Selected activites from http://www.longman.com/opportunities/pdfs/help_speak.pdf]
Opportunities Teachers’ Room
Helping Secondary Students to Deal with Speaking by Michael Harris
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Activity 2 - Cross-cultural differences Look at the conversation below. How would it be different in your language? Would you use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ as much in your language?
Good morning. Can I have a kilo of apples and two oranges, please?
B: Right. Terrible weather isn't it?
Miserable. It's good for the garden though.
B: Here you are. Anything else?
Ah yes please, er ... a kilo of potatoes, please.
B: That will be four pounds twenty, thank you.
(gives money)
B: Thank you. (gives change)
Thank you very much.
B: Thank you.
Bye.
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Activity 3 - Cross-cultural mistakes Read the dialogues. What mistakes does B make?
1 A: Would you like a drink Mr Gonzalez?
B: Well, all right.
3 B: I want a saver return to Middlesborough.
Sorry?
4 A: I am leaving on Wednesday. We're going to Patagonia for two weeks. It should be amazing. We're going to take pictures of whales. Then we're going to the mountains and we're going to visit a glacier.
B: Yes.
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Activity 4 - Non-verbal communication
When you are watching the video compare how the people act with your culture and complete as much of the table as you can.
| SAME | DIFFERENT | HOW? | |
| GESTURES | |||
| FACIAL EXPRESSIONS | |||
| TOUCHING | |||
| DISTANCE | |||
| EYE CONTACT |
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Activity 5 - Speaking and personality
Which of these people do you identify with most?
a I am quite shy in English classes. I don't like speaking in English in front of the whole class or in groups because I get nervous. But I do speak English when I do activities with my partner.
b I speak when I am with my partner or when I am with my friends in a group. However, I don't like speaking in front of the whole class. I feel everybody is looking at me.
c I am not at all shy. I like speaking English with the teacher and speaking in front of the class. I also like giving presentations to the rest of the class.
Activity 7 - Preparation Strategies
Student A: (shopper) Do these things before acting out the situation with your partner.
a Write a list of things you want to buy from a corner shop. Look up words in your dictionary or ask your teacher. b Practise saying words that are difficult to pronounce to yourself. E.g. ‘toothpaste’ c Practise saying important phrases to yourself. E.g. ‘Could I have ...’ ‘Have you got any ...’ d Try to predict what the other person will say. e Imagine the dialogue to yourself. f Practise the dialogue, making expressions and gestures. __________________________________________________________
Student B: (shopkeeper) Do these things before acting out the situation with your partner.
a Write a list of things you have in your shop. Look up words in your
dictionary or ask your teacher.
b Write out a list of some of your products. ‘Corner shops’ sell food,
newspapers and magazines and things like soap, toothbrushes, etc.
c Practise saying words that are difficult to pronounce to yourself. E.g.
‘toothbrush’.
d Practise saying important phrases to yourself. E.g. ‘Can I help you?’
‘I'm afraid we haven't got ...’
e Try to predict what the other person will say. f Imagine the dialogue to yourself. g Practise the dialogue, making expressions and gestures.
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Activity 9 - Just a minute (to practice hesitation)
Work in groups of four. One person is the timer. He/she must control how long everybody speaks for.
The game starts when one person begins talking about one of the subjects listed below for as long as possible. You can hesitate as much as you like, but if you stop speaking the others can knock on the desk and you have to stop completely. The person who has knocked can then continue. The winner is the person speaking at the end of one minute.
Some words and expressions that can be useful as fillers in English are: well/you know/actually/yeah/you see/right/you know what I mean.
Topics
a Monday mornings b bananas c doing homework d my friends e football f holidays
Interview your partner and find out how he/she deals with oral mistakes.
1 What do you do when you make a small mistake? (E.g. ‘My sister live in Warsaw.’)
a: stop speaking completely
b: continue speaking
c: try to correct it
2 What do you do when the other person doesn't understand you?
a: repeat it in the same way
b: say it again more clearly
c: say it using different words
d: say it in your own language
3 What do you do when you hear your partner in class make a simple mistake? a: do nothing but make a note of it
b: correct it
c: laugh at him/her
4 What do you do when your partner makes a big mistake and you don't understand?
a: ask him/her to repeat - ‘Sorry?’ b: ask him/her to clarify - ‘What do you mean?’ c: help him/her by clarifying yourself - ‘You mean that ...’ d: say you don't understand - ‘What?’
Activity 18 - Getting around problems
1 What are the words that are being described below? E.g. 1 = Stetson
a A sort of hat that cowboys in America wear.
b A type of big bird. It lives in South America.
c It's stuff you use to wash plates with.
d It's a kind of small house in the country.
e They're things you wear on your hands.
f It's a metal thing. You use it for cutting paper.
g A person who goes to football matches.
2 Test your partner's vocabulary. Choose a word and describe it and see if your partner guesses what it is.
Activity 19 - Unknown Word Story-telling
1 How would you say the words below in English? Do not look up the words in your dictionary. Use these strategies to help you say them (as well as gestures and sounds).
It's a sort of ... it's like ... it's a place where ... it's a bird that ...
You will use these words : chapel / 懐中電灯 / bell tower / コウモリ / フクロウ / お化け / シーツ / 鎖 / 悲鳴 / 爆笑 / ホッとした / 仮装パーティ
2 In pairs, use the notes to complete the story (in English).
two teenagers go into old chapel - holding 懐中電灯 / go up to top of old bell tower - ほこり everywhere - コウモリ inside / フクロウ outside the window / in 墓地 - teenagers see three お化け wearing 鎖 and シーツ - teenagers are 恐ろしい and 悲鳴する / お化け take off シーツ - friends coming back from 仮装パーティ
- words in bold to be in students’ own language
Example
There were rumours about a ghost. Patsy and Damian decided to investigate. They went to the old part of the city. They came to a place which was like a small church you know (chapel) which was now in ruins.
3 Now tell your version of the story to another pair.