$trictly 4 my T.E.A.C.H.E.R.Z

So, I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions much.

However this year I’ve got several students preparing for First Certificate, and my goal is that they all pass.  So, if that counts as a New Year’s resolution, so be it, though I reckon it probably just falls under the rubric of “bare minimum of professionalism”.  It’s what they’re payin’ me for, right?

Anyhow, part of the whole deal of preparing intermediate learners for this exam is beating them over the head with phrasal verbs.

The classic “reversi” game as presented in M. Rinvolucri and Paul Davis’s More Grammar Games gives us a way of making the process of learning phrasal verbs at least a bit more fun.

Works great with groups, yes sir.  I encountered a problem, however, in my one-to-one classes.  Since I knew all the answers (obviously, I was the one who designed the cards and made the sentences…), there was no challenge and no real motivation.  Until I struck upon a solution…

The typical process is this:

1. Make the cards for the game.  Write a target sentence that demonstrates the meaning of the phrasal verb in question, i.e. They were giving out fliers to everyone at the metro stop, on one side of the card.  On the other side, write the exact same sentence with a non-phrasal verb synonym on the other side, in this case something like, They were distributing fliers to everyone at the metro stop. It takes time to amass a good number of cards, but it’s worth the effort.  I use index cards, pencil, and a colored pencil to distinguish the phrasal verb and non-phrasal verb side.

2. The game itself.  Most of you are familiar I imagine with Othello, the old game with black-and-white discs, but here’s the basic mechanics of its TEFL equivalent.  Let’s say there are two players or teams, A and B.  A is the phrasal verb side, B the “non”.  Each side places two cards like so.

A                B

B                 A

The first player to make a move (A) places a card to “threaten” the opponent’s card, like so:

A                 B              A    <–

B                 A

A must give the phrasal verb for the sentence on the “threatened” card.  For example, if the card says, The machine occupies a lot of space, they must answer “The machine takes up a lot of space.” They then flip the card over to see if they have correctly guessed.  If they have no idea, they can look at the other side of the card for future reference, but must replace it as it was.

B then has the chance to “capture” one of A’s cards.  They do this by placing one of theirs such that A’s card is between two of their own, like so:

A               B                A              B     <–

B has to give the non-phrasal verb “translation” of the sentence on the card in question.  So, if the card says Tim and Sandra broke up, they have to answer “Tim and Sandra separated.”

Etc., etc.  The winner is the one with the most cards of their color (phrasal verb or non-phrasal verb) at the end.

As I said before, using this game for one-to-one classes is tricky.   Unlike in other pairwork type games in which the teacher can easily adopt the role of the “other student” (i.e, your typical “secret choice” type games), this won’t cut it because the teacher is 1) an expert in English (presumably!) and 2) the one who wrote all the sentences on all the cards.

The way to do it is to make a small change to the procedure.  Instead of each side “attacking” the other’s cards, so to speak, the student must “attack” the teacher’s cards and “defend” his own.

So let’s start with two sides,  Teacher and Student.

S                   T

T                   S

S starts by placing a card to threaten the teacher’s card.

S                    T                    S               <–

T                    S

S tries to guess the phrasal verb (or non-phrasal verb, depending “who’s who”) on T’s card.  If he is correct, the card flips over to his side.

Then it’s the Teacher’s turn, who places a card like so, for example:

–> T                 S                   T                    S

However, instead of the teacher simply saying the correct answer for the card in question and mercilessly flipping it over himself, the student now has the opportunity to defend his card by giving the correct answer to the card the teacher just placed. (This way the teacher can choose a particularly tricky one to spice the game up or an relatively easier one to boost their spirits if need be.)

This obviates the teacher having to do the transformation, instead putting the responsibility on the student.

This game is extremely confusing to explain in writing for some reason, so forgive me if you have no idea of what I’m talking about.  If you put it into practice my variation here is quite self-explanatory and so intuitive as to not even really be worth mentioning.  But I just felt like I should share.

In case this seems like a weak offering, I’ll include some example sentences (not all phrasal verbs lend themselves well to one word translations, obviously, but here are some that have come up in some courses):

They carried on with the meeting as usual.           They continued the meeting as usual.

I finally gave up smoking last month.               I finally stopped smoking last month.

The police are looking into the matter.                 The police are investigating the matter.

They agreed to put off the meeting until next week.           They agreed to postpone the meeting until next week.

They were giving out fliers to everyone at the metro stop.         They were distributing fliers to everyone at the metro stop.

Tim and Sandra broke up. Tim and Sandra separated.

The machine takes up a lot of space.             The machine occupies a lot of space.

I came across some old photos in the attic.            I found some old photos in the attic by chance.

She turned down John’s invitation to the dance.             She refused John’s invitation to the dance.

Our company will not put up with discrimination.                Our company will not tolerate discrimination.

Chris and Robin called off their wedding!                 Chris and Robin cancelled their wedding.

Etc., etc.  Mr. Rinvolucri suggests a set of 36(!) cards.  So get crackin’.

Ah, yes, and Happy New Year.   And to all you teachers with students trying to pass their language exams, best of luck.  They’ll probably need it.