Getting students more involved in the tasks


Štěpánka Bilová Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic


The paper presents four activities which enhance students' efforts when preparing for their English
for Specific Purposes classes. Their homework includes pre-session activities in which the students
ought to obtain necessary knowledge for the topics explored in the lessons, and post-session tasks
in which the students show the understanding of the topic taught. Originally, I employed variations
of traditional comprehension exercises, e.g. “read the text and answer the questions”, “write a
summary of the topic from the lesson”. It often happened that the students produced a piece of work
which showed they had misunderstood the instructions or the theme, or which included simple “copy
and paste”. I started to modify the tasks in order to increase the students’ achievement by
encouraging their critical thinking and supporting their creativity.


In the first activity the students are asked to prepare slides for a presentation. The source text
remains the same, nevertheless, the outcome takes a significantly different form. The students are
instructed on the principles of preparing successful slides, and they submit them before the class.
The teacher can easily identify problematic areas and provide feedback at the beginning of the
lesson. The slides are then a basis for group minipresentations.


Another option for preparing a presentation or a discussion is to set a piece of audio homework.
The students learn about the features of written and spoken texts and about the rules for
transforming a written piece into an oral delivery. Then they are to transform a short formal text
into a presentation and to submit the task as an audio recording. It is advisable to set a time
limit (e.g. 2 – 3 minutes). The students can use their mobile devises for recording, or there are
various online resources or software available on the Internet.


The following two activities employ discussion forums. The students can show their understanding of
a topic or a text by answering a question in a discussion forum. This task was inspired by web
pages in which people ask questions and receive answers from others who are willing to share
opinions, facts and experience. The teacher starts a fictitious discussion open only to their
students. The following fabricated post comes from legal English classes, the aim is to understand
the work of barristers and solicitors: “Hi, I’m Bob and I’d like to become a solicitor, but my
brother says that a barrister would be better. What’s the difference between them?” The teacher can
also supply a sample answer which can encourage discussion by e.g. including false or partial
information.


The fictitious discussion forum can be set as an online professional web site providing expert
advice. In our case “London Lawyers Online”. The teacher prepares clients' questions which the
students (as “lawyers”) react to. They can also comment on their peers' answers, correct or
complete them. The following example of a “client’s” post concerns revising different types of
business: “I'm thinking about starting a restaurant with two friends of mine as business partners.
Could you tell me what to be careful about? Thank you very much. Jonathan Miles”.


The aspects which brought the greatest differences in the new activities compared to the original
ones are twofold from my point of view.  The first concerns the audience. No longer is the teacher
the only reader, he or she is to a great extent substituted by the peers (and “pretended” virtual
readers). The students realize that they do not just submit “something” to the teacher, it is
obvious from the very beginning that their piece becomes a source for further work in which all
students participate. The second aspect involves wider possibilities of feedback. The teacher and
students can analyze not only the context and the language, but also the register and impact on the
audience.


I cannot claim that, with the new tasks, all students submit perfect pieces of work, however, it is
evident that the students engage themselves more in the tasks and, moreover, during each activity
there are more opportunities for the students to comprehend the topic and the language. The slides
and audio tasks can lead to a group presentation or discussion. In the discussion forums the
students produce a lot of material which requires their critical reading and, at the same time, is
open for their creativity. In general, the new tasks become more personalized, engaging and
enjoyable, and the students acquire more practice.


                                                                                 bilova@law.muni.cz