Introduction

Classroom language is the kind of language necessary to communicate and survive in the classroom without having to use the student's mother tongue. The exponents for classroom language should be introduced gradually and not all in one lesson. Exponents which are most frequently used in the classroom can be taught at the very beginning of the course so that students get the idea from the start that the classroom is an English-speaking environment.

Specific classroom language used for certain activities should be taught before such activities or when the need arises. It is not really necessary to devise special practice activities for classroom language exponents as this comes naturally during lessons and in authentic situations. There are, however, various ways in which classroom language can be presented. I will mention four, but many others can be devised from them.

There is a list of classroom language items at the end of this article which you can use for reference. These items should not be 'taught' but introduced in one or all of the following ways.

1 From the student

Arrange your students into groups and ask them to write down all the expressions they can think of which they might need to ask in the classroom. They may write in their own language at this stage if they do not have the language to do it in English. Exponents should be divided into two categories - what they say to the teacher and what they say to other students. The teacher should give an example on the blackboard before the students begin:

When the students have done this, ask a member of each group to read out their list. The teacher asks other groups to help correct/translate and then writes up the exponent on the blackboard. If necessary choral and individual drilling can be done for each exponent, to give students some practice in saying them.

After writing all the exponents, elicited from the students on the blackboard, ask them to copy these into their notebooks and to start a Classroom Language list. They should have enough space to add to this list as more classroom language is introduced throughout the course.

Another alternative is to ask students to make a wall chart with classroom language. In this way new exponents can always be added to it and you can point to the chart to remind your students to use English when they are using their own language unnecessarily in class.

2 From the teacher

Instead of asking the students to draw up their own list of classroom language, the teacher writes up a list on the blackboard or on an overhead projector transparency. A clear explanation of what classroom language is should be given to students. Each exponent should be shown to the students gradually, drilled if necessary, and the concept checked. When all the exponents have been shown, the students should be advised to copy them into their notebooks to start a classroom language section.

An alternative to the concept check, and to give extra practice in the language, is to ask individual students to act out the situations either with the teacher or with another student as appropriate, e.g.

Exponent: May I come in?

A student leaves the room, knocks at the door and asks for permission to come in. This is not a difficult activity and can be fun, particularly as an ice-breaking activity for the first lesson of the course.

3 From a reading/writing task

This way of presenting classroom language is only suitable for students who already have at least some passive knowledge of English (false beginners). Absolute beginners would have difficulty in understanding the task set.

Photocopy a tasksheet for each student. The tasksheet should contain two columns for students to fill in and all the language exponents the teacher wishes to introduce (see Fig. 2).

Arrange the students into pairs or groups. They have to decide who would have said each exponent, the teacher, the student or both, and in what situation. The situation column can be done in their own language since the objective here is to check that students understand the exponent and not to check how good their written English is. When the students have finished, the teacher goes through the task, drills, explains and corrects where necessary.

Students can keep this tasksheet for future reference and add to it as the course progresses. This is a time-saving activity as students do not have to spend any time copying things into their notebooks. When going through the tasksheet for correction, the teacher can also ask individual students to act out each situation, as in the previous exercise.

4 From real situations in the classroom

At a later stage in the course the teacher should take advantage of real situations in the class to introduce and to add to the classroom language list. This can be done just before an activity. The teacher can predict what kind of language the students will need and therefore introduce it before setting up the activity so that they get into the habit of speaking English right from the start.

For example, setting up a board/dice game, present the classroom language that students might need while playing it:

Whose turn is it now?
I think it's your turn.
Who's going to start?
etc.

At other times it may be more appropriate to fit in some classroom language during an activity, or when the teacher realises that students are using certain exponents in Portuguese all the time. At this point it is a good idea to stop the activity and teach the necessary exponent. Students will then get the chance to practise it immediately and in an authentic situation.

If the teacher leaves it until the end of the activity to introduce the exponent, students will only make a note of it and will not get any practice in using it, which means they will almost certainly forget all about it.

Conclusion

Many other activities can be derived from these. It does not really matter how classroom language is presented. The important thing is to motivate and encourage students to use it. It is the first step to using real English in a real situation.