LESSON OVERVIEW

This lesson focuses on common English responses used as spontaneous reactions in daily life. Students get the opportunity to practise them through a variety of activities, including an interactive video.

COMMON ENGLISH RESPONSES

The lead-in starts with a list of common English responses commonly used in everyday life (e.g. Hurry up!, Have fun!). Students have to imagine real life situations in which they would use them. Their next task is to analyse pairs of dialogues where the same quick response is used in two different contexts. They have to match them with their meanings in the adjacent column (e.g. Cheers to say thank you or Cheers before a toast). Both activities lead to a discussion about reactions to similar situations in students’ native languages as well as other expressions in English typically used for saying that we agree with someone, feel sorry or surprised. These three categories are the focus of the next activity. Students look at ten more quick responses and decide which category they belong to (e.g. Sounds good! – agreeing).

CONTROLLED AND FREE PRACTICE

In the second part of the lesson students practise the common English responses learnt earlier through a variety of activities. First, they read four casual dialogues, identify the wrong responses and replace them with the adequate ones. Then, they watch an interactive compilation video showing scenes from popular films. The dialogues between the characters are unfinished and students have to complete them spontaneously with the common English responses from the first part of the lesson. The final task is based on six photos of people in day-to-day situations for which students have to create conversations. Turning it into a role play activity, with stronger students acting out their dialogues, will definitely make it more memorable and realistic.