Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

The PPP
English
Language
Teaching
Method
Presentation,
Practice, and
Production
in the EFL Class

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Introduction
Imagine this scene. You want to teach the present perfect
continuous in your EFL class. You have already taught the
simple present and present perfect with "for" and "since", and
you have decided that the way to present the new structure is
simply to ask students real questions such as How long have you
been living in your apartment? and How long have you been
learning karate? Surely, you think, the students will be able to
extend their knowledge of the simple form to the continuous.
When you go into class, however, your activity falls flat. The
students do not really understand very well. Mystified, you ask
yourself what went wrong.
What went wrong was that you were testing before teaching.
You expected your students to be able to use the language before
you really presented it and practiced it. They were not able to.
Does this sound familiar? In my years of teaching,
unfortunately, I have fallen into this trap many times.
Somewhere along the way, though, I became aware of the need
to arrive at an appropriate balance among the three major
elements of an EFL class: presentation, practice, and production.
Our goal in teaching English is, or should be, to get students to
the point where they feel ownership of the language and can use
it to improvise in real-world situations. In this article I would
like to discuss the notion of an appropriate balance and offer
some suggestions on how it might be achieved.
Before we jump in, let's clarify what is meant by presentation,
practice, and production. Presentation means that, before we
expect students to use language or structure, we present it to
them. This is true in an ESL class in an English-speaking
society, where students are surrounded by the language. It is all

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

the more true in an EFL class where English language input for
students is probably much less. Thus we need to provide
students with a variety of models and contexts that will give
them the input they need to be able to use the language
productively. Practice means that, after we present the material
that we want our students to learn but before we expect them to
use it productively, we give them ample opportunities to practice
it. That is, practice comes before the testing situation.
Production means that, having presented the language that we
want our students to learn and given them opportunities to
practice it, we may now justifiably expect them to produce it -to use it more or less freely in real, largely uncontrolled
situations.
Presentation
There are essentially two kinds of presentation models:
receptive and productive. In receptive models, we present
language for students to receive, to process, and to understand,
but we do not at this point expect them to produce it. In
productive models, our approach is the opposite: We expect the
students to take the model we present and manipulate it -- to
produce the language within it in some fashion. The most
common kinds of productive models are grammatical rules or
charts, conversation models, pronunciation models, and writing
models.
Let's consider how we might present a receptive model to our
class, the same class to which we want to teach the present
perfect continuous tense. Here is an example of a conversation
that could be used in this way, in which the context is a date at a
movie theater and one person has arrived late. We could ask the
students to read or listen, or both.
Scott: Sorry I'm late. Have you been waiting long?
Rachel: Not really. I was a little late myself.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Rachel: I've really been looking forward to this movie. It's

supposed to be hilarious. Gee, its crowded here.
Scott: Yeah. Well, at least the movie hasn't started. I think there
are two seats over there.
Scott: Excuse me. Would you mind taking off your hat?
Woman with hat: What was that?
Scott: Could you please take off your hat?
Woman with hat: Oh, of course. Sorry.
Rachel (whispering): Can you believe that hair? (The woman
has a big hairdo.) Let's move.
Scott: Where?
Rachel: Aren't there two seats over there in the third row?
Rachel: Excuse me.
Scott: Pardon me.
Rachel: Oh no. (A tall man is moving to the empty seat in front
of her.)
Scott: I guess this is my fault. Sorry I was late.
Rachel: That's OK. It's no big deal.
After our students have read and/or listened to this conversation,
we ask them some comprehension questions, but we do not say
anything about the present perfect continuous tense at this point.
It is passively retained -- students probably understand it but are
not yet able to use it. Then we might give them an exercise like
the following, designed to help them understand vocabulary
from context:

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Find a sentence in the conversation similiar in meaning to

each sentence below:
Excuse me. (Pardon me.)
They say the movie is funny.
Could you please take off your hat?
That's a strange hairdo.
It's not that important.
Practice
Practice is the middle step in the process. We cannot expect
students to be able to use the language freely unless we have
given them sufficient practice in how to do so. Practice should
do at least three things: (a) It should give studentst the chance to
use the target structure or vocabulary without feeling as if they
are in a specific testing situation. (b) It should spiral and
reintegrate previously taught material; and (c) It should be safe.
That is, students should feel that they are investigating,
discovering, fiddling around with the language in question
without having too much riding on the outcome. If they make
some mistakes in a grammar exercise, for example, there will be
no harm done; they will learn from their mistakes but will not
fail the class. Four common types of safe practice are Pair
Practice, Grammar in Context, Grammar with a Partner, and
Interactive activities such as Infogaps and games.
Let's consider examples of two kinds of activities which will
help our students practice the present perfect continuous
structure that we have been teaching them.
Grammar in Context
Once we have presented the present perfect continuous in a
context in which it naturally occurs and have given other models
such as grammar rules and charts, the next step might involve
having the students complete a grammar-in-a-context activity
similar to the following. By this point students know at least
passively the form of the present perfect continuous. They also
know that, while the simple present perfect can be used to

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

express completed action, the present perfect continuous form

cannot. In this exercise, the context is a line outside a movie
theater, with four people waiting for the line to move.
Complete the conversation with the correct verb for each
numbered item.
Greg: (comes up) Hi, everybody. Sorry I'm late. ___________
(Are you waiting/Have you been waiting) long?
Jeanette: About 20 minutes. What _______, Greg?
(happens/happened)?
Greg: Well, I _______(m/was) stuck in traffic for half an hour
on the freeway. __________ (Are you getting/Did you get) the
tickets?
Andy: Yeah. Here they are. Man, I sure hope this movie
_________ (was/is) as good as the reviews ___________
(say/will say) it is.
Greg: It is. _____________ (I've seen/I've been seeing) it twice
already.
Laura: You have? And you ___________ (ll want/want) to see
it again?
Greg: Sure. I bet I _________ (ll like/liked) it even better this
time.
Jeanette: Guys, you __________ (have to/had to) remember
that Greg __________ (was/is) a movie addict. He ________
(sees/saw) every movie that _________ (came/comes) out.
Laura: Well, I just hope this line _____________
(starts/started) moving soon.
Pair Practice

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

After we have done an exercise of this type, we might want to

have the students do pair practice with the same structure, so we
could present a short conversation like this one:
(In a video store)
A: What are you looking for?
B: I've been trying to find a really good video. Any suggestions?
A: Have you seen My Left Foot? It's supposed to be very good.
B: OK. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it.
When students have worked with this a bit, we can delete some
of the items and have students replace them with their own
examples:
A: What are you looking for?
B: I've been trying to find a really good _______. Any
suggestions?
(Students could say comedy/drama/musical, etc.)
A: Have you seen _______? It's supposed to be very ______.
(Students could say exciting/interesting/moving, etc.)
B: OK. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it.
Production
Production, the third stage in the process, is the testing stage.
Once students have been given sufficient presentation and
practice, we may justifiably expect them to be able to use the
language in a relatively unstructured situation. There are many
kinds of production activities. Three common ones are
improvisation, discussion, and writing. Let's consider examples
of improvisation and discussion.
Improvisation

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Improvisation can be considered the fifth skill -- the skill which

follows reading, listening, speaking, and writing. In many ways,
it is the most important because it is the real test of whether
students can use what they have learned without being told
exactly what to do or say. Suppose, for example, that we have
finished the presentation and practice portions of our lesson on
the present perfect continuous tense. We are now ready to ask
our students to put their knowledge to use, so we ask them to do
an activity of this type:
Work with a partner. Partner A, you have been trying to find
something -- for example, a good novel, a funny play, a serious
movie, a good bakery, a reasonable coffee shop, a good Chinese
restaurant, or a cheap hotel. Have a conversation. Ask Partner B
for a suggestion. Partner B, give a suggestion. Give plenty of
details.
Discussion
Discussions of various types are excellent vehicles for students
to use language. One effective type is the controversial
discussion in which we provoke the students' interest in a
serious topic and let them take the discussion wherever it leads.
Another type of discussion that works well is a picture
discussion. We might conclude our lesson on the present perfect
continuous by bringing in several copies of a picture which will
elicit the structure. Care must be taken in choosing the picture,
of course, but we can probably find an effective one. Suppose,
for example, that we locate a magazine picture which shows
several people standing in line outside a stadium waiting to get
into a baseball game. We ask the students to tell what is
happening, tell a story, and/or create conversations for the
characters. The only stipulation is that everything be in the
students own words. This type of activity will provide an
effective and comprehensive test of the students' ability to
produce the language we have taught them.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Summary
When I was in high school, I took Spanish. When I was in
college, I took German. Which language can I speak now?
Spanish. I like and respected both of my teachers a great deal.
They were both hard-working and congenial. However, the
German teacher essentially used an approach in which there was
a tiny bit of presentation, very little practice, and a lot of testing.
The Spanish teacher, in contrast, followed an approach similar
to the presentation-practice-production system I have been
advocating here. She gave us all kinds of models -- reading,
listening, rules, etc. She gave us all kinds of practice: grammar
exercises, compositions, conversations, games, and songs. She is
not the only reason I can speak Spanish today, but she certainly
provided me with a foundation. In my view, this principle holds
true in all language classes. If we balance our teaching among
presentation, practice, and production, our students will learn.
Jay Maurer's workshop is sponsored by Longman Addison
Wesley.

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Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Teaching Grammar Lesson Plan

(Presentation, Practice, and
Production Format).
Posted on March 17, 2012

TEACHING GRAMMAR: THE PRESENTATION STAGE

Goal: to get you to recognize some techniques to present a
grammar point.
Presenting New Grammar
Instructions:
1. Complete the steps and activities while yo are
observing. Complete the Goal afterwards with a
partner.
Lesson goal
1. To set a scene
for the lesson

Steps

Activities
Elicit new
vocabulary techniques

2. To help students
practice the new
structure and to
check new
vocabulary

Rub out and

Remember
Student copy

3. To increase
students
vocabulary
4. Pre-teaching
vocabulary
1. To help students
discover new
language in
context

Elicit target
language or new
structure

Say the module

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

2. To make the
language real

sentence 3 times

3. To motivate
students

4. Present the
target structure

Check forms, uses,

pronunciation, meaning
-

1. To know the
students
knowledge

Concept
check

2. To help students
discover the new
language by
themselves

Ask students to
repeat chorally and
individually

Ask students to
copy

Ask a lot of
questions.

Get student to copy

3. To get students
to prove they
understand
4. To make learning
active, not
passive learning
5. To get students
to learn
grammar
communicatively
through
understanding
meaning and
use, not just
form.

1. B.
questions.

In groups, discuss the following

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

1. What did the teacher do to check students

comprehension of new language? Why?
2. How many things did the teacher check about
the new language? What are they?
3. Did the teacher check one thing at a time?
Why?
4. What kinds of questions did the teacher ask
5. When teacher is sure the students understand
the new language should he or she ask the
checking questions again? Why and why not?
6. Can the teacher use checking techniques
throughout the lesson?
7. Does checking take more time or less time in
the long run?

Presentation of a New Structure

Dialogue build
-

The teacher reads out short dialogues not more than six
or eight lines (if eight they should be short sentences).
As the teacher reads, he or she writes a few key
words/symbol on the blackboard to help students remember
what the two speakers in the dialogue say to each other.
-

The students reproduce the dialogue from these

blackboard cures
The students build the dialogue until it is memorized.
-

Students practice in pairs.

The teacher or students write the missing words on the

blackboard or in their books.
-

The teacher highlights the new structure by writing

model sentences from the dialogues on the blackboard.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

The teacher checks meaning, from, use, and

pronunciation.

e.g. set the scene with Lan and Jill. Teacher says, pointing to Tan
and John in turn.
Jill: Whats the title of that novel?
Lan: Oliver Twist
Jill: Whos it written by?
Lan: Charles Dickens
Jill: what is the title of that song?
Lan: Happy New Year
Jill: Whos it written by?
Lan: Abba
Teacher write on the blackboard

J. Whats the __________ ___________ ____________?

Lan: Oliver Twist
Jill: Whos __________ ___________ ______?
Lan: Charles Dickens
Jill: what is the title _________ ___________ _______?
Lan: Happy New Year
Jill: Whos it _________ _________?
Lan: Abba

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Rub Out and Remember

Follow your trainers instructions
-

The teacher puts a short dialogue on the blackboard not

more than six lines.
-

The students practice saying it

The teacher rubs out some of the words

The students have to remember the rubbed-out words and

keep practicing the dialogue
-

The teacher eventually rubs out all the words

If the students are weak, leave some key words or letters.

-

The students repeat the subbed-out dialogue from

memory
The teacher then elicits the target structure and writes
model sentences on the blackboard.
-

The teacher checks meaning, form, use, and

pronunciation.
e.g.

Alice: Id say that Samsung is the most reliable brand.

Interviewer: Which brand is the most expensive?
Alice: Well, Samsung is also the most expensive brand. I guess
thats why its the best.
Interviewer: Which brand do you think is the worst?
Alice: I think LG is the worst. I really cant remember using
any of their products that I liked.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Interviewer: And which brand is the most popular with young

people?
Alice: Thats a difficult one to answer for me. I think that Sony
is probably the most popular with young people.
Interviewer: One last question, Have you tried using any HP
products?
Alice: No, I havent. Are they good?
Teacher writes this dialogue on the blackboard and rubs out
more and more
Picture Story (Storytelling)
Follow your trainers instructions. Look at the checklist on the
next page. Make sure you understand the statements to check
while you are observing. What the demo and check your check
list.
Discuss the steps with a partner.
Teacher:
-

Tells a story containing the target language in at least half

of the pictures
-

Uses six to eight pictures, or blackboard drawing with

mime.
-

Elicits from the students as they tell the story

Repeats the story, making the target language clear
-

Elicits the target language from the students

Checks meaning, use, from and pronunciation

Can ask students to recall the whole story or parts of the

story, but this is then practice and not presentation.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Tries to elicit examples of the present perfect tense using.

You have moved e.g. you have moved the blue book.
-

Write the example sentences that the students have

provided on the blackboard
-

Checks meaning, form, use, and pronunciation

Another way of using realia is like this:
The teacher:

Comes into the classroom with a briefcase of bag and

asks students to guess what is in it

Takes things out of the bag and presents the target

language e.g. possessive pronouns: These are my glasses. They
are mine (use contractions). These are my keys. Theyre mine.
This is his pen. Its his.
This is her book. Its hers. This is our classroom. Its
ours. (point to another classroom). That is their classroom. Its
theirs.
-

Elicit the target language from students by repeating and

prompting e.g. You say: These are my glasses. Students say:
Theyre yours.
-

Write the target language only on the blackboard.

-

Checks meaning, form, use, and pronunciation.

PICTURES
Watch the demo using Pictures
Observers answer these questions.

Why does the teacher use pictures to present this target

language?

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
______________
What are the advantages of using pictures as a presentation for
new language?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
______________
The teacher:

Uses a picture that shows a situation e.g. a magazine

picture, poster, a picture in a book or in Ting Anh.

Elicits the target language from the students looking at

the picture
-

Uses the picture for both presentation and practice

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Unit Five: TEACHING GRAMMAR: THE PRACTICE

STAGE
Goals: to help you teach the Practice Stage, including 4
techniques for drilling and 4 techniques for further controlled
practice.
The purpose of the Practice Stage

Instructions:

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

1. Read the following text

The first part of the practice stage is controlled practice. This is

usually a drill. The teacher stand at the front of the class, work
with the whole class, and controls what they say.
The second part of the practice stage is less controlled. It is
usually pair work or group work. The students work on their
own with the cures that the teacher gives them. The teacher
moves from group to group helping them.
During the practice stage, students work in pairs or groups for 3
reasons.
1. Participation: to give everyone in the class a lot more
practice time.
2. Independence: to teach students to learn from each
other without the teacher always being there.
3. Confidence: to encourage quieter students who dont
usually like speaking in front of the whole class.

Practice is not only repetition. In the practice stage, students

dont just repeat what the teacher says because repetition
thinking is not real learning. Instead students use cues to make
sentences for themselves.
Cures are used for two reasons.
1. To help MEMORY: to get students to think for
themselves and therefore remember better.
2. To build CONFIDENCE: to get students to formulate as
many sentences as they want from a basic pattern
with confidence.

The teacher does a lot of correction in the practice stage. If the

target language is new, students will make a lot of mistakes with
it. If the students dont make any mistakes, then they havent
learned anything new. Mistakes are a positive thing because they
are a sign of progress.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

The aim of the practice stage is to get the students to say the
new language accurately through a process of controlled to less
controlled activities.
1. Answer the questions:
1. What is the aim of the practice stage?
2. Give three reasons for working in groups or
pairs.
3. Why does the teacher need to do a lot of
correction in the practice stage?
4. Is repetition the same as practice? Why and why
not?
Statements
1. The teacher
moves around
to help
students
1. Students can
make
sentences for
themselves
using cues
1. The teacher
stands in front
of the class to
work with the
students
1. The teacher
controls what
students say
1. Students learn
from each
other without
the teacher
1. Drill can be
done at this
stage

The 1 part

The 2 part

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

1. Students work
in groups or
pairs

What is a Good Drill?

Instructions: Look up any of the following words you dont
know in a dictionary.

An utterance random (adj) (to) formulate

exchange (to) be consistent a cue

an

Read each pair of sentences about drills and tick the one that
you think is better.
1. __ a drill is for accuracy practice so meaning is not
important.

__a drill should be meaningful something people in the real

world would say.
1. __a drill should be consistent and use the same
grammatical pattern for all the utterances

__a drill should change the grammatical pattern of the

utterances as much as possible so students dont get bored.
1. __A drill should have a topic (e.g. Places in Hu; The
Weather, etc) so that all cues and utterances belong
together.

__A drill should have random cues to produce as many different

utterances for as many different situations as possible.
1. __ A drill should have between 6-8 cues.

__A drill should have one cue for every students in the class.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

1. __ An exchange can only be a question and an

answer.

__An exchange isnt only a question and an answer, it can be

any type of statement and a response.
1. __ By the end of the drills, students should formulate
the utterance for themselves from a cue.

__in a drill students should repeat every model sentences after

the teacher.
1. __ A drill should move from Teacher/Whole Class, to
open pairs, to close pairs.

__ A drill should be Teacher/Whole Class controlled activity

throughout.

Step of a Drill
Instructions:
Watch the demo and tick the steps. After watching, fill in the
aims of each step.
STEP

The demo

Run though the

vocabulary

Show the picture

AIM

To introduce new
words/ideas of the
Ask the new wordsdrill

Say the whole

sentences

To be sure students
know the words

All of the cues

Show the first cue
and say utterance
three times

To give a model

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Get students to
repeat what youre
said CHORALLY, 2
or 3 times

To get students
familiar with the
sentences

Call on 2 or 3
students to repeat
it INDIVIDUALLY,
correct

Give a chance for

students to work
together

Repeat steps 2-4

for the second cue
(if necessary)
Work though the
rest of the cue: new
cue, new students

Give a chance for

the individual
practice

Repeat step 2-6 for

the second part of
the exchange (if
necessary)

Give model for

responses

Demonstrate how
to put the
exchange together
using a good
student.

T(says the utterance)

S1: respond.
Get 3 or 4 pairs to
demonstrate the
exchange in OPEN
PAIRS

To show how
students works in
pairs

S1-S2-corect
Stick all the cues on
the board

Everyone can see

the cues and

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

practice
Get students to
practice all the
exchanges in
CLOSED PAIRS

To give the
students
opportunities to
practice

Monitor and correct Go around the

class

To help students
say the sentences
correctly.

Further Controlled Practice Techniques

Group1: Chain Game
Teacher Instructions:
-

Get into groups of 8. You join by the number fourth, turn

around, work with the four behind you.

In this group, youre number 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Whats your

number (5) and yours (2).
-

Listen to my sentence there is a hotel near my house.

-

Whos number 1 in this group? Number 1 says my

sentence. (S1: theres hotel near my house)

Whos number 2? Number 2, repeat what students 1 has

said and add to it like this: There is a hotel near my house and a
school. (S2: Theres a hotel near my house and a school).
Student 3, repeat what students 1 and 3 have said and
then ad to it (S3: there is a hotel near my house, and a school,
and a river).
-

Continue around the circle, each student repeating then

adding something new.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Go around the circle twice. How many things will you

have to remember in the end (16).
Group 2: Guessing Game
Teachers Instructions:
Look at the sentence on the board

I am going to the

Take a piece of paper. Show me your paper. Copy the

sentence but fill in the fap with a place. Tell me some places.
(Ss: temple, movie theater, lake, park, etc.)
-

[The teacher also copies the sentence onto a piece of

paper and fills in restaurant].

Ask me another question (S2: Are you going to the park?

T: No, I am not).

[The teacher elicits yes/no questions from the class until

someone ask Are you going to a restaurant? T: Yes, I am.]

To the students who guesses correctly. Come to the front.

Guess his or her sentences. Can you ask Where are you going?
(No) How must your questions begin? Are you going to?
-

[After the students sentence has been guessed] Now get

into group of 4 or 8. You four, turn round. Work with the
students behind you. You start [chooses a student to start in each
group]. Guess his/her sentence. Begin.
Group 3: Find Someone Who
Teachers Instructions:
Start a clean page in your exercise books. Copy this.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Find someone who is going

to.

Name

.stay at home
.visit an aunt or an uncle
.visit a new city
..stay in a hotel
.camp in the mountains
.stay in a tent

Think about the summer holidays. Are you going to stay

at home? (S1: Yes.S2: No)
-

Make me a question with stay at home (Ss: Are you

going to stay at home?)

And the next question (S1: are you going to visit a new
city?)
-

You, stay in a hotel (S2: Are you going to stay in a

hotel?)
[the teacher goes through all the cues in the same way]

Whats your name? (S2: Hung) [the teacher fills in

Hungs name on the board in the Nme column next to stay at
home
-

You have to find someone who is going to do each of

these things. How many names are you going to find all
together? (6)

You cannot fill someones name more than once. So, can
I put Hungs name again here? [points to visit a new city] (No)
-

The first one with all the names is the winner.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Work in group of 8. You four turn around. Work with the

four behind you.

[when most of them have finished] good. Stop there. Tell

me about some of the people you have found. (S1: Daos going
to go campingetc.)
Group 4: Noughts and Crosses
Teachers Instructions:
-

Do you remember this game? [The teacher draw a ca-ro

board on the board]
-

The English version is called Nought and Crosses. It

looks like this.

How can you win? (Ss: three in a row) Across? (Ss: Yes)
Down (Ss: Yes) Like this? [The teacher draws a diagonal line]
(Ss: Yes) Like this [The teacher draws a diagonal line] (Ss: Yes)
-

Were going to play it with these words.

Walk to school

Drive a bus

Travel by bus

Wait fro a train

Ride a bicycle

Play a game

Go by plan

Drive a car

Ride motorbike

[the teacher point to walk to school] make a sentence

using Im walking (Ss: Im walking to school)

Practice making sentences with your partner. Take it in

turns.
-

Now, two teams. Youre noughts and youre crosses.

Who are you (S1: noughts) And you? (S2: crosses).

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Noughts begin. Choose a word, make a sentence. (S1: I

am riding a bicycle)

Good [the teacher puts an o in the ride a bicycles

square] crosses, your turn. (S2: I am riding a motorbike) good!
[the teacher puts a x in the ride a motorbikes square]
-

[the two teams continue to make sentences until one team

wins]
[the teacher puts the class into pairs]. Noughts, crosses:
noughts crosses,.(etc). Hands up noughts? Copy the table in
your books. Hand up crosses? Dont coy! Crosses begin. Play
the game again with your paper.

Group 5: Napped Dialogue:

Teachers Instructions:
-

Look at this [the teacher puts the Mapped Dialogue on

the board]

Cantho

Hanoi

Hanoi

.Cold

.Cantho
hot

.like

cold

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

.Hanoi

like?
.hot

Cantho
-

Where is he (in Cn Th) wheres she (H Ni)

He asks a question about the weather in H Ni. what

does he ask? (whats the weather like in H Ni) what des she
reply? (Its cold). Now she asks the weather in Cn th. What
does she ask? (whats the weather like in Cn th) Anhd what
does he reply? (Its hot!). Good! Practice that with your partner.
What does he then ask her? (What kind of weather do
you like?) What does she reply? (I like hot weather) so what
does he say? (Come to Cantho!)
-

Who can do the whole thing [the teacher chooses 2

students to model the whole dialogue]
-

Now practice in pairs again.

1. TEACHING GRAMMAER: THE PRODUCTION STAGE

Objective: to get you to recognize the differences and

similarities between practice and production. To help you use
three techniques for production in your real context.
To help you anticipate possible problems with production and
find solutions to these problems.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Practice and Production

Instructions:
Brainstorm the differences and similarity between practice and
production and fill in the table below:
Differences
Practice

Production

Control (control
what students say,
how they say the
idea
Correction
Cues
Accuracy/fluency
Role of the teacher
Language items
students should
use

Similarities:

Instructions: Read the following text and check your answer

Practice and Production:
Differences:
1. The practice stage is more controlled than the
production stage. Sometimes the productions stage
is called free practice

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

2. The teacher uses direct correction during practice

and indirect (or delayed) corrections during
production.
3. The teacher gives more cues in the practice stage
than in the production stage. Students have to make
their sentences and think for themselves more in the
production.
4. During practice, students concentrate on accuracy.
During production, students concentrate on fluency.
5. During practice, the teachers role is to elicit accurate
language form the students and give them lots of
exercises so they can memorize the language or the
new language patterns. During the production the
teacher has two roles: facilitator, helping and
encouraging students to do it by themselves,
analyzer, seeing how well the objective has been
achieved and what further practice the students
needs.
6. During practice, the target items are isolated and
practiced on their own. During production, the target
items are added to other structures, functions and
vocabulary the students already know so the
students dont just speak in model sentences but in
more natural conversation.

What is important is that the teacher constructs these activities

in such as way that they promote communication and yet ensure
that the new language occurs unprompted, naturally, and
frequently in the context of other previously leaned language.
The unguided manner in which the new language occurs is what
distinguishes a production stage activity from a practice stage
activity. In other word, the degree of linguistics guidance the
students are given makes these stages different.

Similarities:

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

1. The teacher has to set up activities carefully in both

stage. Instructions must be clear, demonstrations or
example provided and there should be a whole class
run-through before group work or pair work begins.
2. The teacher must consider mixed ability in the work
arrangements.
3. Practice in both stages happens simultaneously,
students dont wait until the teacher is standing by
their table before they start talking. Everyone is
talking at once.
4. Practice and production are more important than
presentation.

(Adapted from Hubbard, P, Jones, H, Thorton, B, & r Wheeler.

1983 A training Course for TEFL. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, pp. 191-192)
Techniques for Production
Objectives:
-

To show you 4 techniques for production

To get you to start thinking about how the activities are

set up in class.
-

Instructions:

Study the production techniques here

Watch your trainer demonstrate the techniques.

At the end of each demo, fill in the table. Write down the
example that was demonstrated and what the teacher did to set
up the activity.
1. Brainstorming

The teacher gets the students to discuss and write down their
ideas about a certain topic or situation. The teacher gives them a

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

couple of example to get them going. Students get into groups.

A secretary is chosen. The students dictate their ideas to the
secretary. The students make a poster or the teacher finds some
other way of displaying their ideas. At the end of the lesson,
students go and examine, correct or admire the work of other
groups. This is called exhibition.
e.g. Target item: Simple Present Tense
The teacher asks the students to brainstorm their ideas on A
good Student and what a good student does. The teacher gives
them the beginning of a list. The students have to add their ideas
to it. Students make posters and stick them on the walls of the
classroom. Other groups read and correct any mistakes. When
the teacher claps, the students move on to another poster.

A good Student

.always does his homework

.never comes to school late.
..
..

1. Interview of Questionnaire:

This is usually a pair work activity but I can also be done in a

cocktail or onion work arrangement.
In pairs students interview each other on a topic given by the
teacher. They can fill in a form or they can write their partners

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

answers in their books. The students must make up their own

questions to ask, but this can be more or less controlled
depending on how the questionnaire is designed. Students only
write notes, not fill answers in the questionnaire so that the
emphasis is on speaking.

Feedback can be speaking or writing: making sentences about

the people they have interviewed.

e.g. Target item: Past Continuous Tense Questions and

Statements
A: What were you doing yesterday at.?
B: I was.ing.
Name

6:00

9:00

12:00

3:00

6:00

10:30

Getting At
Having Football Watchin Sleeping
up
school lunch
g TV

e.g. Target Item: Like [do]ing

A: What do you like doing at .?
B: I like ing.

Name

At home

At school

On holiday

Reading

Nothing

Nha Trang

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Roleplay:
Pairs are given role cards which describe the charater or role
they have to assume. Details of a situation they have to act out
or a problem the character they are playing Perform it for other
pairs, groups or the whole class. For the teacher to manage a
role-play successfully, he or she must think carefully about the
preparation stages and get students to brainstorm, plan and
rehearse what they will say before the role play is performed in
front of others. The role play must be designed in such as way
that the students cant avoid using the target item.
e.g. Target item: Simple Past Questions and Answer
House owner

Policeman

Your house has been

bugled. You have lost all
your valuables. You have
no receipts or proof of the
value of house contents.
You have to get a police
report in order to make an
insurance claim.

A house has been burgled.

You have to go and interview
the house owner to find out
exactly what happened.
Many people in this
neighborhood make false
claims to get the insurance
money. You must be sure the
house owner is telling the
truth.

1. Prepare a list of lost

valuables and our
estimate of their
value. Add 2 or 3
items which you did
not own but which
will increase the
value of your claim.
2. Prepare in detail the
story you will tell the
police of how you
discovered you had
been burgled. Use

1. Prepare a list of
questions to find out
from the house owner.

When/where/how the
burglary took place?

What was stolen and

what was the value of the items
-

Why the house owner

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

these questions to
help you:

Where were
you when the house was
burgled?
What time do
you think it happened?

How did the

thieves get in?

What did the

house look like after the
burglary?

How did you

feel?

What did you

lose?
-

didnt stop the burglars

1. Prepare typical list of
valuables that house
owners usually make
up in order to increase
the value of their claim.
2. Interview the house
owner and question
him or her closely so
that you get the truth.
Write up the report
after the interview.
3. Keep Talking Fluency
Games

Who do you
think did it?

What do you
want the police to do now?

This type of fluency game is usually a topic-based board game

which keeps students talking as long as possible. The teacher
puts students into groups of 4 or 5, give them a dice and the
game board, which is usually prepare in advance. Students
throw the dice, move their counter the appropriate number of
spaces on the board and then talk about the topic in the square
they have landed on. The teacher can include rules such as you
have to talk about the topic you land on for a least one minute.
Or alter talking about the topic, each member of the group must

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

take it and turns to ask you a relevant questions. These rules get
students to keep talking longer.
e.g. Target Item: Simple Present Questions and Answer for
Routines.
Start here

At the
weekend

For fun

What do you usually do?

On work day
When you
cant

Sleep
In the
evenings
To relax

In the early
mornings

For
For meal/at
anniversaries Tet
at your house

Overcoming Problems with Production

Instructions:
1. Read the problem that you have been assigned

Problem
You set up the production
activity and tell the students
to begin. Nothing happens.
They sit in silence

You make the best student in

the group secretary for the
brainstorming activity. He or
she doesnt listen or ask the
others but continues to write
his or her own ideas.

All the strong students are In an exhibition of poster

on one table and can do the after a brainstorming activity
activity well. All the weak
you stick all the posters on

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

students are one another

the board. When you ask the
table and sit and do nothing. students to come up and
correct them, there is no
room at the front for every to
see or work.
All the student are excited
During an information gap
about doing the activity so activity
they forgot about English
and only speak Vietnamese.
It is the end of the lesson but
the activity isnt finished.
You tell everyone to go. The
students are disappointed
because there has been no
proper conclusion.
1. Discuss the solutions to the problem you have read
and write them as notes.
2. Read the following text.

Production: Some problems and Solutions

Mix the group up
Remember to mix the group up so that not all the weak ones are
on once table and all the strong ones on another table.
Students do not like to change groups they want to stay with
their friends. The first time you mix them up, they will be
reluctant to move. They will complain and make faces. They
will not cooperate and they may be rude to the students in the
group who they think are not clever. It is your job to make them
work together. The more you mix them up, the easier it will
become. Students are creatures of habit. Once it becomes
normal to work in different groups, they will accept it. So every
lesson, put them into different groups. Look at the topic on
Work Arrangements and get some ideas from there.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Dont make the best students the secretary

If you make the best student a secretary, he or she will do all the
writing for the group without listening to their ideas. The others
will sit back and let him or her do it. Make someone who is not
too good and not too week the secretary. This way to others have
to talk and give their ideas to the secretary. If the secretary
cannot spell a word, then the others must tell him or her how to
spell it. This way you are encouraging student-to-student
correction. (Note: If the secretary is too week, the others will get
frustrated and give up).

Use all 4 Walls:

If you are having a poster exhibition at the end of the
production, dont stick all the posters on the same wall. With 50
students in the class there just isnt enough room for everyone to
stand up and go and look at the posters tat their friends have
done. However, if you remember to use 4 walls to stick up the
posters, the students will have enough room. You can give them
a signal (clap your hands) which means Everyone moves
around onto the next poster.

Bring thins to a conclusion

Dont just let the students go home without three being a proper
end to the production. Tell them to all sit down again. Have a
moment of silence. Then ask them a question, take a vote, make
a comment deal with corrections (e.g. vocabulary that they all
need it) something which brings the lesson to a conclusion.
Examples:
Which is the best poster? Hands up for poster number one 1
etc.

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

Whos the winner? Whos finished first? Who has the most
points? Etc.
How many sentences do you have? What are they?
Here are some new words that you all wanted
1. Compare the ideas in the text with your solutions/
2. Make a poster with all the solutions.
3. Copy the best solutions in your own table below.

Problems

Solutions

You set up the production

-check questions and
activity and tell the students instructions.
to begin. Nothing happens.
-Give more cues
They sit in silence.

-Give examples and models

All the strong students are on -Mix strong students and
one table and can do the
weal students together.
activities well. All the week
students are on another table
and sit and do nothing.
All the students are excited -Move around and reminds
about doing the activity so
students to use English.
they forget about English and
-Explain why teacher wants
only speak in Vietnamese.

students to use English.

-Give some cues

-Teacher speaks English to the

students.
It is the end of the lesson but -Give indirect correction.
the activity is not finished.
You tell everyone to go. The

Mohsen Mohsen Ali Mosaeid, Yemen, Amideast Aden

students are disappointed

because there has been no
proper conclusion.

-Bring things to a conclusion.

-Take a vote: who agrees with
this ideas?

You make the best student in -Never choose a very good

the group the secretary for a student. Do the task by
brainstorming activity. He or herself.
she doesnt listen or ask the
others but continues to write
his or her own ideas.
In an exhibition of posters Use all 4 walls to stick all
after a brainstorming
posters.
activity, you stick all the
posters on the board. When
you ask the students to come
up and correct them, there is
no room at the front for
everyone to se or work.
During an information gap
-Move around to remind
activity, none of the pairs are students to work in pairs, to
talking or asking questions speak up
theyre copying each others
-Explain the purpose of this
information. Onto their paper
activity.
in silence.