Materials
Main Aims
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To review/clarify and practice real conditionals.
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide students with further speaking practice.
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To make students more aware of the importance of intonation.
Procedure (27-38 minutes)
Students are shown a short definition about therapy and are asked to brainstorm other types of therapy about which they know; the teacher keeps a record on their answers on the board for further feedback later – these will be compared against an audio for the gist task. Students listen to the audio and answer the questions on a Google Forms: 1. Which two therapies does the programme talk about? – Destruction and laughter therapy. 2.The therapies are used in different situations - which situations are mentioned in the programme? – Destruction therapy is used to help people when they feel stressed or angry, or to help build a team; laughter therapy is used in hospitals to help people with pain. Key words: Therapy /ˈθer.ə.pi/ Illness /ˈɪl.nəs/ Treatment /ˈtriːt.mənt/ Addiction /əˈdɪk.ʃən/
Students are shown four marker sentences missing some words. They listen to the audio a second time and are asked to complete the missing gaps on a Google Form (the teacher will send the Google Forms link prior to). Answers: 1. When people get /angry/, they don't know what to do with their /anger/. 2. When we /get/ there, I'll give you a /hammer/. 3. If I /smash/ the car to pieces, will I /feel/ better? 4. If people /laugh/ about something, they feel /better/. Note: slashes indicate the missing word; i.e., /angry/.
Meaning - students are exposed to the marker sentences and are asked to match the examples with the rules accordingly: Marker sentences: 1. When people get angry, they don't know what to do with their anger. 2. When we get there, I'll give you a hammer. 3. If I smash the car to pieces, will I feel better? 4. If people laugh about something, they feel better. Rules: 1. Real general situation – use the zero conditional (If/When + present simple + present simple) to talk about a general/specific situation or something that is always true. 2. Possible situation in the future – use the first conditional (If/When + present simple + will/might/could) to talk about a general/specific (possible) situation in the future. Answers: 1. When people get angry, they don't know what to do with their anger (zero conditional - real general situation). 2. When we get there, I'll give you a hammer (first conditional - possible situation in the future) 3. If I smash the car to pieces, will I feel better? (first conditional - possible situation in the future). 4. If people laugh about something, they feel better (zero conditional - real general situation). Form - students are exposed to the structure of both, the zero and first conditionals, and are asked to form one example each by eliciting the following: 1) clause structure and 2) tenses used – simple present or simple past–. Samples to be used: 1. When people get angry, they don't know what to do with their anger. 2. When we get there, I'll give you a hammer. Pronunciation - students' attention is drawn to the pronunciation of /əl/ in the contraction /I'll/ in sample 2 (see above) and, after some drilling and modeling, students are asked to pronounce it: Samples to be used: 1. When we get there, I'll /aɪəl/ give you a hammer. 2. If I go to a therapy session, we'll /wiəl/ do it together.
Using a BookWidgets (see material attached), students complete the missing gaps in sentences by using the zero or first conditional structures - the sentences are the following: 1. If I go running every day, it --- (make) me feel good. 2. I'm feeling down. If I go for a run, I --- (feel) better. 3. When I (finish) reading a book, I --- (give) it for you to read. 4. When I --- (finish) reading a book, I usually feel disappointed. 5. I'm meeting my boss later. If I tell him about my new job, he --- (get) angry. 6. If I'm tired, I --- (like) to eat in front of the television and go to bed early. Answers: 1. If I go running every day, it /makes/ me feel good. 2. I'm feeling down. If I go for a run, /I'll feel/ better. 3. When I /finish/ reading the book, I /will give/ it for you to read. 4. When I /finish/ reading a book, I usually feel disappointed. 5. I'm meeting my boss later. If I tell him about my new job, he /will get/ angry. 6. If I'm tired, I /like/ to eat in front of the television and go to bed early.
In groups (Breakout Rooms), students complete a few prompts using the zero or first conditional so that they are true for them. The prompts are the following: 1. When I get older... 2. When my English gets better, I... 3. If I'm happy, I usually... 4. When I go to work tomorrow, 5. If I'm stressed, I usually... Sample to be used: When I get older, I will study another career at college.