Teaching accuracy: drilling

1. Teaching accuracy: drilling MA lecture / ELT 2 December 2011

2. When learners are given intensive practice of the new structure / language • It is carefully guided and strictly controlled by the teacher • Both form and meaning must be correctly formed and consolidated

3. Accuracy stage • possibility of error is reduced to minimum - everything has to be corrected • SS are given confidence in using the new language • SS are given a chance to increase speed • to practice form, meaning (pron.) • SS can concentrate on only one language item / problem at a time

4. This stage must be done immediately after presentation = accurate reproduction •  Language must stay within students’ grasp that is, when a new piece of grammar is taught, there should be no new vocabulary!!! •  should be done quickly and effectively, teacher should demand a high degree of accuracy from SS • → moving from easier to more difficult drills / exercises

5. Drilling: a briefhistory • derives from behaviourists’ theory (Skinner): stimulus -response - reinforcement • can be mechanical, boring, meaningless - this is what we can avoid and make drilling: • - realistic • - meaningful • - introduced with an appropriate expression • - used for a few minutes only • - used as a first stage only • It obviously helps students acquire fluency - a desired goal in CLT • Certain patterns must become automatic! (chunks!)

6. Types of drill

7. REPTITION DRILL • T: Let’s go swimming! • S: Let’s go swimming! • T: Let’s go dancing! • S: Let’s go dancing. • → more meaningful with word prompt only • T: cinema • S: Let’s go to the cinema!

8. SIMPLE SUBSTITUTION • T: How many chairs are there in here? • S: There are 4 chairs. • T: tables • S1: How many tables are there in here? • S2: There is only one table in here. • Prompts: windows, desks, boards, etc.

9. VARIABLE SUBSTITUTION DRILL • T: I have been to Dublin. • S: I have been to Dublin. • T: Susan • S: Susan has been to Dublin. • T: Susan and her husband • S: Susan and her husband have been to Dublin.

10. PROGRESSIVE SUBSTITUTION DRILL Conditional: It sometimes happens that Martha washes up the dishes, then her husband, John, is happy. Prompts: T: sometimes it happens. If Martha….. S: If Martha does the washing up, John is happy. • T: It is John’s wish – perhaps she does it: S: If Martha did the washing up, her husband would be happy. • T: Martha didn’t do it S: If Martha had done the washing up, John would have been happy.

11. SITUATIONALISED DRILL • Prompts: can be on board • (What a pity! That’s great, Oh, that’s all right!) • T: I can’t come to the party! • S: What a pity! • T: I can lend you some money. • S: That’s great! • T: I have a new boyfriend. • S: …………………………… • T: Peter has missed the bus. • S:……………………………. • T: Sorry, I’m late. • S: …………………………….

12. TRANSFORMATION DRILL • Prompt: • T: I went to see Harry Potter. • S: Which film did you go to see? • T: Robby Williams • S: Which singer did you go to see? • Students can give prompts: Lord of the Rings, U2, Hamlet, etc.

13. CLUASE COMBINATION DRILL • T: He had a sore throat. He sang at the concert. • S: Although he had a sore throat, he… • T: raining, go on a trip • S: Although it was raining, he went on a trip. • T: headache, meeting, etc…

14. A FEW A FEW MILK BEER MILK BEER I’VE BEEN THEY’VE BEEN I’VE BEEN THEY’VE BEEN APPLES CHAIRS APPLES CHAIRS A LITTLE A LITTLE BALLOON TABLES [s1] [s1]

15. Picture prompts

21. Oral Drill types – in free practice • 1, Guessing Drills • e.g. Think of your favourite colour/ country / pop group / animal / etc • others are guessing - meanwhile practise the structure • e.g. Think of a foreign country your are going to visit. Which one is it? • S1 “Are you going to visit Japan?” • S2 “ No, I’m not.

22. Oral drills / free practice • 2, Imaginary situation • similar to # 1 - information gap!!!! • e.g. I’ve just bought a Mercedes. I haven’t got much money left. • - Have you bought a ......yet? (suppose S1 has a list of what he’s bought) • I suppose you have bought a............, haven’t you?

23. Oral drills / free practice Student A Student B

24. Six principles to do drilling • 1, Learners have to know what they are saying • - if they repeat structures but they don’t understand what it expresses - waste of time • meaningful drill = cannot be performed correctly without an understanding of the meaning of what is said • mechanical drill = SS produce correct examples without needing to think about the meaning of the sentences

25. Six principles to do drilling • 2, Let the learners hear the pattern several times - teacher = model • 3, Break down a long utterance or expression into smaller parts / segments • 4, Do not force individuals to speak until there had been some repetition in chorus • 5, Keep the drill rapid and short (40-60 seconds for each drill) - Do not give more than 6 drills on one occasion • 6, Give clear gestures to show who is to speak rather than give the names only

26. Chain drills • to practise a particular structure over and over again either in a game format or through personalisation. • e.g. I’m Csilla and I’d like to go to Chile. Next: My name is Béla and I would like to go to Brazil - etc. memory element!!! • Possible structures to practice: I like doing.... I have never done/been I want/always wanted to do, / I would love to etc...

27. Seminar work Drills: • word / phrase / sentence prompts • Pictures prompts / flashcards • Mimes • Audio prompts • Practising giving prompts for different structures

28. READING Using Repetition Drills • http://eltnotebook.blogspot.com/2006/10/using-repetition-drills.html • Drilling - Judicious Use of Brute Force in the ESL Classroom • http://www.usingenglish.com/weblog/archives/000414.html • Drilling can be fun: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Mumford-Drilling.html