Revista simpozionului Eficienta si calitate in educatie 2018 Revista simpozionului | Page 28

CERTAIN POSSIBLE
My boss is away on holiday. He might leave this evening.
etc.
The modal structures are highlighted. The teacher offers permanent feedback.
Exercise 2
It is a fill-in exercise. This type of exercise is very efficient at the beginning of a
teaching-learning sequence but the teacher must pay special attention to some
details. The students often write the answer in isolation in their exercise book.
Even when the exercise is done orally, the students are tempted to answer with
words in isolation. This means they do not hear a complete sentence at any stage.
So, the transfer to spontaneous language will be difficult if this kind of exercise is
not followed by freer kinds of practice. Having these in view, the teacher must
insist that the students write full sentences and then continue with different types of
activities, rephrasing for example.
Exercise 3
This is a conversion exercise. The fact that we have a situation and a character will
make it more enjoyable: “Some interviewers are waiting for Julie to show up for a
job interview. She is late. The interviewers offer some possible explanations. They
use may and might (not).”
The students are asked to express the same idea by rephrasing the initial
sentence. As compared to completion exercises and substitution drills, they require
the use of a different form, maybe a change in word order, the introduction of new
elements or even considerable restructuring of the sentence. They help the
students to develop flexibility in the selection of formal structures and express
meanings in various ways.
e.g. Perhaps her train is late.→ Her train may be late.
Exercise 4
This rephrasing exercise focuses on past possibility: may/might have. The teacher
reminds the students that in the case of might the degree of uncertainty is higher.
The principles are the same as in the previous exercise.
Stage 4: PRODUCTION – COMMUNICATION
Exercise 5
This is a more creative activity asking the students to speculate about the man in
the picture. They have the chance to formulate the sentences themselves. The
teacher encourages communication and fluency at this stage. This can be done
orally and then the written version can be assigned as homework. This is a round
up activity which closes the lesson in a relaxed and pleasant way.
WORKSHEET – Possibility
Exercise 1
Read the sentences and decide if they refer to certain or possible situations. Write
them in two columns.
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