Controlled practice bt 2012

with Graeme Hodgson

www.learningfactory.net graeme.hodgson@learningfactory.net

BACKGROUND
Adult students want to:


Deliberate Practice

Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson, a professor of Psychology
at Florida State University:

“The differences between expert
performers and normal adults reflect a
life-long period of deliberate effort to
improve performance in a specific domain."


Deliberate Practice

“How expert one becomes at a skill has more to do with
HOW one practices than with merely performing a skill
a large number of times. An expert breaks down the
skills that are required to be expert and focuses on
improving those skill chunks during practice… often
paired with immediate coaching feedback. Another
important feature lies in continually practicing a skill at
more challenging levels.”
- Anders Ericsson (1993)


Cognitive Theory

“Excellent performance
results from practicing
complex tasks that
produce errors. Such
errors provide the
learner with rich
feedback that results in
scaffolding for future
performance.”
- Mayer (2008)


Function of Drills (for Learners)

•Provide a focus on accuracy.
•Provide learners with intensive practice in hearing and
saying particular words or phrases.
•Provide a safe environment for learners to experiment
with producing the language.
•Help students notice the correct form or
pronunciation of a word or phrase.
•Provide an opportunity for learners to get immediate
feedback on their accuracy.
•Help memorization and automization of common
language patterns and language chunks.


General Guidelines on Drilling

 Better for Ss NOT to see the language written down
before they practice saying it (T models, S repeat)
 Give clear, natural and consistent models.
 Hand movements indicate intonation, beat stress
etc. Join or separate fingers to show word boundaries
and linking.
 Back-chaining helps focus on correct pronunciation
& intonation . It is also attention-grabbing!
 Vary drill in terms of who repeats: whole class, half
the class, boys, girls, individuals.
 Drilling should be done at a “snappy” pace.


Changing Pace by Drilling

Whisper drills (for quietening down a rowdy class)
Shouting drills (for livening them up )

Model saying things in different ways:
e.g. very happy, very sad, very bored, very excited, sleepy, angry
etc. (Model facial expression & get learners to do the same).


“Communicative tasks- yes – but there is also a definite need for
an explicit focus on form and meaning, and therefore for the
micro skills needed to do that. And this is often completely
lacking in teachers and in their training.”

“The micro techniques (eg: drilling, contextualizing, use of
substitution tables, etc) ...are extremely useful ... and will
enhance coursebook work.”

Jim Scrivener
IATEFL Conference,
Harrogate 2010)


 Relevance of repetition & “mental rehearsal” for fluency


“For years and years people learnt languages
with teaching methods that most modern
teachers would think were completely anti-
fluency. Grammar translation, audio-lingualism,
constant drilling and repetition. And yet, the
result of that was that some people became very
fluent. You just know them, you’ve met them,
you may be them.” (ABCI, 2010)


“For the last 15 or 20 years, sts have learnt
English using communicative activity after
communicative activity. Lots and lots of talking.
And you know what happened? Some of them
become very fluent and some of them, don’t.”
(ABCI, 2010)


“Once you’ve said: ‘Have you ever been to France?’
‘Have you ever been to France?’ ‘Have you ever been to
France?’ enough times, you can say ‘Have you ever been
to Fortaleza?’ ‘Have you ever been to Recife?’ ‘Have you
ever been to Salvador?’ ‘Have you ever been to Porto
Alegre’. You can say it easy, easy. But … the challenge for
you is…
Yes, repetition works, how can you make it work WELL?
What kind of repetition does the magic to the brain?
That’s my last question.”
(ABCI, 2010)

REPETITION DRILL

1. Teacher says a sentence/ lexical item;
2. Students repeat the sentence/lexical
item, in chorus;
3. After 2 or 3 choral repetitions,
conduct an individual repetition.
4. Teacher repeats procedures 1-3 using
the prompts suggested in the Teacher’s
Guide.

SUBSTITUTION DRILL

1. The teacher presents the basic structure that
students need to practice;
2. The teacher provides a cue word/expression to
substitute in a slot;
3. The teacher models the sentence;
4. Students say the new sentence, in chorus,
keeping the same pattern;
6. After 2 or 3 choral repetitions, T colIects
individual repetitions;

SUBSTITUTION DRILL

Example:

T: What’s your *name+? Stds repeat.
T: last name. (mime “hold on”)
T: What’s your *last name+? Stds repeat.

T: job
Stds: What’s your *job+?

QUESTION & ANSWER DRILL

1. Teacher asks a question;
2. Student answers the question.
3. Teacher asks stds to repeat either the
question or the answer (depending on the
focus of the drill) in chorus.

E.g. T: What time is it? [on the board - 5:30]
T: It’s half past five. (Student repeats)
Stds: It’s half past five.

DRILLS
Transformation drill

Student transforms sentence by making it negative or
interrogative, switching from singular into plural or by
changing tense, mood, voice, aspect or modality.

Open Pair drill

Student A or group A asks Student B or group B a
question, considering a prompt given by the teacher.
E.g. T: happy.
A: Are you happy? (Stds repeat)
B: B’s reply. (yes, I am./No, I’m not.)

CHAIN DRILL

1. Student A asks Student B a question;
2. Student B answers the question;
3. Student B asks Student C a question;
4. Student C answers the question;
5. The same procedure is repeated until all
students take part in the activity.
6. Correction permeates the activity, if
necessary.

References

• Tice, J. Teaching English, British Council, 2004.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/drilling-1

• Anders Ericsson, K. Krampe, R. and Tesch-Romer, C. The Role of
Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert
Performance. Psychological Review 1993, Vol. 100. No. 3, 363-406

• Mayer, R. E. Learning and Instruction. Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2008.


Thank you!

www.learningfactory.net


Controlled practice bt 2012

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