1. Lecture 15
1
USING ENGLISH
IN CLASS

2. Aims of this lesson
2
 To show teachers the value of using
English in class.
 To make teachers more aware of the
different occasions when they could
speak to their students in English
 To give teachers a range of English
expressions which they could use in
their own classes.

3. introduction
3
 There are two main ways in which English
can be used in class:
 It can be used in teaching the lesson itself:
giving examples, introducing a
text, asking questions, etc.
It can be used for activities which
‘surround’ the lesson, but which are not
actually part of the teaching; checking
attendance, telling students where to
sit, ‘chatting’ to students, controlling the

4. Discuss the value of using English in class.
4
If the teacher uses English most of the
time, it will give students practice in
listening and responding to spoken
English. This will help them ‘pick up’ words
and expressions the language of the
textbook.
In the lesson itself, the language used is
often unnatural and artificial. But the
situations that occur in the classroom( e.g. a
student arriving late, someone forgetting a
book) give an opportunity for real, natural
English to be used.

5. 5
 If the teacher uses English to say real things
to the class, it will give the students the
feeling that English is a real language which
is used for communication, and not just a
language that belongs to the textbook.
 Although there are advantages in using
English in class, teachers should not feel
that they must use English all the time.
Obviously, there are many occasions when it
can be useful to use the students’ own
language.

6. Social language.
6
 Instead of going straight to the textbook at
the beginning of a lesson, the teacher can
spend a few minutes ‘chatting’ to the class
about topics of interest. After that the very
earliest stages, this can be done in English.
 Teacher can talk and ask questions, but get
the students to give only short
responses, e.g.

7. 7
 T: did you all enjoy the holiday?
Ss: yes.
T: did you? Yes., I enjoyed it, too. I went on
a picnic with my family. did you go on a
picnic? Anyone?
S: Yes.
T: who did you go with? ( and so on)
Note: (this would be a good technique for a
large class with low level students)

8. 8
 The teacher can prompt individual students
to talk more about things they have
done., e.g.
T: what did you do? Did you go out?
S: yes, I went to a party.
T: A party? That’s nice. A birthday party?
S: yes, my friend’s birthday.
T: ok, tell us… what happened ? What did
you do at the party?

9. 9
 The teacher can get students to talk and ask
questions, e.g.
T: Right. Tom went to a party. Ask her some
questions about it. What do you want to know ?
Yes?
S1: What did you eat?
S2: Was it a good party?
S3: Were there many people there?
Note: in a large class it may be necessary to
‘organize’ the conversation more, so that the
whole class is involved, e.g.

10. Organizing language
10
 Teachers have to say many things simply to
organize the lesson- starting or stopping an
activity, getting students to do or not to do
things, etc. Much of this language consists
of simple commands and
instructions, which are repeated lesson
after lesson; so if the teacher says them in
English students will quickly learn what they
mean.

11. 11
 Elicit from the teachers a range of simple
classroom commands in English which could be
used with elementary students . If you like, build
up a list on the board, e.g.
Stand up(please)
Open/ close your books.
Sit down (please)
Stop talking
Look! Look at me.
Come here, please
Listen!
Come to the front
Repeat!
Be quiet, please
Again!

12. Practice
12
 Work in pairs. What could you say in English in these
situations?
1) you are checking attendance.
2)You are about to begin a new lesson in the book.
3) the class have done some work.
- you are going through the answer together.
- you want the students to correct each other’s work.
- you want to know how many had the correct
answer.
4) A student is not paying attention.
5) the bell rings for the end of the lesson.

13. Explanation
( giving simple explanation)
13
 Most of the language we need for organizing
the class consists of simple expressions
which can be used again and again – this
provides an easy opportunity to use English.
However, teachers do not only need to give
simple commands and instructions to the
class. Often they need to use more complex
language, for example when explaining a
new word or grammar point, or explaining
how an activity works.

14. 14
 If teacher can give these explanation in
English it will provide very useful listening
practice for the class; but of course the
explanations must be as simple and clear
as possible, so that the students
understand.
 Show how this can be done by giving two
short demonstrations.

15. Demonstration 1
15
 Explain how to mend a bicycle tyre. Read out the
explanation below, speaking in such a way that
students will not easily understand ( use no
gestures or drawings, and speak quickly without
repeating anything).
 If you a flat tyre on your bicycle, first thing you
need to do is to find out whereabouts the puncture
is. So you turn the bicycle upside down and
remove the inner tube with a pair of tyre lever.
Then you take a bucket of water , pump up the
inner tube slightly, and dip it into the water…

16. Demonstration 2
16
 Explain again the process again, but this
time doing everything possible to help the
students understand. use simple, short
sentences, use gestures to show each stage
of the process; use simple blackboard
drawings( e.g. a bucket, a cross); give
difficult words in the students’ own language.
( punture-цоорхой, inner tube-дотор
гуурсан хоолой, lever- хөшүүрэг)

17. 17
 You have bicycle, but the tyre is a flat ( gesture with
hands, making a ‘hissing’ noise)… you have puncture
.. A puncture.. (give translation). So … you must
mend it. But first you need to know: where is the
puncure? Where’s hole? So, what do you do? First
turn the bicycle upside down (gesture, or draw on the
board)… (and so)
 After demonstration, ask students how well they
understood. If you have been successful, they should
have understood everything.

18. 18
 You want to teach these words. how would you
explain their meaning:
 - using English only?
 - using English and your own language?
Skiing
Government
storm
How many eggs are there?
oranges
How much bread is there?
meat

19. 19
 - You are organizing a role play. You want students
to act out a conversation based on this situation.
How would you like explain the situation:
 - using English only?
 - using English and your own language?
-One student left his / her bag on a bus, containing
some money, a book, and a towel. He/ she goes to the
lost property office.
-A Second student is the person at the lost property
office. He /she asks the student to describe the bag.