructing learning environments on the web: Engaging students in meaningful learning. EdTech 99: Educational Technology Conference and Exhibition 1999: Thinking Schools, Learning Nation. – 1999 – p. 45-46
7. David Nunan. Communicative Language Teaching – 2204
8. Shaw, Corsini, Blake & Mouton, 1980; Horner & McGinley, 1998
9. Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An attractive approach to language pedagogy. New York: Longman
10. Scott, W. A., & Ytreberg, L. H. (2000). Teaching English to children. New York: Longman
11. Rodrieguez, R. J. & White, R. N. (2003) From role play to the real world. Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers, Inc.
12. Horner & McGinley, 2000
13. Berer, Marge and Frank, Christine and Rinvolucri, Mario. Challenge to think. Oxford University Press, 2002

 

Internet Key

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_teaching_methods

http://www.sse-franchise.com/soapbox/200703/16/what-is-the-communicative-teaching-method/

http://www.yanglish.ru/catalog2/englishlanguage.htm

http://search.atomz.com/

http://e.usia.gov/forum/vols/vol36/no1/p20.htm-games

http://e.usia.gov/forum/vols/vol34/no2/p22.htm-note-taking