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There is a didactic methodology for teaching a foreign language that more than others allows the student to tune in to the language studied, in our case English. It is a perforation, which favors the assimilation of grammatical structures, the improvement of pronunciation and intonation.
It consists of repeating aloud the phrases or words pronounced by the teacher. There are several techniques of drilling, which we will see later, but what is important to highlight is its great effectiveness, apparently banal, for learning purposes.
First create the ideal conditions for assimilationBecause it reduces students’ inhibitory defenses, allowing even the most introverted to overcome them. When we practice, together or individually, we all have the consciousness of being in the same boat and we are all called to overcome their shyness. And we teachers know how important it is to “jump in”. You should never be afraid of making mistakes. Learning a foreign language starts with practice, making mistakes is almost inevitable.
Second important aspect. the drilling lever on memorization of grammatical structures listening and speaking and not writing and reading, as students often do. The mind therefore works harder to remember and reproduce the sounds and not the images of written text. This helps students improve their skills. listening me Talking, which as we know represents in most cases his Achilles heel.
Thanks to oral repetition, students understand the soul of spoken language, the nuances, the rhythms and the intonations. They learn to listen to their own voice and to listen to others. Little by little, they abandon the typical approach of studying a foreign language, based on the literal translation of words and the comparison of grammar rules with those of their mother tongue, to arrive at a natural learning. By this we can say that the drilling helps them tune into the language they are studying.
Finally, it is also extremely useful for the teacher because it allows them to evaluate skills that are not usually taken into consideration in the world of public school. I am referring in particular to pronunciation and more generally to the ability to understand an oral text or to carry on a conversation.
Now is the time to introduce yourself three specific techniques of drilling: repetition exercise, Replacement drill me backchaining drill. Let’s see them in detail.
One tip that applies to any technique is to start these exercises with an ice-breaker choral rep and only then move on to the individual rep. In addition, it is imperative that all students are aware of the meaning of the words or phrases they are repeating. On the contrary, this exercise runs the risk of not producing the desired results.
The repetition exercise is the most basic form of drilling, since it consists of a simple repetition. It is evident that it is a technique suitable for those who have a low level of knowledge of English, as beginners, and it is limited to familiarize the student with the sounds of the language and improve pronunciation.
The Replacement drill, as the word itself suggests, in addition to repetition, it also replaces the words of the sentence. Compared to the previous technique, students are asked to make an extra effort to increase their level of attention and involvement, favoring the memorization of the sentence structure and the words that they will have to replace from time to time. Therefore, it is an excellent device that the teacher can use to practice the vocabulary of their students.
Let’s take an example. We ask students to repeat this sentence first as a group and then individually I always go to the cinema and from time to time replace the adverb of frequency with others such as never, often sometimes etc. In this way they will memorize, in addition to the words, the position of the adverb after the subject and before the verb.
Finally, the backchaining drill, consists of the inverse repetition of phrases. It is very suitable for those students who have an advanced level of knowledge of the language.
For example, we ask them to repeat the prayer in both verses, first as a group and then individually. I always go to the cinema.
To do the techniques of drilling even more attractive are often used in conjunction with some activities. One of these is the guessing game (Guess what it is) or the disappearing text (The text disappears).
Let’s see the first, the guessing game. If the objective of the lesson is to teach grammar structure I can / cannot, to express skills, the teacher can use the guessing game. Ideal for this topic are the flash memory card related to sports. The teacher will then show the class a partial image or for a few fractions of a second (Flash memory card) asking the students to guess the illustrated sport by inserting it into the sentence I can play soccer. And so on for everyone else flash memory card (basketball, tennis, swimming, etc.).
Column disappearing text the teacher writes a short text or dialogue on the board. The first time it is read together, so that the correct pronunciation and intonation is marked. You will then erase parts of the text on each repetition, asking students to repeat the sentences in their entirety, remembering the missing parts until the text is completely removed.
The subject needs further study, but for the moment we can stop here. Begin introducing these techniques in the classroom. You will see that they will be highly appreciated and will allow you to achieve excellent results.
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