CELTA – setting up activities

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 CELTA – setting up activities

Instructing concisely, precisely and assertively

1. What I’d like you to do now is I’d like for you to go ahead and ask your
neighbour what it is they might have been doing on New Year’s Eve, OK ?
Ask your partner: What were you doing on New Year’s Eve ?

2. Maybe if you could, I would really like you to if you could now just stand,
stand up yes everyone please, sorry.
Stand up everyone.

3. So, why don’t we now have a look at the man in this

picture – your task is to try to think with your
partner what you think he might have been thinking
about.
What is this man thinking about? Talk with your partner.
4. If you could maybe just try to have a chat about this possibly with your
nearest partner in pairs, please?
Talk about this in pairs.
5. I wonder if you could possibly just move your chairs a little bit and maybe
try to get yourselves in groups of 4, in groups of 4, OK ? OK ?

Move your chairs . Make groups of four.

6. Imagine if you happened to be in this situation – would you be able to tell
me how you think you might possibly be feeling in that moment?
In this situation, how do you feel ?

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 CELTA – setting up activities

VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS
Here are some instructions given by a novice teacher. Why did the class have problems with them? What
was the activity exactly?
TEACHER - Ok, everybody, would you, Maria, sit down. Now what you I want you to do is this, you have to..,

1 I’m going to give you a handout and when you take this handout that I’m handing out now- sorry about the
copy the copier is out toner – they said they’d fill it up later so it’s a bit– (teacher distributes handouts) now
some of you are “B” wait ! no, keep it secret, and some of you are “A” , it’s written on the top you can see
there. Ok you can look at it, don’t show your paper to anyone and then you have to describe it to your
partner, sit face to face, that’s right but try moving your chair all the way yeah all the way round, ok, that’s
better, ok and describe what you have so your partner can find what’s different, (some students start the
activity) and you must agree, then when you find something, draw it on your paper. Ok, you got it? Is that
clear? Yes, I think so, ok,
Students- some nod, some active, some silent, some start asking their partner what’s going on.

Based on this “negative model” – come up with some do’s and don’t’s for instruction giving.
do’s don’t’s

Here are suggestions about giving instructions, what possible problems are there with them ?

3 • use full sentences

• don’t use the imperative – be polite , don’t order them about
• speak slowly
• always repeat the instructions!!
• ask “what do you have to do?” to check that they understand

The following instructions are from different lessons – re-instruct in 7 words or less and/or a gesture.
1. If I were to ask you for your opinion on the topic of •
4 genetically modified food, what do you think you might say
to me in reply to that ?
2. Would you like to tell everyone the answer you were thinking •
of again because I don’t think they heard it when you spoke
so quietly and I’m sure we’d all be interested in hearing it if
you could please?
3. Well that wasn’t really what I was hoping you’d say when I • .
asked that question. I was actually looking for name of the • .
verb tense not an example sentence but what you gave me
was fine only does anyone I wonder have the answer I’m
looking for?
4. It’s the unit on er travel somewhere it’s near the middle, page • .
35 and 36, can you find that? Have you got it , no, not that • .
one, the next unit , and take a look at the introduction, read • .
it through quickly and jot down what you think to the
questions on the bottom of the page sorry the top over there
over the illustration.

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 CELTA – setting up activities

HOW TO SET UP TASKS

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 CELTA – setting up activities

Preparing VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. ok everyone !
2. Now we’ll play a game to practice…
3. You’ll work in pairs.
4. There are 2 pictures of a train station; they look the
same but they are not
5. INSTRUCTIONS
• keep the picture secret
• describe something in your picture
• your partner looks for a difference
• if he/she finds a difference, they draw an X
6. DEMO
7. ICQs
• Do you show your picture to your partner ?
• Do you describe something in the picture ?
• Do you need to look for a difference in your picture ?
• If you find a difference, what do you do ?
• Are you writing sentences ?
Draw this on the board to help (or show a photo)

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
 CELTA – setting up activities

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Starting set-ups
a) What’s a good way to get the attention – of the group ? of individuals ?
Why not “if I could just have your attention for a moment please” ?
b) Why not start with “I’m gonna give you this handout”?
c) When do we tell ss the aim of the task ? Why do this?
d) Critique this: “Now another exercise!”
e) Why do we not physically move ss around before instructing ?
f) Why not distribute the materials right away before instructing?

Instructions
g) Why not instruct: “think with your partner” or “ try to think...” ? can you
come up with more effective action words ?
h) Critique this: “Fill the gaps”
i) What’s problematic with phrasing instructions like this: “I want you to...”
or “you have to...”? What could work better ?
j) Would it work just to say: “Now do exercise 5” ? What extra is needed ?

ICQs
k) Is it a good idea to check whether they are working in pairs with an ICQ ?
l) Is it worth checking that ss know they should use target language to do
the task ?
m) How many questions to ask ?
n) Why not “ok, so tell me what are we doing ?/ ‘so what do you have to do
?’

Finishing off the set-up

o) Why do we use a flat hand to divide the class into pairs ?
p) Why set a timelimit near the end? Why not set it at the outset ?
q) Why not say “OK I think about 2 mins is enough for this task – so just see
how much you can do in that time” ? What’s better ?

The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.