Tell me about your worst vacation: 3-2-1 Fluency Exercise

Tell me about your worst vacation: 3-2-1 Fluency Exercise

L2 Speaking Lesson Plan

Author: Sarah Warfield

 

Audience: This lesson is intended for high-intermediate or advanced L2 learners. This activity works best with 10-16 students. This is a good icebreaker for the first day of class.

Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to practice oral fluency according to Nation (1989), where L2 learners focus on the message being communicated and not the language forms. Students will also be practicing note-taking and remembering relevant information. An additional goal of this activity is for students to practice working together in pairs and groups, as this will be crucial to their success in the class throughout the semester.

Student Outcomes:

  1. Students will use paraphrasing effectively.
  2. Students will demonstrate an ability to increase their speaking fluency from the beginning to the end of the task.
  3. Students will distinguish relevant information for note taking.
  4. Students will use group communication skills effectively.

Classroom configuration and management

The desks are arranged so that each student is sitting directly across from another but there is still some room between the paired desks. Students will need to have the ability to move down the line of desks quickly when they change partners. The Ss who are speaking need to be able to view the Online Stopwatch. To save time, open up three separate tabs for the Stopwatch (3:00, 2:00, 1:00).

While you are explaining the task, encourage Ss to start writing the names of their classmates on their slips of paper to save time.

The activity is very loud and fun.

Materials:

Teacher and student roles activities:

  1. The teacher introduces the concept of fluency to the Ss through a brief class or paired discussion. What is fluency? Why is it important for speaking? Are there other types of fluency they can think of? (5 min)
  2. The teacher explains the activity to the Ss. The teacher models how the fluency activity aims to help them paraphrase and be more fluent and explains that it is not a task in simply speaking fast. The teacher checks for comprehension before commencing the task. (5-10 min)
    1. Students are divided into two groups: A and B. They sit facing each other in pairs
    2. Group A is instructed to talk about their worst vacation ever. NB: Some Ss will be uncomfortable showing a negative side to themselves, and in order to save face they will insist on talking about the best vacation. That’s also appropriate for this task.
    3. Group B is instructed to listen. They are not allowed to provide anything save for backchannels and nodding (mm-hmm, mmm). While Group B listens, they must use their paper slips to write one note. Students will have to discern what is important and write down a two- or three-word phrase. Group B Ss may not ask for Group A Ss to repeat something or help them spell something out.
  3. Group A talks and Group B listens (10 min)
    1. The teacher sets the timer for 3:00. Students are instructed to have their slips of paper ready. Group A Ss talk about their worst vacation for 3 minutes. The teacher circulates the room. Group B Ss are reminded not to talk. Group A Ss are reminded to talk until the three minutes is completed.
    2. When the timer goes off, the Group A Ss are instructed to move one chair down. The teacher collects the slips of paper from the Group B Ss. The timer is set for 2:00 and the task is repeated. The timer is set for 1:00 and the task is repeated.
  4. Group B talks and Group A listens (10 min)
  5. Competition (10-15 min)
    1. Divide the Groups into two teams: A and B.
    2. The teacher takes the slips of paper and puts them into two piles.
    3. Group A answers questions about Group B. Group B answers questions about Group A.
      1. Who went to Paris?
      2. Who lost their wallet?
  6. Final Assessment (5 min)
    1. Immediately after class ends, Ss are instructed to leave a WhatsApp voice message to the WhatsApp class group with a one-minute summary of their best/worst vacation. They are also required to reflect on the activity for 1-2 minutes.
      1. This can be completed by students in the hallway.

References

Nation, P. (1989). Improving speaking fluency. System, 17(3), 377-384.

Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2008). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge.