850. Good performance? After drilling down over and over



One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “I’m intent on my classes should be communicative; for example, by using the target language also when dealing with just the regular conducting of the class: like when we’ve got to discuss about some change in the calendar of classes for a coming short period. So, first I try my students and I would talk in English about that change, with the aid of the whiteboard.

Nevertheless, lately I’m re-discovering that drill exercises are also good practice for learning English. I’m referring to a classical exercise where for example the students must decide whether to use present simple or present perfect to fill out the blanks. Precisely this kind of exercise makes students think of the language, of the grammar of the language, and as a result this provides a basis for a later use of the language in more naturalistic and communicative activities; in this case they learn to talk about their lives, their experiences, by means of present perfect: ‘I have never worked in a greenhouse’.

Drill exercises train the students to be ready to respond in later more communicative and naturalistic situations. However, be careful: I’d tell you not to confine the classes of English and the homework you assign to super massive drill practice.” / Photo from: autoevolution com. the 2011 le mans racer medium _1   

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