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Date Posted: 11:09:47 07/25/03 Fri
Author: Ione Mendes
Subject: Task 12

Examine one textbook and choose a good communicative activity. Describe it and then classify that activity according to the types presented by Littlewood.

Activity Description

This activity is designed for basic level students (teenagers). Two parts compound it. In the first part students are supposed to do following exercise:

1) A foreign student is coming to our school next semester. He or she has written to ask for information about these things in your part of Brazil. Complete these sentences with useful information:

a) CLOTHES: We usually wear ? at school. On weekends, I normally wear ?.
b) EDUCATION: At school, we learn ?.
c) FOOD: We often eat ?.
d) HOUSES: Most people live in ?.
e) LIFESTYLES: I get up at ? and then ?.
f) MUSIC: The most popular music here is ?.
g) RELIGION: Most people are ?.
h) WEATHER: It’s usually ?.
Now add three more sentences of your own.

After that students are suggested to follow the guidelines below in order to help them in the second part of the activity development:

What aspects of Brazilian culture will you show to the visitor?
Look at the topics in exercise 1. Choose the ones that are interesting for a person of your age. Make a program for one week. Choose the best people and places to visit. Compare your ideas with the group. Use the best ideas to make a class program for your visitor.

Resource:
From Great! 4, Holden, Susan and Cardoso, Renata Lúcia. (Macmillan 2002–pp. 60).


Comments

The activity above, especially in the second part, is very interesting because it give learners opportunity to build up and put in practice their knowledge around English language in a real-life situation. Teacher’s role will be limited to the instructions and guidelines while learners will be participate much more effectively in the activity. In the most of the time learners will be involved in the group in order to achieve their purposes. During the process learners will be in touch with the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening). It is also what Littlewood called “whole-task practice” because it is the total skill in which learners will produce a useful material for possible visitors. I think of that activity as being both, functional and social. It can be considered functional because it is directed to a specific purpose in communication: learners will simulate a production of a folder/program to a visitor. However it is social due to the promotion of awareness about the social context in which language will appear. Learners will be able to analyze not only ‘what’ to say, but ‘how’ to say things. It became clearer in the part learners choose which Brazilian cultural aspects they should mention to the visitor and when they have to choose what is interesting for a person at the same age. In addition this activity fits in the ‘sharing and processing information’ model because learners more them sharing information they will evaluate and discuss it (at the moment they will compare and select the best ideas to the class program for the visitor). That’s all!!

Bibliography

Littlewood, W. Communicative language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1981. pp. 16-42.
Holden, Susan and Cardoso, Renata Lúcia. Great! 4. São Paulo: Macmillan , 2002. pp. 60.

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