Hi,
I am looking for interactive exercises to practise the indirect speech with 16 year old students. Does anybody know any interesting sites about this?
Thanks a lot
María
reported speech interactive exercises
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Reported speech activity
Hi Maria,
I can’t steer you to any websites that have the sort of material you are looking for, but I can give you an explanation of an activity I developed for my college classes for the purpose of practising reported speech, if it is of any use to you. It will depend on the ability of students to first be able to give some short talks on some topic(s).
Reporter:
1. Suggest some topics for discussion, or let students generate their own topics.
2. Split class into groups of 3 or 4 to discuss their chosen topics.
3. Following some period of discussion, invite individual students to talk to the class about their topic for a limited time, e.g., two minutes. These talks should not be too long
4. While they are giving their talks, other students act as reporters and take notes.
5. As the speakers wind up their speeches, there should be a question time, wherein the reporters (the rest of the class) can ask questions either to elicit further opinions or facts, or to have something re-stated in case they didn't fully catch it earlier.
6. Now, reporters can be invited to give a verbal report to the class, which means they have to turn the material into reported speech.
Notes:
1. Do not tell students ahead of time who will be asked to speak or to report. The idea is to have every student motivated to perform, rather than just a few who know they are to be called upon.
2. While students are in discussion mode, move around the class and help where necessary.
3. As students are speaking or reporting, take notes on any difficulties students may have, or instances where there might be confusion as to their intended meaning. These things can be clarified or corrected to the class as a whole and without naming the individuals who may have produced these glitches.
4. It goes without saying, of course, that students will have been introduced to some reported speech examples prior to the exercise, e.g.,
‘So and so’ said that …
“…,” ‘so and so’/ he/ she said
‘So and so” was of the opinion that …/ ‘so and so’ said that he (she) believed that …
etc..
Hope this is of some use to you.
Tez
I can’t steer you to any websites that have the sort of material you are looking for, but I can give you an explanation of an activity I developed for my college classes for the purpose of practising reported speech, if it is of any use to you. It will depend on the ability of students to first be able to give some short talks on some topic(s).
Reporter:
1. Suggest some topics for discussion, or let students generate their own topics.
2. Split class into groups of 3 or 4 to discuss their chosen topics.
3. Following some period of discussion, invite individual students to talk to the class about their topic for a limited time, e.g., two minutes. These talks should not be too long
4. While they are giving their talks, other students act as reporters and take notes.
5. As the speakers wind up their speeches, there should be a question time, wherein the reporters (the rest of the class) can ask questions either to elicit further opinions or facts, or to have something re-stated in case they didn't fully catch it earlier.
6. Now, reporters can be invited to give a verbal report to the class, which means they have to turn the material into reported speech.
Notes:
1. Do not tell students ahead of time who will be asked to speak or to report. The idea is to have every student motivated to perform, rather than just a few who know they are to be called upon.
2. While students are in discussion mode, move around the class and help where necessary.
3. As students are speaking or reporting, take notes on any difficulties students may have, or instances where there might be confusion as to their intended meaning. These things can be clarified or corrected to the class as a whole and without naming the individuals who may have produced these glitches.
4. It goes without saying, of course, that students will have been introduced to some reported speech examples prior to the exercise, e.g.,
‘So and so’ said that …
“…,” ‘so and so’/ he/ she said
‘So and so” was of the opinion that …/ ‘so and so’ said that he (she) believed that …
etc..
Hope this is of some use to you.
Tez
-
Chercheuse
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 1:50 am
Sounds like the previous suggestion would be fun. Here are some ways that you could vary that activity to suit your class' particular needs. I love this topic so I’m anticipating that my answer will be long. I’ll split it into two posts:
1. If the students are shy or not as advanced (or for some other reason not likely to volunteer to give a talk directly after the discussions… or likely to freak out and fall apart in anticipation of being called upon) you might want to give them time to prepare their talk in class or at home and speak from note cards the next day. You know your students’ personalities and capabilities. Preparing ahead of time would of course eliminate the spontaneity that the previous poster was no doubt intending for the activity, but it doesn’t change the overall goal of the activity (using reported speech in natural contexts) and there is still quite a bit of unrehearsed language in the activity (discussion, question-answer, etc.). Preparation would, however, reduce some of the anxiety so students could concentrate on note- taking, and since the talks will be slightly more polished, note taking is easier (It’s hard to take notes when ideas are all over the place and ummms and ahs are frequent). Anyway, you have to make the call based on your students.
Also, there's no reason you couldn't break this activity up into different parts on different days, since you're achieving a whole spectrum of class goals through one activity (discussion, speech-giving, question-answer, listening for details and main ideas, note-taking, reporting, and of course, practicing the grammar point).
Note: You may not care how the students deliver their talks (reading their talk from a paper or speaking more naturally from cards), but if you envision them speaking from cards, you'd have to first show them how to do this (how to make appropriate cards with just key words, how to speak from the cards and use eye contact, how to hold the cards appropriately, etc.); I can pretty much guarantee you that the students will just write out the whole talk and read it, eyes glued to paper (not necessarily inappropriate for this activity), unless you show them otherwise. So, you just have to decide what you have time to teach them and what you’ll just let slide until another time. You would also want to have them time themselves saying it at home before delivering it to the class, so talks don’t run on and on.
2. Choose or let students choose a theme for the discussions and talks. Themes could be culture, current events, learning English, popular trends, cuisine, etc. Students would then be speaking about similar things so that talks could be connected more easily and listening comprehension is aided. This would open the door for comparisons to be made later during the reporting phase of the activity. Cultural topics are always popular with mixed classes and they necessitate a lot of questions (how do you spell that dish?, etc.).You might also want to include guidelines for what kind of talk this is (giving an opinion, giving factual information, telling about a personal experience, giving a cultural or national perspective on an issue, etc.) to help connect the talks further. This still leaves plenty of room for individual variation. Note that depending on the kind of talk, the reporting verbs used later will be somewhat different (think, feel, believe, state for opinion speeches; say, tell, explain, report, add, etc. for explanations, recounting of events, etc.. Another option would be to let students do any one of these talk types within the given theme and quiz students before each report on what reporting verbs would be useful to deliver the info.
3. Let students check their notes with each other before reporting and require that they report what was said in more than one way: in speaking and writing. For writing, you can have students write up what was said as if it were a newspaper article, court transcript (see next post), detective notes (see next post), live news report, comparison of various views, or just as a plain old summary. Speaking activities could involve reporting the events as if it were a lengthy story on a TV news broadcast/gossip show, complete with commercials and other brief stories. This kind of speaking exercise is more like presentation because students have prepared the language beforehand, and may in fact, be simply reading aloud what they've written; it’s not the same as a speaking exercise where students must spontaneously produce the reported speech. Each has its own benefits, and in my opinion, it’s important to separate the two in your mind when you think about activity goals. To do something like the latter, I would take their written accounts and use them to make up a controlled speaking exercise (like a drill) for them to do the next day in class. An example would be to make a list of ten statements that were made during the activity (doesn’t have to be exact words, just the main idea; make sure to correct the student’s grammar here). The student work in pairs to change the statements to indirect speech (speaking only, no writing). E.g. On the paper is written: Mrs. Robinson: I’m not going to give my students any more homework from now on. There is also a selection of reporting verbs listed. Student reads the statement and says aloud: Mrs. Robinson said that she wasn’t going to give her students any more homework from then on.
1. If the students are shy or not as advanced (or for some other reason not likely to volunteer to give a talk directly after the discussions… or likely to freak out and fall apart in anticipation of being called upon) you might want to give them time to prepare their talk in class or at home and speak from note cards the next day. You know your students’ personalities and capabilities. Preparing ahead of time would of course eliminate the spontaneity that the previous poster was no doubt intending for the activity, but it doesn’t change the overall goal of the activity (using reported speech in natural contexts) and there is still quite a bit of unrehearsed language in the activity (discussion, question-answer, etc.). Preparation would, however, reduce some of the anxiety so students could concentrate on note- taking, and since the talks will be slightly more polished, note taking is easier (It’s hard to take notes when ideas are all over the place and ummms and ahs are frequent). Anyway, you have to make the call based on your students.
Also, there's no reason you couldn't break this activity up into different parts on different days, since you're achieving a whole spectrum of class goals through one activity (discussion, speech-giving, question-answer, listening for details and main ideas, note-taking, reporting, and of course, practicing the grammar point).
Note: You may not care how the students deliver their talks (reading their talk from a paper or speaking more naturally from cards), but if you envision them speaking from cards, you'd have to first show them how to do this (how to make appropriate cards with just key words, how to speak from the cards and use eye contact, how to hold the cards appropriately, etc.); I can pretty much guarantee you that the students will just write out the whole talk and read it, eyes glued to paper (not necessarily inappropriate for this activity), unless you show them otherwise. So, you just have to decide what you have time to teach them and what you’ll just let slide until another time. You would also want to have them time themselves saying it at home before delivering it to the class, so talks don’t run on and on.
2. Choose or let students choose a theme for the discussions and talks. Themes could be culture, current events, learning English, popular trends, cuisine, etc. Students would then be speaking about similar things so that talks could be connected more easily and listening comprehension is aided. This would open the door for comparisons to be made later during the reporting phase of the activity. Cultural topics are always popular with mixed classes and they necessitate a lot of questions (how do you spell that dish?, etc.).You might also want to include guidelines for what kind of talk this is (giving an opinion, giving factual information, telling about a personal experience, giving a cultural or national perspective on an issue, etc.) to help connect the talks further. This still leaves plenty of room for individual variation. Note that depending on the kind of talk, the reporting verbs used later will be somewhat different (think, feel, believe, state for opinion speeches; say, tell, explain, report, add, etc. for explanations, recounting of events, etc.. Another option would be to let students do any one of these talk types within the given theme and quiz students before each report on what reporting verbs would be useful to deliver the info.
3. Let students check their notes with each other before reporting and require that they report what was said in more than one way: in speaking and writing. For writing, you can have students write up what was said as if it were a newspaper article, court transcript (see next post), detective notes (see next post), live news report, comparison of various views, or just as a plain old summary. Speaking activities could involve reporting the events as if it were a lengthy story on a TV news broadcast/gossip show, complete with commercials and other brief stories. This kind of speaking exercise is more like presentation because students have prepared the language beforehand, and may in fact, be simply reading aloud what they've written; it’s not the same as a speaking exercise where students must spontaneously produce the reported speech. Each has its own benefits, and in my opinion, it’s important to separate the two in your mind when you think about activity goals. To do something like the latter, I would take their written accounts and use them to make up a controlled speaking exercise (like a drill) for them to do the next day in class. An example would be to make a list of ten statements that were made during the activity (doesn’t have to be exact words, just the main idea; make sure to correct the student’s grammar here). The student work in pairs to change the statements to indirect speech (speaking only, no writing). E.g. On the paper is written: Mrs. Robinson: I’m not going to give my students any more homework from now on. There is also a selection of reporting verbs listed. Student reads the statement and says aloud: Mrs. Robinson said that she wasn’t going to give her students any more homework from then on.
-
Chercheuse
- Posts: 19
- Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 1:50 am
(continued)
4. Bring some role-play into the activity. Instead of giving talks on issues or topics, students would be taking on the role of a character and speaking from their perspective. Possibilities:
a. Give students a scenario and identify different characters in the scenario. The scenario could be a story (e.g. a recognizable fairy tale like Little red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and the Three Bears might be easier for you and the students than one you create). The talks would be given as if they were firsthand accounts of the story, so Goldilocks will have different knowledge about what happened (and different emotions and opinions) than the other characters. During the discussion, each group would be assigned a different character and would brainstorm what knowledge, feelings, and opinions the character would have and how their account of what happened would differ from the accounts of all other characters. You might aid the class by getting them to answer certain questions like What did this person see ? How did they feel? What did they say? What did they do? Etc.. One person from each group would then be assigned the task of presenting the account to the class while the class takes notes. A questions and answer session would follow, and then the reports. Possible ways to frame the story: characters are taking the witness stand as Goldilocks goes on trial for breaking and entering, some students are court reporters and possibly later jury members who decide Goldilock's fate; police are interviewing each of the players in the case who give monologues on what happened, students are detectives reporting what was said and scrutinizing the characters’ stories.
b. Do the same as above but with a real or invented crime story. Assign 4 or so "student suspects" and give them each a) an account of what actually happened and b) a brief outline of the 4 statements suspects gave to police (alibi, what they saw, etc.). You could have the suspects meet and review the case and their statements, assigning each other statements, adding details to the statements, and getting their stories straight. They would also be deciding who actually committed the crime and who is innocent. The rest of the class would meet in small groups with an account of what they (the detectives) saw on the scene of the crime and the 4 brief statements the suspects made and brainstorm what could have happened and what questions they might want to ask suspects. Suspect would tell their embellished stories to the class, followed by questions and answer. Reporting tasks would include not only what was said but comments on who is guilty and why.
c. Since elections are coming up: assign 3 or 4 candidates to give speeches on what they would do to help the country/city/class, etc.. You could assign them actual candidates or made up characters with funny names like Ego Tistical and Power Hungry. Question and Answer session and reporting to follow, along with voting on the candidates.
d. Have a "press conference" where all students are assigned a character and so all must speak. I‘ve done this by having a mock teacher’s conference where the students each played the part of a real teacher or other staff member in their school. This made for some funny impersonations and lots of laughs, but if you’d rather avoid that, it can easily be adapted to something like a panel of well-known celebrities talking about their upcoming movie. IN my case, I had students meet in pairs prior to the conference and write out several questions they’d like to ask each teacher/staff member, preferably with some questions directed at more than one teacher (i.e. Do you think students should be given so much homework? Who is the best student? Etc.) I walked around and helped with the grammar of the questions (always atrocious, regardless of the level, in my experience). I also made sure no inappropriate questions were asked (i.e. Why are you so fat?) I then broke the students into two groups that alternated roles so that each group would have a chance at being the teachers and the student interviewers. Each group first met to pool their questions, making one list, discarding repeats, and assigning each group member one or two questions to ask. They then assigned each student in the group a staff member to take on as their character. I tried to assign different “characters” to each group so that there wasn’t so much repetition in the two press conferences. We then rearranged the chairs and tables so that it looked like a panel, with the teachers on one side and the students on the other side. I managed to get hold of a microphone to use, which added to the fun. Students asked their prepared questions and the staff members responded with spontaneous answers while students took notes on what was said. I encouraged students to ask for clarification or more time if needed to record answers before the next question was asked (But you don't want too much time to transpire between questions or it can get boring). I let them check their notes with each other and make changes before the reporting part of the activity. One benefit of the press conference is that the questions that are asked are just as important as the answers so both get included in the reporting (so you’d have to teach both indirect questions and statements)
5. Milk the activity for all it’s worth, especially if you have a general English class where anything goes. (I would pare it down considerably if it’s a grammar-only class because you want to keep your focus in mind.) Because this activity allows students to get so much English practice of varying kinds, why not make use of it and turn every step of the activity into a separate lesson that’s part of one larger lesson? For example:
a. teach reported speech (grammar lesson: changing tense, pronouns, time words, etc.)
b. teach reporting verbs (vocabulary lesson)
c. teach how to write up a report (composition lesson: paragraph breaks, connectors and conjunctions, sequencing words, expanding and giving details without repeating He said over and over, making comparisons, etc.)
d. teach presentation skills (Public speaking lesson: eye contact, volume, speed, pauses, note-card writing, intro, body, conclusion)
e. teach listening skills (Note-taking lesson)
f. teach communication skills (lesson on asking for clarification: Could you repeat that? Do you mean…?)
Breaking the activity down into mini lessons that include information and practice might be a really effective unit that could take a good week or more of instruction. The concepts could first be taught and practiced with mini exercises (i.e. written grammar practice on reported speech, spoken grammar drills, brief note-taking practice on a related subject, practice writing note cards for a brief written talk provided by the teacher and then practice using those cards to deliver the talk with good eye contact and volume, etc.). Then all the parts get put together, culminating in the presentations and reporting.
Well, those are a lot of ideas, but I had fun thinking of them. There’s so much you can do with indirect speech; it’s one of the easiest grammar points to come up with practice activities for. There are, of course, shorter activities you can do if you don’t want something so long and involved. Let us know if you need shorter ones.
4. Bring some role-play into the activity. Instead of giving talks on issues or topics, students would be taking on the role of a character and speaking from their perspective. Possibilities:
a. Give students a scenario and identify different characters in the scenario. The scenario could be a story (e.g. a recognizable fairy tale like Little red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and the Three Bears might be easier for you and the students than one you create). The talks would be given as if they were firsthand accounts of the story, so Goldilocks will have different knowledge about what happened (and different emotions and opinions) than the other characters. During the discussion, each group would be assigned a different character and would brainstorm what knowledge, feelings, and opinions the character would have and how their account of what happened would differ from the accounts of all other characters. You might aid the class by getting them to answer certain questions like What did this person see ? How did they feel? What did they say? What did they do? Etc.. One person from each group would then be assigned the task of presenting the account to the class while the class takes notes. A questions and answer session would follow, and then the reports. Possible ways to frame the story: characters are taking the witness stand as Goldilocks goes on trial for breaking and entering, some students are court reporters and possibly later jury members who decide Goldilock's fate; police are interviewing each of the players in the case who give monologues on what happened, students are detectives reporting what was said and scrutinizing the characters’ stories.
b. Do the same as above but with a real or invented crime story. Assign 4 or so "student suspects" and give them each a) an account of what actually happened and b) a brief outline of the 4 statements suspects gave to police (alibi, what they saw, etc.). You could have the suspects meet and review the case and their statements, assigning each other statements, adding details to the statements, and getting their stories straight. They would also be deciding who actually committed the crime and who is innocent. The rest of the class would meet in small groups with an account of what they (the detectives) saw on the scene of the crime and the 4 brief statements the suspects made and brainstorm what could have happened and what questions they might want to ask suspects. Suspect would tell their embellished stories to the class, followed by questions and answer. Reporting tasks would include not only what was said but comments on who is guilty and why.
c. Since elections are coming up: assign 3 or 4 candidates to give speeches on what they would do to help the country/city/class, etc.. You could assign them actual candidates or made up characters with funny names like Ego Tistical and Power Hungry. Question and Answer session and reporting to follow, along with voting on the candidates.
d. Have a "press conference" where all students are assigned a character and so all must speak. I‘ve done this by having a mock teacher’s conference where the students each played the part of a real teacher or other staff member in their school. This made for some funny impersonations and lots of laughs, but if you’d rather avoid that, it can easily be adapted to something like a panel of well-known celebrities talking about their upcoming movie. IN my case, I had students meet in pairs prior to the conference and write out several questions they’d like to ask each teacher/staff member, preferably with some questions directed at more than one teacher (i.e. Do you think students should be given so much homework? Who is the best student? Etc.) I walked around and helped with the grammar of the questions (always atrocious, regardless of the level, in my experience). I also made sure no inappropriate questions were asked (i.e. Why are you so fat?) I then broke the students into two groups that alternated roles so that each group would have a chance at being the teachers and the student interviewers. Each group first met to pool their questions, making one list, discarding repeats, and assigning each group member one or two questions to ask. They then assigned each student in the group a staff member to take on as their character. I tried to assign different “characters” to each group so that there wasn’t so much repetition in the two press conferences. We then rearranged the chairs and tables so that it looked like a panel, with the teachers on one side and the students on the other side. I managed to get hold of a microphone to use, which added to the fun. Students asked their prepared questions and the staff members responded with spontaneous answers while students took notes on what was said. I encouraged students to ask for clarification or more time if needed to record answers before the next question was asked (But you don't want too much time to transpire between questions or it can get boring). I let them check their notes with each other and make changes before the reporting part of the activity. One benefit of the press conference is that the questions that are asked are just as important as the answers so both get included in the reporting (so you’d have to teach both indirect questions and statements)
5. Milk the activity for all it’s worth, especially if you have a general English class where anything goes. (I would pare it down considerably if it’s a grammar-only class because you want to keep your focus in mind.) Because this activity allows students to get so much English practice of varying kinds, why not make use of it and turn every step of the activity into a separate lesson that’s part of one larger lesson? For example:
a. teach reported speech (grammar lesson: changing tense, pronouns, time words, etc.)
b. teach reporting verbs (vocabulary lesson)
c. teach how to write up a report (composition lesson: paragraph breaks, connectors and conjunctions, sequencing words, expanding and giving details without repeating He said over and over, making comparisons, etc.)
d. teach presentation skills (Public speaking lesson: eye contact, volume, speed, pauses, note-card writing, intro, body, conclusion)
e. teach listening skills (Note-taking lesson)
f. teach communication skills (lesson on asking for clarification: Could you repeat that? Do you mean…?)
Breaking the activity down into mini lessons that include information and practice might be a really effective unit that could take a good week or more of instruction. The concepts could first be taught and practiced with mini exercises (i.e. written grammar practice on reported speech, spoken grammar drills, brief note-taking practice on a related subject, practice writing note cards for a brief written talk provided by the teacher and then practice using those cards to deliver the talk with good eye contact and volume, etc.). Then all the parts get put together, culminating in the presentations and reporting.
Well, those are a lot of ideas, but I had fun thinking of them. There’s so much you can do with indirect speech; it’s one of the easiest grammar points to come up with practice activities for. There are, of course, shorter activities you can do if you don’t want something so long and involved. Let us know if you need shorter ones.