LISTENING AND RESPONDING

LISTENING. It is a method discussion requires instructors to listen carefully throughout the

class session and encourage students to listen closely to each other. Effective listening goes
beyond attention to the content of student contributions: it also includes sensitivity to the tone
and body language of each speaker and the reactions of other participants. Instructors should
listen not only to individual contributions on their own terms, but also to their relationship to
previous comments and their fit within the overall flow of the discussion. Careful listening
enables to the instructor to remain highly participant-centered, while still providing effective
guidance for reaching core learning objectives.

RESPONDING. Can be profoundly affected by the instructor's verbal and nonverbal responses
to student contributions. Instructor responses can provide feedback and direction to student
contributors in real time, shape the content and flow of the discussion, and influence the energy
level of the class. Instructors find it helpful to acknowledge each contribution in some way,
whether through a simple not or verbal affirmation, a restating ("echoing") of the essence of the
contribution, and/or the recording of the comment on the board. Yet experienced instructors are
typically reluctant to give direct feedback after a comment, such as "brilliant analysis!" or "you're
wrong." Instead they prefer an indirect approach, soliciting reactions from other students and
using follow-up questions to probe for greater depth or clarity. In general, instructors should
view responses as micro-level opportunities to guide the participant-centered learning process-
typically through minimal means, but occasionally through more significant interventions
designed to refocus, reenergize or otherwise redirect a meandering or confused discussion.
 TELLING STORIES

lesson can be found in several texts.

 DRAMATIC ACTIVIES AND ROLE PLAY

Role play
Role play is when students have a role to play and, during a small scenario, they speak and act
in that role, adopting the behaviors and motives of the character they are playing. No script is
provided but it is important that students are given enough information by the teacher to be able
to assume the role. The students enacting the roles should also be encouraged to express their
thoughts and feelings spontaneously.
Role play has a number of advantages, because it:
 explores real-life situations to develop understandings of other people’s feelings
 promotes development of decision making skills
 actively engages students in learning and enables all students to make a contribution
 promotes a higher level of thinking.
Role play can help younger students develop confidence to speak in different social situations,
for example, pretending to shop in a store, provide tourists with directions to a local monument
or purchase a ticket. You can set up simple scenes with a few props and signs, such as ‘Café’,
‘Doctor’s Surgery’ or ‘Garage’. Ask your students, ‘Who works here?’, ‘What do they say?’ and
‘What do we ask them?’, and encourage them to interact in role these areas, observing their
language use.
Role play can develop older students’ life skills. For example, in class, you may be exploring
how to resolve conflict. Rather than use an actual incident from your school or your community,
you can describe a similar but detached scenario that exposes the same issues. Assign
students to roles or ask them to choose one for themselves. You may give them planning time
or just ask them to role play immediately. The role play can be performed to the class, or
students could work in small groups so that no group is being watched. Note that the purpose of
this activity is the experience of role playing and what it exposes; you are not looking for
polished performances or Bollywood actor awards.
It is also possible to use role play in science and maths. Students can model the behaviors of
atoms, taking on characteristics of particles in their interactions with each other or changing
their behaviors to show the impact of heat or light. In maths, students can role play angles and
shapes to discover their qualities and combinations.

Drama
Using drama in the classroom is a good strategy to motivate most students. Drama develops
skills and confidence, and can also be used to assess what your students understand about a
topic. A drama about students’ understanding of how the brain works could use pretend
telephones to show how messages go from the brain to the ears, eyes, nose, hands and mouth,
and back again. Or a short, fun drama on the terrible consequences of forgetting how to
subtract numbers could fix the correct methods in young students’ minds.
Drama often builds towards a performance to the rest of the class, the school or to the parents
and the local community. This goal will give students something to work towards and motivate
them. The whole class should be involved in the creative process of producing a drama. It is
important that differences in confidence levels are considered. Not everyone has to be an actor;
students can contribute in other ways (organizing, costumes, props, and stage hands) that may
relate more closely to their talents and personality).
It is important to consider why you are using drama to help your students learn. Is it to develop
language (e.g. asking and answering questions), subject knowledge (e.g. environmental impact of
mining), or to build specific skills (e.g. team work)? Be careful not to let the learning purpose of
drama be lost in the goal of the performance.

PICTURES
WHAT IS REALIA? AND WHAT DOES ‘REALIA’ MEAN?

The word realia means using real items found in the world around us to help teach English.
Using realia helps to make English lessons memorable, creating a link between the objects,
and the word or phrase they show. So how should teachers use realia in the classroom?

WHY USE REALIA?

The use of realia is only limited by your imagination and possibly practicality too. Using realia
stimulates the mind, and makes the vocabulary more memorable than a picture would.
Students can, touch, smell, and with a food item, taste it. Realia saves time, as recognition of
an object is often immediate; elicitation of vocabulary becomes much easier as simply holding
up the object with a raised eyebrow, will usually result in the desired word being spoken.

Realia breathes life into new vocabulary, and the chances of your students remembering the
new words you have taught them, increases. Take the word, biscuit: the probability of
remembering the word becomes much higher after experiencing the taste, touch and smell of
the object. Realia does not have to be limited to food or drink. Timetables, tickets, newspapers,
and clothes may all be used to help breathe life into lessons, and help provide interest.

WON’T I GET SOME FUNNY LOOKS IF I BRING TEA BAGS INTO MY LESSON?

Possibly, yes! However, after the initial surprise, both adults and children warm to this
approach. Bringing realia into your lessons is a great icebreaker, and adults usually find this
approach fun, and a refreshing method of learning vocabulary. Passing a teacup to your
students, is a great way of eliciting phrases such as ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’, and helps to
activate a cafe or restaurant situation, helping to give meaning to common phrases.

Many adults have had bad experiences of learning English at school, and remember their
English lessons as simply being dull. Realia has the benefit of really grabbing students
attention, and prompting them to speak.

REALIA FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Young learners like nothing better than playing with plastic toys. Use this to your advantage. If
you can’t include food and drink, then take along a plastic tea-set. Learning animal names?
Then take along some soft toys. It probably isn’t going to be possible to bring along a giraffe,
but plastic toys work beautifully! Bring in fruit, vegetables, and lots of toys. Get your young
learners moving animal about, create a mini farmyard, and move those animals into the field,
the barn, or the farmyard. If this sounds like too much work, then make it a class project!
Children love making things, and this would be one method of learning vocabulary, which your
children will not forget!

WHAT ELSE CAN I USE REALIA FOR?

Realia can also be used to demonstrate grammatical structures. Use realia for counting
objects, for demonstrating the difference between ‘The rabbit is on the chair’ and ‘The rabbit is
under the table.’ Use realia to demonstrate the difference between ‘is’ and ‘are’ (There is one
sweet, there are two sweets).
REALIA IN ROLEPLAY

Don’t stop at using realia to learn vocabulary or grammar. Realia is suited to role-plays and
immediately bring realism into the roleplay. Students are much more likely to warm to those
waiter role plays if they can give you cup. It is surprising how much difference realia makes!
Your students are much more likely to feel at home practicing a phone conversation on a
mobile phone than without one. Using realia is only limited by your imagination: here are some
ideas on how to use realia in your lessons.

Quick Ideas!

• Take along a hat, scarf, gloves, to introduce winter/winter activities

• Stage a fashion show after learning the vocabulary for items of clothing

• Use those plastic tea sets, and animals, for your children

• Bring in some plastic cups, and saucers, and roleplay waiter scenario

• Teaching business English? Make use of mobile phones to create realistic telephone
conversations. Use diaries, to schedule meetings, and plan events.