Hi there!
I really liked Eszti's idea of teaching the past perfect. However, as I mentioned in the class, there were a few problems with the activity, and I'd like you to help out with some ideas for fixing these problems.
First of all, there needs to be a context to show the form in use when we introduce a new piece of language. We can't just go to the blackboard and start explaining, particularly with a pre-intermediate group. What sort of context can you think of as a way to introduce the past perfect?
Secondly, we probably needed to have more controlled practice, especially if we're only at the pre-intermediate stage. What ideas for controlled practice activities can you come up with?
Finally, if Eszti wanted to spend a whole 45-minute class on the past perfect, what sort of production activities could she have finished off with after the task she gave us? Some communicative activities? Written? Oral? Whaddya think?
Of course, you may have other things you want to comment on, which is also fine.
I look forward to reading your ideas, and I'm sure Eszti does too.
Frank
Hi!
ReplyDeleteFor context ideas I have for example fairytales, because past perfect is used when something is finished in the past, so fairytales often take place in way back in history, knights and so on. It could be also something more realistic like a reading about a finished project for example this huge stadium in China the Bird's Nest.
For practice or exercise, I would have chosen something oral, because, then you can't hide in pairwork like I did and could listen to others producing correct and incorrect material as well. An exercise that has to do with oral practice is for example when the whole group has to create a story that has happened in the past, for example about knights and everyone has to say a sentence in past perfect what the knights did. That would be an idea from me.
All in all I liked Eszti's teaching, she was always nice and tried hard to explain and didn't give up, when there were confusing moments. I don't like grammar at all, so my nonparticipation had to with my objection to tenses in particular. Even passive is more appealing to me, than tenses.