UNRWA-DEVELOPMENT CENTER- ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-Gaza

20/4/2007 Brainstorming Before Speaking Tasks

Brainstorming is an activity used to generate ideas in small groups. The purpose is to generate as
many ideas as possible within a specified time-period. These ideas are not evaluated until the end and a
wide range of ideas is often produced. Each idea produced does not need to be usable. Instead, initial
ideas can be be viewed as a starting point for more worable ideas. The principle of brainstorming is that
you need lots of ideas to get good ideas.
Brainstorming Encourages Better Learning
!ome learners are more successful than others. In order to find out why, "ubin and Thompson
#$%&'($$', "ubin $%)*+ studied the characteristics of good learners. ,our of these characteristics are
discussed below. These may e-plain why brainstorming is a useful tool in our classrooms.
Good Learners Organize Information !out Language
Good learners try to organize their nowledge. .s teachers, we can try to facilitate this organization by
using suitable warm-up activities. . warm-up activity can remind our students of e-isting nowledge. .t
the same time, it can direct their minds towards ideas that they will meet in the main activity. In this
way, it provides a lin between new and e-isting nowledge.
/owever, each learner has a different store of e-isting nowledge organized in a uni0ue way. . te-tboo
or teacher presentation can never use this nowledge to its best potential. In many warm-up activities,
the teacher and students can be frustrated because the organization of language in the warm-up activity
is different from the organization in the learners1 minds. This mismatch is a bloc to good learning.
Brainstorming invites the learners to organize e-isting nowledge in their own minds. 2any learners
have a large passive vocabulary which does not translate directly into productive capabilities in the
classroom. Brainstorming can help to activate this. It wors to mobilize the resources of the student by
creating a series of connecting ideas. This leads to an organization of language. The lins which appear
on paper created in word mapping are visible evidence of this organization. .t this point the learners
will be better oriented to the topic and better motivated to fill the gaps in their nowledge.
Good Learners "ind T#eir O$n %a& and Take '#arge of T#eir O$n Learning
!tudents who do not tae charge of their own learning are unable to tae full advantage of learning
opportunities. This is a problem that faces many .sian students who are generally more reserved than
western students #Tsui , $%%3+. 2any teachers find that lac of self-initiative is usually more of a
problem than lac of ability in conversation classes.
Brainstorming can help learners to tae charge. 4earners begin e-amining their e-isting resources and
identifying gaps in their nowledge. The free association nature allows learners to become involved in
the selection of language used in the speaing tas.
Good Learners (ake Inte))igent Guesses
The good learner maes intelligent guesses, but the language classroom often wors against this.
Because of nervousness in a foreign language or fear of teacher correction, many students are afraid of
using language unless they are sure that it is totally correct #4ucus $%&'+. This stops them maing
intelligent guesses and slows down learning.
English Language Superis!r- Alaa" I#rahe$ Har# -Ga%a -Tel& '()*+,*- M!#il --+().--- E& $ail- alahar#!/ 0ah!!&1!$
$
UNRWA-DEVELOPMENT CENTER- ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-Gaza
Brainstorming can help students to learn to tae riss. 2c5oy #$%)3+ maes a strong argument in favour
of learning problem-solving sills in order to reduce an-iety. There are no 1right1 or 1wrong1 answers in
brainstorming and no danger of teacher correction. By carrying out a simple brainstorming warm-up,
students can obtain a sense of competence and feel more confident in maing intelligent guesses.
Good Learners *se 'onte+tua) 'ues to ,e)p T#em in 'ompre#ension
The good learner uses the conte-t of language to help in comprehension but the foreign language
classroom can often seem artificial. Brainstorming allows the students to create a conte-t for the
subse0uent speaing tas. "elevant e-isting nowledge #content schema+ can be called up from memory
and can provide a conte-t which supports comprehension and production in the subse0uent speaing
tas.
.s discussed in this section, brainstorming can help our students to become better learners, but e0ually
importantly, students will benefit 6ust by woring in groups. They will learn language from each other
and by interacting together they will become better communicators.
-ractica) spects of Brainstorming
Brainstorming is an ideal warm-up activity because it taes little time. .lso, it can be e-plained easily
and be used with any chosen topic. There was only one type of brainstorming used in this study.
/owever, some others are listed below with brief e-amples and many other types can be imagined.
Simp)e %ord Lists
$. 4ist words to describe people1s appearance.
7. 4ist all the items you need for a party.
8. 2ae a list of house furniture.
Lists Based on a -rincip)e
$. 9rite down a food that begins with each letter of the alphabet.
7. 2ae a list of animals starting with the smallest animal and getting bigger.
"inding )ternati.es for a B)ank in a Sentence/
$. The man got off his :::::::::::: and waled away. #answers could include (
horse;bicycle;letter;bacside+
7. <eter lived in a :::::::::::: #answers could include ( caravan;house;fantasy world;apartment+
8. I don1t lie her because she is :::::::::::::: #answers could include ( too talative;the
teacher1s pet;boring+
Brainstorming on a -icture
<ictures are a rich source of inspiration for brainstorming. !trange events evoe the biggest variety of
responses. 2ost students will let their imagination roam if the pictures are strange enough. =se pictures
from the te-tboo, magazines or other sources.
$. 9hat are these people doing>
7. 4ist the ob6ects in the picture.
8. 9hat is this man thining about>
'. 9rite four words to describe this person.
English Language Superis!r- Alaa" I#rahe$ Har# -Ga%a -Tel& '()*+,*- M!#il --+().--- E& $ail- alahar#!/ 0ah!!&1!$
7
UNRWA-DEVELOPMENT CENTER- ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-Gaza
Brainstorming *sing a Song
!ongs are wonderful for reducing nervousness. They seem to be particularly effective in whole-class
brainstorming when the teacher is writing the ideas on the board. <lay a song for the class and as
0uestions lie the following.
$. /ow does the singer feel>
7. 9hat do you thin the singer loos lie>
8. !uggest titles for this song.
'. 9hen do you thin that this song was written>
%ord0mapping or -#rase0mapping round a 'entra) T#eme/
9rite a word or phrase in the center of a page. .ll the other words or phrases should lin off this in a
logical manner. 9ord-mapping can be useful for establishing groups of similar things, for e-ample
animals or food. <hrase-mapping can be useful for developing topics or functions.
'#anging One %ord in a Sentence Eac# Time
Each word must be changed, but each sentence must have a meaning. This can be useful to show the
students the role of each word in a sentence prior to a substitution drill or other activities. It can be a fun
activity to do on the blacboard.
E-ample (
$. <eter played flute in the orchestra.
7. <eter played flute in the par.
8. ?ohn played flute in the par.
'. ?ohn played soccer in the par.
*. ?ohn watched soccer in the par.
3. ?ohn watched soccer near the par.
). ?ohn watched soccer near a par.
@ariations( add one word, tae away one word.
Listing 1ifferent %a&s of E+pressing a -articu)ar Language "unction/
E-ample ( .s !omeone to 2ove his 5ar.
$. <lease move your car.
English Language Superis!r- Alaa" I#rahe$ Har# -Ga%a -Tel& '()*+,*- M!#il --+().--- E& $ail- alahar#!/ 0ah!!&1!$
8
UNRWA-DEVELOPMENT CENTER- ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-Gaza
7. appreciate if you could move your car.
8. your car out of my way.
-rediction
Guess what the speaer will say ne-t. This can be used in con6unction with dialogues in te-tboos. It is a
powerful techni0ue to encourage students to tae a ris. If the dialogue is recorded, stop the tape and as
"ree ssociation
This is best done orally and can be a lot of fun. Ane student gives a word in your chosen topic and ass
another student to say the first word that she thins of. The second student continues to mae
associations. The first student simply repeats the word in each case. .fter maing about $B associations,
the first student should try to wor bacwards from the last association to the original word.
E-ample (
$. . ( apple
7. B ( red
8. . ( red
'. B ( rose
*. and so on.
@ariation ( ,ree association in pairs or in groups. !tudents mae the associations from the previous
student1s word.
cti.e Brainstorming
Le.e)2 .ny 4evel
This activity can be made to fit nearly any level, and wors in class sizes of 3 to 'B. The aims are to not
only to generate lists of relevant vocabulary around a theme, but to invigorate the class with a rather
noisy and rambunctious activity.
To begin with, the teacher must select three or four vocabulary subcategories within a theme, for
e-ample with a theme of housing;describing rooms, the subcategories might be things found in a
bedroom, a living room, and a itchenC in a sports theme, there might be team, individual, and non-
competitive sports. !tudents are then paired up and ased to generate ideas together for each
subcategory, preferably under a time limit to eep things pacey, much as in any brainstorming e-ercise.
Then pairs should be grouped into 7,8,or ' larger teams #depending on class size, logistics, etc.+ to
share;compare ideas and lengthen their lists if possible.
Dow comes the wild part. The blac;whiteboard is divided into sections, one for each subcategory, and
one student from each group is called up and handed a piece of chal or a marer of a color assigned to
each team. There must be one color per team, eg. the blue team, the yellow team, and so forth. The
designated writers for each team are not allowed to bring any paper up with them. Instead, their team
members must shout out ideas which can be put under each;any subcategory, including the correct
spelling of same. 9ith all teams shouting at the same time, a seemingly out of control, but 0uite
en6oyable atmosphere pervades. The ob6ect is to be the team with the most words on the board at the
end.
English Language Superis!r- Alaa" I#rahe$ Har# -Ga%a -Tel& '()*+,*- M!#il --+().--- E& $ail- alahar#!/ 0ah!!&1!$
'
UNRWA-DEVELOPMENT CENTER- ENGLISH DEPARTMENT-Gaza
It is best to stop every minute or two and change designated writers so that all can get a chance. .lso,
depending on how strict the teacher wishes to be, groups which use 4$ might have their entries ereased.
It is also a good idea in big classrooms to move the teams as far away from the board as possible, so as
to increase the pandemonium. ,inally, the teacher shouts E!topFE, and the scores for each team are
tabulated.
This activity will tae between 8B and *B minutes, has been used successfully with groups ranging in
age from $3 to 3*, and would seem to suit younger learners as well. The only materials re0uired are a
rather large board and as many different color marers or pieces of chal as there are teams.
'onc)usion
Brainstorming is a very useful activity that can be easily introduced into language classes. The research
study previously discussed shows that it helps our students to become better learners. In addition, it is a
fun activity which students en6oy and well worth trying out in your own classes
English Language Superis!r- Alaa" I#rahe$ Har# -Ga%a -Tel& '()*+,*- M!#il --+().--- E& $ail- alahar#!/ 0ah!!&1!$
*