Are there times we shouldn’t speak a foreign language in public? An inspirational lesson plan for your students

Given the recent discussion I had with my peers on Facebook about Dilma’s attempt to speak French on TV (check out the BrELT group on Facebook if you work with ELT), I’ve decided to share this lesson plan with you guys. I’m sharing a dropbox link:

 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qhlk8337kiclh2n/AACDvYT0pwKTsLo7tdL26FMRa?dl=0

There are two ppt lessons and a video (with Obama, Hollande and Dilma speaking languages) that can be used for both. These two lessons should be done with CEFR-B1 and CEFR-B2 groups (you can even try with C1 groups as well). The first version is a revision of modal verbs and advice and the second is about conditionals.

PS: they were designed to be inspirational and critical thinking-based lessons to arouse discussion, and make students think of themselves as language speakers in the world. That’s why the grammar part is not the focus, however, you can expand it or adapt whichever way makes more sense to you and your groups.

Let me know if you liked them, and, if the answer is YES, tell me if you want me to plan one for A1/A2 levels.

LESSON PLAN 1 – B1 (modals can, should, must and advice)
Intended Learning Outcome: By the end of the class, students should be able to produce a guide containing advice to public speakers/leaders on how to use foreign languages in public events

SLIDE 1: Ss write their two situations on a piece of paper and share in pairs. Allow 3 minutes for discussion.

SLIDE 2: Instruct Ss to discuss the two claims with: I totally agree, I don’t agree completely, I totally disagree. Vary the patter of interaction (trios or groups). 5 minutes should suffice. Then, check the whole class, and the percentages of: I totally agree, I don’t agree completely, I totally disagree for each claim

SLIDE 3: Make trios with one of each answer (if possible) from the previous exercise. One S who totally agrees, another who partially agrees and the last who totally disagrees. Have them discuss the new sentences and write their opinions in post-its. The idea is that they should reach a consensus in 5-7 minutes and have only three opinions in the group (one for each sentence). However, if it’s impossible to reach a consensus, tell them it’s OK to have more than three opinions in the group (the maximum will be 9 if each S has a different opinion about each sentence). Ss attach their post-its on the wall and everyone walks around the class to check everyone’s opinion. Tell them to draw a checkmark on the post-its they most agree with and select the most popular opinion at the end.

SLIDE 4: Follow the title of the slide (suggested pattern of interaction: pairwork). This is the perfect opportunity to check understanding and add more exercises with the modal verbs.

SLIDE 5: Play the video you can find on dropbox and pause between parts 1, 2, and 3, allowing Ss to share their feelings about each part. Open for discussion and check who students criticize more. This is a great opportunity to remind your Ss that they can try to speak English in any situation (if you agree with that, of course).

SLIDE 6 and SLIDE 7: These slides are printable. Divide your class into two large groups, and each group gets either Slide 6 or Slide 7. They have to complete the sentences (they can write on the back of the card). Ask Ss to stand up and come to the center of the classroom facing one another from the other group. Choose a row of students to walk at your signal. They should either go one step left or one step right when you signal (clap, turn off the light, stop the music, etc.) The idea is that they’ll discuss their answers for 1 or two minutes with someone and then move to the side to discuss with another student. At the end, ask if they had similar sentences, and collect a few examples.

SLIDE 8: Follow the instruction (suggested pattern of interaction: groups of 4).

LESSON PLAN 2 – B2 (conditionals/if clauses)
Intended Learning Outcome: By the end of the class, students should be able to discuss real, unreal/hypothetical and past situations regarding their learning experience as an English student.

SLIDE 1 and SLIDE 2: Follow the same steps of the previous lesson plan.

SLIDE 3: In trios, Ss will discuss the four situations, and write down what they would do (max. 1 line) in a piece of paper. Ss fold their papers and T collects them, distributing them to other Ss, who will read and try to find out who wrote the answers. Allow Ss to stand up and look for the person who wrote the answer (if your classroom permits). Tell them to form pairs with the person the paper belongs to. Collect a few examples.

SLIDE 4: The new pairs discuss. This should be a simple and short activity (a lead-in activity to the video). Check the answers with the whole group.

SLIDE 5: Play the video you can find on dropbox and pause between parts 1, 2, and 3, allowing Ss to share their feelings about each part. Open for discussion and check who students criticize more. This is a great opportunity to remind your Ss that they can try to speak English in any situation (if you agree with that, of course).

SLIDE 6, SLIDE 7 and SLIDE 8: Follow the instructions (you can vary the pattern of interaction if you like) and check with the whole group. For SLIDE 8, tell them to grade the presidents in each category presented on the slide (from 0 to 10 or from F to A). Compare results with the whole group.

SLIDE 9 and SLIDE 10: These slides are printable. Divide the class into big groups and to half of the groups assign printable 1 (printable 2 to the other half) Tell everyone they have the same cards, even though the cards are slightly different. Allow Ss to discuss for about 5 minutes and monitor. See if the construction of the sentences will influence students’ opinion. Now, mix the groups. Make some Ss with printable 1 join a group with printable 2 and vice-versa. Tell them to share their opinions and see how long it takes for them to realize their sentences were different. To make it work better, when Ss change groups, don’t let them read from the card, ask them to use their memories. When they notice something is wrong, then tell them to read from their cards.

SLIDE 11: Follow the instructions and extend the debate. Make sure they use the conditionals at this stage.

Hope you liked it!