3. The language of education
What are we talking about?
•KS3 (SATs) - KS4 (GCSE / GNVQ) - KS5 (AS/A2) (Sixth Form – Year 12 + 13)
•AT1 - AT2 - AT3 - AT4
•DfE
•AQA
•OCR
•EdExcel
•GCSE
•EBACC
(Attainment targets) Listening – Speaking – Reading - Writing
Department for Education
Assessment and Qualifications Authority
Oxford, Cambridge and RSA
[London based board]
General Certificate of Secondary Education
English Baccalaureate
7. The examinations
- speaking
The GCSE oral exam
Speaking and writing: Controlled Assessment
Teachers select the tasks, set them and
supervise them.
GCSE
10. The examinations
- speaking
The AS oral exam
An aspect of culture or society in the TL country
Discuss a text with the examiner (time given for preparation e.g.
20 minutes)
Discussion of the text + further areas related to the same topic
20 minutes
•Unprepared questions are an essential part
AS
11. The examinations
- speaking
The A2 oral exam
The student is assessed on quality of language,
justification + debate, and understanding.
The examination can take the following form:
1 minute presentation
4 minute discussion of the topic chosen
Spontaneous discussion of two further issues
A2
14. The expectations
of teachers
Year 9 – end of KS3 levels – level 5+
Write a short paragraph of 5 or 6 longer sentences, including 2 time frames one
generally accurately and the other used correctly at least once. If appropriate
questions should be asked. Dictionaries are regularly used to find unknown words
and to check spellings for words they have learnt.
GCSE grade C+
Good competent language knowledge. Grasp of the past, future and present tense.
Good grasp of basic regular and irregular verbs. Opinions expressed and some
basic adjectives. Can answer questions on the exam topics without having to ask for
them to be repeated. Speaks at a reasonable pace and does not leave long pauses
in answers. Written coursework of 180+ words per assignment.
AS grades A+B
A2 grades A+B
15. How can the FLA
make a difference?
•Making them talk!
•Enthusiasm
•Experiencing the real thing
•Age gap
•You are not the teacher
•It is fun!
16.
17. Divide the paper into 6
sections. In each section you
will draw something to
represent the words you will
see shortly. There is a time
limit – you must be FAST!
30. Progression
I like French because it is interesting
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
What is your favourite school
subject?
31. Progression
I like French because it is interesting and the teacher is
good.
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
What is your favourite school
subject?
32. Progression
I like French because it is interesting and the teacher is
good and in the future I would like to study Italian.
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
What is your favourite school
subject?
33. How can we make
them talk??????
What do they want to talk about?
GCSE
Starter questions – Did you see Eastenders?
Chelsea or Arsenal?
Big Brother or X Factor?
Mobile phones.
36. Questions
GCSE
Maths 8.40 He is
strict
No, it is
difficult
15.10 It is
mixed
I eat in
the
canteen
Yes, I go
to Drama
club
How can we make them talk?
37. Questions
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
What did you do last weekend?
What didn’t you do last weekend?
39. En mi opinión
¡ni hablar!
Tienes toda
la razón
Estoy
totalmente
de acuerdo
pero no es
verdad..
¡En
absoluto!
Has dicho
que ….pero
Bueno,
depende
Si te entiendo
bien, piensas
que..
42. Making dialogues fun (?!)
•Act it out
•In a mood
•(acting techniques + memorisation)
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
43. Make it into a game
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
Include an element of competition in your activities –
games or ‘beat the clock’ activities. Even the most
difficult customers are often motivated to beat their
next door neighbour. Wherever you can, try to make
pupils’ language learning fun.
44. Millionaire
Who wants to be a millionaire?
A great teaching game! A sense of competition adds a
reason for student to talk.
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
Contestants have three lifelines:
1. They can phone a friend – and ask them the answer in 30 seconds
2. They can opt for 50:50 – and have two wrong answers taken away
3. They can ask the audience – i.e. their friends
They can only use each lifeline once.
45. Your answer must contain EXACTLY 7 words!
Your answer must contain more than 9 words!
46. Using dice
Throw 1 – starter Throw 2 - opinion
1 I like 1 It’s…
2 I prefer 2 I find it…
3 I really like 3 Because it’s…
4 I don’t like 4 For me it’s…
5 I hate 5 I think it’s…
6 I can’t stand 6 Most of the time it’s…
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
47. Using dice
1. I
2. You (singular)
3. He/she
4. We
5. You (plural)
6. They
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
48. Using dice for pronunciation
1 A Londres tout est trop cher
2 A mon avis Paris est plus chic que Londres
3 Pour moi, c’est New York - c’est génial
4 J’aimerais aller à Tokyo – il paraît que c’est très zen
5 J’ai entendu qu’ à Sydney – on ne dort pas
6 Avec tous les films Bollywood, Bombay est très
à la mode
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
49. Using dice for opinions
1 You are surprised by this viewpoint
2 You must defend this viewpoint
3 You agree
4 You disagree
5 You do not hold an opinion
6 You play for time on this topic
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
54. A conversation between cats
What are the cats talking about?
•Mice
•Their family
•Other cats in the area
•Last night
•Their kittens
•Food
•Dogs
•Famous cats (Garfield, Pink Panther, Puss in
Boots, etc)
55. um...zu... schwerer als leicht aufstehen
es
würde...geben
man darf
(nicht/kein(e))
wir müssen streng nicht leiden Mobbing
dreckig
meiner
Meinung nach
AGs
...fällt
mir/fallen mir
gestern
letzte Woche Deutschland Schulregeln weder…noch… können
Mittagspause gute Noten vielleicht Schuluniform Gang
Spend the Words
Take it in turns to ask and answer the same questions as before. This time,
rather than speaking for as long as you can, you need to try and include the
words below and ‘spend’ the words as you answer your 5 questions. Your
partner will cross them off as you use them and you need to do the same for
your partner. The first to use up all the words is the winner.
57. Interviews
Students can conduct interviews on selected
topics with various people. It is a good idea that
the teacher provides a rubric to students so that
they know what type of questions they can ask
or what path to follow, but students should
prepare their own interview questions. After
interviews, each student can present their
findings.
58. The key elements needed
to get higher grades
need to be emphasised
60. Keeping their attention!
Think about the length of lessons. If you have slots that
are longer than 25 minutes, you’ll need to think about the
number of activities to cover. Pupils learn in different
ways. Some respond well to the written word, others to
pictures, others to sound, others to very active tasks. Try
and include different types of activities in your work to
appeal to different learner types. Vary your approach
from week to week.
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
65. en Espagne.
aux Étas-unis
en France.
L’année dernière, je suis allé(e)
J’ai visité
des monuments
des musées
des galeries
Je suis resté(e)
et
dans un hotel
dans un camping
dans une gîte
et c’était
J’aimais bien mais pas
la chaleur.
les toilettes.
les embouteillages.
L’année prochaine, j’irai en
Écosse
Autriche
Australie
confortable.
bien equipé(e).
très moderne.
j’ai fait du cyclisme.
j’ai nagé dans la mer.
j’ai fait des excursions.
les plages
les boîtes de nuit
les restaurants
faire de l’alpinisme.
faire du canoë-kayac.
visiter les attractions.
pour
66. Picture Describing
Another way to make use of pictures is to give
students just one picture and have them
describe what it is in the picture. For this
activity students can form groups and each
group is given a different picture. Students
discuss the picture with their groups, then a
spokesperson for each group describes the
picture to the whole class.
67. Spot the Difference
For this activity students can work in pairs and
each couple is given two different pictures, for
example, picture of boys playing football and
another picture of girls playing tennis. Students
in pairs discuss the similarities and/or
differences in the pictures.
71. Estudia el anuncio y prepara tu comentario.
1 ¿De se qué trata? ¿Cuál es el tema?
2 ¿A quién va dirigido el anuncio?
3 ¿Cuáles son las palabras clave?
4 ¿Te gusta el anuncio? ¿Por qué?
77. Use of Youtube / Google video
•School filters
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
www.keepvid.com
78. Techniques for exploiting film/video
•freeze frame description/ prediction
•brainstorming – adjectives for characters/scenes
•sound down
•sound only
•listening for presence/order
•Summaries
GCSEHow can we make them talk?
83. Use of text
1. Text to prompt talk
A levelHow can we make them talk?
84. Use of text
1. Text to prompt talk
2. Use of headlines
A levelHow can we make them talk?
85. Use of text
1. Text to prompt talk
2. Use of headlines
3. Questionnaires
A levelHow can we make them talk?
86. Use of text
1. Text to prompt talk
2. Use of headlines
3. Questionnaires
4. Match headline to text
A levelHow can we make them talk?
87. Use of text
1. Text to prompt talk
2. Use of headlines
3. Questionnaires
4. Match headline to text
5. Incorrect summaries
A levelHow can we make them talk?
88. How can we make them talk?
Use of text
1. Text to prompt talk
2. Use of headlines
3. Questionnaires
4. Match headline to text
5. Incorrect summaries
6. Key words + invent story
A level
89. How can we make them talk?
Use of text
Create your own text.
A level
www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
91. Other ideas for prompting talk
Tongue twisters for pronunciation
Six thick thistle sticks. Six thick thistles stick.
Mrs. Smith's Fish Sauce Shop.
Unique New York.
To encourage students to respond to each other’s ranking suggestions
The conditions or ‘targets’ can be many and varied. It ALMOST doesn’t matter as the point of putting a condition there is to cause students to think their sentences through carefully as they build them. It makes them much more aware of what they’re saying. And making a sentence of exactly 8 words will involve usually a very short clause with ‘weil’ or two clauses linked with ‘und’ or additional details like when and where. So they focus on different ways to make their sentences longer. It also works well to set >9 words or <5 words at times too.
Given a specific topic to talk about (or a set of questions if appropriate), students have to try to include each thing from the Bingo grid. When they do, they cross off the box and in their pairs, it’s the first person to cross everything off who wins (full house).
Anna’s TES resources reminded me of this one! She calls it Trapdoor and it’s brilliant for a) memory and b) speaking (repetition with a reason!) It’s a competitive game in pairs. Each chooses and option for each sentence in their head. One starts reading out loud, trying to anticipate the other’s choices. Each time they make a choice, the partner either nods or shakes his/her head. If the choice is wrong, play passes to the partner who starts the same process. If it is the right choice, the student gets to continue. The aim is to get to the end first. Answers don’t change, so this is also a great memory developer.
