About communication

ABOUT COMMUNICATION
A TD PRESENTATION RICARDO CHAVEZ From: Spratt Mary: Language for the Teacher CUP

STARTER What might these animals be saying to each other?

Communicating something?
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Are they communicating?

Look at the list below and tick those things which humans use to communicate:

Then compare your answers with a partner:  Style of dress  Gestures  Listening  Facialexpressions  Accurate use of language structures  Eye movements
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Which of these items contribute most to communication?

Number the five most important:  Body posture  Fluency  Hair  Style  Vocabulary  Behaviour  Accent

Reading
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If your students of English went on an exchange trip to an English speaking country for a month, which aspect of theircommunication in English would you expect to improve most? Choose from the list below and then discuss your choices with a partner. Accent Vocabulary Fluency Accuracy in use of language structures Other (specify)

Look at the words below; put a * above the stressed syllable in each word or group of words
a)
b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j)

Exchange trip Performance Accent Accuracy Fluency VocabularyStructures Average Improvement adjectives

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Explain the meaning of the words as if you were doing so to a group of intermediate students.

Read the article again and complete the chart below which summarises the research:
Number of pupils tested Number of groups in study Age range of groups Amount of overall language improvement after stay of: -A month -Less than a month Improvements in:Fluency Accuracy Vocabulary Accent

Just over 100

15-19%

Talking points
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Talk about one or two of the points below with a partner: Do any of these research findings surprise you? Why do you think accent seems to improve less than other aspects of communication What benefits might you yourself get out of an exchange trip? Discuss the benefits of any exchange trips you haveheard about.

Listening
A teacher might introduce a listening text with the following instructions: read them and fill in the blanks

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“OK, now this time we‟re going to listen a)______ the excerpt again but in greater detail. I want b)___ to c)___ the summary of the excerpt as you listen. OK? That‟s right, fill d) ____ the blanks in the passage.” “Now, before you listen again,e)___ you read the summary to make f)___ you understand it and to know what you‟re listening g)___? If there are any words you don‟t understand, just h)___me.”

Conclusions
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Activity Enjoy

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Look at the list of the kinds of activities in this unit and find them and complete the columns. Discuss your answers with a partner. What can you conclude from your answers?

No
Reading fordetail Wk on word stress Fluency pract. Gap-filling summarising Opinion gap

Most Useful

Self awareness Act

Assessing written work
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Read the student composition. What is it about? Correct the mistakes underlined in the composition Why do you think the student made mistakes a, c, e, f and g?

Grammar
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Complete the following explanations which contrast three tenses:
„Whenyou want to talk about habitual or continuig f)___ or states in the past you use the g)___ simple tense or used to. You only use the past continuous tense for past actions or h)___ that were i)___ as something else happened, that is, for background actions or states.‟

„When you‟re talking about states or actions that only took place in a)___ and are now completely b)___, you c)___ the pastsimple tense. You only use the past perfect d)___ when there are two consecutive states or actions, and you want to stress that the e)___ one happened b fore the other.‟
The past simple and past perfect tenses The past simple and past continuous

Explaining students:
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b.
c.

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Would any of the following students find the abovwe explanations helpful? A teenage intermediate...