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Who's coming to dinner?

I am grateful to Florencia Henshaw for reminding me in a recent webinar she took part in with Joe Dale of this communicative task, which is a variation on the classic balloon debate. You might be able to come up with other variations or twists. Below is how I describe it (taken from a document on frenchteacher.net). The task is really aimed at advanced level students, but might work with very high-performing GCSE students (CEFR level A2/B1).

Do go and check out Florencia's YouTube channel, by the way. Here is the link to the webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnOxZrQ3Oko&t=3065s

Remember that a key aspect of this type of task is to create a need to communicate and collaborate, to use language for a purpose and prioritise meaning over focus on accurate form. As a teacher, therefore, your role would be to offer support, help with vocabulary and grammar where requested, and provide correction only where error seriously hampers meaning.

Who’s coming to dinner?

This is a collaborative task where students have to decide who they wish to invite to a dinner party.

Carried out in groups of about four or five, depending on the size of your class.

Instructions

Each student must, without conferring, choose three people they would like to invite to dinner. They can use any criteria they wish. They write down notes or a paragraph justifying why they have chosen each of their three people.

 

Model to show students (French)

J’ai choisi David Attenborough, qui présente des documentaires sur les animaux, les plantes et la protection de l’environnement. Je l’ai invité parce que je pense qu’il aurait des histoires remarquables à raconter et parce que je le trouve très sympathique. En plus le changement climatique et l’environnement sont des sujets auxquels je m’intéresse beaucoup.

 

After about ten minutes, each group member should present the case for each of their chosen dinner guests.

Then the group must collaborate and decide between them which three people they wish to invite. Once the decision is made, one member, with help from friends, presents their choice to the class and the teacher.

 

Language to display (French example)

To provide some scaffolding for the task you could display the language below.

On devrait inviter – we should invite                          Je suis d’accord – I agree

Je ne suis pas d’accord – I don’t agree                      Le problème, c’est que - the problem is

Mon choix est meilleur – my choice is better             Si nous invitions – (what) if we invited

Il/Elle serait – He/She would be                                 J’aurais du mal à - I’d have a problem

Je m’entends mal avec – I get on badly with             Ce qui m’inquiète – what worries me

J’ai peur que (+ subjonctif) – I fear that                      Il me semble que – it seems to me that

           

Twist

You could give each group member an imaginary identity. The imaginary person could have some personality characteristics, political views, prejudices etc. Provide each student with a card describing the imaginary person.

Example card details

Name: Paul Leblanc

Age: 40

Job: computer analyst

Interests: film, computer games, historical novels, travel

Political views: conservative, anti EU, anti immigration

Favourite people from history: Winston Churchill, Marie Curie, Alan Turing


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