CELTA Online

About Checking Meaning

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One of the most important parts of a lesson is to check meaning when introducing new language (vocabulary,
grammar, or functions).

Have a look at this complementary material (Q&As) to the course unit, and practice a bit further next:

1. When do I check meaning of the TL?

Meaning checking is the M in the MFPA. Let’s bring back the staging of a grammar/vocabulary lesson, and look more
deeply into the MFPA:

1. Lead-in
2. Clarification (MFPA) The clarification stage takes place when new language is introduced. So, for each item being
introduced, you will need to:
3. Practice Controlled a. convey meaning (pictures, gestures, anecdotes, descriptions, miming, etc.).
b. elicit the TL (give Ss the chance to come up with the TL. If they can’t, then the teacher says
Semi-controlled
it.)
Freer (communicative task) c. Check Meaning (use CCQs or any other meaning checking strategy to make sure Ss
understood the target language.)
4.Feedback on task + error correction d. Show the Form on the board
e. Work on the Pronunciation (have Ss drill the model sentence (grammar/functions lesson)
or the lexical item (vocabulary lesson).)
f. Show Appropriacy, when applicable.

As you can see, before MFPA, you will need to convey meaning, leading Ss to the target language, and elicit it, as
opposed to giving Ss the language in a deductive and lecture mode. Consequently, there is no systems lesson in
which you ‘teach’ Ss giving them the new language.

CCQs are just one part of the process.

2. So, do I check meaning in receptive skills lessons?

If you have decided to pre-teach vocabulary items before Ss deal with the text, then you will have to do the pre-
teaching the same way as shown above, conveying meaning, eliciting, checking meaning, showing the form, working
on the pronunciation, and appropriacy (if applicable). Only then will you move to the text phase of a receptive skills
lesson.

3. Are CCQs for vocabulary different from the ones for grammar?

Definitely. The first thing you should remember is that, when you teach grammar or functions, you will try to convey
meaning and elicit a model sentence. For instance, if you are teaching ‘used to’, you will need to help Ss come up with
a model sentence that illustrates it, for instance, “My brother used to smoke.” Then, you will need to divide the
meaning of the present continuous into parts and ask one question for each:

Meaning: ‘used to’ is used to describe actions that happened regularly in the CCQs: Did it happen in the past? (Yes)
past but do not happen anymore. Did it happen only once in the past? (No)
Does it happen now? (No)

However, when you teach vocabulary, you will try to convey meaning and elicit lexical items. For instance, if you are
teaching food, and one of the items you need to introduce is “flour”, then, you will need to divide the meaning of the
item into parts and ask one question for each:

Meaning: a white or brown powder made by crushing grains, and used for CCQs: Is it edible? (Yes)
making bread, cakes, and pasta Is it blue? (No)
Does it come from grains? (Yes)
 CELTA Online
About Checking Meaning
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Do’s and don’ts of CCQs:

Do’s Don’ts

 Use language that is simpler than the target language.
 Decide what answers you expect.
 Use yes/no questions and questions with one-word answers.
 Make sure you are checking the target language only.
 Prepare your CCQs before you teach and put them in your
lesson plan with the answers (Language Analysis Sheet)
 Use a grammar book or student dictionary to help you
understand the meaning, regardless of the level.
 Have too many questions.
 Use the target language in the concept check questions. E.g.
He managed to do it. “Did he manage to do it?”
 Forget to use CCQs in your lessons when teaching new
grammar and vocabulary
 Ask students “What does X mean?”, or “Did you understand
it?”

Making the difference between ‘context’ and ‘concept’.

It is not uncommon for trainee teachers to confuse concept and context, and write CCQS that do not really check the
meaning. For instance, when teaching couch, a trainee did the following:

1. convey meaning: the trainee showed a picture (Good!)

2. elicit the TL: as the picture was shown, the teacher asked Ss if they knew how to say it in English.
3. M: when checking meaning, the teacher offered the following questions as CCQs:
Is it a piece of furniture? (yes)
Is it small? (no)
In which part of the house does it go? (living room)
4. P: the teacher drills the item (Good!)
5. F: the teacher writes the item on the board, with stress and word class (Good!)

Looking at the questions, the first two are really CCQs, as they check the very concept of the item. However, the third
question will depend on the context: some people may have couches in the bedroom or in the balcony, which means
the answer may vary. Although the example above is simple, the third question could lead Ss to some confusion, as it
is a context-based question, and not a concept-check question.

Extra Practice

Look at the following items and write CCQs for them. The TL is in bold type. Then, check your answers on the next
page.

Grammar Vocabulary
1. It is going to rain. 4. The whole plan was a flop.
2. Brian has breakfast at 6:00 every morning. 5. Charles has a hectic lifestyle.
3. When John got home Sarah had been making dinner 6. I think Dereck’s too sensitive to deal with this.
for three hours.
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Checking meaning – Further Practice - Key
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GRAMMAR CCQs:

1. It is going to rain.
(Meaning: (1) used to make predictions about the future, based on evidence in the present (in this case, dark clouds))
 Is it about the present or future? (future)
 Is the speaker making a prediction? (Yes)
 What is the evidence for the prediction? (clouds)

2. Brian has breakfast at 6:00 every morning.

(Meaning: the present simple is used to talk about actions that happen routinely or are habitual.)
 Is it something that happens on a daily basis? (Yes)
 Is it a routine for Brian? (Yes)

3. When John got home Sarah had been making dinner for three hours.
(Meaning: the past perfect continuous is used to refer to an action that happened for a long time before another
action in the past took place)
 Did Sarah start cooking after John arrived home? (No)
 Did Sarah start cooking a short time before John arrived home? (No)
 Did she start cooking quite a long time before John arrived home? (Yes)
 Had she finished cooking before John arrived home? (Maybe)

4. The whole plan was a flop.

(Meaning: (informal) a big failure)
 Was the plan a success? (No)
 Was it a big failure? (Yes)

5. Charles has a hectic lifestyle.

(Meaning: full of busy activity)
 Is Charles’s life busy? (Yes)
 How busy? (Very)
 Does he have lots of time to do things? (No)

6. I think Dereck’s too sensitive to deal with this.

(Meaning: emotional and easily hurt)
 Is he rational? (No)
 Is he emotional? (Yes)
 Is he easily hurt / upset? (Yes)