Purpose:

To help students predict language for situations

Preparation time: 

15 minutes

Materials:  

Sets of cards for each small group of students

Preparation:  

Choose a set of places (bank, store, doctor’s office) that you have studied in class. Write one place    name on each card. Make enough sets of cards so that each group of three learners can have a set of cards.

Procedure:

1. Learner work in groups of three and place the cards in the middle of their group.
2. The first student picks up a card. He or she must say something that would be heard in that place. For example, if the place the person picks is a doctor’s office, he or she might say: “Open your mouth.”
3. The other players try to guess the place. If the others don’t say hospital or doctor’s office, then the student would say something else they would hear in that place, e.g., “Step on the scale.”
4. Once the others have guessed the place, another student picks a card and says something they would hear in that new place.

Extension:

Choose a dialogue for listening that takes place in one of the locations you have chosen. After learners have played the game, have them recall all of the clues they gave for that place and list them on the board. Then present the listening material.

Variations:

Instead of places, try some of these other sets: jobs, situations (parent and child arguing, boss reprimanding a worker).