Aim : 

In terms of subject matter:  to revise  ‘Question types’,  and apply different types of questions in dialogues devoted to leisure activities; 

In therms of thinking: to teach sorting and choosing parameters /features.

Materials: 

1)  video clips from www.youtube.com (Conversation Skills - Asking Questions - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnUGtUE6lkQ );

2) slips of paper with examples of 4 types of questions;

3) a table with WH-questions

4) Charlie Adam answers kids questions for LFC TV - Small Talkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG4kQRTTTFA

Tasks:  Warm-up- students are watching an interview extract and develop their own questions to the same person; 1) sorting out questions into 4 types;  2) watching a video and guessing questions; 3)  work in pairs - guessing questions out of answers; 4) developing own questions for an interview and taking an interview.

Legend: You have to prepare quesions in order to intervew a celebrity about his/her life and interests.

Procedure:

Warm-up: students are watching one part of an interview with a football player and develop their own questions for him.

Task 1 -  Students receive slips of paper with questions and answers and are asked to  group them into 4 question types (Yes/No questions; WH-questions; Alternative questions and Tag questions) name and characterise each type of questions (when applied, what is the structure, what is specific about answer).

Task 2 – Students are watching a video and guessing  questions out of given answers. Focus is on the question structure.    

Task 3- Students work in pairs playing the same game – guessing questions out of given answers, using the given WH question pattern.

Task 4 – Students  develop their own questions (minimum 2 questions from each type- all in all at least 8) for an interview with a famous person or groupmate in a written form and take an interview. Peer- evaluation: the interviewee evaluates how correct and interesting were the questions.

Learners’ response:  Some learners identified more than 4 groups of questions, but could not explain how they differ. It was not very easy to develop names for each question type, describe the structure and say when each type of questions is applied.

Teacher’s role:  I had to give more examples of particuar questions to help students in guessing when and why particular questions are used.

Reflection:  Students really like sorting as a form of activity, but explanation why something is the case is not always that easy for them. I think that the warm-up activity helped students to identify their strengths and weakneses in asking questions, and then they were ready to investigate question types and structures. In the Task No 1 it was important to decide on which features to concentrate. So, if question is an Element, it could have features, such as  1) Question words; 2) Answers; 3) Sentence structure; 4) Conjunctions; etc.

Tasks 3 and 4 were aimed at practicing new knowledge and revision.

Sample slips of paper with questions and answers

Do you live here? – Yes, I do. / Yes, I live here. – No, I don't. / No, I don't live here. Does Bell work? – Yes, she does. – No, she doesn't. Did you like the film? – Yes, I did. – No, I didn't like the film. Are you reading now? – Yes. / Yes, I am. / Yes, I'm reading now. – No. / No, I am not. / No, I'm not reading. Who are you playing tennis with on Friday? – I'm playing tennis with Maria. Who did she make a pie for? – She made a pie for her co-workers. Is your house large or small? – My house is small. / It's small. Are you a first-year or a third-year student? – I'm a third-year student. You live here, don't you? Yes, I do. / Yes, I live here. (agreement) No, I don't. / No, I don't live here. (disagreement) You don't live here, do you? No, I don't. / No, I don't live here. (agreement) Yes, I do. / Yes, I live here. (disagreement) It was difficult, wasn't it? Yes, it was. / Yes, it was difficult. (agreement) No, it wasn't. / No, it wasn't difficult. (disagreement) It wasn't difficult, was it? No, it wasn't. / No, it wasn't difficult. (agreement) Yes, it was. / Yes, it was difficult. (disagreement) You can swim, can't you?