Functional Language: Giving Advice
Pre-intermediate 2 level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide clarification and practice of language used for giving advice and responding to advice in the context of learning a language
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide fluency speaking practice in a conversation and dialogue in the context of giving advice on how to do something
Procedure (29-39 minutes)
I draw the students' attention to the photos at the top of pages 42 and 43 of the copied pages of the book and ask them what they see and what they think the people in the photos are doing. Then I ask them to read the sentences in Part 1.A of page 42 and discuss in pairs whether they agree or disagree with the opinions stated. Since this is an open discussion, my feedback will be limited to a few grammar or vocabulary corrections.
I ask the students to look at the website message where Zeynep asks for advice on how to improve her English quickly. The students are given a minute to come up with 3 ideas on how to improve one's English in a short time. Then they pair up and compare their answers with each other. Then they read the replies to the massage and, in pairs, discuss which ones are the most useful ones.
I draw the students' attention, once more, to the replies section and ask them to underline sentences containing a piece of advice. Using CCQs, I make sure that they understand the function of these sentences is giving advice. CCQ: Does Zeynep have a problem? Answer: Yes, she does. CCQ: Is she asking for help with her problem? Answer: Yes, she is. CCQ: Are people giving her ideas on how to solve her problem? Answer: Yes, they are. CCQ: What do we call it when we give people ideas on how to solve their problems? Answer: Giving advice.
I draw the students' attention to the sentences containing advice which I write on the board. First I clarify the form of the ones containing "should", eliciting the structure (Subject + should/shouldn't + infinitive +... ), moving on to the meaning (CCQ: Does it mean it's a good idea to do this?), and finally to phonology, pointing out that in affirmative sentences, "should" is unstressed, whereas in negative ones, it is. Next, I focus on the ones that are imperatives and follow the same procedure. After that, I focus on the question form of "Why don't you ... ?" trying the illicit the form (CCQ: What tense is this sentence?) and then the meaning (CCQ: Do you think the person is really asking a question or giving advice?) Next, I focus on phonology pointing out that the verb, adjective and nouns are usually stressed.
I ask the students to work in pairs. Each partner talks about a problem they have these days, be they real or imaginary, and ask the other for some advice. Then the students swap places with others and tell the new partner about their problem and the advice they received from their previous parter and discuss together whether the advice they received was useful or not and come up with other pieces of advice for their problems. The feedback of this practice will focus on form and pronunciation, especially word stress.