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The following are general suggestions on how to use Let's Talk in the classroom. Click on a question below or scroll down the screen.
How should the students work together in the classroom?
The majority of the activities in Let's Talk are most effective when learners work together in pairs or small groups of three to five students. The larger the class, the more these student-centered activities make sense because:
- they give everyone a chance to speak;
- they allow meaningful conversations to develop, as opposed to isolated language practice; and
- they free learners from the fear of losing face in front of the whole class.
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What is the teacher's role during pair or group work?
While students are working in pairs or groups, move around the class and listen to each pair or group for a few moments. If you think it would be helpful, join in occasionally and offer encouragement, advice, or suggestions. Make notes on any important mistakes you hear while you're walking around – but don't spend time actually correcting students' mistakes while they're trying to express themselves.
The teacher has three main responsibilities in getting students involved in pair or group work:
- getting things started (making sure everyone knows what to do and has the necessary vocabulary to do it – and telling them approximately how long the activity should take);
- monitoring the pairs or groups at work and deciding exactly when to stop the activity;
- leading a short follow-up discussion after each activity (answering questions, pointing out significant mistakes, and giving additional practice).
If your class does not have an even number of students, you may need to place some students in groups of three with two members of the group doing the same task. Rearrange pairs and groups frequently so that students are exposed to different speech styles and ideas. For some activities, you may want to place outgoing learners together so they don't intimidate others. In other situations, you may want the shy students paired with more outgoing partners so they can learn from them.
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What if an activity doesn't seem to be working?
Don't worry if an activity fails to take off with a particular class. Open-ended exercises are inherently unpredictable. Bear in mind the attitudes and prejudices of your class when you are selecting activities, and be prepared to "sell" an activity to your students if you believe it to be a particularly worthwhile one. Some activities are easier than others. The ease with which students complete an activity may have more to do with the opinions, imagination, experience, versatility, and knowledge they bring to class than with the level of English required for the activity. Above all, though, the activities are designed to be enjoyable so that students will be motivated to continue improving their English.
Some of the more open-ended activities in Let's Talk are quite challenging. Students won't possess all the language they require to participate easily and fluently. There are several ways of getting around this problem, not all of which will be necessary at the same time:
- Quickly go through a few vocabulary items students can use in the activity.
- Act out or demonstrate what has to be done.
- Make sure students read through the role information carefully, and ask questions before they begin (and as necessary during the activity).
- Encourage students to rehearse role plays before starting them. This may take a few extra minutes, but it is preferable to the students' struggling hesitantly through the activity.
- If any role plays go badly, give helpful feedback and then have students run through them again. This will help students feel they have made progress.
- Remind students that in real life, they won't have anyone to help them out and they'll have to cope by using their limited English resources in similar situations. The activities in this course will build their confidence in real-life situations.
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How can students be discouraged from using their native language – and encouraged to speak only in English?
While using Let's Talk, students will be participating in enjoyable speaking activities. The problem is that their enjoyment may tempt them to lapse into their native language from time to time. When this happens, you might find it helpful to remind them that every member of the class has a common aim: to improve his or her English. Indeed, one of the guiding principles of the material offered here is to foster a spirit of cooperation and friendship in the class and to give students the feeling that they are all members of a team with a common purpose and a role to play in the success of the course. Agree together on this rule: "Only English may be spoken in our class." That may sound like a tall order, but it's something everyone should aim for.
Here are some ideas that may help if your students are finding it difficult to follow the
English-only rule:
- Remind them that your class may be their only opportunity to use English during the week.
- Demonstrate what to do before the class is split into pairs or groups, using one of your more confident students as your own partner while the others listen. This will help everyone get into the discussion or role play more quickly.
- Whenever you overhear a pair or group speaking their own language, remind them firmly of the rule.
- Separate students who persistently use their native language, and put them with students who do use English in class.
- Make sure everyone knows simple transactional phrases that they can use to manage their interaction. Often these phrases come so naturally in the native language that it's difficult to break the habit. To help everyone learn and remember this, make a list of these phrases on the board (or put them on a poster for the classroom) and add additional similar phrases as the need arises:
Who's going to begin?
Which role are you going to take?
Whose turn is it?
What are we supposed to do?
What do you think?
I didn't hear what you said.
What does this word mean?
Let's ask the teacher about this.
I think we're finished. What should we do now?
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What should the teacher do when students make mistakes?
Although most learners using Let's Talk should already have a basic knowledge of English grammar, they will still make mistakes. Accuracy is an important aspect of language learning and should never be ignored, but it is more important for students to be able to communicate effectively. Many grammatical mistakes don't seriously affect communication. No student should be corrected every time he or she makes a mistake. If that happened, many students would become inhibited and afraid to speak at all! Actually, mistakes are an essential indicator of what still needs to be learned. On the basis of the mistakes you overhear, together with the types of questions students ask you, you can plan any additional practice your class may require.
Students should certainly be corrected when they make serious errors, but it's usually best to point out any mistakes that were made after everyone has completed an activity, rather than interrupting during the activity. While students are working in pairs or groups and you're going from group to group to listen in, you might be able to make the occasional discreet correction without interrupting the flow of the conversation. It's usually better, however, to make a note of some of the errors you overhear and point them out later. In writing, where errors are more noticeable, accuracy is much more important. When marking students' written work, you can't really overlook some of their mistakes as you might do if they were talking. However, it's helpful to show students which of their mistakes are more serious or less serious, and to distinguish among different kinds of mistakes.
When your students submit written work to you, ask them to leave a wide margin so that there's plenty of room for you to add comments later. Give students a chance to correct their own mistakes by underlining the incorrect parts and showing in the margin whether there's a mistake in grammar (G), word order (WO), vocabulary (V), punctuation (P), or spelling (Sp). If there's a better way of saying something or a better word to use, you may want to write that in as a suggestion.
And don't only highlight mistakes: it's important to give encouragement in equal measure. A checkmark ( ) is a nice way of showing that an idea has been well expressed. Words of encouragement are even more appreciated – especially if a student seems to have put a lot of effort into his or her work.
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How should the teacher handle new vocabulary?
As they work through Let's Talk, students will be learning more and more vocabulary. Some items are presented in special vocabulary exercises, while others occur in context in the recordings and the reading texts.
In the Teacher's Manual, the teaching notes for most activities include a glossary that defines the important new vocabulary that students will come across in that activity. The definitions reflect the meanings of the words in the contexts in which they're used in the particular activity or task, rather than their meanings in universal contexts.
It is important to limit definition of vocabulary to those words that are essential to the task. Students can often complete an activity successfully without understanding every word. In fact, learners should be encouraged to develop a tolerance for ambiguity so they don't panic when they see an unfamiliar word. By focusing on essential vocabulary only, you can use your in-class time more efficiently.
Before presenting the definition of a word, ask students if they can explain the word. If no one can, give the meaning provided in the Teacher's Manual. Alternatively, ask students to look up the word in a good learner's dictionary such as the Cambridge Dictionary of American English. Whenever possible, encourage students to guess the meaning of a word from its context – an important reading and listening skill. At first, students may need your guidance, but as their skill develops, they will be able to do
this on their own. Explain that guessing the meaning of a word from its context
involves:
- looking in the text or at the other words in the vocabulary box for clues,
- thinking about what they know about similar words, and
- using their knowledge of the world.
If students do figure out meanings for themselves, they're more likely to remember the new words than if you define the word for them in English, or if you translate it into their own language.
Students may ask about other words that are not listed in the glossary for a particular activity. For this reason, it's a good idea to preview the activities and the tapescripts of the recorded material so as to be prepared to answer questions about any potentially difficult words.
You may discover that some of the vocabulary used in Let's Talk is "low-frequency." These may be expressions that are not often used in everyday conversation, but students should get used to encountering and coping with such low-frequency words. In many cases, they will be able to guess their meanings from the context.
In some exercises, students are expected to use dictionaries to look up the meanings of unfamiliar words. Any kind of dictionary is suitable for these exercises, even a small bilingual dictionary, but you may prefer to recommend that your students use an English-to-English dictionary.
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How can a teacher help students build their vocabulary?
Recommend that students circle or underline new and/or relevant words and expressions in their Student's Book. Highlighting is particularly effective because that way the language they want to remember "jumps off" the page, reminding them of the vocabulary items and showing the words in context. Just leafing back through previous lessons in their free time (on the train or bus, for example) will help them review vocabulary easily and effectively.
Students should be encouraged to record new vocabulary in other ways as well. Suggest that they maintain a vocabulary notebook – organized in one of two ways:
- alphabetically (like a dictionary) or
- by topic or subject matter.
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