How can I
get my students to interact in the language?
Language
lessons often begin with an activity in which the teacher’s role
is fore-grounded. At this stage of the lesson, the teacher reviews
previously learned vocabulary and
structures and introduces new ones. The teacher may also be
checking for understanding and modelling pronunciation. The
students’ role may simply be listening and repeating the
vocabulary items and language structures being introduced and
presented by the teacher. Selected students may be answering
questions from the teacher. Many students may be silent.
Interaction may be between the teacher and just one student at a
time.
That kind of introductory stage of the lesson is followed by time
for the students to be more active learners, to interact with each
other using the language which the teacher has reviewed or
introduced. The teacher needs to set up an activity to ensure that
students have opportunities to practise with each other. Sometimes
teachers are nervous about allowing the learners to interact with
each other because they may make mistakes. However, taking risks
and making
mistakes is actually a good way to learn. Pair and group
work supports maximum use of the language by the students, and is
essential to increasing their chances of developing their ability
to use language.
Examples of interactive activities which teachers can design
include the following:
- 'Speed
dating' interviews. In this activity students are
sitting in two lines facing each other. They have a set of
questions to ask and answer. They talk in pairs until the
teacher rings a bell. At that time the student at the head of
one of the two lines stand up and moves to the chair at the
end of his/her line. Everyone in that line moves along to the
next chair. Then all students have a new partner to talk with
in the language.
- Celebrity
heads. One student in each group of 3-4 students picks
up a picture card, shows it to the other students in his/her
group but does not look at it himself/herself. S/he must ask
the other students in the group yes/no questions to find out
who/what is on the card. For example, for animal picture cards
the questions might be: Am I big? Am I small? Am I soft? Do I
eat grass? Can I jump? The picture cards might be a set of
geographical features, e.g. river, hill, mountain, lake. So
the questions might be: Am I tall? Am I flat? Am I blue? Am I
brown?
- Puppets
are a way to get students to talk with each other in pairs or
small groups to develop their communication skills in the
language. The puppets may be soft toys, finger puppets, from a
shop or home made.
- Circle
game. The first student begins a story with a sentence.
Each student around the circle takes a turn to add to the
story. The story could be imagined, or it could be based on a
set/sequence of pictures which the teacher shows the class,
based on vocabulary and structures the students have been
learning.
- Board
games. Teachers can create and laminate a board game
with dice and cards based on the theme/topic or grammatical
structures the students are learning.
- Use
pictures, e.g. use a comic strip or a sequence of
pictures and ask the students to talk to each other about what
they see happening in the pictures and/or what the characters
are saying to each other.
- Picture
dictation. Students work in pairs. One has a picture of
a person or creature to describe; the other student listens
and draws him/her/it.
- Use
photos, e.g. a teacher might have the students talk in
pairs using a picture of an extended family or the students’
bring their own family photo albums to class, or use drawings
of their families. To participate in this activity the
students need to be able to use a number of:
- vocabulary
items, e.g. younger sister, older sister, young brother,
older brother, mum and aunt, dad and uncle, mother’s mother,
father’s mother and
- language
structures, e.g. Who’s this? It’s my cousin. What’s his
name? His name is Jimmy. Is this your aunty? Yes it is –
she’s my dad’s sister. Is this your younger sister? No she’s
my older sister.
- Reading-writing
activities can also be interactive, for example students
learning the same language in two different towns emailing
each other, asking and answering questions they have been
learning in the language.
What are
information gap activities?
Information
gap activities are a way of getting students to interact in the
language. They are also known as barrier games. It is
similar to the game of battleships. Students work in pairs.
Student A has information that student B doesn’t have, and vice
versa. They need to talk to each other to complete the activity.
For example:
Student A:
Here is your picture of a beach scene. Make sure you don’t show
it to your partner.
In your version of the picture three birds are flying to the
east, two children are running on the beach, the sun is setting
in the west and a woman is fishing on the beach.
Your partner has other details of this scene.
Ask student B about an old man, rocks and a dolphin.
Ask questions (e.g. where, how many, doing what) to find out the
details missing from your picture and draw them in.
Student B:
Here is your picture of a beach scene. Make sure you don’t show
it to your partner.
In your version of the picture an old man on the beach is making
a fire, there are three rocks on the shore and a dolphin is
swimming through a wave.
Your partner has other details of this scene.
Ask student B about birds, children, the sun and a woman.
Ask questions (e.g. where, how many, doing what) to find out the
details missing from your picture and draw them in.
What are guided role
plays?
Guided role
plays are a way of getting students to interact in the
language. They are also known as guided interviews. Students
work in pairs. Student A has information that student B doesn’t
have, and vice versa.
For example, before attempting the following guided role plays,
the teacher has modelled the language and provided students with
controlled practice with the sentence frame: pronoun + action +
transport + companion. Students have substituted various words and
phrases into that sentence frame: pronouns (I, we two, we all),
actions (run, walk, skip, ride), transport (on the bus, on foot,
in the car, by bike) and companion (with mum, older brother,
younger sister, cousin, friend, alone/myself). These structures
include inclusive and exclusive pronouns, verb tense, instrumental
and commutative suffixes in Australian languages.
Students are given role play cards for short conversations such as
the following. They need to talk to each other to complete the
activity.
Student A: |
Student B: |
Greet your partner |
Respond to the greeting |
Ask where s/he lives |
William Street |
Ask how s/he came
to school today |
By bus |
Ask who s/he came
with |
With older sister and
younger brother |
Student A: |
Student B: |
Greet your partner |
Respond to the greeting |
Ask where s/he lives |
George Road |
Ask how s/he came
to school today |
By bike |
Ask who s/he came
with |
With older brother and
younger sister |
Where can
I learn more about language teaching?
Providing information
about good teaching for reviving Australian languages is one of
the main purposes of this website. To make it more accessible we
have arranged it under the following headings:
This page was first
published on November 22, 2013 and was last updated on July
30, 2021. All material is copyright to the individual authors
unless indicated otherwise.