Age: Teen - Adult
Level: Intermediate
Type: Pair Work
Grammar: General
Question Time is a great way to get natural speaking flowing, enhance student talk time and get students thinking about English in a practical way. Ss work in A/B pairs.
I usually hold this session at the beginning of the class as a warm-up activity to get ss speaking from the outset. Create between 10 - 20 interesting, wacky, weird, controversial questions relating to a theme or grammar point. It can be anything - honesty, aliens, health, dreams, politics etc (Give ss a print-out in the previous lesson to take home or write them on the board).
Your questions can relate to your lesson theme, grammar or be general. Tonight our topic was generic and my questions were on 'change' and its various meanings.
E.g.
- How would you feel about a change of government?
- What do you do when a beggar asks you for change?
- If you buy a faulty product in Vietnam, can you exchange it?
- If you could change one part of your life, what would it be?
- What are some changes that might be good for our planet?
- How do Vietnamese generally view sex-change operations?
Then, pop them into pairs to ask questions in the order they find most interesting. (Be sure to 'hover' unobtrusively and correct pronunciation as you go.)
After 15 mins or when the energy drops, as a take-up, go around the class and ask a few ss their opinion on random questions.
Be aware, the more controversial the questions the more discussion (with a capital D) will ensue, which is GREAT, but makes this section go for longer.
And I say go with the flow! I've learned some amazing things about my students and their feelings and thoughts about their country and the world. Plus, discussions are more natural when ss are personally involved in the subject.
My class has passionately discussed China's one-child policy and how they feel about Vietnams two-child policy, sidestepped into censorship, tiptoed over same-sex marriages and careened into corrupt cops..haha, that one was fun..
It's a great way for students to relax and it ensures they clamour to be understood in English!
