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ays of presentingclassroomlanguageby Sally Gonalves I n t r o d u c t i o n

C l a s s r o o m L a n g u a g e- T E A C H E R STUDENT - STUDENT

May I come in? 1 What do we haveto do now?

23

Fig.l

C l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e i s t h e k in d o fl a n g u a g e n e c e s s a ry t o c o m m u n i c a t ea n d s u rv i v e in t h e c l a s s ro o m w i t h o u th a v i n g t o u s e t h e s t u d e n t ' s m o t h e rt o n g u e . T h e e x p o n e n t s f o r c l a s s ro o ml a n g u a g e s h o u l d b e i n t ro d u c e dgradua l ly and no t a l l in one l es son .Ex p o n e n t s w h i c h a r e m o s t f r e q u e n t l yused in the c las s room can be t augh t a tthe very beg inn ing o f the cou rse so tha ts tudents get the idea from the s tart thatt h e c l a s s ro o m i s a n E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n ge n v i r o n m e n t .S p e c i f i c c l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e u s e d fo rcer ta in ac t iv i t i es shou ld be t augh tbefo re such ac t iv i t i es o r when the needaris es . I t is not real ly nec ess ary todev ise spec ia l p rac t i ce ac t iv i t i es fo rc l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e e x p o n e n t s a s t h i scomes na tu ra l ly du r ing l es sons and ina u t h e n t i c s i t u a t i o n s . T h e re a r e ,h o w e v e r , v a r i o u s w a y s i n w h i c hc l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e c a n b e p r e s e n t e d . Iwi l l men t ion fou r , bu t many o thers canb e d e v i s e d f ro m t h e m .T her e is a l is t o f c las s roo m lang uag ei tems a t the end o f th i s a r t i c le wh ichy o u c a n u s e fo r r e f e r e n c e . T h e s e i t e m sshou ld no t be ' t au gh t ' bu t in t rodu ced inone o r a l l o f the fo l lowing ways .1 F ro m t h e s t u d en tA r ra n g e y o u r s t u d e n t s i n t o g ro u p s a n dask them to wr i t e down a l l theexpress ions they can th ink o f wh ichthey migh t need to ask in thec l a s s ro o m . T h e y m a y w r i te i n t h e i row n lang uage a t th i s s t age if they dono t have the l anguage to do i t inEn g l i s h . Ex p o n e n t s s h o u l d b e d i v i d e din to two ca tego r ies - what they say tothe t eacher and what they say to o thers t u d e n t s . T h e t e a c h e r s h o u l d g i v e a ne x a m p l e o n t h e b l a c k b o a rd b e fo r e t h es tuden ts beg i n (see F ig . 1 ) . W he n thes t u d e n t s h a v e d o n e t h i s , a s k a m e m b e r

o f each g ro up to read ou t the i r li s t . T heteacher asks o ther g roups to he lpco rrec t / t rans la te and then wr i t es up theexp one n t on the b lack board . I fnecessary cho ra l and ind iv idua l d r i l l ingcan be done fo r each exponen t , to g ives tuden ts some p rac t i ce in say ing them.Afte r wr i t ing a l l the exponen ts , e l i c i t edf rom the s tuden ts on the b lackboard ,ask them to copy these in to the i rno tebooks and to s t a r t a C las s roomLa n g u a g e li s t. T h e y s h o u ld h a v eenough space to add to th i s l i s t a s morec l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e i s i n t ro d u c e dt h ro u g h o u t t h e c o u r s e .Ano ther a l t e rna t ive i s to ask s tuden ts toma ke a wal l char t wi th c l as s ro oml a n g u a g e . I n t h i s w a y n e w e x p o n e n t scan a lways be added to i t and you canpo in t to the char t to remind yours tuden ts to u se Eng l i sh when they a reu s i n g t h ei r o w n l a n g u a g e u n n e c e s s a r i l yin c las s .2 F r o m t h e t e a c h e rIn s tead o f ask ing the su tden t s to d rawup the i r own l i s t o f c las s room language ,the teacher wri tes up a l is t on theb lac kbo ard o r on an over head p ro jec to rt ranspa rency . A c lear exp la na t ion o fwha t c las s roo m lang uage i s shou ld beg i v e n t o s t u d e n t s . Ea c h e x p o n e n tshou ld be shown to the s tuden tsg radua l ly , d r i l l ed i f necessary , and theconc ep t che cked . W hen al l thee x p o n e n t s h a v e b e e n s h o w n , t h es tuden ts shou ld be adv ised to copythem in to the i r no tebooks to s t a r t ac l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e s e c t i o n .An a l t e rna t ive to the concep t check ,and to g ive ex t ra p rac t i ce in thelanguage , i s to ask ind iv idua l s tuden tsto act out the s i tuat ions ei ther with theteacher o r wi th ano ther s tuden t asapprop r ia te , e .g .

E x p o n e n t : May I come in ?

Th e Journal 5 5

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A s tuden t l eaves the room, knocks a tthe door and asks fo r permiss ion toco m e in . T his is not a d ifficul t act iv i tyand can be fun, part icularly as an ice-breaking act iv i ty for the f i rs t lesson oft h e c o u r s e .3 F r o m a r e a d i n g / w r i t i n g t a s kTh i s w a y o f p r e s e n t i n g c l a s s ro o mlangu age i s on ly su i t ab le fo r s tuden tswho a l ready have a t l eas t some pass ivek n o w l e d g e o f En g l i s h ( f a ls e b e g i n n e r s ) .A b s o l u t e b e g i n n e r s w o u l d h a v ed i f f icu l ty in unders tand ing the t ask se t .Pho tocop y a t askshe e t fo r each s tuden t .The t askshee t shou ld con ta in twocolumns for s tudents to f i l l in and al lt h e l a n g u a g e e x p o n e n t s t h e t e a c h e rwishes to in t roduce (see F ig . 2 ) .Arrange the s tuden ts in to pa i rs o rg ro u p s . Th e y h a v e t o d e c i d e w h owou ld have sa id each exponen t , theteacher , the s tuden t o r bo th , and in whats i tua t ion . The s i tua t ion co lumn can bedone in the i r own language s ince theob jec t ive h ere i s to chec k tha t s tud en tsunders tand the exponen t and no t tocheck how good the i r wr i t t en Eng l i shis . When the s tuden ts have f in i shed ,the t eacher goes th rough the t ask , d r i l l s ,e x p l a i n s a n d c o r r e c t s w h e re n e c e s s a ry .S tuden ts can keep th i s t askshee t fo rfuture reference and add to i t as thecours e p rog resse s . Th is i s a t ime -sav ing ac t iv i ty as s tuden ts do no t haveto spend any t ime copy ing th ings in tot h e i r n o t e b o o k s . W h e n g o i n g th ro u g hthe t askshee t fo r co r rec t ion , the t eachercan a l so ask ind iv idua l s tuden ts to ac tou t each s i tua t ion , as in the p rev iouse x e rc i s e .4 F r o m r e a l s i t u a t i o n s i n t h ec l a s s r o o m

in the class to in troduce and to add tothe c las s rooo m langu age li s t . T h i s canbe don e ju s t befo re an ac t iv i ty . Theteacher can p red ic t what k ind o flanguage the s tuden ts wi l l need andthere fo re in t roduce i t be fo re se t t ing upthe act iv i ty so that they get in to thehabit of speaking English right from thestart .Fo r example , s e t t ing up a board /d icegam e, p resen t the c las s roo m la ngua getha t s tuden ts migh t need wh i le p lay ingit :Whose turn is it now?I th ink i t ' s yo ur tur n .Who ' s go ing to s t a r t ?e t c .At o ther t imes i t may be moreapprop r ia te to f i t in some c las s roomlanguage du r ing an ac t iv i ty , o r whenthe t eacher rea l i ses tha t s tuden ts a reus ing cer ta in exponen ts in Po r tugueseal l the t ime . At th is point i t is a goodidea to s top the act iv i ty and teach theneces sary expo nen t . S tuden ts wi l l thenget the chance to pract ise i timmed ia te ly and in an au then t ics i tua t ion .If the teacher leaves i t unt i l the end ofthe ac t iv i ty to in t roduce the exponen t ,s tudents wil l only make a note of i t andwil l not get any pract ice in us ing i t ,wh ich means they wi l l a lmos t ce r ta in lyforget all about it .C o n c l u s i o nMany o ther ac t iv i t i es can be der ivedfrom thes e. I t doe s not real ly m atte rh o w c l a s s ro o m l a n g u a g e i s p r e s e n t e d .Th e impor ta n t th ing i s to mo t iva te andenc ou rag e sude nts to use it . I t is thefirs t s tep to us ing real Eng lish in a reals i tua t ion .

E x p o n e n t s[filled in by the teacher]1 May I come in?2 Can you pass me that book, please?3 Open your books at page 27.etc .

At a later s tage in the course the teachershou ld t ake advan tage o f rea l s i tua t ions

Tasksheet on classroom languageW h o w o u l d h a v e s a i d i t ?[filled in by students]123

Fig. 2

[Th is a r t i c le o r ig ina l ly appeared in Th eJournal. N. 2 , Ap ri l 1993]

In what s i tuat ion?[filled in by students]123

5 6 The Journal

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C L A S S R O O M L A N G U A G E E X P O N E N T SS T U D E N T - T E A C H E R S T U D E N T - S T U D E N T

Excuse me. May I com e in? Can you help me do this exercise?Could you speak more slowly, please? Can you lend me a pen?

Can you repeat that please ? I did n't un derstan d. Have you done your homework?

Sorry. I do n't un derstan d that . What homework have we got to do?

How do you say 'mesa ' in Engl i sh? Sorry , I can ' t remember your name.How do you spel l ' t able '? Can I share your book with you?

What ' s the di f ference between 'do ' and 'd id '? Where ' s Ange l a t oday?

I 'm sorry, I 've lef t my book at home. She 's absent .

Excuse me. I 'm sorry I 'm late. What page is i t on?Can I leave a bi t early today, please? Can you pass me that piece of paper, please?

Can you explain that again, please? Do we have to work in pairs?

I d idn ' t have t ime to do my hom ewo rk. I 'm sorry . W ho 's going to s tar t 9

It 's t ime to go. Whose turn is i t?See you next lesson. I t 's mv turn now.

Have a n ice weekend. Sorry, can you say that again'!

The same to you. Bye. Excuse me, tha t ' s my book.

Have you f inished? What do we have to do now?We have to compare our work.