The document summarizes techniques for promoting creative language practice in the classroom. It discusses how to move beyond mindless gap-fill exercises by making activities [1] communicative, [2] psychologically authentic, [3] focused on specific language forms, and [4] inherently repetitive. Several common classroom activities are described that meet these criteria, such as "Find someone who..." and using pictures to generate language practice.

1. elt-training.com
Teacher training webinars
Jo Gakonga
jo.gakonga@elt-training.com
For a free voiced over recording of this presentation, go to
www.elt-training.com

2. Teaching Grammar I
Getting creative with controlled
practice

4. Creative Automaticity
Gatbonton, E. and Segalowitz, N. (1988) ‘Creative automatization: Principles
for promoting fluency within a communicative framework’, TESOL
Quarterly, 22, 3.
‘The techniques for this approach are designed to provide students with ample
opportunities for repetition and practice within a wholly communicative
context, without the shortcomings usually characteristic of pattern drills or
other more traditional methods’
http://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/?s=A+is+for

5. What isn’t so helpful...
• Teacher: I found the book.
• Students: I found the book.
• Teacher: Pen.
• Students: I found the pen.
• Teacher: Bought.
• Students: I bought the pen.

6. Example of a mindless gap fill..
Use the present perfect to complete these sentences:
1. I _______ ________ (see) the Eiffel Tower.
2. She ________ _________ (eat) snake.
3. They ________ __________ (swim) in the sea.
4. We ________ _________ (fill) in too many of these gap-fill
exercises………

7. Activities [that promote creative automatization]
should be …
1. genuinely communicative i.e. require students to make use of utterances
as a result of a task-related need, rather than simply for the purpose of saying
something.
2. psychologically authentic i.e. require students to allocate attentional
resources to both the encoding and decoding of language, and to the effect of
that language on events.
3. focused i.e. organised around one or a few functions and notions so as to
establish particular utterances as characteristic exponents of particular
functions/notions.
4. formulaic i.e. utterances must be short, memorizable, and multi-
situational.
5. inherently repetitive

8. Some common examples…
• A class photo…
• Find someone who…
• What’s my line?
• What kind of animal am I? (“Do you have four
legs? Can you fly? Do you lay eggs?” etc).

9. Jill Hadfield’s creative practice
Modern English Teacher
January 2012

10. When I am old…
When I’m old, I will wear purple
And a red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me
And I will spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves and candles, and say we have no money for
butter.
I will sit down on the pavement when I am tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I will go out in slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example to the children
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised,
When suddenly I am old and start to wear purple.

11. I’ll definitely
I might
I’ll probably
I’ll

12. I probably won’t
I’ll definitely
I won’t
I might
I’ll probably
I might not
I definitely won’t
I’ll

13. When I am old, I won’t be quiet and I’ll bother
my neighbours. I might have a toy-boy.

14. When we are old we will definitely do many
crazy and dangerous things,
We will wear full make up from morning and we
will spend our money for a face lift.

15. When I am old, I’ll be a honarable person.
I’ll definitely lede the people and I’ll be self-
confident.

16. Present Perfect for experience
I’ve never been to India,
I’ve never been to France
I’ve never eaten frog’s legs
And I’ve never learnt to dance.
I’ve always lived in Birmingham
I’ve never been abroad
I’ve always lived at home
I’m getting rather bored.

17. • I've never been in Ireland.
But I've been in love with Irish man. He had a huge talant to gain women's
favor, but he was so mean. He inculcated in me a taste for art and love for
adventure. Our love story was bright and unforgettable, but it finished with
a phrase "I'm sorry". At parting he gave me a kiss with an fragrant of Irish
legend.
I've never been in Italy.
But I've been in love with Italian. He's been very clever, he's known many
languges, but he's been so nervous and so fault-finding person.
Well, we let as part friends. He gave me in memory (or gave me as
keepsake?) the 33 recipes for Italian pasta and one recipe for happiness.
I've never been in Spain.
But I've been head over heels in love with Spaniard. He's been extemely
generous and kind. I thought that fortuna smaled on me, but he'd been in my
city just for few weeks. He left for me a lot of presents and phone number
which never answer.
I've never been in Portugal...
I've never been in Norway...
I've never been in France...
But ones I met him and he taught me to love a life and be grateful. He gave
me self- confidence and opened at me a woman.
Now I think: "There is a really jouney - to be in love. Not important where
you are, most important with who you are"

18. Alan Marsh’s article…
English Teaching Professional
March 2012
The Door to Spontaneity

19. Simple past tense questions..
Dates game – Did you / Were you..
1958 1986
1989
2011
1999

20. Thrill Drills
Milada Krejewska’s blog
http://miladakrajewska.wordpress.com/

21. It could be…
It might be..
It definitely isn’t…
He’s going to be a…..

23. Using odd pictures
How did this happen?

24. What’s going to happen?
He’s going to …..

25. It looks like ….
..he has…
..he is -ing….

26. What has happened?

27. It could be…
It might be…

28. Who lives here?

29. Any other ideas?