Teaching likes and dislikes and free time activities

Workshop notes and worksheets written by Alex Case (alexcase@hotmail.com, www.tefl.net/alexcase), July 2008

To do

I wasn’t very inspired by this topic, so you might want to look at polishing it up. For example, the warmer for this session (doing some games) is the same as the last session, and Parts C and D are not particularly interactive.

Materials

One copy of Worksheet 1 (”15 games for likes and dislikes” article from the TEFL.net Ideas Thinktank page) per trainee, to be given out at the end of the workshop to take away.

Workshop notes

Part A: Warmer- Likes and dislikes games

Getting trainees playing some of the games from Worksheet 1. (Don’t give out the worksheets until the end of the workshop)

Filler: brainstorm more games for this language point
Part B: Language learning preferences

Elicit which of the games you played contain discussion of language learning. Elicit which ones could be adapted to include it.

Answer: A couple of the games are already about language learning, and every game can be used that way if you just tell students to talk about that topic or give them vocabulary or sentences to use that are about learning English

Brainstorm and discuss what things JHS students like doing, and how we can adapt that for the classroom, e.g. they like watching TV, so we can use videos, recommend English language programmes or give them a project or presentation topic connected to TV.

Part C: Vocabulary for talking about free time activities

Go through some ideas of how to teach and practice this language, e.g. spider diagrams, labeling diagrams, picture dictionaries, presentations, projects and internet research.

Part D: Hobbies and likes typical mistakes and difficulties

Run through some typical mistakes

“I play with my friends” not suitable for teenagers and adults
The confusion between “I really don’t like” and “I don’t really like”
Lots of “Japanese English” of hobbies, e.g. anime (in English only refers to Japanese animation, not Disney etc),  paper driver, golden week, golden hour, lots of baseball and other sports vocabulary, etc.

Part E: AOB

Ask if there are any questions and give out the copies of Worksheet 1 for trainees to take away.