Classroom language 1

IN THE CLASSROOM

The classroom is often

overlooked as a source of ‘authentic’ communication and yet ‘classroom English’ is as valid a source of learning and practice as any other. The classroom, like many other social situations, involves gathering people together for a specific purpose, in this case, for learning, and that involves communication.

A teachers pedagogie reasons for communicating in the classroom are fairly elear: to present new structures and new vocabulary, to give learners the opportunity to practise new language,

nomenclature and special expressions used to describe the structure of another language, a higher-level language used to talk about an object of study.

Metalanguage

To introduce the concept of phrasal verbs to my intermediate class, I might write the following sentence on the board:

Peter ran up a hill.

I ask concept ąuestions to make surę that everyone understands.

T Where did Peter run?

SS Up a hill

T Did he run down a hill?

SS No, up a hill.

T What’s a hill? Can cinyone tell me? SS Land higher than the land around.

It’s smaller than a mountain.

Boso Wion-Smith

exploits the English teachers use in the classroom.

o The classroom is a genuine social environment which allows the meaningful situational use of the target language.

® CL is essentially ‘real’ interaction, with all its communicative potential.

© In the classroom ‘information gaps’ occur repeatedly and naturally.

® By ‘managing’ the class deliberately and flexibly in the target language, the teacher takes an important step towards removing the barriers between controlled (and often meaningless) practice and morę genuine language use.

© Good, elear, simple, unambiguous CL is crucial to the success of the teaching/learning event.

® Contextualised CL broadens the learners’ exposure to many different aspects of the target language.

® Initially, CL needs as much careful planning and preparation as any other aspect of the lesson. It should be at a level appropriate to the class.

® Much CL is transferable for use outside the classroom, eg That’s interesting. Could you explain what you mean? Be careful.

© If students don’t immediately understand, rephrase rather than repeat.

• Any genuine communicative situations in the classroom can be exploited to the fuli for meaningful language practice.

to explain meaning, to provide a model for pronunciation, to correct errors -and for classroom organisation. to give instructions, provide encouragement, and so on.

Teacher-generated classroom language. therefore, includes arranging classroom activities, forming groups, maintaining discipline, taking the register, and so on. It also includes the use of ‘metalanguage’ - the terminology.

Classroom Language ... some considerations

T	Which word i.	s the verb?
SS	Ran.
T	Which word i.	v the prepositioń?
SS	Up.
T	Good.

I then write up a second sentence. changing just one word:

Peter ran up a bill.

T Do you understand it now?

SS Not really. Isńt a bill something you must pay? How can you run up a bill? T Right.

This sentence really is different. In this case we have the verb run (ran), and the word up is an adverb which is linked to the verb. Run up is a phrasal verb. which has two meanings:

© to let bills or debts grow or get bigger © to sew and make an item of clothing ąuickly (eg a dress or shirt)

A phrasal verb consists of a verb plus an adverb and the two words together form an idiom. It is only a phrasal verb if the adverb changes the meaning of the verb.

I then reinforce the concept by writing verbs (eg take, pick, make. put, ruń) and adverbs (eg off, over, out. up) on individual cards and putting verbs in one box and adverbs in another. Students pick verbs and adverbs at random. We check the meaning of each word individually, and then consider the difference in meaning when the

12 • ENGLISH TEACHING pwfeSSionćll • Issue Eighteen January 2001 «