Although the title of this workshop seemed to indicate that the speaker would be addressing techniques to motivate advanced students, in reality she spoke to the audience about a series of activities which may be engaging for learners. Here are two of the most interesting that came up:
1. Sentence starters
e.g. If I wasn’t a teacher, [I’d be a... because....]
Not many people know that I’m particularly interested in...
By this time next year, [I’ll have...]
If I didn’t have to work to earn money, [I’d...]
One of my most memorable experiences is...
Put these on the board (decide if you want to elicit/give the continuing structure in [] brackets), and give students slips of paper, asking them to choose and complete three of them. Then get them to share and discuss their full sentences in small groups. Elicit feedback on the more interesting ideas.
2. Skills: freer-speaking activity. Breaking down a topic.
To give us an example of ‘breaking down a topic’, the speaker took the example of the topic of ‘sport’. She explained that ‘sport’ may not be particularly interesting to some students but by ‘breaking down’ the subject, it may be presented from different angles.
For example, for ‘sport and leisure’, the following questions may be written on pieces of paper for students to discuss in small groups:
a.Is a global event like the Olympic Games more about politics and money than sport itself?
b.Are hobbies only for people who have too much leisure time?
c. Is formula 1 motor racing really a sport?
d. Who is your country’s most famous sportsperson? How are they a reflection of national identity?
e.Which sports are most popular in your country?
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