Norma Coe - A suggestion for the teaching of the past continuous.pdf

7/27/2019 Norma Coe - A suggestion for the teaching of the past continuous.pdf

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A Suggestion for the Teaching ofthe Past ContinuousNORMAN COE

Ministry of Education, OsloTWO PRINCIPLES which I try to follow in my teachingare (a) that presentation and practice of an item should be asthree-dimensional1 as is appropriate for that item, and (b) thateach new structure should be presented on its own, withoutreference to structures already learned. (This latter only refers toinitial presentation. Obviously the learners must later be made tograsp the difference in use between the new structure and otherstructures which might be used in similar contexts, or, moregenerally, the role played by the structure in the tota l system of thelanguage.)When these two principles come into conflict with each other,clearly one of them has to give way. In presenting and practisingthe past continuous, I originally wanted to stress the first principleby arranging a suitable classroom situation, thus:Teacher : John, go and stand by the door, please. Mary, put thelights on, please. Thank you. Will you both sit down,please.

It was then possible to use, and get the pupils to use, the pastcontinuous, but only in contrast with the simple past, somethingwhich goes against principle (b). For example:Q : Where was John standing when Mary put the lights on ?

After using this approach in several classes it was very obviousthat the pupils did not find it as crystal clear as I had hoped,2so I decided to try to work out a new approach. As will be seen,the new presentation manages to deal with the past continuouson its own, but on the other hand the emphasis on the three-dimensional aspect has had to go.I decided to use a large picture of a clock face without hands.(This approach is ideally suited to the overhead projector, usingdifferent-coloured pens; otherwise one can use different-colouredchalks on the chalkboard.)It is essential to establish that reference is being made to thepast; hence the title over the clock. It is best to avoid a title like

'By three-dimensional I mean using everything available in the classroomin order to provide a concrete, visual framework for the language.*The pupils in question were Scandinavian school-children of abouttwelve.

atUniversityofHertfordshireonSeptember28,2013

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A Suggestion for the Teaching of the Past Continuous

Mary's day last Saturday12 noonH a m 1 pm

10 pm

9 pm . watchingr ' a film

8 pin

7 pm

3 pm

4 pm

6 pm 5 pm

'What Mary did last Saturday' because it contains the simplepast. After checking that the pupils appreciate th at we are talkingabout last Saturday, it is possible tohave the following presenta-tion:Teacher : At half past eleven last Saturday Mary was washingclothes. At half past twelve she was having lunch, etc.One can then go on to question work, for example:Q : Was Mary having lunch ataquarter past twelve ? orQ : What was Mary doing at four o'clock? And so on.

After thorough practice of this sort, it is usually possible forone or two of the brighter pupils to see and explain why the pastcontinuous is being used in these cases. After practice and explana-tion comes the contrast with the simple past. (What I am sug-gesting is nota lesson plan . This second stage may well take placein a later lesson.) The clock is now supplemented with newinformation. If the overhead projector is used, this extra informa-tion can be ready on an overlay. On the other hand, one mayprefer to miss out the verbs for the long actions in all subsequentpractice, so tha t the pupils have toproduce the correct form with-out assistance.As in the three-dimensional approach we can now have twosorts of question:Q : What wasMary doing when it started to rain ? andQ : What happened while M ary was chatting w ith her friends ?


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30 Norma n Co*

Mary's day last Saturdayher boyfriend Johnthe milkm an telephonedcame

11

10John put hisarm round her

she sawGeorge Beit

it startedto rain

John came 6the rain(topped

I have always found that this clock approach (in the twostages) is considerably more effective than my original way. Butmy experience is that this latter comes in very useful as a follow-upor refresher after the use of the clock approach. By this time thepupils have a fair grasp of the use of the structure, and theclassroom situation can now provide goodreinforcement, nclud-ing the contrast between the past continuous and the simplepast.

Norma Coe - A suggestion for the teaching of the past continuous.pdf

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