NEW CONCEPT ENGLISH FIRST THINGS FIRST Teacher's Book An Integrated Course for BeginnersBy the same author Sixty Steps to Précis Poetry and Prose Appreciation Essay and Letter-writing A First Book in Comprehension, Précis and Composition The Carters of Greenwood (Cineloops) Detectives from Scotland Yard (Longman Structural Readers, Stage 1) Car Thieves (Longman Structural Readers, Stage 1) Worth A Fortune (Longman Structural Readers, Stage 2) April Fools’ Day (Longman Structural Readers, Stage 2) Operation Mastermind (Longman Structural Readers, Stage 3) Professor Boffin’s Umbrella (Longman Structural Readers, Stage 2) Question and Answer: Graded Aural/Oral Exercises For and Against Reading and Writing English. A First Year Programme for Children Look, Listen and Learn! Sets 1-4 An Integrated Course for Children NEW CONCEPT ENGLISH Uniform with this Volume: Practice and Progress: An Integrated Course for Pre-Intermediate Students Developing Skills: An Integrated Course for Intermediate Students Fluency in English: An Integrated Course for Advanced Students NEW CONCEPT ENGLISH in two Volume edition First Things First Part 1-2 Practice and Progress Part 1-2FIRST THINGS FIRST Teacher's Book An Integrated Course for Beginners L. G. ALEXANDER Illustrated by Tom Bailey and Ted Pettengell LONGMANLONGMAN GROUP LIMITED Longman House, Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE, England and Associated Companies throughout the World ©L.G. Alexander 1967 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner. First published 1967 This edition first published 1984 Second impression 1985 ISBN 0 582 91718 2 Please note that minor editorial changes have been made in this impression following suggestions received from teachers and students in various parts of the world. Produced by Longman Group (FE) Ltd Printed in Hong KongCONTENTS TO THE TEACHER LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE CLASSROOM General Principles What Has to be Learnt? Present-day Techniques and The Classroom The Teaching of Grammar Audio Visual Aids and Translation Natural English The Teacher's Book and the Students’ Book Speed and Intensity Levels ABOUT THIS COURSE From Theory to Practice: Basic Aims The Components of The Course A Description of The Course HOW TO USE THIS COURSE The Teacher's Notes Content and Basic Aims — General Remarks Aural/Oral Procedure Comprehension Questions Activi Extension Exercises Repetition Drills Pattern Drills Writing Test Homework Additional Reading Material Additional Oral Practice Future Work TEACHING UNITS 1 Is this your (handbag)? Yes, it is. My name is 2 My (coat) and my (umbrella). This is (not) my (umbrella). Here is my/your Is this it? No, it isn’t. xi xiv xv xv xvi xvi xvi xvi xvii xvii xix xix xxi xxiv xxiv xxiv xxiv xxv xxv Page 10 Page It isn’t my (umbrella). It is (it’s) your (umbrella). This is (Alice). 10 She is (she's) French. He is (he’s) German. It’s a (French) car. It’s (French). It’s an (English) car. It’s (English). His/her name is (name's) . He’s/she’s a (French) student. Yes, she is/No, she isn’t. Yes, he is/No, he isn’t. Are you (French), too? 4 Yes, | am/No, I am (I’m) not. I'm a (typist). I'm an (engineer). What's your/his/her job? I'm/he’s/she’s (very) well/hot/tall etc. 18 Look at that (man). Whose (shirt) is this/that? 2 Whose is this/that (shirt)? Is this your/his/her (pen)? It’s not my/his/her (pen). It’s (Tim’s)/my (father’s), Here you are, What colour is (colour's) . . .? 26 It’s (green). ‘Come and see it. It’s the same colour. Here it is. My shirt is (shirt’s) white. Are you/your friends (Swedish)? Yes, we/they are. No, we/they are not (aren't). Our/their (cases) are (brown). Are these your. . .? Here they are. 30 Those women are (very pretty). af What are their jobs? They are (typists). Who is (this young man)? We're/They’re (tired). Are you all right? 38 ‘These (ice-creams) are (nice). Look! There’s a(n)... Who is (tired)? v11 Give me/him/her/us/them a (book) Which onej(book)? This/that one/(book). Not this/that one/(book). ‘The (red) one/(book). 12 Give me/him/her/us/them some (glasses). Which ones/(glasses)? These/those ones/(glasses). Not these/those ones/(glasses). The ones/(glasses) on the shelf. 13 There is a (bottle) in/on the (refrigerator/table). The (bottle) is (empty). It is on the leftjon the right/in the middle of Where is. . .? 14 There are some (magazines) onjinjnear . . The (magazines) are Are there any (magazines) onfin/near . . .? ‘There aren't any (magazines) on/in/near . . Where are. . .? 15 Put on/take off your (coat). Turn on/off the (light). Then (sweep) the (floor). What must I do? She must . . . 16 He/she/it is (running) under/across/after . . . What is he/she/it doing? It is (drinking) its (milk). He isn’t (reading). (He’s typing a letter). Where is he/she/it (sitting)? What about (the dog)? 17 Itis a fine day. There are some clouds in the sky, but the sun is shining. We/they are (walking) over/under . . They are jumping off a wall. 18 It is between/beside . .. (We are) walking along/across vi Page 42 46 58 62 10 (They are) coming out of . (They are) going into. . . Here is another (photograph). 19 What/where are you going to...? Tam going to Tam (making) . . 1 am going to paint it (pink). This (bookcase) isn’t or me. 20 Give/show/send (it) to (me). What are you going to do with ...? Don’t (put)... Put/turn (it) on. Take/turn (it) off. I'm going to put it in fron of ... 21 Is there (a tie) injon . Is there (any miik) injon. ? There’s (a tie)/one injon . There's (a piece of cheese) infon There's some (cheese) in/on 22 Can you... (= Are you able to) Yes, I/you etc. can . No, IJyou ete. can’t... (He) can’t... but (he) can . It’s behindJin front of . .. Are there any (cups) . . .? Is there any (coffee) . . 23 Can (you type) this for me? 24 Do you like/want (any coffee/biscuits)? Yes, I do/No, I don’t. 1 (like)/don’t (like) coffee/biscuits. Do you want any/one/(a cup)? I like... but I don’t like . . 25 He/she likesjdoesn’t like I like . . . but (he) doesn’t. Does he/she like . Yes, he does/No, he doesn’t. I don’t either. 26 Where do you come from? Ijyou etc. come from What's the (climate) like? Page 14 8 82 94 98 10227 28 29 30 31 32 33 Page It’s often/always/sometimes (hot). It rains/snows sometimes. When is/does it (hot/rain)? (The weather's often cold) in the 106 North/South/East/West Which season(s) do you like best? They live at 110 In the morningjafternoon/ evening/at noon/night (they go) to work/school/bed/ home. (She stays) at home. He (usually) reads What's the time? It is (8.0) o'clock. They usually go to school by car every day/in the morning etc., but today/this morning they are going on foot. 114 Have you/we/they any. . .? 18. Yes, I/we/they have. No, I/we/they have not/haven’t (1) haven't any . . . but (I) have some... I only have Is that all? What else do you want? He feels/looks (ill). How does he feel/look? He/she has (a bad cold). Yes, he/she has. No, he/she has not/hasn’t. (We) must call (the doctor) Yes, (Wwe) must No, (we) must not/mustn’t. Why . . . because. So (continuative). 122 Can}... (= May 1). He mustn't . . . yet. How long must he . . .? for about two hours each day. Negative questions. So (adverbial). 126 It’s half past/a quarter past/ to (ten). How old are you? 130 34 35 36 TEST KEY TO TEST 37 38 39 Page I'm 24/1'm 24 years old. My birthday’s on (July 18th)/ (18th July). Enjoy yourself/yourselves ete. Were you (at the butcher's)? Yes, I/he/she was. No, I/he/she wasn’t. Where were you (on Monday)? 1 was (at church on Sunday/ January Ist). It’s (five past/to one), 134 In (1968) there was There were My wife and I (we) were... Julie and Jack (they) were . Yes, we/they were. No, we/they were not (weren’t). 138 What's (he/she) like? He (telephoned) four times yesterday/yesterday morning/ the day before yesterday/last night ete. Did you/he/she etc.? Yes, (I) did. No, (1) did not/didn’t 142 145 147 She went to London and lost her 150 way. (Irreg. past). Did he (understand)? He did not (understand). She smiled (pleasantly). I went there once, twice... Haye you any (shoes) like these? 154 We had some a month ago/last month/last year etc. I'm afraid that I can't. I want to (see the dentist). Can't you wait till ...? 158 What do (we) need? (We) need a lot of things. (We) haven’t got much/many/ a lot of (butterjeggs) at all (She) needn't buy any (eggs), but she must buy some (butter), I must go to the (grocer’s) to get some (groceries). 162 viiPage 41 (He's) having a bath. 166 Have a (cigarette). (We) can have dinner. (We) had/didn’t have (lunch). What did you have? I'm nearly ready, 42 I’ve alreadyjjust had 170 Have you had . . .? Let’s go 43 Have you just been to the cinema? 174 T've already seen it. I have never been there. Have you ever been there? T’ve already done so/I did so. 44 Have you/Has he etc. finished 178 yet? (They're) still working on it. They're trying to... 45 I believe that... May I. . . (= permission). How long have you (lived) here? T have (lived) here for/since twenty years/1947 How much does it cost? 182 46 IJwe shall/you/he/she/it/they will 186 (see him) tomorrow/tomorrow morning etc. Yes, (I) shall/No, (1) shall not (shan’t). Yes, (he) will/No, (he) will not (won't). When will. . .? I think that 47 He was there during the war. 190 He will (fly to New York) next month/ the month after next etc. Echoed questions: affirmative only. 48 At nineteen minutes past 194 eight/eight nineteen In (five hours’) time. We've got plenty of time. The clock’s ten minutes slow. What's the exact time? We'd better viii 49, 50 51 52 53 34 55 Is this mine/yoursjhisjhers? Are these ours/yours/theirs? Does this belong to me? ete, Do these belong to you? ete. Who do they/does it belong to? say/think]believe/know/ understand/be afraidjbe sorry/ be sure that... Let (me) help you. Try and stand up. Echoed questions: negative. (He) says/thinks/believes/knows/ hopesfis afraid/is sorry/is sure (he) ‘What else (does he say)? Question tags: negative- affirmative: He doesn’t say very much, does he? etc. (1) could answer the questions. ‘They were very easy. (1) couldn't answer the questions. They were too difficult, The questions were easy enough for me to answer. The questions were too difficult for me to answer. How about you? That's why I could/couldn’t T want/don’t want (you) to (come)... Tell (him) (not) to (come) . . . How do you spell . . .? I'm sorry about that. Question tags affirmative-negative. Would you like to. . .? Could you (show me) It’s (smaller) than It’s the (smallest) infof . ..j 1 have ever seen. Shall 1 (make some coffee)? I've got very little/a little. I've got very few/a few. I've got more/the most/less/the least/fewer/the fewest. It is better/the best/worse/the worst. Page 198 202 206 210 214 218 22256 It’s morejless (expensive). It’s the most/least (expensive). Ws as (good) as it’s not as (good) as . . 57 T've got no (cake/biscuits), I've got none. Neither (have) I So (have) I. $8 Every/No/Any/Some compounds, There’s none left. Have something to drink. They must be somewhere. 59 When (he was going) into the dining-room (he dropped) . . . Just as he was . While she (was cooking), he (was working) in the garden. We both tried... He had already (swallowed them). 60 Afier they (had entered) the house, they (went) We had had dinner before they (arrived). It was (dark) so they (turned on a torch). 61 The man/men{womanjwomen whojthat The man/men/woman/women whom/that . . . The book/books/dog/dogs which] that... I forgot to... He (didn’t, did) he? 62 The man/menjwomanjwomen (standing behind the counter), (He) is the (man) (I served). That’s the man I told you about. That's the ship I travelled on. . during the trip. 63 I have to/Do you have to I shalll have to/Will you have to... Thad to/Did you have to... Thave had to/Have you had to. Page 226 230 234 238 242 246 250 254 I needn't (Ill have tea) by myself. 64 (He) can’t be ill/Danish/a dentist/forty/reading etc. (He) must be ill/Danish/a dentist/forty/reading etc. I think so/f don’t think so. T hope so/I hope not. 65 (He) can’t have been ill) Danish/a dentist/reading ete. (He) must have been ill/ Danish/a dentist/reading ete. You'd better not... 66 (We) may (go abroad). (He) may be (reading). (He) may have been (reading). It takes (a long time). 67 He said (that). . . He told me (that) . .. . he was going to/he felt/he had finished. 68 He said (that) He told me (that) . he would/could/might . 69 If (I win a lot of money, 1) shall . If (he wins a lot of money, he) will... If (you feel better, you) can 70 Tell (me) if}why ... He wants to know if/why/what/ when . I don’t know what . 71 It isithey are (opened) regularly, He is/they are (invited) regularly. It was/they were (opened) this morning. He was/they were (invited) this morning Page 258 262 266 270 274 278 282 286 ixPage 72 It isjthey have already been 290 (opened). He is/they have already been (invited), It hasn’t/they haven't been (opened) yet. It/they will be (opened) soon. He hasn't/they haven’t been (invited) yet. Hejthey will be (invited) soon,General Principles To the Teacher Learning a Foreign Language in the Classroom Traditional methods of learning a foreign language die hard. As long ago as 1921, Dr Harold Palmer pointed out the important difference between understanding how a language works and learning how to use it, Since that time, a great many effective techniques have been developed to enable students to learn a foreign language. In the light of intensive modern research, no one would seriously question the basic principles that have evolved since Palmer’s day, though there is considerable disagreement about how these principles can best be implemented. Despite the great progress that has been made, teachers in many parts of the world still cling to old-fashioned methods and to some extent perpetuate the systems by which they themselves learnt a foreign language. It may, therefore, not be out of place to restate some basic principles and to discuss briefly how they can best be put into effect in the classroom. Learning a language is not a matter of acquiring a set of rules and building up a large vocabulary. The teacher’s efforts should not be directed at informing his students about a language, but at enabling them to use it. A student's mastery of a language is ultimately measured by how well he can use it, not by how much he knows about it. In this respect, learning a language has much in common with learning a musical instrument. The drills and exercises a student does have one end in sight: to enable him to become a skilled performer. A student who has learnt a lot of grammar but who cannot use a language is in the position of a pianist who has learnt a lot about harmony but cannot play the piano. The student’s command of a language will therefore be judged not by how much he knows, but by how well he can perform in public. In order to become a skilled performer, the student must become proficient at using the units of the language. And the unit ofa language is not, as was once commonly supposed, the word, but the sentence. Learning words irrespective of their function can be a waste of time, for not all words are equal. We must draw a distinction between structural words and lexical items. Words like I, you, he etc. are structural. Their use can be closely defined; they are part of a gram- matical system. Words like tree, plant, flower etc. are purely lexical items and in no way part of a grammatical system. From the learner's point of view, skill in handling structural words is the key to mastering a language, for the meaning that is conveyed in sentence-patterns depends largely on the function of the structural words that hold them together. It is possible, though this has yet to be proved scientifically, that every student of a foreign language has what might be called a ‘language ceiling’, a point beyond which he cannot improve very much. If we accept this supposition, our aim must be to enable every student to learn as much as he is capable of learning in the most efficient way. The old-fashioned translation and grammar-rule methods are extremely wasteful and inefficient, for the student is actually encouraged to make mistakes: he is asked to perform skills xiWhat has to be learnt Present-day techniques and the classroom xii before he is adequately prepared. Teachers who use such methods unwittingly create the very problems they seek to avoid. At some point in the course their students inevitably become incapable of going on: they have to go back. They have become remedial students and the teacher is faced with the problem of remedying what has been incorrectly learnt. No approach could be more ineffective, wasteful and inefficient. The student should be trained to learn by making as few mistakes as possible. He should never be required to do anything which is beyond his capacity. A well-designed course is one which takes into account what might be called the student’s ‘state of readiness’: the point where he can proceed from easy to difficult. If the student is to make the most of his abilities, he must be trained to adopt correct learning habits right from the start. The student must be trained adequately in all four basic language skills: understanding, speaking, reading and writing. In many classroom courses the emphasis is wholly on the written language. The student is trained to use his eyes instead of his ears and his inability to achieve anything like correct pronunciation, stress and intonation must be attributed largely to the tyranny of the printed word. If the teacher is to train his students in all four skills, he must make efficient use of the time at his disposal. Efficiency presupposes the adoption of classroom procedures which will yield the best results in the quickest possible time. The following order of presentation must be taken as axiomatic: ‘Nothing should be spoken before it has been heard. Nothing should be read before it has been spoken. Nothing should be written before it has been read, Any language course represents an attempt on the part of its designer to implement a number of basic principles. To do this, the designer will inevitably draw on techniques old and new which wil best fulfil his purpose. A great many terms are used today to describe new methods and it may be of help to define and illustrate some of these terms in the light of this course. Structural Grading: grading sentence-patterns in order of increasing difficulty and complexity. It is, or should be, an obvious requirement of any course that it should proceed from easy to difficult without sharp breaks or sudden ‘jumps’. In a carefully graded course, the student learns to use a few patterns at a time. Ideally, these patterns should be interrelated and should be presented in a carefully ordered sequence. In traditional courses, grammatical items are often artificially grouped together. For instance, all the personal pronouns may be presented in a table which the student is expected to learn. The table is presented in isolation and is divorced from any context. But learning facts about the language in this way is of no real help to the student, for he is in no position to apply what he has learnt. In a structurally graded course, the student acquires a little information at a time and learns to make meaningful statements. He therefore learns to use relatively simple structural words like personal pronouns over a long period, instead of being given a large, indigestible dose of information at any one timeThe teaching of grammar Contextualization: presenting grammatical items in a meaningful context When a student has practised a new pattern orally, he should encounter it, if possible, in an actual text so that he can see how it has been used. Obviously, such texts have to be specially written by the course designer. New items are introduced into a natural context: they are ‘contextualized’. In well-written contextualized passages, the reiterated patterns should be unobtrusive: their use should strike the listener as being inevitable rather than artificially superimposed. This is a highly effective way of presenting the student with new information. Situational Teaching: teaching a language by presenting a series of everyday situations. In this method, little structural grading is possible. The situation takes precedence over the structures. The patterns that are included arise naturally out of the situation itself: they have a thematic sigt ficance rather than a structural one. This system has serious drawbacks. The dialogues which the student hears are refreshingly natural, but the teaching of basic patterns inevitably becomes much less controlled. Structurally Controlled Situational Teaching: teaching a language by means of a series of everyday situations, while at the same time grading the structures which are presented. This method makes use of all the techniques outlined above: structural grading, contextualization, and situational teaching. In the early stages it is possible to use very few patterns indeed. This means that the ‘situations’ are often unconvincing and barely possible. Despite this disadvantage, it would seem to be one of the best methods for learning a language. for it is possible to exercise linguistic control and yet to present new information in an interesting way. Presenting new information is one thing: getting the student to apply the new information another. So far, we have been concerned with how to present the student with new material; but how is he to apply what he has learnt? The basic aim in any language is to train the student to use new patterns. In traditional textbooks, all information is presented in the form of ‘rules’ which the student applies in a series of disconnected sentences by filling in blank spaces, or by giving the correct form of words in brackets. It has become abundantly clear that this approach to language-learning is highly ineffective. It encourages the teacher to talk about the language, instead of training his students to use it, The emphasis is on written exercises. The greatest weakness in this approach is that the student cannot transfer what he has learnt from abstract, exercises of this kind to other language skills like understanding, speaking and creative writing. In modern textbooks, the aim is exactly the same: the student must be trained to use patterns. Before considering how this can be done, it should be noted that the patterns in a language fall into two distinct, categories: progressive and static. For instance, learning how to answer and to ask questions involves the use of progressive patterns, They are progressive because the student’s skill in handling these complex forms must be developed over a long period. beginning with a simple response like *Yes, it is’ and culminating, towards the end of the course, in complex responses like “Yes, I should, shouldn't I". A static pattern, on the other hand, like the comparison of adjectives can be xiiAudio visual aids and translation xiv taught in a limited number of lessons, not over a long period. This distinction between progressive and static patterns is rarely recognized in traditional textbooks. The result is that even advanced students are often incapable of handling progressive patterns with any degree of skill Progressive patterns should be practised through comprehension exercises which require the student to answer and to ask questions which become increasingly complex as the course proceeds. The student should be trained to give tag answers; give answers to ques- tions beginning with Who, Which or What; make negative and affirmative statements to answer double questions joined by or; answer general questions which begin with question-words like When, Where, How etc.; and at each stage, the student should be trained to ask questions himself. It is obvious that these skills cannot be dealt with in one or two lessons: the student requires practice of this kind in every lesson. At the same time, static patterns should be practised by means of drills which make use of language-laboratory techniques. In each of these drills, the teacher seeks to elicit a particular kind of response. He provides the student with a stimulus to elicit the new pattern in a series of oral drills until the student is able to respond accurately and automatically, Each new pattern is not presented as the exemplifica- tion of some abstract grammar-rule, but as a way of saying something and no further explanation or elucidation is necessary. The student is trained to use correct forms automatically, rather than by applying ‘grammar logic’. Where explanation is necessary, it can be done by relating a new pattern to one that has already been learnt. If, for instance, the student has learnt the use of ‘must’, he can be taught the use of ‘have to’ by being made to see a meaningful relationship between the two. In certain language-laboratory drills. the stimulus the teacher provides may be given in the form of ‘call words’. Let us suppose that the teacher wishes to elicit the responses: ‘I can’t buy very much” and ‘I can’t buy very many’. The drill might be conducted in the following way: TEACHER: What about pencils? ‘StupenT: | can’t buy very many. ‘TEACHER: What about coffee? Stupent: I can’t buy very much In this particular exercise, the teacher would supply countable and uncountable nouns in the question ‘What about . . . as ‘call words’ Traditional filling-in-the-blank exercises still have a place in a modern course, but with one important difference: they should not be used as a means of teaching new patterns, but as a means of consolidating what has been learnt. They are an end, not a means to an end. In this respect, they are extremely useful in tests and can be employed for diagnostic purposes or to enable the teacher to assess terminal behaviour. In a monolingual course we are faced with the tremendous task of having to convey meaning without making use of the student's mother tongue. It follows that textbook illustrations become extremely important: at the beginner's level. they are far from being merely decorative. However, textbook illustrations have severe limitations, for many of the statements that are made in everyday speech are not visually presentable. Some linguists have experimented with artificialNatural English The teacher's book and the students’ book visual devices which require the student to interpret each illustration according to particular rules. They have evolved what might be called a ‘visual language’ which the student has to master before he can begin the course. The difficulty here is that if the student fails to interpret, an illustration (and this can easily happen) he will fail to understand, or even worse, he will misinterpret what he hears. At the beginner’s level, this difficulty can be resolved in two ways. Where the meaning of a statement or a series of statements cannot be adequately conveyed by the illustration, the teacher should make use of gesture and mime, If the student still fails to understand, the teacher may translate, providing that he translates lexical items and not patterns. In this instance, translation is used not as a ‘method’, but as a means to an end. As such it can be extremely useful and time-saving. There is a great temptation in the early stages to encourage the student to make statements which he will never have to use. State- ments like ‘I have a nose’, ‘Have you a nose? ‘Is this my foot?’ are ridiculous. This distortion of the language can never be justified. After all, the whole point of teaching a language is to train students to make useful statements which might normally be made in real-life situations. This criterion must be observed at the most elementary level. The peculiar type of “textbook English’ which is to be found in many traditional courses must be avoided at all costs. In the past, no distinction was drawn between information intended for the teacher and information intended for the student. Everything was printed in one and the same volume. Early in the course, the student would find extremely complex information in his book like: ‘With most nouns the plural is made by adding “s” to the singular’ or: ‘We form the negative of the verbs “to be” and “to have” by putting “not” after the verbs’. Now it is inconceivable that any beginner would be able to understand such instructions. What is more, from the learner’s point of view, this information is totally irrelevant: it is really telling the teacher what to teach Inevitably, books which attempt to address both the teacher and the student at the same time are unattractive in appearance. Excessive use is made of different type sizes, heavy print, footnotes etc. The pages are cluttered with information. It should be recognized that the students’ book is not a vehicle for conveying information, but an aid for practising the language. It should be pleasing to look at and attractively laid out. It should only contain material which the student will actually use. At the beginner's level, a teacher's handbook is absolutely necessary. This should be in every way complementary to the students’ book and should contain practical information and material which will be used in each lesson ~ not merely hints and suggestions. At the intermediate level, the teacher’s handbook becomes less necessary, for the student is in a position to work from printed instructions. Ideally, the students’ book should be interleaved in the teacher’s book as this relieves the teacher of the tedious task of having to work from two different books (often with different page numbering) at the same time. The material should be laid out on facing pages for easy reference. XVSpeed and intensity Levels Traditional courses are often divided into “lessons’, but these ‘lessons’ do not take into account what can be done in an average teaching period of forty-five minutes or an hour. They simply consist of ‘an amount of information’ and may run on for a great many’ pages. In the classroom, one of these ‘lessons’ might drag on for weeks because so much has to be done. A lesson must be precisely what the word implies: an amount of material that can reasonably be covered in a teaching period, possibly with additional material which can be done as homework. In other words, a lesson must be considered as a unit of instruction and no more. Now it is extremely difficult for the course designer to decide what can be done in an average period. Obviously a class of bright students will cover more ground than a class of less able ones. This problem can be overcome if the lesson contains material which can be omitted at the discretion of the teacher, providing that these omissions do not hamper the students” progress. Finally, it might be worth noting that a full-scale course would resolve itself into three parts, each of which would consist of two stages: Stage I: Pre-elementary level. Elementary level. Stage 2: Pre-intermediate level. Intermediate level. Stage 3; Pre-advanced level. Advanced level. About this Course From Theory to Practice: basic aims This course attempts to put into practice all the theories about language learning outlined above. Briefly, the aims may be stated as follows: 1. To provide a course for the secondary school or adult beginner. No previous knowledge is assumed. There is sufficient material for one year's work which will completely meet the requirements of the pre- elementary and elementary levels. It is assumed that the student will be able to work at the course for a complete academic year of about thirty-six weeks, It is also assumed that the student will receive about four hours instruction each week: i.e. four one-hour lessons on four separate occasions, or two ‘double periods’ each consisting of two hours or ninety minutes. The student will receive most of his training in the classroom and will be required to do a little extra work in his the student in all four skills: understanding, speaking, reading and writing — in that order. The exercises in this course are largely aural/oral. Full-scale training in the written language should only be undertaken when this course has been completed. 3. To make it possible for the teacher to use in the classroom many of the techniques which have been developed in the language laboratory. It must be clearly understood that this course has been designed entirely to meet the needs of the teacher working in the classroom, not of the student working on his own. 4, To provide the student with a book which will enable him, with the aid of a teacher, to use the language. 5. To provide the teacher with well co-ordinated and graded material which will enable him to conduct each lesson with a minimum ofThe components of the course A description of the course preparation. Taken together, the students’ book and the teacher's book form a complete course: it is not possible to use one without the other. 6. To provide the teacher with recorded material which can be used in the classroom and language laboratory. It must be emphasized, however, that this is in no way a full-scale language-laboratory course. It is essentially @ classroom course, designed primarily for teachers who have no access to a language laboratory. The recorded drills are only intended for teachers who make use of a language laboratory at regular or irregular intervals (o supplement drills done in the classroom. The course consists of the following: The Students’ Book. The Teacher's Book. Supplementary Written Exercises. Six 5-inch (13 cm.) long-playing tapes (length: 900 feet), playing at 33 ip.s. (9'5 cm.p.s.) on which selected drills have been recorded. Two 44-inch (11 cm.) long-playing tapes (length: 600 feet), playing at 34 i.p.s. (9:5 em.p.s.) on which the passages have been recorded, A handbook containing the tapescript of recorded drills. In this course, two lessons, each of about an hour's duration, are considered as one teaching unit. The student will spend about an hour on each lesson and will complete two teaching units each week. There are seventy-two teaching units in all, that is, sufficient material for thirty-six weeks’ work ‘The Students’ Book The first part of each teaching unit consists of a structurally controlled situational dialogue or narrative piece in which the new linguist features introduced in the lesson are contextualized, The passage will be used for aural/oral training, reading, and practising. progressive patterns ‘The second part of each teaching unit usually consists of sets of numbered illustrations which will be used for auraljoral extension exercises. Where possible, new vocabulary items are not presented in print until the student has mastered them orally. The new linguistic features introduced in the contextualized passage are isolated and drilled intensively. This oral work is followed by a very short written exercise which seeks to consolidate skills which have already been acquired. The Teacher's Book The Students’ Book is interleaved in the Teacher's Book and all the material is laid out on facing pages. This will enable the teacher to work from it single volume. In the first part of each teaching unit, the teacher is provided with the following information: Content and Basic Aims: A list of patterns, structural words and content words which the student will actually use, General Remarks: A summary of the main purpose of the lesson. Aural/Oral Procedure: A summary of the procedure employed to teach the structurally controlled situational dialogue or narrative piece. xviiComprehension Questions: Examples of the graded questions to be asked and the sort of response which should be elicited to train the student in the use of progressive patterns. Pattern Drill: A brief drill on a particular difficulty is given occasion- ally, or the ground is prepared for the extension exercises which are to follow in the second part of the teaching unit. Activities: Material is provided for songs and there are suggestions for games and oral composition. In the second part of the teaching unit, the teacher is provided with material to practise the new patterns. These exercises take two forms: Repetition Drills and Pattern Drills. Pieces for Dictation are recom- mended from Teaching Unit 17 onwards. ‘The Tapes Two sets of tapes accompany the course for use in the classroom and the language laboratory. (a) Six S-inch long-playing tapes. On these, selected drills have been recorded for use in the language laboratory. There are seventy-two drills in all, each of which lasts approximately 3} minutes. These drills are intended for teachers who have access to a language laboratory and who make use of it at regular or irregular intervals. They may be used after the drills have been practised in the classroom. The drills are four-phase: stimulus/response/ correct response/ repetition. Most of them are based on the illustrations in the students’ book. The student will therefore use his book not only in the classroom, but also in the laboratory. The drills have been published in a separate book which is available to teachers. Detailed information about the drills and suggestions on how they may be used will be found in the introduction to this publication (b) Two 44-inch long-playing tapes On these, the seventy-two dialogues and narrative pieces have been recorded at slightly less than normal speed (120 words per minute). These tapes are intended for use in the classroom when the teacher is carrying out the auraljoral procedure suggested for each lesson, The recorded passages may therefore be used for aural comprehension and repetition work. The teacher may, however, choose to work without these tapes if he wishes — in which case he will have to read the contextualized pieces himself. Vocabulary Range As one of the basic aims is to enable the student to use a number of high-frequency patterns rather than to build up a large vocabulary, the lexical range has deliberately been kept small. Most of the words used are derived from the General Service List of English Words, compiled and edited by Dr Michael West. The total number of content words (excluding structural words and colloquial expressions) is not more than 700. The content vocabulary is practised again and again with a large number of different patterns and in different contexts. How to use this Course The teacher's notes xviii The notes which accompany each teaching unit should be treated as suggestions, The teacher may depart from the scheme that is laid down if he wishes to, or he may omit any exercise which does not seem to suit his purpose. However, the intention behind the notes is to enable the teacher to drill the patterns that are introduced. The exerciseswithin each lesson are, where possible, graded in order of increasing difficulty. This means that if there is insufficient time, the final exercises may be omitted without seriously hampering the students’ progress. Each teaching unit provides enough material for two hours’ work. If the teacher can only devote forty-five minutes to each part of the unit, he may edit the drills to suit the time at his disposal. All instructions and comments like Listen, Sit down, Say it again, All together, etc. which any teacher might use while conducting a lesson should be given in English. In the early stages, the meaning of these expressions may be conveyed through gesture and mime. Such patterns must be regarded as extraneous to the course, unless they are formally introduced. For the purpose of this course, it is not assumed that a student is familiar with a pattern until he is actually made to use it. That is why many of the instructions commonly used in the classroom are not given in the pattern and vocabulary lists which precede each lesson All the information in the notes is given under headings and each item will now be considered. Content and basic The information given under these two headings summarizes briefly aims—general what will be taught in terms of patterns and content words. This remarks summary is purely for the teacher's information. Aural/oral Detailed instructions are given in the first two teaching units. From procedure then on, a summary of the procedure is printed in each lesson, It takes the following form: (a) Listening (Books shut) (b) Listening and Understanding (Books open; pictures only) (c) Listening (Books shut) (d) Listening and Chorus Repetition (Books shut) (e) Listening and Group or Individual Repetition (Books shut) (8) Reading Aloud: Chorus, Group or Individual (Books open) Let us see how this works in practice: (a) Listening (Books shut) Play the recording or read the passage once. Teachers who choose to read each passage should do so at normal speed. The student should listen only. This should be done from the very first lesson to train the student in aural comprehension. As the course progresses, the student should be able to understand a fair amount even at first hearing. (b) Listening and Understanding (Books open; pictures only) The student covers up the text with the mask provided. He now looks at the pictures while the recording is played again (or the passage is read to him by the teacher). It is extremely important to ensure that the student is looking at the pictures and not at the teacher or the tape-recorder. The pictures on the right of the dialogue are meant to express visually what is being heard, The pictures are numbered (usually 1-7) so that the teacher can make sure that the students are looking at the right picture. The teacher should call out the numbers. to relate text to picture: ‘TEACHER'S VOICI One. Text OF DIALOGUE: My céat and my umbrélla pléase. ‘TEACHER'S VOICE Two. TEXT OF DIALOGUE: Hére is my ticket. xixTrAcHER’s voice: Three. Text OF DIALOGUE: Thank you. sir. Number five. ete. This is an extremely important part of the lesson as the student must make every effort to understand the text through the pictures. The recording may be played (or the passage read) several times — depending on how much lesson-time is available. If the students fail to understand the meaning of the statements from the pictures (and this will inevitably occur at times), the teacher should explain by gesture and mime. If he still fails to communicate the meaning, he should translate lexical items only, not patterns. Translation, however, must be regarded as a last resort only. This difficulty of conveying meaning is acute in the early stages, but becomes less of a problem as the course progresses. (©) Listening (Books shut) The students now listen to the dialogue once more. They should be in a position to understand it completely. (a) Listening and Chorus Repetition (Books shut) The teacher reads each statement in the dialogue at normal or slightly less than normal speed and the class repeats after him in chorus. It will be noted that the texts are often laid out in broken lines: cach line represents the amount that should be repeated in class. The teacher may get the class to repeat, either by giving the instruction All together! or by some such device as tapping on the desk immediately after reading a line: TeACHER: My céat and my umbrélla pléase. All together! Cass: My céat and my umbrélla pléase. Teacher: Heére is my ticket, AM! together! Ciass: — Hére is my ticket. etc. ‘The markings provide a rough guide to stress and intonation and are meant to ‘support’ the recorded texts (e) Listening and Group or Individual Repetition (Books shut) Getting the whole class to respond in chorus is an extremely useful device — especially when teaching large numbers. It ensures that everyone gets some oral practice and enables the shy learner who would otherwise keep silent to join in, Chorus responses can, however, get very ragged and even out of hand. It is therefore a good idea to follow up chorus responses with small group or (if there are not too many students in the class) individual responses. AL this stage in the aural/oral procedure, the teacher reads each line in the dialogue at normal speed and small groups or individuals repeat after him, It is up to the teacher to decide on the size of the groups. In a large class (up to forty students) a row of students could form a group. In smaller classes (up to twenty-five students) two or three sections could be formed. In small classes (up to twelve students) it may be found convenient to test individuals. (1) Reading Aloud: Chorus, Group and Individual (Books open) So far the students have been made to listen to a dialogue, to understand and to repeat it. They have used their ears and have not seen the printed text. They are now ready to see the printed text for the first time and to read it aloud. The text may be read after the teacher first in chorus, then in small groups. Finally, individual students or pairs of students may read the dialogue aloud on their own. It is important to train the students to read complete phrases, not word by word. The broken lines of the text represent ‘reading units” which match the students’ eye-span. The students may pause very briefly after each line, not after each word. The stress marks willComprehension questions serve to remind the students of the reading they have heard and practised. The recorded texts follow the printed markings exactly. It must be emphasised that the markings are only an indication of the way the passages might be read, as obviously, the pattern of stress in any statement is often a matter of opinion. The aural/oral procedure should take approximately twenty-five minutes. As the students progress, the teacher may simplify the Procedure if he wishes so that more time can be devoted to the exercises that follow. Progressive patterns are practised throughout the duration of the course by means of comprehension questions on each dialogue and narrative piece. These questions should be asked immediately after the auraljoral procedure has been completed. As the progressive patterns are practised over a long period, it does not matter if the student fails to understand complex forms like asking questions using the simple present or past when they are first introduced. With the gradual accession of new patterns, the comprehension questions become increasingly complex and varied as the course progresses. Five distinct exercises finally evolve. (a) To elicit: Yes|No tag answers The student must be trained to listen to the first word in each question and to use the same word in his answer. (There are obvious exceptions to this rule where questions begin with ‘Are you... 7” ‘Were you... and in some cases “Must you. . . 7") TeACHER: Are Jean and Jack in the garden? STUDENT: No, they aren't. TEACHER: Are they in the kitchen? SrupeNt: Yes, they are. Examples of the type of question to be asked are given. The teacher must devise the remaining questions himself. (b) Questions with Who or Which To elicit: a subject followed by an auxiliary. ‘The student must be trained to supply the correct auxiliary verb in answers. In most cases, the auxiliary verb which will be used in the answer is contained in the question (e.g. Who is... ? Who was... 2). When the question is in the simple present or simple past, however, the student must supply dojdoes/did in his answer. TeacHer: Who is in the garden? STUDENT: Sally is. But note: TEACHER: Who goes to school every morning? StupeNT: Sally does. TEACHER: Who went to school yesterday? Srupent: Sally did. Examples of the type of question to be asked are given. The teacher must devise the remaining questions himself. (c) To elicit negative and affirmative statements This is an extremely useful exercise as it enables the student to practise verb forms when making negative and affirmative statements. The teacher asks double questions joined by or. The correct answer is, of course, contained in the question itself, TEACHER: Did Sally go into the kitchen or into the garden? STupENT: She didn’t go into the kitchen. She went into the garden. Examples of the type of question to be asked are given. The teacher must devise the remaining questions himself. xxiExtension Exercises xxii (a) General Questions: When, Where, Why, How etc. The student now answers general questions about the dialogue. Do not insist on complete answers where they would not normally be given, Teacuer: Why did Sally go into the garden? Srupent: Because she wanted to play. Not She went into the garden because she wanted to play. Examples of the type of question to be asked are given. The teacher must devise the remaining questions himself, (e) Asking questions in pairs In order to understand the function of question words well, the student should be trained to ask questions in pairs. In this way he will learn that the addition of a question word in no way affects the basic form of the question, Intensive training of this sort prevents the student from using incorrect forms like ‘Where he went? etc. The student first asks a question using an auxiliary verb. Then he asks the same question again preceding it with a question word Teacuer: Ask me if Sally is in the garden Srupenr: Is Sally in the garden? Teacuer: Where . . . Srupent: Where is Sally? Examples are given. The teacher must devise the remaining exercises himself. Suggestions for activities are usually given at the end of the first part of each teaching unit. If there is insufficient time, they may be omitted altogether. Every effort should be made to introduce activities occasionally as they liven up the class and make language learning an enjoyable task. Three forms of activity are suggested Games There are a number of ideas for games which enable the students to practise particular patterns. Oral Composition The students may be asked to reconstruct the dialogue by referring only to the pictures, Adult students are usually too self-conscious to ‘act’ the dialogues in class and this is a good compromise. It is an extremely valuable exercise in recall and helps to lay the foundations of speech. Singing Throughout the course the teacher is referred to Time for a Song compiled by W. R. Lee and M. Dodderidge (Longman). Suitable songs for older students have been recommended from this book for community singing. The songs selected usually contain a pattern that has just been learnt and will serve as useful reinforcement material. In Time for a Song the teacher is provided with words and music. A recording of the songs is also available. This completes the first half of the teaching unit and represents approximately one hour's work. The student then proceeds to the Extension Exercises which make up the second part of the teaching unit. In the students’ book, the page facing the dialogue consists of numbered pictures and sometimes printed words and statements. As was pointed out earlier, where possible, a new word is printed afterRepetition drills Pattern drills it has been learnt orally. That is why this page often consists only of pictures. With the aid of these illustrations, the student will practise particular patterns (both progressive and static, depending on the lesson). ‘The Extension Exercises usually begin with a short drill which deals with a special problem: e.g. the use of numbers, dates, telling the time, the use of the alphabet and spelling difficulties, etc. Difficulties of this, sort are practised over a very long period and are not dealt with in single lessons. The student then continues with Repetition Drills and Pattern Drills. The students refer to the illustrations in their books and repeat certain patterns in chorus, small groups or individually after the teacher. The new patterns which were introduced in the contextualized dialogue are now isolated and practised intensively ‘These make up the main part of the lesson. In these drills, the teacher seeks to elicit a number of different patterns from the class. The students may respond in chorus, small groups or individually: this is left for the teacher to decide. Each time a new pattern drill is introduced, the teacher should illustrate the type of response he requires. He may do this orally, or by writing the response on the blackboard. It should not be necessary to give grammatical explanations. Each new pattern should simply be presented as a way of saying something. However, the way new patterns are to be presented is left to the teacher's discretion. When conducting a drill, the teacher provides a stimulus and the student responds to it by referring to his book To elicit statements involving the use of the present perfect. Teacher: Look at the first picture. What has she just done? STUDENT (consulting illustration): She has just aired the room. Teacuer: Look at the second picture. What have they just done? SrupeNr (consulting illustration) : They have just cleaned their shoes In a number of drills, the student is not required to refer to illus- trations but to make use of ‘call words’ which are supplied by the teacher. The call words to be used are always provided in the teacher's notes and are drawn only from vocabulary the student knows well. Here is an example of this type of exercise: To elicit statements involving the use of very much and very many: I can't buy very much/many. TEACHER: What about pencils? Srupent: [can’t buy very many. TeAcHeR: What about coffee? Stupen: I can’t buy very much. The following call words will be substituted in the question “What about . .. ?: bread, cheese, soap, steak, biscuits, eggs, vegetables, fruit, flowers, cakes, paper, ink, glue, clothes, aspirins, medicine, jam, honey, envelopes, magazines, wine, milk. The Pattern Drills are followed by written exercises. xxiiiWriting Testing Homework Additional reading material Written exercises take two forms: structural exercises and dictation. Structural Exercises In the first few teaching units, the student begins with copying before proceeding to actual exercises. Examples of the script used and the iype of answer to be given are always printed in the students’ book. Tt should be noted that in the early stages the instructions for the written exercises, though simple, will be outside the students’ vocabulary range and will have to be explained. The aim of these exercises is not to teach the new patterns, but to reinforce and con- solidate what has been learnt orally. They should always be done after the oral exercises have been completed and may be set as homework. The student must not merely fill in blank spaces but copy out the whole exercise. A separate book of Supplementary Written Exercises is also available for students requiring additional written practice. Dictation Dictation exercises are not introduced till Teaching Unit 17. No ‘unseen’ dictations are given. The teacher always dictates the answer to the written exercise given in the preceding teaching unit. There is sufficient material in the Extension Exercises for about one hour’s work. As the exercises are arranged in order of increasing difficulty, it is always possible to omit the last few if there is insufficient time. A test is included in the middle of the course to enable the teacher to assess the students’ progress. ‘The Tapes Apart from being given written exercises, students who possess the tapes should be encouraged to play the recording of the new dialogue several times at home and if possible to memorise it. They should also be advised to practise the recorded drills. Taken together, the seventy-two passages form a carefully graded and structurally con- trolled survey of elementary English. All the passages are short and easy to memorise and will enable the complete beginner to use the language with increasing confidence and skill. Supplementary Written Exercises The additional exercises provided in this separate publication may also be set as homework. One set of exercises is given for each Teach- ing Unit. The student should be encouraged to read as much as possible outside the course. In this respect, the course has been designed to enable the student to do this without difficulty. The patterns that are taught are derived from the Structural Tables that form the basis of Long- man Structural Readers series. At certain points in the course, the student will be able to read a set of Structural Readers. He will have no difficulty in understanding them as he will be familiar with all the patterns and most of the vocabulary contained in them. The students may use the Readers at the following points in the course: