Do you fancy a break from the normal theme-based work, translation practice, listening test? Simple conversation starters can promote communication, provide input and interaction, help you get to know your students even better. This is an old favourite which requires zero preparation and can take conversation in unpredictable directions. Just give a short sentence starter like the following: “I feel happy when...” “I feel sad when...” “I am scared when...” “I was amazed when...” “I hate it when...” “I love it when...” You could just say the sentence starter and see what responses you get, then react to answers to build interesting conversation. Or if the class is less forthcoming, you could give them a few minutes to think and jot down some ideas before hearing what they have to say, or getting them to share in pairs or small groups. The advantage of you taking part is that the students get to hear higher quality input and you can choose what you want them to hear. The advantage of the
Task-Based Language Teaching gets a lot of support from the research field. Communicative tasks with a real purpose to fulfil, maybe a purpose related to ‘real life’, are claimed to be an efficient and enjoyable way to promote language learning. I first discovered this type of activity back in the 1980s when they were sometimes called Task-Oriented Activities. They were common in the field of EFL/ESL, but less known in MFL classrooms. A classic book setting out their justification, with examples you could adapt for MFL, was Discussions that Work by Penny Ur, subsequently rewritten years later. It’s worth seeking out still. My experience with communicative tasks was positive, but like some other teachers, I found them most effective with advanced students who have a much greater stock of vocabulary and grammatical skill to call upon. The biggest supporters of task-based methodology argue that they can work fine with younger learners if the emphasis of the task is on input, not output. O