MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Pair-work Grammar Activities

Final Thesis

Brno 2017

Supervisor: Author:

Mgr. Renata Jančaříková, Ph.D. Mgr. Jana Mohrová

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I declare that I worked on this thesis independently, using only the sources listed

in the bibliography. I agree with this final thesis being deposited in the Library of the

Faculty of Education at the Masaryk University and being made available for study

purposes.

Prostějov, 18. 8. 2017 Mgr. Jana Mohrová

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mgr. Renata Jančaříková, Ph.D., for her

patience, kind guidance and valuable professional advice.

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CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 5

2 THEORETICAL PART ............................................................................................. 7

2.1 The role of grammar in language teaching ......................................................... 7

2.2 Different learner groupings ................................................................................ 9

2.2.1 Individual work ........................................................................................... 9

2.2.2 Pair-work ................................................................................................... 10

2.2.3 Group-work ............................................................................................... 10

2.2.4 Whole class ............................................................................................... 11

3 PAIR-WORK IN DETAIL ....................................................................................... 13

3.1 Advantages and disadvantages of pair-work .................................................... 14

3.2 Teenage learners ............................................................................................... 15

3.3 Formation of pairs ............................................................................................ 17

3.4 The role of the teacher in pair-work ................................................................. 18

3.5 Feedback and follow-up work .......................................................................... 19

4 PRACTICAL PART ................................................................................................. 22

4.1 Description of the students ............................................................................... 22

4.2 Choice of activities ........................................................................................... 22

4.3 Activities .......................................................................................................... 24

4.3.1 Tenses ........................................................................................................ 24

4.3.2 Conditionals .............................................................................................. 34

4.3.3 Consolidation ............................................................................................ 37

5 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 43

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 45

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ 46

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1 INTRODUCTION

“What we learn with pleasure we never forget.”

Alfred Mercier

The aim of this thesis is to show how to teach grammar by working in pairs and to show

how and when to apply the pair-work during lessons and how to involve the students in

it. Pair-work can be a very useful tool, especially in the phase of practice, thus enabling

students to actively use the language and cooperate. This is one of the way students can

speak English directly in the lesson using the language more effectively. Students

should be able to learn a foreign language more efficiently if they are motivated and are

able to play.

This thesis is divided into two parts, the theoretical and practical part.

The theoretical part deals with the ways of teachers’ work - frontal teaching, work in

groups and in pairs, as well as individual work. I have compared them and mentioned

their respective advantages and disadvantages. This part also deals with pair-work

activities in detail, motivation and the role of the teacher and students; it also outlines

various types of feedback from the teacher to the learners and vice versa.

The practical part demonstrates how to choose and use various types of tasks and how

to monitor the students’ work in the course of these activities.

The activities listed in this work are intended to complement and enrich the teaching

and to be an extension of the English textbook. The teacher has the discretion to decide

on which activity is chosen and whether it will be included during or at the end of the

lesson.

Activities are designed for students aged from 15 to 17 years. This is a set of activities

divided into three groups. Each group of activities practices several grammatical

phenomena that often cause problems to students despite their frequent practice. First of

all, activities dealing with tenses and conditionals are presented in two separate groups.

These two groups are complemented by a third group, called consolidation.

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All of the activities contained in this work have been tried and tested with students,

some of them repeatedly, or in several language groups, so it can be judged whether

they worked or not. Each activity is described in detail; necessary tools and duration are

provided.

In conclusion, each activity shows how it was carried out, the students’ reactions

towards the activities, what the students had to do, and any negatives that arose from

them.

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2 THEORETICAL PART

2.1 The role of grammar in language teaching

The theoretical part presents opinions of various authors on grammar teaching. Here

their respective views are stated on whether it is good to teach grammar in isolation or

in combination with other activities.

It is obvious that grammar can be taught in different ways. Scrivener explains “The act

of teaching is essentially a constant processing of options. At every point in each lesson,

a teacher has a number of options available. Language teaching happens in a wide

variety of locations and contexts, with a wide variety of colleagues and learners”

(Scrivener, 2005: 10).

Scrivener (2005: 253) states that many people present tables and diagrams with the term

‘grammar’. He believes, however, that learning grammar lessons from a grammar book

does not mean that students will be able to use the grammar correctly. In practice,

people do not talk about grammatical rules. So, how can grammar teach people to speak

fluently and correctly? Scrivener wonders if at all it is necessary to explain the

grammar. “They (students) need to have exposure to the language; they need to notice

and understand items being used; they need to try using language themselves in ‘safe’

practical ways and in more demanding contexts; they need to remember the things they

have learnt” (2005: 253). Scrivener is convinced that it is important to use activities

such as drills, exercises, dialogues and games.

“There is no doubt that a knowledge – implicit or explicit – of grammatical rules is

essential for the mastery of a language” (Ur, 1991: 4). She believes that in order to

master a language, studying grammar is necessary. But grammar should not be the main

goal, but only a means to achieving your objective. Ur answers the question of whether

it is enough for students to absorb rules only through communicative activities by

natural learning, as small children do.

Small children normally become exposed to a language over a long period and have

great motivation. On the contrary, students at school have much less time and

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motivation. It is therefore important that a lesson is planned effectively. One of the

learning objectives of a lesson may be grammar. However, grammar should not be

taught in isolation, but as part of communicative competencies.

Ur recommends maintaining a balance in all competencies within grammar teaching:

listening, speaking, reading and writing. She mentions four phases of learning:

presentation (through a story or dialogue), isolation and explanation, practicing (using

different types of exercises), and finally, tests. In her opinion, the practicing part is the

most important phase.

Thornbury (2013: 15 - 17) distinguishes seven arguments for including grammar into

language teaching as follows: The first one is ‘the sentence-machine argument’ which

explains that learning individual language items, such as words and phrases by heart, is

not enough. It is necessary to learn the patterns or rules that allow the creation of new

sentences. ‘The fine-tuning argument’ means that learning grammar helps to avoid

ambiguities. ‘The fossilization argument’ signifies the fact that there is a risk of

premature fossilization of the language and the danger of not being able to get rid of

learned errors among motivated learners who are able to express themselves as

relatively fluent. The effectiveness of learned grammar may also be delayed when the

learner comes into contact with native speakers; this is called ‘the advance-organizer

argument’. Another argument for teaching grammar is, according to Thornbury, that the

grammar is a system from which discrete items can be divided, in other words,

individual rules. That is why it is possible to structure the teaching material into

manageable sections, which can be easily tested, and subsequently encourage the

students’ discipline. This is accompanied by the so-called learner expectations

argument, which reflects the expectations of students. They may have a strong belief

that language teaching should be based on gradual steps in grammar; others may also

have the hope that systematic grammar teaching will complement their gaps in

spontaneous language acquisition during a stay abroad.

Thornbury distinguishes deductive and inductive approaches in teaching grammar. “A

deductive approach starts with the presentation of a rule and is followed by examples in

which the rule is applied. An inductive approach starts with some examples from which

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a rule is inferred” (Thornbury, 2013: 29). Following the above mentioned arguments,

what renowned methodologists agree on is that the choice of activities depends on the

age of students, their number, their language level, motivation, as well as their interests.

2.2 Different learner groupings

The following chapter deals with various ways of grouping students. It outlines the

different approaches to teaching and identifies their application with regard to the

situation and teaching objectives.

Scrivener (2005: 43) explains the learners can work in several arrangements that can be

of great utility for particular teaching activities. They can work as a whole class, in

groups, in pairs or individually. He recommends variations in the arrangements.

Individual work is chosen by learners who work at their own pace. Pair-work represents

another alternative. The pairs can be formed in different ways, they can be chosen by

the teacher, by the students themselves, selected from a game, and the like. Learners can

be divided into smaller or bigger groups depending on the intended target. Another way

is to work with a whole class by mingling or plenary.

2.2.1 Individual work

As already mentioned, “Individual work allows students to work at their own speed”

(Harmer 2007: 21), according to their own needs.

The advantage is the so called silent period, when every student is thinking about the

task on their own. According to Harmer (2007: 236), individual work is less stressful

than whole-group ‘performance’. As Ur defines the silent period “as a situation where

learners are given a measure of freedom to choose how and what they learn at any

particular time (implying more learner autonomy and responsibility for learning), and

there is some attempt to adapt or select tasks and materials to suit the individual” (2000:

233).

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Individual work suits beginners because it offers them space to work at their own pace.

Beginners thus gain the ability to work independently and are not stressed by the time

limit. For more knowledgeable learners, individual work is appropriate if the outcome

of the work is more important and also if enough time is available to students.

However, there are disadvantages too; it does not necessarily help group solidarity and

last but not least, it poses more work for the teacher. Students neither get the benefit of

learning from their peers nor do they enjoy working together.

2.2.2 Pair-work

According to Ur (2000: 121) working in small groups is very suitable for learners who

do not want to talk to the whole class. I agree with Ur that all students cannot be

simultaneously under the teacher’s control. Besides, they are prone to use their mother

tongue. But it is nonetheless an effective method. In my opinion, it is upon the teacher

to eliminate this danger and to review the work of individual pairs. Another issue to

consider is the formation of pairs (Byrne 1989: 31-32), which may influence the

students’ success. Students can work with the same partner (fixed couples) or we can

alternate the pairs from time to time (ibid: 32).

Pair-work, its advantages and disadvantages, activities and methods are discussed and

compared further in more detail in Section 3.1.

2.2.3 Group-work

Group-work allows for much more talking compared to the whole class participation

(Ur, 2000: 232). It supports activity, responsibility and autonomy of students. According

to Ur, group-work “increases the sheer amount of learners talk going on in a limited

period of time and also lowers the inhibitions of learners who are unwilling to speak in

front of the class” (2000: 121). Unquestionably, the teacher cannot supervise all

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learners’ speaking performance during the group-work activity and the learners can

occasionally slip back to mother tongue.

Harmer’s opinion does not differ from Ur’s. He adds, “The work in groups encourages

learner self-reliance through group decision-making” (2007: 236). However, Harmer

points out also some disadvantages, such as noisier levels and higher demands on the

organization of lessons. Some students do not like group-work; they get lost and

therefore, prefer whole-class participation. On the positive side, the teacher has the

opportunity to work with students at a more personal level. In my opinion, it is

important to understand the atmosphere in the class and to choose suitable groupings

and activities.

2.2.4 Whole class

The purpose of this section is to clarify the concept of whole-class teaching and to

mention some its advantages and disadvantages.

There are many situations that require the involvement of the whole class: presentations,

controlled exercises, pronunciation training in chorus, etc. Harmer mentions presenting

information and controlled practice “such as repetition and drilling” (2007: 43). This

ensures the anonymity of each student and also reduces shyness. Being part of the team

is an important feeling for students.

On the other hand, he points out that “individual students get fewer individual

opportunities either to speak or to reflect” (2007: 43).

The term ‘lockstep’ is used for the whole-class teaching. All students are working with

the teacher at the same time, and all the students are supposed to work at the same

speed. Lockstep can be designated as the traditional teaching situation, where the

teacher acts as a controller and assessor. In agreement with Harmer, Ur (2000: 233) also

uses the term ‘lockstep’ learning, where everyone in the class is expected to do the same

thing at the same time and in the same way. The lockstep stage can be applied in cases

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such as repetition in a choral, giving presentations etc. According to Harmer, “whole-

class teaching can be dynamic and motivating and, by treating everyone as part of the

same group, we can build a great sense of belonging” (2007: 43).

The main advantage of whole-class teaching is a good language model from the teacher,

mentioned by Harmer (1995) and Ur (2000). The whole class can repeat a model given

by the teacher, or the students can debate on a topic as a class. Whole-class teaching can

be favourable in cases such as writing during dictations or during the silent period (Ur,

2000: 228).

However, some disadvantages of lockstep are explained. The most crippling

disadvantage is the fact that students get little chance to practice or talk. It is not good

for discussions and it is not possible to encourage students to speak (Harmer, 2007:

205).

The main disadvantage of whole class work is low or uneven participation, mentioned

by Ur (2000): “Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard; and in

a large group this means that each one will have only very little talking time. This

problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others

speak very little or not at all”.

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3 PAIR-WORK IN DETAIL

This chapter outlines pair-work in detail with focus on activities, advantages and

disadvantages of pair-work, teenage learners, formation of pairs, the role of the teacher

and on feedback and follow-up work.

In view of the above-mentioned findings from the literature, it is possible to say that

pair-work grammar activities are suitable in the practice phase, for improvement of

knowledge, support the acquisition and practical use of language. This so-called

controlled language practice can liven lessons up as well. The element of the game in

the classroom is an important motivational element, but each game must have its own

language outcome. Students work together to exchange information in an interesting

way. They play, but learn at the same time.

Pair-work grammar activities focus mainly on grammatical accuracy but also on

fluency. Sometimes an activity is based on accuracy, but it also practices fluency, and

vice versa. To practice accuracy, it is necessary for students to be familiar with

grammatical rules and to pay adequate attention to the exercises. The following types of

grammatical practice can be useful:

Drill in different variations: Drill is sometimes considered as something obsolete,

overcome. Controlled drill, however, appears to be a means of automating structures

and using them actively. One of the types of drilling is the so-called transformation drill,

where students make sentences based on the given model.

Guided practice means that students make sentences according to a given pattern. Good

examples of guided practice are activities such as information gaps or card games.

Structure based free sentence composition: Students are provided with visual or

situational incentives to build their own responses using certain structures.

The choice of methods is closely connected with the age of the students, their interests

and preferences.

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3.1 Advantages and disadvantages of pair-work

The advantages and disadvantages of working in pairs are closely related to the nature

of the work.

In order to take advantage of all the benefits of working in pairs, it is necessary for

students to be accustomed to such activities, so they can understand their purpose.

One of the greatest benefits is that students have many opportunities to talk without fear

of being criticized. Especially shy students feel less pressure when participating in

discussions. This significantly increases their talk time. Students gain some freedom, so

they can work independently and at their own pace. All students, not just selected ones

are involved in the work. Pair-work allows them to communicate in English in a more

natural way, more than they would with text books exercises. Students do not hesitate to

talk to one another; they interact and socialize with the use of language, so that stronger

students can assist the weaker ones, and therefore, the weaker ones do not have to worry

about making mistakes. They work actively, which makes it possible for them to create

a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom. Pair-work strengthens social relationships in the

classroom and entertains and motivates students to work further. It is an opportunity for

repeated amusements, and as such, is very useful just for practising grammar and

vocabulary.

In addition, students gain more self-confidence because they soon realize that they can

work independently without permanent teacher’s supervision.

Pair-work is easy and quick for teachers to integrate into lessons. A teacher thus

becomes more of an observer, a listener and a mentor because pair-work allows the

teacher to monitor, move around the class and really listen to the language the students

are producing.

Independent work in pairs, however, also has its disadvantages. One of the drawbacks is

the noise that it generates in the class. This is natural, considering that students are all

speaking simultaneously. As a result, they are not entirely under the control of the

teacher. Another disadvantage is that each pair is working at a different pace, so it is up

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to the teacher to deal with this situation. It can also happen that students do not correctly

understand the rules and do not know what to do. For this reason, it is very important to

check if everyone understands the assignment before starting the activity. But the

biggest problem is the tendency of students to switch to their mother tongue and deviate

from the task at hand.

3.2 Teenage learners

The following chapter outlines the features that a teacher has to take into account when

deciding which activities are appropriate for his or her learners. In detail, it considers

the following issues: Who are the learners, their personality, their age and motivation.

As mentioned previously, each group of learners, whether it be children, teenagers or

adults, have their own specific needs which are not always welcome should however be

considered.

Lewis (2011: 6) characterizes teenagers as young people between the ages of twelve and

nineteen. This age range is split into three distinct groups:

- young teenagers, aged 12-14

- middle teenagers, aged 14-17

- late teenagers, aged 17-19

This work focuses on middle teenagers. Unlike young teenagers who are self-

insufficient and at times difficult to deal with, middle teenagers have already passed

puberty and have matured. Unlike children, their learning potential is greater than those

of young children, but on the other hand, it can be much more difficult to motivate

them. It takes longer for a teacher to build a rapport with them and win their trust.

Although teenagers are often bored and easily lose enthusiasm, they are very sensitive

as to whether the lesson is properly prepared or not. They seem to appreciate the feeling

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that the teacher has everything under his or her control and he or she has authority.

Teenagers want to be treated by teachers fairly and with respect, but on the other hand,

they do not expect teachers to befriend them. Especially young teenagers like fun

lessons; middle teenagers on the contrary have changing priorities and do not have to

have fun at all costs (Ur, 2000: 290-293).

Middle teenagers, on the one hand, often fail to respect the guidelines, and they can be

cruel to one another. Paradoxically, they want to take part in creating rules and want

more responsibility. As their individuality develops, they become less dependent on the

group or even reluctant to work in the group. Unlike younger adolescents, they can

openly express their opinion and show tolerance, discuss and search for alternative

solutions. However, they perceive reactions in their surroundings. They can already

work independently, plan and organize their work without direct supervision (Lewis,

2011: 8-9).

Last but not least, it is important not to forget that young people (and not only young

ones) have access to all kinds of media. They are growing up in different times

compared to previous generations of young people. Teachers and parents often

complain that this group of students are constantly texting, playing computer games,

listening to music, or watching movies on their smartphones. This is certainly a problem

that needs to be addressed

(http://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/teenagers/online/teenagers-and-technology/).

However, it is not the focus of this work.

Students can use their technological literacy to their favour. Teenagers can search for

information, vocabulary, communicate with others, and share their information. They

can even create their own blog, which supports accuracy and fluency of the language.

Technologies have made it easy to create short videos or audio files. Teenagers’ ability

to work with technologies can have a positive impact on the development of their

knowledge and skills (Lewis, 2011: 10-11).

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3.3 Formation of pairs

As mentioned previously (see Section 2.2.2), the creation of pairs is crucial in many

ways – the teacher can decide on the pairs or the choice can be made by the students.

We must remember that pair-work also contributes to social relationships in the group.

It is therefore necessary to ensure that students work as a whole, because in this way,

they learn to work as a team. The teacher must consider which pairing method is best

suited to the activity. Pairs may not always be created by a teacher; on the contrary, it

may be part of the following activity. Pairs can be created in several different ways:

1. By the teacher

This method is fast, but it can be perceived negatively by students. They may feel that

they are being manipulated.

2. By students themselves

Students are divided into pairs according to their preferences. However, there is a

danger because the students tend to work with the same favourite partners.

3. By seating arrangement

Since the students usually sit in twos, it seems the easiest thing for the neighbours to

work together, but that creates the same problem as at the previous point. This problem

can be partly prevented by the fact that the students do not always work with the

partners sitting next to them, but with the partner behind them or in front of them.

4. Random distribution

For example, we can have ready-made pairs of cards that students draw and then match

the missing links. Another possibility is using cards, one of which has a picture and on

the other a word; or halved pictures to be used for further work.

5. Using certain criteria (such as the starting letter of the name, the month or the date of

birth, the height of the figure, the colour of the T-shirt, etc.).

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Watcyn-Jones (2004: 10) recommends that partners should often be exchanged to

ensure that everyone engages and gets the opportunity to work.

When working in pairs, it is necessary to ensure that pairs have space for action. The

students should sit face to face in order to have eye contact. However, it is important for

partners not to see the other partner’s worksheet.

If there is an odd number of students in the class, one of the groups should then consist

of three students.

3.4 The role of the teacher in pair-work

Once students start working in pairs, they should work independently and at their own

pace. The teacher should assume the role of an observer and a listener who can provide

help and advice if needed. It is desirable for the teacher to write down mistakes, which

can then be discussed with all students.

Harmer (2007) clarifies that a teacher should be able to take different roles at different

times during teaching. When working in pairs, students get the opportunity to feel

responsible for their own learning. The role of the teacher is mainly the one of observer,

or as Harmer puts it, “In such situations, we may need to be prompters, encouraging

students, pushing them to achieve more, feeding in a bit of information or language to

help them proceed” (ibid.: 25).

As Harmer (1995) and Scrivener (2005) point out, once students get directions and start

working, the teacher has to make sure that the students have understood what they are

supposed to do and actually do it. However, the teacher should not interfere, only

‘monitor discreetly or vanish’. Monitoring means the presence of a teacher in the

classroom; the teacher should not interrupt activities, should not correct nor offer help.

However, students can ask for help at any time. Harmer recommends that in some cases,

the teacher should vanish so as not to disturb. She or he can read something or prepare

another activity.

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Among other things, the drawback of pair-work is that the class can get rather noisy or

even out of control. It is the teacher’s task to handle this appropriately, for example,

using particular gestures. However, students should be familiar with the meaning of

gestures. Gestures can be used in all activities, not only when working in pairs. We can

have a ‘pair up’, ‘start / end’, ‘pause’, ‘come here’, ‘get up’, ‘do not show your

worksheet’, etc. Scrivener places great emphasis on using gestures.

As Scrivener (2005) as Harmer (2007) point out the use of gestures must be in

accordance with the cultural and educational background of the students.

3.5 Feedback and follow-up work

After the activity is finished, feedback should be given to students to report mistakes

and evaluate the task appropriately. “Feedback is information that is given to the learner

about his or her performance of a learning task, usually with the objective of improving

this performance” (Ur, 2000: 242).

For pair-work grammar activities, the following elements are used:

1) Assessment (content feedback): Students are informed whether they have worked

correctly or wrongly.

2) Correction (form feedback): Students are informed about what mistakes they have

made, what was wrong and why and what the right solution is (ibid: 244-248).

The element depends on the type of activity we choose. For example, when it comes to

motion activity in pairs, we ought to choose the assessment. However, if students have

worked with the information gap, it is possible to correct mistakes.

The teacher should take a positive attitude in order to motivate students to work and

learn. Mistakes are a natural part of language learning, so students should be made

aware of their mistakes and learn from them.

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Feedback should become a natural part of every activity, but it is highly advisable not to

let it become stereotypical. This means that the way we give feedback should be

appropriate and measured.

Giving feedback by a teacher should take the following form (Ur, 2000: 246-249):

1. The teacher observes students during the activity, moves among all pairs and records

the most common mistakes. During the activity the teacher should not interrupt

students. Once the activity is over, the teacher writes mistakes on the board and asks the

students to evaluate them. Students themselves have to detect and correct mistakes.

2. After completing an activity, he or she asks students to inform others about what they

have learned. Finally, the teacher asks students what mistakes the speakers have made.

Feedback does not only include correcting students’ mistakes, but also provides

information from students. A two-way feedback, given from learners to teachers and

vice versa is advantageous to improving teacher’s work.

Here is how to get feedback from students (Scrivener, 2007: 74-77):

1. The teacher asks the students to state the challenges in the task. He or she wants to

know if there were some words the students did not understand and how they expressed

unknown words.

2. The teacher asks whether or not the students have enjoyed the activity and what they

have learned.

3. Students could fill in a simple form.

Pair-work grammar activities may be the starting point for follow-up work. One of the

options is the discussion of the previous topic, either always in two pairs together or as

the whole class. Another task can be an oral presentation; each student presents himself

or herself, alternatively his or her partner in a pair. It is sometimes recommended to

present the results of the work as a role-play. Follow-up work may also be written.

Students write sentences or a short letter on the subject. Furthermore, the task can also

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be assigned as homework.

After the activity is over, it is important to revise it with the whole class. It is possible to

do so, for example, by informing new partners about what they have learned. This

method is also suitable for engaging students who will have finished earlier. Watcyn-

Jones (2004: 11) proposes to point out errors and correct them in this moment. It is also

very important that we praise students for good work to motivate them to even work

better.

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4 PRACTICAL PART

The practical part presents a set of activities which are intended for students of the

Secondary School of Entrepreneurship and Business in Prostějov (SOŠPO Prostějov).

Students coming to our school should already have knowledge of English language at

A2 level. To provide learners with the best possible conditions for studying, all new

students take a placement test. Based on the results of the test, the best students are then

selected to be taught primarily by native speakers. Other students are then divided into

groups; activities in my thesis focus on these students.

4.1 Description of the students

Students who took part in given language activities are aged from 15 to 17 years old.

The groups are composed of approximately the same number of boys and girls. More

than a half of our students are active athletes who study Sports Management. The level

of their English varies, so it is necessary to unify their knowledge and practice

problematic grammar thoroughly. In our school, English is taught for 45 minutes, 5

times per week which is beneficial and offers enough practice. English textbooks are

also used to practice, but they contain only a limited number of exercises that are not

always fun. Therefore, it is advisable to prepare additional activities that are absent in

textbooks. For the students, these activities are important motivational elements that

have also their own language aim.

4.2 Choice of activities

Based on what causes the greatest difficulty to students, the criteria of choice were set.

My experience shows that my students have problems with using tenses and conditional

sentences. For their practice, I choose pair-work among other types of activities.

The advantage of the activities described here is their versatility; problematic

phenomena are repeated in the following school years and need to be re-practised. Some

of my activities can be used for other grammatical phenomena (with slight alterations).

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The activities, whose level ranges from elementary to intermediate, are divided into

three categories. The first one deals with the use of tenses, the second one deals with

conditionals. It is also important to combine various grammar phenomena with other

features and practise them in context. That is why the third category is dedicated to

consolidation. Before starting a lesson in which I plan to use the activity, I prepare the

necessary materials, whether they are cards, tables, figures or dice in the required

number for each pair. I will then decide in which part of the lesson the activity is carried

out. Students are divided into pairs and then they receive the necessary instructions. I

usually use English; sometimes I have to write some words on the board to explain the

task. I ask the students whether or not they understand, or I ask some students to

demonstrate the activity. Once everyone knows what to do, the activity is started.

I do not intervene during the students’ work. I observe students solving problems. If

there is a need, students are encouraged or helped. There is always extra work ready for

swift pairs who finish sooner. The activity is followed by feedback and possibly follow-

up work. In case of an odd number, I have two options. I either create a three-member

group or personally take part, meaning that one of the students works with me.

The thesis includes the following activities which are suitable for practising

grammatical phenomena in pairs:

Information gaps: Communication is motivated by obtaining the missing information

available to the other player.

Board games: Both players have a game plan, two pieces, and a dice. Based on

predefined rules (for example, sentences, answers to questions), they advance through

the game plan to the finish.

Card games: Players have a set of cards to divide and play a game according to the

rules.

Movement games: Tasks in pairs combined with physical activities.

In the following sections, individual activities are presented in detail. In particular, their

course, problems, evaluation and feedback.

Materials such as worksheets or board game plans are included in the Appendix.

24

The following pages are dedicated to activities that can be categorized into lessons.

They can be used as warm-up activities, or included for cheering up the lessons when

the students are worn out or distracted towards the end of the lesson. However, they are

appropriate during the phase of practising grammatical structures and for consolidating

knowledge.

4.3 Activities

4.3.1 Tenses

Activity 1 Asking and answering questions (my own activity)

Time: 20 minutes

Materials: Worksheets A and B for each pair (see Appendix 1)

Grammar aim: Present simple, word order, asking questions, short answers.

Procedure: Each student has a different version of the worksheet – A or B. Students sit

face to face hiding their worksheets. They have to ask each other about missing

information in turns by using present simple questions. The students respond with short

answers (Yes, I do. No, I don’t.). A positive sign means a positive answer; a negative

sign means a negative one. Students first answer according to the given symbols;

eventually, they give information about their own habits.

Example: A: Do you sleep well? – B: Yes, I do. / No, I don’ t.

This activity may be further enriched by including adverbs of frequency. Thereafter,

students ask WH-questions and the prescribed adverbs are used in students’ answers.

Example: A: How often do you eat chocolate? – B: I sometimes eat chocolate. / I hardly

ever eat chocolate.

25

Evaluation:

This activity provides the learners with meaningful practice and thanks to the element of

play in it the activity raises the learners’ interest in English. The students worked in

pairs according to their seating arrangement; there was an even number of students in

the class. The students were first instructed in English about how the activity should be

carried out and that each student from every pair had a different version of the

worksheet. The aim of this activity was to make students achieve accuracy for present

simple. During the activity, I walked among the pairs and monitored how they worked.

If necessary, I explained again how to work.

Although the students should already be able to use present simple, they made some

mistakes, especially at 3rd person Sg.

As I monitored the students’ work, another problem that came up was the case of

students permanently speaking Czech. They were cribbing from their neighbour’s

worksheet whenever I was not nearby. Feedback was given by pairs individually by

presenting both the question and the answer. I wrote all errors on the board. In the end,

the students exposed their mistakes and corrected them themselves. It is possible to

supplement this activity by follow-up work: Students wrote information to the chosen

person in sentences.

I considered the activity relatively easy and clear, but some students struggled with

making the questions. Next time it would be better to ask two students to demonstrate

what to do before the others start the activity.

Possible modification: This activity can also be used to practice present simple +

adverbs of frequency. The worksheet does not include the plus and minus symbols, but

the adverbs (see Appendix 2).

As follow-up work for the activity with adverbs of frequency, it is appropriate for

students to present orally what they always (usually, often, sometimes, hardly ever or

never) do.

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Activity 2 Leisure activities (my own activity)

Time: 15 – 20 minutes

Materials: Worksheets A and B for each pair (see Appendix 3)

Grammar aim: Present simple, like + ing

Procedure: Each student gets a different worksheet – A or B. Students sit face to face

hiding their worksheets. They have to ask each other about missing information in turns

by using like + ing. The students respond with short answers (Yes, she does. No, she

doesn’t.) A positive sign means a positive answer; a negative sign means a negative one.

Students first answer according to the given symbols; eventually, they give information

about their own hobbies.

Evaluation:

This activity mainly focuses on accuracy. However, it delves a little more into fluency

as well because, at the end students talk about their own hobbies.

I split the students into pairs using drawing lots which are pairs of cards. On one card

there was a picture of some activity, on the other card a word in English. Even though it

was supposed to be a simple activity, it generated a lot of noise in the classroom.

Nonetheless, the students welcomed the activity and pairing up was pretty quick.

Thereafter, I explained to the students the rules of the game. Since it was an information

gap task, I asked one pair to demonstrate how the activity is to be carried out. During

the activity, I went from one pair to another, observed their work, and took note of

mistakes. Typical errors occurred in the third person sg.

From my point of view, it was good to draw students into pairs randomly. Since the

students were not so familiar with each other, they did not unnecessarily speak in Czech

during the activity. As a result of this, they worked more intensely. The pairs that

finished sooner joined another pair and report to each other what they had learned.

Feedback was given by displaying the chart on the interactive whiteboard (for Ann,

Bob, Brad, and Mary). The students came to the blackboard and added to the chart all

27

the information from the information gap. Others observed to see whether or not the

information was written correctly and had immediate visual control. I asked the students

if at all they experienced any challenges during the task. It turned out that before that

lesson, they had not sufficiently learned how to combine the verb like and the gerund,

and so this activity was beneficial to them.

.

Activity 3 Table game (my own activity)

Time: 20 – 30 minutes

Materials: Laminated boards, dice, game pieces, pictures, flashcards or

word cards (see Appendix 4)

Grammar aim: Present continuous

Procedure: This board game is usable with many grammar structures. We need a dice,

two game pieces and a set of words, pictures, or verbs that we want to practice. The

game starts at the START field where both pieces are placed. To start, students do rock,

paper and scissors. The first one throws a dice and asks a question. The question is

given by the person and symbol in the respective field. The answer is determined by the

word or picture in the card. A plus sign is for a positive answer, minus sign is for a

negative one. The student whose game piece arrives first, wins.

Evaluation: This activity provides the learners with meaningful practice and thanks to

the element of play in it that raises learners´ interest.

I divided the students into pairs such that there was one stronger and one weaker student

in each pair. This arrangement is advantageous when we need to practise accuracy

because stronger students can help the weak ones. For each pair, I prepared a laminated

game plan, a dice, two colourful game pieces, and a pack of words that we intended to

practice. These were human activities (cycle, drink, sleep, cry, laugh, eat, dance, read,

sing, etc.). Before I handed these aids to the students, one of the students and I

demonstrated how the activity ought to be done. I checked with the students to ensure

that they understood the rules of the game. In the course of the activity, I monitored

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everyone closely to ensure that they worked properly and spoke only in English.

Because this activity is simple and quite interesting, there were not any major problems.

For the pairs that finished sooner, I asked them to repeat the game.

It is basically a drill which consists in practising individual forms of verbs in questions,

in positive and negative sentences. At first, all students did not understand the task, but

everything became clearer during the game. The principle of the competition worked

when both students tried to win.

Feedback was given in such a way that I asked the students what they had learned and

whether they faced any trouble. I pointed out common mistakes in present simple,

which is the wrong form of the verb do/does and the ending -(e)s at the third person.

This board game can be used to practise other tenses such as present continuous, past

simple, present perfect and others. All that is needed is to modify the terms on the card

and drill. The game proved to be very effective at practising different verbal structures

because the students were already familiar with the course of the game. However, it is

important to thoroughly explain the assignment to students, and then they can play. In

this game, thanks to its clear rules and its simplicity, students do not use their mother

tongue.

Examples of use of the table game:

Have got (pets – pictures)

A: Have you got a cat? – B: Yes, I have. / No, I haven’t.

Present simple / past simple – verbs or pictures.

A: Does she play the piano? – B: Yes, she does. / No, she doesn’t.

Past simple – verbs or pictures + time (e.g. play the piano + yesterday)

A: Did she play the piano yesterday? – B: No, she didn’t.

Present simple - pictures (verbs of daily routine)

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A: Are they cycling? – B: Yes, they are. / No, they aren’t.

Present perfect (+ ever) – food, drinks, activities etc.

A: Have you ever eaten snakes? – B: No, I haven’t.

Activity 4 Reporters

Time: 10 minutes

Grammar aim: Present simple, WH-questions (see Appendix 5)

Materials: Laminated cards A and B

Procedure: Student A represents a reporter, student B impersonates himself/herself. The

‘Reporter’ gets a laminated card with points to ask. Answers are written down. After

that, the roles are changed. Once students have exchanged partners in pairs, they should

disclose their new partners about the data they gathered.

Evaluation:

Activities of this type are suitable mainly as additional guided practice. I prepared

laminated cards that are useful for multiple usages. I explained to students their clear

roles. As I watched the students, it became clear that they understood the task and

worked without any problems. Answers to the questions were written by the students on

the cards. In the second part of the assignment, they then played ‘reporters’, that is,

reporting to others on what they had learned about their partner. They had already

encountered some problems, e.g. incorrect use of possessive pronouns (her name, his

name), endings of verbs in the third person sg., the wrong word order, missing articles

(She is a student.), incorrect negatives in sentences (She doesn’t have any brothers and

sisters.) As the students talked, I noticed their mistakes. Together we wrote down

mistakes on the board, and the students corrected them. This activity fulfilled its

communication purpose; students spoke in pairs and then listened to the others. Though

based on accuracy, it is actually a fluency practice; students learn to automate learned

knowledge. The problem was that the students wrote the correct answers without asking

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any questions because they were already well acquainted with each other. Next time, I

will prepare for each student an ‘identity card’, according to which they will then

respond to the questions. This measure should prevent writing the answers in advance

and might be fun when students will embody e.g. well-known actors, athletes, or even

their teachers.

Activity 5 Back to back (Inspired by Klippel, 1985: 22)

Time: 5 minutes

Materials: none

Grammar aim: Present continuous, articles

Procedure: Students move in the rhythm of music around the room observing clothes

and each other’s appearance. As soon as the music stops playing, the nearest students

must stand up back to back. Each student from the new pair tries to guess what his

partner is wearing, e.g.: ‘You are wearing a red T-shirt.’ His partner responds: ‘You’re

right. My T-shirt is red.’ or ‘You’re wrong. I am not wearing a T-shirt, it’s a jumper.’

After a while, the music is turned on again and all pairs separate. Four to five repetitions

are recommended.

Evaluation:

This activity can be used as a warm-up because it has a motivating effect. It relies on

accuracy but leads to fluency. In addition to present continuous, students practice

vocabulary of clothing. I explained the activity to the students, and then I asked for a

demonstration to see if they understood the task. At first, the students were embarrassed;

they were reluctant and did not want to move spontaneously across the classroom. I had

to encourage them, especially the shy students. The problem was that some students

cheated in the game; they turned to find out what the others were wearing. After an

embarrassing start, the activity progressed well to the extent that the students wanted to

play again. This activity can be varied: students can guess pictures of the weather (‘It’s

raining.’), alternatively, expressions or pictures of human activities (‘You’re crying.’),

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that are pinned to the chest. The activity worked better when we played it repeatedly.

According to my experience, the chosen song is an important basic prerequisite for this

activity. I would definitely recommend teachers to use songs that are trending and

popular with the teenagers

The feedback took place by asking students what caused them the greatest difficulties. I

was told they were not sure how to use the articles. The important information for me is

that it is necessary to explain to students which nouns are used in the singular (a T-shirt,

a jumper) and which in the plural (glasses, trousers, tights, shorts, etc.). At the end of

the activity, we played another game - each student chose a classmate whose clothes he

had described: ‘He or she is wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans, and black shoes.’) The others

found out who that person was. At the same time, they corrected the errors that

occurred.

Activity 6 My aunt Jane’s day (Inspired by Watcyn-Jones, 2004)

Time: 15 minutes

Materials: A worksheet for each student, versions A and B (see Appendix 6)

Grammar aim: WH-questions, present simple, clock times

Procedure: Students have to ask and answer questions to find missing information.

They ask the following questions: B: ‘What time does she wake up?’ – A: ‘She wakes

up at 20 past 7.’ When the students have finished, they compare their tables.

Option: On other occasions, the students can get a copy with supplemented times and

missing activities. Then they get the missing information: A: ‘What does she do at 20

past 7?’ – B: ‘She gets up.’

Evaluation:

This activity is focused on accuracy; students are both expected to understand the

expression of time and to practise present simple and vocabulary for daily routines. I

prepared one worksheet for each student, the so-called ‘information gap’. Students

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created pairs by drawing cards where the picture of the clock was, and on the second

card, time was written. Students should find an appropriate partner based on the data.

The first problem I encountered was students wanting to exchange cards between

themselves in order to work with their friend. Once the pairs were created, the task was

explained to the students and the worksheets distributed. Before the students began to

work, I asked them whether or not the task was clear. As I walked among the pairs, I

noticed some mistakes. The biggest problem was time expression, the formation of the

3rd person Sg. and the auxiliary verb ‘does’. The activity fulfilled its objectives, the

students practised questions and answers.

Feedback: I projected both worksheets on the interactive whiteboard and the students

added the missing times. This activity was followed up by students’ oral presentation

about their daily routine.

Next time, I will choose an easier formation of pairs, for example, I will pair the

students according to their seating arrangement to avoid chaos and unbearable noise in

the classroom.

Activity 7 Let’s bet! (Inspired by Watcyn-Jones, 2004)

Time: 15 minutes

Materials: A worksheet for each student (see Appendix 7)

Grammar aim: Review of tenses (present simple, present continuous, present perfect,

will-future, past simple, past continuous)

Procedure: Each student gets his / her worksheet where sentences are written, some of

them with mistakes. Students have the task of reading the sentences and deciding

whether they are correct or incorrect. Depending on their answers, they then check the

corresponding box (R for right, F for false). Next, they decide how much they will bet

on their answer. After a set time limit, students receive a sheet with correct sentences

and then evaluate each other’s handouts. For every correct bet, the points are added, for

33

every incorrect one, points are subtracted. Students then evaluate who has won. After

working in pairs, it is advisable to discuss and explain the mistakes in the plenum.

Evaluation:

This activity aims to develop learners’ accuracy and ultimately provide feedback. The

pairs were created simply according to their seating arrangement. I handed the

worksheets to the students and explained the rules of the game. I had to switch to Czech

because it was too difficult for the students to follow in English. As I monitored the

students during the work, they asked me several times to explain the rules and clarify on

some vocabulary.. From the onset, this activity appeared complex for the students.

Whenever they did not understand what to do, they simply wrote a random number and

did not bother think about the correctness. When I do this next time, I will start with

simpler grammatical phenomena. I will choose only present simple or present

continuous. A combination of these tenses will be also appropriate because it is always a

problem for the students, even in years to come. The course of activity itself was

attractive to students because it was a competition for winning points.

The feedback was related to the activity itself. Students evaluated individual sentences

to establish if they are right or wrong and why. Depending on whether the sentence was

correctly set, students either added or deducted points; in the end, they received the

result, so it was clear who the winner was in each pair. The activity accomplished its

purpose, but finding mistakes is one of the most difficult exercises for students.

Even though the students made numerous mistakes in the course of this activity, they

liked it. If I were to use this game again, I would choose just one grammatical

phenomenon so that the students do not lose motivation.

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4.3.2 Conditionals

Activity 8 What do you do if…? (my own activity)

Time: 15 minutes

Materials: A worksheet for each student, versions A and B (see Appendix 8)

Grammar aim: Zero conditional

Procedure: Each student has a different version of the work sheet – A or B. Students sit

face to face hiding their worksheets. They have to ask each other about missing

information in turns using zero conditional. The students respond with short answers

that are given in columns. Afterwards, students give information about their own habits:

‘What do you do if you can’t sleep?’ – ‘If I can’t sleep, I drink a glass of milk.’

Evaluation:

This activity focuses on accuracy, but it leads to fluency because it gives room for

creating own sentences according to the learned pattern. It is intended for second-year

students who are already accustomed to similar activities and know the principle of

information gap tasks. The students were divided into pairs according to their respective

dates of birth. The two closest to each other formed a pair. I explained the procedure to

the students and asked them to demonstrate that they understood the task. During the

activity, I monitored each pair to see whether they got it right and how it worked. I

recorded mistakes. The activity worked well, no major problems were experienced. The

errors made by the students were: the wrong form of the verb ‚do / does‘ in the

question, the omission of the ending -(e)s at the 3rd person sg). Students experienced

only few problems with questions about themselves because they had to think of their

answers. Both communication and the content of the activity met the expected purpose.

Feedback: Students were asked to alternately present each question and answer; for the

right answer, they were praised. Cases with errors, I pointed it out and asked the

students for the correct phrasing.

As a follow-up work, students wrote all the sentences as homework.

35

Activity 9 Dominoes (my own activity)

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: Dominoes (see Appendix 9)

Grammar aim: First conditional

Procedure: Students divide cards in two halves. The one who has the START card

starts the game. Students alternate in placing cards. If one does not have a card that can

be used, he or she says ‘keep going’. The student with no cards left at the end of the

game, wins.

Evaluation:

This game focuses on accuracy; my experience shows that it works well at various

phases of practice. I prepared a set of laminated cards for each pair. The students were

mostly familiar with the domino principle, so there was no need for a long explanation.

Even so, I asked one pair to demonstrate the course of the game. If all cards are used

correctly, none should be left. I watched the students during their activity as they

worked. They sometimes had a question about vocabulary (pay attention, results, calm,

miss). The game had a great motivating aspect for the students, therefore they worked

with enthusiasm.

When some students spoke Czech, I encouraged them to speak English.

I had prepared a short exercise with conditional sentences to engage the pairs that had

finished sooner.

Feedback: I asked the students to read each one of the sentences in the cards. Whenever

there was an error, it was up to the students themselves to find solutions. I also asked

them to explain why there was a mistake. In the end, I praised my students for their

great job.

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Activity 10 Jigsaw (my own activity)

Time: 15 minutes

Materials: A laminated game board, a set of laminated cards (see Appendix

10)

Grammar aim: Second conditional

Procedure: Each pair receives one game set consisting of a board and cards. The game

board is divided into squares the same sizes as those of the cards, the beginnings of the

sentences are written. However, it is possible to assign two possible ends to each

beginning, but only one option should be correct. Both ends are numbered, so are the

cards. Students alternate in the game while one checks the other. The other side of the

cards is comprised of pieces of a picture or a photo. A complete picture is formed once

all the cards are placed in their rightful positions, subsequently proving the correctness

of the solution. For maximum impact, the picture should not be too simple to compose.

Evaluation:

This activity focuses on accuracy; thanks to the element of play in it, the game arouses

learners’ interest. The activity was relatively demanding on time because it was

necessary to have a game plan for each pair and a set of cards that are numbered on one

side and with a part of a picture on the other side. By the end of the activity, each pair

was to compose another picture. Students were paired up according to their preferences.

I explained to the students the principle of the game, showing them how to play a model

image. Unfortunately, at first, the students did not understand the task, so I had to switch

to Czech. Students were then instructed to work. Second conditional is difficult for the

students, so at first, they were not sure on how to work. I went round the class and

watched each pair and where necessary, counselled them individually. It is necessary to

be careful about the picture. When the picture is too simple, students put it together

without bothering to solve the task. When I do this next time, I will choose abstract

pictures or pictures of landscape or sea. With abstract pictures, students will be forced to

solve the task and come up with their own respective solutions and subsequently use the

created pictures to give feedback.

37

This activity can be used for many other grammatical structures, practising of tenses,

phrasal verbs, and many more. However, it is necessary to have enough material and to

choose suitable pictures.

Feedback: I asked the students whether or not they liked the activity and whether it

helped them understand and practice second conditionals. According to their responses,

they preferred learning in the form of a game because as they said, it helps them stay

active in lessons. Together, we read out the right solution that the students wrote on the

blackboard and justified it. This activity has a great motivating effect, and thus suitable

for both phases, that is, practice and revision phase.

4.3.3 Consolidation

Activity 11 Running dictation (Inspired by Wajnryb, 1991: 31)

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: Coloured sheets of paper with text

Grammar aim: Depending on the text

Procedure: The teacher in the classroom distributes sheets with texts, preferably in

different colours. Student B runs to his or her text, tries to remember a part of the text as

accurately as possible, and runs back to student A. Student A writes what student B has

dictated to her or him. B keeps running for as long as the whole text is being written.

The pair that writes the text correctly in the shortest time wins. Option: Partners can

swap roles in the middle of the text, which must be decided in advance and clearly

visible in the text.

Evaluation:

This activity can be used as a warm-up because it has a motivating effect. Not only does

it improve learners’ accuracy, but it also trains their memory and thus helps students

memorize parts of the text with the right word order, phrases, etc. This activity was

38

successful because the group I teach likes playing. First, a simpler and shorter text had

to be chosen to make students accustomed to this way of working. Pairs were formed

according to the alphabet. I explained the task to the students and asked them to repeat

what they were to do. As soon as they got instructions, the students embarked on the

task. Every sheet of paper had a different colour with text on it. After the first activity, I

came to the following conclusions: It is better to use white sheets marked with a symbol

(picture) for each pair. This is because it is a lot harder to read a text for example from a

blue sheet than it is from a yellow one. It is also necessary to ensure that students do not

get hurt in the course of their work and to remove all obstacles. A major drawback was

the excessive noise in the classroom; however, this is unavoidable in other similar

activities. When I do this next time, I will choose for each pair a different text of the

same length so that the students do not cheat.

At the end of this activity, we conducted an evaluation of the competition. Students took

their texts and checked their work.

Activity 12 Wardrobe1

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: Game plans (see Appendix 11)

Grammar aim: Present continuous, short answers, plural, articles

Procedure: Both, the student A and student B get a game plan on which two identical

tables are drawn. There are items of clothing located horizontally, colours vertically.

Both students assign one colour to each piece of clothing, but the students should be

careful that their partner does not see their plan. Each colour and each item of clothing

are used only once. Once the plans are ready, the game can begin. Student A asks

student B: ‘Are you wearing a red T-shirt?’ If student B answers ‘Yes, I am’, student A

1 Inspired by http://busyteacher.org/8125-clothes-board-game.html

39

can continue asking. If student B answers ‘No, I am not’, student B should start asking.

The bottom table is used to record partner’s responses. Whoever guesses all colours of

all items of clothing rightly, wins.

Evaluation:

This activity aims to develop learners’ accuracy. Students were divided into pairs

according to their preferences. There were an odd number of students in the class,

resulting in having a three-member group that worked well. I explained to the students

the rules of the game and asked to check if the task was clear to them. I then gave out

the worksheets for them to start matching colours and clothes. As work progressed, I

watched them and recorded the mistakes made. The three-member group worked in

such a way that student A was asking student B, B asking C and C asking A. The

activity ran smoothly in that students did not use their mother tongue. Although they

should have known present continuous, as well proper use of articles, the most common

mistakes were wrong articles and wrong operator forms. Overall, the activity fulfilled

its intended purpose, the students communicated intensively. As a feedback, students

presented their partner’s game plan.

Activity 13 Gerunds and infinitives2

Time: 10 minutes

Materials: A set of laminated cards for a pair (see Appendix 12)

Grammar aim: Gerunds and infinitives

Procedure: Each pair has 20 cards, 10 of which are white, 10 are green. The cards are

shuffled and then student A is given white cards, student B green ones. The white cards

contain beginnings of sentences and the green cards contain ends of the sentences.

Student A reads one white card, student B finds an adequate follow-up. Students have

2 Taken from http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-19903.php

40

solutions available somewhere in the classroom, so they will then check for themselves.

We can have another set of cards, and then the roles of the students turn.

The same activity can be used, for example, with phrase verbs (pick / up, fill / in, go /

on), prepositions of movement (go through / the door, go down / the stairs, go into / the

room), so and neither (Alice likes chocolate. – So do I.), relative clauses (A pilot is a

man / who flies a plane.). However, matching of cards has to be always clear.

Evaluation:

This activity practices learners’ accuracy. It is not easy for students to remember which

verbs are followed by infinitives and which by gerunds. It is assumed that students

should learn these verbs by heart, which to them is boring. My experience has shown

that practising using a game is fun and motivating for students. The element of game in

activities draws students’ interest and enthusiasm.

For each pair, I prepared a set of cards. I explained to the students how to play and I

demonstrated it practically. The rules were very simple, so there were no questions

arising from students. The pairs were created according to the seating arrangements.

Since there was an odd number of students in the classroom, creating a three-member

group became necessary. When I monitored students’ work, the most common mistakes

arose from misunderstanding the meaning of sentences. That is why I monitored the

students and drew their attentions to possible mistakes. This game offers a number of

possible modifications, such as usage of phrasal verbs, reference sentences, and many

more.

I got feedback by inviting one student to read out the first part of a sentence and another

student the next part. This went on to the end. Whenever a student was wrong, others

gave the right solutions. I wanted to know if the task was difficult for them. According

to them, remembering both groups of verbs was challenging. I asked the students to

write on the board a group of verbs followed by the gerund and another group of verbs

followed by the to-infinitive. It is important to me to know that it is necessary to

practice these verbs thoroughly so that the students can use them in sentences correctly.

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Activity 14 Droodles3

Time: 15 minutes

Materials: A set of laminated cards with pictures, a set of cards with

explanations (see Appendix 13)

Grammar aim: Modal verbs, questions

Procedure: Each pair of students has a set of cards with pictures called ‘droodles’.

These are funny pictures that can represent different things and can have different crazy

meanings. Another set of cards contains possible explanations for the pictures. The two

sets are laid on piles with pictures and texts facing down. Student A turns the first

picture and asks: ‘What is in the picture? / What might the picture mean? / What could

this picture represent?’ Student B responds, ‘Maybe it’s a piece of wood that stands on a

pearl. / It could be a bear on a tree. / It might be glasses swimming in water,’ etc.

Students alternately turn the pictures and ask each other what the pictures might mean.

In the second phase, they read the text of the cards and match them with the

corresponding pictures. It is always great when couples have a different set of pictures.

After the students have assigned their set of texts to the pictures, they face the second

pair and ask each other about the meaning of the pictures. The pair that guesses more

correct solutions wins. Alternatively, the pair that offers funnier explanations wins too.

Evaluation:

This activity focuses on learners’ fluency. The activity is suitable as a structure based

free sentence composition. Students used grammatical phenomena in the context of

learning structures.

I prepared a set of cards for each pair. As a routine, I explained to the students the rules

of this activity and asked them if the assignment was clear to them. I showed them a

sample picture on the interactive whiteboard, and I demonstrated to them how to play.

3 Taken from Prange, L. (1993). 44 Sprechspiele für Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Hueber Verlag

42

Afterwards, the students were put together in pairs by drawing cloth pegs of different

colours, two of which always had the same colour.

During the activity, I checked the work of the students and recorded mistakes. The most

common mistakes occurred in the word order, followed by the use of modal verbs and

omission of the articles. Sometimes students did not know how to describe the picture;

so I encouraged them to be more creative. Their limited knowledge of vocabulary meant

that the students reverted to Czech. As a rule, I asked them to speak English. Since it

was difficult for some students to describe the images, when I do this activity next time,

I will first use simpler pictures.

Feedback was given by asking students whether or not it was difficult to describe the

pictures. Most students concurred that it was not easy; even so, it forced them to think

and create sentences. The students recommended the use of dictionaries in a similar

activity in the future. I showed them all the pictures and the students shared their

solutions. I wrote the students’ mistakes on the blackboard and I asked them to correct

if necessary. From a teacher’s point of view, it is important for me to find out that

students described the picture using the appropriate grammar structure.

43

5 CONCLUSION

This thesis dealt with pair-work grammar activities with a focus on grammar teaching.

The aim was to demonstrate how pair work activities can be used for additional practice

of grammar issues that seem to cause problems to students, such as tenses and

conditionals. The presented activities were based on the needs of Czech students and the

requirements of the curriculum.

The thesis was divided into two parts - the theoretical part and the practical part.

The theoretical part outlined the position of grammar in the teaching of foreign

languages and approaches of various authors to the teaching of grammar. The

theoretical part was also concerned with the various possibilities of dividing the

students into groups of different sizes. The advantages and disadvantages of various

groupings of students were mentioned. The section ‘Pair-work activities in detail’

described the activities that can be used in class with regard to their advantages and

disadvantages. The target group for which the activities are intended was characterized,

namely teenage learners. Problems related to teaching teenagers were identified and

different ways of dividing students into pairs suggested. The theoretical part also dealt

with the role of the teacher in pair-work and presented ways of giving feedback or

follow-up work. Pair-work was considered in detail as the most convenient means in the

phase of practice and suggestions on how to practice accuracy were also made.

The practical part presented a set of pair-work activities suitable for the practice of

grammar phenomena such as tenses and conditionals and it also included several

activities of consolidation. First, the group of students for whom the activities were

designed for was described. The criteria for choosing these activities were selected, such

as difficulties in the curriculum, the need to master grammar for further learning, and

the use of grammatical phenomena in context.

Various ways of working, such as information gap tasks, guided practice activities, and

structure based free sentence composition have been introduced.

The study has shown that age, motivation, and preferences play an important role

regarding student interests. Pair-work can be very motivating; it helps students to learn

grammatical phenomena but has its own pitfalls. One of the problems is the loud noise

44

that accompanies each activity, another problem is students often use Czech or engage

in other unproductive destructions during the activity.

What is necessary for me to bear in mind when choosing an activity: The topic of the

activity must be appropriate to the age and interests of students. It is important for

students to know exactly what to do; clear examples must be given and the rules of the

activity be repeated by the students to ensure that they follow. It is important that each

activity has its own language focus and at the same time, be interesting and motivating.

Organization of pair-work should not be stereotypical; they should alternate and thus

stir up the interest of students. Activities should have simple and clear rules that do not

require lengthy explanations. All material must be prepared to avoid unnecessary

interruption in the game.

How can teachers benefit: I observed students’ typical and commonly repeated

mistakes. I learned not to interrupt students during the activity but work on errors only

after activities are over. For other teachers, I would recommend letting students work

independently and at first let them try to find errors on their own. I recommend ignoring

or appreciating the noise that is generated during the activities because it is an indication

of all students working and having the opportunity to speak English.

The problems presented in the theoretical part have been reflected in practice. Some

students, unless supervised closely, often and persistently use their mother tongue or

have fun with each other.

Despite all the problems mentioned, pair-work grammar activities should be highly

recommended. The element of game in it is motivating for students and increases their

interest in learning.

45

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ur, P. (2000). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Ur, P. (1991). Grammar Practice Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Harmer, J. (2007). How to Teach English. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan ELT.

Byrne, D. (1989).Techniques of Classroom Interaction. London: Longman Group UK

Limited.

Thornbury, S. (2013). How to Teach Grammar. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Lewis, G. (2011).Teenagers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Watcyn-Jones, P., Howard-Williams, D (2004). Pair-work 1 Elementary - Pre-

intermediate NEW ED. London: Pearson ESL.

Wajnryb, R. (1991). Grammar Dictation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Klippel, F. (1985). Keep talking. Dortmund: Verlag Lambert Lensing GmbH

Prange, L. (1993). 44 Sprechspiele für Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Ismaning: Hueber

Verlag

http://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/teenagers/online/teenagers-and-technology/

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-19903.php

http://busyteacher.org/8125-clothes-board-game.html

46

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1

Example: A: Do you sleep well? – B: Yes, I do. / No, I don’ t.

A Sam Alice Tom and

Sally

My

friends you

your

partner

dance + +

drink coffee - -

go skiing - +

listen to the

radio - +

travel a lot + -

take

photographs + +

B Sam Alice Tom and

Sally

My

friends you

your

partner

dance - +

drink coffee + -

go skiing - +

listen to the

radio + +

travel a lot - +

take

photographs + -

APPENDIX 2

Example: A: How often do you eat chocolate? – B: I sometimes eat chocolate. / I

hardly ever eat chocolate.

A Sam Alice Tom and

Sally

My

friends you

your

partner

dance never sometimes

drink coffee often hardly

ever

go skiing sometimes never

listen to the

radio

hardly

ever usually

travel sometimes never

take

photographs always usually

B Sam Alice Tom and

Sally

My

friends you

your

partner

dance hardly

ever always

drink coffee often always

go skiing usually hardly

ever

listen to the

radio sometimes often

travel never hardly

ever

take

photographs never often

APPENDIX 3

Leisure activities

Complete the questions.

A: Does Ann like cooking? B: + Yes, she does. / - No, she doesn’t.

A: Do you like driving? B: + Yes, I do. / - No, I don’t.

A

Ann Bob Brad and

Mary

You Your

partner

dancing - -

listening to music -

swimming -

watching TV - +

reading + -

cooking +

driving - +

playing computer games +

B

Ann Bob Brad and

Mary

You Your

partner

dancing +

listening to music + -

swimming - +

watching TV -

reading -

cooking + -

driving +

playing computer games - -

APPENDIX 4

START

SHE -

HE +

YOU +

I +

IT -

WE -

SHE +

THEY -

THEY +

WE +

YOU -

HE -

WE -

I -

HE +

SHE +

YOU -

THEY -

FINISH

APPENDIX 5

FORM Student A

Surname: …………………………………………………………………………

First names: …………………………………………………………………………

Address: …………………………………………………………………………

State: ……………………………………………………………………

Size of family (brothers or sisters): ………………………………………………

Occupation: …………………………………………………………………………

Language: …………………………………………………………………………

Favourite food: …………………………………………………………………

Favourite colour: …………………………………………………………………

Student B

Surname: …………………………………………………………………………

First names: …………………………………………………………………………

Address: …………………………………………………………………………

State: ……………………………………………………………………

Size of family (brothers or sisters): ………………………………………………

Occupation: …………………………………………………………………………

Language: …………………………………………………………………………

Favourite food: …………………………………………………………………

Favourite colour: …………………………………………………………………

APPENDIX 6

Student A

wakes up

gets home

has a shower

takes her dog for a walk

gets dressed

has a cup of tea and reads

the newspaper

has breakfast

has dinner

drives to work

telephones her grandma

starts work

watches the News on

television

has lunch

goes to bed

starts work again

reads for a while

finishes work

falls asleep

Student B

wakes up

gets home

has a shower

takes her dog for a walk

gets dressed

has a cup of tea and reads

the newspaper

has breakfast

has dinner

drives to work

telephones her grandma

starts work

watches the News on

television

has lunch

goes to bed

starts work again

reads for a while

finishes work

falls asleep

APPENDIX 7

(Bet between 10 – 100 points.)

Sentences R F Bet Loss Profit

1. I have never went to Korea. ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

2. What kind of music does they play? ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

3. She has just made breakfast. ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

4. Does your sister often get angry with you? ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

5. Our goalkeeper doesn’t play very well at

the moment. ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

6. Don’t worry. I help you. ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

7. How did they got home last night? ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

8. Are you wanting to see a film? ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

9. I don’t drink coffee. ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

10. I heard about it on the news when I was

driving home. ❑ ❑ ____ ____ ____

In total ____ ____ ____

SCORE: ______

APPENDIX 8

Example: A: What does Mr Smith do if he has problems? – B: If he has problems, he

tries to solve them.

A need some

money can’t sleep be in love

have

problems be hungry need help

Mrs Jones

drink a

glass of

milk

be happy

have

something

to eat

Harry and

Sally

ask their

friends for

help

do jogging meet their

friends

Mr Smith read a

book

try to solve

them

go to the

restaurant

Alice be not

afraid dance

ask her

mother

you

your

partner

B need some

money can’t sleep be in love

have

problems be hungry need help

Mrs Jones work a lot take pills call her

friend

Harry and

Sally watch TV

kiss each

other

make

dinner

Mr Smith be sad sing in the

shower

be very

polite

Alice clean the

kitchen cry

eat an

apple

you

your

partner

APPENDIX 9

you

wil

l h

ave

to

learn

more

.

If y

ou

have

to

learn

more

,

you

r m

oth

er w

ill

hea

r it

.

If y

ou

r m

oth

er

hea

rs t

he

call

,

you

wil

l go t

o

slee

p e

arl

ier.

FIN

ISH

you

r re

sult

s w

on

’t

be

good

.

If y

ou

r re

sult

s

are

n’t

good

,

they

wil

l ca

ll y

ou

.

If t

hey

call

you

,

she

wil

l h

elp

you

.

If y

ou

r m

oth

er

hel

ps

you

,

you

won

’t p

ay

att

enti

on

.

If y

ou

don

’t p

ay

att

enti

on

,

they

wil

l m

iss

you

.

If t

hey

mis

s you

,

you

r m

oth

er w

ill

be

hap

py.

If y

ou

moth

er i

s

hap

py,

you

wil

l b

e

hu

ngry

.

If y

ou

are

hu

ngry

,

you

won

’t m

eet

frie

nd

s.

If y

ou

don

’t m

eet

frie

nd

s,

you

wil

l st

ay

calm

.

If y

ou

sta

y c

alm

,

you

won

’t h

ave

bre

ak

fast

.

If y

ou

don

’t h

ave

bre

ak

fast

,

you

won

’t g

o t

o

the

cin

ema.

If y

ou

don

’t g

o t

o

the

cin

ema,

you

wil

l h

ave

to

tell

th

e tr

uth

.

If y

ou

tel

l th

e

tru

th,

ST

AR

T

If y

ou

don

’t g

et

up

in

tim

e,

you

won

’t h

ave

an

y f

ree

tim

e.

If y

ou

don

’t h

ave

an

y f

ree

tim

e,

she

wil

l ask

you

.

n

If y

ou

moth

er

ask

s a q

ues

tion

,

APPENDIX 10

If I were musical,

I would not have a brother.

(7)

I would buy a piano. (14)

If I weren’t successful,

I would change my

occupation. (12)

I would buy a table. (1)

If I weren’t sick,

I'd buy a lot of books. (18)

I would go to school. (4)

If John had a birthday,

I would give him a CD. (20)

I'd marry Tom. (10)

If you had an umbrella,

I wouldn’t buy my new

jeans. (8)

you would not be wet. (10)

If I owned a plane,

I would fly to the end of the

world. (1)

I would have better grades.

(20)

If you came earlier,

we could go to the cinema.

(19)

you would come earlier. (3)

If she were not so lazy,

she would not be so pretty.

(19)

she wouldn’t have any

problems at school. (8)

If we were not tired,

we would go there. (18)

we would not make any

mistakes. (21)

If she had your address,

she would kiss you. (12)

she would write to you. (2)

If I were you,

I would paint a picture. (4)

I would not eat so much

sugar. (11)

If she concentrated,

she would not make

mistakes. (5)

she would change her

occupation. (19)

If I could paint,

I would not believe you. (7)

I would give you a picture.

(15)

If she liked reading,

she would have many

books. (3)

she would fly to the end of

the world. (14)

If I did not know you,

I would never believe you.

(13)

I'd marry Tom. (5)

If he were more diligent,

he would have a dog. (8)

he would have better

grades. (21)

If I had a lot of money,

I would build a house. (7)

I would rent a car. (11)

If I had enough time,

I would have more friends.

(17)

I would wait for you. (16)

If she were not so boring,

she'd come earlier. (2) I

would listen to her. (17)

If you were hungry,

you'd cook soup. (6)

I'd kiss you. (9)

If he could cook,

he would go to sleep. (17)

he would not buy a pizza.

(9)

4

12

14

1

10

20

18

8

19

5

11

2

13

3

15

16

7

21

9

6

17

APPENDIX 11

MY GAME PLAN

MY PARTNER’S GAME PLAN

white

blue

yellow

green

black

brown

red

white

blue

yellow

green

black

brown

red

APPENDIX 12

Do you feel like going to the

theatre on Friday?

I spent a lot of

time

making a birthday

cake for him.

He offered to make dinner for

us.

I've finished reading that book

at last!

I love going to her

class, her

teaching is never

boring.

They promised to read my report

today.

He agreed to see me at ten

o'clock.

I enjoy reading in bed.

We’ve decided to go to France for

our holiday.

I’m trying to find a job.

Please, remember to feed the dog

while I'm away.

She doesn't mind doing the boring

jobs.

Don't forget to post my letters,

please.

He failed. He's

very bad at

doing exams.

I would like to buy a car next

month.

I’m very happy to be here again.

APPENDIX 13

Possible explanations:

A bear is

climbing up the

tree.

Two Mexicans

are swimming in

the sea.

An elephant is

scratching an

ant’s back.

Two elephants

are sunbathing.

A Mexican is

biking.

A giraffe is

passing a

window.

A snake is going

upstairs.

A man is

cleaning the

stairs.