DAVID COURTNEY
Vietnam
Activities to Activate
and Maintain a
Communicative Classroom
Student-centered instruction is a shared goal in English as a
second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) settings that embrace
communicative language teaching (CLT) principles (East 2015).
Student-centered classrooms create opportunities for learners to
have consistent and meaningful interactions—two-way exchanges of
ideas—using their second language (L2). Such interactions promote L2
development, as peers provide modified input and speakers are pushed
to produce language that their partners understand (Hall 2011). As the
popularity of student-centered classrooms has grown, knowledge-
based objectives (testing for grammar and vocabulary knowledge) have
been overtaken by more-communicative learning objectives (Plews
and Zhao 2010). Beyond memorizing grammar or vocabulary for drills
or exams, students must show that they can use real-life language
to perform speaking and writing activities, often in small groups.
This article will first discuss CLT principles and important criteria for
communicative activities in the classroom and then describe four
successful and engaging activities.
GOING BEYOND JUST SHARING ANSWERS
Task-based national curricula typically ask
students to communicate by “sharing answers”
at each stage of a lesson, including the
beginning (pre-), middle (during-), and end
(post-) stages (Nunan 2014). While in-service
teachers understand the need for interactive
pair work, many report that they do not have
time to include more meaningful interactions
beyond just sharing answers. Furthermore,
some teachers still use traditional methods
that involve a sequence known as present,
practice, produce (also known as “PPP”),
in which they present new grammar or
vocabulary before students are expected to
produce it. These practices may hinder more-
meaningful student communication. If we
acknowledge the importance of performance
tasks for L2 development and the need
for more than just sharing answers, how
might communication become a regular and
meaningful part of classroom practice?
STRONGER ACTIVITIES COULD BE THE
ANSWER
A classroom informed by CLT principles can
include the use of communicative activities at
each lesson stage (pre-, during-, and post-
lesson). If an activity is a short warm-up to
introduce a lesson (five to ten minutes in
americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum 2020 ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM 11
length), it is a pre-task. That means students
do the task to prepare for learning, use
language they already know, and/or review
previously learned content (Nunan 2014).
During a lesson, a communicative activity
mainly involves the practice of new language.
Textbook practice and answer sharing can
be part of the during-task. Finally, in a
CLT-informed post-task activity, students
are expected to perform (communicate
by speaking or writing) with greater self-
confidence and accuracy. Accuracy may also
be given less focus (East 2015).
The first two stages of lessons (pre-task and
during-task) can be strengthened to empower
students for better speaking and writing
performance. To implement activities with
more meaningful communication earlier in
lessons, the literature calls for a “balance of
the four strands of meaning-focused input,
language-focused learning, meaning-focused
output and fluency activities” (Nation
and Macalister 2010, 51). Non-language
factors are also important, such as students’
motivation, anxiety, need for autonomy,
beliefs, and prior experience of education.
FOUR CRITERIA FOR BETTER ACTIVITIES
The literature describes four criteria that can
be used to design, implement, and evaluate
more-communicative activities. Each criterion
is connected to the balance of L2 development,
student autonomy, and motivation.
1. Fun activities reduce stress and may
help students remember content
(Helgesen and Kelly 2016). Fun activities
may also increase students’ integrative
(internally derived) motivation and
include topics that they know and care
about (Nation and Macalister 2010).
2. Meaningful activities give students a
chance to be experts and solve problems.
Here, sharing ideas is more important
than listening for perfect grammar.
Repeated meaningful interactions also
promote fluency, as students speak with
greater efficiency over time.
3. Interactive activities require students
to use their L2 to complete a shared task.
Related to Nation and Macalister’s (2010)
language-focused strand, interaction
may also lead to improved accuracy and
explicit attention to language learning
during each interaction.
4. Routine (frequent) activities help
students better understand the directions
for each task, which may lead to easier
implementation and improved on-task
behavior (Kagan and Kagan 2009).
Furthermore, if students repeat a task
later in a course, they may be able to take
on a more demanding language focus
because the task is already familiar (Nunan
2014). Finally, fun activities repeated
periodically over time may deepen
students’ memories of each activity.
FOUR ACTIVITIES
The four activities described here can be
shortened (to review a previous lesson) or
lengthened (to develop that day’s lesson topic).
Each activity requires minimal materials
(usually just pens and paper). Activity 1:
Draw a Dream House—my students’ favorite
activity—encourages group work and builds
rapport. Activity 2: I’m Not Just a Number
focuses on accurate question word order and
learning about classmates’ lives. Activity 3:
Paragraph Pass is a collaborative writing task
in which students add sentences to signal
words in order to focus on both grammar and
the meaning of ideas. Activity 4: Marketplace
facilitates the sharing (and valuing) of students’
ideas in their L2.
Each activity’s description contains enough
detail so that teachers can use it as is or
adapt it for their setting. In addition, the
communicative merit of each activity is
evaluated according to the four criteria.
Activity 1: Draw a Dream House
Students in groups of three or four draw a
house by sharing the same marker and paper—
while not being allowed to speak! Afterwards,
Organizing Your Reaction Paper
A reaction/response paper has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
The introduction should contain all the basic information in one or two paragraphs.
Sentence 1: This sentence should give the title, author, and publication
you read.
Sentence 2, 3, and (4) These sentences give a brief summary of what you read
Sentence 5: This sentence is your thesis statement. You agree, disagree,
identify, or evaluate.
Your introduction should include a concise, one sentence, focused thesis. This is the focused statement
of your reaction/response. More information on thesis statements is available.
The body should contain paragraphs that provide support for your thesis. Each paragraph should contain
one idea. Topic sentences should support the thesis, and the final sentence of each paragraph should lead
into the next paragraph.
Topic Sentence
detail — example –quotation –detail — example — quotation — detail — example — quotation — detail —
example –quotation
Summary Sentence
You can structure your paragraphs in two ways:
1. Explain author’s point– your comment supported with details/examples/quotations
2. Explain author’s point– contrast with your point of view support with details/etc.
The conclusion can be a restatement of what you said in your paper, or it could be a comment which
focuses your overall reaction. Finally, it can be a prediction of the effects of what you’re reacting to.
Note: your conclusion should include no new information.
To sum up the information, this handout has covered prewriting and organizing strategies for
reaction/response papers.
Prewriting
o Read the article and jot down ideas.
o How do you feel about what was said?
o Do you agree or disagree with the author?
o Have you had any applicable experience?
o Have you read or heard anything that applies to this what the writer said in the article or book?
o Does the evidence in the article support the statements the writer made?
Organizing
o Write the thesis statement first.
o Decide on the key points that will focus your ideas. These will be your topic sentences.
o Develop your ideas by adding examples, quotations, and details to your paragraphs.
o Make sure the last sentence of each paragraph leads into the next paragraph.
o Check your thesis and make sure the topic sentence of each paragraph supports it.
