Juhász Gyula Teacher Training College, Szeged
Department of English, American and Australian Studies

'ANGOL NYELV ALAPFOKON'
by
Dr. Szentiványi Ágnes and Dr. Bartáné Aranyi Edina

 Szeged, 1997

Introduction

1. Evaluation of the coursebook

2. Communicative language teaching

3. Unit 1

3.1. The verb ‘to be'
3.2. Possessive adjectives
3.3. Cardinal numbers 1-20

4. Unit 2

4.1. Cardinal numbers 20-100
4.2. The present simple tense

5. Unit 3

5.1. The verb 'have got'
5.2. The possessive 's

6. Unit 4

6.1. Comparison of adjectives (positive)
6.2. The present continuous tense
6.3. ‘There is / there are'

7. Unit 5 -Revision

7.1. The possessive adjectives and the possessive 's
7.2. 'To be' and 'to have got'
7.3. Negative and question forms
7.4. The present simple tense
7.5. The present simple and the present continuous

8. Unit 6

8.1. The comparative of adjectives
8.2. Possessive pronouns
8.3. Prepositions of place
8.4. Present continuous for future
8.5. Ordinal numbers

9. Unit 7

9.1. ‘Some /any'

10. Unit 8

10.1. The simple future tense

11. Unit 9

11.1. The 'be going to' form
11.2. Object pronouns
11.3. The modal auxiliary 'can'
11.4. The superlative of adjectives

12. Unit 10 - Revision

12.1. Future forms
12.2. Possessive and object pronouns
12.3. The comparison of adjectives
12.4. The auxiliary 'can'

Bibliography

Teachers often face a difficulty: when new grammar is introduced, students become passive, depressed and due to the long practice process the lessons turn to be boring. What can we do? Learning grammar cannot be avoided. Grammar should be seen as one of the means of acquiring a thorough mastery of the language.

The other problem is that grammar practice activities in many course books are not communicative and not interesting enough. And if teachers consult different grammar exercise books they may find that the exercises are not relevant to the topic dealt with in the lessons. These considerations have led me to writing this work.

This book aims to give ideas of presentation new grammar and to gather together useful game-like or communicative grammar practice exercises to the course book ' Angol nyelv alapfokon I ' by Szentiványi Ágnes and Bartáné Aranyi Edina. In this work I follow the division of grammar units made by the authors and I try to base the exercises on the vocabulary of this course book.

I tried to make my program varied, to deal with different aspects of the structure (form and meaning-in-context, written and spoken modes). The exercises are based on varied task-types, providing opportunity for different types of student activity. Sometimes - at an early stage - I found necessary to concentrate on virtually meaningless manipulation of the language, but then I quickly progress to meaningful practice.

Regarding the timing: students are most receptive at the beginning of the lesson; this is therefore the best time to present new language or to re-present difficult material. The place of a grammar practice activity is preferably in the middle of a lesson. More extensive fluency practice tends to come later.

Grammar practice activities may come right at the beginning if there is no new material to be presented, or if you want to devote the students' energies mainly to the practice.

The exercises to the certain topics follow from the simple towards the more complex, from the less meaningful to the communicative ones. Where more time is devoted to a topic, I divided the teaching process into lessons.

I hope that these ideas will make the teaching and learning of grammar more enjoyable and effective.

1 Evaluation of the coursebook

There may be various reasons for evaluating materials. The main point is to consider whether or not the materials are appropriate for our students.

Evaluation should have two phases: The first is to have a profile of the students and their needs, and the second is to measure how far the materials match up to these needs and our methodological principals.

1.1. Description of students

My students are in the first class of a vocational secondary school. The special line of this school is trade and economics. The students come from elementary schools, where most of them learnt English for four years. As they had two lessons weekly and often there is one or two beginners in the class we can group the students as false beginners and start teaching with the fundamentals but in a quicker pace than with beginners, paying particular attention to the real beginners. As students are at the age of 14-15 their knowledge of the world is rather restricted.

The coursebook under consideration corresponds these requirements. It starts with the fundamentals of the language and the information conveyed is at a level students are capable os understanding.

1.2. Description of the students' needs

In earlier years language teaching was rather restricted for preparing students for the school leaving exam, which focused on grammar for long years. Consequently, students could not use the language for communication. Later, oral exams were added, which made teachers put more enphasis on speaking. But a favourable change occured only when the state language exams of new type were introduced, aiming to urge people to develop various abilities: to be able to communicate in the most common situations, to behave properly in a language area, to write letters, read newspapers, fill in forms, listen to the radio. In other words, they have to possess the four basic language skills of speaking, writing, listening and reading.

The main problem is that the requirements of the school leaving exam and those of the basic level language exam do not correspond. On one hand, the level of the oral school leaving exam does not come near the language exam, on the other hand, the written school leaving exam requires much more knowledge in use of English than it is needed in the oral or written part of the language exam.

Therefore, many teachers concentrate on the language exam first. If we do so we will follow a really practical purpose. Apart from the exam, we will impart a kind of knowledge that makes students to cope with the most common situations abroad. Do we want more?

For this purpose, we need a good coursebook that covers the vocabulary of the language needed as well as basic grammar. As for the first requirement, 'Angol nyelv alapfokon' is appropiate. There is no other coursebook available that covers the language exam topics so systematically and which such thoroughness. Grammar, however, seems to have much less importance in the book. As grammar is an indispensable element of language competence and as we must not forget the school leaving exam tests, we have to pay equal attention to developing the students' linguistic studies.

The main reason for writing this work is to improve this coursebook by addition of ideas of presentation and practising grammar.

1.3.1.1. Price

As for the price, this book seems to be the most appropriate among the coursebooks available now. As it was written and published in Hungary it is more accessible than the very expensive international publications.

1.3.1.2. Integral parts

The coursebook and the four tapes are permanently available. There is no teacher's book but a booklet was published three years ago that helps teachers to organise content throughout the course.

1.3.2. Layout and design

In this respect the book is moderate. The layout is not too attractive to the students. There are no colour pages, the pictures are small and black-and-white, they cannot fulfil the function of raising interest. The content is clearly arranged but the units are not divided into smaller parts. Texts and exercises come one after another. When students book through the units they will find that there is printed text everywhere and they might be frightened away by this large amount of material. It is the teacher's task to make the units more comprehensible for the students by careful lesson planning and abandoning the coursebook at times.

1.3.3. Activities

Each unit consists of several descriptive parts and dialogues. After each descriptive text there are exercises like 'Ask questions.', 'Answer the questions.'. We also can find gap-filling activities and translations into English. A good point of the coursebook is that it makes use of pairwork. So within a period we can provide a sequence of activities that is varied. However, the disadvantage of these activities is that they are mostly controlled and finely tuned. They perfectly fulfil the aim of frequent use of the new language during the period. But it is useful to include extra materials with communicative activities, which are more beneficial and motivating for the students.

1.3.4. Skills

Our aim is to improve all four basic language skills. However, the activities are highly influenced by the exam tasks. In the basic level oral exam students are asked to have a conversation on everyday topics,to describe pictures and role-play a situation. The perform these tasks they have to possess the vocabulary needed, they have to be able to understand the examiner and make themselves understood. This coursebook provides opportunity for a lot of speaking. Students will use the new langauge in several ways. In addition to the activities mentioned in 3.3. there are situation cards, which through creating information gap make the situation like real and motivate students. But as the listening materials are mostly finely-tuned, it is more beneficial to choose extra materials for this purpuse. Developing the receptive skills is provided in a special way. After each unit there are reading-writing activities that provide practice for the written basic level exam. These are understanding of instructions for use, advertisements, filling in forms, writing short letters. These activities are not organic parts of the units and for that very reason they are not at the proper level. In my opininion only a few of these exercises can be done parallel with the units. My experiences show that students will have more success in these tasks if they come later in the learning process. However, it does not seem to be a good idea to omit such activities. As the units do not contain other reading-writing activities the teacher should choose other roughly-tuned materials until the students read the level necessary to the tasks of the coursebook.

The coursebook materials have an appropriate balance of skills for the students. The topics are organised in a way where reading is followed by speaking, speaking involves listening as well and some writing is also included in the same period. As we have a content-based syllabus and not a skillbased one, the coursebook does not allow to concentrate on an individual skill only. If we have the wish to teach a certain skill in a period we have to consult other coursebook.

1.3.5. Discourse - Variety of English

The language used in the conversations is realistic, that is real-life English. Although they are not authentic -at this level it would not be a good idea - they 'sound right'. Speakers do not use perfectly formed sentences all the time, the language is varied, there are no repetitions of the language being taught.

The language is always at the right level for the students as the aim of the authors was to convey basic knowledge. The language in the coursebook also corresponds the students' needs. It is general, informal spoken and written English.

1.3.6.1. Topics

As for the topics covered in each unit, we can say that they are relevant to the students' needs.As mentioned above, this is the only coursebook available now that covers the exam topics so systemetically and thoroughly. The materials are realistic, varied and interesting for students. Different text types are included such as conversations,interviews, descriptions,letters,reports, that provide an opportunity for a lot of language use.

1.3.6.2. Grammar

In the matter of grammar, we must be rather critical. There may be several considerations.

1.3.6.2.1. Presentation

New grammar points in the units are not presented in an appropriate way. At the end of each unit there are substitution tables that show how the language is used. As the texts hardly contain examples for the new language, using discovery techniques is almost impossible. The book lacks in all kinds of rules about when and how the new language is used.

1.3.6.2.2. Practice

The coursebook does not provide possibility for efficient practice. We can find very few exercises on grammar, for which reason there is no sequence from easier to more difficult, from guided to free practice. The aim of this work is to fill in this gap and make the coursebook more practical and beneficial.

1.3.6.2.3. Organisation of new language

There is no balance in the organisation of grammar points throughout the course. In Unit 7, for example,there is only one piece of new language:'some' and 'any'; in Unit 8 1simple future'. In Unit 6, however, students should cope with the 'comparative of adjaectives', 'possessive pronouns', 'prepositions of place', Present continuous for future' and 'ordinal numbers'. Our effort to present so much grammar within a unit will result in unsuccess and our students will be confuseddand demoralised.

The order of the new languaage points being thaught is not appropriate either.'Imperarive', 'object pronouns', 'can' and 'must' should come earlier, while the 'comparison of adjactives' and 'possessive proonouns' should be taught later in the course. However, as the text are rather topic-based than grammar-based, the materials are flexible and the unitscaan be used in different orders.

1.3.7. Guidance

The coursebook contains lists of vocabulary and language points, as well as suggestions for further work. An extra publication provides guidance for organising the materials throughout the schoolyear.

1.3.8. Conclusion

Looking at the complete materials evaluation we may find that there are too many points where we had doubt in the appropiacy of the coursebook. However, it is impossible for any coursebook to match our purposes perfectly.

Having a coursebook, on one hand, has many advantages. It provides clear framework for both teachers and students. It provides ready-made material, serves as a syllabus for the teacher and as authority for the students. On the other hand, a coursebook may be frequently inadequate and is a nuge source of limitation. The teaching process may become monotonous if we use the coursebook all the time, and the next step can also be predictable for the students, which makes them unmotivated. The coursebook should be guidance for the teacher rather than the only source of materials. If we find something inappropiate we can leave it out and use extra materials. Taking into consideration that many advantages mentioned above cannot be found in any other coursebook, we can come to the conclusion that it is worth adopting this coursebook for our students. Together with the following grammar practice activities it is a complex work appropriate for helping students to develop communicative competence and for prepairing them to the basic level language exam.

2. Communicative language teaching

Language is used for communication. Language teachers should teach their students to communicate in the target language. But what do we need to be able to communicate? Do we need only words? Of course not. We must also know how they should be put together. That is we need to learn grammar. The question is: how?

All teachers know that grammar is the most frustrating part of the learning process. We often see how our students get lost in the rules and become bored and depressed by their failure.

The roots of the problem must be in the methods. We cannot say that the students do not need rules and grammar exercises because we want to teach in a communicative way. They need them. But it makes a difference how and when they meet rules and what kind of exercises they do.

We know that we learn better if we are involved in the process. If refers to any kind of learning. Students should also be involved as deeply as possible. In the classroom learning begins with the presentation. The involvement here means that the students work out the meanings themselves, they discover the rules and do not get them ready. Using discovery techniques students take responsibility for their own learning and they will understand and remember the new language better. Rules can be formulated when the students have an idea about how and when the new language is used.

The next question is how to make the students able to use this this language correctly, e.g. practice is coming. The lack of many coursebooks is that they provide only guided practice. This is what we cannot do for a long time without making our students bored and uninterested. Guided practice is important. It makes sure that students understand the new language. But our practice process should end in communication where students do not practise that particular language but communicate in the target language. Their purpose is - using an information gap - to say something and make something happen as a result.

In the following lesson plans I tried to provide a sequence from guided to free practice. I put emphasis - maybe more than allowed in communicative language teaching - on form-based exercises. The reason for that is that my experiences show: the students do not exactly know their own language. It often takes long time to make them realize what is common in the target and their nalive language and what differences there are and also fix the new items in their minds. After we have reached this point, we can progress to less guided practice until real-like communication can take place.

Through these stages we will achieve that the material is thoroughly and permanently learnt and the result is communicative competence.

3. Unit 1

New language is Unit 1 is represented by the verb 'to be', the possessive adjectives and the cardinal numbers 1-20.

3.1. The verb 'to be'

Teaching the verb 'to be' we introduce the personal pronouns as well, focusing the students' attention on the three forms in 3. person singular. We also involve in our teaching process the negative and question forms as well as the short forms.

We can use a table to show grammar rules. This is a table.

Task 1.

Complete the table with these forms.

She 's are 'm 're It is We

Task 2.

Complete these dialogues.

1. -Are you Mr Kennedi? - Yes, I ... .

2. -Is Mr Davies British? - Yes, he ... .

3. -This is Mr Hardi with Kate.

-They ... in the office.

4. -Jane is from England.

-Yes, she ... English.

5. -Look. You ... in this picture.

You ... with the porter.

-Yes, we ... in the hall.

Task 3.

Complete the questions.

Example: This is Mr Kennedi.

Is this Mr Kennedi?

1. Mr Kennedi is a journalist.

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

2. We are from Hungary.

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

3. Kate and Mr Hardi are in the office.

Task 4.

Complete the table.

Task 5.

Make these sentences negative.

1. Kate is in the office.

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

2. You are in the picture.

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

3. We are from America.

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

4. I am a teacher.

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

5. Jane and Joe are Scottish.

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

Follow up.

Complete the dialogues.

1.-... you Mr Davies?

-No, I ... . Mr Davies is over there.

2.-Hello. I ... John.

-Hello. My name ... Erika.

-Where ... you from?

-I ... from Germany.

3.-Hello, Kate! ... George and Andrew in?

-No, they ... .

-Where ... they?

-In room 10.

This was the first lesson dealing with the verb 'to be'. We have presented the forms and let the students do controlled practice. It seems to be a good idea to practice the positive, negative and question forms as well as the short forms together.

We can start the second lesson with short questions and answers. This is a good warm-up activity and is useful making students acquainted with one another as well. We can easily catch the students' attention as they are personally involved into the activity.

Task 1.

Ask like this: Answer like this:

Are you Susan? Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.

Is she German? Yes, she is. / No, she isn't.

Are we students? Yes, we are.

It is useful when the teacher first presents the task by asking the class. Then students can work in pairs and go on with the activity.

We can find further exercises in our course book that contributes to the acquisition of the presented structures.

3.2. Possessive adjectives

Another way of presenting a rule is giving a context. If we encourage students to work out the meaning from context, the learning value of the activity will be higher: students will remember the new language easily.

We introduce possessive adjectives like this:

Task 1.

Read the following sentences.

I am Peter. - My name is Peter.

You are Thomas. - Your name is Thomas.

Is he Charles? - Yes, his name is Charles.

Is she Jane? - No, her name is Anne.

Is it your dog? - Yes, its name is Sooky.

We are in this room. - This is our room.

You are in room 6. - That is your room.

They are in the office. - Their office is over there.

Now compare the sentences on the right with their Hungarian equivalents. What differences can you find?

Task 2.

Complete the sentences with possessive adjectives.

a/ This is Mr Hardi in ... office.

b/ Kate is there with ... telephone.

c/ We are in the picture. We are with ... friends.

d/ Here is a cake for you. It's ... birthday today.

e/ Is this the room of the guests? Yes, it's ... room.

f/ What's your address? ... address is 14 Kent Road.

After this the students can proceed to a communicative activity where it is their choice what to say within a given structure.

Task 3.

Work in pairs.

Example: a/ -Have you got a watch?

-Yes, that's my watch.

b/ -Has Mary got a pen?

-Yes, that's her pen.

Follow up.

Make sentences as in the example.

Jim has some money.

It's in his wallet.

1. Mary has a handbag.

........... hand.

2. I have some pencils.

.......... pencase.

3. We have some books.

......... desk.

4. You have a car.

......... garage.

5. Jim and Mary have some wine.

......... table.

6. The cat has a fish.

......... mouth.

3.3. Cardinal numbers 1-20

As numbers are words that have to be simply memorized, in the teaching process most of the volume should consist of repetition on of the items to be learnt. These procedures induce the students to engage with the items as many times as possible, in speech and in writing. Writing is very important because written forms are learnt with more difficulty.

Single cardinal numbers can be practised by telephoning.

Each students notes down on a sheet of paper his or her own number ( or invents a fictional one if they do not have a phone). One student (or the teacher) begins by announcing his or her number, and ringing up someone else. And so on. It is a good idea to repeat each number at least twice.

A: This is 06-933761, Mark speaking.

This is 06-933761, calling Pauline.

Are you there Pauline?

B: Yes, this is Pauline; my number is 04-224365. Pauline here at 04-224365.

Meanwhile all the students jot down the names of those who have identified themselves, with their corresponding numbers. At the end, we check that all numbers and names are right.

The exercise is a very good listening comprehension and reading activity. What makes it more useful is that students learn some specific telephone-linked expressions, such as the use of 'double-0' for '00'and conventional openings and closings of telephone conversations.

Through Task 1 students have become familiarized with the spoken form of cardinal numbers 0-10. For numbers 11-20 the most useful and obvious activity can be telling the time. here we can base on the corresponding course-book passage.

As mentioned before, written forms are more difficult to memorize. We can use several methods to reach this goal. Completing the watch faces helps with memorizing through reading. We can let students simply copy the numbers or give them a game-like task like a crossword puzzle. These can be given as homework as well.

Task 2.

Complete the watch faces with the times.

Task 3. Task 4.

Complete this crossword with Write these numbers in full.

numbers 0-10.

4.1. Cardinal numbers 20-100

For teaching and practising these cardinal numbers we can use some very interesting communicative activities, which provide a listening comprehension practice, involving personalization (1) and some competitive tension (2). At the end we can give a written follow-up so that students feel more confident in the forms.

Task 1.

Address book.

We need some previous preparations to this activity. We pass round a sheet and ask students to write down their names and addresses (maybe also their phone number) on it. We add our own. Later, we blank out all numbers with correcting fluid and make enough copies for each student to have one.

Students fill in the missing numbers in their own address and phone number, and any other they happen to know. Then they go round finding out from each other and the teacher all the numbers that they lack. When the first student has finished, we stop the activity. The teacher reads out all the complete addresses in order to check that everyone has them right and to give people who didn't finish a chance to fill gaps.

At the end, they have an address list for keeping in touch with each other.

Students will find this activity very interesting as it is not usual that they can leave their places in the lessons.

Task 2.

Number dictation.

The first student dictates a number to the class; everyone writes it down. The second dictates another number, which everyone writes down and adds to the first.As each number is given, it is noted down and added to the previous total.Has everyone reached the same grand total at the end? It is a good idea to use pocket calculators to make the process quicker.

Follow up:

Write these numbers in full.

76 ...............................

39 ...............................

24 ...............................

100 ...............................

80 ...............................

99 ...............................

63 ...............................

41 ...............................

55 ...............................

70 ...............................

 

4.2. The present simple tense

As the verb system is one of the most complex and difficult part of English, in the teaching procedure I like to divide the teaching of the certain tenses into three parts: teaching the positive,the negative and the questions. We must pay attention to the forms so we will need here many form-based exercises, which help us to make to rules of form clearer and ensure that they are learnt thoroughly.

Lesson 1

The presentation is preceded by the elaboration of the passage in the course book on page 48.

Task 1.

Read the following sentences and compare them with the passage in your course book on page 48.

'This is Mr. Taylor.He comes from England. He works for the BBC. He is married. His wife doesn't work. They live in London.'

Task 2.

Now use these words to complete the table.

works live doesn't comes work

Positive: Negative:

I I

We l... in London. We

You w... as a guide. You don't live in London.

They They

He c... from England. He

d... work.

She w... for the BBC. She

After analysing the tables the students understand the rule of forms: we add -s to the verb in the 3. person singular.

This activity can be followed by one which involves meaning as well, still stresses the production of correct forms.

Task 3.

That's wrong! Answer like this:

1. Mr Davis comes No, that's wrong. He doesn't from Africa. come from Africa. He comes from England.

2. He works for the BBC.

3. He's an engineer.

4. He works as a teacher.

5. He lives in Reading.

Follow up.

Write the same things as Mr Davis about yourself.

Lesson 2

By Peter's letter (course book page 51.) we have a good context for further work on present simple: we can help the students find the rule of meaning (present simple for regular activities) and lead a further practice of negative, then introduce the question forms.

After understanding the letter we let students do a cumulative chain drill. It is an amousing way of getting quick and involving practice of a particular structure, in this case the ending -s. If the memory element is added, it can be made into a game and is also very useful for memorizing the stereotypes for daily routine.

Task 1.

Read Peter's letter again. Then close your book and tell about Peter's daily routine. You have to repeat the previous sentences.

S1: Peter is in London now.

S2: Peter is in London now. He is the MALÉV representative there.

Task 2.

After this controlled practice we put the students in pairs. We ask them to tell each other their daily routines based on the ideas of Peter's letter. The listener should take notes and compare the partner's day with Peter's, find the differences and write negative sentences.

For example: Jane doesn't get up at 7.00. Her mother doesn't make breakfast.

It is a very good communicative activity involving speaking, listening, writing as well.

Write down your daily routine.

Lesson 3.

In this lesson we introduce the present simple question forms.We put the students in pairs and ask them to make an interview with each other about their daily routine.

Ask like this: Answer like this:

1. When do you get up? I get up at 6.15.

2. When do you leave home?

3. What time does the first

lesson begin?

4. What time do you finish?

5. Where do you have lunch?

6. What do you do after lunch?

7. What do you do in the evening?

8. What time do you go to bed?

Task 2.

Complete this chart. Use four of these words.

Do work lives Does live work

I

we

....... you ......... in England?

they

he

..... .......... for the MALÉV?

she

Due to the usage of 'do' and the strict word order the present simple questions need more practice. To avoid boredom, we best choose a controlled practice activity, which is still not communicative but the exercise cannot be done through mere technical manipulation.

Task 3.

Eric Jensen is a Swedish tennis player. A reporter is interviewing him. Use the cues and write the reporter's questions.

R.: ( Where / live) ?

E.: In London.

R.: ( house or flat ) ?

E.: I live in a flat in Kensington.

R.: ( Why / live / England) ?

E.: I like it here. There are lots of things to do in London and the people are friendly.

R.: ( tennis / every day ) ?

E.: Yes, I practise every morning.

R.: ( Where / practise ) ?

E.: At the local tennis club.

R.: ( What time / get up ) ?

E.: At eight o'clock.

R.: ( What / have / for breakfast ) ?

E.: I have a big breakfast - bacon and eggs usually.

R.:( What / do / free time ) ?

E.: I watch TV a lot or I go out with my friends.

R.: ( When / go to bed )?

E.: I always go to bed at 12.00. I need eight hours sleep every night.

After understanding and practising the forms students may do a complex communicative activity,which has a non-linguistic purpose and where the task itself provides learner interest, stimulates students' curiosity.

Task 4.

Work in pairs.

a/ First try to answer the questions about your classmate. Write your guesses in column ' my guesses'. Don't show it to your partner.

b/ Write the questions you must ask your partner.

Example: What time do you get up?

c/ Now ask your partner the questions and write his/her answers in the second column.

d/ Change roles.

e/ Compare your answers. How many did you get right?

Scores:

8-7 = very good. You know your classmate very well.

6-4 = average.

3-2 = poor.

1-0 = terrible. Your classmate is a stranger for you.

Follow up.

Write the answers to the questionnaire for yourself and your friend.

Example:

I have got two brothers and one sister. My friend has got two sisters.

5.1. 'have got'

The verb 'have got' is introduced in two steps: first the positive and negative forms, later the question forms.

a/ Look at the text about the McDonald family (course book p. 72.) and complete the following sentences.

They ..... a big family.

Susan ..... three childrens.

Judy ..... a son.

Richard ..... a round red face.

They ..... only one thing in common: their blue eyes.

b/ Now complete this table.

Task 2.

Complete the following sentences with the correct forms of the verb 'have got'.

1. I .... .... a family.

2. Tom .... .... a son, called David.

3. My friend ....n't got a family.

4. Peter .... got two uncles.

5. The McDonalds .... .... a big family.

6. Mary .... .... two nieces and three nephews.

7. My English friends .....n't got three children but only one.

8. Richard McDonald ....n't got a wife.

When we are sure that the students have learnt the forms thoroughly we can give them an exercise involving personalisation. Speaking of themselves is always very motivating for students and the learning value of the following exercise is higher as we only insist on structure but let them fill in the content of the sentences.

Task 3.

Write down

a/ three things that you have got.

b/ three things that you haven't got.

c/ three things that your best friends has got.

d/ three things that your best friend hasn't got.

Task 4.

Students work in pairs. Each student gets a series of pictures. The pictures given the students in a pair are different. Students tell their partner what they have and what they don't have.

Example:

I have a dog (shows it) but I haven't got an elephant.

This activity challenges the students' vocabulary and - with the open-ending of the sentences - also their imagination. We may ask the students to write down the objects their partner mentions in Yes/No columns and after finishing with the pictures the partners tell the class what their neighbours have or don't have.

Example:

Jane has got a cat but she hasn't got a dog.

Lesson 2

We introduce the question forms of 'have got'.

Complete the table with these words:

has got have

a/ It' s Saturday evening. Joe isn't at the army now. He is on a date with Sue. Joe is asking Sue some questions. Using these cues, make his questions.

Example: Have you got a photograph of your family?

( photograph of your family )

1. ................................................

( a car )

2. ................................................

(a good job )

3. ................................................

( a computer )

4. ................................................

( a brother or sister )

5. ................................................

( a stereo )

6. ................................................

( a best friend )

7. ................................................

( a favourite pop group )

b/ Joe has a sister, Judy. Sue is asking about her. Use these cues. Make her questions.

Example: Has she got long hair?

(long hair)

1. ................................................

(a bicycle)

2. ................................................

(good grades)

3. ................................................

(What colour eyes)

4. ................................................

(What colour hair)

5. ................................................

(a boyfriend)

6. ................................................

(a favourite pop group)

Task 3.

Here is a part of an interview with a girl. Here are the answers. What were the questions? Use 'have got'.

1. ................................................

Fair.

2. ................................................

Blue.

3. ................................................

I have got a sister.

4. ................................................

Yes, his name is Simon.

5. ................................................

No, he hasn't. It's dark.

6. ................................................

Brown.

Follow up:

Write down what you know about the girl.

5.2. The possessive 's

The possessive 's seems to be a simple point in English grammar and it is really true for spoken English but it often causes problems in the written language. So it may be a good idea to divide the teaching process into two phases and first deal with the singular 's and later with the plural -s'.

A description of family relationships is a good overall context for the use of the possessive 's, and the family tree itself provides an excellent visual focus.

In the presentation phase a family tree can be used for introducing new vocabulary (family members) and for presenting the 's-structure. The teaching process presented below involves reading, writing, listening and speaking as well.It is mainly communicative and can be made personal by involving the students' own families, which raises the students' initiative and the level of attention.

Look at the family tree. Read the sentences and find out the meaning of the underlined words.

a/ George is Lisa's husband and Lisa is George's wife.

b/ May is George's sister-in-law, George is May's brother-in-law.

c/ Don is May's nephew, Stella is her niece.

d/ George is Cathy's father-in-law and Lisa is her mother-in-law. Cathy is their daughter-in-law. They haven't got a son-in-law.

e/ Don and Cathy have got a daughter, Jane. Stella is Jane's aunt, Jim is her uncle.

f/ Stella and Jim have no children, so Jane has no cousins.

Have you got the meanings of the underlined words?

What is the function of 's?

A diagram of a family tree is presented on the board or the overhead projector. Students have to define the relationship between any two of the names, using the possessive 's. It's a whole-class activity.

Example: John is Fay's husband.

As students do the activity, the teacher draws in a coloured arrow from the subject to the related name. There can be parallel arrows as well.

Follow up:

The teacher points to any of the arrows and elicits - now in writing - the sentence that it represents.

Homework:

Each student draws the blank diagram of his/her family tree and the list of names and information.

The lesson starts with the task prepared by the students at home. The students are put in pairs. Each student dictates his or her partner his or her own family. The partner has to fill in the blank diagram given by the other student. That's a reading and listening comprehension activity.

Now students are familiarized with the possessive 's, so in the further part of the lesson we can introduce the possessive of plural nouns.

Compare the following.

A B

my sister's book my sisters' book

my friend's record my friends' record

How many sisters/friends do I have in case A and how many in case B?

What about irregular plurals like 'men', 'women' and 'children'?

We add the same 's like in case of singular nouns.

the children's book

Now that students are faced with all the three forms we can give them first a simple form-based exercise, then provide them with a more complex exercise, extended by short verb forms. These should be written performances as structures with apostrophe are a problem of written English.

Task 3.

Fill the table with these words,using 's or -s'.

the ladies/home; Susan/dress; the women/skirts; the boys/school; the men/moustache; the Kennedis/garden; the grandmother/pension; the children/bedroom.

Task 4.

Put in the apostrophes.

a/ Lets go to Matthews party. Its at his house. Whats Matthews address? I dont know it. I havent got his address, but he lives opposite Janes friend.

b/ This is Mark. Hes a student. Hes 15. He lives in Reading. His address is 15 Kent Road. Joe and James are his friends. They often go for a drive by Marks fathers car.

6.1. Comparison of adjectives (positive)

In this chapter we are going to deal only with the absolute; the comparative comes in Unit 6. This separation can be useful because of the language interference. Hungarian students find it difficult to remember that the Hungarian word 'mint' has two equivalents in English, according to the grade of comparison. So it is a good idea to make students familiarized with the positive forms first.

Task 1.

Look at the pictures and read the sentences. What connection is there between the objects?

The tree is as high as the house.

The swimming suit is as expensive as the blouse.

The egg is not as big as the apple.

Translate the sentences into your own language. What differences can you find?

If student sunderstood the rule of forms and the differences in the two languages we can progress to controlled practice, which is based on a given structure but allows the students some freedom in what they want to say.

Task 2.

Work in pairs. Make sentences with 'as ....... as' or 'not as..........as' using these two groups of words.

swimming,car, milk, sweet

sugar, bread, fattening

elephant,plane, fruit, healthy

tiger, playing tennis, fast

chocolate, strong

macaroni, tiring

Task 3.

Write similar sentences of your own. Read out only the first part of the sentences and the other students should finish them.

This open-ending task allows for lots of different responses. Students will probably have many original ideas although they have to find their own vocabulary.

Follow up.

Choose from your environment objects or people that are similar in some sense. Write comparative sentences.

6.2. Present continuous

The present continuous is taught in this unit in the meaning 'what is happening now'. The teaching process is divided into two parts: present continuous positive and negative, then the question forms. With the present continuous the rules of forms are simple, apart from the omission of -e before -ing. So it seems to be a good idea to base the presentation and practice on oral work, and later, when students are aware of spoken form and meaning, the spelling rules can come.

Lesson 1

Task 1.

Look at the pictures. Complete the missing words.

I am You ...... He is She ......

learning smok......! coming. go .......

We ........ You ........ They .......

drinking. eat .......! ............

Now tell when present continuous is used.

The actions in the pictures will help students find out that present continuous describes actions that are happening now.

Following the presentation phase a brainstorm exercise can come. Students are given a single stimulus - a picture showing a large number of things going on: a street scene, for example, or a family living room. In any case, things shown in the picture should be within the scope of the students' vocabulary. The picture should be large enough to display to the entire class.

Task 2.

Brainstorm all the things you can see going on in the picture.

This task can be done orally, the attention of the whole class is focused on the picture. A good picture motivates the students to contribute and the procedure results in a large number of responses.

After students have become certain about the new language, they can be put in groups and the activity can be repeated in some changed way.

Task 3.

Look at the picture. Make up 20 sentences using the present continuous within two minutes.

By giving the sentence number and a time limit we add a pleasurable tension and the activity becomes a game-like procedure, which is very motivating for students.

In the remaining part of the lesson we introduce negative forms. As a matter of fact, we do not need to give the students a rule of forms. They will realize by themselves that they simply have to negate to verb 'to be'.

Task 4.

We can work with the same picture. Students are given a list of sentences. The sentences desribe activities that can be seen in the picture, but also ones that cannot be seen. We ask the students to evaluate the sentences. By true sentences they can say: 'That's right'. By false sentences they negate the statement.

Example: The woman isn't drinking coffee.

Follow up:

We ask students to bring along a photograph that was made on a particular occasion and tell what this ocassion was and what people are doing in the photograph.

Lesson 2.

After students have told about their photographs,we introduce present continuous question forms and the spelling rules.

We need cue-cards with simple sentences for guessing, using the present continuous.

Example: You are making a cup of coffee.

You are watching a comedy on TV.

You are reading a very sad story.

Task 1.

One student is given a cue-card and mimes its content for the rest of the class to guess.

Are you holding something?

Are you preparing something?

This communicative activity challenges students' vocabulary and through guessing they easily memorize the word order of the questions.

It is important in such activities to make sure that not too much time is spent only on silent miming. The students should be encouraged to keep guessing during the mime.

The learning process of the present continuous was based on oral interactions so far; we had much speaking, listening, some reading. From now on our attention will be directed towards written forms. First we are going to deal with the spelling of the present participles. To make the learning process more effective, we again follow the didactive method.

Task 2.

Look at the following present participles and try to order them into three groups.

reading putting eating

shopping coming preparing

writing cooking sitting

And now the rules. Complete the sentences and number them according to the columns above.

...Jelen ideju melléknevet kapunk, ha az igetôhöz .....-t adunk.

...Ha az ige -e-re végzôdik, elhagyjuk az .....-t és ............... .

... Ha az igében rövid magánhangzó van és egy mássalhangzóra végzôdik, a mássalhangzót ........ és hozzátesszük az ......... képzôt.

Task 3.

Make the present participle of these verbs and put them in the correct column.

live fill have make

ask finish leave stop

do get tell stay

Task 4.

A very interesting brainstorming activity can be working with silhouettes showing people in the process of some action. These may be made by sticking magazine pictures of suitable figures on black paper, then cutting out. The black silhouettes then are stuck on white cards. We need as many cards as students. Every student gets a card and writes his or her idea about who is doing what. The cards go round until every student has seen every card. We can limit the time to make the activity dinamic and exciting. In the end we listen to the students' ideas, show them the original pictures and decide who has done right.

This activity encourages students' originality and humour and may produce interesting and amusing results.

Follow up.

Write down what is happening in your family at 7.00 p.m.

6.3. There is/there are

The structure 'there is/ there are' needs much attention because students tend to mix it up with the adverb 'there' and forget that it can only be used when the sentence has an 'indefinite' subject. Therefore it seems to be a good idea to present the structure compared with the structure with definite nouns.

Task 1.

Look at the pairs of sentences and try to find out the difference in meaning.

a/ There is a settee in the sitting room. - The settee is in the living room.

b/ There are pictures on the wall. - The pictures are on the wall.

c/ Is there a curtain at the window? - Is the curtain at the window?

d/ There aren't plates in the cupboard. - The plates aren't in the cupboard.

The practice of 'there is/there are' provides many opportunities for oral brainstorm, using the structure in positive, negative and questions.

Task 2.

We need a large picture that can easily be seen by all the class, preferably in colour and with plenty of clearly delineated details, or individual smaller copies of the same. We invite the students to say as much as they can about the picture, using 'there is/there are'. We should have a defined objective: 20 sentences at all or as many as they can manage in three minutes.

Task 3.

We put students in pairs. Each pair is given two roughly similar pictures. They have to find and write the differences in a limited time.

For example: In picture A there is a telephone on the shelf, but there isn't a telephone in picture B.

This exercise provides a large volume of language practice and is explicitely good for practising the negative forms.

Task 4.

For question forms we need again a picture. We show it to the class for 2 minutes, then we hide the picture. We ask students: Is there a policeman in the picture? Are there birds in it?

This activity can also serve the practising of short answers: the students answer the teacher's questions with 'Yes, there is/are. No, there isn't/aren't.

This exercise is like a memory game, which makes the activity really interesting.

Follow up.

We ask the students to write a description using 'there is/there are'. The exercise can be made more interesting by inviting the students to describe not just a conventional scene, but an unusual one: an extremely untidy room, their ideal classroom or an outdoor scene on an imaginary alien planet.

With checking homework like this - where the solutions can be so different - we may have many problems. While the first student is reading out his work, the others are listening to him/her, but later their attention is wandering. Teachers may face the same difficulty when the class discuss or listen to something to without any visual focus. In all cases we should provide the students with something to look at. Here we may ask the students to draw the scene that a certain student is describing. It's a good listening practice and holds the learners' attention.

7. Unit 5 - Revision

This is a revision unit. The lessons serve to going through the new grammar of units 1-4 again, teaching students to use their knowledge in a complex way and prepairing them to the first test.

In this unit we will have some new types of exercises. Some of them are not relating to the meaning ( transformation, slot-filling), others involve meaning as well (slot-filling based on meaning, sentence writing).

Our attention is focused on the comparison of present simple and present continuous as well.

7.1. The possessive adjectives and the possessive 's

1. Complete the sentences with possessive adjectives.

My first name is Mary. ... family name is Adams. What about you? What's ... first name? And what's ... family name? I'm married. You can see ... husband in the picture. ... name is Arthur. We've got a son and a daughter. ... son is 20. ... name is Nick. ... daughter is 25. ... name's Emily. Emily is married. ... husband's name is Bruce. Emily and Bruce have got two children. ... names are Ken and Eva.

2. Using the possessive 's tell who your

- grandmother

- sister-in law

- nephew

- aunt

- mother-in-law

- niece

- uncle

- brother-in-law

- grandfather

- cousin

is.

Example:

My grandmother is my father's or my mother's mother.

7.2. 'to be or to have got'

3. Put the correct verb into the sentences

a/ Sophie ... 26 years old.

b/ She ... two sisters.

c/ You ... tired.

d/ You ... a nice face.

e/ We ... waiting for the bus.

f/ The children ... hungry.

g/ George ... leaving now.

h/ I ... listening to you.

i/ There ... a phone in my room.

j/ There ... two banks near here.

7.3. Negative and question forms

First a simple form-based exercise, revising all the learnt verb forms in positive, negative and question.

1. Transform the sentences into negative and questions.

Example:

It's cold. - It isn't cold. - Is it cold?

a/ I'm tired.

b/ You're working.

c/ Sue is leaving.

d/ There's a film on TV.

e/ He's got a camera.

f/ We've got time.

g/ They live in Rome.

h/ She likes tennis.

If we think that our students do not need this exercise because the forms are perfectly known to them we can pass over it and proceed to the following communicative and more motivating activities.

2. Picture differences

It can be done in a full class oral brainstorm or individually in writing with feedback later. We need two pictures with ten or so minor differences between them that should be easily expressed in language the students know. We ask students to find and define the differences, using negative sentences.

3. Composing Wh-questions

We use a conventional reading passage from our coursebook that we are going to do anyway. It can be a passage in unit 5 page 116. We invite students to write all kinds of questions. We write the questions on the board and ask student to answer them.

4. For 'yes/no' questions we can have a guessing game. The teacher or a volunteer student chooses or is given an item to be guessed: this may be an object, person, activity, place or event. The rest of the class asks 'yes/no' questions, to be answered by the knower, until the item is guessed.

A: Is it in the classroom?

B: No.

C: Can we eat it?

B: Yes.

D: Is it an apple?

B: Yes.

7.4. The present simple tense

Before comparing the present simple and present continuous, it is useful to go through the present simple forms again so that the lack of knowledge of the forms does not prevent students concentrating on the differences in meaning.

1. Complete the sentences with these words:

do, does, live, lives

a/ -... you ... alone?

- No, I ...n't. I ... with two friends.

b/ We ... n't in a house. We ... in a flat.

c/ - Where ... your parents ...?

- They ... in Toronto.

d/ - ... your brother ... with your parents?

- Yes, he ... .

e/ My sister ...n't ... in Canada. She ... in Mexico.

7.5. The present simple and the present continuous

To make students remember the uses of these tenses we introduce the topic with the following activity.

1. Look at the sentences in column A, then match them with the statements in column B.

A

a/ I'm reading a good book these days.

B

1. The action happens regularly.

b/ I always have breakfast at home.

c/ My mother is cleaning the house now.

2. The action is happening at the moment of speaking or about this time.

d/ We often go to the cinema.

Remember:

The present continuous describes things that are happening now.

The present simple describes things that happen regularly,often, every day, etc.

Note that some verbs are not used in present continuous.

For example: I like chocolate.

I love watching TV.

Do you want some cake?

They know each other well.

Do you think she is at home?

In the practice phase first we will have three exercises, not communicative but involving meaning as well. In the first one students have to decide between present simple and continuous, in the second also decide and use the forms correctly, and in the third one they have to build up whole sentences in the correct tense. In two exercises the tenses are contrasted in the neighbouring sentences, which makes it easier for students to find the right solution.

1. Choose the correct verb from.

a/ I listen/ I'm listening to the radio every morning.

b/ Be quiet! I listen/I'm listening to the radio.

c/ Jill is in the kitchen. She has /is having breakfast.

d/ She often has /is having yoghurt for breakfast.

e/ Joe has / Joe is having a brother and two sisters.

f/ Do you like / Are you liking this music?

2. Use the correct tense in the sentences.

a/ I (like) ... this painting.

b/ Emily (watch) ... TV at the moment.

c/ My parents (love) ... their old cat.

d/ ... you (know) ... my friend?

e/ ... you (want) ... a coffee?

f/ ... they (go) ... home now?

g/ I can't go out now. I (do) ... my homework.

h/ We never (eat) ... meat.

3. Write question in the correct tense.

a/ you / wear / jeans / often?

b/ you / wear / jeans / now?

c/ it / rain / now?

d/ it / rain / often / in your country?

e/ you / study / English / every day?

f/ you / study / English / at the moment?

4. By now the difference in meaning must be clear for the students. With the following task we add one more use of the tenses, that represents only a slight difference from the basic meaning. This is present continuous to indicate a temporary state or action, contrasted with present simple. The composition of the sentences is based on a set formula, but the students may choose any subject well known to them. Therefore the activity allows the students to use the language at a level convenient to them and will result in lots of different responses.

We describe some things we are doing temporarily and contrast with more permanent or usual situations:

This year I'm living in Paris but my permanent home is in Scotland.

We ask students to write down similar sentences.They may begin with:

At the moment ...

Today ...

These days ...

This year / month / week ...

They then read out their sentences to each other,in the full class or in small groups. It is useful to encourage them to ask each other questions.

Are you enjoying living in Paris?

Where do you live in Scotland?

This personalization not only raises the level of attention to what is said, it also tends to contribute to warmth and friendliness within the class. After listening to some sentences we may ask the students to read out only the one half of their sentence and ask the others to try to reconstruct what the other half is. The one who guesses nearest the original suggests the next half sentence. These open-ended sentences are conducive to the production of varied and original ideas.

8. Unit 6

In unit 6 we are going to teach

- the comparative of adjectives

- the possessive pronouns

- prepositions of place

- the present continuous with future meaning

- the ordinal numbers

8.1. The comparative of adjectives

First we make students remember to positive by showing objects or pointing at students making comparison.

For example: John is as tall as Steve.

Mary is as slim as Kate.

The blackboard is as big as the window.

We can write these sentences on the board so that students can later recognize the difference between the positive and the comparative.

Then we introduce the comparative. We show pictures followed by comparative sentences. The sentences show five groups of adjectives according to the way of building comparatives. They also introduce the comparative word 'than'.

Task 1.

Look at the pictures and read the sentences.

a/ The chair is smaller than the table.

b/ The suitcase is bigger than the handbag.

c/ The elephant is heavier than the horse.

d/ There are more bananas in the picture than potatoes.

e/ The neclace is more beautiful than the ring.

Now tell how we make comparisons. When do we use 'more'?

Now students may have some idea about the comparative. We give them a chart to fill in. We have the same groups in it as in the presentation and the same adjectives are also given to help students make the rule.

Task 2.

Put the comparative forms into the chart.

Students will probably need help with the irregular comparatives.

After the students have filled in the chart we elicitate the rules.

Then we let students compare the two kinds of comparative sentences.

We write on the blackboard next to the positive comparative sentences some of the sentences of Task 1. We ask the students to spot the differents.

When the differences are clear, controlled practice can begin.

Task 3.

We give students picture to compare. It can be an oral whole-class brainstorming based on set pattern.

Example:

The girl in picture A is prettier than the girl in Picture B.

Then we can put the students in groups, give them another pair or series of pictures and make the activity more exciting with a time limit.

Task 4.

When the students know each other fairly well,they can be put into pairs and asked to compose sentences comparing themselves with each other.

Example: I am taller than you are.

You speak more languages than I do.

Pairs may then be asked to write together a summary of their comparisons.

This activity is very motivating for students because their lives, their personalities are a very good background for language use.

We show the students several nouns laid out in a rough circle. The nouns should be connected in sense to a common theme. We ask students to suggest comparisons between any two in writing.

a/ macaroni

ice-cream apples

yoghurt salt

water curry

fish

b/ reading

swimming sleeping

watching TV eating

driving dancing

studying

This activity challenges the students' imagination and gives a lot of freedom in what they write.

8.2. Possessive pronouns

By teaching possessive pronouns we refer back to the possessive adjectives. We write parallel sentences to show students the difference.

Task 1.

Look at these sentences.

This is my camera. - This camera is mine.

This is your pen. - This pen is yours.

Is this his hat? - Yes, it's his.

Are these her books? - Yes, they're hers.

The cat is there.

It has a fish. - Yes, that's its fish.

This is our house. - This house is ours.

That is their flat. - That flat is theirs.

Now tell when we use the possessive pronouns.

Here are two controlled practice activities that help with the practice of possessive pronouns. They are quite similar but good for memorizing the forms.

Task 2.

We send one student (the 'detective') outside, and ask another student for something that belongs to him or her, but is not easily identifiable. The detective comes back, is given the object, and asks one of the students: Is this yours?

The student - whether it is in fact his/hers or not - denies it: No, it isn't mine. It's his (indicating another student).

The detective then asks the student indicated, and so on round the class. At the end the detective has to try to identify who in fact was lying and is the owner of the subject.

For the students it will be an exciting game because they have to behave and speak very convincing to deceive the detective. It is like a chain-drill resulting in a large number of responses, which provides an extremely useful framework for repetition.

Task 3.

Students are given pictures of objects. We tell the class that the objects are available for use on a holiday: we are going on an active outdoor holiday, whereas 'they' (a rival class) are going on a restful luxurious one. In groups, they have to distribute the objects:

Is this our camera or theirs?

This is ours.

and put them into two piles according to their category.

If each group has the same set of pictures, then results can be compared later.

This activity is a kind of very simple problem-solving, which provides the motivation to do the exercise.

The next step should be doing a complex exercise with possessive adjectives and pronouns, which will show whether the students can use these words properly.

Task 4.

Choose the correct form of the possessives.

1. This dog is (my/mine).

2. Is (hers/her) family large or small?

3. Is this book ( mine/my) or (your/yours)?

4. (her/hers) is the best homework.

5. Don't stay at (their/theirs) house, stay at (our/ours).

6. What have you got in (your/yours) hand?

7. I have found a red pencil. Is it (your/yours)?

8. (Her/hers) is the green one.

9. (My/mine) parents are older than(her/hers).

10. Where does (their/theirs) father work?

Answer the questions in two ways.

Example: Whose umbrella is this?

It's my umbrella.

It's mine.

1. Whose office is this? (they)

2. Whose cigarettes are these? (he)

3. Whose house is this? (we)

4. Whose chair is this? (you)

5. Whose books are these? (she)

6. Whose pencil is this? (I)

8.3. Prepositions of places

In this unit we also teach some prepositions of place in connection with describing towns. We demonstrate the meaning and use of the new language through pictures. Then we will have a gap-filling exercise followed by a guessing game and a pair-work. These activities provide a wide range of using all the four skills.

Task 1.

Look at the pictures and work out the meanings of the prepositions.

Task 2.

Look at the map and complete the sentences with the proper prepositions.

1. The play-school is ............ the bank.

2. The underground station is ........... the bus stop.

3. The school is ....... from the police station.

4. The hospital is .......................

5. The hospital isn't ............ the post office.

6. The post office is ..................... the hotel.

7. The post office is ............. the police station.

8. The restaurant is ............ of the cinema.

9. The post office is .......... to the restaurant.

10. The play school is ......... from the bus stop.

Task 3.

Students are put into pairs. They are given different maps. They cannot see each other's map. Each student has blanks that only the other student can fill. They ask each other questions in order to complete their maps.

Example:

A: Where is the Art Theatre?

B: It's across from Joe's Gym.

In the end students compare their maps whether they are filled in properly.

This activity only works if the students realise that they are not supposed to look each other's maps. The information gap is created precisely because each student does not know the information that the other student has.

Share information

Student A: You and Student B have different maps. Ask Student B where these places are:

the Art Theatre high school the Garden Restaurant McDonald's a library a church a men's store Joe's Café

Don't look at Student B's map. When Student B gives you information, write the name of the right place on your map.

Share information

You and Student A have different maps. Ask Student A where these places are:

the E-Z Hotel, a hospital, a Chinese restaurant,

a record store, a pharmacy, a bookstore,

the National Bank, Burgerland

Don't look at Student A's map. When Student A gives you the information, write the name of the place in the

right place on your map.

Task 4.

Each student is given a map of an urban or rural area. We ask them to write down where they would like to live in the area on the map.

For example:I'd like to live in the Nature Reserve, by the river, on the right bank.

We might help by suggesting other prepositions as well.

Students mark in on the map their chosen place to live. then they find out where other students live, by hearing their descriptions of the location, and mark these in also.

Follow up.

Describe your town centre.

8.4. Present continuous for future

As the students know the forms we only have to make them aware of the existence of another meaning. We do it giving them situations.

Task 1.

Match the situations with the explanations.

Sit. 1: - Hi, Sheila! What are you doing?

- I'm washing my hair.

Sit. 2: - Let's go to the cinema!

- Sorry. I'm washing my hair tonight.

Sit. 3: - Are you doing anything at the weekend?

- Yes, we are visiting friends in Reading.

Sit. 4: - What are you reading?

- A good crime story.

Explanations:

a/ The action is happening at the moment of speaking.

b/ The agent has decided to do the action later at a certain time.

After this we try to elicit the rule: present continuous can be used for future actions that are pre-arranged and whose time is given.

The elicitation can be followed by controlled practice.

Task 2.

Use the entries in the diary to complete the conversation.

1. - Can you come to the cinema with me on Monday evening?

- No, I'm afraid I can't. I'm going to bed early.

2. - Would you like to come to tea on Tuesday?

- ..............................................

3. - Would you like to go out on Wednesday evening?

- ...........................................

4. - What about lunch on Thursday?

- ...........................................

5. - Can you come to town with me on Saturday morning then?

- ...........................................

This activity is really useful because the conversation is life-like; students do not form the sentences mechanically and through this conversation they also learn how to invite people.

If students can use the forms correctly and have understood the context in which present continuous with future meaning can be used, free practice can come.

Work in pairs. Interview each other.

What are you doing this evening / at the weekend / next week, etc.?

The next activity can serve the awareness phase. If students can choose the correct sentences they have understood the rules.

Decide whether the use of present continuous for future actions is correct in the following sentences.

1. Are you going on holiday this year?

2. I am working in an office.

3. We are going to America.

4. Next month we are changing the flat.

5. They are decorating the room at the weekend.

6. The landlady is showing round the visitor.

7. We are putting the white curtain at the window.

8. I am visiting my friend tonight.

Follow up.

Write about your plans for weekend in details.

8.5. Ordinal numbers

Here again we have to put emphasis on written forms. By suggesting the rule already we turn students' attention towards spelling. Then we give some written practice activities that help students memorize the forms.

Task 1.

Look at the groups of ordinal munbers. Then read the rules below and put their numbers over the correct column.

1st first 4th fourth 5th fifth

2nd second 10th tenth 8th eighth

3rd third 19th nineteenth 9th ninth

12th twelfth

20th twentieth

Rules:

1. To make ordinal numbers we add -th to the number.

2. Some ordinals are irregular.

3. Some ordinals have irregular spelling.

Task 2.

a/ Write these numbers in full.

31st ............................

16th ............................

12th ............................

3rd ............................

29th ............................

62nd ............................

50th ............................

8th ............................

b/ Now write the short forms of these numbers.

seventy-third:

forty-fifth:

thirteenth:

eighty-second:

ninety-first:

Task 3.

Now we put students into pairs and an oral interaction can follow. Each pair gets a picture to tell where the people live.

A: Which floor do the Wilberts live?

B: They live on the fifth floor.

In a written follow up, we turn students' attention to the written forms of the numbers again. We do not necessarily concentrate only on ordinals.

Wead read.

Cross the letters that are extra to the words below.

a/ fourty-first

b/ twelvfth

c/ eightieth

d/ nineth

e/ foursth

f/ thirdteenth

g/ eleveneth

h/ firsth

9. Unit 7

The topic of unit 7 is shopping for food; the new grammar is the use of 'some' and 'any'.

9.1. Some /any

Before we introduce 'some' and 'any', we we have to make students familiarized with the notion of countable and uncontable nouns.

We explain that countable nouns can be singular or plural, uncountable nouns cannot be plural. To make this clear we give students examples.

Task 1.

Fill the table with these nouns.

apple, beef, butter, egg, cup,table, furniture, orange, milk, watch, coffee, money

If we think that our students need more practice, we may have an oral dialogue in pair-work.

Task 2.

Each student is given a shopping list with nouns preceded by a/an/some or with no determiners at all. They choose five items from the list they would like to buy. But products can only be supplied if there is sufficient demand: so in order to buy item, each student has to find at least four others who want it. Working in fluid-pairs - each student performs only one transaction with any other partner, and goes on to do the same with another - they try to find co-buyers:

- I want some ... and a ..., do you?

- I want some ... too, but I don't want a ...

A time limit of 4 or 5 minutes for this should be plenty. Afterwards they report back how many items they have succeeded in buying. (I have found 4 co-buyers for ...)

Shopping list A

1. (a) colour television

2. (some) land for farming

3. (a) fast car

4. (an) electric typewriter

5. (some) gold

6. (some) good food

7. (an) apartment

8. (some) theatre tickets

9. (some) clothes for my holiday

10. (some) furniture

If students understand the distinction between countable and uncountable nouns, we present 'some' and 'any'.

a/ Look at this dialogue.

- I'd like to buy some meat. Perhaps some pork, please.

- How much?

- Two kilos.

- Here you are. Anything else?

- Have you got any ham?

- Unfortunately, we haven't got any.

- That's all then.

b/ When do we use 'some'? When do we use 'any'? Complete this rule.

We use .... in positive statements.

We use .... in negative statements.

We use .... in questions.

Task 4.

Look at this cupboard and use these words in the exercise below.

Say and write sentences with 'some' about the cupboard.

a/ There's some coffee in the cupboard.

b/ There are ........................

c/ There's ..........................

d/ There are .........................

Say and write questions and answers with 'any'.

e/ Is there any salt in the cupboard? Yes, there is.

f/ Are there .......................? No, .........

g/ Is there .........................? No, ........

h/ Are there.........................? No, ........

Say and write sentences with 'not ..... any'.

i/ There isn't any tea in the cupboard.

j/ There aren't .......................

k/ There isn't ........................

l/ There aren't .......................

The following activity imitates life so it is communicative and very useful for practising 'some/any'. It provides a good opportunity for repetition.

Task 5.

We need individual copies of lists of about 40 simple items. Also, at least 2 pictures of each item on separate cards. Corresponding pictures can be found on page 36-37.

Half the students divide the pictures randomly between them: they are the sellers. The others, the buyers, take the written lists, and each chooses 10 items he or she wishes to buy. They then approach the sellers who do not openly display their wares and request their items.

- Do you have any apples?

- Yes, here you are./ No, I'm sorry, we haven't got any.

We may also involve 'how much/how many'. Then one of the two dialogues can be like this:

- Have you got any postcards?

- Yes, we have. How many do you want?

Shopping

1 (some) carrots

2 (a) book

3 (a) hat

4 (an) umbrella

5 (some) coffee

6 (an) electric fire

7 (some) flowers

8 (a) radio

9 (some) glasses

10(some) matches

11(some) wine

12(a) penknife

13(some) tea

14(a) vase

15(some) potatoes

16(a) pen

17(a) coat

18(a) watch

19( some) milk

20(a) chair

21(some) wine

22(a) television

23(some) meat

24(some) eggs

25(a) pair of shoes

26(some) butter

27(a) bicycle

28(some) trousers

29(some) bananas

30(an) apple

31(a) shirt

32(a) handbag

33(some) sugar

34(a) table

35( a) cake

36(some) rice

37(some) plates

38(some) bread

39(a) scarf

40(some) money

41(some) gloves

42(a) watch

Follow up:

Complete these sentences with 'some' or 'any'.

1. We've got ..... new neighbours.

2. Have you got ..... change?

3. I've got ..... of my holiday.

4. There aren't ..... cars on the island.

5. There are ..... nice things in the souvenir shop.

6. Are there ..... telephones near here?

7. I haven't got ..... friends.

8. I need ..... new clothes.

10.1. Simple Future

Here we teach two meanings of simple future, so we follow the previous method for presentation.

The meanings are given by the explanation a/ and b/. The students only have to internalize what is actually meant by them.

Task 1.

Match the following situations with the explanations.

Sit. 1.: - I think England will win on Saturday.

- No, they won't.

Sit. 2.: - Could you develop this film for me?

- Of course.

- When will it be ready?

- In two days' time.

Sit. 3.: - We haven't got any bread left.

- I'll go and buy some.

Sit. 4.: - I'm afraid we are out of notepaper at the moment. Perhaps we'll have some tomorrow.

Explanations: a/ She decided at the moment of speaking.

b/ She thinks it will happen (= prediction).

If students have understood the meanings they have to be made aware of the forms.

Affirmative: England will win on Saturday.

Perhaps we'll have some tomorrow.

Negative: No, they won't. = They will not.

Question: When will it be ready?

The following exercise serves two aims. The first part consolidates the use of the forms and the meaning of prediction. In the second part students do controlled practice. The exciting topic provides good motivation for students.

a/ What do you think will happen in the 21st century? Complete the questionnaire.

( = Agree); (x= Disagree), (?=Neutral)

1. Everyone will live in cities. (..)

2. There will be houses under the sea.(..)

3. People will live on the moon. (..)

4. Every home will have a video telephone. (..)

5. Homes and factories will use solar energy. (..)

6. Computers will replace teachers. (..)

7. People will only work 4 hours a day. (..)

8. People will stop work at 45. (..)

9. Robots will take over most jobs.(..)

10. America will have a woman President. (..)

b/ Work in pairs. Ask for predictions like this:

- Do you think that in the future everyone will live in cities?

- Yes, I do. / I don't think they will.

The next task lets students practise the simple future in the meaning of decision at the moment of speaking.

Task 3.

How would you react? The prompts help you.

1. - Somebody is knocking at the door.

- (answer)

2. - What shall we do if it rains?

- ( stay at home)

3. - Can you phone me at the evening?

- (O. K.)

4. - Have a good time in Italy!

- ( send a postcard)

5. - It's hot here.

- (open the window)

Follow up:

Write predictions about your future life.

11. UNIT 9

In this unit we will deal with

- the 'be going to' form

- the object pronouns

- 'can'

- the superlative of adjectives

11.1. The 'be going to' form

This is the third future form to be taught. Students have to learn two meanings: plans and predictions.

In the presentation phase students will read two groups of situations and discover the meanings. We do not need to give them the usual explanations, as the notion of 'plan' and 'prediction' is already known to them. So they will probably find out the rule.

Task 1.

Read the following situations.

I. a/ I'm going to visit my friends next Saturday.

b/ Betty is going to stay for a few days in Budapest.

c/ Anne is going to do the shopping after work.

II. a/ Look at those clouds! It's going to rain.

b/ How sad that girl is! I think she's going to cry.

c/ It's going to take a long time to learn all these rules.

Now tell what the two meanings of the 'be going to' are.

If students have worked out the meanings, contolled practice can follow.

Task 2.

It's 4.30 on Friday afternoon. Anne is at work, thinking about her plans for the weekend. Write down the things she is going to do.

5.00 Go shopping - In half an hour, I'm going to go shopping.

5.30 Catch the bus home

6.00 Change clothes

6.30 Leave home

7.00 Collect Bob

7.30 Arrive at the party

This activity is followed by free practice.

You are going to visit an astrologer to find out about your future. Write down the questions you want to ask. Start like this:

Am I going to get a good job?

Here much is left upon the students' imagination. It is challenged by the topic and the activity will probably result in may interesting questions.

The practice can go on in several ways. We can let students act out the scene at the astrologer's in pairs, challenging further their phantasy in giving answers;

or we can give them another communicative task like this:

Dedide what you are going to do on your next holiday. Use the holiday plans below to help you.

Roleplay.

Your partner is going on holiday. He/she plans to spend three weeks in a small hotel in Rome. Talk to your partner about his/her holiday.

and/or

Ask your partner about his/her holiday.

Forty-five minutes may not be enough for all these tasks. Therefore we can either divide the material and deal with it in two lessons or select from the communicative activities, considering that speaking about a holiday according to the Holiday Plans and then freely should be done together.

Asking about holidays. Your friend is going away on holiday. Ask him some questions about it.

You:

Friend: To Croatia.

You:

Friend: Tomorrow morning, actually.

You:

Friend: Oh, for about 2 weeks.

You:

Friend: We're driving down there.

You:

Friend: In a small guest house in Porec, on the coast.

You:

Friend: Oh, just swim and lie on the sun and relax.

 

Look at the following sentences.

We are going to the cinema. Would you like to come with us?

This is my friend. Do you know him?

I'm Jane Benton. Do you remember me?

This is Claire. Come and meet her.

Are you Mr Green? Can I speak to you for a few minutes?

These are my students. You will like them.

Where's my pen? I can't find it.

These are the object pronouns.

Now complete the chart.

Complete the dialogues.

a/ - Is Mary there?

- Yes, ........ is.

- Can you send ........ in?

- Yes, of course.

b/ - Do you know these drivers?

- Yes, I know .......... . .......... work for HUNGAROCAMION.

c/ - What about the salary? Are you satisfied with ......?

- Yes, I am.

d/ - Do you like your boss?

- Yes, everybody likes ....... .

e/ - Mr Taylor! Can I ask ....... some questions?

- Yes, you can ask ..... what you want.

f/ - How many days paid holiday will we get?

- They'll give ....... 25 days, I think.

 

11.3. The modal auxiliary 'can'

In this unit we teach two meanings of can: ability and possibility. In the presentation phase we will show examples with both meanings, the practice, however, will be done separately.

Read these sentences.

a/ - Can you drive?

- No, I can't.

b/ - Can you read this English letter?

- Yes, we can.

c/ - My son can't ride the bicycle.

What does can express?

Now look at the following.

a/ You can do a lot of things in our town: there's a cinema, a leisure centre, a theatre and two restaurants.

b/ We can't buy this car because we haven't got enough money.

c/ You can't go into the museum, it's closed.

Does can express the same?

After the students have discovered the two meanings, we provide controlled practice, then two free practice activities with can for ability.

Look at the pictures. What can these people do? What can't they do?

 

Write down 5 things that you can do and 5 things that you can't do.

Now we introduce the question forms.

Look.

Sheila can play the piano.

Can Sheila play the piano?

Now turn your answers in Task 3 into questions and ask your partner.

Example: - Can you play the guitar?

- Yes, I can. / No, I can't.

In the next stage we let students practise can for possibility.

Read this poster. What can you do at the leisure centre. Make dialogues. Use these cues.

play football dance

go skiing watch films

buy clothes go windsurfing

have a meal play table tennis

go swimming go ice-skating

Example: -Can you play football there?

-Yes, you can.

-Can you go skiing there?

-No, you can't.

11.4. The superlative of adjectives

Before teaching the superlative of adjectives we have to refer back to the comparative to make the students remember the different ways of comparison. We can do this by giving some sentences. For example:

Our flat is smaller than yours.

I am slimmer than you.

Jackie is prettier than Sue.

My pronunciation is better than yours.

This chair is more comfortable than that one.

We revive the spelling rules and tell the students that these rules refer to the superlative as well. Then we give examples of the superlative.

Read these sentences.

Jane is the tallest girl in the class.

Mr Cook is the fattest guest in the restaurant.

Sarah is the prettiest secretary in the factory.

The post office is the most modern building.

This dress is the most expensive.

Students will find out the rules: to make the superlative we add -est or put most in front of the adjective. We must turn the students' attention to the use of the definite article.

As for the irregular forms, we can ask the students what they think the superlatives of good, bad, little, much/many are.

When forms are clear, we give the students a controlled practice activity.

Look at the chart and write 5 sentences saying which car is the best in each category.

5= very cheap, economical, etc.

0= not cheap, economical, etc. at all.

Look at the list and say which you like the best and why.

Example: I like shakes the best because they are the most colourful.

1. shake, crocodile, spider

2. dog, cat, canary

3. morning, afternoon, evening

4. summer, autumn, winter, spring

5. swimming, dancing, running

6. pop, classical, folk music

This activity is communicative and really beneficial because students have to find some respect in which this thing is superior to all the rest themselves. The activity will result in a variety of answers. The students can work in groups where the members can compare their reasons.

As follow-up activity we can give a similar task. We ask the students to choose a group of things (jobs, food) or people (relatives, friends) and write statement about each member / item using the superlative.

Example: My brother is the tallest in the family.

The macaroni is the most fattening.

They will probably choose different groups, so checking the homework at the beginning of the next lesson will be a thorough revision of the topic.

12. Unit 10

Unit 10 is a revision -unit. In this unit students will practise the 3 future forms together. We also provide an interesting activity for practising the object and possessive pronouns, a quiz for the comparison of adjectives and a guessing-game for can.

12.1. Future forms

The first part of the lesson is a language awareness phase. Students are given a summary about the three forms and doing Task 1. they can revive what they have learnt in the previous lessons.

REMEMBER!

Present Continuous: planned future action with a time expression

Simple future:

1. decision at the moment of speaking

2. prediction

be going to:

1. planned future action with or without time expression

2. prediction

Comment on the use of the future forms.

1. - I'm going to have some friends to lunch tomorrow.

2. - When is Georga going to arrive?

- Perhaps she'll get here in time for tea.

3. - What are you going to do with the money?

4. - Look at the moon. What will the weather be like tomorrow?

- It will be nice. There's a ring around the moon.

5. - I've just missed the bus. What shall I do now?

- Never mind. I'll drive you home.

6. - I'm going to read you some of my poems.

7. - We are taking the children to Lake Balaton this summer.

6. - I can't do my homework. Who will help me?

- I will.

In the next stage students are asked to use the proper future form in sentences. First 'going to' and 'present continuous' are compared because they are close to each other in meaning. Students must remember that with present continuous there always must be a time expression.

Write the correct form of the verbs in brackets, using the 'going to' or the present continuous.

1. I don't know what I (do) with my old computer. Perhaps you'd like it?

2. The plane (leave) at 6 o'clock.

3. I know you (like) our new geography teacher.

4. Come on! We (be) late!

5. Sue and Alan (get) married on Saturday.

6. Take a warm coat. It's very cloudy. I think it (snow).

7. I (take) my driving test on Wednesday.

8. The twins (arrive) on the 11.50 train.

9. I feel terrible. I think I (be) sick.

10. The new boutique (open) on 5th May.

'Will' and 'going to' are similar in the meaning of prediction, but students have to make distinction between decision at the moment of speaking and planned future activities.

Complete the sentences, using 'will' or 'going to'.

1. - Poor Sue went to hospital yesterday.

- I'm sorry to hear that I ............... send her some flowers.

2. - This room is very cold.

- You are right. I ............turn on thr heater.

3. - Are you still going out with Alice?

-Oh yes. We ........... get married next year.

4. - Oh dear I can't do this homework.

- Don't worry. I ............ help you.

5. - It's John's birthday tomorrow.

- Is it? I can't afford a present but I ............. send him a card.

6. - How old are you?

- I'm 64. I ........... retire next year.

7. - Why are you buying so much food?

- Because I ................ cook for ten people.

8. - Jack is very angry with you.

- Is he? Then I ......... ring him and apologize.

Complete the telephone conversation with the proper future forms.

- Hello.

- Colin? It's Angie.

- Oh, hi, Angie. How are things?

- O.K. thanks. Listen, ......................(you do) anything on Saturday?

- Saturday? I'm not sure. Why?

- Well, it's the international athletics meeting at Crystal Palace. I've got two tickets. I think it ............. (be) good. Do you want to come?

- It sounds fun. I .................(just get) my diary. Hang on.

- O.K.

- Right, let's see. Oh, that's a pity!

- What's wrong?

- I ........................ (play) in a college football match that afternoon, I'm afraid.

- Oh, that's a shame! Who else can I ask?

- You could ask Mike. He's quite keen on athletics.

- Yes, O.K. What's his number?

- I can't remember. But I know he ............... (be) at college this afternoon. I ........ (get) him to phone you.

- Fine. I .......... (be) at home about nine.

- O.K.

- Thanks. Look. I'd better go. I ........ (be) late for work if I am not careful. Bye for now.

- Bye, Angie.

 

12.2. Possessive and object pronouns

Various kinds of pronouns and possessive adjectives can be practised in the game called 'eavesdropping'.

We tell the students that they are eavesdropping on a dialogue - but they missed the beginning of it so they don't know who the people are and what they are talking about.

We put the students in groups and give each group the same dialogue. We ask the groups to compose the beginning of the dialogue, which makes clear what/who the pronouns refer to.

The activity will probably be enjoyable for students and it challenges their creativity and vocabulary.

A: Pick him up!

B: Pick him up yourself! He's yours, not mine!

A: I'm busy with her. She's the difficult one.

B: I think he's the worse of the two. He's uglier than her.

I won't touch him.

If the students like the activity we can ask them to compose such dialogues for each other themselves.

12.3. The comparison of adjectives

In the following activity the students will use comparative and superlative adjectives in questions. The main point is composing, understanding and responding to such questions.

We put the students in groups and ask them to compose questions like these:

What is the highest mountain in the world? Which is longer, the Amazon or the Nile?

Which language has the most words?

If we consider it as more beneficial we can work on comparative and superlatives quizzes separately.

When the groups have made up their quizzes, they read them out for the other groups and the students answer the questions orally or in writing, in complete sentences.

The competition and the fact that the task is given not by the teacher but the classmates, creates more expectations and is highly motivating for the students.

12.4. The auxiliary 'can'

A guessing game is a really entertaining way of practice. The most important thing here is that we should encourage all students to participate, to come up with ideas and have the courage to speak.

In the following game the students use 'can' to desribe abilities or possibilities.

We send one student out of the classroom. The other choose the name of the object, an animal or a person. The student comes in and has to guess. The class helps him or her with hints based on what the subject can or can't do, or what we can or can't do with it. The students can also ask 'can/can't' questions.

For example, if the subject is a secretary, the students may say:

She can telephone.

She can type letters.

She can open the boss's letters.

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Abbs, Brian and Ingrid Freebairn. Building strategies ( London: Longman Group Limited and Budapest: Téka-Kultúra- Tankönyvkiadó, 1990)

Dr. Budai, László. Angol nyelvtani gyakorlatok ( Budapest: Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, 1994)

Dr. Budai, László.Kevés szóval angolul (Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó, 1989)

Coles, Michael and Basil Lord. Access to English. Starting Out. (Oxford: Oxford Unuversity Press, 1974)

Eastwood, John and Ronald Mackin: A Basic English Grammar with Exercises ( Oxford University Press and Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1991)

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching ( London: Longman Group UK Limited, 1991)

Hutchinson, Tom. Hotline Starter (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991)

Hutchinson, Tom. Hotline Elementary ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991)

Nunan, David . Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989)

Ur, Penny. Grammar Practice Activities (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1988)

Wright, Andrew et al. Games for Language Learning ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983)

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