10 IDEAS FOR CONVERSATION

INTRODUCTION
Here is a selection of 10 ideas for use with adult learners to stimulate conversation
and speaking. Most of them are not my own original ideas and most experienced
teachers probably already know most of them. You will find variations of these
ideas in almost any TEFL book. If you work with other teachers try these ideas out
in the staffroom as well.
SPEAKING FOR 1 MINUTE:
For small groups. You have a list a subjects to talk about. e.g. Football, the sex life
of the inside of a ping-pong ball, cooking. etc. You choose one person to start
talking about the subject. If the person repeats a word, hesitates or makes a
gramatical error, another person in the group can take over by saying error,
hesitation or repetition. It is the teachers job to decide quickly if the interruption is
valid. The person who interrupts them must continue. The winner is the person
talking at the end of the minute.
YES/NO GAME
Everyone must have played the game in which one person must avoid saying yes or
no when asked many questions by the others in the group. The winner is the
person who can survive longest. Strangely it seems to be less difficult for a nonnative speaker to avoid saying yes/no
CALL MY BLUFF
You need a big (bilingual) dictionary for this one. A student looks in the dictionary
and finds a word which seems very obscure. That student gives a definition of the
word to the others. The definition must be either 100% true or 100% false. When
the student has finished the others must decide if the definition was bluff or true.
The student receives a point for each person who is decieved.
VARIATION:
Instead of using definitions. The students must tell the others something about
themselves which is 100% true or 100% false. E.G. I always tell them that my
second cousin was the tallest ever woman to live in Britain and tell them some
things about it. This happens to be true. This is an excellent game for compulsive
liars.
RANKING AND NEGOTIATING GAMES:
If you look in almost any TEFL book you will find ranking games. A group of
students have to decide what to take from a series of objects for a particular
situation. E.G: To get to the north pole, or survive on a desert island. One variation
which I thought of that works well is this: All your students are going on holiday or
emigrating to another country in a small car. Each student has 2 objects that they
want to take. E.G. A violin, a big dog, 20 bottles of whisky. Each person must argue
in favour of their own choices. The student with the most inventive argument wins
rather than the most sensible idea.
BOARD GAMES:
It is possible to modify a whole series of board games for TEFL. For example
pictionary, taboo. Also you can get ideas from game shows that are on television.
LATERAL THINKING QUESTIONS
: You may have played this game before. You tell the students a story. They have to
discover the explanation of the story by asking questions. You can only answer
yes/no or not important. E.G. A man lives on the 10th floor of a block of flats. Every
morning he gets in the lift, goes down to the ground floor gets in his car and goes
to work. When he returns from work he gets into the lift goes to the 7th floor and

then walks the rest of the way to his flat using the stairs. Why? Answer: He is a
dwarf and can only reach the button for the 7th floor.
WOMEN'S MAGAZINES
Do the questionaires from womens magazines. The ones that find out if you are
honest or not etc. Get the students to make their own questionaires in groups and
then try them out on each other.
SPEAK ABOUT CARDS
Get some small cards and write a topic of conversation on each one. Give each
group a pile of them. When a student turns over a card he must talk about that
subject. This often leads to spontaneous conversations with the students forgetting
about the game which in my opinion is excellent. Some ideas for topics are :- The
happiest moment of my life, the pets I have had, what happened to me last
weekend, my ambitions, my ideal day etc. You should change the topics according
to the class. This is also a way of introducing polemic topics etc. legalisation of
drugs, capital punishemnt etc.
FAIRY STORIES
Get the students to tell each other fairy stories or traditional children's stories from
their countries. One variation is to choose a fairy story that everyone knows e.g.
Little red riding hood and get small groups to tell the story. (going in a clockwise
direction) Each person can only add one word.

Accidents in the Home

Gerard Counihan
profesorSs [at] blabla.es
Bla Bla & Company (Guipuzkoa, Spain)
The expression "domestic accidents" does not normally evoke feelings of fear or
tragedy, since most people only think about the concept on a superficial level: a slip
here; a slight burn there; a fall from a ladder which may even provoke a moment of
mirth for the onlooking partner, etc. Millions of such banal-sounding mishaps occur
every year, however, and the majority involve children and old folk.
1. Advance Organiser
Students relate an incident which has happened to them in the home.
2. What You Would do in the Event of ...
...a pan on fire.
...an open tap flooding the bathroom.
...a child drinking a chemical product.
...cutting your finger while preparing a vegetable stew.
3. Focal Points of Danger in the Home
Students name theirs first:
My examples:
o Pan
o Iron
o Bath
o Bunk bed
o Medicines
o Gas on, no flame
o Small carpet on polished floor
o TV
o Knife

Hairdrier
o Balcony
o Window
Further activity:
o Students discuss which of the above is the most common-and why.
Real Life Stories
(From my students here in the Basque country.)
"My mother was speaking on the phone while a piece of meat was cooking on a pan
in the kitchen. As my mother spoke the meat got hotter and hotter, until it caught
fire-while my mother spoke. She spoke, and spoke and the flames coming from the
meat got taller and taller. A neighbour who happened to look out his window saw
the flames and ran to the door of my mother's flat-my mother was still on the
phone. The neighbour banged on the door and alerted the son of the speaking
mother-he had been watching TV. It must have been a very interesting programme
because the son had not smelled anything or seen any smoke; only the neighbour.
Anyway, the son filled a bucket with water and ... yes!, threw it on the burning
mass!! The whole kitchen was black; the mother shocked and crying; the TV
deserted; the person at the end of the line ...?
Another incident occurred in Zarautz, Basque country, on the morning of the 6th of
January, the day of the kings-the three wise men. This pupil was slowly waking up,
at about 9am. She and her family were opening their presents amid much joy, love
and affection. As the paper crackled and the eyes shone brightly, shouts of what
seemed to be happiness floated through the air from distant houses. The
atmosphere was great, everyone was concentrated on their work. Then the shouts
of happiness became sharper, a tone of panic pervaded the cries: it appeared that
the people making these noises were not so happy after all-an argument, perhaps?
Our pupil looked out a window and immediately saw why the shouts of happiness
had in fact turned into screams of anguish-a house opposite was on fire. Its
occupants were running and screaming, the neighbours too. Our pupil called the
firemen/women, who told her to tell the victims to get out of their house. The latter
ran into the burning abode and took money and other valuables-the presents too, I
think-and came out again. Their faces were black, their house burnt down; the
neighbours panicked-our pupil too.
Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL Classroom
Teacher's Guide
These are a large group of questions which you can use in your ESL conversation
classes.
Some Ways to Use These Questions in the Classroom
Print out the questions and let students work in pairs asking the questions
alternately.
Divide the questions into 2 pages, give half the questions to one student and
half to another and let them work in pairs asking each other the questions.
Students should be encouraged not to look at the other student's paper.
In a small class, the teacher may want to use the questions to get a
conversation going about a given topic. In this case, the students aren't given
a copy of the questions.
Before Using the Questions
You may save the page "as text", edit it to be more appropriate for your own
students. For example:
o Delete questions which you feel are inappropriate.
o Localize the questions to your country or city.
o

o
o

Sort the questions into a sequence which you like.

Add any additional questions you can think of. (It would be nice to also
add those questions to the master list, so all teachers can use them.)

Group Forming Activities for ESL/EFL Students

Michael O'Connell
fullconcentration[at}yahoo.com.au
Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University (Gifu, Japan)
This short information gap activity helps to increase discipline, energy and cohesion
within a classroom before important group tasks. It is particularly helpful for large
monolingual high school or university classrooms.
Introduction
It is well known that pair work and group work are the best ways to encourage
student activity in the language classroom. When a class breaks down into groups,
students are given more opportunities to interact than as a whole class. This
increased practice is essential in developing oral fluency. Unfortunately this break
down can lead to problems with discipline, because the teacher is unable to monitor
everyone at once. Students may do the task half-heartedly or not at all or simply
fall back on their mother tongue to finish it quickly. In order to avoid these pitfalls, I
have started using group forming activities as a build up to group tasks. The effect
on discipline and classroom energy is substantial.
Stage 1: Preparation
Before class, the teacher should prepare a set of cards. One card for each student
in the class. Half the cards should have questions. The other half should contain
corresponding answers. For example each of the following is its own card:
What's the time?
It's 10 to 12.
Are you going out tonight?
No, I think I'll stay home and take it easy.
Where did you buy that?
I got it at a little store near my house.
Who else is coming?
I think Barry and a few of his friends.
This is just an example of the kind of language that can be used in this group
forming activity. In my intermediate and advanced classes I have students match
phrasal verbs and collocations with words that are common in Japanese dictionaries
(eg. told off/scold, muck around/play, enjoy/have fun, ). Other matches might be
pictures, half sentences or collocations. Larger groups can be formed by adding
more cards. (eg. Are you going out tonight?/No, I think I'll stay home and take it
easy./Don't be boring. Come out and have a good time.) Ultimately, the language
should be appropriate to the students level. I try to use Krashen's 'i+1' theory,
where the language is recognisable but contains something more than their current
level. In this way the activity itself involves input and the learners are challenged by
it. The most important thing when making the cards is to make sure there is only
one match for each card.
Stage 2: Demonstration
Draw six to eight boxes with the questions and answers on the whiteboard. The
teacher then chooses a question and asks the class (or an individual student) to
find the answer. When the answer is given, connect the two boxes with a line. Next,
the teacher chooses an answer and asks the class (or an individual student) to find

the matching question. Join them with a line. This is done until all the boxes on the
board are matched.
After demonstrating on the whiteboard, tell the students "I'm going to give you a
card. Don't show anyone. It's a secret! You are going to read your card to other
students and find your match." Concept check by asking a student "Are you going
to show your card to other students?" and "Are you going to read your card?".
Next give three to five students in the front row a card and take a matching card
for yourself. Then quickly demonstrate the task by reading your card to each
student and having them read theirs back to you. While your doing this ask the
class "Is that a match?" until the match is found.
In the beginning, the demonstration stage can be time consuming. However, this
activity can be used repeatedly throughout a semester with variations. Once the
students understand what is involved they don't need to be told again. In later
classes the demonstration can be skipped altogether.
Stage 3: The Activity
Walk around the class with the cards face down and fanned out so students can
pick a random card. This increases students investment in their secret card because
they chose it. Once all the cards have been given out, allow students time to read
their secret cards and use their dictionaries if they have to. At this point individual
students may need some help with pronunciation. When all students are
comfortable with their cards ask them to stand up as a class.Then tell them to find
their match and when they find the match sit down together at a table.
While students are looking for the match it is a good idea to go around and
encourage them to talk with one another. "Have you asked Kenta?" or "Have you
spoken to Eri?". It is important that the teacher monitors the students to make sure
they are not just showing each other their cards. At such times reinforce your initial
instructions, warning individuals out loud, "Don't show your card, Keisuke."
Stage 4: Feedback
Once students are matched go around and collect the cards. While you are
collecting, have the students read them back to you to reaffirm the match and
congratulate them. The new pair share their success and are praised by teacher
which is a good way to foster cohesion before the main task. Now have the
students go on with the main task in their new groups. You should notice a
significant increase in student motivation during the main task.
Conclusion
This exercise once learnt is a very quick and useful tool in managing large class
sizes and long lessons. It provides a good opportunity for the class to communicate
with one another in the L2 in order to achieve a very clear set goal. It also creates
energy and excitement before an important group task by having the students
move around the room and rearrange seating themselves. Most importantly it
increases the likelihood of students focusing on the main task because students
have shaken off some inertia and the main task is now a bridge between students
who might not normally associate with each other.
References
Klippel, Friederike. 2003. Keep Talking, Cambridge University Press.
Norman, David<>., Ulf Levihn, & Jan Anders Hedenquist, Jan.
2001.Communicative Ideas, Language Teaching Publications

Ten Good Games for Recycling Vocabulary

Mark Koprowski
markkoprowski [at] yahoo.com
Introduction
Learning is remembering. If we respect this axiom, the review and recycling of new
language items will be critical if they stand a chance of becoming readily accessible
in long-term memory. In fact, students do the majority of their forgetting shortly
after the lesson and then the rate of forgetting diminishes. To avoid this lexical
vanishing act, one solution offered is to follow the 'principle of expanding rehearsal'.
This idea suggests that learners review new words shortly after they are presented,
and then at increasingly longer intervals. To stimulate long-term memory then,
ideally, words would be reviewed 5-10 minutes after class, 24 hours later, one week
later, one month later, and finally six months later. Teachers might even consider
doing a quick review of words and phrases which were introduced just a short while
ago in the lesson. But unless these new language items are noticed and understood
on multiple occasions, they will likely fade from memory and be forgotten.
Experts these days concur that learners actually need as many as 5 to 16
'meetings' with a new language item in a variety of contexts before it can be truly
learned and activated for genuine use. Teachers then can help solidify new words in
long-term memory by creating regular opportunities in their learning program that
encourage students to make form-meaning connections of new vocabulary items.
Both repetition and retrieval practice of new items are key. In my experience, this is
best achieved by organizing fun, competitive, and motivating vocabulary games and
activities which adhere to the expanding rehearsal mentioned above. Over the past
decade, I've put together a variety of sure-fire and engaging vocabulary recycling
activities drawn from a number of sources: resource books, teachers, trainers, and
some of which are of my own invention. Give them a try, and have your students
start remembering today.
1. Taboo (aka Hot Seat)
Divide the class into Teams A and B. Team A sits in a group on one side of the
classroom, Team B sits on the other side. Bring two chairs to the front of the room
so that when seated, a student is facing his or her respective team and their back is
to the blackboard or white board. One member from each team sits in their team's
chair. The teacher writes a word, phrase, or sentence on the board. The students in
the chairs mustn't see what's written on the board. Once the teacher yells 'go', the
teams have one minute, using only verbal clues, to get their seated teammate to
say the item written on the board. The only rule (or taboo) is that they MUSTN'T
say the item written on the board, in full or part. The first student in the hot seat to
utter the word scores a point for their team. When the round is over, two new team
players are rotated into the hot seat and a new item is written up. The first team to
score X number of points wins.
Variation: To ensure a slightly quieter and less chaotic game, the teams can take it
in turns. Rather than two students in the hot seat, only one member from each
team plays at a time. The teacher as usual scribbles a word on the board and gives
the team one minute to get their teammate to say the item. If the hot-seated
player manages to say the word, the teacher quickly writes another item on the
board and so on until the minute is up. The team scores a point for every item they
manage to say within one minute.

2. Memory Challenge
Put the students into pairs or small groups. Give them a time limit (e.g. 3 minutes)
and ask them to write down as many words, phrases, and/or expressions as they
can from the last lesson on topic X. The pair or group that can remember the most
items wins.
Variation: To add a spelling accuracy component, teams can also earn an extra
point for each correctly spelt item.
3. Last One Standing
Give the class a topic (e.g. food, clothes, animals, things in a kitchen) and ask
them to stand up, in a circle if possible. Clap out a beat and say, one, two, three,
followed by a topic-related word. After the next three beats, the next student in the
circle gives a word related to the topic, and so it continues. Anyone who can't think
of a word or repeats a word already said has to sit down and it's the next person's
turn. The winner is the last one standing.
4. Pictionary
Divide the class into Teams A and B. Team A sits in a group on one side of the
classroom, Team B sits on the other side. One member from each team goes to the
board. The teacher flashes them a word, phrase, or expression written on a piece of
paper. The students have one minute to get their respective team to say the item
only by drawing pictorial clues on the board. Written words, verbal clues, or
gestures are forbidden. The first team to say the word scores a point.
Variation: The teams review their notes from prior lessons, and collectively come up
with a list of items the other team will have to draw.
5. Bingo
The teacher writes up 10 words, phrases and/or expressions on the board. Each
student chooses any 5 of the items from the board and writes them down. The
teacher then selects one of the items at random (bits of paper from a hat, for
example) and offers a brief definition or synonym of the item but does not say the
word itself. If a student thinks they have the word the teacher described, they tick
it. When a student ticks all of their words, they shout BINGO!! The first student to
shout BINGO wins the round. Additional rounds can be played with different sets of
words.
6. Outburst
Divide the class into Teams A and B. The teacher assigns each team a particular
topic (e.g. sports, vehicles, things in an office) which is to be kept secret from the
other team. Each team meets for 5 minutes in private and collectively draws up a
list of ten items related to the topic. After the lists are made, the game begins. The
teacher tells Team A the name of Team B's topic. Team A then has one minute to
try to guess the items on Team B's list (hence producing a noisy outburst). The
members of Team B must listen and tick the items which Team A manages to
guess. For every word Team A guesses correctly, they score a point. For every word
they miss, Team B gets a point. After the points are recorded, it's Team B turn to
guess Team A's list. Additional rounds can be played with different topics assigned
by the teacher. The first team to score X number of points wins.
7. Concentration
Divide the class into small groups. Each group is given a set of cards which are
spread out on the table face-down. The sets are made up of two kinds of cards:
word cards + definition/picture cards. Students in turn pick up a card, turn it over,
and try matching it to its corresponding card. If there's no match, the cards are

returned to their original place on the table and play passes to the next student. If
a match is made, the student keeps the pair and tries to make another match.
Once all the cards are matched, the winner is the player who has matched the most
number of cards.
Variation: Rather than using word + definition/picture cards, students can match
the first and second half of common phrases, expressions, idioms or other multiword lexical items; e.g. "have" on one card, "a good time" on the other card.
8. Scrambled Letters
Write up eight words with their letters shuffled (e.g. eicscen for science) on the
board. When the teacher says 'go', the students, individually or in pairs, endeavor
to untangle the words as quickly as they can. The first student or pair, to do so
wins. The teacher can then quickly run through each of the scrambled letter groups
on the board, eliciting information about each word or concept. Tip: Don't make
them too difficult.
Variation: Phrases, expressions, and idioms larger than 2 words can also be used
(e.g. "you're having when time flies fun" for "time flies when you're having fun".)
9. Q & A
Write up two separate word lists on the board; an A list and a B list. Assign half the
class the A list and the other half list B. Each student takes each word from their list
and contextualizes it into a coherent question. Ideally, the question should
demonstrate some understanding of the word (e.g. Is your family very hospitable?,
NOT What does hospitable mean?). If students need help, they can consult the
teacher, their notes, or their textbook. When the students have finished writing
their questions, As and Bs pair up and exchange their list of questions. The
students read each question and write an answer to the question on the same piece
of paper. In their answer, they need to use the same word that is underlined in the
question. After the answers are written, the papers are exchanged again and read
by the original student.
example:
Student A's question: Are there any skyscrapers in New York City?
Student B's answer:
Yes, New York City has several skyscrapers.
10. Categories (aka The Alphabet Game)
Divide the class into 3 or 4 teams and assign a secretary for each group. On one
side of the board, write down six categories related to the current topic or syllabus
of your course (e.g. countries, sports, jobs, movies, furniture, verbs, things that are
round). To start the game, the teacher randomly selects a letter of the alphabet and
scribbles it onto the board. Each team must then work together to quickly find a
word for each of the six categories that starts with the chosen letter. The first team
to complete all six categories shouts "stop!" The class then stops writing, and a
member of the team goes to the board to fill in the categories. The teacher then
checks each word with the class and also elicits what other teams had for each
category. If the quickest team has filled in each category correctly, they earn one
point for their team. The teacher then chooses a different letter and another round
is played. The first team to score X number of points wins.
Bibliography
Baddeley, A. 1990. Human Memory: Theory and Practice. Needham Heights,
MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Beck, I.L., M.G. McKeown and R.C. Omanson. 1987. The effects and use of
diverse vocabulary instruction techniques. In. M.G. McKeown and M.E. Curtis
(Eds.) The Nature of Vocabulary Acquisition: 147-63. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Bloom, K.C. and Shuell, T.J. 1981. Effects of massed and distributed
practice on the learning and retention of second-language vocabulary,
Journal of Educational Research, 74, 245-248
Gairns R. and S. Redman. 1986. Working with Words. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Nation, I.S.P. 1990. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newbury
House.
Nation, I.S.P. 2001. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Pimsleur, P. 1967. 'A memory schedule'. Modern Language Journal 51/2: 73-5
Thornbury, S. 2002. How to Teach Vocabulary. Pearson ESL.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XII, No. 7, July 2006
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http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Koprowski-RecylingVocabulary.html
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The Internet TESL Journal
Six Activities for Generating Enthusiasm in the Foreign Language
Classroom
Philip Dave Ambard
philip.ambard [at] usafa.af.mil
United States Air Force Academy (Colorado, USA)
Linda Katherine Ambard
Academy School District 20 (Colorado, USA)
Introduction
Motivating students to use acquired target language skills to listen, speak, read,
and write is key to foreign language instruction. With these goals in mind, it is
helpful to apply everyday activities within the classroom setting to inspire and
instruct students. Utilizing the tools of creativity, humor, friendly competition, and
tie-in to familiar knowledge of everyday items (i.e. songs, school supplies, body
parts, etc.), teachers can create an energized atmosphere conducive to language
acquisition and retention. Below are six classroom activities designed to generate
enthusiasm and create desired environments. These activities can be easily
adapted to fit a wide array of academic settings from elementary students through
adult language learners.
Creating a Friendly Monster
Focus: listen, comprehend, and apply
Unit: body parts, numbers, positioning/spatial
The first activity comes after a brief introduction of the body parts using the target
language. Here the teacher describes a monster from head to toe in a systematic
fashion. Ideally, students stand at the blackboard (recommended if space allows)
with chalk or sit at their desks with paper and writing utensils available. Starting
with the head, the teacher describes a monster with multiple body parts (i.e. three
noses, for arms, two hearts one of which is in his stomach, etc.,) by reading a script
slowly and repeatedly. It is important to repeat each descriptor (i.e. the monster

had four arms with eight fingers on each hand) at least twice to ensure students
fully grasp the meaning. Once a reasonable amount of time has been provided,
then the rest of the monster is described in similar fashion.
Once students have drawn their monster, then recognition is given to each student.
Depending on the number of students, the teacher may have to creatively invent
sufficient awards to ensure all monsters win in at least one category. Categories
can include funniest looking monster, monster most likely to be afraid of its own
reflection, monster most in need of vitamins to fend off anemia, movie star
monster, overly cheerful monster, so on and so forth. Finally, the students name
their monster and the activity ends. The monsters can remain on the board until
the end for students to admire each other's work until the end of class.
Exotic Foods
Focus: conversation (speaking and listening) and some writing
Unit: foods, colors, numbers, animals, temperatures, etc.
This two part activity can be done over the course of two classes or incorporated
with homework. The theme revolves around foods using the target language.
Once the students have been acquainted with the names of foods, then they create
a menu (breakfast, lunch or dinner) with options. The menu should include drinks,
deserts, creative dishes (octopus with spinach sauce over frozen red rice). In fact,
students are encouraged to be as creative as possible using colors, food types,
numbers, invented dish names (i.e. sardine lasagna), temperatures, and any other
descriptors. The menu should include ridiculous prizes such as $17 for three
burned eggs over sardines served on a blueberry bagel.
Once the menus have been created, then students role play using the menus. For
example, students can work in pairs, in groups of three where one person is the
waiter and the others customers, or before the class in a setting that is likely to be
entertaining and instructional. Individual teachers should determine which setting
will work best for each class.
People, Clothes, Colors
Focus: creative expression, writing, speaking, and listening
Unit: clothes, colors, typical activities
For this activity, students need white bond paper (ideally larger than 8.5 x 11) and
a wide variety of markers or crayons. The exercise focuses on a scene or setting
(i.e. a bowling game, soccer game, a classroom, a bus stop, etc.). The teacher has
the option to let students select a specific scene or assign different scenes to
students. Some students may be creative and use an unexpected scene
(encouraged) while others may prefer to be given a setting. Here the students
draw the participants (animals are also an option since they can be clothes too)
using clothing items recently learned. The clothes (scarves, socks, winter coats,
shoes, swimming suit, etc.) are colored in using a variety of shades and colors.
Once the students have finished drawing, then they should write a brief description
of what is happening in the scene. This needs to include who is wearing what
(include colors in the text). Once the text is complete, students present their
drawing using the target language to a partner, small group, or even to the class.
Encourage creativity (within the norms of classroom acceptable material) and
humor. For example, the scene can depict a day at the beach using cats and dogs
instead of people. In this case, a dog may be surfing with sunglasses and a
swimming suit, while two cats are wearing a suit and drinking lemonade.

Scavenger Hunt
Focus: team work, conversation (speaking and listening), some writing
Unit: classroom items, descriptive words, spatial (i.e. near the door or next
to the table)
This activity generates a lot of enthusiasm and encourages team work in the target
language. The teacher selects approximately 25 different items to be used in the
scavenger hunt. These items are cleverly placed throughout the classroom
(teacher designates off-limit places such as desk drawers or private property) prior
to class. The activity begins with a quick explanation of what is expected of the
students. Then, the teacher hands each team (two or three students per team is
ideal) a list of ten items to seek. However, each team receives a list that is slightly
different from the other teams (this explains the need for 25 items).
Initially, the students use dictionaries or other sources to determine what each item
on the list. Then the fun really begins as teams seek to locate these items quickly.
Located items are collected by the teams and brought to their home base (desks).
The final phase involves writing a basic sentence (in the target language) using
each item on the list (ten sentences in this case). These sentences should briefly
describe the item or perhaps disclose where it was located (i.e. the pencil is yellow
or the paper clip was near the blackboard). Again, only the target language is used
throughout the activity.
Music Mania
Focus: listening, reading, word association
Unit: varies depending on song selection
Here the students work on their listening and reading skills. In some cases, singing
is also involved. This activity lasts approximately 10-15 minutes and is quite
relaxing to the students. The teacher selects a song tailored to the age and level of
the students. Naturally, the song is in the target language. For example, use the
song Happy Birthday for little ones or a more contemporary song for older
students. The song should contain ideas, words, themes, or concepts currently
being studied in class.
The activity begins when the song is played twice for the students. After the
second time, the words are placed on the overhead and each student receives a
copy of the words. Now the students hear the song and follow along by reading the
words. In certain classes the students may be encouraged to sing along as well
(more typical of younger classes). Finally, the students are asked to underline
unfamiliar words. This leads to a discussion involving the use of contextual clues to
assign meaning to unfamiliar words. As an option, fairly advanced classes may be
asked to identify verbs in tenses currently being studied (conditional, past, future,
etc.) or other grammar related topics.
Simon Says
Focus: listen, apply instructions, and eventually lead the activity
Unit: body parts, classroom items, movement, spatial
Simon says is a terrific game ideally used towards the end of the class session. In
fact, this game can be used to encourage students to apply themselves during class
with the knowledge that this fun game lurks around the corner.
Initially, the teacher leads the class. Subsequently, students take turns playing the
role of Simon. This game is effective if played periodically and if everyone gets a
chance to lead the class at some point.

The rules are very simple. Using only the target language, the leader has everyone
stand and await instructions. The commands may be as simple as Simon says
touch your nose, Simon says clap twice, Simon says raise your right leg and count
to ten, and so on. The trick is that only commands preceded by the phrase "Simon
Says" are to be followed. Anyone who performs an action that was not preceded by
"Simon Says" (i.e. touch your ears or do two jumping jacks) sits and is out of the
game. Eventually, only a few students remain standing and reducing the number of
players may be quite challenging.
This game captivates everyone and produces a lot of laughter and humor. Even
students who are eliminated from competition want follow along to see how their
classmates perform. Leaders are encouraged to be creative (within established
limits) when issuing instructions. The use of movements, incorporation of body
parts, and application of understood instructions make this fun game a valuable
learning tool.
Digging Deeper into Songs: A Writing Activity
Steven Kenneth Ahola
steboahola [at] hotmail.com
Kansai Gaidai University (Osaka, Japan)
This lesson plan for intermediate and advanced ESL/EFL students offers teachers a
writing activity where the students analyze the lyrics to one of their favorite English
songs
Introduction
It probably isnt unusual for instructors to incorporate music into their lessons at
some point during the year. Perhaps, there are some instructors who have their
students listen to music and write down the words or key phrases they hear on a
prepared handout. When I use music in my classes, I have my students go beyond
just listening to songs by having them analyze the song lyrics. This activity allows
the students to look more closely at the meaning of songs.
Lesson Plan
Levels: Intermediate and advanced
Materials: A sample song with a copy of the lyrics for each student, a sample
song lyrics analysis paper, CD or tape player, paper, and pens
Preparation
Step 1
Find an English song in which the students can easily identify the meaning of the
song and make a copy of the lyrics for each student. I suggest songs written by
singers and songwriters such as the Beatles.
Step 2
Write your own sample song lyrics analysis paper so that students will have a model
to follow while drafting. I recommend that your model be at least one page and
include a short introduction, one or two body paragraphs, and a short conclusion.
The body paragraph or paragraphs should address the meaning of the song by
analyzing specific lyrics.
Step 3
Before the day of the lesson, you should instruct the students to bring in a copy of
some lyrics for an English song which they enjoy; they should know all the
vocabulary in the song. The students may find these lyrics on numerous websites.

The Lesson
Step 1
Explain to the students that the purpose of the lesson is to think more deeply about
songs and to write a paper about the song they brought to class.
Step 2
Give each student a copy of the song lyrics you prepared. With the students
following along, play the song once. Then, help the students understand all of the
songs vocabulary and/or expressions.
Step 3
Ask some questions relating to the song: What happens in the song? What is the
song about? What are some specific lyrics which convey the meaning of the song?
Why do you think the writer wrote the song? During this part of the lesson, it is
important for the students to understand the meaning of the song and its message
to the listeners.
Step 4
Once the students answer the questions in Step 3, introduce the writing activity
where the students will analyze the lyrics from a song of their choosing. I suggest
the students write three paragraphs; paragraph one, a brief introduction telling
about the song and some general information on the musician/group and/or telling
why they like the song; paragraph two, the body of the paper which includes
specific lyrics and analysis of them; paragraph three, a short conclusion. For the
body paragraphs, you should stress to the students that they are not to write a
summary of the song. One way to alleviate this problem is for the students to write
specifically about the lyrics and how those lyrics support the songs message.
Step 5
Read over the sample song lyrics analysis paper you prepared beforehand.
Step 6
Allow students time to draft their paragraphs. Circulate around the room in order to
check if the students are analyzing the song lyrics.
Step 7 (optional)
Students should be given some time (about a week) to draft and type their paper.
Also, they should include the song lyrics with their paper.
Conclusion
This activity provides an opportunity for students to think about the meaning of
songs. This digging deeper seems to connect closely with one of the major
purposes of college: to get students to think more critically about the world around
them. By analyzing song lyrics, the students are making a step into the criticalthinking world. One of my students commented on this activity: Music is a big
part of my life and for me to be able to sit down and analyze one of my favorite
songs was very cool.
Student Created Song Exercises
Paul A. Cunningham
cunningh [at] rikkyo.ac.jp
Rikkyo University (Tokyo, Japan)
There is nothing new about using songs in class. The international appeal of music
can unlock interest in even the shyest and most reserved students by engaging
them in a real listening medium. Songs have often been used to supplement
listening classes, and depending on the content of the song, other classes such as
writing and culture as well. Typically, teachers simply cloze the lyrics of the song
and may prepare several comprehension type questions. Recently, there have been

a number of song book texts published which include ready made listening
exercises to go along with each song.
After creating and sometimes using commercially available song exercises for
years, I started to enlist my students in this activity. After making and doing the
first song exercise in class, I explain to the students how they can make the same
kind of exercises. I then ask each student to select a song and to prepare a similar
exercise on a week by week basis. This not only offers the same benefits as song
exercises that I have brought to class, but it involves the students, too. They need
to think about songs that would work well with this type of activity. They need to
make decisions about how to cloze the song and how to write questions about it.
They need to understand and to think about the meaning of the lyrics. It is also
refreshing for the students and me to hear new songs -- songs that are meaningful
to the students. An added benefit is that the students bring in the CD or tape,
which permits the teacher to follow the copyright law.
Here is a set of guidelines and some suggestions for doing this activity:
appropriate level: all levels
objectives: listening, reading and thinking practice; song exercise design; fun
approximate time: 15-30 minutes per song
preparation time: none for teacher; about one hour per student
necessary materials: none
necessary equipment: a CD or tape player
implementation procedure: teacher makes first song exercise, does the
activity in class, and then asks the students to follow the procedure below
1. Pick a song that you like and is meaningful to you in some way.
2. Make sure the lyrics of the song are clear and easy to follow.
3. Type, write or photocopy the lyrics on one A4 (standard size) sheet of paper
4. Make deletions to the text based on deleting every nth word or selective
words of your choice. (There should not be more than one deletion per line.)
Make sure that each deleted word is clearly audible.
5. In place of each deleted word, draw a line or parentheses wide enough for the
word to be filled in. (Underlined blanks can be a solid line or a broken line to
indicate the number of letters in the deleted word.)
6. Make sure that the chorus of the song is clearly marked.
7. Make 3-5 comprehension type questions that refer to the song and type or
write them on another A4 sheet of paper.
8. Bring these sheets of paper to class, along with the accompanying CD or
tape, the week before your song exercise is due.
9. The teacher has one week to make photocopies and to think about working
the song into the following lesson. (These song exercises can be done on a
stand alone basis, too, (i.e. as a separate activity).
10.
Do the song exercise in class. The teacher can lead this activity or ask
the student who created it to take over. Either way, the student should bring
the answers to class and be prepared to help interpret the lyrics of the song.
Occasionally a student will bring in a song that doesn't work well (such as some
heavy metal songs). In my experience this occurrence has been very rare -- maybe
one per class. Most of the songs exercises have been well conceived, thoughtfully
prepared and have worked well in class.
A Four-Unit EFL Course for Adults
A Complete Set of Handouts to Use in the Classroom

For several years I have been teaching four-day summer classes which are open to
the community at a local college. The classes are open to men and women of all
ages and all backgrounds. As it turns out, the members of the classes are mostly
women of ages spanning over forty years. For each of the four days we have one
theme. I have chosen four themes that I think are the most practical: Meeting
Someone, Shopping, At A Restaurant and Traveling. Each lesson consists of several
segments, most of which are connected to that day's theme. To compensate for the
difference in abilities, I explain almost everything first in English and then in
Japanese.
Day 1
I usually walk into the first day of class and tell everybody my name, where I live
and where I'm from in English. Then, right away, I switch to Japanese and explain
what I expect to do in the next four days. I tell them that we are going to try to use
English as a communication tool, practicing what we already know rather than
trying to learn more words or sentence patterns. I explain that we're all going to
make a lot of mistakes and stress that the only person in the room whose native
language was English was me and so I was the only one who could (but, hopefully
wouldn't) be expected to use perfect English. I have found that the more I go on
about this the happier and the more relaxed the class is.
Next, I explain that I will introduce myself in English and that they should try to
listen for what they can understand. What they can't understand they should guess
at and not let bother them. I introduce myself, talk about my family and Minnesota
(where I'm from) and include an anecdote or two in Japanese. Afterwards, I pass
out the four days of handouts explaining that we probably won't have time to do
everything. I have found that handing out all four day's worth is the best because it
gives those with the time a chance to prepare for the next day. I point out the
introduction Quiz in the Day 1 handout and ask them to fill in as much as they can.
I go around the room helping the ones who find it difficult.
I ask the members to pair up with someone who has about the same English ability
and we practice the Meeting Someone For The First Time section and the What/Who
Is Your Favorite..... section. I try to get everyone to learn to volunteer information
before they ask a question and have constructed my pair practices to reinforce this.
I explain that it is not only a friendlier way to ask someone a question but it is also
easier and less time consuming. With an outgoing group I encourage them to
practice with several partners. For advanced students I suggest that they add their
own questions.
The amount of time that I spend on Pronunciation depends on the group. I talk
about some of the sounds and explain that pronunciation practice is a good way to
improve listening abilities. After I have them repeat the sound groups I read one of
the minimal word pairs and have them circle the words that they hear. If there are
a lot of the mistakes and there seems to be some interest I practice those sounds
again.
Day 2
After warming up with the Day 2 pair practice I continue on with useful Shopping
shopping phrases and a short explanation about money. Having real examples of
US, Canadian, Australian dollars, some coins, a personal checkbook and a credit
card helps the explanation, raises the interest level and helps the stragglers to keep
up. I usually try to take a number of English language catalogs to show, explain
and pass around. Then, I hand out a stack of Thriftway Supermarket newspaper
ads to each pair and had them answer the questions in the Thriftway Quiz. The
outside materials seem to generate a lot of interest. In the quizzes I tried to include

questions that would call attention to interesting differences in customs and be a

starting point for discussions.
Day 3
I take three or four different menus to explain and then a stack of the same kind of
menu to hand out. Tipping and table manners seem to be a good starting point for
discussions.
Day 4
On the last day I take travel brochures, guides and maps to pass around and
discuss. Asking what countries members have been to, where they would like to go,
what to pack for an overseas trip or where to take a visitor from overseas all seem
to generate discussion.
Useful Classroom Sentences
I don`t understand.
I don`t know.
Pardon?
Once more, please.
What does ________________ mean?
How do you say ________________ in English?
How do you spell _______________?
Is this OK?
Getting To Know Each Other
What's your name?
My name is........................................................................
Where do you live?
I live ..................................................................................
Where were you born?
I was born in ....................................................................
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
I have...........................brother(s) and.........................sister(s). .
Where did you go to school?
I went to ............................................................................
Are you married?
Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.
Do you have any children?
Yes, I have ................................................. / No, I don't.
What do you do?
I work at a ...................... / I am a housewife. / I am a student.
What do you like to do?
I like to ..............................................................................
......................................................... ?
............................................................................................
......................................................... ?
............................................................................................
A Quiz . . . . . . . How Much Did You Understand?
Mr. Vorland lives in ______________________ . He lives with his wife, Yuri, his
oldest daughter, ________________ , his youngest daughter, Maia, and his son,
________________. Mr. Vorland was born in _____________________ . He likes
to ________________________ and _________________________ . Minnesota is

unbelievably ________________ in winter. The Minnesota state bird is the

___________________ . There are about ________________ lakes there.
Meeting Someone For the First Time
A Hi, my name is ____________________ .
B Hello, I`m ____________________ . Where are you from?
A I live in Nagoya. How about you?
B I live in Nagoya, too.
A Are you married?
B Yes, I am. (No, I`m not.)
A Do you have any children?
B Yes, I have two children. One daughter is ten and the other is five.
A Nice to meet you.
B Nice to meet you, too.
Write About Yourself
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
What/Who Is Your Favorite . . . . . ?
My favorite fruit is .................. .

What is your favorite fruit?

I like ....................best.

What is your favorite color?

..................... is my favorite food.

What is your favorite food?

.............................................

What is your favorite sport?

.............................................

What is your favorite month?

.............................................

What is your favorite ice cream?

.............................................

Who is your favorite actor?

.............................................

Who is your favorite leader?

.............................................

Who is your favorite musician?

.............................................

Who is your favorite sportsman?

.............................................

Who is your favorite singer?

Pronunciation . . . . . . . Vowels
be
big best am bus do
book all
clock age
need did bread and but juice could caught drop cake
clean fish dress back done new good saw
got day

by
five
like
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

down go
boy first born are clear
how hope coin girl door art ear
loud road toy learn more hard here
a. eat
b. it
6.
a. laid
b. led
7.
a. said
b. sad
8.
a. not
b. note
9.
a. cot
b. caught
10.

air fire
chair hire
hair tire
a. dead
a. made
a. fun
a. fond
a. book

b.
b.
b.
b.
b.

dad
mad
fan
found
back

Getting To Know Each Other . . . . . Partner 1

1. I live (in, near)____________. Where do you live?
2. I like ________________. Do you like sports?
3. I have been to ____________. Do you like to travel?
4. I like ____________. What is your favorite ____________?
5. I like to play ____________. Do you like games?
6. I like ____________. What foods do you like?
7. My telephone number is ____. What`s your telephone number?
8. My blood type is____________. What`s your blood type?
9. I like ____________. What kind of music do you like?
10.
I like to ____________. What do you like to do?
Getting To Know Each Other . . . . . Partner 2
1. I go shopping (in, at) ____________. Where do you go shopping?
2. I was born in ____________. Where were you born?
3. I will go to ____________. Where will you go this summer?
4. I like ____________. Who is your favorite actress? (actor)
5. I like to drink ____________. What do you like to drink?
6. I like ____________. Do you like sports?
7. I like ____________. What is your favorite color?
8. I don`t like ____________. What foods do you dislike?
9. I like ____________. What baseball team do you like?
10.
My hobby is ____________. What is your hobby?
Shopping
The store clerk:
May I help you? / Can I help you?
Are you looking for something?
What size?
Cash or charge?
Have a nice day!
The customer:
I`m looking for a summer sweater.
Where are the shoes?
Do you have winter coats?
How much is this?
Do you have this in size seven?
Money:
bills, coins, cash, personal check, charge card, plastic money, traveler`s
checks,
o 100 cents ( ) = 1 dollar ( $ )

$ .25

twenty-five cents
a quarter

$ .99
ninety-nine cents
$ 2.50
two dollars and fifty cents
two and a half dollars
$ 89.99
eighty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents
eighty-nine ninety-nine

In a Supermarket
A Do you have rice?
B Yes, we do. Its here.
A Where are the soft drinks?
B Over there.
A Thanks.
In a Convenience Store
A How much is this ice cream?
B It`s $ .75.
A Do you have chocolate?
B Sorry, we only have vanilla.
A OK. Ill take two.
In a Shoe Store
A Can I help you?
B Yes, I`m looking for some jogging shoes.
A What color?
B White.
A What size?
B Seven and a half.
A Just a minute..................... Please try them on.
B They`re just right. How much are they?
A They`re $69.99.
B I`ll take them.
A Cash or charge?
B Traveler`s checks.
Make a Shopping Dialog With Your Partner
Where?________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Quiz . . . . . . . Thriftway
When is this sale?
What kind of store is it?
What is cheap in this store?
What is expensive in this store?
How much are Texas Ruby Red Grapefruit?
How much is a half gallon of ice cream?
How much is a 12 pack of Michelob Beer?
How much is a 5 lb. Fresh Maple Leaf Duck?
What can you buy this week that you can`t usually buy?
Would you buy a Garden Salad Mix? Why?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Pronunciation . . . . . . . Consonants
but chance do
for get his just can last many
been change did find go
he July cake long me
back chair dog fast game who jump keep let
most

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

not put
now page
name pay
a. just
a. long
a. see
a. they
a. bog

write same she to think that very was

read say short time thanks they violin one
rich so shoes test thing this visit week
b. dust
6. a. base
b. vase
b. wrong
7. a. cheap b. keep
b. she
8. a. road
b. load
b. day
9. a. hue
b. few
b. dog
10. a. shell
b. sell

Getting To Know Each Other . . . . . Partner 1

1. ____________________ . Do you like sports?
2. ____________________ . Do you listen to the radio every day?
3. ____________________ . Do you like spaghetti?
4. ____________________ . Did you eat breakfast this morning?
5. ____________________ . Did you read a book this week?
6. ____________________ . Do you use the telephone often?
7. ____________________ . Is your birthday in July?
8. ____________________ . What do you like to cook?
9. ____________________ . Was English difficult in high school?
10.
____________________ . Is your family from Nagoya?
Getting To Know Each Other . . . . . Partner 2
1. ____________________ . Do you like to study?
2. ____________________ . Do you go shopping often?
3. ____________________ . Do you enjoy watching television?
4. ____________________ . Did you go to _________ last summer?
5. ____________________ . Did you talk to your friend recently?
6. ____________________ . Did you play sports recently?
7. ____________________ . Is your house near _______________?

8. ____________________ . Do you like summer?

9. ____________________ . Was your father a _____________?
10.
____________________ . Were you a good student?
At a Restaurant
The waitress:
Smoking or non-smoking?
This way, please.
Would you like something to drink?
What kind of beer would you like?
Are you ready to order?
How would you like your steak?
.....(rare, medium, well done)
How would you like your potato?
.....(baked, mashed, fried, French fries)
What vegetable would you like?
What kind of salad dressing would you like?
How would you like your coffee?
.....(black, cream, sugar, decaf)
Would you care for dessert?
Is everything all right?
The customer:
Waitress! / Waiter!
Coffee, please.
Do you have apple pie?
I'd like a hamburger, please.
This is cold.
Check, please.
In a Coffee Shop
A Coffee, please.
B Cream or sugar?
A Black. Do you have decaf?
.....(decaffeinated coffee)
B Yes, we do.
A I'll take decaf.
In a Fast Food Store
A Two cheeseburgers, fries and a coke, please.
B What size coke and fries?
A Medium coke, small fries.
B It'll take about 3 minutes. Is that OK?
A Sure.
In a Restaurant
A A table for two, please.
B Smoking or non-smoking?
A Non-smoking.
B This way, please. . . . Would you like something to drink?
A A bottle of your house white wine.
B Here you are. . . . . . . Are you ready to order?
A I'll have a sirloin steak with a baked potato and onion soup.
B How would you like your steak?

A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A

Medium.
What kind of salad dressing would you like?
What do you have?
Thousand Island, French, Italian and Russian.
Thousand Island.
What would you like for dessert?
Nothing, thanks.
. . . . . . Is everything OK?
Yes, everything's fine.

Make a Shopping Dialog With Your Partner

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Quiz . . . . Mangy Moose
1. Is this an expensive restaurant?
2. Is the salad bar big?
3. How much are two dozen wings?
4. How much is coconut cream pie?
5. How much is Alaskan King Crab?
6. How much is Beef Stir Fry?
7. What is made from scratch daily?
8. Can you find a Japanese word?
9. What restaurant would you like to go to?
10.
What would you like to order?
Pronunciation . . .
you zoo
black
use zero blood
year zebra blow

. . . . Consonants
bread beauty
draw
break bugle
dream
break beautiful dress

glad great human class cry

glass green humor clean crazy
glove grow huge climb cream
1. a. glass
b. grass
2. a. Sue
b. zoo
3. a. hues
b. fuse
4. a. fly
b. fry

dwell
fly
from few
dwarf
floor front future
dweller flat
friend fuse

quit
place
present school screen
quick play
pretty sky
scream
quiet please price score screw
6. a. very
b. berry
7. a. climb
b. crime
8. a. grow
b. glow
9. a. scream b. screen

5.

a. pray

b. play

10. a. police

b. please

Getting To Know Each Other . . . . . Partner 1

1. I have been to __________ . Have you?
2. I like to eat ____________ . Do you?
3. I like to go to _____________. Do you?
4. I like to watch ____________ . Do you?
5. I enjoy ___________ . Do you?
6. I often ____________ . Do you?
7. I am ___________ centimeters tall. How about you?
8. I can ____________ . Can you?
9. I study English because ____________ . Why do you study?
10.
I sometimes _____________. What about you?
Getting To Know Each Other . . . . . Partner 2
1. Where is ___________?
2. What is north ( south, east, west) of ____________?
3. Which way is ____________?
4. How far is _____________ from Nagoya?
5. How can I go to __________________?
6. How many kilometers is it to _________________?
7. How much time does it take to get to _________ from here?
8. What is the best way to go to ______________?
Traveling
Asking Directions:
Where is the post office?
Which way is the post office?
How far is the post office?
How can I get to the post office?
Giving Directions:
Turn right at the bank.
It's two miles east of here.
Go north two blocks.
.....(north, south, east, west)
It's next to the Esso gas station.
In Front Of The Department Store
A Excuse me. Where is Thriftway Supermarket?
B It's near the post office.
A How can I get there?
B Go south three blocks. It's on the left.
A Thanks.
Looking For the International Hotel
A Is this the way to the International Hotel?
B Yes, it is.
A How far is it?
B About 5 minutes.
A Thanks.
Staying At a Hotel
Useful Sentences:
This is Itoh in room 307.

Please wake me at six.

Please pick up my suit for dry cleaning.
I'd like a bottle of champagne.
When does the bar open?
Please pick up my bags in room 307.
At The Hotel
A My name is Tanaka. I have a reservation.
B Yes, your room is 307. Here's your key.
A Please send up my bags.
B Yes, sir. / Yes, ma'am.
Sightseeing
Useful Sentences:
What tours do you have of the city?
Where is the museum?
What tourist attractions do you recommend?
I'd like to rent a car.
Do you have a map?
Where can I find information?
At The Front Desk
A What tourist attractions do you recommend?
B The aquarium is nice.
A How can I get there?
B Take the number 25 bus.
A How much does the bus cost?
B It costs $1.50.
A How much time does it take?
B About 20 minutes.
A What time does the aquarium open?
B It opens at 9:30.
A Thanks.
Make a Dialog With Your Partner
Where?________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Quiz . . . . . Jackson Hole Picture Map

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

What state is this map from?

Is the food good at the Sugarfoot Cafe?
What number is the Village Inn near?
How many banks are there in Jackson Hole?
What restaurant is near the 49er Inn?
What are two Chinese Restaurant names ?
What would you like to do and see?

Pronunciation
square shrine
three
squid shrimp
throw
squeak shrink
laughs maps
graphs steps
coughs trips

. . . . . . . Consonants
sleep small snow speak

spring

stamp

straight

slow

spray

stand

strong

slipper smile

snake speech
snore sport

spread

star

guests belt bath six

rests adult with likes
tests insult teeth cakes

1.

a. tense

b. tenth

2.
3.
4.
5.

a.
a.
a.
a.

b.
b.
b.
b.

bath
rest
pass
square

smell

bass
rests
paths
scare

street

hats
baths cant
cats
deaths went
visits paths count
a.
6.
b. straight
straights
7. a. tease b. teeth
8. a. throw b. throat
9. a. stray
b. spray
10. a. THE
b. END

throat
tenth
seventh
ninth

The Internet TESL Journal

Preparing EFL Learners for Oral Presentations
Introduction
This article provides tips and advice to reduce EFL learners' anxieties for oral
presentation. Step-by-step procedures of how to prepare students for oral
presentations are included: (1) handout guidelines; (2) grouping learners; (3)
choosing topics and gathering information; (4) handling technical problems; (5)
holding Q & A sessions; and (6) preparing peer and teacher evaluation forms.
Oral presentation is an effective communicative activity that has been widely
adopted by EFL conversation teachers to promote oral proficiency. However, when
oral presentations are assigned in class, the teacher will get either complete silence
or grumbles from students who find the idea of oral presentations frustrating and
intimidating. Students are overwhelmed with the research and communication skills
that are necessary for a successful presentation. Some serious students who invest
time and effort into an oral presentation do not always get the intended outcomes.
Other students try to get through the ordeal as quickly as possible, but do not
improve their speaking skills under such stressful situations. Thus oral
presentations can be a time-consuming project with no guarantee of a satisfactory
performance.
The question of whether the adaptation of a mainly student-centered approach
would be appropriate in EFL context, especially in Asia, where are still basically
teacher-centered is often raised. Many Asian teachers wonder how many students
can learn from such experience because oral presentations take quite a large of
amount of class time. An obvious gap between the current level of performance and

the intended learning experience often results in a breakdown of language

production and frustration for students.
The need for establishing a comfortable and low-threat learning environment, from
the perspective of second language acquisition, has long been emphasized and
recognized. The less anxious and more relaxed the learner, the better language
acquisition proceeds. The delivery of an oral presentation is a source of extreme
anxiety. Anxiety causes performance to deteriorate and affects novice speakers'
self-esteem and confidence. Particularly for Asian students, oral presentations are a
face-threatening activity.
However, oral presentations, if properly guided and organized, provide a learning
experience and teach life long skills that will be beneficial to learners in all school
subjects as well as later in their careers. Among the many advantages of making
oral presentations for the students are: bridging the gap between language study
and language use; using the four language skills in a naturally integrated way;
helping students to collect, inquire, organize and construct information; enhancing
team work; and helping students become active and autonomous learners.
In addition, with the availability of new technology both at school and home,
students incorporate video cameras, slide projectors, PowerPoint, VCR/DVD and
other visual aids into their presentations which become more exciting and
interesting.
Coping with Speech Anxiety and Practicing Presentation Skills
Speech anxiety and limited presentation skills are the major problems that lead to
learners' oral presentation failures. In order to help students effectively cope with
their fear of oral presentations, it is essential for teachers to acknowledge that
speech anxiety is perfectly normal. Having an open discussion on speech anxiety
will assist students to feel that they are not alone. Fortunately, we can get some
insights from psychotherapy and speech communication literature, which can be
used to assist students to overcome their public speaking anxieties. The following
tips and advice to reduce their anxieties will certainly better prepare students for
oral presentations.
1. Emphasize the Difference Between Spoken English and Written English.
A total dependence on memorization is the pattern followed by most EFL presenters
who usually have trouble adapting information to spoken English for the audience.
The reading of written English, with complex sentences and low frequency words,
further impedes audience's listening comprehension. Instead of using a
conversational tone and communicative English, they have long pauses while
fiddling with their notes. The audience feels bored when they have to listen to a
tedious reading or word-for-word memorized speech from a presenter who reads
rapidly and monotonously throughout the presentation. Reciting from passages
copied down from references makes the presentations sound canned, machine-like
and dull. A listener's attention span shortens when he/she cannot follow the speech
and the speaker gets worse when he senses that his listeners are inattentive and
losing interest in his presentation. Thus presenters often lose command of their
voice, tone, and pacing. Students should use note cards as reminders of what they
are going to say. It is much easier to establish rapport with the audience by only
referring to the note cards occasionally and make eye contact with the audience.
2. Explain the Purpose of Visual Aids.
There are many advantages in using visual aids during the presentation. Visual aids
can create a powerful effect, help keep students' attention, and illustrate main
ideas. The basic rule is to use visual aids to support the presentation, not to
dominate it. However, the disadvantage of overusing visual aids is that the

attention of the audience will be divided and students may stand aside and have
visual aids take their place.
3. Help Students to Conquer the Fear of Making Grammatical or
Pronunciation Errors.
Inform the learners that they will not be graded by the mistakes they make. Hand
out the grading criteria to all learners while assigning this activity. Good English
learners are willing to take risks and accept errors. Poor English learners like to use
only language that they are certain is correct.
4. Develop Students' Summarizing and Outlying Skills.
If students' past English learning experiences have been basically teachercontrolled and test-oriented, they used to work on memorizing detailed
grammatical rules, vocabulary out of contexts and isolated phrases or expressions
by which their test grades based on. Learning to produce a well-organized and
coherent outline can be very helpful to learners since an outline can give audiences
a clear and concise overview of the key points of the talk.
Preparing students these prerequisite skills is important in getting them ready for
any project work, otherwise students will feel that the teacher has just dumped
them into the sea to struggle for survival. They may feel frustrated and
overwhelmed. Passive resistance and grumbling are common signs manifested by
students who do not appreciate and are even hostile to this project. Lack of
experience is usually the main producer of student stress and nervousness.
Experience builds confidence, which is vital to effective oral presentations.
The Teacher's Role
Working with students on oral presentations is a challenging job for teachers
because it not only involves training in other disciplines such as speech
communication and public speaking, but also demands more of teachers in terms of
time and effort in lesson planning and teaching strategies. On the student's part,
the student-centered activity asks students to be responsible for their own learning.
When a teacher moves from the traditional role of teacher as an authoritative
expert to the new role of facilitator of learning, students feel a drastic change. With
such a student-led activity as oral presentation, teachers need to have some
psychological preparation for meeting the resistance from students, since some of
them are not receptive to project learning and are uncomfortable when given
autonomy. Furthermore, the importance of creating a supportive learning
atmosphere, acquiring interaction skills, incorporating project work, developing
cooperative learning skills and applying computer/technology in enhancing
teachers' facilitative skills should be emphasized. The teacher is the guide,
organizer, consultant, resource person, and supporter.
The teacher's role in oral presentations not only involves preparing detailed
guidelines, organizing groups, helping students to select topics, guiding their
research and helping them learn the use of various visual aids, but also the holding
of Q & A sessions, providing feedback on the sequencing of ideas, and evaluating
their performance. Step-by-step procedures of how to prepare students for
successful oral presentations are as follows:
Step 1: Handout Guidelines
Since oral presentations involve multi-skills, a carefully planned and constructed
guideline will help develop students' receptiveness to oral presentations. Listing
instructional objectives and explaining reasons for this activity can increase student
participation and may always result in a heightening of satisfaction and
achievement.

Hand out assignment forms (Appendix A) to organize students and help them
distribute jobs among themselves.
Stress the time limit of presentations. If it is a twenty five-minute
presentation, it will probably be thirty-five minutes in class, allowing for
pauses, operating machines, and receiving questions from students. The
teacher may need another five minutes of class time to have students fill out
peer evaluation forms.
Offer students a choice of giving the presentation in class or taping their
presentation on a video. However, live presentations work much better than
video presentations that usually detach the audience from the presenter.
Grading criteria clearly states the teacher's expectations for presentations.
Step 2: Grouping and Scheduling Student Presentations
It is challenging to plan presentations for a large EFL class. Group projects with 4-5
students in one group will save class time, develop cooperative learning skills and
reduce the anxiety of being a single presenter. In order to have a dynamic group,
with a feeling of cohesiveness and togetherness, even though learners come from
diverse learning styles, the teacher needs to be familiar with a variety of
cooperative group techniques.
Groups of 4-5 students in a class of 50 work best1 and scheduling two groups
every other week throughout the semester is a good plan..
Have students choose their own partners, since it is much easier for students
to work out their own schedules for getting together outside the classroom. If
the teacher groups students from different departments together, there can
be time conflicts among them.
One student is chosen as the coordinator or leader, responsible for evenly
distributing the assignments among members.
Step 3: Choosing Topics and Gathering Information
Projects provide opportunities to study interesting topics in detail, and to
explore factors of successful presentation planning. Learners are free to choose any
topic they prefer in three categories: event-or goal-oriented; student-initiated; and
in-depth topic studies, in order to enhance their self-expression and creativity. Lowlevel students are not required to choose a topic that necessitates research,
although they are encouraged to do so. It is interesting to see the variety of topics
presented by students. Some students enjoy making skits of fairy tales. The reason
for that may be their limited English proficiency, maturity and interest. Some
advanced students' topics deal more with issues pertinent to university students or
current events.
Topics presented by students in the past were categorized as follows: performing
arts, culture and customs, fairy tales and short stories, current issues, sports,
holidays and American culture, the student's field of specialization, hobbies, scripts
from the TV shows, entertainment and shows, traveling and tourist spots, and
newspaper articles.
Inform students where the resources are --English newspapers, magazines,
websites, questionnaires, surveys, interviews, library research, radio
programs, English teaching institutes, travel brochures, and video.
Show topics chosen by students in previous classes and discuss the strengths
and weaknesses of them. Use some previous students' videotapes as demos.
Step 4: Handling Technical Problems
It is important for students to know in advance how to handle the
equipment themselves. A discussion about the equal importance of both the
rehearsal and the performance will prevent students from technical surprises and

panic on the day of the presentation. Usually, students concentrate all their
energies on performance and forget to check machines in advance and assume
everything will happen as they plan or expect. Often they expect the teacher to fix
their technical problems at the last minute. However, wasted class time in fixing
facility machinery can adversely affect the presentation, and even be a cause of
failure at worst or the need for presenters to represent their material on another
day.
Show supporting materials they can use, such as posters, videotapes, props,
artwork, costumes...etc.
Tell students what facilities are available in the language lab and the school
such as data viewer, VCR/DVD, tape recorder, PowerPoint, and slide projector
etc. Answer possible problems that they may come up with their equipment.
For example, for outdoor V8 shooting, students need to be aware of sound
effect.
Students should know how to handle the equipment themselves and make
sure everything is working a week before the presentation. They need to
come to the class early to set up the equipment and become familiar with it.
Have time count for reviewing video clips and wind them to the correct spot.
Make sure writings and illustrations are big enough to be seen from the back
of the room.
Prepare a microphone for learners in advance to make sure good voice
quality, so the teacher does not need to ask shy presenters to project their
voice in a big room.
Ask students to keep eyes on the audience when talking about transparencies
or PowerPoint. If possible, control the lighting by not turning off the lights
completely and always leave a light on in the back of the room, so the
audience can still remain eye contact with the presenter.
Also remind students to refer to the image or texts on the projector. Allow
time for the audience to read longer texts, otherwise there is no point putting
them on.
Step 5: Holding Q & A Sessions
These short sessions are like quality control that is necessary and helpful in
ensuring effective presentations. Teachers can spot possible difficulties students
might encounter and prevent the problems.
Check with the group about what they are going to do a week before their
presentation.
Encourage students to contact the teacher if they run into any problems; for
example, students may have difficulties pronouncing words.
Step 6: Preparing Peer and Teacher Evaluation Forms
The peer evaluation form (Appendix B) provides the presenters with feedback from
other students. Students will not only evaluate their peers, but also learn each
group's strong and weak points from presentations. The teacher evaluation form
(Appendix C) should be given to students while assigning the work. It can be used
as a guideline for students to prepare their presentations. In this way, students are
informed in advance of the criteria by which their presentations will be evaluated. It
is helpful for students to know the teacher's expectations and grading criteria.
Individual accountability and grades based on the average of the team's
individual scores can help to avoid "free-rider effect" and the "sucker effect"
these pitfalls of using cooperative learning.
Conclusion

Even though there are some arguments about the appropriateness and constraints
of oral presentation in an EFL learning environment as mentioned earlier, however,
with structured planning and organization, oral presentations can be a beneficial
and enjoyable activity with learners. Both teachers and students are expecting a
break away from textbooks. Each week, students come to class with great
anticipation and excitement. It is a rewarding experience for low achieving students
who had either given up on English or were intimated by past English learning
experiences.
The introduction of oral presentations to EFL classrooms provides a rewarding and
stimulating experience both for teachers in developing facilitating skills and for
students in training themselves to have confident presentations in public.
Note
1
The oral presentation activity was developed for sophomore listening and speaking
lab classes at Soochow University, Taiwan. It is a one-year required course for all
majors. Usually, a class of forty-five students will have a mixture of students from
five or more departments.
Appendix A
Assignment Form
Group Number:_________________Presentation Date:______________
Topic:__________________________________________________
Summary of Content:
Resources:__
Group Coordinator:_______________________________________
Group Members:
Name Role Assignment Grade
1_________________________________________________________
2_________________________________________________________
3_________________________________________________________
4_________________________________________________________
5_________________________________________________________
Appendix B
Student Evaluation Form
Topic______________________________________________________
What did you like best about this presentation?
__________________________________________________________
What are some ways to improve this presentation?
__________________________________________________________
Did you learn anything new? What skills or advice could you use in the future?
__________________________________________________________
Appendix C
Teacher Evaluation Form
Group
Number____Date____Topic___________________________________________
Preparation
o ___came to the class early to set up equipment
o ___made sure all equipments in working condition
o ___turned in assignment sheet
Organization
o ___clear introduction
o ___logical development

___strong conclusion
o ___typed and clear outline
Content
o ___variety of resources
o ___amount of research conducted
o ___originality
Presentation
o ___held audiences' attention
o ___spoke with note cards
o ___Eye contact
o ___time control
o ___volume of voice
o ___effectiveness of visual aids
Oral skills
o ___adapted the information for the audience (communicative English)
o ___clarity & fluency
o ___provided discussion questions or class activities
o ___involved the audience
Overall Group Rating_____________
Teacher comments__________________________________________
o

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 3, March 2002

http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/King-PublicSpeaking.html
Evaluation Sheet for ESL/EFL Speech Practice
Connell Wayne Regner
cwregner@hotmail.com
Kashiwa Municipal Board of Education (Japan)
This is a sheet for grading students' overall speech performance and gives them
immediate feedback on their main strengths and weaknesses. It's good for helping
students prepare for speech contests.
Student's name: _____________________ Class: ___________________
Scores : 1 to 10 Highest Score 10 (circle appropriate numbers)
Physical Performance
body language, eye contact
etc.,

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pronunciation and intonation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Clarity of expression and voice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

projection
Speed of delivery

too slow 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 too

fast

Grammatical accuracy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Score out of 50 ________________________

Practicing Pronunciation through Proverbs

Yi Yang
yangyi [at] gse.harvard.edu
Practicing pronunciation can be very tedious. Proverbs, however, will give fun. For
example, when practicing "a", students will prefer reading "No pains, no gains" to
some monotonous sentences such as "He looks pale today."
Sentences with several words involving the same sound are good materials for
practicing that sound. Many proverbs contain the rhetorical devices related to sound
such as alliteration, rhyme and repetition, and thus very suitable for pronunciation
exercises (For instance: Practice makes perfect. / Where there is a will, there is a
way.) Repeating a sound two or more times in a short sentence can give the
student a deeper impression, and the euphonic rhythm can keep the boredom
away.
The following is a list of proverbs that can be used for pronunciation exercises.
Sounds are marked with boldface instead of being represented by phonetic symbols
because the American and British symbols are different, and some symbols may be
distorted on the internet.
Vowels
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Every bullet has its billet.
A good wife and health is a man's best wealth. / East and west, home is
best.
A drowning man will catch at a straw.
He laughs best who laughs last.
He who has an art has everywhere a part.
A little pot is soon hot. / A spot is most seen on the finest cloth.
New lords, new laws. / Walls have ears.
One man beats the bush, another man catches the bird.
Well begun is half done.
Finders keepers, losers weepers.
Kind words are the music of the world. / The early bird catches the worm.
Haste makes waste.
Little strokes fell great oaks. / As you sow you shall mow.
Good advice is beyond price. / Might makes right.
An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of learning.
No joy without annoy.
Constant dripping wears away a stone.
Consonants
Penny wise, pound foolish./ Practice makes perfect.
There is nothing which has been bitter before being ripe.
Time and tide wait for no man.
A bird in hand is worth two in the wood. / Every dog has his day.
Care killed the cat.
A good name is better than a golden girdle.
Fair feathers make fair fowls. / Birds of a feather flock together.
Even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea.
Something is better than nothing. / Birds of a feather flock together.
Least said, soonest mended. / More haste, less speed.
A lazy youth, a lousy age.
No sunshine but hath some shadow. / Better be sure than sorry.

Labor is often the father of leisure.

Work has bitter root but sweet fruit.
There is no royal road to learning.
It is hard to be high and humble. / Do on the hills as you would do in the
hall.
Everybody has his merits and faults.
No garden without its weeds.
Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
Every Jack has his Jill.
Try before you trust.
Better be drunk than drowned.
A miss is as good as a mile. / Many a little makes a mickle.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Seeing is believing. / Everything must have a beginning.
Look before you leap. / A cracked bell can never sound well.
Willful waste makes woeful want. / Where there is a will, there is a way.
Students could later be asked to interpret the meaning of the proverbs orally or in
writing, which will lead the pronunciation activity naturally to a speaking or writing
activity.

Intonation - It Does Matter!

Rebecca Allen
auroralanguages [at] fuse.net
Aurora Languages (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA)
This is a fun, game-like activity that helps students see just how important
intonation is.
Introduction
As ESL instructors we realize how important intonation is, but at least, often in my
experience, students are skeptical that developing good intonation is crucial to
being properly understood. This activity helps them to see just how important
intonation is. Also, it is fun and works as a good filler, or "wake-up/attention
getter" activity.
You could copy-paste the worksheet below to distribute to students, or simply cut
the dialogs up and pass them out.
Why Does Intonation Matter?
Often when speaking a foreign language, we concentrate on grammar and
disregard intonation. However, intonation is very important for conveying meaning.
Do each dialog once for each different situation. Dont be afraid to exaggerate the
intonation patterns.
Dialog One
A: Yes
B: No
A: Yes
B: No!
Situations
1. Two frustrated people are having a minor argument.
2. Two angry people are fighting.
3. Two love struck people are having a playful argument.
Dialog Two
Hi, how are you today? I havent seen you in a long time.

Situations
1. Two friends who haven't seen each other in a while meet.
2. You spot a friends baby. You bend over and start talking to the small child.
3. Two lovers meet. The guy is really angry because his girlfriend has been
ignoring him completely.
Dialog Three
A: The house is on fire.
B: Go tell the neighbor.
Situations
1. Two people live near each other and have been trying to commit insurance
fraud. When their plan finally succeeds, they are so happy.
2. Two friends panic when they see a house on fire. They want to warn the
neighbor so that he will be safe.
3. You are in your yard sunbathing. All of a sudden, some person in a panic
runs up to you, and demand to use your phone to call 911. You dont want to
be disturbed. You suggest that he bother your neighbor.
Questions for Discussion
1. How can intonation affect your daily communications in English?
2. What intonation pattern(s) should be you be using for your daily
communication?
3. What are some steps that you can take to improve your intonation?
Current Issue - Previous Issues - Activities for ESL Students - Things for ESL
Teachers - TESL/TEFL Links - Search - Copyright
The Internet TESL Journal
Teaching the English Newspaper Effectively
Kenji Kitao
Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan)
k.kitao [at] lancaster.ac.uk
This is an excerpt from "Culture and Communication" (1995) Kyoto: Yamaguchi
Shooten.
Reprinted with permission.
Many Japanese students would like to read English newspapers, but they find it too
difficult, in part because they do not know enough about the conventions of
newspapers and newspaper articles. Since the early 1980s, I have been teaching
students how to read newspapers. As a result of the lessons students became
interested in reading newspapers and could learn to read them independently using
a dictionary.
For this series of lessons, I developed materials to introduce English newspapers
and exercises to help students understand newspapers (Kitao & Kitao, 1989; Kitao
& Kitao, 1991; Kitao & Kitao, 1992). The following is a list of basic areas I cover in
these lessons and a review test that I devised to help students identify the concepts
they had been learning.
1. Importance of Reading English Newspapers
2. English Newspapers Available in Japan
3. Organization of English Newspapers
o news stories
o feature stories
o business section
news stories
feature stories

the stock market report

exchange rates for foreign currency
o sports section
news stories
feature stories
o columns
o editorials
o Ietters to the editor
o reviews
o schedules
o cultural events
o other
comics
classified advertisements
weather reports
Headlines
o one- or two-sentence summaries of the article
o deletion of short words (articles, "be" verbs, etc.)
o verb tenses (different from ordinary use)
o abbreviations
o short words instead of common longer words
Organization of News Stories
o bylines, credit lines, and datelines
o arrangement of news articles (inverted pyramid)
o leads
Grammar of Newspaper Articles
o shorter sentences
o omitting relative clauses
o using more noun phrases
o avoiding using "of" forms and prepositional phrases
Specifying the Source of Information
Objective; Avoiding Writer's Opinions

4.

5.

6.

7.
8.

The following is the review exercises which students do using any copy of an
English newspaper, which is included in the teacher's manual of our textbooks.
REVIEW EXERCISES
Year_____Dept._____Number_______ Name_________________
Use a copy of an English newspaper and answer the following questions. If the
question is not applicable (for example, if the type of article asked about in the
question does not appear on that day). write "NA."
1. How many pages are there?
2. How many pages are taken up by news, business, sports, TV and radio
schedules, and feature stories?
3. What is on each page?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. -

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11.
12.
4. What is the most important news story? Where is it? How many columns does
it take? What percentage of the page does it take up? Does it have a photo?
5. What is the second most important news story? Where is it? How many
columns does it take? What percentage of the page does it take up? Does it
have a photo?
6. How many news articles are there on the front page? How many of them are
domestic news? international news?
7. Classify the news articles on the front page according to dateline, credit line.
and whether they have a byline.
dateline
credit line
with byline / without byline
8. Where is the index? What page do you find news articles on? business news?
radio and TV schedules? sports news?
9. Where do you find editorials? columns? feature stories? information about the
stock market?
10.
Is the editorial reprinted from another newspaper? If so, from what
newspaper? When was it originally published?
11.
On what page do you find reviews? What is being reviewed? Is the
reviewer Japanese or non-Japanese?
12.
On what page do you find TV and radio schedules? What else do you
see on that page?
13.
On what page(s) do you find comics? How many are there?
14.
On what page(s) do you find classified ads? How many are there? What
are they about?
15.
On what page(s) do you find letters to the editor? How many are there?
Were they written by Japanese or non-Japanese people? If any of the letters
were written by non-Japanese people, can you tell what country the writer
came from?
16.
On what page(s) do you find reprints of articles? How many are there?
What are they about? What publications are they from?
17.
Where do you find international news articles? domestic news articles?
How many of each are there?
18.
What are the three largest headlines, in order of size?
a.
b.
c.
19.
Look for examples of headlines with the following characteristics, and fill
in the chart with the page number, the headline, and the headline rewritten
as a regular sentence.
a. "and" omitted and replaced with a comma
b. a "be" verb omitted
c. a pronoun omitted
d. an article omitted

e. a simple present tense verb that refers to a past event

f. an -ing form of the verb
g. "to" and a verb
h. a past participle used for the passive voice
i. three headlines with abbreviations for names of countries or regions
j. an abbreviation with an apostrophe
k. an abbreviation with a period
1. the name of a capital city used to refer to the government of that country
m. three other abbreviations
n. three short words often used in headlines
Page
Headline
Regular Sentence
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
20.
Find three wire services, besides American and Japanese ones. What
are they?
21. a.
22.
23. b.
24.
25. c.
26.
Find three articles with bylines. Who wrote the articles?
27.
headline
author
28. a.
29.
30. b.
31.

32. c.
33.
Find three articles with datelines outside of Japan and the US. Where
did the articles come from? What were the dates?
34.
headline
place
date
35. a.
36.
37. b.
38.
39. c.
40.
Find leads with the following information:
a. what, who, where, and when
b. what, who, where, and why
c. what, who, where, and how
41.
Find one sentence where a relative pronoun is avoided by putting the
noun phrase before the noun it modifies.
42.
Find a sentence where a noun or noun phrase has been substituted for
the name of a person or organization, in order to give more information about
that person or organization.
a.
b.
43.
Find two examples of sentences where "of" is avoided.
a.
b.
44.
Find a direct and an indirect quote.
a.
b.
45.
How many feature stories are there? Choose five feature articles, and
fill out the following chart.
46.
Headline
Topic
Author(s)
47. a.
48.
49. b.
50.
51. c.
52.
53. d.
54.
55. e.
56.
57.
How many sports news or sports feature stories are there? Choose four
sports stories and fill out the following chart.
58.
Headline
News or Sport
Japanese or feature?
59. international?
60. a.
61.
62. b.
63.
64. c.
65.
66. d.
67.

68.
Where can you find an editorial? What is the topic? Is the topic of local,
national, or international interest? What is the editor's position on that issue?
69.
Fill out the chart below with information about the columns that appear
in the paper.
70.
Page
Column
Headline
Topic
71. Author
72.
73. a.
74.
75. b.
76.
77. c.
78.
79. d.
80.
81.
List the articles on the business page. How many of these are
international?
82.
What is the selling price of the yen against the dollar?
83.
What was the Dow Jones average?
84.
How many classified ads do you find? What are they?
85.
Are there any foreign movies or other foreign programs on TV in the
Kansai area? What are they? What channel are they on?
86.
What subject is the advice column about? Is the person giving advice
Japanese or non-Japanese? What is the advice given?
87.
What topics do you find digests for (news, business, etc.)? How many
individual stories are there in each digest?
88.
What else do you find in this newspaper?
List of References
Kitao, K., & Kitao, S. K. (1989). Reading English newspapers. Tokyo: Kirihara
Shoten.
Kitao, K., & Kitao, S. K. (1991). Hajimete yomu eiji shinbun [Reading English
newspapers for the first time]. Tokyo: Kirihara Shote
Writer:
Kenji Kitao received his MA and PhD in TESOL from the University of Kansas. He is a
professor at Doshisha University. He is co-author of "Intercultural Communication:
Between Japan and the United States", "Hajimete no CAI", "Computer Riyo no
Gaikokugo Kyoiku", and numerous English language textbooks.
Source:
Kitao, K., Kitao, S. K., Headrick Miller, J. Carpenter, J. W., & Rinner C. (Eds.).
(1995). "Culture and communication". Kyoto: Yamaguchi Shoten. pp. 291-298.
ISBN 4-8411-0787-8 C3082
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. II, No. 3, March 1996
http://iteslj.org/

Read Aloud and Spot the Differences

Greg Goodmacher
goodgreg-kwassui.ac.jp
Kwassui College (Nagasaki, Japan)
This is similar to the conversation activity in which students look at pictures,
describe the pictures, and discover the picture differences. However, this is done
with a reading text and students read and listen. In the example below, which is
done in pairs, one student reads a text aloud about one animal. The other student
listens and reads a text silently until he or she realizes there is a difference . This
student informs the partner of the difference in the text. Students write the
differences on their texts, and after each student has read aloud, they discuss the
differences and decide which information is correct. The teacher can provide the
students with a new text which has all the correct information. Students scan it to
discover the correct answers.
Partner A
Partner A Reads Aloud
Tigers are large carnivores of the dog family. They live in the forests of Asia. Their
yellow-orange fur has many purple stripes. Males may reach 3 meters in length and
weigh 290 kilograms. Tigers usually live alone. They can swim well, but cannot
climb well. Tigers usually hunt at noon. Many species of tigers are endangered
because people kill them to make medicines from their body parts and jackets from
their fur. Habitat destruction has also endangered them. Baby tigers are called
cubs. The average tiger lives sixty years
Partner A Reads Silently
Lions are large carnivores of the cat family. They mostly live in the grassy plains of
Africa. The Roman lion used to live in many parts of Asia, but it is now endangered
because of hunting and overfishing. The male lion usually has a long, thick mane
and may reach 2.7 meters in length and weigh 180 kilograms. Lions sometimes live
in large groups of up to 30 lions. Adult lions are called cubs. The average lion lives
fifteen years.
Partner B
Partner B Reads Silently
Tigers are large carnivores of the cat family. They live in the forests of Europe.
Their yellow-orange fur has many black stripes. Males may reach 4 meters in length
and weigh 290 kilograms. Tigers usually live alone. They can swim well, but cannot
climb well. Tigers usually hunt at night. Many species of tigers are endangered
because people kill them to make medicines from their body parts and jackets from
their bones. Habitat destruction has also endangered them. Baby tigers are called
cubs. The average tiger lives sixteen years.
Partner A Reads Aloud
Lions are large herbivores of the cat family. They mostly live in the grassy plains of
South America. The Asiatic lion used to live in many parts of Asia, but it is now
endangered because of hunting and habitat destruction. The male lion usually has a
long, thick mane and may reach 2.7 meters in length and weigh 1,800 kilograms.
Lions sometimes live in large groups of up to 30 lions. Baby lions are called cubs.
The average lion lives fifty years.

The Newspaper Scavenger Hunt

Greg Goodmacher
goodgreg-kwassui.ac.jp
Kwassui College (Nagasaki, Japan)
The newspaper scavenger hunt is a good reading exercise which familiarizes
students with the format of local English newspapers. It is also a fun way to
practice scanning and skimming reading skills. Additionally, students will become
aware of important news events.
When making a scavenger hunt, decide on the level of difficulty that you want your
students to encounter, and choose appropriately. You might also take into
consideration which news events or sections of the newspaper are of interest to
your students, as well as any possible follow up activities to the scavenger hunt.
Scavenger hunts can also be made with novels, short stories, phone books, and
many other texts. The following is an example of a scavenger hunt made with The
Japan Times.
Easy Level
1. How much is the newspaper?
2. What are the names of the comic strips?
3. What is the weather forecast for today in Tokyo?
4. What sports are shown in photographs?
5. What is the name of an author who is "singing like a caged bird?"
6. What is the name of the world`s longest suspension bridge?
A Little More Difficult Level
7. Who will marry in Barcelona?
8. How much are llama vests selling for in Vermont?
9. What is causing forests to loose public support?
10. What TV program is on at 8:54 on channel 5 in Nagoya?
11. Why are Singaporeans eating birds` nest soup?
More Difficult
12. How much beef did Nebraska export to South Korea last year?
13. What percent of schools in Japan have access to the internet?
14. What is your opinion of a speech made by an Australian at the United Nations?
15. Paraphrase the main idea of the explanation given by the Ministry of Education
to explain why children do not think for themselves?
A Fun Reading Comprehension Activity
Mehmet Ali Akgn
makgun [at] indiana.edu
Many EFL teachers are familiar with the type of reading comprehension exercise in
which students are required to read the passage and then answer a set of multiplechoice questions. No matter how hard you may try to make this type of reading fun
and comprehensible to the learners by brainstorming activities or drawing flowers
on the board, you know that, after a while, you may end up with a boring reading
class in which your students are not 'reading for comprehension', not 'enjoying
themselves', not 'learning new words in context', not 'practicing their grammar',
and not 'involved in a communicative and interactive learning activity'. Does all of
this sound familiar. If so, you can achieve all of the above and maybe more with
this very simple, easy-to-prepare activity.
Preparation
Find an interesting text, which you think may appeal to most of your students such
as a joke from a magazine, a brochure about Disneyland, or anything that is

colorful and fun. Then, type that passage on a page using large margins so that the
text itself is not spread from one end to the other but rather it is squeezed up into a
thin column.
Make enough copies to go around and then grab a pair of scissors as you go to
class.
In Class
After you tell your students you want them to read a passage and probably after a
few groans and long faces here and there, in front of the whole class - now comes
the fun part- take out the papers and the scissors. Even the sight of the scissors
will signal to the students that they will be doing something different that day.
Then, cut along a line so that the last one or two words at the end of each line are
cut off.
Hand out the papers and ask the students to read the text and try to find the
missing word(s) for about five minutes. You can tell them to work in pairs or groups
and discuss it. They will engage in a true communicative negotiation while they are
attempting to prove to the others that what they have come up with as the answer
is correct. After you let them work for a while, you will hear the words they have
found. You will be amazed to find out how creative they may become when they
shout out words that are not the originals but are quite correct as alternatives.
Let's see what kind of language skills all this involves.
First, they will be reading for comprehension.
Second, they will have to think of words/phrases, which calls for both their
passive and active vocabulary stocks.
Third, they will also have to practice their spelling.
Fourth, they will absolutely use their grammar knowledge since they will need
to know the parts of speech to guess the words.
Fifth, they will practice speaking and listening while they are discussing in
pairs and will have the opportunity to learn the different ways that others
reason things.
Level
Perhaps the second best point about this activity, other than the fact that you
combine very different skills of language learning within one simple task, may be
that you can easily adapt it to the needs of different levels.
If you have beginners, you may pick up an easy passage and you cut out only one
word or maybe half off the end of the lines. With more proficient learners, not only
will you choose more advanced texts but also you may leave out more words or
perhaps half of the sentences, which will bring more challenge and require more
creativity as well as a much better command of the language.
Options
A writing component may be added. If you also cut out the last two or three
sentences at the end of the passage, you may assign the students to complete the
rest at home using their imagination. You may do this activity for 10 minutes at the
end of the class time which allows you to finish up with something fun and
wholesome or you may spend one complete class hour on it for a full-length reading
class.
Conclusion
As with all language learning tasks out there, you must give it a try in your classes
before you make the necessary changes according to the specific needs and
attitudes of your own students.

Teaching the Short Story, "Flowers for Algernon," to College-Level ESL

Students
Loretta Kasper
Drlfk [at] aol.com
Associate Professor of English
Kingsborough Community College / The City University of New York
ESL students now comprise a substantial proportion of the college population
enrolled in developmental/remedial English programs (Crandall). In order to attain
their academic goals, these students need to improve proficiency in the four basic
language skills, (i.e., reading, writing, listening, and speaking) as quickly as
possible. Teachers of college-level ESL students are faced daily with maximizing
students' progress in these language skills, and at the same time, with keeping
students motivated and interested in the lessons. In this paper, I will describe,
step-by-step, a classroom-tested multimedia-based approach to teaching the short
story, "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes. The approach described may be
used to teach "Flowers for Algernon" as a work of literature per se, or as part of a
discipline-oriented ESL course using material drawn from the subject area,
psychology, as the medium of English language instruction.1 I have used this
approach with both intermediate and advanced ESL classes with very positive
results. The multimedia-based approach incorporates a variety of learning activities
that are meaning-driven, student-centered, and unintimidating. The activities used
encourage students to take an active role in learning, to engage in self-monitoring,
to make guesses in their search for meaning, and to communicate in the second
language.
Types of Activities
The multimedia-based activities include prereading exercises such as advance
organizers and analogies, reading and writing activities, and audiovisual activities.
The advance organizers and analogies help to activate students' preexisting
knowledge on the topic of the short story, thus bridging the gap between the
knowledge the ESL student already has and the knowledge he/she needs to
comprehend the reading. The reading and writing activities help ESL students first,
to acquire information in a meaningful context and then, to expand on that
information through various forms of writing. The audiovisual materials, i.e.,
cassette tapes and videos, help to consolidate learning by making the subject
matter more concrete to the ESL reader, thereby facilitating comprehension. The
lesson on "Flowers for Algernon" is developed over a period of several days.
Materials and Procedure
To develop listening skills, I use prerecorded audio and video tapes in the reading
lesson. Reading, writing, and speaking skills are then developed through a variety
of other activities. In this approach, production activities in speaking and writing
grow naturally out of comprehension activities in listening and reading.
The short story, "Flowers for Algernon," is about a developmentally disabled man
who is chosen for an experimental operation which results in his becoming a
genius. The main character, Charlie Gordon, keeps a journal of his progress
throughout the story. Like Charlie, my ESL students will also keep a journal in which
they describe their thoughts and feelings, as well as their progress in English, as
they read, listen, speak, and write throughout this lesson. Thus, by describing
analogous experiences, students become more deeply involved not only with the
characters in the story, but also with the English language itself.
Prereading activities

Each prereading activity is designed to tap into students' personal experience with
and knowledge of psychology, in general, and the developmentally disabled, in
particular. Before the story is read, I provide students with an advance organizer, a
prereading worksheet, which can be done as a writing or a conversation exercise.
This worksheet asks the students to describe a special person that they know who
has the characteristics of warmth, understanding, an open nature, and little formal
education. They are asked to discuss the simple, touching things that the person
has done.
The second prereading exercise presents the students with a list of psychological
references and terms which provides them not only with some of the new words
they will encounter in this story, but also with some new ideas and concepts. They
will be required to use these references and terms in subsequent reading
comprehension, writing, and vocabulary development exercises over the course of
the lesson.
A writing exercise asks students to edit the first entry of Charlie Gordon's journal.
ESL students now have a chance to correct someone else's writing and to test their
knowledge of spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and grammar. This exercise also
helps students to develop insights into finding and correcting errors in their own
writing by prompting them to take an active role in learning and to monitor their
own work. Finally, the correction exercise provides students with a general
introduction to the story.
Reading and Writing Activities
In the second stage of the lesson, students are assigned to read the short story for
homework. After students have read the story at home, they complete several
different comprehension exercises in class. First, students are given a short,
multiple-choice reading comprehension exercise which provides a quick indication of
how well they have understood the story and the characters.
Next, they are given a writing assignment that asks them to connect Charlie's
experiences with their own. Several times in the story, Charlie must take a number
of tests which cause him great anxiety. The writing assignment asks students to
relate their own experiences with test taking and to compare them with Charlie
Gordon's. This writing exercise encourages students to tap into the emotions they
feel when they have to take an important test. The exercise also helps students to
identify and "to bond" with Charlie's character.
The next series of exercises focus on vocabulary development. A vocabulary
building exercise requires students to complete sentences by choosing words taken
from the story. Students then work together in small groups to complete a
crossword puzzle using the words from the vocabulary building exercise. Students
remain in these small groups for the final vocabulary exercise, which consists of a
letter written by Charlie Gordon to Dr. Strauss. Students are provided with prefixes,
suffixes, and roots, which when correctly combined, make up the words in the
letter. Students do this exercise without the aid of the story. After they have
completed the sentences in this exercise, students use the syllables provided to
form and define additional, new words used in the story, but not in the exercise.
ESL students find these vocabulary building exercises, especially the crossword
puzzle, to be a great deal of fun. They enjoy having the opportunity to practice
vocabulary in the context of the story and to share their knowledge with their
classmates.
Finally, students do a character analysis of Charlie Gordon, focusing on how he
changes throughout the story. They list the individual factors which led to each of
the changes in Charlie's character. This character analysis also asks students to

describe what they have learned about the developmentally disabled from this
story. They then use this information to write an essay on the topic, "How did
Charlie fit into society before and after his operation?"
Consolidating Activities
The consolidating activities extend the ideas and concepts presented in the story.
By letting students see what they have been reading about, these activities help to
concretize these ideas and concepts, thereby reinforcing and consolidating learning.
As a follow-up to the reading of "Flowers for Algernon", students view the movie,
"Bill" (Stuart and Page), a true story about a developmentally disabled man who
spent 47 years in a mental institution. They also watch an episode of the ABC
television series, "Life Goes On" (Wylly and Jameson), which describes the attitudes
toward and handling of developmentally disabled children in two different families.
The short story, "Flowers for Algernon," and the films, "Bill" and "Life Goes On,"
present three different attitudes toward the developmentally disabled. In the final
writing assignment for this lesson, the students compare and contrast how people
feel about and deal with the developmentally disabled characters in each of the
three stories.
Student Feedback on the Multimedia-Based Lesson
I have taught the lesson described with very positive results. My ESL students said
that they enjoyed the variety of activities and maintained a high level of interest in
the topic. Students reported that as they acquired relevant vocabulary and
identified important issues surrounding the topic, they were able to comprehend,
speak, and write about that topic more easily. Students felt that they had a lot to
say in their essays. They identified with the problems Charlie had as someone who
did not fit into the community.
Overall, they said that this lesson not only had helped them to improve their
English language skills, but had also taught them something about an important
issue in society and education. For many of them, the issue of the developmentally
disabled was a new one, but for some it was one with which they had personal
experience. The topic always encouraged class discussion because each of the
students was moved by some aspect of the story. Moreover, their discussion of the
problems of the developmentally disabled led them to a more general discussion of
the issue of discrimination against any people who are different.
Conclusion
Teaching a short story like "Flowers for Algernon" through multimedia-based
activities provides ESL students with a variety of opportunities to use the English
language to express their thoughts and feelings as well as to expand upon newlyacquired knowledge. Students are motivated not only to write, but also to speak in
class because they have practiced the vocabulary they need to express their ideas.
Viewing the videos helps to strengthen learning further by enabling students to see
what they have read about. Teaching a lesson like this requires several days of
class time, but the results are well worth the time and the effort.
Exercises
Reading Comprehension Exercise
Vocabulary Exercise
Crossword Puzzle
Crossword Puzzle - Answers
Note
1. For a detailed discussion of discipline-oriented ESL courses, the reader is directed
to the following reference: Kasper, Loretta F. "Discipline-Oriented ESL Reading
Instruction." Teaching English in the Two-Year College 22 (1995): 45-53.

Works Cited
Crandall, Joanne. "Diversity as Challenge and Resource." Proceedings of the
Conference on ESL Students in the CUNY Classroom: Faculty Strategies for
Success. New York: CUNY, 1993.
Keyes, Daniel. "Flowers for Algernon." Ten Top Stories. Ed. D.A. Sohn. New
York: Bantam, 1964. 5-36.
Stuart, M. (Producer), and A. Page (Director). Bill. (Film). Star Classics, Inc.,
1981.
Wylly, Sr., P. (Producer), and J. Jameson (Director). Life Goes On. (Film).
Warner Brothers, Inc., 1990.
Biographical Information:
Loretta Frances Kasper, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of English at Kingsborough
Community College/CUNY. She regularly teaches discipline-based courses to
college-level ESL students, using a multi-media approach that integrates texts on a
related topic.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. III, No. 8, August 1997
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Kasper-Algernon/
Daniel Keye's Link updated March 7, 2000
Chocolate - A Reading with Comprehension Questions
Emma de Dios lvarez
dediose [at] lia.uva.es
http://members.nbci.com/Liduina00/index/Bienvenidos.html
University of Valladolid (Valladolid, Spain)
Chocolate originated in Mexico with the Aztec Indians and came to Spain through
the Spanish conquistadors. Christopher Columbus encountered cocoa beans for the
first time in 1502.
The Aztecs used cocoa beans to make a bitter, foamy beverage called tchocolatl,
which was drunk during religious celebrations. The Spaniards weren't fond of
tchocolatl, but that didn't stop them from shipping the beans back home. Charles I
received a shipment in 1525. Spain held a monopoly over the cocoa trade for about
a hundred years.
Although cocoa arrived in Italy in the late 16th century, it didn't really become a
trend outside of Spain until 1615, when Louis XIII married Anne of Austria, the
daughter of King Philip III of Spain. Chocolate was served at their wedding in Paris,
and soon after that, it became a favorite drink for French aristocrats.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, chocolate was the most popular
drink in Spain. Popular foods at the time were sponge cake, marzipan, turrn, and
crystallised fruits. Richard Ford in Gatherings From Spain said that chocolate "is for
the Spanish what tea is for the English and coffee for the French. It is found nearly
everywhere and is always excellent."
Today, Spain is a major producer of chocolate, with 50 large manufacturers and
countless small-scale producers. The quality of Spanish chocolate is still excellent.
However, chocolate products are not widely marketed outside of the country.
1. Where was chocolate initially used?
2. How did the Aztecs name it?
3. Did Spanish like this beverage?
4. How many years did the Spanish monopoly of chocolate last?
5. When did the chocolate catch on in other countries?

6. What other types of food were popular in Spain during the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries?
7. How did Richard Ford describe chocolate?
8. What do you think Gatherings From Spain is?
9. How does the writer describe Spanish chocolate?
10.
Is Spanish chocolate massively marketed outside the country?
The Internet TESL Journal
People Who Crossed Borders: An Interactive Reading Exercise
Introduction
Once a reading text has been written on an appropriate topic for a current teaching
unit, it can be exploited in many ways beyond just presenting information or
practising the skills of reading comprehension. The following simple and easily
designed exercises provide an interactive purpose for reading, but also provide
practise in using interactive questions. Each student whether in a pair (exercise 1)
or a group (exercise 2) has the same text, but different information is omitted from
each student's text. No one has a complete text, but all the information is available
in the pair or group. Students have a dual purpose. They need to complete a
potentially interesting text using predictive reading skills. To do so they have to
formulate questions and where necessary follow-up their questions using linguistic
skills. Before asking their questions they need time to try to predict some of the
information from the context provided by the text itself. The teacher might then
demonstrate with students different kinds of questions commonly used in
interaction: "normal" questions, such as "When was Gandhi born?"; indirect
questions, such as "I need to know, when Gandhi was born? or "Do you know/ does
anyone know, when Gandhi was born? ; short questions such as "How about his
birth place?
Follow up activities could include retelling the stories in a teacher-whole group
activity. The teacher prompts students to reconstruct the text without looking at
their papers, by trying to recall it from memory.
Example 1: A Pair Work Exercise
Student A: People Who Crossed Borders - Gandhi
Sometimes experience in other countries can help people to understand their own
identity better. Mahatma Gandhi was born (when?)______ at Portandar in Western
India. After studying in India, he dreamt of going (where?)____________ to study.
He was told that his Hindu religion did not allow voyages abroad. However, Gandhi
was very determined and he finally left for England in 1887. At first he tried to learn
to behave like an English gentleman, but he soon learnt that it was better to be
himself. He studied law in London, qualifying (when?)_____ . He also learnt about
other religions.
He returned home to India and worked as a lawyer for (how long?)____________.
After some problems, he was offered a job in South Africa. Here he experienced
racism as a member of the Indian community. He decided to fight for the rights of
Indians using "passive resistance". He had three main beliefs, non-violence,
religious tolerance and (what?)_______ . When he finally returned to India in 1915,
he became a great political leader. During the fight for independence he was often
put in prison, but his beliefs never changed.
Gandhi had studied in Britain, so he understood the British better than they
understood him. Gandhi's leadership led to (what?)
_____________ , but, on Independence day, 15 August, 1947, Gandhi refused to
celebrate. He was in favour of Hindu-Moslem unity but Moslems and Hindus could

not agree, so a separate Moslem state was formed in Pakistan. In 1948, Gandhi
started fasting to death as a protest (why?)___________ between India and
Pakistan. He was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on 30th January 1948._ India and
Pakistan are still fighting in Kashmir today. The fight for independence was a
difficult one, but not as difficult as the fight for non-violence, religious tolerance and
truth.
Student B: People Who Crossed Borders - Gandhi
Sometimes experience in other countries can help people to understand their own
identity better. Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 (where?)_______________ in
Western India. After studying in India, he dreamt of going to England to study. He
was told that his Hindu religion did not allow voyages abroad. However, Gandhi was
very determined and he finally left for England (when?)________ . At first he tried
to learn to behave like an English gentleman, but he soon learnt that it was better
to be himself. He studied (what?)_______ in London, qualifying in 1891. He also
learnt about other religions.
He returned home to India and worked as a lawyer for two years. After some
problems, he was offered a job in (where?)__________ . Here he experienced
racism as a member of the Indian community. He decided to fight for the rights of
Indians using "passive resistance". He had three main beliefs, (what?),_______
religious tolerance and truth. When he finally returned to India in 1915, he became
a great political leader. During the fight for independence he was often put in
prison, but his beliefs never changed.
Gandhi had studied in Britain, so he understood the British better than they
understood him. Gandhi's leadership led to independence, but, on Independence
day, 15 August, 1947, Gandhi refused to (what?)______________ . He was in
favour of Hindu-Moslem unity but Moslems and Hindus could not agree, so a
separate Moslem state was formed in Pakistan. (when?)______________ , Gandhi
started fasting to death as a protest against fighting between India and Pakistan.
He was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic on 30th January 1948._ India and Pakistan
are still fighting (where?)_________________ today. The fight for independence
was a difficult one, but not as difficult as the fight for non-violence, religious
tolerance and truth.
Teacher's Key: People Who Crossed Borders - Gandhi
Sometimes experience in other countries can help people to understand their own
identity better. Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 at Portandar in Western India.
After studying in India, he dreamt of going to England to study. He was told that his
Hindu religion did not allow voyages abroad. However, Gandhi was very determined
and he finally left for England in 1887. At first he tried to learn to behave like an
English gentleman, but he soon learnt that it was better to be himself. He studied
law in London, qualifying in 1891. He also learnt about other religions.
He returned home to India and worked as a lawyer for two years. After some
problems, he was offered a job in South Africa. Here he experienced racism as a
member of the Indian community. He decided to fight for the rights of Indians using
"passive resistance". He had three main beliefs, non-violence, religious tolerance
and truth. When he finally returned to India in 1915, he became a great political
leader. During the fight for independence he was often put in prison, but his beliefs
never changed.
Gandhi had studied in Britain, so he understood the British better than they
understood him. Gandhi's leadership led to independence, but, on Independence
day, 15 August, 1947, Gandhi refused to celebrate. He was in favour of HinduMoslem unity but Moslems and Hindus could not agree, so a separate Moslem state

was formed in Pakistan. In 1948, Gandhi started fasting to death as a protest

against fighting between India and Pakistan. He was assassinated by a Hindu
fanatic on 30th January 1948._ India and Pakistan are still fighting in Kashmir
today. The fight for independence was a difficult one, but not as difficult as the fight
for non-violence, religious tolerance and truth.
Example 2: A Small Group Exercise
Student A: People Who Crossed Borders - Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born_ (when)___________ in what is now Macedonia (At that
time it was Yugoslavia). Her parents were Albanians. In 1928 she traveled to
Dublin, Ireland_ (why?)______________________ . About a year later, she went
to a convent in Darjeeling in northeast India. Mother Teresa was then sent to teach
geography at a high school in Calcutta, but she soon decided that there was a
pressing need to help the poor people in the slums of Calcutta.
In 1948 she became an Indian citizen, but she got permission from the Pope to
work as an independent nun and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in
Calcutta. She is known throughout_ the world for
(what?)____________________________ which she started wearing at this time.
Four years later Mother Teresa founded the Kalighat Home for the Dying. Her aim
was to comfort people who were dying in misery and to help them to die with
dignity. Mother Theresa also helped victims of leprosy.
In 1965 Mother Theresa's order became international with the help of the Pope.
Centers and schools for those abandoned by society, orphans, lepers, the blind, the
disabled, the aged, and the dying were gradually opened
(where?)________________________ . In 1972, she won the Jawaharlal Nehru
Award for International Understanding, but it was the award of the Nobel Peace
Prize seven years later which brought her the most international fame and
recognition. Mother Theresa went on to receive many other international honors. By
1990 over 3,000 nuns from the Missionaries of Charity were running centers in 25
countries.
While she was a practical person who dedicated her life to others, Mother Theresa_
could not escape (what?)__________________________________ whose image is
presented through the media. She also had her opponents who could not agree
with her strong views about abortion and the impact of her views on less charitable
opponents of abortion. The way she ran her charities has also been questioned.
After her organization became more international, some people_ even criticised her
(why?)_______________________ . Although Mother Theresa is likely to become a
saint, it would probably be wrong to think that all these criticisms are completely
unjustified. Mother Theresa was a human being who had her contradictions and her
faults, but how many of her critics could compare their own lives to hers and
honestly claim to have done more to further international understanding of the
global problems_ she tried to solve according to her own beliefs?
Student B: People Who Crossed Borders - Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born in 1910
(where)_____________________________________ . Her parents were
Albanians. In 1928 she traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to join a religious order. About a
year later, she went to a convent in Darjeeling in northeast India. Mother Teresa
was then sent to teach (what?)_________________ at a high school in Calcutta,
but she soon decided that there was a need to help the poor people in the slums of
Calcutta.
(when)_________ she became an Indian citizen, but she got permission from the
pope to work as an independent nun and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in

Calcutta. She is known throughout_ the world for the simple white sari with a blue
border which she started wearing at this time. Four years later Mother Teresa
founded the Kalighat Home for the Dying. Her aim was
(what?)_________________________________ and to help them to die with
dignity. Mother Theresa also helped victims of leprosy.
In 1965 Mother Theresa's order became international with the help of the Pope.
Centers and schools for those often abandoned by society, orphans, lepers, the
blind, the disabled, the aged, and the dying were gradually opened worldwide. In
1972, she won (what?)______________________________________ , but it was
the award of the Nobel Peace Prize seven years later which brought her the most
international fame and recognition. By 1990 (how many)_______________ nuns
from the Missionaries of Charity were running centers in 25 countries. Mother
Theresa received many other international honors.
While she was a (what kind)__________________ person who dedicated her life to
others, Mother Theresa_ could not escape the problems that face all international
figures whose image is presented through the media. She also had her opponents
who could not agree with her strong views about abortion and the impact of her
views on less charitable opponents of abortion. The way she ran her charities has
also been questioned. After her organization became more international, some
people_ even criticised her for_ her "jet-set" lifestyle. Although Mother Theresa is
likely to become (what)___________ , it would probably be wrong to think that all
these criticisms are completely unjustified. Mother Theresa was a human being who
had her contradictions and her faults, but how many of her critics could compare
their own lives to hers and honestly claim to have done more to further
international understanding of the global problems she tried to solve according to
her own beliefs?
Student C: People Who Crossed Borders - Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in what is now Macedonia (At that time it was
Yugoslavia). Her parents were Albanians. In 1928 she traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to
join a religious order. About a year later, she went
(where?)_____________________________ Mother Teresa was then sent to teach
geography at a high school in Calcutta, but she soon decided that there was a need
to help the poor people in the slums of Calcutta.
In 1948 she became an Indian citizen, but she got permission from the pope to
work as an independent nun and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in
Calcutta. She is known throughout_ the world for the simple white sari with a blue
border which she started wearing at this time. Four years later Mother Teresa
founded the Kalighat Home for the Dying. Her aim was to comfort people who were
dying in misery and to help them to die with dignity. Mother Theresa also helped
(who?)
(when?)______________ Mother Theresa's order became international with the
help of the Pope. Centers and schools for those often abandoned by society,
orphans, lepers, the blind, the disabled, the aged, and the dying were gradually
opened worldwide. In 1972, she won the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International
Understanding, but it was the award of the Nobel Peace Prize seven years later
which brought her the most international fame and recognition. By 1990 over 3,000
nuns from the Missionaries of Charity were running centers in (how
many?)____________ countries. Mother Theresa received many other international
honors.
While she was a practical person who dedicated her life to others, Mother Theresa_
could not escape the problems that face all international figures whose image is

presented through the media. She also had her opponents who could not agree
with her strong views about abortion and the impact of her views on less charitable
opponents of abortion. (what?)_____________________________ has also been
questioned. After her organization became more international, some people_ even
criticised her for her "jet-set" lifestyle. Although Mother Theresa is likely to become
a saint, it would probably be wrong to think that all these criticisms are completely
unjustified. (why?)
____________________________________ but how many of her critics could
compare their own lives to hers and honestly claim to have done more to further
international understanding of the global problems_ she tried to solve according to
her own beliefs?
Teacher's Key: People Who Crossed Borders - Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in what is now Macedonia (At that time it was
Yugoslavia). Her parents were Albanians. In 1928 she traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to
join a religious order. About a year later, she went to a convent in Darjeeling in
northeast India. Mother Teresa was then sent to teach geography at a high school
in Calcutta, but she soon decided that there was a need to help the poor people in
the slums of Calcutta.
In 1948 she became an Indian citizen, but she got permission from the pope to
work as an independent nun and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in
Calcutta. She is known throughout the world for the simple white sari with a blue
border which she started wearing at this time. Four years later Mother Teresa
founded the Kalighat Home for the Dying. Her aim was to comfort people who were
dying in misery and to help them to die with dignity. Mother Theresa also helped
victims of leprosy.
In 1965 Mother Theresa's order became international with the help of the Pope.
Centers and schools for those often abandoned by society, orphans, lepers, the
blind, the disabled, the aged, and the dying were gradually opened worldwide. In
1972, she won the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, but it
was the award of the Nobel Peace Prize seven years later which brought her the
most international fame and recognition. By 1990 over 3,000 nuns from the
Missionaries of Charity were running centers in 25 countries. Mother Theresa
received many other international honors.
While she was a practical person who dedicated her life to others, Mother Theresa_
could not escape the problems that face all international figures whose image is
presented through the media. She also had her opponents who could not agree
with her strong views about abortion and the impact of her views on less charitable
opponents of abortion. The way she ran her charities has also been questioned.
After her organization became more international, some people_ even criticised her
for_ her "jet-set" lifestyle. Although Mother Theresa is likely to become a saint, it
would probably be wrong to think that all these criticisms are completely
unjustified. Mother Theresa was a human being who had her contradictions and her
faults, but how many of her critics could compare their own lives to hers and
honestly claim to have done more to further international understanding of the
global problems_ she tried to solve according to her own beliefs?
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 5, May 2002
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http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Nunn-InteractiveReading.html

Using Advice Columns with ESL Students

Amy Gwen Larson
amygwen [at] lycos.com
Introduction
This activity's purpose is to increase communicative awareness and conversational
skills. When people talk, it is with a purpose. They desire to communicate their own
ideas and more fully understand those of others. Therefore, we can say that
communication between individuals fulfills a basic need and is a bridge to language
acquisition. This activity is appropriate for any age group of students.
Level: Intermediate and above
Starting the Lesson
To begin the lesson the teacher introduces the concept of asking for and giving
advice as well as any required vocabulary. Next, he or she asks the students to
brainstorm on the problems they face in school, with friends, or at home. Write
some of the more useful of these on the board. Divide the class into small groups,
give each group one problem and ask them to create some "advice".
Introduce some common sentence patterns often used when giving advice:
"If I were you I would..."
"I think you should..."
"Why don't you...?"
Practice sentence patterns using answers provided by students, and write some of
the more common answers on the board. Next have the class discuss whether they
agree or disagree with the "advice" given. Solicit new advice and continue the
conversation as long as time allows.
Reading
To add a reading element to this activity you will need advice columns from
newspapers. Divide the class into small groups and give each group an advice
column and answer. Have each group read and discuss the question and answer.
The teacher will need to circulate and check for comprehension. Groups should
decide whether they agree or disagree with the published answers and what
additional advice they would give. Have the groups read the questions and answers
to the class and give their "advice". Class discussion should be encouraged. For
advanced students, advice columns from other countries can be introduced and
cultural differences can be discussed.
Writing
For a writing activity use advice columns from local newspapers. Separate the
answers from the questions. Work can be done individually or the teacher can
divide the class into pairs or groups. Students are given advice columns without the
answers. Take a few minutes to allow students to review the column. Discuss any
new vocabulary and check for comprehension. Students are then requested to write
answers to the column. These can be read out loud in class or reviewed by teacher.
After students have completed the assignment, the published answers to advice
questions can be distributed and discusse
Travel Advice Bureau
A classroom activity in which students act as travel agents.
Kate Allen
katejohn [at] sysken.or.jp
Kyushu Jogakuin College, Kumamoto

Recently, I attended a conference in Singapore which entailed being away from

class for a week. I asked my students to assist me in the travel arrangements.
Working in small groups, the students were given copies of all the correspondence
from the conference organisers. This included information about hotels, the
weather, vias requirements, suggestions for free time, and the conference schedule.
Based on this material and anything else they found in the library, each group made
a short oral presentation, giving me advice about the following areas:
The most suitable hotel to stay in.
What kind of clothes to take, taking note of the weather in
Singapore at that time.
Visa requirements.
Suggestions on how to spend the one free afternoon.
Suggestions on what to take.
On my return, I gave a short talk about the trip and put up a poster that included
photographs and lots of tourist brochures about all the places in Singapore I did not
see.
As a result of the presentation, the students had to deal with authentic offical
documents and were genuinely involved in the travel preparations. They were very
curious about Singapore and eagerly read all the tourist brochures I brought back.
What could have been just a week away from class became an opportunity to
involve the students in a genuine information sharing task.
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Invitations and Requests in a Restaurant
David Dockhorn
ddtraveller [at] yahoo.com
Sarakhampittyakhom High School (Mahasalakham, Thailand)
Introduction
This is a conversation activity that focuses on making invitations and requests in
the context of dining at a restaurant. My Thai students are normally very shy to
speak but they love to do this activity. The students play the roles of customers,
waiters/waitresses, and managers in a restaurant.
This gets the students speaking spontaneously and all at the same time. It's
something they really like and you can do it again and again and add to it and
really refine their language until they are quite fluent in making requests and
invitations. It also gives them an understanding of the vocabulary surrounding
restaurants and the cultural context of dining in an English speaking country.
Step One
If your students are unfamiliar with requests language then teach the
language of making requests.
o Would you like...?
o Do you want...?
o Yes, I would.
o Yes, I do.
Then after drilling and going through some examples like "Would you like to
go to the movies?" and "Would you like some french fries?", etc.
Step Two
Run your students through the process of dining in a restaurant in an English
speaking country. I simplify it a bit for my 12-13 year olds and tell them to do
the following.

order drinks.
o order an appetizer
o order food (the main course)
o order desert
o ask for the check
Explain the language associated with these steps for the waiter and customer.
For example,
o Waiter: "Welcome to Dave's Restaurant. Tonight the special is monkey
brains. Can I start you off with something to drink?"
o Customer: "Why yes, I'd like some milk."
Teach the students about problems at restaurants as well such as; bad or
slow service, rude waiters, cold food, a fly in the food, a rat in the restaurant,
etc.
Also, explain some language regarding forgetting to bring your money or not
having enough money to pay the bill. This is the most fun part for the
students, complaining about the restaurant and not having enough money so
this is an important part to make sure they understandxs.
Step Three
Write down the name of the restaurant on the whiteboard, the daily specials,
and some menu items and prices.
Choose an assistant manager and ask them to pick some waiters.
Give your waiters a quick reminder on their initial greeting to give guests and
send them out to their tables.
Have your assistant manager help with any slow or bad service complaints
and wander around to make sure the students are participating and help
pacify customers who are upset with the cold food and bad service. My
students love this activity because they love to complain about the bad
service, etc. and see the manager reprimand the waiter for being rude or
slow. Also, most of the tables end up not having money to pay for the bill and
have to wash dishes or the police have to be called.
This activity may degenerate if some of the tables have gotten their checks
and these students start to play or kick-box with their waiters. At this point
you can promote your best waiter to be the assistant manager and pick some
new waiters. Usually I let the assistant manager pick but I also pick students
who aren't participating or are causing a ruckus.
Repeat
Then run through it again. The students also enjoy outrageous menu items like
monkey brains, buffalo steak, human pizza, etc. and extremely high prices.
o

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. IX, No. 10, October 2003
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http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Dockhorn-Restaurant.html
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Watching Movie Trailers in the ESL Class
Neil Heffernan
hefneil[at]hotmail.com
Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto, Japan)

The importance of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in today's ESL/EFL

classes cannot be understated. However, finding specific sites to use in class can be
a delicate process. This paper outlines the techniques that can be used in class with
a movie trailers website.
Introduction
Computer-based language teaching (or Computer Assisted Language LearningCALL) has become widely popular in recent years. In fact, a review of most
language journals written lately demonstrates that CALL has dominated the
discussion on language teaching. Using computers for teaching English as a Second
or Foreign Language (ESL or EFL) has been delineated at length in the literature in
recent years. ESL and EFL teachers seem to be well aware of the need for CALL in
today's language classrooms (Edwards, 2002).
The Internet has become a very powerful tool in language teaching, and most
teachers are (or should be) keenly aware of the need to use it in the classroom.
Proof of this exists in the research of Cummins (1998), who noted that using
computers give students a wide range of learning options. Bicknell (1999) stated
that using the Internet and its applications act as a motivational apparatus which
gives students the chance to use all four language skills (reading, writing, speaking
and listening) whilst having the added bonus of fostering computer literacy.
However, despite the common feeling that teachers should be incorporating CALL
into their classrooms, many teachers are still reticent to do so. This may be due in
part to any of the following factors: teachers' and students' own limited computer
skills; a lack of typing skills; a general fear of computers and the difficulty in
learning how to correctly use them; or the lack of adequate facilities in schools.
This last point causes obvious problems to those who do not have access to a room
full of computers with the appropriate tools for listening (headphones) and highspeed Internet connections.
The Internet also allows students to connect with each other in ways they normally
would not be able to do. Web-based activities such as message boards, chat rooms,
email, and discussion groups provide ESL and EFL learners with a healthy forum in
which to communicate with others. In fact, Healy (2000) noted that the above
activities give learners a "direct and immediate communication between peers while
using genuine language". Warschauer's study (1997) noted greater participation by
so-called "shy" students when using the Internet as a language-learning tool. These
are no doubt important elements of language learning; points that teachers need to
be aware of in their classes. Bearing this in mind, this paper aims to set out a clear
and useful use for one such web-based activity that allows learners of English as a
Second or Foreign Language to broaden their horizons while using genuine
language, which is clearly a critical element of all CALL. The activities outlined here
are unique in that they allow learners to interface with a computer, all the while
gathering useful information that will help them learn English.
The use of films in ESL and EFL classes has been a popular method of teaching for
many years. However, how useful are films if they are not clearly understood by our
students? Naturally, watching full-length films is not always the best way to spend
classroom time with our students. So, while searching for better ways to bring
Hollywood to the classroom, I stumbled upon a great site that presents movie clips,
or trailers that ended up being very beneficial in my CALL classroom.
Specifics of the Site
The objectives of the lesson were twofold: to enhance student knowledge of the
capabilities of the Internet through the use of movie trailers; and the use of movie
trailers as an educational tool for improving students' understanding of spoken

English. The site discussed here can be found at http://www.apple.com/trailers/,

and is updated with new additions to its archives very regularly. The site is
presented in an easy manner with eight "main" movies appearing at the top of the
screen in picture form that can be accessed by clicking on the picture. The rest of
the site is divided into the different companies that distribute films (mostly in the
United States). There are well over 100 movie trailers on the site at any given time,
and they can be accessed by simply clicking on the title of the film. Most of them
are new releases or previews to upcoming movies. In fact, some trailers appear on
the site up to six months before their release date. After the viewer clicks on the
film of his or her choice, some basic information about the film appears, such as the
director, cast, genre and the web address of the official movie site. The viewer can
then watch the trailer by choosing the size (small, medium or large) that he or she
wants. Since the trailers are anywhere from one minute to two-and-a-half minutes
in length, students tend to focus their skills on comprehension to get the most out
of the exercise.
Setting the Lesson Up
Doing the lesson obviously requires access to a computer lab. As stated in the
introduction, one of the main impediments to doing this lesson will be the lack of
equipment at some facilities. For the lesson to work best, a high-speed Internet
connection is needed (especially for large classes, as the nature of the site means it
will inevitably be slower with heavy traffic), as are headphones and the Apple
Quicktime Plugin software. Most newer computers should be already equipped with
this software, but a glance through your school's system will help before attempting
to do this lesson. The trailers are suitable for students of all ages, and there is no
offensive language or images included in the trailers.
Pre-viewing Activity
To start, a conversation of the types of films students enjoy watching is a beneficial
activity to get them thinking about movies in general. Most ESL/EFL learners tend
to enjoy watching movies, but watching them without the subtitles of their native
language can be a challenging task. Therefore, teaching some basic concepts before
watching the trailers will help. Students who are interested in movies may already
have some basic knowledge of the vocabulary on the site and most of the movie
sites. However, for those who do not have this pre-existing knowledge, an outline of
the following terms may be useful.
Vocabulary on Apple Quicktime Trailer Site
Trailer
Exclusive
Plot/Story
Genre (Drama, Suspense, Thriller, Comedy, Horror, Love story)
Cast
Director
Rating (R, PG, PG-13)
The Lesson
Students are given a handout with the following instructions:
Choose one movie trailer from the website http://www.apple.com/trailers/, and
watch it. (There is a clickable link at the end of this article.) After you watch it,
answer the following questions:
What movie did you choose?
Why did you choose this trailer?
Who are the actors and actresses in this movie? Who is the director?

What (if anything) was attractive about the trailer to you? In other words,
what did you like or dislike about the trailer?
After watching the trailer again, outline the story or plot of the movie. This
can be done by watching the trailer to gain an understanding of what the
movie is about. If the trailer does not give enough information about the plot
of the movie, then describe what the trailer did show.
Would you recommend this movie to your friends? Why or why not? Give
reasons for your answers.
Post-viewing Activity
Naturally, students may tend to view more than one trailer, and then choose the
one they want to work on. Therefore, after they have chosen their one trailer, they
should start working on the six questions above. There are two ways of doing this:
one is to simply have students write their responses to the questions and hand
them in for a class assignment or homework; another is to employ a more
interactive type of activity. For teachers looking to keep the interactive aspect of the
lesson intact, set up a class message board where students can post messages to
each other. (For those institutions without a class message board, students can do
the following part of the activity in pairs, or groups). Students then find another
person in the class who has chosen the same trailer as them by posting a message
on the board. Once the students find another person (or more than one person)
who has chosen the same trailer as them, they can work on the answers to the six
questions together. This is done on the message board by conversing about the
answers to the questions. If some students cannot find a partner who has chosen
the same trailer as them, the teacher should encourage them to find other students
who have viewed that trailer, or at least have an interest in it. The whole point of
this message board conversation is to encourage a conversation in English about
the trailers viewed on the site. By discussing their answers to the questions,
students are applying their English abilities to complete a focused task on what
they have watched on the Apple Quicktime website.
Discussion and Conclusion
The use of the Internet is undoubtedly a useful tool for our students. However,
because of the sheer volume of information available, the Internet can be an
overwhelming experience for teachers and students alike. Thus, it is vitally
important for teachers to be well prepared with specific sites for use going into
class. By doing this, teachers can harness the power of the Internet and create
meaningful lessons for their students. The activity described here attempts to give
students an interesting lesson that they will hopefully gain something from. It is
much easier for students to enjoy a lesson they are actually interested in, than
having material forced upon them.
The activity outlined here is an extremely useful one, with students regularly
reporting their enjoyment of it. Because of considerable student interest in movies,
learners always seem to benefit from watching the trailers that appeal to them and
discussing their thoughts of them afterward. This activity will be of benefit to any
ESL/EFL program that has the required equipment. Further, because of the large
amount of movies on the site, there are trailers to suit all levels of students.
Indeed, some trailers have limited dialogue to them (as the actual movie is not
near completion yet), and would be easy for most, if not all, students to
understand. Higher-level students can also gain from this activity, as there are
plenty of longer, more in-depth trailers (with a lot of dialogue) on the site.
A Link to the Site
http://www.apple.com/trailers/

References
Bicknell, J. (1999). Promoting writing and computer literacy skills through
student authored webpages. TESOL Journal, 8(1), 20-26.
Cummins, J. (1998). E-lective language learning: Design of a computer
assisted text-based ESL/EFL learning system. TESOL Journal, 7(3), 18-21.
Edwards, N. (2002). CALLing Japan: A Survey of Professional Opinion. The
Language Teacher 26 (8). Online serial. Retrieved June 29th, 2004. from:
<http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/articles/2002/08/Edwards> (To access
this page you must have a password.)
Healey, D. (2000). Computer technology: Is it worthwhile in TESOL? TESOL
Journal, 9(1), 44-45.
Warschauer, M. (1997). Comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion in
the second language classroom. CALICO Journal, 13 (2&3), 7-25
The Simpsons in Japan: A Lesson on Stereotypes
Rachelle Meilleur
rrmeilleur -at- yahoo.ca
Tottori University (Tottori, Japan)
Introduction
The Simpsons television series is a treasure trove of resource material for the
ESL/EFL classroom. It contains everything from low-brow slapstick humour to
literary social satire. It includes references to major literary works, pop songs,
movies, and numerous other cultural markers. A Simpsons episode "is a text that
most of our students will encounter and some will pursue regularly, owing to screen
culture and the place of television in their lives" (Doyle 1999). It is a medium in
which most students can connect with and enjoy. The Simpsons can be used in a
number of ways to focus on particular language targets or specific topics.
The Simpsons use stereotypes for each its major characters as well as that of
particular cultures. Members of the Simpsons have spent time in various countries,
such as Japan, Brazil, England, Canada, France, and Australia. In these cases, they
often use a large variety, and sometimes extreme, cases of stereotypes,
generalizations, and major icons from each of these cultures. The choice of
elements that are shown is often more telling about the culture that created it, than
that of the culture being observed (Hamilton 2002). This can provide fruitful debate
or discussions among students.
The episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" can be used to identify particular
characteristics in each of the characters, to discuss the use of stereotypes, and to
generate discussions on travel expectations. This particular lesson plan is designed
for one or two classes for upper-intermediate level students, but can be easily
shortened or tailored for higher-level students. With a little work, the worksheets
could also be adapted to fit the other 'travel' episodes mentioned above.
Lesson Plan
This lesson plan is based on the Simpsons episode, "30 Minutes Over Tokyo"
Season 10, Episode 23, #AABF20.
Activity 1 - Going Places: Japan
Hand out Worksheet 1 "Going Places: Japan". Get the students to work together in
partners or groups and brainstorm reasons why people from other countries would
like to visit Japan. From this, the students would then come up with a list of things
to do and places to see in Japan. Finally, students can come up with specifics for a
particular city.
Activity 2 - Stereotypes

Explain to the students that they will be talking about stereotypes. Be sure that
they all understand what a stereotype is. Hand out Worksheet 2 "Stereotypes:
Other People, My People". Have students work together (this usually works best
with lower-level students) to come up with a list of stereotypes that are common to
their own, and other, cultures.
Activity 3 - 30 Minutes Over Tokyo
Tell the students that they are going to watch an episode of the Simpsons, a very
popular TV program from the United States of America. Ask if any of them know the
Simpsons - drawing your own rendition of them on the board will generally result in
character recognition (and laughter, in the case of my drawing abilities). Write all of
the Simpsons names on the board so that the students are familiar with each of the
characters.
There are several ways to show the episode, depending on the level of your
students and the time allowed for your class.
Watch the segment from the time the Simpsons are on the plane to Japan
to the moment they lose all of their money.
a) (OPTIONAL) Watch it without sound. Get the students to watch and check
for stereotypes as they appear. They should check off any that match the list
that they came up with, in addition to writing down any new ones that they
have missed. After having done this, get them to check it with their groups
and go over it together as a class.
b) Hand out Worksheet 3 "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" (Parts 1 and 2, doublesided). Use Side A. Watch the segment and get the students to answer the
questions. Repeat, if necessary.
c) Use Side B. Watch the segment from the Simpsons visiting the U.S.
Embassy to their return back home. Repeat, if necessary (you may need to
pause the tape at specific listening points). Get the students to check their
answers.
d) Hand out Worksheet 3, Part 3. This is a list of questions that can be used
for discussion between group members or as a class.
e) Finally, go over student answers and get them to discuss what they
thought of the episode and use of stereotypes on the show. The level of
teacher guidance will be determined by the level of your students. One idea is
to ask students what they thought was true, what wasn't, and how they
might "rewrite" particular points in the episode. You might also ask them to
write a sequence/dialogue for the Simpsons visiting their hometown.
These are just a few ideas one could use with this episode. I've taught it in a
variety of ways and have always had success with it.
Note: there is an instance where Homer tosses "The Emperor" (i.e., the real
emperor) into a pile of sumo thongs. I was originally worried that this may cause
offense with students, but I have not yet had a single complaint.
WORKSHEET 1 - Going Places: Japan
Part 1: Travel to Japan
Why do you think people want to come to Japan? Please think of three different
reasons.
1. _______________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________
Part 2: Things to do, Places to see
Work with a partner.
1. What places do you think tourists want to visit in Japan?

a._____________________________
b._____________________________
c._____________________________
d._____________________________
e._____________________________
2. What do you think tourists want to do in Japan?
a._____________________________
b._____________________________
c._____________________________
d._____________________________
e._____________________________
3. Choose one Japanese city. What are some famous places and/or things to do in
that city?
a._____________________________
b._____________________________
c._____________________________
d._____________________________
e._____________________________
The Simpsons in Japan: Going Places
Part 2: The Game Show
The Simpsons lost all their money and now they are stuck in Japan. Please answer
the following questions.
1. Where do the Simpsons go for help?
_______________________________________________________
2. What kind of job do the Simpsons do to earn some money?
_______________________________________________________
3. What prize do the Simpsons want to win on the game show?
_______________________________________________________
4. What category do the Simpsons choose to compete in?
_______________________________________________________
5. What is the difference between Japanese and American game shows?
_______________________________________________________
6. How do the Simpsons win their prize? (Four activities!)
_______________________________________________________
7. What country does the next couple come from? What slang words do Homer and
Wink (the host) use to call them?
_______________________________________________________
8. What will Bart miss about Japan?
_______________________________________________________
9. What is the final problem in the airplane?
_______________________________________________________
10. What did you think about this episode? Do you think the stereotypes in the
show are true? Why or why not?
_______________________________________________________
Worksheet 2 - Stereotypes: Other people
Stereotypes are impressions or generalizations that people have about different
cultures or groups. There are usually good and bad stereotypes about any culture.
Although they may be based in truth, they generally don't reflect the reality of a
diverse group of people.
Part 1 Stereotypes: Nationalities

Below is a list of nationalities. Please write down any impressions or stereotypes

you have of the country or its people.
a. USA/Americans___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
b. UK/British ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
c. Germany/Germans__________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
d. India/Indians ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
e. China/Chinese _________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
f. _______/________:________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Where do you get these impressions from? TV? Movies? Books? ___? Have you ever
traveled to these countries?
_______________________________________________________
Part 2 Stereotypes: About Japan
People also have stereotypes about Japan. How do you think non-Japanese people
view Japan? Please fill in the blanks in the list below with at least one example for
each category.
(ex. Food: Japanese people eat a lot of sushi)
Culture/Customs:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Sport: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Technology: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Food:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Character/Personality:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Homes:_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Cities/Countryside:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Education/School:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Work: _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Part 3 - Think about it!
1. Homer always walks through the sliding paper doors. Why do you think he does
this?
_______________________________________________________

2. The Simpson family has seizures after watching the cartoon, "Battling Seizure
Robots." What real event (in Japan) is this based on?
_______________________________________________________
3. The Simpsons go to "America Town" to eat. Why do think an American family
would want to visit a place called America Town? Why would Japanese people want
to go there?
_______________________________________________________
4. Bart and Homer see Woody Allen (a famous Hollywood director and actor) filming
a (boxing) commercial in Japan. Why do you think this is included in the show?
_______________________________________________________
5. The Simpsons go on the "Super Challenge Family Wish Show" to win tickets back
to Springfield, USA. Do you think the game show is similar to TV game shows in
Japan? If yes, which one? If no, why not?
_______________________________________________________
6. When Homer is being struck by lightning, his friends in Springfield, USA see him
on TV. Why do you think they are watching the Japanese channel?
_______________________________________________________
7. Is there any part of the episode that you thought was unreal or too
stereotypical? What part of this episode would you change?
_______________________________________________________
Worksheet 3 - 30 Minutes Over Tokyo: The Simpsons in Japan
The Simpsons fly to Japan for a short visit. Please answer the following questions.
1. What was Bart playing with on the airplane? What does Lisa read?
_______________________________________________________
2. What city have they arrived in? How do you know?
_______________________________________________________
3. What places does Lisa want to visit?
_______________________________________________________
4. Where do the Simpsons go to eat?
_______________________________________________________
5. Why does Homer end up in jail?
_______________________________________________________
6. What did Bart and Homer learn while in prison?
_______________________________________________________
7. What happens to their money?
_______________________________________________________
8. Please list five Japanese stereotypes that you noticed in this section.
_______________________________________________________
9. Who is the most interested in Japanese culture? Who learns the most about
Japan?
_______________________________________________________
References
Doyle, Jan (1999). Beyond a Joke: Teaching Satire Using 'The
Simpsons'<http://www.softweb.vic.edu.au/lem/esl/pdfs/doyle
Hamilton, Robert (2002). "Empire of Kitsch: Japan as Represented in Western
Pop Media." Bad Subjects, Issue 60, April. http:
eserver.org/bs/60/hamilton.htmlThis lesson plan is based on the Simpsons
episode, "30 Minutes Over Tokyo" Season 10, Episode 23, #AABF20.

Vocabulary Lesson: If a Runner Runs, Does a Sweater Sweat?

Rolf Palmberg
rpalmber [at] vmail.abo.fi
Department of Teacher Education, Abo Akademi University (Finland)
Introduction
It is true that a person who runs is a runner, but is it also true that a person who
sweats is a sweater? And if you call someone who writes a writer, would you call
someone who draws a drawer? And does the fact that a teacher points to
something make him or her a pointer?
English words that end in "-er" fairly often follow the pattern "to run" - "a runner".
As demonstrated in the first paragraph, however, this may not always be the case.
Sometimes the "-er" words may have additional meanings, and occasionally they
have entirely different meanings.
Purpose
Playing with words and word meanings is something that appeals to linguistically
intelligent learners in particular, but also to other types of language learner. The
purpose of the classroom activities presented below is to increase EFL and ESL
learners' vocabulary awareness and dictionary skills. Although the activities are
aimed primarily at intermediate and advanced learners, the teacher can easily
modify their level of difficulty by selecting or adding words that suit less proficient
learners as well.
Sample Classroom Activities
To indroduce the topic, ask the learners to produce sentences such as: "A person
who buys is a buyer". Next, ask them to share and compare their sentences with
their classmates.
Give the learners the following list of words:
carrier
diner
drawer
duster
hanger
joker
mower
prayer
pointer
poster
reader
rubber
shower
sleeper
slipper
starter
sticker
sweater
thriller
toaster
Next, ask them to look up the words in a dictionary and decide which words
1. refer to people,
2. refer to animals,
3. refer to objects,
4. refer both to people and to something else,

5. have three or more distinct meanings.

When they are finished, ask them to compare their results with their classmates.
Ask the learners to produce sentences such as: "Although he plays records he is not
a record player". Next, ask them to share and discuss their sentences with their
classmates.
Ask the learners to produce sentences such as: "The man sleeps in a sleeper".
Next, ask them to share and discuss their sentences with their classmates.
Ask the learners to produce sentences which all include several of the words listed
above. Next, ask them to read out their sentences in class.
Invite the learners to search their dictionaries for words that end in "-er" but do not
fit the "to run" - "a runner" pattern. Next, ask them to produce sentences such as
"A smoker smokes, but what does a holster do?" and "A listener listens, but can an
oyster oyst?". When they are finished, ask them to read out their sentences in
class.
Activities for the ESL Classroom Incorporating Reality-based TV
R. Alan Davis
rald40 [at] yahoo.com
South-East Asia University (Bangkok, Thailand)
This paper lists several ideas about using 'The Amazing Race' as a teaching aide in
an ESL classroom. The activities utilize authentic English and emphasize the skills of
listening, speaking, reading and writing, group decision making, and reasoning.
The following activities incorporate the use of a reality-based TV show called 'The
Amazing Race' into an ESL class. This is a weekly American television show, but is
broadcast in many countries via cable. It features 12 teams who race around the
world. The activities presented here can be used to teach a variety of English
language skills including speaking and listening, reading and writing, as well as
group decision making, cultural understanding and reasoning.
Reasons for Using Reality TV in the ESL Classroom
1. The introduction of authentic language into the classroom.
Too often listening exercises found in textbooks are vastly different from
anything that is heard outside of the classroom. Language is scripted and
acted out, spoken clearly and steadily, and always uses proper grammar.
While there is obviously a place for this in an ESL classroom, there is also a
place for authentic, unscripted English, language that is spontaneous and full
of incomplete sentence structures, cut-offs, mumbling, utterances and idioms.
2. Students enjoy the classes.
They get involved with the teams, pick their favorites, cheer when they do
well and groan when they do poorly. They are excited by the show and the
classes.
3. The shows occur weekly.
You can establish a routine of watching the program with your class, adapting
the programs to cover the area that you are studying. You can use as many
or as few of the episodes as you and the class decide. Although the activities
are divided up here, you may want to use a combination of them during one
day if the class time is long enough.
4. Each show takes place in a different location.
This opens up the opportunity for cultural discussion, classes on different
countries and if you are lucky enough to have students from the area, it gives
them the opportunity to talk about their home to the other students.

I originally designed these activities for an intermediate General English class in

Sydney. The class was composed of students from mixed nationalities including
China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. We watched
the program for three weeks until it was preempted by the World Cup for three
weeks. The classes were quite successful and enjoyable and we probably would
have kept on watching, but the semester was coming to an end. Since that class, I
have used a modified form of the same lesson in two courses. One was a media
analysis course, also with a class of mixed nationalities and the other was a high
school preparation class composed entirely of Chinese students between the ages of
17 and 19. For this last class, I used the program as a means of exploring group
dynamics and working together.
Preparation Time
For each episode you will need at least one hour to record the show and take
notes. Depending on the activity, you will need 45 minutes to an hour for
creating materials.
Supplies needed
Television, VCR, worksheets, white board or OHP, and a computer with the
Internet to gather information about the teams and the shows
Class time needed
1.5 - 2 hours
Opening Procedures
Before doing anything, you need to introduce the program's concept. The
show sends eleven pairs of contestants on a global race. The two-person
teams must face various challenges and perform certain duties around the
world. Each week, the slowest participants are eliminated from the
competition until just one team remains. This team receives a prize of one
million US dollars. You could choose to introduce this information verbally or
you might give the students the information from one of the many web sites
devoted to the show. One of these can be found at
http://www.sirlinksalot.net/amazingrace.html. The students should be aware
of the ways in which challenges are presented. These include roadblocks, fast
forwards and detours.
Brainstorm with the students about the problems people encounter when
traveling. Share one or two anecdotes about your own travel experiences and
then ask for some more from the students. Make a list of these on one side of
the board. They will probably come up with communication difficulties,
strange food, getting sick, running out of money, etc. Ask them to identify
what travelers might do when encountering these situations. Elicit the
students opinions about why people like to travel when there are so many
problems.
Activities
Activity 1
In this activity, students will be predicting the outcome of the race by reading a
biography and interview of the participants. It is a communicative activity that
emphasizes working with a group to reach a consensus, reading and summarizing
information and predicting outcomes based on reasoning. In groups of three or
four, students will summarize the given information about the team, categorizing
what they feel are their strengths and weaknesses. The bios and interviews can be
found at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/. Each team should predict
who will win and lose this leg of the race and be able to explain why they reached
that decision. Each of the groups will present their predictions to the class

discussing their reasons for their choices. They should support their choices with
information from the texts provided. After watching the first and second segments
of the program, give students an opportunity to change their predictions based on
what they have seen so far. At the conclusion of the race, ask students to come up
with suggestions that might have helped their chosen teams to do better.
Activity 2
This is a listening activity focusing on phrases, idioms and sayings common in
everyday speech. Students will match team members with the things that they say.
Give students a worksheet with the pictures of the teams on one side and quotes
from the teams on the opposite side of the paper. Students can draw a line
matching the phrase with the team. Before watching the show, go over what each
of the phrases mean and how they might be used. Have students try to come up
with situations in which they might use the phrases. I used this activity alongside
other activities every time I used the program. In every instance, the students did
quite well on this exercise.
Activity 3
In this activity, the students design their own course for the teammates. It gives
them an opportunity to share something about their country with the rest of the
class and emphasizes writing and presentation skills. Students work with others
from their country (if possible) and decide on three tasks that the participants must
do in their country. They should employ the use of a route marker (detour or
roadblock), choose a pit stop, and decide how much money the teammates can
spend. After the groups have finished they should explain their leg of the trip to the
rest of the class. This presentation may include the potential difficulties that the
contestants will encounter as well as some of the interesting things that they will be
able to see. Either you or one of the students, should plot the coordinates on a
map. You might consider (I wish I had) sending the information the show
producers. This might motivate the students to really think about what they are
doing.
Activity 4
This is a two part activity with the goal of students writing a recount of one leg of
the race. Sometime after watching the show, have students engage in a running
dictation. Using a recount of the show sliced into pieces, the students will dictate to
another student. After finishing with the dictation, the students should number the
actions from one to six. Have students write their own recount after watching the
next show.
Activity 5
This activity gives students the opportunity to explore one aspect of computer
literacy, as well as giving them the opportunity to communicate with an
international audience. If you have one to one Internet access, go to one of the
numerous bulletin boards devoted to the program. TV Clubhouse or to one of the
fan club pages (there are plenty). If you don't have access, you can print it out for
the class. Have students respond to one of the topics that are being talked about.
Be careful using bulletin boards as occasionally there is language that may not be
appropriate for the classroom.
Other Ideas
This is only a partial list as the programs are adaptable to a number of different
learning concepts. Some of the other areas that might be considered include
grammar points such as a lesson on superlatives, asking for directions,
inappropriate/appropriate behavior of guests in foreign countries and for higher
level classes a debate on how real are reality TV shows.

References
Adjective-Noun Game
Scott Greene
scott [at] highway.or.jp
Nagoya Gakuin University (Nagoya, Japan)
Objective
To get students to think about and practice adjective-noun combinations.
Level
This game works well with all levels. Lower level students can make up simple
sentences and higher level students more complex ones.
The Game
The purpose of this game is to give students the chance to practice adjective-noun
combinations. Begin by giving them a male or female first name. They must then
invent a sentence similar to the following:
Albert likes awful apes.
Betty likes baby boys.
Linda likes little limes.
Richard likes roaring racecars.
Wendy likes wiggling worms.
The game should move fast, so you should be prepared with a list of names to fire
at your students. You should go through the list ahead of time to make sure that
you can think of matching adjective-noun combinations within the vocabulary range
of your students. It is sometimes helpful to have a large list of alphabetized
adjectives xeroxed off and ready to hand out, especially for lower level students.
Following are names for every letter of the alphabet to get you started:
Andy, Betty, Carmine, Daniel, Ed, Francis, Grover, Harry, Ingrid, John, Kris, Linda,
Mark, Norman, Orville, Patty, Quentin, Rachel, Sam, Tom, Ursula, Victor, William,
Xavier, Yolanda, Zelda.
A Man for Every Purpose - Increasing Learners' Vocabulary Awareness
Rolf Palmberg
rpalmber [at] abo.fi
Department of Teacher Education, Abo Akademi University, Finland
We all know that a milkman delivers milk and that a postman delivers letters and
parcels, i.e. post. But does a sandwichman deliver sandwiches, or a garbageman
deliver garbage?
There are a numerous compound words in English that end in 'man', as the above
examples illustrate. One interesting fact is that the word 'man' and its counterpart
can have very different meaning relationships, which, in turn, can be used for
classroom activities to increase learners' vocabulary awareness. In the sample
activities presented below, the level of difficulty can easily be modified by the
teacher by choosing an appropriate number of 'man' words included in the activity
and by selecting such 'man' words that fit the learners' age, proficiency level and/or
interests. The learners may work individually or in pairs, using dictionaries if
necessary.
Eight sample learner activities:
1. Here is a list of 'man' words and a list of definitions. Match each word with its
correct definition.

2. Here is a list of 'man' words. Identify the meaning relationship between each
'man' and its counterpart. Example: X, Y and Z deliver things, whereas M and
N are members of something.
3. Here is a list of 'man' words. Categorise the words according to who delivers
things, who collects things, who sells things, who is something etc.
4. Here is a list of definitions. See if you can produce the correct compound
word (the latter part of which is 'man') for each definition.
5. Here is a list of 'man' words. Find out which 'man' words can in fact be
'woman' words as well.
6. Here is a list of 'man' words. Find out which 'man' words are gender neutral,
i.e. which do in fact refer to a 'person'.
7. Here is a list of 'man' words. Find out which words are in fact occupations.
8. Here is a list of 'man' words. Find out which 'man' words do in fact not relate
to human beings at all.
35 'man' words (there are many more) and their definitions:
best man - the principal groomsman at a wedding
boatman - a man who rows a boat
cameraman - a photographer who operates a camera for films
chairman - a person who presides at a meeting
clergyman - a member of the church
con-man - a person who persuades foolish people to entrust their valuables to
him
family man - a person who is fond of home life with his family
fireman - a member of a fire-brigade
fisherman - a person who engages in fishing as an occupation or for pleasure
footman - a male servant who attends the door, the carriage, the table, etc
freshman - a student in his first year at a college or university
garbageman - a person who collects and hauls away garbage
gentleman - a man who shows consideration for the feelings of others
gunman - a man who uses a gun to rob or kill people
hit man - a professional assassin who works for a crime syndicate
iceman - a man who delivers ice (for use in ice-boxes, etc)
layman - a person without expert knowledge
lineman - a person who puts up and maintains telegraph and telephone lines
madman - a person who is mad
milkman - a man who delivers milk from house to house
newsman - a man who distributes or sells newspapers
policeman - a member of the police force
postman - a man who delivers letters and parcels
sandman - a mythical person who makes children sleepy
sandwichman - a person who walks about the streets with advertising boards
hanging from the shoulders
shaman - a priest who acts as a medium between the visible and spirit worlds
snowman - a figure of a man made of snow by children for amusement
spaceman - a person trained to travel in a spacecraft
statesman - a person who takes an important part in the management of
State affairs
superman - a man who has more than ordinary powers and abilities
talisman - an object thought to bring good luck

walkman - a small portable radio or cassette player listened to by means of

earphones
waterman - a man who manages a boat for hire
weatherman - a man who reports and forecasts the weather
woodman / woodsman - a person who cuts down trees
The Human Body - A Vocabulary Awareness Activity in Four Steps
Rolf Palmberg
rpalmber [at] abo.fi
Department of Teacher Education, Abo Akademi University, Finland
This is a vocabulary activity aimed at practising words relating to the human body.
At the same time it will increase learners' awareness of word relationships and
translational equivalence.
Step One
Give each learner (or pair of learners) a picture of the human body and ask them to
identify the meaning of the main parts of the body, either productively (by filling in
the words they already know and using dictionaries to find the remaining ones) or
receptively (by combining words with the appropriate parts of the body and, again,
using dictionaries if necessary):
Relevant vocabulary items include arm, back, chest, ear, eye, face, foot, hand,
head, knee, leg, mouth, neck, nose, shoulder etc.
Step Two
Ask the learners (in pairs, and using dictionaries) to answer the following
questions:
1. What similarities are there between a chair and a human being?
(Answer: Both have legs and a back, and sometimes arms.)
2. What is the similarity between a clock, a coin, a house and a mountain?
(Answer: They all have faces.)
3. What is the similarity between a needle and a potato?
(Answer: Both have eyes and yet cannot see.)
4. Who has hands but cannot touch?
(Answer: the clock.)
5. Who has a mouth but cannot drink?
(Answer: the bottle or the river.)
When the learners have finished, challenge them to come up with similar riddles
involving body words.
Step Three
Ask the learners to consult their dictionaries and compose their own TOP TEN lists
of useful phrases and expressions which include different body words (e.g. 'secondhand shop', 'keep an eye on things',' head of department', 'give someone a hand').
When they have finished, ask them to share/compare their lists with their
classmates.
Step Four
Ask the learners to choose five of the body words and look them up in a dictionary.
What other meanings do they have? Are the additional/extended meanings the
same as in the learners' mother tongue? If not, what differences are there? Next,
ask the learners to share/compare their findings with their classmates.

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Introducing Euphemisms to Language Learners

Scott Alkire
s_alkire [at] hotmail.com
San Jose City College (San Jose, California, USA)
I. Introduction
There has been little EFL research on euphemisms, despite two facts: fluency in
English cannot be achieved without a reasonable command of them, and a great
number are semantically opaque. For learners, euphemisms represent a part of
English largely untaught. This is rather incongruous, for as speakers of English we
use euphemisms to express any number of everyday realities, and as passive
listeners and readers we decode them daily to properly understand discourse in the
workplace, the business world, the mass media, etc.
This paper presents a brief background of euphemism use in English along with a
short glossary of common words and some of their current, popular euphemisms.
Following the glossary is a lesson that introduces learners to euphemisms and
explores the question of why, in Garner's (1998) words, they "thrive as much today
as ever." (p. 266).
II. The Purpose of Euphemisms
Euphemisms are words we use to soften the reality of what we are communicating
to a given listener or reader. They are a universal feature of language usage; all
cultures typically use them to talk about things they find terrifying (e.g., war,
sickness, death) because, anthropologically, "to speak a name was to evoke the
divinity whose power then had to be confronted" (Neaman & Silver, 1983, pp. 1-2).
Similarly, we use euphemisms to express taboos, as we feel, on some instinctual
level, that the euphemism keeps us at safe distance from the taboo itself. Another
use of euphemisms is to elevate the status of something (e.g., using educator for
teacher, attorney for lawyer); but in general, we use euphemisms to express what
is socially difficult to express in direct terms.
III. Latinate Roots of Euphemisms
A great number of euphemisms in English come from words with Latinate roots.
Farb (1974) writes that after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066,
"the community began to make a distinction between a genteel and an obscene
vocabulary, between the Latinate words of the upper class and the lusty AngloSaxon of the lower. That is why a duchess perspired and expectorated and
menstruated--while a kitchen maid sweated and spat and bled." (p. 80)
The linguistic differences between earthy, direct Anglo-Saxon words and elegant,
often euphemistic Latinate words have been largely ignored in language learning,
despite the fact that knowledge of these differences is essential to natural, native
like use of English. Similarly, euphemisms themselves--Latinate or otherwise--have
been ignored in language learning, even though they are usually semantically
opaque to learners and continue to be invented and employed.
Below is a short glossary of common words with some of their current, popular
euphemisms. (Some euphemisms, it will be seen, have become euphemized
themselves.) Following the glossary is a lesson for learners at the intermediate
level.
IV. Short Glossary of Words and Their Euphemisms
Word
accident, crisis,
disaster

Euphemism
incident

addict; addiction

substance abuser; substance abuse, chemical dependency

adulterous

extramarital

arrest (v)

apprehend

beggar

panhandler, homeless person

bombing

air support

break-in

security breach

brothel

massage parlor

cheap

frugal, thrifty, economical

coffin

casket

complaint form

response form

confinement

detention

criminal (adj)

illegal

criminal (young)

juvenile delinquent

crippled

disabled, physically challenged

custodian

building maintenance staff

dead

departed, deceased, late, lost, gone, passed

death insurance

life insurance

death penalty

capital punishment

death

demise, end, destination, better world, afterlife

deaths

body count

die

pass away, pass on, expire, go to heaven

drug addict

substance abuser

drugs

illegal substances

drunk (adj)

intoxicated, inebriated, tipsy

exploit (land)

develop

fail

fizzle out, fall short, go out of business

false (adj)

prosthesis

false teeth

dentures

fat

overweight, chubby, portly, stout, plump

fire (v)

lay off, release, downsize, let go, streamline, rightsize

garbage collector

sanitation person

garbage dump

landfill

genocide

ethnic cleansing

hyperactive

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

illegal worker

undocumented worker

imprisoned

incarcerated

informer

confidential source

jail

secure facility

jungle

rain forest

juvenile delinquent

problem child, at-risk child

kill

put down/away/out/to sleep

kill on a mass basis

liquidate

killing of innocents

collateral damage

lawyer

attorney

lazy

unmotivated

lie (n)

fib, fabrication, cover story, story, untruth, inaccuracy

make love

sleep with

money

funds

mortuary

funeral home/parlor

multi-racial

diverse

murder

hit, kill, do someone in, finish off someone

noisy

boisterous

office equipment

productivity products

old

mature, distinguished, senior, traditional, seasoned, new

(e.g., "The house is two years new")

old age

golden age, golden years

old person

senior citizen, pensioner

old persons' home

convalescent hospital, retirement home, rest home,

nursing home

one-room apartment studio apartment, efficiency

pay (n)

remuneration, salary

person

representative, individual

perspire, perspiration sweat

police officer

peace officer

poor children

at-risk children

poor nation

emerging nation, developing nation, third-world nation

poor student

underachiever, underperformer

poor

low-income, working class, modest, underprivileged

power failure

service interruption

prison

correctional facility

prisoner

inmate, convict, detainee

problem

issue, challenge, complication

rain, snow, hail

precipitation

remedial education

special education

removed from duty

put on administrative leave

repression (social,
political)

law and order

retarded

special, slow, mentally challenged

rough

physical

rude

self-centered

sales

marketing

salesman, -woman

sales associate

say

indicate, disclose, mention

school

institute

secretary

administrative assistant

selfish

self-centered

sexual intercourse

sleep with, make love

sexual relations
(illicit)

liaison

sexual relationship

involvement, intimate relationship, affair

sick

indisposed, ill, under the weather

small

quaint, cozy, petite

software product

solution

solve

resolve

spy (n)

source of information, agent

spying

surveillance

steal

appropriate, salvage, lift, borrow

stupid

slow

suicide (to commit)

to end it all, take the easy way out, do oneself in

surprise attack

preemptive strike

sweat (v)

perspire

talk (v, n)

converse (v), conversation (n)

teacher

educator

theft

inventory shrinkage

tip (n)

gratuity

toilet

john, WC, men's room, restroom, bathroom, washroom,

lavatory

totalitarian

authoritarian

tramp

homeless person

ugly

unattractive, modest, plain

underwear
(women's)

lingerie

unemployed

between jobs, taking time off

unreserved seating

general admission, festival seating

used

previously owned, pre-owned, refurbished, second-hand

vagrant

homeless person

venereal disease

social disease

victim

casualty

wrong

improper, questionable, impropriety (n)

V. Lesson: Understanding Euphemisms (Intermediate level)

Objectives
The student will:
Learn the word euphemism.
Learn the taboo and uncomfortable subjects in English that give rise to most of
our euphemisms.
Appreciate euphemisms' semantic opaqueness.
Identify euphemisms in newspaper articles, features, editorials, advertising, etc.
Surmise, to a reasonable degree, why a euphemism is used, and what it
connotes as compared to the original (often Anglo-Saxon) word it stands for.
In Class
Begin the lesson by explaining that English, like all languages, has subjects that can
be difficult to talk about, because the original words for these subjects can offend,
disturb, or embarrass the person one is addressing. State that for these subjects
we use words called euphemisms, which are "softer" words than the original words.
For example, mention that death is often talked about with euphemisms such as
pass away, pass on, go to heaven, etc.
Write on the board poor, fat, and old and state that these words are often
euphemized in English. Ask students if they know any euphemisms for them.
(Possible answers might be, respectively, low-income, working class, modest;
overweight, stout, portly, husky; senior, mature, traditional.) As students offer
euphemisms, write them on the board.
Continue by pointing out that euphemisms are often difficult to understand on
purely linguistic terms. To illustrate this, write the following sentences (or similar
ones) on the board (this may be done in advance). Tell students to "translate" each
sentence into clear, straightforward English. Provide photocopies of the glossary in
this article for reference. (Note: as the glossary is organized by original word, not
by euphemism, students will need to guess the meaning of the euphemisms by
context.)
His grandfather passed away.
My father is between jobs but has two interviews today.
The peace officer apprehended the sanitation man for speeding.
The sales associate answered in the affirmative when the judge asked him if
he had ever been incarcerated.
The manager complained to his administrative assistant of inventory
shrinkage.
Our son is a special child.
Dan's supervisor laid him off because he was unmotivated.
American football is a physical game, and has disabled many players.
The individual was accused of appropriating funds.
The correctional facility has 220 inmates, five of whom are facing capital
punishment.
Discussion
When the students are finished, call on some to read their "translations." The idea
is for them to understand the softening and/or misleading nature of euphemisms. If
you wish to expand the lesson, ask: When is the use of euphemisms "good" and
when is it "bad"? Do news reporters--whose mission it is to report the news--ever
use euphemisms? When? Should they use them?
Homework
Each student finds a newspaper article that uses at least five euphemisms and
replaces them with more direct English words. The students bring in the original

article (perhaps taped or pasted to a sheet of paper) with the euphemisms

underlined and their "translations" written on the paper. (To complete the
assignment the students will need to refer to the glossary in this article and/or a
good dictionary.)
Follow-up to Homework
Have different students come to the board and write a sentence with a euphemism
from their articles. Then have each student write his or her "translation" below it.
After a few sentences have been written on the board, ask the class to speculate on
why the euphemisms were used in each instance.
For Further Discussion
Political leaders are notorious for their use of euphemisms. Why?
"A language without euphemisms would be a defective instrument of
communication." (Robert Burchfield, former editor, The Oxford English
Dictionary) (Eschholz et al., 2000, p. 512). How would the language be
defective?
Bryan A. Garner (1998) writes that euphemisms "thrive as much today as
ever." (p. 266). Surmise why this may be so.
Ask students to volunteer euphemisms from their own languages. Are certain
subjects euphemized more (or less) in other languages? Speculate on reasons
why this might be so.
VI. References
Burchfield, R. (2000). In P. Eschholz, A. Rosa, V. Clark (Eds.), Language
awareness: Readings for college writers (p. 512). Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin's.
Farb, P. (1974). Word play: What happens when people talk. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf.
Garner, B. A. (1998). A dictionary of modern American usage. New York:
Oxford University Press, Inc.
Neaman, J. S., & Silver, C. G. (1983). Kind words: A thesaurus of
euphemisms. New York: Facts on File, Inc.
Rawson, H. (1981). A dictionary of euphemisms and other doubletalk. New
York: Crown Publishers, Inc.
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 5, May 2002
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Alkire-Euphemisms.html

Current Issue - Previous Issues - Activities for ESL Students - Things for ESL
Teachers - TESL/TEFL Links - Search - Copyright
The Internet TESL Journal
A Reading Exercise with Food Related Phrasal Verbs
Yen-Ling Teresa Ting
yltting [at] tin.it
Faculty of Sciences, University of Calabria (Calabria, Italy)
This is a lesson using food-related phrasal verbs in context. Print it out. Have your
students guess what the phrasal verbs mean. This activity can be followed-up with
the Internet TESL Journal's quiz on Food Phrasal Verbs.
Tom Smith Bolts It Down

Phrasal verbs add colour to spoken language. Here are some phrasal verbs related
to food and eating. Guess what they mean as you read.
Tom Smith usually has only 15 minutes to eat lunch so he bolts it down (1). This
does not mean he eats much for lunch since he only has a sandwich and a coffee.
However, his wife Susan loves cooking and she always whips up (2) a wonderful
dinner. This explains why Tom is not so thin. He pigs out (3) every evening on a
full course dinner - a roast with vegetables and a pasta side and to top it off (4), a
big dessert which Susan picks up (5) on the way home from school where she is a
teacher. Susan is quite petite, so it is not surprising that she only picks at (6) all
the food she prepares and just gnaws at (7) a carrot or some other vegetable
while she listens to Tom speak about his day. For breakfast, Tom sometimes warms
up (8) Susan's left-overs and then he runs off for another day of work. This is
against the doctor's advice so Tom should think about cutting back (9) on meat
and eggs to bring down (10) his cholesterol. Actually, Mary, the woman who helps
them with their house also has high cholesterol, even though she has cut out (11)
meat and eggs and is on a diet of fish and steamed vegetables. Recently, however,
Susan has noticed that the whiskey bottle is emptying out quite quickly so she
suspects that Mary is knocking it back (12) now and again. This would be OK
except for the fact that this is Susan's favourite bottle of whiskey!
So, what did the phrasal verbs mean? Write a short explanation for each.
1. to bolt down
2. to whip up
3. to pig out
4. to top off
5. to pick up
6. to pick at
7. to gnaw at
8. to warm up
9. to cut back
10.
to bring down
11.
to cut out
12.
to knock it back
Now check if your guesses were right with the little quiz at:
http://iteslj.org/quizzes/lb/pvfooddrink.html
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 5, May 2002
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Ting-PhrasalVerbs.html
A Lesson on Food Idioms
Yen-Ling Teresa Ting
yltting [at] tin.it
Faculty of Sciences, University of Calabria (Calabria, Italy)
This is a lesson using food-idioms in context. Use it as a classroom handout and
have learners work together to guess how these colourful expressions add flavour
to our language and life experiences. This activity can be followed-up with a quiz on
food idioms at http://a4esl.org/q/h/id-lb-food.html where you can find more food
idioms.

There are some common idiomatic expressions which use food words. You may be
able to hypothesize what these expressions mean but if not, start by guessing
whether they carry positive or negative connotations. Then check your intuition by
rewriting the text using the sentences in activity II.
Bringing Home the Bacon on the Gravy Train
Activity I) What do you think these expressions mean?
Bob works hard to bring home the bacon1, and put bread and butter2 on his
family's table. Every morning, he drags himself to his desk at the bank and faces
his tedious 10-hour-a-day job. His boss, Mark, is a bad egg3 but has somehow
taken a liking to Bob so he always speaks well of Bob in front of Mr. Davies, the
owner and big cheese4 of the company. Mark tells Mr. Davies that Bob's the
cream of the crop5 and is one smart cookie6 who uses his noodles7. Mark likes
to chew the fat8 with Bob during coffee break and discusses half-baked9 company
plans with him because he trusts Bob and knows that Bob won't spill the beans10
behind his back. On these occasions, Bob tries to avoid any hot potatoes11 and,
even if Mark isn't his cup of tea12, Bob makes an effort to butter him up13 by
leading Mark into discussions about electronic gadgets which Mark is nuts about14.
Bob really thinks that Mark is out to lunch15 and nutty as a fruitcake16, but in a
nutshell17, if he polishes the apple18, his job could become a piece of cake19 and
maybe one day he will find his gravy train20.
This is definitely an exaggerated use of idiomatic expressions. But you can see how
these expressions make spoken informal language much more colourful and jovial.
Activity II) How good is your food-idiom intuition?
Here are some non-food idiom expressions which you can use to substitute the food
idioms in Activity I. Check answers with your teacher.
NON-FOOD
FOOD IDIOMS
EXPRESSIONS
A
boss
4 - big cheese
B
Food
C
very easy
D
on the table but still
unofficial
E
the best
F
continues to be servile
and brown-nose his
boss
G
Scoundrel
H
make a living
I
is an intelligent person
J
show admiration
K
Basically
L
share confidential
information
M
means to a big income
with little effort
N
Chat
O
Thinks

P
Q
R
S
T

a little out of touch with

reality
Problematic issues
a little crazy
really likes
the type of person he
likes

Answers:
A
4 E
B
2 F
C
19 G
D
9 H

5
18
3
1

I
J
K
L

6
13
17
10

M
N
O
P

20
8
7
15

Q
R
S
T

11
16
14
12

Similes in the ESL Classroom

Larry Pudwill
pudwill[at]hotmail.com
Nagoya, Japan
Similes Defined
Time flies like an arrow.
A legend as old as the hills.
These are examples of a figure of speech called a simile. Similes are used to
illustrate a point or elicit an emotion by comparing two objects or actions equally.
The word simile comes from the Latin root similes, meaning sameness or likeness.
The words similar and facsimile also use the same root. Similes are commonly used
in literature but are also regularly used in conversation.
Similes can be recognized by the grammar patterns ".... as (adjective/adverb)
as ..." or "(verb) like ...". The original word or phrase of a simile is called the tenor,
and the word or phrase used to illustrate the tenor is called the vehicle. In the two
examples above time and legend are the tenors, and arrow and hills are the
vehicles. The tenor and vehicle of a simile share some characteristic associated with
the adjective, adverb, or verb, but otherwise would not literally be compared with
each other.
Sometimes the adjective, adverb, or verb use a different meaning of the same word
to compare the tenor and vehicle. In the simile, The boy lies like a rug, both a boy
and a rug can lie, but the boy doesn't tell the truth, and the rug is spread out on
the floor. The man smokes like a chimney is another such example.
Classroom Activities
Similes can be easily introduced into ESL lessons to stimulate the students'
creativity, interest, and humor while teaching parts of speech (adjectives, nouns,
and verbs) or the comparative grammar forms.
Parts of Speech
The activities here will work as the building blocks to creating similes for practicing
the comparative patterns below.

Write several adjectives (hard, busy, flat, white, etc.) on the blackboard. Have your
students write three or four nouns or noun phrases that can be associated with the
adjectives. Encourage noun phrases and secondary meanings of the adjectives. As
an example, under the word hard you can write the words rock, their last English
examination, week-old bread, and walking up Mt. Fuji with a twenty kilogram
backpack. Have the students share their lists of words and phrases in groups or
with the class.
Next, write types of animals (fish, dogs, cows, eagles, etc.) on the blackboard.
Animals are commonly used in similes because of their familiarity. Have the
students come up with a list of three or four verbs associated with those animals.
As an example, under the word fish, you could write swim, drink, and flop around
when out of the water. Likewise, write some inanimate objects (ice, homework, silk,
their textbook, etc.) on the blackboard and have the students come up with three
or four adjectives for each. Again, have students share their lists.
Comparative Pattern Practice
Similes are useful for learning and practicing the "... as (adjective/adverb) as ..."
and "...(verb) like ..." comparative grammar patterns. After introducing these
patterns, use the list of adjectives, nouns, and verbs that the students generated
above to create a complete simile by combining the tenor, adjective or verb, with
the vehicle. As an example, write the sentence, My last English examination was as
hard as climbing Mt. Fuji with a twenty kilogram backpack. For further practice,
students could change the vehicle to use the words they came up with and add a
new tenor; for example, The bread was as hard as my last English examination.
Use this same activity for creating similes with the animals and objects using both
the "... as ..." and "... like ..." grammar patterns.
Conclusion
Have fun with similes and encourage imagination. You can use similes to enhance
your students' creative English language abilities.
Similes are not limited to the English language. If you are teaching English to
people of a culture different than yours, encourage your students to share their
language's similes. You and your students will gain much insight into each other's
cultures.
Matching Similes
The similes below are so common that most have become clich in their usage.
However, they will give students a good idea of simile formation and usage.
Match the sentence on the left with the simile on the right. Write the letter on the
line next to the number.
1. ___ The girl never tells the truth.

A. It's as smooth as silk.

2. ___ Please water that plant.

B. I'm as busy as a beaver.

3. ___ Those two children don't like each other.

C. She has been as quiet as a church

mouse.

4. ___ That girl won't harm anyone.

D. Then I can fly like an eagle.

5. ___ I have many things to do today.

E. It's as flat as a pancake.

6. ___ Be careful of the the broken glass.

F. He's as strong as a bull.

7. ___ The water has frozen.

G. She's as slow as molasses in

January.

8. ___ This material is very soft.

H. It's as fresh as a daisy.

9. ___ Did you scrub the floor?

I. He eats like a pig.

10. ___ Put on some warm gloves.

J. He eats like a bird.

11. ___ This cake is soft and fluffy.

K. She can sing like an angel.

12. ___ I want to do well on my tests.

L. She lies like a rug.

13. ___ This bed sheet is very clean and smells

M. It's as hard as a rock.
good.
14. ___ I can't understand this question.

N. They're as black as coal.

15. ___ He will get lung cancer if he's not

careful.

O. She looks as white as a ghost.

16. ___ My father taught me many things.

P. It's as light as a feather.

17. ___ Why is she taking so much time?

Q. It's as sweet as honey.

18. ___ I have heard that story many times

before.

R. Time flies like an arrow.

19. ___ He's such a sloppy eater.

S. It's as clear as mud.

20. ___ He doesn't listen to anyone.

T. She is flying as high as a kite.

21. ___ The patient looks very ill.

U. She's as blind as a bat.

22. ___ He doesn't eat very much.

V. Your hands are as cold as ice.

23. ___ She sings with much feeling.

W. He's as stubborn as a mule.

24. ___ The man can lift this heavy box.

X. He sits there like a bump on a log.

25. ___ We shouldn't waste time worrying.

Y. It's as dry as a bone.

26. ___ Go to the bathroom to clean your

hands.

Z. He smokes like a chimney.

27. ___ The boy is very lazy.

a. It's as clean as a whistle.

28. ___ The pudding tastes delicious.

b. It's as sharp as a knife.

29. ___ She has very poor eyesight.

c. She's as gentle as a lamb.

30. ___ Did you step on this?

d. He's as wise as an owl.

31. ___ She is very excited about getting her

driver's license.

e. They always fight like cats and

dogs.

32. ___ I will go check on the baby.

f. It's as old as the hills.

Matching Similes - (answer sheet)

Match the beginning part of the conversation on the left with the simile on the right.
Write the letter on the line next to the number.
1. L The girl never tells the truth.

A. It's as smooth as silk.

2. Y Please water that plant.

B. I'm as busy as a beaver.

3. e Those two children don't like each other.

C. She has been as quiet as a

church mouse.

4. c That girl won't harm anyone.

D. Then I can fly like an eagle.

5. B I have many things to do today.

E. It's as flat as a pancake.

6. b Be careful of the the broken glass.

F. He's as strong as a bull.

7. M The water has frozen.

G. She's as slow as molasses in

January.

8. A This material is very soft.

H. It's as fresh as a daisy.

9. a Did you scrub the floor?

I. He eats like a pig.

10. V Put on some warm gloves.

J. He eats like a bird.

11. P This cake is soft and fluffy.

K. She can sing like an angel.

12. D I want to do well on my tests.

L. She lies like a rug.

13. H This bed sheet is very clean and smells

good.

M. It's as hard as a rock.

14. S I can't understand this question.

N. They're as black as coal.

15. Z He will get lung cancer if he's not careful. O. She looks as white as a ghost.
16. d My father taught me many things.

P. It's as light as a feather.

17. G Why is she taking so much time?

Q. It's as sweet as honey.

18. f I have heard that story many times

before.

R. Time flies like an arrow.

19. I He's such a sloppy eater.

S. It's as clear as mud.

20. W He doesn't listen to anyone.

T. She is flying as high as a kite.

21. O The patient looks very ill.

U. She's as blind as a bat.

22. J He doesn't eat very much.

V. Your hands are as cold as ice.

23. K She sings with much feeling.

W. He's as stubborn as a mule.

24. F The man can lift this heavy box.

X. He sits there like a bump on a

log.

25. R We shouldn't waste time worrying.

Y. It's as dry as a bone.

26. N Go to the bathroom to clean your hands. Z. He smokes like a chimney.

27. X The boy is very lazy.

a. It's as clean as a whistle.

28. Q The pudding tastes delicious.

b. It's as sharp as a knife.

29. U She has very poor eyesight.

c. She's as gentle as a lamb.

30. E Did you step on this?

d. He's as wise as an owl.

31. T She is very excited about getting her

driver's license.

e. They always fight like cats and

dogs.

32. C I will go check on the baby.

f. It's as old as the hills.

Activities to Teach the Count and Noncount Noun Distinction

Ron Belisle
ronb [at] mfwi.org
Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute (Spokane, WA, USA)
Look carefully at these sets of sentences below.
I bought some flour.

I bought some flowers.

My father has company.

My father has a company.

It is in the woods.

It is in the wood.

I need some glass.

I need some glasses.

I like strawberry.

I like strawberries.

I ate hamburger.

I ate a hamburger.

There is none.

There is a nun.

Baseball is popular.

Baseballs are round.

Use some pepper.

Use some peppers.

Orange is beautiful.

Oranges are beautiful.

She likes chicken.

She likes chickens.

You need some peace.

You need some pieces.

I like Apple.

I like apples.

To a Japanese learning English, what is confusing about the pairs of sentences

above? Unlike Japanese nouns, English nouns have a count or noncount distinction.
In English singular count nouns require some kind of article or determiner as
follows: (See exceptions below.*)
the definite article (the car)
the indefinite article (a pencil, an apple)
a possessive determiner (my dictionary, your car, etc.)
a demonstrative pronoun (this dog, these cats, that house, those people,
etc.)
To help students understand this important grammatical distinction and to provide
ample classroom practice, I introduce the lesson by orally asking the students to
translate the following English sentence into Japanese. (I don't write the sentence
on the blackboard, but just repeat it orally.)
Yesterday, I bought flour.
Almost always the students translate the sentence incorrectly as follows:
Kino, hana o kaimashita.
The students mistake the word "flour" to mean "flowers."
To provide practice and reinforcement of this grammatical distinction, I use four
activities which students enjoy. In addition to teaching the count/noun count
distinction, these particular activities also teach the use of the following:
Use of there is/are

Use of many/much/a lot and few/little

Use of focus questions
Use of a rejoinder
Use of future tense
Activity 1: Shopping List Game
Skills taught: Count or noncount distinction.

This is a commonly used activity among ESL teachers that can take various forms.
Students sit or stand in a circle. The teachers starts by saying. "Let's go shopping!
Do you like shopping? (Let students respond.) I'm going to buy some ______ ."
The teacher says something like "some apples" or "some rice" or another count
noun or noncount noun. The student to the left of the teacher has to continue the
shopping by saying "I'm going to buy some ______ (what the teacher just said)
and some ______ (something new). Then the next student continues by adding
another item to the list. "I'm going to buy some ______ and some ______ and
some ______ . After about five or six students and when memories begin to falter,
the next student can start with a new single item.
This game reinforces the use of count or noncount items related to food or products
bought at a store. The teacher's role is to correct the student's grammar. If a
student says, "I'm going to buy some egg." The teacher should repeat the correct
sentence and have the same student repeat it correctly again.
Activity 2: This is a
Skills taught: Use of indefinite article, focus question, rejoinder
Items needed: hand held items of singular countable nouns using "a" instead of
"an"
Write this on the board:
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student
Student

A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:

This is a ________ .
A what?
A _________
A what?
A ___________
Oh! A ________!

This is a rhythm/repetition game in which students stand in a circle, pass items

(countable singular nouns) to adjacent students while saying the pattern above.
(It's best to use singular count nouns which are short in length and start with a
consonant.) Try to get the students to stay in sync.
Activity 3: Let's Go Camping!
Skills taught: countable and uncountable distinction
Write this on the board.
Let's go camping!
My name is ________. I'm going to take a/some ____________.
This is both grammar practice and a kind of language puzzle. Students sit or stand
in a circle and practice repeating this sentence using correct English grammar while

trying to figure out the puzzle (or pattern) at the same time. Quick movement
around the circle and repetition are important. Be sure to let students know that
the main purpose is the grammar practice and not to figure out the puzzle, or they
will sit and think too long about what to say. The puzzle part involves certain things
which are okay to take camping and certain things which are not depending on the
first letter of the student's first name.
Each student repeats the sentence above in turn around the circle. The teacher
gives correct (grammar and puzzle) examples often. For example, "My name is Ron
and I'm going to take some rice. How about Emi?" (Referring to the student to the
left of the teacher.) Students should practice repeating the whole sentence inserting
whatever noun they want. If Emi does not choose a noun that starts with an "e"
(the first letter of her name), then say something like "Good English (if the English
is actually correct ), but I'm sorry. You can't take any ________ .
Usually by the first time the circle around two or three students have figured out
the pattern. Continue until all (or most understand).
Activity 4: Wally's World
Skills taught: There is/are, much/many, countable/uncountable distinction
Items needed: students
Write this on the board.
In Wally's World there are/is ___________,
but there are/is no ____________ .
This is another grammar practice game with a language puzzle twist. It should be
noted that the use of "Wally" has no particular relation to any book or place. It's
purely fictitious I use it because it sounds good to me and it's good pronunciation
practice for my students. Another name could be used instead.
In this game students try to figure out the pattern and all the while they are
practicing certain forms and learning to distinguish between countable and
uncountable nouns. Quick repetition is important.
Students sit in a circle and in turn repeat the sentence above inserting nouns of
their choice. Only nouns which have a double letter (for example, trees) are
acceptable in Wally's World, which of course is a fictitious place. The teacher starts
with an example. Below are some acceptable ones. You could undoubtedly think of
dozens more on the fly.
In
In
In
In

Wally's
Wally's
Wally's
Wally's

World, there are feet, but there are no hands.

World, there is coffee, but there is no tea.
World, there are walls, but there are no buildings.
World there is beer, but there is no wine.

At first the teacher should occasionally interject an acceptable example for every
second or third student to help them try to figure out the pattern. The teacher's
role is to correct a student's grammar and to let the student know if their sentence
fits the correct pattern. Always be sure that students have the opportunity to repeat
the correct grammar form.

One note on this grammatical structure. You many want to mention that in spoken
English, the contractual use of "There's + plural noun" is common, for example,
"There's five people in the room." or "There's two cars in the parking lot." However,
rarely will one hear the non contractual use of sentences like "There is five people
in the room" or "There is two cars in the parking lot."
*A few exceptions to the use of articles and determiners before a singular count
noun are as follows:
He went home. He went downtown.
He went to bed.
She goes to work every day.
They watch TV every night.
Or when referring to traveling
by car, train, bus, airplane, on foot, etc.
Or when referring to meals
I ate lunch.
I ate supper.
I ate breakfast
Global Warming: A Cause and Effect Writing Lesson
Amy Ogasawara
Miyazaki International College (Miyazaki, Japan)
AOGASAWA [at] pmail.miyazaki-mic.ac.jp
http://www.miyazaki-mic.ac.jp/~aogasawa/Homepage.html
Audience:
College freshmen in an EFL classroom with TOFEL scores ranging from 375 to 450.
Teaching Objective:
To practice cause and effect writing skills on environmental topics.
Materials:
The teacher needs to supply articles for students to read BEFORE beginning this
lesson. The topic suggested here is global warming, but any topic can easily be
substituted.
Skills:
Reading and speaking will be practiced, but the focus of this lesson is cause and
effect writing practice.
Time:
At least one lesson needs to be devoted to reading, and then this lesson requires
one to two class periods.
Procedures:
Preparing to write: gathering information
The teacher should provide students with several articles about global warming.
(Articles can be found in the English newspapers, textbooks, and from the internet.)
Included with these articles should be a note-taking worksheet to help students
identify the main points and in particular, all causes and effects discussed in the
articles. A sample format might include a vocabulary list followed by a vocabulary
exercise, a paragraph by paragraph breakdown identifying the main point (guided
by comprehension questions or key words), and then a chart or grid where students
can write key words related to a) causes or b) effects (again guided by
comprehension questions or key words).
2. Preparing to write: making sentences

Cause and Effect Worksheet #1

Cause and effect shows the relationship between two things when one thing makes
the other thing happen. If you can put the two things into a sentence using "if....
then...", then you have the requirements for cause and effect. For example: If you
throw a ball up, then it will fall back down. In this case, throwing the ball up is the
cause for it to fall down.
Here are some examples of cause and effect relationships.
save money -------> travel abroad
eat too much -------> get fat
study politics -------> become a lawyer
stay out in the sun too much -------> get a sun burn
Exercise One
Using your notes and worksheet from the reading(s), write as many cause and
effect relationships as you can think of regarding global warming and the
greenhouse effect.
------->
------->
------->
------->
------->
------->
------->
When we write cause and effect statements, we use words and phrases that are
called connectors of result.
Connectors of result:
so, therefore, consequently, as a result, for this (these) reason(s)
Examples:
She saved her money for more than one year, so now she is planning to travel
abroad.
Last year, MIC students in England ate too much greasy food. As a result, they got
fat.
He studied politics; therefore, he became a lawyer.
Exercise Two
Connect your ideas from exercize one with complete sentences. Use all the
connectors of result at least once.
3. Preparing to write: brainstorming and organizing
Cause and Effect Worksheet #2
Cause and effect writing usually asks why , and then answers it. Remember to
include both the question and the answer in your essay.
Organizing
There are two main ways to organize cause and effect compositions. One way is the
group approach. In this way, you talk first about all the causes together as a group,
then you talk about all the effects as a group. The other way to organize cause and
effect writing is the alternating chain approach. In this way, you first discuss a
cause and its effect. Then you discuss another cause and its effect, and so on.
Which is best?
At first, you might not know which approach is best for your topic. In general, if it is
difficult to make a clear distinction between cause and effect, the group approach is
probably best. On the other hand, if there is a direct relationship between cause

and effect, each cause has a clear effect, then the alternating chain approach might
be better. In many cases, you might want to combine both types at different times.
First you must get your ideas down on paper and then you will see which approach
seems best for you.
Exercise One: Brainstorming
Look again at your notes and sentences about Global warming and the Greenhouse
effect. In our last class, you already separated the causes and the effects of Global
warming. This time, we are going to group them so they are easier to work with.
Using the group approach, think first of all the causes of global warming, and then
think of the effects. To do this, ask yourself why? as you list the causes. Then ask
yourself what is the result of this? as you list the effects.
Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect
A. Causes (Why do we have the Greenhouse effect?)
1.
2.
3.
4.
B. Effects (What is the result of the above causes?)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Exercise Two: Organization
Group approach
Look at the lists above. Think about the relationship of the items in your lists and
arrange them in a reasonable order. Do some causes or effects happen before
others? Put each cause and each effect in some kind of order by replacing numbers
in your list.
Ask yourself:
Does each cause have a corresponding effect? If not, you should organize using the
group approach. If so, then you are ready to begin thinking of the alternating chain
approach.
Alternating chain approach
Match each cause with its coordinating effect. Again arrange them in a reasonable
order.
Exercise Three: Writing more sentences
When you make a statement such as if global temperatures rise, the level of the
sea will rise and this will cause disaster, then you must include examples to support
your claim. The connectors listed below will help you connect statements with
supporting examples. Using your lists above, write cause and effect sentences
supported by examples. Use as many of the following connectors as you can.
Connectors
for example, for instance, such as, one example of this is, as an illustration, take
the case of
4. Writing: putting it all together
At this point, students should have enough ideas, words, and sentences listed on
their worksheet and in their notes to begin writing well organized paragraphs. The
teacher should remind them to include examples to support each of their cause and
effect relationships. Once the first draft is completed, the teacher may opt to do
peer editing in the next class before students rewrite their second drafts.

Search for Information

Search of Yahoo using "global warming"
Search of Alta Vista using "global warming"
An Interesting Approach to Writing Introduction Paragraphs
Darren P. Bologna
kappa7099 [at] yahoo.com
Kanda University of International Studies
Rationale: Writing introductions can be one of the most difficult tasks for
students because it is a starting point. The first step in a long journey is
always the hardest. The teacher can make this easier by doing three things:
dissect the introduction, give students a task that allows them to find the
parts of an introduction, then give them a task that allows them to write their
own. This lesson plan takes students step by step through writing an
introduction.
Time: 90 minutes
Materials: A handout describing an introduction. Three examples of an
introduction paragraph. Appropriate (clean) personal advertisements, one for
each pair of students. You can find some at http://personals.yahoo.com/.
Step 1: Describing an Introduction Paragraph
Pair the students. Write the parts of an introduction on the blackboard. A good idea
is to create a simple example or ask for help from the students:
The Parts of an Introduction
Hook
Comments, and background
Thesis Statement
An Example
Example topic: "The high cost of living in Tokyo"
Hook: Can you imagine how much a single day can cost if you live in Shibuya,
Tokyo?
Comments and background: Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the
world. The prices of things in Tokyo are much higher than in other parts of
Japan. Many people living in Tokyo have a difficult time paying for their
lifestyles.
Thesis Statement: Tokyo definitely is one of the most expensive cities for
many reasons.
Step 2: Dissecting an Introduction
Describe the purpose of each section of an introduction.
A "hook" is usually a question or comment that inspires an emotional
response from the reader. It should be used to get their interest.
Comments and background give a history or some information regarding
the topic.
A thesis statement is the last sentence in the introduction paragraph and it
describes what the essay is about.
Step 3: Identifying the Parts of an Introduction in Other Works
Give copies of three introduction paragraphs to student pairs. Ask the students to
identify the parts of the introduction by underlining, circling, and bracketing. Ask
confirmation questions to check answers.
Step 4:
Give the students copies of personal advertisements. Students must identify the
hook in the personal ad. Ask confirmation questions to check answers.
Step 5:

Students now write their own personal ad. Tell them to write their hook in all capital
letters. This will make them more aware of what they are doing. Students trade
papers with other pairs to evaluate. Allow 5 to 10 minutes for discussions on ways
to improve their hooks. Ask for volunteers to read some good ads with great hooks.
Step 6:
Students write their own introductions for their topics. Students need to write the
hook in all capital letters, the comments and background in bold or darker letters,
and finally the thesis statement should be underlined.
Tips for ESL Students on Reviewing and Improving Written Work
Kristofer Bayne
bayne [at] icu.ac.jp
International Christian University (Tokyo, Japan)
This article covers five practical tips for students to self-review, revise and improve
the pre-submission standard of work written in English.
Introduction for Teachers
This worksheet describes five practical ideas to encourage students to improve their
writing in English before it arrives on your desk. It is addressed directly to students
and where feasible contains working examples of problems we often encounter in
our students' writing. You may wish to have the students read it, then act on the
advice, or you may isolate given suggestions and raise them in the classroom using
the examples given or your own. The latter approach may be better for some
students.
Dear Students
As a teacher one of the more frustrating things about checking students' writing is
finding small mistakes that are (or should be) so easily picked up before the writing
assignment is submitted. Another frustration is seeing words that are just too easy
and simplistic--we (teachers) know that you (students) know more than you think
you know! This means, you have a deep vocabulary but you don't use it enough. Of
course we teachers also understand that writing is difficult and that you want to
finish your homework and get on with life. In a race we can have a false start and
then a re-start. You probably took a little while to start your writing: thinking,
stopping, rethinking and re-starting based on a clear plan. Finishing your homework
is really a false finish and as such needs a re-finish. If you take a little more time
once you have finished a writing activity (paragraph, report, essay etc.) there can
be a much more satisfactory outcome all round: for yourself, your teachers and
your language ability (your grade). It might also be useful beyond your language
studies and even beyond university. Here are some practical tips for you to think
about and use.
Preparation
Before we start, there are a number of items that you will need:
a set of different colour highlight pens or coloured pencils (five would be a
good start)
a record-play back source (cassette or MD)
a thesaurus
a friend
a piece of your original writing
Up-grade Your Vocabulary
Most students write using their existing and largely surface vocabulary - words
that come to you without much thought. This is understandable because, as you
write and think you have to juggle many things in your mind. Your vocabulary is

like an iceberg. You can only see 20% of an iceberg above the water, but most of it
is below the surface. Similarly you know and recognise many more words than you
actively use. You can improve your writing by up-grading, or improving, your
vocabulary by diving under the surface for better words and expressions.
Select certain highlight pen or pencil colours for certain vocabulary items. For
example, yellow for nouns, green for verbs, and other colours for adjectives,
transitions and so on. Go through your writing and highlight or underline all the
examples you can find. Then, think (consider): "Is that word the best I can do?" Do
the words actually (precisely) say (express) what you want to say (convey)? Can
you find another, better (superior) word? Either you can think more carefully about
words you know or go to a thesaurus. A thesaurus is a book like a dictionary except
that it lists words of the same meaning. You can buy (purchase) print versions,
Roget's Thesaurus being the most famous, but most electronic dictionaries and
computers have them. I thought about many words in this paragraph and put a
better word next to them in parenthesis ( ). One of them was the word say. The
thesaurus on my computer suggested many words instead of say: state, speak,
remark, utter, express, voice, declare, pronounce. Not all examples in a thesaurus
will mean the same thing so you need to cross-reference with a dictionary to make
sure it is the meaning you really want.
Try this now. Find a thesaurus and look up these words: state, speak, remark,
utter, express, voice, declare, pronounce.
Understand Your Problems and Weaknesses
This is fairly simple: understand what kinds of mistakes you make (often very small
ones) or habits you have that weaken your writing. If you don't know, look back at
any work that has been corrected by a teacher. Often the same mistakes are made?
Do you forget or mix up articles (a, an, the)? Are all your sentences about the same
length or similar structure? You might also look at whatever writing textbook you
have used and list the kinds of things that it focuses on. It might also have
checklists you could use. Make a list of these things, keep it somewhere prominent
and refer to it when you check your writing.
Listen to Your Writing
As you write and re-read your work, your eye and brain become used to seeing the
words. In some cases you become too familiar with your own writing so you miss
small mistakes. In fact,
aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at
the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit
porbelm.
Hopefully your spelling is not that bad, but, one way to check is to have someone
else read your work. However, that not always possible. Instead, listen to your
writing. Read your own writing aloud onto a tape or MD. Even reading it aloud to
yourself will help, but you have to vocalise, or say, the words clearly. As you do this
you may catch some things. But, the next step is important. Replay your readingrecording to yourself as you follow along by reading your work. As you do you may:
catch small mistakes (articles, tenses, grammar etc.)
realise the rhythm of your writing is too monotonous (similar word length
etc.)
find you don't move smoothly between ideas and sections (transitions)

see (hear, actually) you have used the same word too much or the words are
too simple (vocabulary)
Pause and make corrections to your writing as you listen, and do it a number of
times to be sure. At first you may be shy doing this recording and even shocked at
hearing yourself speaking in a foreign language. But if you can sing in front of
people at least you can do this.

This activity has benefits beyond writing as it makes you aware of your own voice
and pronunciation, it also requires you to speak quite loudly and at length. Try
doing the recording a few times if you need to. Try to read with expression. Are all
the sentences about the same length? This will help you see if you need to vary the
length of sentences by using conjunctions (e.g. so, but, and etc.).
Check Spelling in Reverse
This seems obvious and easy to do. Computers can check spelling for you. My
computer spell check went crazy over the Listening to Your Writing section above.
Electronic spell checks are not perfect.
The smell cheque on you computer can only check four worms that are knot collect.
Is something strange about that last sentence? My computer does not think so,
but there are seven spelling mistakes! Firstly, spell check using your computer, then
do it using a thesaurus. One way to do this to avoid the problem discussed in
Listening to Your Writing above is to read your writing backwards, in reverse. When
we read we group words together in our mind. We do not (or should not) read each
single word individually, so we might overlook spelling mistakes or omissions in the
process. Reading from back to front makes us focus on individual words and we can
more easily pick mistakes. Still, you may not catch all the mistakes so this leads us
to the last suggestion.
Try this now. Find the seven mistakes and write out the correct sentence.
Find a Friend: Peer Review
It is advisable to have another person read your final product before you submit it.
If it is someone in the same class or who has the same assignment you can do it as
an exchange. A native speaker of the language would also be helpful, but perhaps
too helpful. A native speaker who is not a teacher might tend to do too much work
for you and you will not benefit in the long-term. Find a friend who is willing to
spend some time on your writing and give you constructive comments, advice and
criticism. If you are a friend, be honest about where you think improvements can
be made. If you are the writer, be open to criticism and consider the advice you are
given. Both of you would benefit from the task of peer review, which is what we
call this. A peer is someone who is equal to you such as a classmate or fellow
student. Often a peer can give you much more feedback than a teacher who might
have many papers to check.
Finally
These are only five basic ideas you could use to improve the quality of your writing
before you submit it. Admittedly it adds time to your writing activity. It might be
time that you invest now rather than time withdrawn later by your teacher who
asks you to rewrite it! I hope, however, that you can see that being a little harder
on yourself after you have 'false finished' a piece of writing will result in a superior
product. Earlier I used the race analogy: maybe the old story of the rabbit and the
tortoise applies here, too. It is better to go slowly and carefully rather than race
through things too quickly. Taking your time at the re-finish also has other
positives. It makes reading your writing much more enjoyable and easier for the

reader, and this is usually a teacher who is going to give you a grade. The fewer
mistakes I find when I am checking papers the happier I am. I don't mean to say
that you should only write to make teachers happy. What I mean is that a polished
piece of writing satisfies everyone.
Writing with Style: Two Useful Strategies for Students
Steven Kenneth Ahola
steboahola[at]hotmail.com
Kansai Gaidai University (Osaka, Japan)
This lesson plan offers teachers two strategies dealing with repetition and sentence
variety that they can incorporate into their writing lessons.
Introduction
In her book Rethinking Foreign Language Writing, Scott (1996) urges the teaching
of writing strategies: Teachers need to help students develop effective strategies
for each phase of the writing process (49). During the revising and editing phases
of the writing process, students have an opportunity to examine their drafts more
closely. For example, they may focus on grammatical errors, vocabulary problems,
or organizational issues. The time the students spend revising and editing will
more than likely improve their drafts. This lesson plan offers teachers two useful
strategies dealing with word repetition and sentence variety that they can
incorporate into their writing lessons.
Lesson Plan
Levels: Intermediate and advanced
Materials: Two sample paragraphs illustrating the writing problems that the
strategies will attempt to alleviate.
Preparation
It might be beneficial to write some sample paragraphs showing the problems
associated with word repetition and a lack of sentence variety.
Strategy 1: First Word Repetition
Background Information
Students often have a tendency to begin their sentences with common words such
as the, there, and I. When the students write papers with such repetition, their
sentences may have a negative effect on the reader; the reader may find the
writing immature and boring. This strategy provides an easy way for students to
identify patterns of repetition in their drafts.
Step 1
Introduce the strategy by providing a sample paragraph with sentences beginning
with the same word. Read aloud the sample paragraph and then have the students
write down the first word that begins each sentence on a piece of paper.
Step 2
Instruct the students to look at the words that they have written down in order to
identify something interesting about their short list of words. Hopefully, the
students will identify that some words are repeated. Inform the students that such
repetition can often make a writing piece boring.
Step 3
Ask the students if they can think of a way to change the sentences in order to
lessen the first word repetition. If the students cannot think of any ways, then you
could suggest that they combine two similar sentences with a conjunction such as
and or but. Another suggestion is to revise the sentences so that the sentences
begin with a different word.

Step 4
Allow the students time to examine their own drafts for first word repetition by
writing down the first word for each of their sentences. If they discover some
repetitive words, then they should revise those sentences.
Strategy 2: Sentence Variety
Background Information
Sentence variety means the length (the number of words) of the sentences in a
writing piece. Due to their limited English proficiency, some EFL writers may write
only short sentences. This simple strategy will help students to determine whether
their drafts include sentence variety.
Step 1
Provide the students with a sample paragraph that lacks sentence variety. After
reading the paragraph aloud, the students should count the number of words in
each sentence and write the number above the sentence.
Step 2
Ask the students if they notice any similarities between the numbers they wrote
down. They should be able to determine that some of the sentences have the same
word count. Explain to the students that writers often vary their sentences in order
to keep their readers from getting bored. Thus, encourage the students to include
a mix of both shorter and longer sentences in their drafts.
Step 3
Brainstorm some ways to revise sentences that lack variety with the students.
They may offer suggestions such as combining shorter sentences in order to make
one longer sentence or dividing one longer sentence into two shorter sentences.
Another suggestion is to add more information to the shorter sentences.
Step 4
With their own drafts, the students should count the words in each of their
sentences. If there are many sentences with a similar word count, then they
should revise them.
Conclusion
The two writing strategies described above can be administered in any writing
class. A major benefit of both of them is that they are able to flesh out problems
with word repetition and sentence variety quite easily. When I have introduced
these strategies in my classes, my students are usually surprised at the number of
times they repeated the same words at the beginning of their sentences. Further,
they are surprised when they discover their sentences lack variety. Perhaps, the
students you teach will have a similar reaction. And, hopefully, they will apply
these strategies in all their future writing pieces.
Car Budget Activity
Lawrence Klepinger
lhk-l [at] highway.or.jp
The Handout | To the Teacher
The Handout
Cost of Owning a Car on a Monthly Basis over Ten Years
1. Cost of Car (One-time cost)
____________________________
2. Driving School (One-time cost)
____________________________

3. Car Insurance (Yearly cost)

____________________________
4. Car Inspection (Every two years)
____________________________
5. Gas and Oil (Every month)
____________________________
6. Maintenance (Every month)
____________________________
7. Parking (Every month)
____________________________
8. Accidents (Estimate)
____________________________
9. Highway Travel (Estimate)
____________________________
10.
Speeding Tickets (Estimate)
____________________________
11.
Emergency (Estimate)
____________________________
12.
Miscellaneous (Estimate)
____________________________
13.
Total Monthly Cost
____________________________
To the Teacher
This activity can be easily adapted to your own country
This exercise shows the importance of good budgeting to your students. It also
shows basic common sense when planning to buy a car.
First have the students guess how much they think it will cost to maintain a car per
month for ten years. They will probably guess the average of 25,000 to 30,000 yen.
Hand out the blank forms and have them sit together and figure all the costs.
Remember that the one-time costs are to be divided by 120 (10 years = 120
months). Yearly costs by 12 and the monthly costs take care of themselves.
The car inspection cost is a little tricky. Simply put, figure the total cost to be
700,000 yen divided by 120. This represents 3 two-year inspections and 1 year at
100,000 yen. The reason for this is the first three years on a new car have no
inspection fee.
Have the students figure all the prices and it should come to around 96,000 yen. If
some argue that the parking is too much (25,000 yen a month here in Nagoya)
then delete it. They still come up to about 70,000 yen a month, which is way above
what they had guessed at first.
I have found this a great way for students to grasp the importance of proper
budgeting. This method can then be transfered to business propositions.
A Story-Telling and Re-Telling Activity
Bob Gibson
aj7r-gbsn [at] asahi-net.or.jp
Keio University (Tokyo, Japan)
Introduction
At one time or another many teachers have watched their schedules of lesson
stages crumble in the face of that excruciatingly drawn-out process of decision
making by Japanese students. In setting up this story making activity using
photographs as raw material, I had two main aims. The first was to inject a degree

of randomness into the selection of pictures intended as stimuli, thus cutting down
the amount of time students could take over what really ought to be a minor aspect
of the whole task. The second was to force students to actually listen attentively to
the stories which their classmates were telling them. The activity outlined below
has achieved both aims with a wide range of ability levels.
Procedure
Lay out on a table, either face up or face down, a good range of 'people' and
'setting' photographs from magazines, catalogues etc. Put students into groups of
three or four and where possible arrange the room so that these groups are spaced
well apart and not too close to the laid-out pictures.
If the pictures are face up, have one student from each group come out and select
one. S(he) then rejoins the group but keeps the chosen picture face down. The
other students in the group do likewise, and only when each member has made a
selection may the pictures be turned over. If the pictures were laid out face down,
then either students each choose one without looking or one member from each
group is asked to pick up three or four. Back in the group, the pictures are turned
over and students attempt to integrate them into a common story line.
It often happens that one or more pictures cannot easily be related to the others,
so, after a little thinking time, the group may be allowed to select a few more
pictures to pad out their initial ideas for a story line. A useful wrinkle here is to
require that one picture be handed back for each new picture taken. This helps
prevent excessively long and complex stories.
Story creation proceeds. Group members can be encouraged to make very short
notes, or a flowchart or spider graph style diagram to help them keep the story in
mind. Manuscript writing should be strongly discouraged, especially if only one
member of the group is doing it.
When groups have come up with a story, the members of each group play jan-kenpon (Rock, Scissors, Paper Game), probably Japan's fastest decision making
procedure. The loser has to stay behind and tell the group's story to two or more
listeners from another group, while the other group members move to the next
group to hear that group's story. Remind the storyteller to arrange the pictures in
story sequence so that the listeners can see them clearly, and stress that listeners
will have to pay close attention to the story they are about to hear, asking
questions if anything is unclear, since one of them is going to have to tell it again
her/himself.
After the two 'new' listeners have heard the story and asked any questions they
want to, they also play jan-ken-pon. The loser again stays behind to tell the story,
while the previous storyteller and the other listener(s) move to the next group. The
story is told again. Even if a chart or diagram has been left behind, minor-to-drastic
alterations may occur to stories in the re-telling, but this can add to the fun. If you
do overhear serious revisions, you might have students contrast the versions they
heard at the end of the activity.
On the next or next-but-one change-of-role, only one person in each original group
has not yet taken on the role of teller of one story or another. In the interests of
fairness, then, the jan-ken-pon can be omitted. If further rounds of re-telling are
needed, jan-ken-pon is a fair way of choosing a storyteller.
Follow-up
Asking Japanese students to critique their classmates' stories, can be rather a nonstarter, especially as individual stories may have mutated from one telling to the
next. You might, however, ask students to rank the stories they heard in terms of
plausibility, imagination, complexity etc. Where one story is a clear favourite,

students may enjoy acting it out, which of course requires the narrative to be
turned into dialogue. Outside of Hollywood, this may not be the most essential of
language skills, but it almost invariably throws up plenty of good teaching points
and student questions.
Minister of the Environment
Justin T. O'Conor Sloane
kingoconor [at] yahoo.com
Center for Interamerican Studies (Cuenca, Ecuador)
Introduction
This lesson is designed for use in advanced, preferably adult, conversational English
courses. The objective of this lesson is to create an engaging dialogue concerning
environmental and economic issues. This lesson works equally as well when
presented to a class for spontaneous discussion or when given as a homework
assignment in advance of class discussion. This lesson is devised to expand the
vocabularies of English language learners (ELLs) by introducing and utilizing words
that they may be unfamiliar with or that they do not routinely encounter.
The Scenario
You are the newly appointed Minister of the Environment of a small,
developing nation somewhere in South America.
Your country is rich in natural beauty and certain natural resources but poor
economically.
A large, multinational oil corporation has determined that a sizeable reserve
of oil exists under a vast expanse of relatively undisturbed tropical forest in a
region that is considered to be one of the most beautiful in your country and
which possesses a great and as of yet unrealized potential for a profitable and
sustainable eco-tourism industry--an industry that would initially require
government funding to develop.
The region in question is also one of the poorest in your nation:
unemployment is two to three times as high as in other regions, emigration is
draining the tax-paying population and the people who remain are growing
increasingly restless politically as evidenced by a sharp increase in protests,
demonstrations, and marches upon provincial seats of government; some of
which have closed intra-national highways, disrupting travel and commerce.
The multinational oil corporation has approached your government's
Department of Commerce and Economic Development with an economically
attractive but environmentally destructive proposal to exploit the oil reserves.
As per your country's often controversial, but congressionally mandated
Environmental Protection Act the aforementioned department must receive
your approval as Minister of the Environment if the proposed extraction of oil
is to occur.
The Assignment
What decision do you make? Do you allow the oil company to drill or not?
Why? Support and defend your decision. What do you think the negative
consequences of your decision could be? What do you think the benefits of
your decision could be? How do you feel about your decision?
Points to Consider
The oil company has made it clear that it is not willing to spend money on
environmental protection measures: it is a take it or leave it proposition
based upon what the company perceives to be the economic desperation of
your nation. Teachers: This is an important point to mention when presenting

this lesson to your class because otherwise many of your students will choose
the compromise route which short-circuits lively discussion.
As the new Minister of the Environment you are under tremendous political
pressure: from the economic development at any cost governmental and
societal faction; from the environmental protection and sustainability
governmental and societal faction; from those who see a very bright political
career for you if you play your cards right as Minister of the Environment, etc.
You are both an environmentally conscious and economically pragmatic
politician and so you will weigh both sides equally.
The office of the Minister of the Environment is not a purely symbolic office;
you have real political and governmental power. Historically, the office has not
particularly favored either of the aforementioned factions.
Environmental lawsuits were brought against the previous Minister of the
Environment by a particularly vociferous and active, nationally organized,
environmental group: the Environmental Protection Front (EPF). The lawsuits
failed but effectively ruined the previous Minister's career.
Questions
Teachers: Most of these questions are intended to allow for in-depth discussion by
following-up students' yes/no answers with why/why not (etc.)?
To further your own political aspirations do you side with the most powerful
faction even if it goes against what you believe to be right?
Do you do what you believe to be right, your political career be damned?
Would you be concerned by the potential for intergovernmental conflict
between your Department of the Environment, and the Department of
Commerce and Economic Development; a conflict that could possibly
jeopardize your career in government and politics?
If you say no to the oil company you will risk being ostracized by the highlevel social circle to which you belong due to its large business and probusiness component; are you willing to accept this risk?
Do you consider short term, unsustainable economic progress to be worth the
long term environmental costs if it creates jobs and tax revenue?
Do you believe that stemming migration from and reducing political unrest in
the region at issue outweighs the environmental concerns?
Your decision will definitely be front-page news, so if you say no, when the
unemployed citizens in that region of your country that would have benefited
economically from the oil company's proposal learn of your decision, they are
sure to demonstrate, closing down highways and quite possibly marching
upon your office in the capital city; would you be willing to stick to your
decision in the face of such a formidable protest if it were to occur?
If a public opinion poll found that the majority of your nation's populace
disagreed with your decision, would you reverse it?
Do you take the EPF seriously enough to allow them to influence your decision
or do you simply ignore them and hope that they don't cause you any
trouble?
The region of your country at issue is biodiversity rich. Do you risk destroying
a potentially valuable and sustainable pharmaceutical resource area without
first doing research?
Do you think that eco-tourism is a viable economic option to resource
exploitation?
Should economic concerns take precedence over environmental concerns?
Additional Questions

Do you believe that the global environment and our planet's ecological
balance are being destroyed by human activities?
Do you believe that this harm is largely irreparable or can we reverse much of
the damage?
Do you believe that our survival depends on an environmentally healthy and
ecologically balanced planet?
Is destructive exploitation of the environment always necessary to meeting
mankind's immediate needs?
Do you think that mankind will ever progress past the pursuit of short-term
economic gain at the expense of sustainable economics, the environment,
and our long-term well-being?
What do you think the state of the global environment will be like in 50
years? In 100 years? 500 years?
If you have, or plan to have children, do you ever worry that in the future the
global environment may be degraded to such an extent that they will not be
able to enjoy the same quality of life as you? What about their children, your
grandchildren?
Do you have confidence that mankind will eventually protect the environment
in the way that is necessary to ensure our survival?
How long do you think we have till we go beyond a point of no return
ecologically speaking: or do you not believe that such a point exists in the
balance of nature?
Do you agree that a happy future for mankind depends on a healthy
environment?
Do you feel that your government is doing everything it can to protect the
environment?
Do you do everything that you can to protect the environment?
Do you agree that the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and its derivative,
gasoline, in internal combustion engines and coal in powerplants contributes
to global warming by increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, trapping sunlight that would otherwise be radiated back out into
space, thereby elevating our planet's temperature?
Do you believe that the effects of global warming will be detrimental, even
disastrous to coastal cities, worldwide agriculture, and many forms of plant
life and the animals that depend on them?
Do you think that mankind will implement the necessary technologies, many
of which already exist today, to help in overcoming environmental problems?
Why do you think that many of the environmentally friendly technologies that
exist today are not being put to use?
Do you agree that many large, multinational corporations are at least partially
to blame for blocking the implementation of environmentally friendly
technologies? If so, what do you think their reasons are for doing this?
Do you believe that nature exists for no other reason than to be used for
mankind's own purposes?
Do you believe that biodiversity is priceless and that in it we can find the cure
to just about anything?
Do you believe that if we destroy biodiversity we are sacrificing a better
future for everyone?
Did you know that most pharmaceuticals are derived from plant species,
many of which are to be found in biodiversity rich areas such as tropical
forests?

Did you know that tropical forests are being destroyed rapidly throughout the
world?
Do you think that mankind can overcome environmental problems with
technology?
Do you think that technology contributes to perpetuating the very
environmental problems it is thought to be able to solve?
Do you think that mankind will someday have to consume desalinized water
and algae capsules to survive if there are global food and fresh water
shortages?
Do you think that mankind will be able to someday terra-form nearby planets
like Mars so that an ever-growing human population can live there too?
Do you think that if mankind destroys this planet it will be able to journey
through the cosmos in huge spaceships till it finds new planets suitable for
human habitation? Do you think that such planets exist? Do you think it is
foolish that people suggest this as a future solution to our problems?
What do you think some of the solutions to solving the environmental
problems facing mankind may be?
Do you think mankind will exist in 500 to 1,000 years if we continue in our
current way of doing things? If so, how large of a population do you think that
there will be?
Do you prefer being in the city or being out in nature?
Do you think that this preference influences your perception of how important
you feel environmental and economic issues to be?
Are you a member of any environmental groups?
Do you tend to pay much attention to environmental issues?
Do you believe that mankind will ever solve the environmental problems it
faces?
A Topic Based Lesson: All Kinds of Failure
Rhett Merz
rhettmerz [at] hotmail.com
Canilx Foreign Language School (Shanghai, China)
Introduction
This lesson is intended for upper-intermediate to advanced level students. The idea
behind it is to guide students at this stage through a serious, engaging topic.
Opening
Different cultures and also to some degree, different people within a culture have
dissimilar views of and reactions to failure. Some people react very drastically to
certain failures. In Las Vegas, you used to be able to open the windows in tall hotel
buildings, but these days you can't because in the past too many people lost all
their money and threw themselves many stories down to their death.

On the other end of the spectrum, some people think you really can't fail unless you
give up. They think that if you don't achieve the results that you want when you try
this time, you've just discovered one way that doesn't work and you can use what
you've learned to increase your chances of getting the exact results desired the
next time you try. Similarly, some people say a mistake is OK as long as you learn
from it.
Prompts
1. How do you personally view failure?
2. Do you think the way you look at failure plays a big part in how successful
you become? How so?

3.
4.
5.
6.

Do you think being optimistic is important for success? Is it essential?

The teacher should give an example of one of his/her own failures.
For the students: What are some examples of failures you've had in your life?
The teacher should elicit some other examples of failure from the class as a
whole before using the following to flesh out the list.
o Failure in business
o Failure in love
o Failure in personal life
o Academic failure
o Financial failure
o Religious failure
o Ethical failure
o Failure in friendship
7. What are some specific examples of failure in business?
8. What are some specific examples of failure in love?
9. What are some specific examples of academic failure?
10.
Do you think your reactions to failure are different according to different
failures?
11.
How would you react if you ...
o failed a test in university?
o weren't offered a place in a university?
o failed to get a job promotion you were up for?
o failed a driver's exam?
o failed a vision test or a hearing test?
o lost all your money gambling?
o didn't make the sports team you want to be on?
12.
Do you think your reaction would be different if only you knew about
your failure compared to it being a very public failure? How so?
13.
Do you get really embarrassed or feel like you lose face when you do
poorly at something?
14.
Is there anything positive about feeling like you lose face easily? Are
there any negatives to it?
15.
Do you blush when you get embarrassed?
16.
Do you think your ideas about failure and losing face have anything to
do with maturity? Explain.
17.
Many of the most successful and influential people in the world failed at
what they were trying to do before they actually succeeded. How do you think
these people looked at failure? Do you have any examples of your own when
you failed many times at something but kept trying and finally succeeded?
Role Play
Sometimes you might not react very negatively to your own failures, but you never
know how other people in your life will react to your failures. Pair students off to
take part in this role-play:
Person A: You were expecting a big job promotion complete with salary raise
and added prestige. You found out today that you were passed over. Your
wife/husband was counting on you getting thus promotion and now you have
to go home and break the unhappy news.
Person B: You are the expectant spouse. You have been planning ways all
month on how to spend the extra income. Already your spending habits this
month have reflected your certainty that your spouse would get this
promotion. You are really shocked to hear what your spouse has to say.

A Story Building Activity Using "Not Enough" and "Too Many"

Michael Lovett
Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China
lost_gypsy [at] hotmail.com
http://www.megspace.com/education/lostgypsy/
Introduction
This is something I developed while teaching adults conversational English in China.
It relates loosely to "The Three Little Pigs" and proved to be very popular and
amusing.
Preparation
I started by creating several simple drawings of: three pigs, one wolf, gym shoes,
high heel shoes, boots, swim fins, guns, ice cream cones, footballs, basketballs,
and other things. Almost anything will work well with this activity. These drawings
were very simple, no larger than 3 by 3 inches. (See Appendix.) These were made
into cards.
The Activity
I handed the cards out randomly to each student until each student had a set of
cards from which to write a simple, silly story. I told them they had about 10
minutes. I also instructed them to use "not enough", "too many" and "enough" in
their stories so that the numbers of objects/animals made sense. This activity can
be done alone or in groups of three or four.
An Example
A student receives the following cards:
Two pictures of three pigs [six pigs total]
Three pictures of wolves [three wolves total]
Two pictures of shoes [one pair of shoes in each picture--four shoes]
Three ice cream cone pictures [two cones in each--total of six cones]
Two pictures of sport balls [one ball in each picture]
The student could create a story similar to the following:
One day six pigs went to the store and bought ice cream. They each had one ice
cream cone. In the next store, three wolves were fighting over the last two pairs of
red shoes at the shoe shop! There were not enough shoes for all the wolves to
wear. The pigs also bought some sport balls. They only had enough money to buy
two balls, so there were not enough balls for each pig.
Conclusion
The stories they come up with are very funny, and provide a great creative outlet
for the students, while building sentence skills, as well as "telling a story." I read
them aloud to the class.
Appendix

Learning about Prejudice and Discrimination

Colleen Soares
cosoares[at]yahoo.com
Hawaii Pacific University (Honolulu, Hawaii, USA)
Lesson about prejudice and discrimination, critical issues in U.S. Prejudice and
discrimination are important issues in the U.S. that ESL/EFL students should learn
about during university education.
Introduction
Gaining an education at university is a brief excursion, and it is not just effort
towards better economic prospects. An education should help prepare people for a
more informed a more critical participation in the larger world. There are critical
issues in American culture which ESL/EFL students should learn during university
education, but among the most important are prejudice and discrimination. Human
rights issues are of growing importance around the world, and students should
know about these global human issues, in the U.S., and also in their own countries.
This lesson is for intermediate-advanced to advanced level students. It can be
adapted to concentrate on one of the four skill areas, but it incorporates all of
them.
Learning about Prejudice

Learning about prejudice within our country, and within ourselves, is important in
order to move toward a more humane world. Prejudice and discrimination are
current and critical issues in the United States, and they recur again and again in
this society due to its troubled history of civil rights. These issues will always be
current, and thus, they need to be taught and discussed explicitly with all students,
including international students. Many people around the world have heard about
U.S. race relations, but some information may be inaccurate. International students
learn many things about U.S. culture when studying in the U.S. It is important that
they have accurate information about our turbulent race history, as well as about
the courage of people who have worked hard to secure human and civil rights in
this country. Teaching always involves imparting values, consciously or
subconsciously; it is not a neutral process. To be a truly effective teacher, however,
it is important that we show students that we care deeply about critical issues in
society. A deep concern about prejudice and discrimination underlies the following
lesson.
The Lesson
The assignment revolves around an excellent article by Gordon Allport called,
"Prejudice and the Individual," which is a 7-page chapter in The Black American
Reference Book (1976, p. 515-521). Allport was a renowned educator of psychology
who also wrote extensively on personality and on prejudice and discrimination (see,
The Nature of Prejudice, 1954; he is also the subject of many Internet WEB sites).
Most libraries should have The Black American Reference Book.
Watching a Video
For this assignment, students discuss and investigate the causes or effects of
prejudice and discrimination, they watch a video on the U.S. Civil Rights movement,
discuss their own ideas and feelings about these issues, do research on
prejudice/discrimination in their own countries, and they write an essay (cause
effect). First, they learn about America's history of civil rights by viewing movies
that should be available in university library video collections. More specifically, my
preview work is to watch the film, A Time for Justice (1992). This gives a preview of
U.S. Civil Rights at extremely momentous times in U.S. history. It gives some
background about the movement, and a context for information to be discussed.
For more information, there are numerous other films which deal with U.S. Civil
Rights history which students may find helpful for this assignment, or for their
education about American society. These films are:
Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers
The Second American Revolution, Parts I and II (vols. 7 and 8)
Eyes on the Prize I (vols. 1-6, 1954-1964)
Eyes on the Prize II (vols. 1-8, 1965-1980);
This topic is relevant and meaningful to international students because it is a deeply
important serious moral issue which affects all societies. All countries have varying
amounts of prejudice and discrimination, and students will become broader world
citizens with this knowledge. Many children in the U.S. are introduced to these
historical U.S. issues in school, but international students may have little knowledge
of this part of American culture. Students of today, especially international students
are growing up as global citizens. They will carry on and change society as they get
older. Further, many young people are idealistic and passionate in their beliefs and
sense of justice. They are curious about this topic, and need accurate information.
For each of these reasons, it is relevant.

For my own education, this assignment has generated excellent explanations about
the Chinese in Malaysia and Indonesia, the Malays in Singapore, the Vietnamese in
Hong Kong, the Sudra in Nepal and the Tibetans in China, Skinheads in Sweden,
and Kaoshan in Taiwan, and the Ainu and burakumin in Japan. The problems of
prejudice and discrimination are historic and similar the world over. Yet, many
students are unaware of history.
The Steps of the Lesson
1. Watch the film, A Time for Justice.
2. In groups, discuss the video and the questions and vocabulary in Appendix A.
3. Study the vocabulary and appropriate usage in Appendix A.
4. Read the article (handout from teacher) "Prejudice and the Individual" by
Gordon Allport.
5. In groups, discuss the article. See Appendix B.
6. Choose an ethnic group in your country that is being discriminated against (you
may have to find an article first).
7. Find, copy and read an article about the group in your country that is being
discriminated against; bring to class.
8. In groups, discuss the articles that you have researched about the group in
your country.
9. Write an informational, and / or cause-effect paper (refer to your article and to
the Allport article in your essay).
Appendix A
Prejudice / Discrimination Discussion Groups and Vocabulary
Directions: You will be in several different groups to get as much information from
each other as possible in discussion. First groups will discuss the Allport article.
Second groups may be formed according to country, to enable you to share
information about your country. This is important background work. Please start
thinking about these issues.
In group discussion, talk about the following questions. As you discuss, talk also of
specific examples to make your ideas more clear. Then, answer these questions as
thoroughly as you are able. You may have to use a good dictionary or an
encyclopedia. Prepare answers as a group; choose a spokesperson to speak for the
group. Turn in a draft of group answers to these questions. Put each members
name on the paper.
1. What is prejudice? Give an example that you know about. (Note: Prejudice is a
feeling.)
2. What is discrimination? Give an example. (Note: discrimination is action.)
3. What causes people to be prejudiced? (Why do some people dislike or hate
others?)
4. What causes people to discriminate against other people?
5. What effects does discrimination have on a group which is discriminated
against.
6. What does discriminating do to people? (That is, if you discriminate against
another person or group, how does that affect you?)

USAGE: Note how the following words and phrases are used: Please use them this
way in your writing.
Prejudice, discrimination = nouns
Prejudicial, prejudiced, discriminatory = adjectives
Example: prejudicial attitudes; discriminatory behavior
To be prejudiced against*, to have prejudice against* to discriminate against =
verb forms
*Discriminate against - discriminate is always used with against
Dominant, minority - these words are often used when distinguishing among
groups in societies. A minority group is a smaller group than the dominant group.
Today, in the U.S. minority has the connotation of a group which suffers from
discrimination. The dominant group usually makes the rules/laws and customs
which the minority group must follow, even if these are discriminatory laws. Other
related words are stereotype, stereotypical, bigotry, bigot, racism and racist
Appendix B
Cause / Effect, Compound and Complex Sentences (Prejudice /
discrimination)
Source for the following quotations: Allport, Gordon (1976). Prejudice and the
Individual. The Black American Reference Book. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
515-521.
1. "American culture is enormously competitive, and so we find ourselves keenly
fearful of our rivals" (Allport, p. 518).
2. A "rejective, neglectful, harsh, or inconsistent style of preschool training...[may
be] the major factor in predisposing a child toward a lifetime of prejudice";
therefore, preschool training is very important (517).
3. "...a child who is sometimes rejected, sometimes loved, who is punished
harshly or capriciously...grows up....with a suspicious, fearful attitude toward
people in general..."; thus he is a good candidate for prejudice (517).
4. "...Young children will play contentedly together whatever their race or national
origin"; thus, "...prejudice is not inborn but acquired..." (517).
5. As children become adolescents, they become more independent, and yet they
have "precarious identities"; consequently they seek new identities and personal
security from peer groups (517).
6. A child may be punished "for his friendliness to minority groups..."; for this
reason, he may "acquire...aversion to members of the out-group" (517).
7. "All mortals require simplified rubrics to live by....our thinking seems to be
guided by a law of least effort....Prejudice is thus an economical mode of thought,
and is widely embraced for this very reason" (518).
8. "...militant protests call attention to needed reforms; [as a result they often]

win the sympathy of potentially democratic citizens" (520).

9. In general, stereotyped thinking is reduced as a result of more education. or:
Stereotyped thinking is often reduced as a result of more education (520).
10. "The lesson is difficult to learn because as adolescence approaches, the child
seeks personal security and a new identity in his peer groups, which usually are of
his own color, class, and neighborhood" (517).
11. "However prejudice is learned, it takes root in a personality because it meets
certain basic needs or cravings" (518).
12. A child "may develop an avoidance for dark-skinned people" since he has been
"repeatedly warned to keep clean" (517).
Critical Thinking: How Much of You Is You?
Brent A. Jones
bjones_jp [at] yahoo.com
www.BrentJones.com
Kwansei Gakuin University (Japan)
Introduction
This lesson plan was designed to encourage critical thinking about the influences of
mass media and popular culture. Specifically, students will investigate, discuss and
write about what parts of their lives are influenced. This is followed up by a group
writing project and learners read and respond to essays written by other groups.
This activity was designed for first-year non-English majors enrolled in a required
university EFL course, but could be used in other learning contexts.
Materials
VCR and a videotaped collection of TV commercials, excerpts from dramas,
sit-coms, MTV, etc.
Collection of magazines that are popular among this group of learners.
Procedure
Students prepare an outline of a typical day, including as much detail as
possible regarding actions, activities and lifestyle.
In pairs or small groups, students explain their outline and ask or answer
questions.
These same pairs or groups discuss and prepare a short report on what
actions and activities in their daily schedules are influenced by mass media
and popular culture as well as the sources of these influences.
Pairs or groups report to the class and answer any questions the instructor or
classmates have.
The class watches a videotaped collection of TV clips. Students take notes on
what they see and hear, especially possible sources of influence on individual
actions, activities and lifestyle.
Students change partners or groups and compare notes.
These new groups then go through the magazines looking for implicit and
explicit messages regarding actions, activities and lifestyle.
Using the IPSO (Issue, Position, Support, Outcome) organizational format as
a springboard, these new groups then collaborate on a short essay regarding
the various influences and the power of mass media and popular culture.

Essays are posted around the room for public viewing and eventually bound
together as a class resource.
Students write about this task-chain in their reflective journals.
Outcomes or Productions
The main products will be group essays describing the influences of mass media
and popular culture on their lifestyles. Again, these will be posted around the room
for public viewing and eventually bound together as a class resource. Another
outcome will be the reflective journal entries, which will hopefully encourage
students to explore multiple perspectives and explain their ideas and opinions in
more detail. This task-chain should provide opportunities to practice each of the
four language skills and encourage learners to begin thinking more deeply about
their own actions, activities and lifestyles. I also hope students will begin looking at
mass media and popular culture more critically.
Evaluation
Evaluation will be based mainly on observation notes, the finished group essays and
reflection journal entries. Ideally, instructors can use this activity to build on earlier
lessons and follow it up periodically to take advantage of feeding functions.
Caveat
The success of this activity is at least partially dependent on what material is
chosen and how willing students are to scrutinize their own lifestyles. Instructors
will need to experiment with different materials and ways to introduce the activity,
maybe modeling for learners as they scrutinize how their own life is influenced by
mass media and popular culture. Finally, for classrooms that don't have access to a
VCR, teachers can collect more magazines and other examples of mass media and
popular culture as a springboard for discussions and writing.
Conclusion
This task chain should provide learners with the opportunity to develop not only
language skills but also critical thinking and reasoning skills they will need in their
other studies and after graduation. The following concepts and strategies were
taken into consideration.
Major Concepts
Critical Reading and Thinking: Students will be encouraged the think
critically about their daily lives and how they are influenced by mass media
and popular culture. Critical reading and thinking will be promoted by
searching for implicit and explicit messages in popular magazines. The public
viewing of essays will also be an opportunity for critical reading and exploring
other perspectives.
Dialogical Reasoning: The group discussions and essays will provide
learners with the opportunity to hear and read other ideas and opinions
related to lifestyle influences from mass media and popular culture.
Argument & Persuasion: The IPSO framework will be used to help pairs or
groups think through their arguments and prepare their collaborative essays.
Inquiry and Integration: Students are encouraged to make connections
between the influences of mass media or popular culture and their own
lifestyles.
Main Teaching Strategies
Mediative Teaching: Video clips can be selected which tease students'
curiosity and stimulate inquiry, e.g. commercials with implicit and/or explicit
messages about lifestyles.
Collaborative Teaching: Students spend most of their time in pairs or
groups for discussion and work together on the collaborative essay. Verbal

interactions will also involve both communication and social skills that should
help these learners.
Scaffolding: The collaborative essay should help learners write at a level
they would not be able to achieve alone. Scaffolding in this area should
influence vocabulary and expressions as well as persuasive writing, examples
of reasoning, etc.
Collaborative Apprenticeship Learning: The previous two examples apply
here as well. Collaborative writing will help struggling learners in the writing
process, while more advanced students should benefit from explaining
structure level choices (e.g. essay format)as well as sentence and word level
choices (e.g. word order and semantics) in a way that their partners can
understand.
Inquiry-based teaching: Students will be required to look for examples of
possible influence from mass media and popular culture as well as put their
own lifestyles, actions and activities under the microscope.
Guided Student Generated Questioning: This strategy is incorporated into
the lesson plan through both the group discussions, collaborative writing and
reflective writing follow-up. Students should have some previous training in
these questioning techniques but they can also work with a list of questions
stems.
Current Issue - Previous Issues - Activities for ESL Students - Things for ESL
Teachers - TESL/TEFL Links - Search - Copyright
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Critical Thinking: What a Character
Brent A. Jones
bjones_jp [at] yahoo.com
www.BrentJones.com
Kwansei Gakuin University (Japan)
Introduction
This learner-centered task chain is designed to exercise all four language-skills and
encourage both critical thinking and self-reflection. Learners brainstorm for
language related to personality traits and characteristics, watch a short video
segment that involves some type of dilemma and includes characters with various
personalities, discuss the dilemma and attractive/unattractive characters, write a
short essay about a character they like/dislike, and read and respond to each
other's essays. This activity was designed for first-year non-English majors enrolled
in a required university EFL course, but could be used in other learning contexts.
Materials
VCR and short video excerpt of movie, television drama, cartoon, etc. (should
include a dilemma or controversial topic and interaction among several characters,
all having various personalities or characteristics), English or bilingual dictionaries.
Procedure
Students brainstorm for as many personality traits or characteristics as
possible. English or bilingual dictionaries are allowed only after students have
listed up all known vocabulary.
In pairs or small groups, this extended list is classified into positive, negative
or neutral traits or characteristics and students think of examples from among
their family members, friends and TV or film personalities.
The instructor writes up the names of characters who appear in the video clip.
Students watch the video clip and note traits or characteristics for each of the
characters.

Small groups summarize the actions or events in the video clip and compare
notes on traits and characteristics. Discussion can then move to personal
preferences that should be backed up with examples and clear reasoning.
Individually, students choose one character who they admire, respect and/or
would like to emulate. They then write a short essay explaining what is
attractive about that character and which characteristics they would like to
develop or acquire and why. Alternatively, they can choose a character they
feel has negative traits or characteristics and write about why they wouldn't
like to emulate them.
Following peer review, writing conferences and revision, these essays will be
posted around the room for public viewing and collectively bound into a class
resource.
Outcomes or Productions
The main outcome will be student prepared essays describing characteristics or
personality traits they hope to emulate or avoid. Again, these will be posted around
the room for public viewing and eventually bound together as a class resource. At
the same time, the discussions should also help students see multiple perspectives
and force them to explain their ideas and opinions more fully. This task chain
should provide opportunities to practice each of the four language skills and begin
thinking more deeply about their own personalities and characteristics as well as
those that they would like to emulate. I also hope students will listen carefully to
their partners and begin developing public speaking skills such as organization and
persuasion.
Evaluation
Evaluation of students will be based mainly on observation notes and the finished
essay together with all drafts. Ideally, the instructor can use this activity to build on
earlier lessons and follow it up periodically to take advantage of feeding functions.
Caveat
The success of this task chain depends largely on the video clip and how well
learners connect with the characters. Instructors should experiment with different
clips, some with issues and characters that are familiar to the learners and some
that are new or distant. Stronger reactions will most likely encourage deeper
reflection, so instructors may want to focus on negative characteristics or require
learners to write two essays. Finally, for classrooms that don't have access to a
VCR, teachers can collect short stories or Aesop's fables as a springboard for
discussions and writing.
Conclusion
This task chain should provide learners with the opportunity to develop not only
language skills but also critical thinking and reasoning skills they will need in their
other studies and after graduation. The following concepts and strategies were
taken into consideration.
Major Concepts
Critical Reading and Thinking: Students will be encouraged the think
critically in the group discussions as they give examples and explain their
choices and reasoning. The public viewing of essays will also be an
opportunity for critical reading and exploring other perspectives.
Dialogical Reasoning: The group discussions and essays will also provide
learners with the opportunity to hear and read other ideas and opinions
related to personality traits and characteristics.

Argument & Persuasion: Students will need to explain their reasoning both
verbally and in writing. The IPSO framework can also be used to help learners
think their arguments through.
Inquiry and Integration: Students are encouraged to formulate their own
questions about the characters and make connections to people they know
(family, friends, TV or film personalities, etc.)
Main Teaching Strategies
Mediative Teaching: Questions and dilemmas raised by the instructor as
learners begin their essays are based on a meditative teaching approach.
Video clips can also be selected which tease students' curiosity and stimulate
inquiry, i.e. controversial story lines or themes and intriguing characters.
Collaborative Teaching: Collaborative groups work both on consolidating
ideas gleaned from the video and to stimulate ideas for the writing task.
These verbal interactions will also involve both communication and social
skills that should help these learners. Peer review of the essays is another
example of collaborative teaching.
Scaffolding: The group discussions should also help learners write at a level
they would not be able to achieve alone. Scaffolding in this area should
influence not only vocabulary and expressions but also ideas, examples of
reasoning, etc.
Collaborative Apprenticeship Learning: The previous two examples apply
here as well. Peer writing conferences should benefit struggling learners in
that their more able peers can point them in the right direction, while more
advanced students should benefit from explaining their advice and
suggestions in a way that their partners can understand.
Inquiry-based teaching: Again, students will be responsible for forming
their own questions and exploring possible answers.
Guided Student Generated Questioning: This strategy is incorporated into
the lesson plan through both the group discussions and peer review stages.
Students should have some previous training in these questioning techniques
but they can also work with a list of questions stems.

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. X, No. 9, September 2004

http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Jones-Character.html
Discussing Your Name to Develop ESL Presentation Skills
Beth Clark-Gareca
bec5[at]lehigh.edu
Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA, USA)
Background
Many international students come to the university in the USA with very little public
speaking experience. Few have given presentations in their native language, and
fewer still have given a presentation in English. Ice-breaking activities become
necessary then, to help students gain confidence in their speaking ability and for
them to get to know each other personally. Helping to foster interpersonal trust
between students and teacher is the first step towards students conquering their
tendency toward silence. I have found that giving students the opportunity to speak
about things they know well in the first weeks of the semester helps to establish a
community of learners in my classroom.
Introduction

An activity that I like to use to get students comfortable with public speaking is a
discussion/presentation lesson about names. So many ESL students come from
cultures where their names have deep meaning, and this topic generates a
surprising amount of conversation between students from different language
backgrounds. It also is a great tool to bring more reticent speakers into the
conversation, since the individual nature of the discussion demands that each
student participate. Also, students are given many opportunities to practice their
eventual presentations, so those who are less confident with their English ability
have time to feel more secure with what they are going to say.
Materials Needed
Paper
Markers and/or pens
The Lesson
Step One
I give each student a piece of paper on which to write his/her name. Many choose
to write their names in their native language on one side, and in English on the
other. Encourage them to write big, as this functions as a visual aid later on.
Step Two
When they have finished, they break into small groups and discuss the following
questions:
What is your full name?
How do you write it in your native language?
Do you have a nickname?
What does your name mean?
Who gave this name to you?
Do you like your name? Why or why not?
Has your name ever caused you any problems?
What happens to your name when you get married?
Have you ever thought about changing your name? If so, what would you
change it to?
How would you decide what to name your children?
The results of these discussions are fascinating. Some students talk about how
difficult their names are to write due to the complicated characters in their
language. Other students have talked about difficulty with Americans not
differentiating their first names from family names, or how they chose the
nickname that they use in the US.
Step Three
After they have finished their group discussions, I model the kind of presentation
that they are preparing for by answering the questions above in a coherent fashion
about my name. Students appreciate this since it gives them an idea of how to
structure the speech, and they are also eager to learn about American customs
about name selection and change.
Step Four
After presenting and discussing the information in small groups, the students are
encouraged to organize simple one to two minute presentations about the meaning
of their names. They have about five minutes to organize what they are going to
say, practice saying it out loud, and anticipate any vocabulary that they may need
for the presentation.
Step Five

Finally, the students stand up in front of the class and speak for one or two minutes
about their names. They use the paper that they created in step one as a visual aid
to show to the class.
Step Six
As each student finishes his or her presentation, the rest of the class is encouraged
to ask questions and make comments pertaining to the content of the presentation.
Conclusion
By this time, because of the practice in a small group environment, the modeling,
and the individualized practice before the actual presentation, the speeches are
structurally strong and extremely interesting. The students really enjoy learning
about each other, and it builds community within the class. The whole activity
works very well for the students to get to know their classmates, to talk about
something personal, and to establish early confidence in public speaking.
Self-introduction Lesson Plan for ESL Students
Stefan Chiarantano
schiarantano [at] aol.com
Gunma, Japan
Teachers who have recently arrived and are employed in the public school system
quite often find that they're expected to prepare a lesson plan that introduces them
-- and their native country -- to their new students. Given the added pressures of
jet lag, culture shock, and the language barrier, this may seem intimidating! It
doesn't have to be. Below, I've put together a simple lesson plan that I've used
successfully with my students.
Information to Share
In addition to giving students some information about you, the self-introductory
lesson provides an excellent opportunity to teach (or review) language functions
like greetings or the use of state verbs with adjectives. I use my self-introductory
lesson as an opportunity to teach/review "Hello. My name is (X). Nice to meet you."
to my new students. Having supplies and material such as a world map,
photographs or pictures of your country, your country's flag, stamps, stickers, and
origami paper or small sheets of paper allows you to present the information in a
clear, creative manner.
Start off the lesson with a friendly greeting (good-morning or good-afternoon
depending on the day) and then introduce yourself. I say "My name is Stefan." I
clap out the two syllables in my first name. (The students enjoy this and have a
chuckle over it.) I circulate around the classroom introducing myself to several
students. I return to the front of the class and introduce my country. I tell my
students, "I am from Canada." I clap out the three syllables in Ca-na-da. I then say
"This is (students' country)." I talk about Canada, show them the Canadian flag,
and photographs and pictures of Canada's landscapes.
Drill Activity
I model the target language with the classroom teacher (C.T.):
Stefan: Hello.
C.T: Hello.
Stefan: My name is Stefan. What's your name?
C.T.: My name is [classroom teacher's name].
Stefan: Nice to meet you.
C.T.: Nice to meet you too.
After the interchange is completed, we shake hands. We model the target language
several times for the students.

I then divide the class into two equal groups, an A and B group. I have them say
"My name is A", if they are in the A group, and "My name is B" if they are in the B
group. We practice the dialogue. We alternate the dialogue between the two
groups. We then practice the dialogue in pairs. I circulate around the room helping
the two groups.
Testing of the Target Language with a Practical Practice
I hand out sheets of origami paper or small sheets of paper to the students. I draw
a rectangle on the blackboard with four squares. I demonstrate and tell the
students to fold their sheet of origami paper in half and then to fold it again in half.
I point to the rectangle with four squares on the board and tell them that their
sheet of origami paper should look like this.
I draw a caricature of myself in each square. I usually draw myself with a very, very
long nose and then print my name, Stephan, under my picture. The students get a
laugh out of my picture, too. I have the students draw a quick self-portrait in each
square and print their names under their pictures. If the students haven't learned
to print their names in the Roman alphabet, they can write it in their native
language or leave it out.
With the classroom teacher, I demonstrate playing a hand gesture game called
Paper, Rock and Scissors to see who will go first in doing the self-introduction. (If
you're not familiar with this game, students choose one of three hand gestures and
the superiority of the gesture -- rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper
beats rock --determines who the winner is.) The student who loses has to give up
one of his/her business cards to the winner and begin the self-introduction. The
students with the most business cards win. The winners receive a stamp. I have the
students first play with their neighbours before getting out of their seats and
circulating around the room playing the business card game. They enjoy the
opportunity to circulate amongst their classmates.
For Elementary Students
For younger students (such as elementary school children), I usually sit them in a
circle. I point to myself and say my name "My name is Stefan." We then go around
the circle with each child introducing himself/herself. I have a ball going around as
each child does the self-introduction. I go around the circle helping and encouraging
the children along.
For Advanced Students
For advanced students, I also play a verbal quiz game. I make up questions based
on my introduction. I divide the class into two equal teams. I have a member of
each team play Paper, Rock and Scissors to determine which team goes first. The
team has about 10 seconds to pick an answer. If the team fails to answer correctly,
they lose their turn. The other team gets to answer the questions.
Some questions you might use include:
[Teacher's name] is from...?
o a) Canada
o b) Japan
o c) Australia
o d) The USA
[Classroom Teacher's name] is from...?
o a) China

b) Canada
o c) South Korea
o d) Japan
What are the colours of the Canadian flag?
o a) red, white, and blue
o b) red and white
o c) blue and white
o d) red, blue and green
The symbol on the Canadian flag is...?
o a) a sun
o b) a moon
o c) a maple leaf
o d) a star
o

I hope this lesson plan sparks ideas for preparing your own self-introductory lesson.
Good luck.
Teaching Abstract Concepts in the EFL Classroom
Lynn W. Zimmerman
Purdue University Calumet (Hammond, Indiana, USA)
zimmerman [at] calumet.purdue.edu
Abstract concepts can be interesting and challenging discussion topics for students
in EFL classrooms.
Introduction
Several summers I have taught English in a three-week summer camp for Polish
high school students who come from all over Poland to improve their spoken
English skills with native speakers. One of the challenges of teaching in such a
camp is that students want to have fun, and not have dull, repetitive lessons. I
successfully used an abstract concept, freedom, to intellectually challenge the
students while giving them an opportunity to practice their spoken English at an
appropriate skill level.
Framing the Concept
Abstract concepts can be difficult to discuss effectively without preparation and
structure. Since I was teaching in Poland, I decided to call on Polish history to help
me frame a discussion about "freedom." However, I have found that students often
speak more readily about topics which directly concern themselves and their
families. Therefore, the structure of this lesson incorporated their personal and
family experiences in the context of Polish history of the last 60 years. The students
related family stories told to them by their grandparents about World War II, and by
their parents about life under communism. A class discussion about freedom related
these stories to their own experiences in post-communist Poland. Finally, groups of
students created pictorial representations of freedom which they presented to the
class.
Outline of the Lesson
Age Level: high school and up
English Level: low-intermediate and up
Time Allowed: minimum 45 minutes
Materials: paper (to make a banner); colored markers and pencils
1. Pair work -- Sharing stories

In pairs, tell a story that your grandparents told about World War II.
A few students share their stories with the class.
Switch pairs and tell a story that your parents told about life in Poland before
1989.
A few students share their stories with the class.
2. Whole Class Discussion
How are your grandparents and parents experiences similar or different?
How are their experiences similar to or different from your own?
3. Freedom Discussion
Brainstorm -- what does freedom mean?
Relating to the stories you told, what do you think freedom meant to your
grandparents? your parents?
What does freedom mean to you?
o Freedom to
o Freedom from
Talk about the value of freedom -- what would you exchange freedom for? Is
freedom worth material possessions? Is freedom worth your life? Is freedom
worth the life of another person?
4. Representation of Freedom
In groups of four, create a visual representation, using words and pictures, of
what your group thinks freedom is.
Present this to the class.
How I Implemented the Lesson
Most of the students in camp were born in the late 1980s, so to lay the
groundwork, I asked them if their grandparents had related stories about their lives
in Poland during World War II. The students then talked in pairs to tell a story that
a grandparent had shared about World War II. A few students shared their stories
with the entire class, providing a wide range of stories.
One girl told how her grandmother had continued her education while in
hiding during the war. The priest would go from house to house teaching
small groups of children away from the eyes and ears of German troops.
Another told how her grandmother, a teenager, threw a Molotov cocktail at a
German tank.
One boy's grandfather was sent to a forced labor in camp in Germany.
After sharing a few of these stories, I then asked the students if they had heard
their parents discuss their lives prior to 1989, the end of the Communist era in
Poland. They switched partners and told a story that their parents had told them.
One boy told about his father's arrest for smuggling goods into Poland.
Several students told stories of shortages their parents suffered during this
time and about the tickets they had to have in order to buy almost
everything, from washing machines to beef.
After a few students had shared their stories with the class, I then led a full-class
discussion.
First, we compared the experiences of their grandparents and parents. The
main similarity was that both groups experienced a lack of freedom and of
material goods. The students, on the other hand, do not experience these
shortages and restrictions. They have more freedom to do things and make
choices about their lives than their parents and grandparents did.
From this, we tried to define freedom, brainstorming terms and aspects of
freedom.

I then emphasized the distinction between "freedom to..." and "freedom

from..." and we discussed these concepts in the context of their lives and the
lives of their grandparents and parents, whose concept of freedom was based
more on "freedom from...", such as freedom from oppression, hunger, etc.
We continued the discussion talking about the value of freedom: what would
you exchange freedom for? Is freedom worth material possessions, your life,
the life of another? Most of the students agreed that freedom was not worth
anything material. Some of them did assert that freedom was worth their own
lives, that they would die for freedom. However, most of them did not believe
that their freedom was worth the lives of their loved ones. They would
sacrifice their freedom for the life of a loved one. Several commented that
while living in freedom was preferable, it is possible to exist without freedom
because your captor cannot control your mind and thoughts.
Finally, in groups of four, the students created a pictorial representation of
freedom which they presented to the class. Each group had colored markers
and pencils and four sheets of fanfold paper to create banners portraying how
they perceived freedom. Primarily, their pictures presented their generation's
notion that freedom is "freedom to" (Figure 1).
Discussing Abstract Concepts in the EFL Classroom
Freedom is one of many abstract concepts that can be an interesting and
challenging discussion topic for students in the EFL classroom. With careful
planning, such an abstract concept can be framed in such a way that students can
use concrete examples from their own lives and experiences to explore their
thoughts and feelings about freedom.

To find an abstract concept which is relevant in the lived experiences of your

students, research the history of their country for the past 50 years. This time
frame is the richest because this is the period about which they have most likely
heard family stories. Depending on where you are, the abstract concept which is
relevant to your students may be peace/war; poverty; religion; or, even, the
destruction/preservation of the environment. The discussion will be limited only by
the level of your students' English skills.
Figure 1: Click to see larger images.