Teaching conditionals and other means of expressing irreality

Teaching conditionals and other means of expressing irreality
Ana Gorea, PhD
ETRC presentation, April 9, 2009

Stages in Teaching Grammar
presentation
practice
production

Presentation stage
From old to new;
Use visuals to help students understand and memorize better;
Write patterns so students can see the structure;
Use simple language;
State the aims.

Presentation stage
a) Give participants slips of paper that contain nouns or verbs and ask them to make up sentences of the type:
I have got (haven’t got) a….
b) Ask participants to continue the sentence with I wish I had ….
c) Ask participants to continue the thought with
If I had a house I would V …;
d) If Little Red-Riding Hood had not gone to visit her granny , I wouldn’t have met the bad wolf.

Presentation stage
What happened in our case?
From old to new ( I don’t have a…);
Visuals were displayed;
Samples of patterns were demonstrated;
The meaning was explained.

Techniques for the presentation stage
use cards; ● personalize;
use a dialogue; ● explain directly;
use a mini situation; ● use visuals for
use time-lines for tenses; situations;
● compare L1 and L2; ● use realia;
use pictures;
let students discover the rules;
use texts for contrast.

The presentation should be :
clear and lively;
easy and interesting for pupils;
the patterns should be memorable;
appropriate for the language being presented;
communicative.

Practice stage
One specific structure to be practiced;
Clear instructions about what the learners are expected to do;
Allow enough time to assimilate the structure;
Use a variety of texts to practice the same grammar item, to avoid boredom and maintain interest;
Keep a quick pace;

Practice stage
What was done?
Conditional chain sentences exercise;
Regrets and wishes exercises;
Fill in the gaps exercise:
“ I wish”, “If she had looked at me” poem

Practice Stage Express a wish for the following regrets: If only things were different!
It’s Monday morning.
I stayed up late last night.
My alarm clock didn’t go off.
I have overslept.
I have to go to work.
There isn’t any coffee.
I feel tired.
The children will make noise in school.
My colleagues will see me.

Techniques for the practice stage
drills;
interaction activities;
games;
quizzes;
fill-ins;
sentence writing based on pictures;
reconstruction of texts;
finish the sentence;
combine the sentences;
match the beginnings with endings, etc.

Production stage
What was done?
Write a similar poem using the structures: a) “I wish”;
b) “It’s high time”;
c) “If I were a…”
d) “If she had looked at me…”

Present unreal conditionals
If he were a colour he would be beige,
If he were a sound he’ d be a low hum,
If he were a smell he’ d be rain on a sunny day,
If he were an animal he’ d be a bear,
And if he were food he’ d be a juicy steak.

Past unreal conditionals
If she had looked at me
I would have blushed
If she had nodded at me
I would have painted a picture of her.
If she had wanted me to
I would have composed a song
If she had smiled
I would have written a poem
And if she had asked me
I would have said “Yes”.

It’s high time
It’s high time you helped me with the housework.
It’s high time you tidied up your room.
It’s high time you studied harder,
Mum keeps saying.
Mum, don’t be angry. It’s my life.
I’d do what you want,
But, please, stop nagging.

I wish
I wish I weren’t so nervous.
I wish I had the courage to talk to her.
I wish I could hold my head up high.
And I wish I weren’t feeling so small
Like a kitten
Lost in the rain.

The Production stage should:
stimulate thinking;
develop creativity;
use real communicative situations;
be interactive;
be personalized;
lead to learner autonomy.

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Teaching conditionals and other means of expressing irreality

by Irina K on Apr 13, 2009

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Teaching conditionals and other means of expressing irreality — Presentation Transcript