ERIC Number: ED225376
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Pages: 11
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Moving from Form to Function in Teaching ESL.
Magrath, Douglas
Second language students come to the class with knowledge of a first language and with understanding of communication strategies. Creative exercises must build on this basis from the beginning of the course. Short dialogues, structure drills, and controlled grammar sequences based on a real situation should be integrated into the course from the beginning. Because English as a second language (ESL), and second language teaching in general, depends upon the spiral approach, new forms must be taught in light of what students have already learned, and continuous review must be built into daily lessons. As an illustration of how these procedures can be integrated into an ESL lesson, a model is given for the presentation of the "going to" future. The warmup portion is a conversational exercise that reviews knowledge necessary for the new structure. Next, examples are presented and the class practices the structure with various kinds of controlled drills, such as short dialogues, role plays with variations, and substitution drills using pictures and wall charts. A functioal context is provided for all the exercises. During the oral practice some students can go to the board to write some of the exercises; these enable the teacher to spot sources of error and to help students connect these with possible sources in their first language. (AMH)
Descriptors: Audiolingual Methods, Class Activities, Communicative Competence (Languages), Dialogs (Language), English (Second Language), Higher Education, Lesson Plans, Notional Functional Syllabi, Pattern Drills (Language), Second Language Instruction, Speech Communication, Teaching Methods, Verbs
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A