(in the preceding case, the beginning of an office conversation scripted and on tape), comprehension questions (e.g. \2. Task-based materials
A variety of games, role plays, simulations, and task-based communication activities have been prepared to support Communicative Language Teaching classes. These typically are in the form of one-of-a-kind items: exercise handbooks, cue cards, pair-communication practice materials, there are typically two sets of material for a pair of students, each set containing different kind of information. Sometimes the information is complementary, and partners must fit their respective parts of the \partners (e.g. an interviewer and an interviewer). Still others provide drills and practice materials interactional formats. 3. Authentic Materials
These might include language-based 'from-life' materials such as signs, magazines, advertisements, and newspapers, or graphic and visual sources around which communicative activities can be built, such as maps, pictures, symbols, graphs, and charts. Different kinds of objects can be used to support communicative exercises, such as a plastic model to assemble from directions. 5.Using Pictures and games in classroom 1) Why use pictures?
By providing a wide range of contexts, students can meet a range of situations and experience that will equip them for real life communication. Specifically, pictures contribute to: a. interest and motivation
b. a sense of the content of the language
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Several years ago I was teaching a beginning level class. One student in the group, Juan, seemed particularly shy, he was afraid of making mistakes, and reluctant to participate. One day, I gave each student an unusual picture of a person, and I asked them to describe the people in the pictures. Juan's photograph showed a young woman swimming with a killer
whale in a deep blue sea. Juan came up with a remarkably long story about a woman who had a pet killer whale. When he gave his description, Juan's classmates were fascinated by his vivid imagination. Juan was surprised and thrilled by his classmates' appreciation. He instantly lost his inhibitions toward speaking English in class, and he participated actively from then on. This experience convinced me that visuals, especially 'unusual' pictures, foster students' imagination, which in turn motivates them to use English. I found that there are many reasons to use magazine cutouts or other pictures in class. With pictures we can:
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teach, practice, or review new vocabulary do guided practice (drills) practice grammatical structures practice listening comprehension do writing activities
do semi-guided or free speaking practice such as problem solving activities, role plays, discussions, etc.
Depending on the purpose of the activity, a task can take up five minutes at the beginning or end of a class, or last 20 minutes or more in the main part of the class.
Pictures are a source of varied classroom activities in the areas of speaking, listening, writing,
vocabulary and grammar. I'll give tips on how to collect and sort suitable pictures and I'll include several sample activities. Teachers can use the activities as they are presented, or adapt them to fit their needs.
Five basic questions: 1) Easy to prepare 2) Easy to organize 3) Interesting
4) Meaningful and authentic 5) Sufficient amount of language Preparation
Pictures are illustrations that are cut from a magazine, newspapers or other sources. They're mostly photographs, but drawings, collages, maps or other illustrations can be used for certain activities. Each picture should be at least 13 x 18 cm, but preferably about 20 x 25 cm, i.e., almost
an entire magazine page. Pictures are easier to use without any printed text on them. You will only be able to use pictures with text for certain activities. If pictures do include text, the text should be in English. Collecting the pictures
Students like colorful and varied materials. Available sources for pictures are glossy magazines, TV guides, the Sunday supplements of newspapers, and so on. You can collect the pictures yourself, or ask your students to bring them in for you. Your own selections will probably focus on pictures for discussions, games, and teaching vocabulary. Students are good at getting pictures of famous people, sports and objects they like, which gives you a good opportunity to learn about students' interests. Sorting the Pictures
When you have a stack of pictures, you will notice that some cutouts seem perfect for teaching vocabulary (for example, clothes, furniture) and other pictures will be appropriate for guessing games. Try to identify a structure or function that can be practiced with each picture. You should paste the pictures on letter-sized paper, and punch holes in them to keep them in a binder. You can sort them out by level or grade, by activity or by topic. Some topics are: faces, famous people, clothes, actions, sports, professions, nationalities/cultures, unusual pictures, cities, interiors, nature, etc. You can write notes on the back of the sheets.
Some examples for using pictures
Below, I'll describe ten activities that can be done with pictures. These are just a few examples of what can be done with pictures. As you start using pictures in new and creative ways, you will come up with many variations. Textbooks may also give you ideas for working with pictures.
1) Topic from pictures
a. show pictures from inside the book.
b. Ask the students to tell you as much as they can about the topic of the story. The topic or
theme may be about anything: dragons, losing something, dangerous animals, wishing for something, and so on.
2) Muddled pictures
a. Prepare a series of picture of key moments in the story. You can photocopy and act up
the pictures for each pair of children, or display them on the board, each one with a letter.
b. Show separate pictures from the story.
c. Ask the children to try to put them into the correct sequence. The children put the
pictures or letter in the sequence they think the story will be in. d. They then listen to the story to see if they were correct. 3) Children’s pictures
a. Give the children a brief description of what the story is about.
b. Ask each child or pair of children to draw a picture of a key moment or of a key
character or place in the story. The pictures should not show any background setting. c. Put the pictures on the wall. Get the children to predict the story. Then tell it.
This involves the children, helps them to predict the story, and makes them feel interested even before you before you begin.
4) Labeling a picture
This is suitable for the second or third telling. Draw a picture based on the story, or ask the children to draw one.
a. Write key words from the story on the board before the story begins.
b. Ask the children listen, ask them to write the words on a picture next to the relevant
object or action.
The children can either draw or write on one big picture on the board, or each child does their own picture. 5) Remove the pictures
Prepare a series of pictures that tell the story. The students can draw these in a previous activity.
a. Display all the pictures. Go through the story again, eliciting as much of it as possible
from the students, using the pictures as a memory aid. b. The students then close their eyes and you remove one picture.
c. The students then open their eyes and tell you which picture is missing and which part of
the story it represents.
d. The children close their eyes again. You now remove another picture and they tell you
which one is missing.
e. Gradually remove all the pictures and see if they can retell the story from memory.
You can make it easier for the students if you displace sentence strips as captions to the pictures.
6) Pass the picture and tell the story
a. Stand in a circle with the students.
b. Hold up a picture and briefly tell the part of the story which goes with it. c. Give the picture to the child on your left. Who must repeat the sentences you said. d. That student then passes it to her or his neighbour, who does the same thing. e. When the class is confident, you can have several pictures moving at the same time.
Students may not understand all the words they say because they are just copying you; however, this is a first step in articulating a phrase or sentence of the story and a sage opportunity to begin to associate meanings by holding the picture. When there are several pictures moving, then, clearly, the students must have a move discriminating grasp of the appropriate thing to say.
7) What’s in the picture?
a. Tell the Ss that the board is a canvas where a picture is to be painted. Draw a grid on the
canvas.
b. Ss copy the grid into exercise books, and in pairs label the segments by writing in the
words describing location, for example, at the top left-hand corner like this.
c. When all the pairs are ready, discuss the labels given to the space and any possible
variations.
d. Ss individually draw their pictures, filling all the spaces.
e. The exercise now become a paired listen-and-draw activity, where sA describe the
pictures and sB draws it. They then reverse roles.
f. Finally, in pairs learners compare the original picture and the picture drawn from
instructions. You can organize an exhibition.
This activity is a variation on the listen-and-draw technique which is very productive, as it pre-teaches the language concerning the organization of a picture, and at the same time offers an opportunity to revise vocabulary or introduce new language.
8) Pairs compare
This activity goes a little deeper than the ones before. It’s useful at the start of a course, but
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