2 Classroom English

Objectives
On completion of this lesson you will be able to
 identify useful classroom expressions
 use classroom expressions meaningfully

How do you greet your teacher in the Morning?

How do you ask permission to enter the class?

Activity1 Group

Look at the following conversation between the students and the teacher in a
classroom and enact it before answering the questions that follow.

Teacher: Good morning!

Students: Good morning!
Teacher: Ready?
Students: Yes!
Teacher: What were we discussing in the last session? Can anyone tell us?
Ananda: Tenses.
Teacher: Good. To be precise, which tense?
Students: Past perfect tense.
Teacher: Very good. Now let’s start discussing the next tense. Look here and try to
identify the verb in these sentences. (The teacher writes the following sentences on
the board)

1. I had been living there for four years.

2. She had been working there for ten months.

Teacher: Ravi, can you come over here and underline the verb in the first sentence?
Ravi: Yes, I can. (Ravi underlines the verb)
Teacher: Very good…. and Vani, can you come over here and identify the verb in
the second sentence?
Teacher: (Finding Vani nervous): Come on! Don’t be nervous. You can do that.
Vani gets assured and underlines the verb.
Teacher: That’s very good. Now open your books at page ten and complete the
task at the top of the page.
A few students: Sir, please repeat the instruction. What you said was not clear.
Teacher: What I said was ‘Open the books at page ten and complete the task at the
top of the page.’

Q1. What does the teacher mean when he says ‘Ready?’?

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Q2. Can you guess the meaning of ‘here’ in “Look here”?
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Q3. What does the teacher say to help Vani overcome her nervousness?
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Q4. What do the students say to request the teacher to give the instruction again?
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Activity2 Individual

Look at the following expressions and say whether they are likely to be used by
the teacher or the students.
1. Copy this in your books. Teacher / Student
2. Don’t start yet. You can start now. “ “
3. Can I talk to my partner as we do this? “ “
4. How many letters can we use? “ “
5. Go back to your place. “ “
6. Please give some more examples. “ “
7. First listen and then repeat. “ “
8. Settle down! Let’s not waste time. “ “
Activity 3
What are some common class room expressions used by students in the class in the
following situations?

1. Greetings
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2. Ask for permission to leave the class

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3. Ask the teacher for a clarification

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4. Ask the teacher for a similar word in your mother tongue

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5. Ask the teacher to extend the dead line for a submission

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 By the teachers By the students

That’s all for today.. How do I say that?

How many are absent today?
Were you present on that day?
Let’s start the lesson.
Open your books at page 10.
Turn to page 10.
Look at the first activity on page 24.
Say it again.
Why don’t you say it loudly?
Not all at once!
Read the whole sentence.
Who knows the answer?
Say it after me.
Go on, Suresh.
Copy this in your books.
Can you find what is missing here?
Will you complete it in five minutes?
Who is your partner?
Don’t have a discussion.
I think it your turn now.
Start now without wasting time.
Sit back-to-back.
Stand in a circle.
Raise your hands.
That’s much better now.
Come to the front.
Can you all see?
Stop talking and listen to the dialogue.
Please be quiet.
Settle down first.
Stand side by side.
Work in groups of three.
What did you say, Rani?
Help my hang it there.
Do you understand?
Can you speak louder?
What does it mean?
What is the Telugu word for it?
I was absent on that day.
May I ask a question?
I’d like to answer.
I haven’t understood it.
Can you please repeat it?
I don’t have the book.
Which page did you say?
We will form into a pair.
Both of us will do that.
Can we have a copy of that?
How to begin it?
It is not easy.
Please permit me to go out.
Please permit me to attend the class.
I need to go to the bank.
I don’t find that task on page 10.
I will submit the notes tomorrow.
Where shall I keep this?
Shall I switch on the fan?
Shall I keep the door open?
Please explain it again.
Where should I write the address?
Can we go a little early today?
Why can’t we have a class there?
That room is not clean.
That fan won’t work.
The lights are on.
Vijay is absent today..
Do you need some more chalk?
Please check my note book.
Please suggest changes, if necessary.
He is not in the room.
All the students have left.
Tomorrow is a holiday.
Next session is on Tuesday.

Activity4 Group
Form groups. Discuss the expressions given below.
Guess the situations in which they are used in the class.
Assignment-1

Fill the blanks with suitable expressions.

Teacher: Sharif, Why are you not doing the task?

Sharif: Sir, _____________.
Teacher: Why? I think you had a book with you.
Sharif: Yes sir. I had one but _______________.
Teacher: Where is John?
Sharif: __________________________today.
Teacher: In that case, why don’t you borrow a book from them?
Jane & Jagan: Instead of that, he can sit here and do the activity with us.
Sharif: ___________________ and we as a group will do that task.
Teacher: Ok. ___________________ in ten minutes.

Assignment-2

Using the following expressions, develop a conversation between the teacher and
the students. It is not necessary that they should be used in the order you find them.

Good morning. Have a nice day. Do you understand? So, how many tenses are
there? That’s right. Let us discuss the present tense in detail tomorrow. Tense
means a form of a verb. Doesn’t it mean time? Can you answer?