Speaking Activities for the Classroom
Ask the Teacher Twenty Questions about His/Her Country
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apeaking activities
- Bu sahifa navigatsiya:
- The One-Minute Game
- Find Someone Who Is...
- Drawing a Pie Chart to Tell About Yourselves
- Find Someone Who...
- Get the Class to Make-up a Story
- Can You Guess Who I Am
- ELT Spelling Bee
- Detective
- More Detective Work
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Ask the Teacher Twenty Questions about His/Her Country “Does it snow in your country?”
“Which months are the coldest months?” “Which are the summer months?”
“Which is your favorite month and why?’ “What do people like to eat in your country?”
“What do people do at the weekend?” “What time do people start work in the morning?”
“When do they finish work?” “Is there much traffic?”
“What about pollution?” “Are the big cities noisy?”
“Are politicians corrupt?” “Are there prostitutes?”
“Can you trust the police?” “Do people ask for bribes?”
“Do many people have a second house or cottage?” “What sports are popular there?”
“Are there many mosquitoes?” “Do people like to sunbathe?”
“Where do people go for entertainment?” 28
This game has two teams of individuals who try to compete against one- another by having one member from one side speak for one full minute (measured by a stopwatch) talking on an impromptu topic given by the other side, for which the speaker has had no chance to prepare beforehand. An example might be, “What do you think about sex before marriage?”
The point of the task is to speak without any grammar mistakes stopping or hesitation mispronunciation misuse of words being off topic or any mistake of any kind
The members of the opposing side must listen carefully and stop and disqualify the speaker the moment there is any fault or error or hesitation, etc. Then, the person who has caught the error stands up and is given a different topic that he/she has never heard before, upon which he/she than must speak for one minute absolutely free of any error. Any speaker who succeeds in talking fluently for one minute scores one point for his/her side. Some appropriate topics for your game might be.
How can we improve the quality of life in Bangkok? What would you do if the world would end tomorrow? What would you do if we gave you one million dollars? If I could change one thing about the world I would... Do you think Thailand needs Nuclear Power plants? Swimming in the canals around Bangkok is dangerous. Everybody in the world should speak only one language. The Environment in Bangkok actually makes people sick.
It would probably be more fun to create topics that are suitable to the particular groups. The team that listens the most carefully for mistakes has the best chance of winning, as it is a good strategy to disqualify the opposing challengers as quickly as possible in order to gain more time for the members of your group to get more points. 29
Learning three languages. Are you learning three languages?
Under eighteen years of age. Are you under eighteen years of age? A member of a student club.
A member of a sports team. A member of a band.
50% Chinese. 100% Thai
An English tutor. Giving music lessons.
Planning to go abroad. Working at a part-time job.
Hoping to be a manager one day. Tying to lose weight.
Afraid of failing an exam. Afraid of going to the dentist.
Happy to be a student. Unhappy about the traffic problems.
Worried about the economic future. Optimistic about his/her future.
Totally pessimistic about life. 30
If you have a class of about 20 students, divide them into groups of 4-5 and let them choose a topic which each group would like to ask their fellow students about, so they can write a question and then stand up and go around and survey every other person in the room on that particular question. Keep it a really simple survey that can then be turned into a really simple presentation. Try to ask a question where there are several possible answers, so the results can be reported in percentages. Some questions would be What is your favorite football team? What’s the name of your favorite band? What sport do you play most often? What kind of drugs do young people try most? What kind of movies do you like best?
What type of music ( rock, pop, western, etc.) do you listen to the most? Who is your favorite female superstar? Who is your favorite male superstar? What kind of fast food do you like best? What is your favorite subject in school? What activity do you do most on the internet? What is the most important quality in a marriage partner? What kind of fruit do you like best? What sort of food do you like the least?
Actually, it’s better to get the students to think up their own question because the activity should be about something that they are interested in knowing.
In the circle above, make up a pie chart to display the information you have discovered in making your survey. When you give your report, each person in the group must speak and present a part of the information to the class. 31
Has studied in America. Have you studied in America?
Would like to be an air hostess. Would you like to be an air-hostess? Would like to be a travel guide. Would you like to be a travel guide?
Would like to be a government official. Would like to be a secretary.
Would like to be a business manager. Would like to be a TV producer.
Will someday run the family business. Will never marry.
Will marry he childhood sweetheart. Wants to have many children.
Wants to have only one child. Would like to do an MBA.
Will travel to Europe. Will always live at home with his/her parents.
Would like to get a Ph.D. Would never take a bribe.
Will always love her mother. Would like to have plastic surgery.
Would never take advantage of a lady. 32
. Put a group of about twenty SDS with their chairs in a circle, and start with a sentence like: “Once there was a beautiful young girl of eighteen.” Then, each successive student, going all the way around the circle to the right, must add a new sentence to keep the story going. Here is a model that may serve as an example :
1. Once there was a beautiful young girl of eighteen. 2. It had always been her dream to study at English at Chula. 3. She did everything she could to prepare herself. 4. She knew the entrance exam would be very important. 5. Her family sent her to the British Council for extra lessons. 6. They spared no expense when it came to her education. 7. She often told her friends that she had no time for fun. 8. The entrance exam was the only thing she thought of. 9. She never thought about boys or falling in love. 10. She never took time to listen to music or go dancing. 11. She never went to the movies or watched TV. 12. Half the time she even neglected to eat regular meals. 13. She studied so much that she neglected to exercise. 14. She was so stressed that she always had trouble sleeping at night. 15. In the weeks before the entrance exam she was very nervous. 16. She worried so much that her friends were concerned about her. 17. Some people even thought that she might go crazy. 18. Towards the end, she even began to lose weight and look a little strange. 19. Eventually, however, she did extremely well on the entrance exam. 20. She was filled with joy when she won a place in the Faculty of Arts at Chula.
This is such a typical story that it is a little bit too boring. It would be more fun to write unique tale that was more unusual and exciting and which did not have such a conventional ending. Try to create one that uses a little more imagination and in which the steps of the story are not quite so predictable :
1. There once was a pretty girl who came from a poor family. 2. One day she was shopping with her mother at the market. 3. She turned from her mom to look at some goldfish in a bowl. 4. When she looked back her mother was no longer there. 5. She looked everywhere but she couldn’t find her mom.
See if you can finish this story and make her life unexpected and surprising. 33
Start off the task by providing a beginning sentence to get the story started, and then go around the classroom from student to student, getting each one to add a new sentence to keep the story going. This task should be done spontaneously, allowing only a little time to think, while the other students write down the sentences in order so that they can read them back to the teacher later. For example :
There was once a law student who was looking for a job after graduation.
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Has never been abroad. Have you ever been abroad?
Has never drunk whiskey. Have you ever drunk whiskey? Has never smoked a cigarette. Have you ever smoked a cigarette?
Has never been in trouble. Has never kissed her boyfriend.
Has never driven a car. Has ridden on an elephant.
Has never driven a motorbike. Has been to a rock concert.
Has visited a disco. Has never stayed out later than midnight.
Has traveled alone. Has cooked for the whole family.
Has never learned to swim. Has often got an “A” in school.
Has never failed a test. Hasn’t any brothers or sisters.
Has written an academic essay. Has sung a song on stage.
Has taken tennis lessons. 35
This is a game where a person pretends to be someone or something that he/she is not, and the others have to guess who he/she is impersonating. First, the teacher gives one person a piece of paper with the name of a very famous personality (like Superman) on it and puts that person at the front of the room for questioning. The class members are given only one hint to guide their questioning, such as for example, “This is a famous Hollywood comic strip movie figure.” Then, the other students have to start asking questions to find out who is being impersonated. Only yes/no answers may be given :
1. Do you travel in outer space? 2. Do you live in a big city? 3. Do you have a family? 4. Do you like to eat spinach? 5. Do you wear a mask? 6. Do you live in an ancient castle? 7. Do you like to suck people’s blood? 8. Can you climb up the sides of buildings? 9. Are you human? 10. Do you sometimes talk to animals? 11. Can you blow fire out of your nostrils? 12. Have you lived for thousands of years? 13. Do you have horns? 14. Can you make yourself invisible? 15. Are you a child? 16. Are you the leader of a group of warriors? 17. Can you tell what other people are thinking? 18. Do you have X ray vision? 19. Can you fly? 20. Do you have a girlfriend? 21. Do you change identity? 22. Are you strong and muscular? 23. Are you very handsome? 24. Do you come from the planet Krypton? 25. Are you Superman?
Students enjoy this one, particularly if they are using personalities the group likes and admires. In a variation on this game, everyone in the room knows the name of the personality except the one person at the front who, then, must keep up the questioning until he/she has discovered who the mystery person is.
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Ate steak last week. Did you eat a steak last week?
Bought a new watch recently. Did you buy a new watch recently? Started working at a part-time job.
Drove a motorbike to school. Won a scholarship in school.
Gave a speech to his graduation class. Joined a club at school.
Ate a bowl of noodles this morning. Went to the seaside last weekend.
Had his/her calculator stolen. Has fallen asleep in class.
Has broken up with her boyfriend. Has taken driving lessons.
Has won a prize for athletics. Has never played in a band.
Has never played on a basketball team. Has never cheated on a test.
Has never borrowed money from a friend. Has walked to class every day this week.
Has played computer games every day this week. 37
There are three variations of this game, each a little more and complicated, confusing and harder to accomplish than the than the one before.
First, there is the conventional spelling bee in which everyone stands in a circle and everyone is given a word to spell by the teacher or class leader. Anyone who spells the word wrong has to sit down, and the next one tries, and the next one until there is only one person standing who is applauded as the winner.
Second, students are given words to by their leader, with everyone standing in a circle, with each student saying only one of the letters at a time, going around, one-by-one, letter-by-letter, until one student spells a wrong letter and has to sit down. Every time a word is finished, a new one is introduced into the round, going round, word-by-word, letter-by-letter, until only one person is left.
Third, put the students in two lines standing opposite one another, each with his/her own list of chosen words to spell out to the other. The first student spells a word quickly and the student opposite must listen, hear and pronounce that word without any hesitation in order to remain standing. The second student then in turn spells his/her word to the other who must say it perfectly and quickly to remain standing, and so on and so on, down the line and back again, until there is only one remaining in the upright position, who is the winner.
The words should be chosen appropriate to the level of the group, but if the group is higher intermediate, perhaps some of the following words may serve as models. If these words are too hard choose easier ones from the dictionary.
bureau, attorney, paralyzed, convalescent, sheriff, syringe, hallucinate, censor, mayhem, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, expectorate, apologize, acquittal, mayor, endearing, terrestrial, satellite, mural, curriculum, peculiar, chimney, separate, reprisals, inundate, prioritize, celluloid, bombastic, immemorial, predestination, ocular, juggler, residual, resin, pedantic, jurisprudence, marital, martial, anorexia, plethora, plebian, criticize, license, bigotry, vacillate, prestige, cosmic.
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Is learning Japanese. Are you learning Japanese?
Is living in Klong Tan. Are you living in Klong Tan? Is living on the University Campus.
Is living with a room mate. Is planning to buy a used car.
Is planning to study English abroad. Is planning to do graduate studies.
Is hoping to get a Master’s degree. Is hoping to win the lottery.
Is hoping to marry a rich man. Is hoping to marry a beautiful girl.
Is studying hard every day. Is taking night school classes.
Is having trouble learning English. Is having difficulty finding time to study.
Is spending three hours a day in traffic. Is suffering because of pollution.
Is disappointed about the environment. Is hoping for a better future.
Is afraid to go to the dentist. 39
This is a game where you put three people at the front of the room, who all claim to have had the same unusual experience. Like a girl who once went into the
true experience and the other two are imposters. The true girl must report the truth. The other two must make up their answers based on their imaginations. This means they are lying. Your job is to question the girls, as though you were detectives, to find out which two are lying and which one is the true person.
Every class member asks one question, which all three girls must answer as though they had actually had the experience themselves and could tell the actual details the way they had experienced them. Detectives should be able to ask clever enough questions to catch the two imposters, because they should be able to hear when suspects don’t know what to say because they were not actually at the scene to remember and report on what really happened. Some questions might be as follow :
Did you forget to look at the sign before you went through the door? Where did it happen? What time was it? Were you alone or was someone with you? Did someone dare you to go into the men’s room? Are you often a forgetful person? Did you feel frightened? What was your first reaction? What did you see after you entered the door? Were there any men in there? What were they doing? What did they do when they saw you?
At the end of the questioning, the class must vote on who the real person is. After the voting, the class leader says,
“Will the real person now step-forward.” Often it is not the one you expect because the others are such good actors.
What are some other experiences that some of you have had that might make good topics for this game? Falling off an express passenger boat into the canal would be an unusual experience. What different sort of experience have you had that would help to make a good subject for this quiz game? Have you ever had your gold chain stolen at the bus stop by a thief who then jumped on the back of a motorcycle and raced away? 40
Another way to play detective is to have two groups of five or six, who at first confer in two private circles to see who in the group is different or has done something different from the other members of the class. Each student tells the others in his/her group something about him/herself that is unusual and which the others in the other group cannot know about. For example, if you ask an individual, maybe he/she will answer that he/she
ate ten plates of noodles at one sitting fell in the water and almost drowned was born in Boston in the US learned how to ice skate at the World Trade Center worked at Burger King studied a year in New Zealand
Pick one topic from the first group, learning to ice skate, for example, and, then pretend that everyone in the group has learned to ice skate. Sitting in rows of chairs, facing opposite one another, allow the second group to play detective and interrogate the individuals in the first group one by one as suspects, trying to catch each suspect in a lie, so the detectives can eliminate some suspects and come closer to finding the identity of the true ice skater:
How did you learn to skate? Where did you skate for the first time? What brand of ice skate do you have? Who sharpens your skates? What days and times is the WTC open for skating? How much do you pay to skate? How much did you pay for your skates? Do you often fall down? What happens if you injure yourself? What is the temperature in the ice-skating rink? What kind of clothing do you wear when you go ice-skating?
Someone who has never ice-skated will be unable to answer certain questions or will hesitate so long that the questioners will see he/she is lying. Whereas, if the detectives are observant, they will be able to see who answered most confidently so they can make a calculated guess about the identity of the real ice-skater. When this is finished, suspects switch roles with detectives and they become the interrogators to try to catch the other group in another set of lies.
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