Date post: | 13-Apr-2017 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | grammar-navigator |
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Problem
One of the richest sources of mistakes at beginning level is wrong selection of tense (or speaking without thinking about tenses at all !!!)
Solution
To handle this problem I do with my students a TENSE PRE-SELECTION (TPS) TENSE PRE-SELECTION (TPS) training using interactive chart of tenses on my website
Method
It works the following way:
1. Before class I compose a list of simple sentences (15-20+) using native language of a student.
(each sentence is dedicated to certain English tense)
1.Они идут сейчас.
2.Мы читаем каждый день.
3.Она только что пришла
4.Вы придете завтра?
5.Когда они придут?
6.Кто только что пришел?
……….
2.Student must read a sentence and show the tense he/she is going to use for translation 1.Они идут сейчас.
2.Мы читаем каждый день.
3.Она только что пришла
4.Вы придете завтра?
5.Когда они придут?
6.Кто только что пришел?
……….
There is no need in translation per se!
● Obviously, if pre-selection of tense is wrong, the rest has no sense.
● It is a choice of tense that matters at the moment. «No translation» rule helps to save time and focus precisely on the issue.
3.Each mistake must be explained and the training is repeated until student makes 100% correct choices. 1.Они идут сейчас.
2.Мы читаем каждый день.
3.Она только что пришла
4.Вы придете завтра?
5.Когда они придут?
6.Кто только что пришел?
……….
Fun activity in class
If you have an interactive board in class with internet connection, this training can be done in group as a fun activity.
Fun activity in class
Students divide in teams. Teacher reads a sentense and each member of each team makes a tense choice (when the turn comes). The team with less mistakes win.
TEAM 2TEAM 1
As soon as pre-selection of tenses is OK, you can switch to full-translation mode of this training
It is important to explain each mistake and to make sure that students follow the logic of sentence-building algorythm rather than answer by their feelings and intuition