{"id":5398,"date":"2017-01-10T10:44:02","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T06:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/?p=5398"},"modified":"2017-09-03T12:29:59","modified_gmt":"2017-09-03T08:29:59","slug":"methodology-minimal-resources-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishbookgeorgia.com\/blogebg\/methodology-minimal-resources-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Methodology \u2013 Minimal Resources: Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"role-playing\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Minimal resources: Role-plays and discussion<\/h1>\n
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ELT legend Scott Thornbury gives us some imaginative tips and ideas for using role-plays in lessons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the last instalment I looked at ways that dialogues could be set up in the classroom using minimal materials. An extension of dialogue-type interaction is the role play, in which the interactants get speaking practice by stepping outside their own character, job, and so on, in order to experience a wider range of situations than the classroom normally offers, and to explore other registers and domains of language use. Further along the line from controlled to free, discussions and debates provide learners opportunities to interact freely and spontaneously, to cope with unpredictability, and to voice opinions using language that is both complex and fluent.<\/p>\n

Teachers are sometimes discouraged from setting up either role plays or discussions, because they think that they will need to provide elaborate resources, such as role cards, or preparatory reading texts, in advance. However, many of the most successful fluency activities require no materials at all. They simply draw on the learners\u2019 own experience, knowledge, and imagination.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Here are a few materials-light ideas for role plays and discussions:<\/p>\n

1. Choose a holiday<\/span>
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The idea is to set up a situation whereby students in pairs shop around for a package holiday, visiting different \u201ctravel agencies\u201d (also pairs of students) in turn, and then making their decision. Divide the class into two \u2013 one half will be \u201cshoppers\u201d, the other half “agents”. Divide these groups again, into pairs. The agent pairs should be distributed around the room, and separated as much as possible from the shoppers. Tell the agents each to put together an attractive ten-day holiday package, including destination, itinerary, excursions, accommodation, and so on. (It is important, by the way, that all the holidays cost the same \u2013 fix a price in advance \u2013 so that the agents don\u2019t simply undercut one another). Meanwhile, the pairs of shoppers decide what it is that they, personally, want out of their holiday, e.g. relaxation, adventure sports, shopping opportunities, etc. The shoppers then \u201cvisit\u201d each agency in turn \u2013 seating should be arranged so that the shoppers can sit down when visiting the agencies. After sufficient time has elapsed for the an exchange of information, the shoppers all move round one, and the process starts again, until all the shoppers have visited all the agencies. Each pair of shoppers can then decide which holiday they will choose.<\/p>\n

The format for this role play works for a number of different situations that involve shopping around. I have used it successively for a \u201cchoosing a school\u201d scenario: each \u201cschool\u201d puts together a policy on such things as discipline, homework, uniform, compulsory subjects, extra-curricular activities, even a school motto! Meanwhile, each pair of \u201cparents\u201d decide what kind of school they are looking for, for their \u201cspecial needs\u201d child. They then interview \u2013 and are interviewed by \u2013 the school\u2019s representatives.<\/p>\n

Other situations that lend themselves to this idea are: choosing a flatmate, choosing a wedding function, choosing a retirement village, and so on.<\/p>\n

The beauty of this role play format \u2013 apart from the lack of materials \u2013 is that there is in-built repetition, as each pair of shoppers repeats its interaction with a new agent. Task repetition is an important factor in the development of fluency.<\/p>\n

2. Alibis<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

This is an old favourite which, like the previous activity, is inherently repetitive. It also has an added game element, in that the participants have to try and outwit each other. The basic format starts with two students being \u201caccused\u201d of having committed some crime, such as a robbery in the institution where the class takes place, in a fixed period, say, between the hours of 10 and 11 in the morning on the preceding day. The two \u201caccused\u201d then have to establish an alibi, and they go out of the room to do this. The alibi needs to account for their actions only during the time period in question (anything before or after is irrelevant), and it is important to establish that they were together for all that time. While the accused contrive their alibi, the rest of the class can prepare generic questions, with the teacher prompting, if necessary, of the type: What were you doing\u2026What did you do next? Did you meet anyone? What did you say? How much did it cost? Who paid? etc. The accused are then led in, one at a time, and have to answer the questions put to them. (It helps to establish the rule that they are not allowed to claim that they don\u2019t remember). Any significant discrepancy in their answers means that they are, of course, guilty.<\/p>\n

With large classes, Alibis can be played in groups, each group playing their own version of the game. Alternatively, (and so long as they are out of earshot) the two accused can be interviewed simultaneously by two different groups, and then exchange places.<\/p>\n

A variant is Green Card<\/span>, in which immigration officers interview, separately, two candidates who claim to be members of the same family (in which case, they have to answer questions about the other members of their immediate family \u2013 their names, age, and appearance), or who claim to be partners (in which case, they have to answer questions about their daily routine). Another variant of Alibis is UFO<\/span>, in which two people are interviewed separately by The Institute of Paranormal Research about an encounter with aliens that they claim to have experienced.<\/p>\n

3. Pyramid (or consensus) debate<\/p>\n

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The principle of this format is that at first individuals work in pairs to achieve consensus on an issue, and then these pairs try to convince other pairs, before forming groups of four, and so on, until the whole class comes to an agreement. For example, the teacher might set the class the task of devising some \u201cclass rules\u201d with regard to such things as classroom etiquette, discipline, duties, homework, etc. First individuals draft a list of a maximum of, say, eight rules. They then compare in pairs, and draft a new list of eight rules, but one that they are both agreed on. This will normally involve some discussion and negotiation. Once they have their list they join forces with another pair, and the process begins again. Finally, the two halves of the class come together to agree on the definitive version.<\/p>\n

Other ideas that work well in this format are ranking tasks \u2013 e.g. the five most important people in history; the ten best pop songs of all time; the eight things I would take to a desert island; the six school subjects that should be compulsory, and so on. Or students take a bare statement and qualify it in such a way as to make it acceptable. For example:<\/p>\n

\n
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– Children should be beaten.
\n– Smoking should be banned.
\n– Anyone should be allowed to adopt children.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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