TP7 - Grammar (Future Tense)
Upper Intermediate, B2 level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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• To provide clarification, review and practice of the tense forms going to, will, present continuous and present simple in the context of making plans and decisions in the future in the context of deciding to go to a football match.
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide fluency speaking practice in a conversation and dialogue using the different future forms in the context of future plans.
Procedure (37-49 minutes)
To set the context I tell about my New Year plans and ask sts about their plans. "We are in the month of December now, so it will soon be New Years, right? Well, I am going to travel with my friends for New year. We will fly by plane to Spain and then we will drive by car to different cities so that we can see many other places on the way. What are you going to do for New year? ACTIVITY 1 First write these sentences on the WB: " What do James and Richard discuss?" " What do they decide?" Tell students they will receive a text - a dialogue between James and Richard, then give students the text. They have 1 minutes to read the dialogue for gist and try to answer the questions that are on the WB. There are some a,b,c, parts written in the dialogue, but ignore them for now. Just answer the questions on the WB ICQs: Will you deal with the a,b,c part of the dialogue? How many minutes do you have? Then I ELICIT the answers to the questions. "What is the dialogie about?" Where are they planning to go? How will they get there?" Answer: James and Richard discuss the time of the football match, how to get there and the traffic. They decide to drive and to meet at about 4pm.
ACTIVITY 2 DEMO - I ask students to look at the dialogue and I do the first sentence - choosing the best future form. Then I ask students to work in PAIRS to finish the entire dialogue. They have 3 minutes to do this. Then I play the recording so they can listen and check the answers. I do not elicit ant explanation at this stage.
ANALYSIS 3 Project on the WB : Which TWO QUESTIONS below do we usually use to ask people: A) What do you do next Saturday afternoon? B) What are you doing next Saturday afternoon? C) What will you do next Saturday afternoon? D) What are you going to do next Saturday afternoon? Students work in PAIRS to answer. They have 1 minute Then I ask for the answer. The answers are B and D. I ask students: "What is the difference between these two questions?" I try to ELICIT the answer: “Do they have the same form?” “Why/why not?” For question B, I ask sts: "What form does this use?" "What is the idea of the question?" "What does the person that is asking want to know?" Then I wrote on the WB a possible answer: "I am meeting Sarah at 1pm for lunch." I ask sts: "What does the answer reveal?" "Is there a time and place arranged?" I try to elicit the use of definite arrangements. Question B uses PRESENT CONTINUOUS FORM = to be + ING and it is used when an arrangement has been set (a time, a date, a place) For question D, I ask sts: "What form does this use?" "What is the idea now?" "What do they want to know?" Then I wrote on the WB a possible answer: "I'm going to have a party" I ask sts: "Does the answer tell me who I invite or at what time?" I try to elicit the use of definite arrangement but also general intention. Question D uses GOING TO FUTURE FORM = be + going to + infinitive and it is used to express an arrangement but also a general intention. "Which examples in the dialogue express definite arrangements?" a.I am going to take his nephew– Richard has decided and aranged what he is going to take b. are playing – united and City are playing – it is arranged c. we’re having = lunch – it is arranged k. ‘s dropping him = dropping who? Dropping the nephew off Examples of general intention ideas: i. Are you going to take ? = this expresses general intention j. I’m going to drive = general intention Now I want to distinguish between different Future Tense Forms by eliciting them. I WRITE on the WB “The sky is cloudy, it is going to rain” ASk sts: "What is the idea here? Is there a prediction? If yes, based on what?" Answer: Prediction based on evidence Will Used for a decision that is made at the moment of speaking Write on WB “I will call you later” Used for a prediction based on expectation “He is a smart boy, he’ll pass the exam” Present Simple Used when the future is part of a regular timetable. ”the show begins at 8 o’clock."
Students are again put in PAIRS but this time different students in different pairs. I use the numbering technique to change the pairs. ACTIVITY 3. – filling the gaps Then students are given HOs and must complete the sentences with the correct future form. I DEMO the first sentence and explain why I used which future tense verb. Students work in pairs together and they have 4 minutes. They can check their answers on the posted on the wall.
I hold out a number of yellow and green cards in my hand. I explain that the each card contains a specific future plan. For a demo - I take the card career plans. I chose a student and I tell him: "After this Celta course I am going to get a job. I am going to an interview tomorrow at 11pm in Taksim." I ask sts to stand up and each take one card, think about what future plan they have recieved and then find a partner to go an explain it to them. They will also listen and ask questions to the other students about their plans. They have to talk to as many people as possible until I say stop and start the second round. They have 5 minutes. Then give them another set of cards with other plans and they have to do the same thing, explain to their partners.