Some Modules for English language acquisition
‘English Club’ formed in our school meant for enabling the students to speak English and improve conversational ability in their daily life. For this, we create an apt atmosphere and twice in a month all students in the school congregate discarding the class barrier and they freely make their presentations and activities with the help of teachers-in-charge.
Followings are some language acquisition activities:
1. Making of simple sentences using familiar words.
2. Filling the spelling gap with pre-arranged stickers of letters.
3. Dialogue making and presentation of conversation based on familiar life
4. Story telling and its roll play
5. Post Office play: letter writing, posting and writing reply letter.
6. Question-Answer debate at group vise
7. Several Games for English acquisition.
Why Use Games
Language learning is a hard task which can sometimes be frustrating. Constant effort is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target language. Well-chosen games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow students to practice language skills. Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real contexts. They also encourage and increase cooperation.
Followings are some games:
Game 1: Whisper Circles
• Aim: Speaking (using a whisper), pronunciation, listening, grammar
• (it takes ...to do ...)
• Notes:
1. Divide the students into groups of 6 to 10.
Choose one leader from each group. Give the leaders the card which has the sentence :I like ice-cream, I don’t want orange, I want Ice-cream only” Ask him to memorize the sentence, go back to his group and whisper what he has read on the card to the person on his right. Each person will whisper the sentence to the next person and the sentence can be said only once. The last person will say the sentence out loud. If the sentence is correct he won.
Game 2: Missing Headlines
Aim: Reading silently, reading for specific information, speaking (discussing in pairs).
Notes: Cut out news items and their headlines from a newspaper. Paste the news and headlines on separate sheets of paper. Photocopy them.
1. Ask students to work in pairs. Give each pair the photocopies of the news and headlines.
2. Ask them to match the headlines with the news items.
3. The same with the one written on the card, that group wins.
Game 3: Crazy Story
• Aim: Writing, reading aloud, listening, grammar (simple past tense, reported speech)
• Notes:
1. Prepare sheets of paper with six columns which bear the following titles at the top
WHO?
(a man's name)
WHOM?
(a woman's name)
WHERE?
WHAT DID HE SAY?
WHAT DID SHE SAY?
WHAT DID THEY DO?
2. Divide the class into groups of 6. Give each group one sheet of paper. Ask the first student to write under the first part and fold the paper so as to cover what he has written. Tell the student to pass the paper onto the next person. As each person writes, he should only look at his fold. When all students finish, one student from each group will be asked to read their story in the following format. You can write the format on the blackboard.
............. met ............... in/at ..............
He said ..............................................
She said .............................................
And so they ..........................................
Game 4: Find the Differences
Aim: Speaking (describing people and actions), listening, grammar (there is/are....., s/he has ......., s/he is .......ing, s/he is + adjective)
• Notes:
1. Find or draw two pictures which are the same except for seven features. Photocopy them on separate sheets of paper.
2. Ask students to work in pairs. Give one copy of each picture to the pairs. The pairs are not supposed to show their copies to each other. Partner A's will describe their copy and Partner B's will listen carefully and examine their own copy to find the differences. They can ask questions if they require more detailed information or need any clarification. The pair that finishes first wins the game.
Game 5:English Gap-Filling Games
Make your own gap-filling exercises from English texts. Choose a short, interesting English text that is not too difficult (e.g. lyrics, text from your textbook, news, excerpt from a children story). Copy the text and delete some words in the copy, e.g.:
prepositions - adjectives - verbs in a certain tense
Try to fill the gaps correctly and then take the original text to check your answers.
This sure is more fun when doing it with friends. Everyone prepares a short text and gives a copy to the others, who will try to fill the gaps correctly.
To make things a bit easier, you can provide the words in a different order or as a translation.
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Every Day Practice makes perfect.
How many English words can I learn per day? 10 English words or phrases per day aren’t too many, are they? Just give it a try. You will find that you can learn them in next to no time.
So why not take a little time each day (Monday to Friday) to learn 10 new words?
Use the weekend to revise what you have learned during the past week(s). This way you’ll enrich your English vocabulary by 50 new words per week. (That’s 200 new English words after a month!)
Little strokes fell big oaks.
.
Game 6: Match and Catch the Riddle
• Aim: Reading silently, reading aloud, pronouncing segmental and suprasegmental features correctly, listening selectively, grammar (simple present tense), linguistic and nonlinguistic reasoning.
• Notes:
1. Divide the class into two groups: The QUESTION group and the ANSWER group.
2. Give the questions to the first group and the answers to the other group.
3. Each student in the first group is supposed to read the question he has aloud and whoever has the answer in the other group reads the answer aloud.
If the question and the answer match, put the students in pairs. If they don't, continue till the right answer is found. Each student can read his part only twice. When all questions and answers are matched ask the pairs to read the riddle they have just for fun.
Some Suggested Riddles
QUESTIONS ANSWERS
What animal is gray and has a trunk? A mouse going on vacation
What animal eats and drinks with its tail? All do. No animal takes off its tail when eating or drinking.
Why do mother kangaroos hate rainy days? Because then the children have to play inside.
How can you tell the difference between a can of chicken soup and a can of tomato soup? Read the label.
Why is an eye doctor like a teacher? They both test the pupils.
Why did the cross-eyed teacher lose his job? Because he could not control his pupils.
Why is mayonnaise never ready? Because it is always dressing.
Do you know the story about the skunk? Never mind, it stinks.
If a papa bull eats three bales of hay and a baby bull eats one bale, how much hay will a mama bull eat? Nothing. There is no such thing as a mama bull.
What does an envelope say when you lick it? Nothing. It just shuts up.
Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don't work.
Why shouldn't you believe a person in bed? Because he is lying.
What is the best way to prevent milk from turning sour? Leave it in the cow.
Why does a dog wag his tail? Because no one else will wag it for him.
Ask students to work in pairs. Give one copy of each picture to the pairs. The pairs are not supposed to show their copies to each other. Partner A's will describe their copy and Partner B's will listen carefully and examine their own copy to find the differences. They can ask questions if they require more detailed information or need any clarification. The pair that finishes first wins
Some Advisable suggestions
• Games should be regarded as supplementary activities. The whole syllabus should not be based on games only -- even for young learners.
• When choosing a game, the teacher should be careful to find an appropriate one for the class in terms of language and type of participation.
• Once the game has begun, the teacher should not interrupt to correct mistakes in language use.
• The teacher should not compel an individual to participate. Some learners may not want to participate due to personal reasons. Forcing students to participate usually does not have successful results.
• A game which looks wonderful on the paper may not work in the actual classroom setting. If it is tiring or boring, it should be stopped.
• Give clear instructions. Unless the learners know what he is expected to do and how to do it, the aim cannot be achieved, and the game cannot be played.
“Boring!” Well, that’s definitely not the way it works.
Try to find a positive aspect to studying. Why not watch your favorite film/CD in English and write down some useful words or phrases that you want to remember. You could also read the lyrics of Top 10 songs and try to understand what they are about. Or check out celebrity sites and learn more about famous actors, bands and other stars. This sure is good for your vocabulary and on top of that – it’s lots of fun.
“Always look the bright side of the life”
[ English Club Team,Kuttiprom LPS]
Above is the report submitted to SSA,Chokli
By Teacher-incharge: Abdul Wahab KP
