PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale English has been used as a tool of communication among native speakers as well as non-native ones No one can deny the important role of English in every field of life Therefore, the demand for learning English is increasing in Vietnam where English is one of the main subjects at school, and among the compulsory subjects of the entrance exams to a number of universities However, both teaching and learning English in Vietnam are said to be not effective because, as a matter of fact, the traditional method is still commonly applied in many high schools, colleges as well as universities, which fails to get students involved in the lessons, especially in grammar lessons The question of how to make the grammar lessons more interesting and how to make students interested in them have become a big concern of every English teacher Teaching grammar in the light of Communicative Language Teaching Approach (CLT) is becoming a new approach and designing suitable communicative activities to teach grammar is necessary From my experience, the majority of students are more interested in the grammar lessons when teachers use games, songs, pictures, and other communicative activities to present the new items For these above reasons, I have decided to conduct this paper Aims With the aforementioned rationale, the aims of the study are: - To give an overview of CLT in teaching grammar - To suggest some communicative activities to improve students’ motivation in a grammar lesson PART B: DEVELOPMENT Language teaching methods in teaching grammar The Grammar- Translation method (GTM) in teaching grammar Traditional method was rooted in the formal language of Latin and Greek and become popular in the late 19th century and early 20th century It was considered to be the key to the thought and literature of a great and ancient civilization As the name suggests, the Grammar – Translation method requires students to translate whole texts word by word and memorize numerous grammatical rules and exceptions as well as enormous vocabulary lists The goal of this method is to enable learners to read and translate literary masterpieces and classics Under the Grammar- Translation method (Richard and Rodgers, 1986: 3) grammar is taught deductively through detailed analysis of grammar rules and translations of sentences and texts into the target language or vice versus The Grammar – Translation method lays the focus on teaching the form rather than the use of the target language According to Prator and Celce- Murcia (1979: 3), the key features of the GrammarTranslation method are as follows: (1) Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language (2) Much of vocabulary is taught in form of lists of isolated words (3) Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given (4) Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words (5) Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early (6) Little attention is paid to the context of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis (7) Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue (8) Little or no attention is paid to pronunciation In this method, the learners are the passive recipients of the explicit grammar rules and engaged in practice activities and translation exercises which require the application of those rules Listening activities take in form of dictation and speaking practice is accomplished by having students read a passage aloud in front of the class In other words, communication skills are ignored Consequently, students learn rules of grammar without much feeling of progress in the mastery of the target language which will lead to the lack of motivation in learning it because they have few opportunities to express themselves in it They just passively learn what they are taught And after several years of studying, students may have a fairly good knowledge of grammar and translating skills, but can hardly communicate Besides, in the Grammar- Translation method, the teacher holds an authoritative role, or he is seen an ideal language model and commander of the classroom activities It is worth noticing that mistakes and errors are seen as a failure and they must be avoided at any cost Whenever the learners make mistakes or errors, the teachers correct immediately to make them produce grammatically correct sentences, which makes learners reluctant to speak English As the name suggests, grammar is the key component, and is taught deductively from rules to example which cause boredom to many learners The Grammar – Translation method dominated from the late 19 th to the early 20th century and although it has been generally acknowledged as the least effective teaching methodology, the method is still widely used in many countries including Vietnam Obviously, the best point of this method is that it helps learners become good translators and use English accurately In addition, it requires few resources and it is also easy to apply and cheap to administer That is why this method is till used in many classrooms where there is a great shortage of teachers and learning facilities and equipment aids, where the class is large of about 30 students, and where the teachers’ inadequate speaking skills are accustomed to teaching procedures and where the exams still emphasize the knowledge of grammar Nevertheless, the biggest disadvantage of this method is the learners find it difficult to communicate in real-life situations, or their utterances are correct but inappropriate This is the result of the process of learning form and usage, but not use, and learning about the language, not using the language to learn through authentic tasks Furthermore, this method makes the learners really passive in the process of getting knowledge They just listen to the teacher’s explanation and not participate in the exploration of new knowledge The Audio- Lingual method The Audio- Lingual Method was derived from “Army Method” during the World War II where there was a need for people to learn foreign languages quickly for military purposes It later developed into the so called Audio- Lingual method, which then has had considerable influence on English language teaching all over the world This method puts listening and speaking in the first place It uses sentence patterns as the base of teaching and tries to avoid mother tongue in class Attention is paid to the need for mechanical practice rather than explanation about the language because the ability to use the language as a means of communication is the mastery of the linguistic system of the target language For a number of reasons the ALM enjoyed decades of popularity The first strong point of this method is to develop students’ listening comprehension and fluency in speaking in the target language Students are encouraged by the sense of being able to use what they have learned on the very early day of their study In addition, the knowledge learned is reinforced by repetition, so students have good memory of what they learn and this is suitable for learners of different abilities Another point is that, this method provides a good systematic material However, the popularity finally faded away due to the shortcomings of this method Firstly, the success or failure of this method depends largely on the qualities of the teachers and the availability of resources It can be clearly noticed that if the teacher does not diversify his techniques to make the lessons more interesting and meaningful, his students will get bored with mechanical repetition or become “well- trained parrots” as commented by Rivers (1981: 47) Furthermore, the teacher must be a fluent speaker as most of his work is done orally in the target language And more importantly, ALM failed to teach long-term communicative proficiency because the language it taught was decontextualized and carried little communicative function Communicative language teaching (CLT) in teaching grammar An overview of communicative language teaching (CLT) Towards the end of the 1960s there was a growing dissatisfaction among applied linguists and foreign language teachers with the language theories and teaching methods American Linguist Noam Chomsky demonstrated that the current standard structural theories of language were incapable of accounting for the fundamental characteristics of language- the creativity and uniqueness of individual sentences Then, British applied linguists emphasized another fundamental dimension of language that was inadequately addressed in current approaches to language teaching at that time- the functional and communicative potential of language Consequently, the teaching produced structurally competent students who were often communicatively incompetent CLT emerged as a response to that judgment The term CLT covers a variety of approaches that all focuses on helping learners to communicate meaningfully in target language Brindley (1986: 11) pointed out that: “the 1970s and 1980s could be regarded as the era of communicative teaching ” And it is probably the approach most used by trained teacher today (Paul Davies, 200: 193) Yalden (1987: 61) summarized the essence of CLT this: “It is based on the notion of the learners as communicators, naturally endowed with the ability to learn language It seeks to provide learners with the target- language system It is assumed that learners will have to prepare to use the target language orally and in written form in many predictable and unpredictable acts of communication which arise both in classroom interaction and in real world situations, whether concurrent with language training or subsequent to it” According to Richard and Rogers (1986: 64), CLT focuses on “communicative proficiency rather than mere master of structures” Clearly, Communicative Language Teaching emphasizes on communicative competence which, according to Canale and Swain (1980), consists of four dimensions: grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and strategic competence Grammar competence is the knowledge of the language code, including lexical items, rules of morphology and syntax, sentence- grammar semantics and phonology Sociolinguistic competence refers to an understanding of the social context in which communication takes place: the roles of participants, the information they share the functions of interaction Discourse competence indicates the ability to interpret series of sentences or utterances to form a meaningful whole and to achieve a coherent text that is relevant to a given context Strategic competence refers to the copying strategies that communications employ to initiate, terminate, maintain, repair and redirect communication Characteristics of CLT In CLT, meaning is paramount Wilkins (1972) classifies meaning into notional and functional categories and views learning a second language as acquiring the linguistic means to perform different kinds of functions According to Larsen Freeman (1986: 132) the most obvious characteristic of CLT is that “Almost everything that is done is done with communicative intent” Students use the language through communicative activities (e.g games, role-plays and problem- solving tasks) From Morrow’s point of view (in Johnson and Morrow, 1981), activities that are truly communicative have three features: information gap, choice and feedback An information gap occurs when one person exchange the information he has (facts, opinions, ideas…) with the one who does not have In other words, as Scrivener (1994: 62) further explains, the aims of an information gap activity is to “get learners to use the language they are learning to interact in realistic and meaningful ways, usually involving exchanges of information” While doing this they will draw available vocabulary, grammar, and communication strategies to complete a task In communication, the speaker has a choice of what to say and how to say If this activity is tightly controlled and there is one way to say something, the speaker has no choice and, therefore, is not communicative In addition, true communication is purposeful A speaker can thus evaluate whether or not his purpose has been achieved based on the information he receives from the listener Another characteristic of CLT is the introduction of authentic material In CLT, it is considered desirable to give learners the opportunity to genuine communicative needs in realistic second language situation so that they develop strategies for understanding language as actually used by native speakers (Canale and Swain, 1980) In addition, “activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by students in small group” (Larsen- Freeman, 1986: 132) Students are expected to interact with one another, either through pairs and group works or in their writing (Finicchiaro & Brumfit, 1983) CLT favors interaction among small numbers of students in order to maximize the time each student has to learn to negotiate meaning Teachers therefore select learning activities according to how well they encourage the students in meaningful and authentic language use rather than in the merely mechanic practice of language patterns Another dimension of CLT is “its learner-centered and experience- based view of second language teaching” (Richard & Rogers, 1986: 69) According to CLT theory, individual learner posses unique interests, styles, needs and goals that should be reflected in the design of instructional methods (Savignon, 1983) Teachers are to develop materials based on the demonstrated needs of a particular class Students must be made to feel secure, unthreatened and non-defensive in a CLT classroom, so teachers using CLT should avoid adopting a teacher- centered authoritarian posture (Taylor, 1983) Thus, Li (1998: 679) reviews CLT characteristics based on the work of other researchers such as Larsen- Freeman (1986), Richards and Rogers (1986) and Thomson (1986) as follows: A focus on communicative functions A focus on meaningful task rather than on language form Efforts to make tasks and language relevant to a target group of learners through an analysis of genuine, realistic situations The use of authentic, from life materials The use of group activities The attempt create a secure, non-threatening atmosphere Status of Grammar in CLT Many linguists and researchers have advocated grammar instruction in language teaching and learning The communicative competence model of Canale and Swain (1980) clearly illustrates the significance of grammar In this model grammar is seen as one component of communicative competence One person cannot master a language without the knowledge of its grammar Thanks to grammar language partly can function as a means of communication, especially in written language In speaking, though grammatical mistakes are sometimes acceptable, good grammar makes one’s speech better and more attractive, especially in formal situations Referring to the importance of grammar teaching, Smith (2001) worries that if we not pay attention to grammar or create opportunities for learner to improve their grammar, they are likely to stand the risk of fossilization or “reach a point where they can cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of their existing grammatical resources and communication strategies and probably with sufficient fluency not to see the need to develop their linguistic abilities any further” Rutherford and Smith (1988) report that grammar teaching can be beneficial to learners in the sense that it raises learners’ consciousness concerning the differences and the similarities of L1 and L2 Therefore, grammar teaching can be used as “a linguistic map” with roads and signs to help students as they explore the “photograph” of the new language The list of supporters of grammar is till going on Hannan (1989) argues that grammar is highly valuable as an important part of the study of language Also, he points out that grammar reflects the power and order of the human mind and, besides, it helps us to understand the diversity of human culture Like Hannan, Lewis (1986), Garner (1989) gives strong support to grammar teaching Garner believes that grammar gives us a means to analyze and describe our language To sum up, the rationale for teaching grammar is multifaceted and grammar is acknowledged to be of importance in language study in general and in language teaching and learning in particular Teaching grammar in the light of CLT For a few decades, there have been so many disputes on different approaches to teaching grammar To date, teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are still confronted with the crucial issue of choosing the best approach to improve their students’ 10 grammatical accuracy It cannot be denied that there has been a lot of progress in English language teaching since the introduction of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Many teachers embrace CLT because CLT represents a modern and progressive way of language teaching and their belief is to teach students to be able to use the language And since then many textbooks have been written to incorporate communicative activities, authentic materials and personalized contexts, but where the teaching and learning of grammar is concerned, most textbooks not reflect CLT principles (Siaw- Fong Chung, 2005) Obviously, applying CLT to grammar teaching is necessary in order to deal with the disadvantages of Grammar Translation method when being used to teach grammar such as the learners’ inappropriate utterances and passive learning style Nunan (1991) in the section “Focus on form: the role of grammar” discusses the place of grammar in the recent language teaching According to him, there has been a shift in the role of grammar as the view of language learning changed at different times While grammar played a dominant role in traditional classroom, it was just of marginal importance in earlier communicative classrooms, which drew merely on meaning rather than form Recent years have seen the returning of grammar in the second language classrooms as an indispensable tool to achieve communicative goals Unlike in traditional approaches, where grammatical mastery was ultimate learning objective, grammar now is important but just as a means to the end and hence, is always put into context and learned for the sakes of social functions Communicative language classrooms, which focus on both form and meaning, truly reflect the view of learning grammar as both processes and products The deep basic of this application is that CLT aims at developing communicative competence and grammatical competence is one of four of its component competences Thus in theory, CLT may be used to teach grammar so that understanding the rules of grammar is not an end in itself and learners are helped to recognize the communicative value of grammar structures It is worth mentioning here some researchers into teaching grammar in the light of CLT Celce- Murcia and Hilles (1988) propose that “grammar should never be taught as an end in itself, but always with reference to meaning, social factors, or discourse or a 11 Presentation is where the teacher presents the new language, and necessarily requires the creation of realistic “situation” in which the target language is learned This can be achieved through using pictures, charts, songs, story telling, visuals, or actual “classroom situation” In the presentation stage the teacher does the work Practice Practice is where the students are made to practice the new language with the teacher and their peers The teacher gives student different sorts of exercises to practice: drilling followed by pair work is the most common way of organizing practice One of the useful techniques for this stage is games They provide a relaxing environment for the students to practice the new grammatical items effectively At this stage practice is controlled and the teacher emphasizes on accuracy In the practice stage the teacher and the students the work Production Production is where the teacher makes the students “produce” the new language they have learned on their own (without the teacher’s help) This is usually done with a speaking activity, a game, a discussion, a role-play, “find someone who” In this activity the students must add the new grammar or vocabulary they have just learned to the English they have already known At this stage practice is not controlled by the teacher The students learn to speak by themselves to get fluency In the production stage, the students the work Students’ interest 4.1 Concept of students’ interest Ellis (1994) states that interest is one of the main elements of motivation and a positive response to stimulate based on existing cognitive structures in such a way that learners’ curiosity is aroused and sustained In other words, interest shows learners’ desire to learn the target language It can be seen that students who are given opportunities for communication will be interested in the lesson 13 Ellis (cited in Dickinson, 1987) also points out that “interest is endangered if learners become self- centered” This means they are able to determine their learning objectives, choose their own way of achieving these, and evaluate their own progress 4.2 Factors affecting students’ interest in the class - Students’ learning style Students’ learning style is one of the factors we should take into consideration to see the particular approach by which students try to learn According to Keefe (1979: 4), learning style can be seen as cognitive, affective and physiological features that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment Major factors conditioning the ways learners think and study are the educational system, the socio- cultural background and personality variables Undoubtedly, it is very necessary to understand the learners’ learning styles because this will help teachers design suitable activities for all of them so that they can learn effectively There are students who prefer to grammar exercises after learning grammatical structures and their rules But others like to exploit grammatical rules through games, pictures and puzzles They approach the target language items differently Moreover, their ability is to grasp is also different, so the teachers should know their learners’ learning style to bring about their learning effectively - Students’ motivation Motivation is popularly considered to play a very important role in learning In Jeremy Harmer’s view (1991) “Motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of action” Language learners’ motivation is basically originated from goals of various kinds and needs Goals include long- term ones which might be related to a learner’s wish to become a member of the target language community or to obtain a better job and shortterm ones which might come from a learner’s urge to pass an end- of- semester exam or complete a lesson with success Ausubel (1968) pointed out six types of needs including the need for exploration; for manipulation; for activities; for stimulation; for knowledge and for ego enhancement 14 The impact of CLT to grammar teaching on students’ interest CLT appearing between the 1960s and 1970s marks the beginning of major innovation within language teaching and it has been widely accepted nowadays because of it superior principles Obviously, grammar plays an important role in ELT because learners cannot communicate effectively without grammar Furthermore, the understanding of grammar helps us build up confidence in using the target language and encourages us to use the language accurately and appropriately Grammar is an integral part of language, so the more we can find out about how grammar is learned and used, the more effectively we will teach it In fact, there have been many researchers on grammar as well as grammar teaching The problem here is that how to teach grammar and which approach to grammar is appropriate Nowadays, CLT, with its foundation and on recent achievements in the field of linguistic and psychology, has been considered to be the most effective approach of grammar teaching In fact, teaching grammar in the light of CLT makes the grammar lessons more exciting and more communicative Students are equipped with vocabulary, structures and functions as well as strategies, which enable them to interact successfully Consequently, students are much more interested in the lessons Practical application In order to apply CLT to teaching grammar effectively, a variety of techniques and activities should be used at different stages of a grammar lesson In this paper, I am going to suggest some popular techniques and classroom activities for the communicative practice 6.1 Using games and problem-solving activities The latest concern of the foreign language teachers is to make the students use the target language communicatively Among the activities or techniques, games and problem solving activities are the most preferable communicative activities Both games and problem- solving activities have a goal Games are organized according to rules, and they are enjoyable Most games require group works, whereas problem- solving activities (though they are structured) require individual response and 15 creative solutions Games and problem- solving activities are generally used after at the practice stage and more frequently at the production stage, because such communicative tasks can only be handled after mastering sufficient grammar and lexical points Students are more motivated when learning through the games because of the competition in games Besides, games also reduce the stress in the classroom Games and problem- solving problems can be used at all levels When using games, of course, the teacher must be sure that students are familiar with the words and structures needed to carry out the task Quick drill should usually be done before students play games Furthermore, it is important to design clear and easy instructions for the games or the activities These are the common games and activities used in grammar teaching Sample (see Appendix 1) Guessing games and chain games to practice present simple tense with daily routine are suitably applied for production stage Using songs Songs and music always create relaxing and non-threatening atmosphere for students, who are usually tense when speaking English in a formal classroom setting In any case, students find the lesson challenging and interesting as evident from songs And that is in itself, a major success to breaking the traditional view of grammar classes as dull and boring In grammar lesson, songs may be used both used for the presentation and practice phase Sample 2: (See Appendix 2)- using the song “Lemon tree” to present the present continuous tense Type of activity: individual work, pair work, whole class Aims: to present the present continuous tense Preparation: make the copy of the handouts for each student and action verbs Procedure: • Deliver the handouts to the students 16 • Ask students to read the verbs listed in the handout and explain that of these verbs are in the song • Let students read these verbs in choral and check the meaning if necessary • For the first listening, students listen and choose the verbs that appear in the song • Students work in pairs and share their ideas • For the second listening, students have to fill in these verbs in the correct blank • Show the video clip of the song on the screen and ask students to pay attention to the action in the song • Give students the eliciting questions and let them withdraw the form, use and meaning of the tense • For an active and strong class, the teacher can ask the students to sing the song individually or the whole class Role play Role play is used to refer all sorts of activities where students imagine themselves in a situation outside the classroom, sometimes playing the role of someone rather than themselves, and using language appropriate to this new context For example, ask and answer questions, one student acts the teacher and the other plays the student This activity is often used at the production stage Sample: (See Appendix 3) 6.4 Interview Interview is also a learning activity that can be used to teach grammar Students interview each other and they can say true sentences about themselves In that way, students learn and practice the structures and they also get to know about their partners This activity makes the learning atmosphere more friendly and relaxing because they may find something in common and they can share with each other Interview is usually suitable for the production stage Sample: (See Appendix 4) 6.5 Telling stories 17 “Everyone loves stories, including ESL students Stories are used in contemporary ESL materials to promote communication and expression in the classroom.” Celce- Murcia (1988: 51) Both teachers and students can tell stories “Our students are marvelous storytellers as well as listeners, and this ability can be used to good advance.” Celce- Murcia (1988: 55) Telling stories is suitably applied for the production stage when students are free to say what they want and what they think In that way, they can develop their imagination and self- confidence at the same time Sample: (See Appendix 5) PART C: CONCLUSION In conclusion, it is undeniable that teaching grammar in the light of CLT does a lot to boost students’ interest in learning The students are really motivated with communicative activities such as games, songs, role play and the like They also help students understand the new language items more easily as well as use them in real communicative situation However, to manage a successful grammar lesson in a communicative way depends on many factors including teachers, students, and administrators To start with, students’ attitude about learning English in general and in grammar in particular needs to be changed English should be considered to be as important as other subjects and using English to communicate is their goal of their studying Besides the students’ efforts, the teachers play a very important role in changing students’ attitudes The teachers need consciously get their students familiar with communicative approach through every lesson In addition, teachers should stimulate students to join class activities especially the weak and passive students Negative comments from the teachers which undermine the students and influence the students’ participation in the class should be avoided The teachers should also go around the class to observe and give students help if necessary, which partly contributes to reduce the students’ Vietnamese speaking during group work Apart from that, the training course in CLT should be held regularly to help teachers update their knowledge and exchange their 18 teaching experience so that they can apply CLT to teaching grammar to make their grammar lessons more effective REFERENCES Brown, H.D (2001) Teaching by principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy Addison Wesley Longman Brindley, G (1986) Some Current Issues in Second Language Teaching Prospect, Vol No April 1986 Canale, M & Swain, M (1980) Approaches to Communicative Competence SEAMEO Regional Language Center Celce- Murcia, M (1988) Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar Oxford University Press Finochiaro, M & Brumit, C (1983) The Functional – Notional Approach: From Theory to Practice Oxford University Press Garner, M (1989) Grammar: Warts and All Melbourn: River Seine Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching Longman Harmer, J (1987) Teaching and Learning Grammar Longman Group UK Limited Larsen, D & Freeman (1986) Techniques and Resources in Teaching Grammar Oxford University Press 10 Nunan, D (1991) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Sydney: Macquarie University Press 11 Richards, J C & Rodgers, J.S (1986) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 12 Pator, C.H and Celce- Murcia, M (1979) An outline of Language Teaching Approaches In Celce- Murcia, M and McIntosh, L (Ed), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language New York: Newbury House 19 13 Chung, Siaw- Fong (2005) A Communicative Approach to Teaching Grammar Theory and Practice Malaysian English Language Association 14 Rutherford, W and Smith, M (1998) Introduction In W Rutherford and M Smith (Eds) Grammar and Second Language Teaching New York: Newbury House 15 http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/foolsgarden/lemontree.html APPENDICES APPENDIX USING GAMES AND PROBLEM SOLVING ACTIVITIES PRESENT SIMPLE Aim: to practice present simple tense with daily routine and action verbs Level: Elementary Grammar points: To practice the present simple with the daily routine and action words This game is suitably applied for production stage Before carrying out this game, teacher should review the daily routine vocabulary Guessing game Guessing game with the action verbs Aim: to review the daily routine vocabulary Procedure: - Divide Ss into groups, give each group a name and then appoint a representative of each group The two players of two groups back to the board - Teacher writes a word on the board The rest of the class will explain the word by body language (do not speak the words on the board or translate them into Vietnamese) The two players guess and speak out the word Who has the correct answer first will get one point for his/ her team Change the players after each turn For example: get up, exercises, get dressed, brush your teeth - Have the whole class read the words in choral CHAIN GAME: Type of activity: group work, whole class 20 Procedure: - Divide Ss into groups of 10 sitting in a circle and number the student from 1- 10 - The first student in every group start the chain by repeating a sentence the teacher has giving - Then student repeats what student said and adds his/ her own idea to it - Student repeats what student and have said and adds to it For example: S1: I usually get up at 6.30 o’clock S2: I usually get up at 6.30 o’clock and then I exercises for 15’ S3: I usually get up at 6.30 o’clock, I exercises for 15’ and then brush my teeth S4: etc - If the student gives the wrong repetition, they are out of the game Play until there is one student and he/ she will become the winner APPENDIX 2: LEMON TREE I sitting stepping driving running wasting Listen and circle the words you hear in the song meeting standing waiting looking going II doing hanging turning eating climbing Listen and fill in the numbered blanks I'm (1) here in the boring room It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon I'm (2) my time I got nothing to I'm (3) around I'm waiting for you But nothing ever happens and I wonder 21 I'm (4) around in my car I'm driving too fast I'm driving too far I'd like to change my point of view I feel so lonely I'm (5) for you But nothing ever happens and I wonder I wonder how I wonder why Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree I'm (6) my head up and down I'm turning turning turning turning turning around And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree I'm sitting here I miss the power I'd like to go out taking a shower But there's a heavy cloud inside my head I feel so tired Put myself into bed Well, nothing ever happens and I wonder Isolation is not good for me Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree I'm (7) around in the desert of joy Baby anyhow I'll get another toy And everything will happen and you wonder 22 I wonder how I wonder why Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree I'm turning my head up and down I'm turning turning turning turning turning around And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree And I wonder, wonder APPENDIX 3- ROLE PLAY Safe at last Type of activity: pair work, group work Aim: To practice the past simple tense Level: Elementary Preparation: one copy of the newspaper article per student; one set of role card per pair of students - Pre-teach the following items of vocabulary: to sail, a sailor, on island, sand, to rescue, a pilot, a reporter, to interview someone - Give each student a copy of the newspaper article to read and check the have understood the main points - Divide the class into pairs Give half the pairs Reporter’s role cards and the other half Sailor role card - Students prepare questions and answer in their pairs, following the instructions on the cards Allow ten or fifteen minutes for this and help Ss with vocabulary if necessary - Rearrange the class so that each pair of “reporters” can interview a pair of “sailors” (with a strong class, reporters can interview sailors individually) - Reporters tell the whole class the most interesting things they have found out about their sailor 23 - Finally, each reporter can work with one of the sailors they interviewed and write the newspaper article together (Adapted from Cutting Edge Elementary- Teacher’s Resource Book) APPENDIX 24 25 APPENDIX THE SUPERLATIVE SURVEY Aim: to practice the superlative adjectives and adverbs in a fun and real situations by carrying out the survey Grammar point: THE SUPERLATIVE Level: Elementary This activity is used for production stage THE SUPERLATIVE SURVEY Preparation: one card for each student (If you have more than twelve students in the class, use duplicate cards) Procedure: - Give each student one card - Give the instructions: students must find out the answer to the question on the card by talking to all the other students in the class and then report back to the class - Allow student time to write one or two questions they need to interview the other students For example, a student with card A will need to ask two questions: Have you got any brothers or sisters? How old are they? Make sure that they have appropriate questions before they make the survey - Students move around the room and ask the questions they have prepared They must talk to every student in class, and should make brief notes of the answers - Students work out the answers to the questions on the cards and report to the class For example: - A student with card A: Lan has got the oldest sister She is 35 years old - A student with card G: Long usually wakes up earliest in our class He wakes up at a.m (Adapted from cutting Edge Elementary- Teacher’s Resource Book) 26 APPENDIX 27