2. Intermediate level

Students who studied reported speech at pre-intermediate level will have the chance to reinforce what they have learnt and to extend their understanding. Students learning reported speech for the first time at this level (toward the end of most intermediate class texts) usually find it less difficult than students at pre-intermediate level, but to a large extent experience similar problems in regard to the areas discussed in Part One.

The main problem at this level relates to the reporting of questions. Adult learners often have difficulty with the inverted word order and the use of if for yes/no questions:

“Can I start early tomorrow?” is often reported He asked could he start work tomorrow.

They also commonly make errors when reporting questions with do, did, and does:

“Did you have a good day?” is often reported She asked if he did have a good day.

or She asked to John if he did have a good day.

“When did you arrive?” is often reported She asked when did you arrive.

As a side note, adult learners also often confuse the use of the passive, which is usually placed just before or after reported speech in most class text, with reported speech as both forms are commonly used in newspapers to report. In most cases the confusion mainly occurs with students mistakenly back-shifting the tense in the passive. Though this does not affect reported speech, the two are connected and so it is good for teachers to be aware of this problem.

3. Upper-intermediate Level and Above

Finally, at the upper intermediate level and above class texts begin to extend the students range of reporting verbs, so additional problems inherent at this level relate to the variety of collocation patterns, with learners collocating verbs incorrectly (refer Appendix 3, 4).

Part Three: Approaches, Methods, and Materials Available to Learners Working on Reported Speech.

When approaching the task of teaching reported speech, it is important to recognise that a class is a group of individuals with different personalities, interests, motivating forces, learning styles, and needs. Any approach to teaching this area, therefore, needs to be flexible.

The nature of the teaching institution may also affect the content and the style of teaching. For example, a private language institute focusing on general English is likely to place far greater importance on speaking than a university preparatory program preparing students for a university entrance exam.

The following points are therefore only general guidelines applicable to a range of contexts:

Engage the students, provide a context, and identify a genuine need.

Firstly, it is important to start any grammar lesson in the right way, which means avoiding openings such as, “Today we are going to study the use of reported speech.”, or “Please open your books to page 51.” Instead, a far more useful approach is to establish a clear context that the students can relate to, which highlights a genuine need for the new grammar. In general, any context that provides the students with an opportunity to talk about their lives is sure to work well. A context I have used successfully is that of organising a night out or a class holiday.