Teaching context for have something done

[joanne]

Hi madam Lucy,

I am a new CELTA candidate. It will be very nice of you if you could answer me how to briefly outline a teaching context for presenting the following languages.

1. It's too heavy to lift.
2. I had my suit cleaned.
3. I wish she could speak Spanish.
4. I wish she would speak Spanish.
5. She has to see the director.
6. She doesn't have to see the director.
7. I'd already read the book that I bought.

Thanking you,

Joanne.

[Lucy]

Dear Joanne,

Your question requires a very long answer. I have replied to one part. If you require a response to the other areas, I will be happy to do so. Please send in another question.

Target language: she had her suit cleaned.
Level: pre-intermediate adults
Sts are familiar with the following vocabulary: suit, nails, hair, clean, cut. They know how to produce the past participle (cleaned, cut, done…..). They know various pronouns: his, her, it, them, etc.

Introduce a situation such as a wedding, school reunion, important client meeting or interview. This can be done with a picture. Have sts talk briefly about their experiences, their opinions of such situations – do they enjoy them or not?

Talk about the amount of preparation required for such events, the time required and the fact that one person can’t or doesn’t usually do it all alone. Ask sts what the solution is or how they cope to elicit the fact that they pay somebody else to do the work for them.

Introduce a character with a picture. Explain that she went to a wedding last week. Then using pictures, introduce the following:

She didn’t clean her suit herself; she had it cleaned
She didn’t cut her hair herself; she had it cut
She didn’t do her nails herself; she had them done
She didn’t repair her shoes herself; she had them repaired

To check understanding, you can ask:

What was the suit like at the beginning? To elicit: dirty
What was the suit like later? To elicit: clean
Did she clean her suit? No
What happened? Somebody else did it; she had it cleaned.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck for the rest of the course.