Reported Speech
A Common Sense Approach
by Kendall Peet
- 5
Part Three: Approaches, Methods, and Materials Available to Learners Working on Reported Speech.
When approaching the task of teaching reported speech, it is important to recognise that a class is a group of individuals with different personalities, interests, motivating forces, learning styles, and needs. Any approach to teaching this area, therefore, needs to be flexible.
The nature of the teaching institution may also affect the content and the style of teaching. For example, a private language institute focusing on general English is likely to place far greater importance on speaking than a university preparatory program preparing students for a university entrance exam.
The following points are therefore only general guidelines applicable to a range of contexts:
Engage the students, provide a context, and identify a genuine need.
Firstly, it is important to start any grammar lesson in the right way, which means avoiding openings such as, “Today we are going to study the use of reported speech.”, or “Please open your books to page 51.” Instead, a far more useful approach is to establish a clear context that the students can relate to, which highlights a genuine need for the new grammar. In general, any context that provides the students with an opportunity to talk about their lives is sure to work well. A context I have used successfully is that of organising a night out or a class holiday.
Involve the Students
Secondly, try to involve the students as much as possible throughout the learning process to keep interest and motivation high: elicit the target language, ask questions, and have students write on the board. In this way the teacher is talking with the students, rather than to them, and is a part of the learning process rather than the focus. Adopting a participative, student-centred approach to learning promotes learner autonomy, which is a necessary ingredient in the language learning process.(15)
Provide plenty of examples rather than a rule
Thirdly, provide plenty of examples as it will be easier for the students to see the pattern. In this way, the students will be better able to learn inductively through the process of discovery, which requires a deeper level of cognitive processing, and therefore aids the learning process.(16)
Provide plenty of opportunity to practice
Fourthly, it is important to provide plenty of opportunity for practice and to accommodate the different learning styles with a balance of activities that focus on the form, function, and meaning of the different reporting verbs, as well as the different skills; there should also be a gradual shift from passive to productive skills in the classroom as passive skills can be focused on by the students for homework. The difficulty will be to find interesting activities. Below is a list of possible ways to practice using reported speech:
- There are plenty of gap-fill and transformation exercises in the supplementary grammar texts listed in Appendix 5;
- Scott Thornbury has a good activity that focuses on here + now versus there + then;(17)
- Role play scenarios can work well if set up properly (refer Appendix 7); (18)
- Interview scenarios are also useful (refer to Appendix 8 for some suggested activities) ;(19)
- Newspapers provide a good resource (refer to Appendix 8 for a good activity);
- I would also recommend taking advantage of the extensive material and activities available on the World Wide Web (see Appendix 6);
- Refer to Appendix 7 for a list of activities.
Experiment with a variety of approaches
Finally, experiment with different approaches. At pre-intermediate and intermediate levels, I find that a focus on the grammar helps the students to understand how to produce reported speech. At higher levels, a Lexical Approach that focuses on collocations often works better.(20) Furthermore, presenting reporting verbs according to their function or in the context of a given situation will help the students to understand why we use reported speech as well as when to use reported. What is important to bear in mind is that any approach taken needs to focus on form, function, and meaning.
15. Thanasoulas, D. (2000).
16. Harmer, J. (1991). P. 71
17. Thornbury, S. 2001. Uncovering Grammar. Macmillan Heinemann. pp. 88-89
18. Potts, J. July, 2003. “Preparing to teach…indirect speech.” Etp, Issue 28. p.38
19. Maley, A. 1987. Role play. In this text there are role play ideas that can be used to practice reported speech.
20. Lewis, M. (1997). p. 182
Bibliography
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Potts, J. (July, 2003). “Preparing to teach…indirect speech.” Etp, Issue 28. p.38
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Thanasoulas, D. (November, 2000). “What is Learner Autonomy and How Can It Be Fostered?” The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 11 .
Thomson, A.J. (1960). A Practical English Grammar. 4 th edition. OUP. pp. 268-287
Thornbury, S. (2002). Uncovering Grammar. Macmillan Heinemann. pp. 88-89
Biodata
Kendall Peet has taught in Thailand, South Korea, and Turkey, and is currently teaching at FIBSB in Bucharest. He has completed the RSA DELTA and is presently completing his MA in Applied Linguistics. His key interests include teaching academic writing and developing a needs-based (learner-led) approach that encourages greater learner autonomy. Kendall can be contacted at: kendallpeet@hotmail.com
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