Intonation

Intonation is a pattern of rise and fall in the level( pitch) of the voice, which often adds meaning to what is being said. Rising tone is used in asking yes/no questions, expressing surprise, disbelief, etc. Falling tone is used in normal statements, commands and “wh” questions. Thee are two main techniques of showing intonation in class: by drawing arrows on the board, by arm and hand movement.

The main ways of correcting errors are:

-The teacher explains, paying attention to the proper position of the organs of speech for producing the sound;

-The teacher pronounces in the right way and the students imitate;

-The teacher demonstrates using hand and arm movements;

-Students listen to the tape-recordings and imitate the speaker.

6. Pair and group activities. Procedure for role play

In pair work the teacher divides the class into pairs. Every student works with the partner, and all the pairs work at the same time. In group work the teacher divides the class into small groups to work together (usually 4 or 5 students in each group). As in pair work, all the groups work at the same time. For certain types of activities pair work and group work has a number of advantages:

-students have more chances to speak English;

-all the students are involved in the active learning process;

-students collaborate, exchange ideas, help and correct each other;

-students feel secure.

However there might be some problems:

-not all students participate equally;

-students make mistakes;

-difficult to control the class;

-there is classroom noise (but if it is in English it is a “good” noise).

Samples of pair and group activities

Jigsaw picture :Ss in groups have a series of pictures that tells a story. In pairs they retell the story by putting the pictures in the proper order.

Ranking activities: Ss in groups rank qualities, factors or items from the most important to the least important.

Describing a picture: Each group has a picture which all members of the group can see. One person is chosen to be a secretary. The group has two minutes to say as many sentences as they can that describe it. The secretary marks a check on a piece of paper representing each sentence. At the end of two minutes, groups report how many checks they have. This is a simple activity for beginners.

Information gap: Ss find missing information from each other by asking questions. Ss are given two pictures, schedules or maps that are almost identical; however each one has missing information. If pictures are selected, Ss have to ask one another about the differences without looking at the partner’s picture. If maps or schedules are selected, Ss have to ask questions in order to complete their map or schedule.

Guessing games: Ss make guesses to discover the information known by another person. For example, the teacher has a picture, but he doesn’t show it to the Ss. By asking questions Ss must find out what the picture looks like. The teacher can only answer “yes” or “no”, but can help by giving hints.

Interviews: Teacher has Ss interview for a job, do opinion polls or group interviews.

Discussion: Ss are given a topic to discuss.

Debate: Ss are given a controversial topic that they debate. A simpler form is to give Ss a statement or a quote that is controversial. If they agree, they stand on one side of the room; disagree- on the other side of the room; sometimes agree- in the middle.

Problem solving: Ss in groups are given a problem and must come up with the solution.

Role play: Ss imagine a role, for example, a customer in the shop. They take part in a situation, acting out a conversation. It gives a chance to use language in new contexts and for new topics, use natural expressions, intonation, gestures.

Simulation: Ss do not imagine but they are themselves. They solve the real tasks or problems.

Procedure for role play

-language input-teacher brainstorms vocabulary and grammar that might be used.

-setting of context- students get acquainted with the situation in which they will be role playing. Visuals can help to make it more effective.

-allocation of roles- the teacher decides who plays which role.

-statement of aims- this is important because it gives the students a concrete result to aim for in the role play and thus provides motivation.

-familiarization with roles-students read role cards. Role cards describe the person and the role he plays. For lower level students are included words and expressions that might be used.

-role play

-follow-up- this can take two forms: written work based on the role play, perhaps for home work and remedial work based on mistakes noted by monitoring student performance.