Teaching accuracy: drilling
MA lecture / ELT
2 December 2011
• When learners are given intensive
practice of the new structure / language
• It is carefully guided and strictly controlled
by the teacher
• Both form and meaning must be correctly
formed and consolidated
Accuracy stage
• possibility of error is reduced to minimum everything has to be corrected
• SS are given confidence in using the new
language
• SS are given a chance to increase speed
• to practice form, meaning (pron.)
• SS can concentrate on only one language
item / problem at a time
• This stage must be done immediately after
presentation = accurate reproduction
•  Language must stay within students’
grasp that is, when a new piece of
grammar is taught, there should be no
new vocabulary!!!
•  should be done quickly and effectively,
teacher should demand a high degree of
accuracy from SS
• → moving from easier to more difficult
drills / exercises
Drilling: a brief history
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derives from behaviourists’ theory (Skinner):
stimulus -response - reinforcement
can be mechanical, boring, meaningless - this is what
we can avoid and make drilling:
- realistic
- meaningful
- introduced with an appropriate expression
- used for a few minutes only
- used as a first stage only
It obviously helps students acquire fluency - a desired
goal in CLT
Certain patterns must become automatic! (chunks!)
Types of drill
REPTITION DRILL
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T: Let’s go swimming!
S: Let’s go swimming!
T: Let’s go dancing!
S: Let’s go dancing.
→ more meaningful with word prompt only
T: cinema
S: Let’s go to the cinema!
SIMPLE SUBSTITUTION
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T: How many chairs are there in here?
S: There are 4 chairs.
T: tables
S1: How many tables are there in here?
S2: There is only one table in here.
Prompts: windows, desks, boards, etc.
VARIABLE SUBSTITUTION DRILL
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T: I have been to Dublin.
S: I have been to Dublin.
T: Susan
S: Susan has been to Dublin.
T: Susan and her husband
S: Susan and her husband have been to
Dublin.
PROGRESSIVE SUBSTITUTION
DRILL
Conditional:
It sometimes happens that Martha washes up the dishes,
then her husband, John, is happy.
Prompts:
T: sometimes it happens. If Martha…..
S: If Martha does the washing up, John is happy.
• T: It is John’s wish – perhaps she does it:
S: If Martha did the washing up, her husband would be
happy.
• T: Martha didn’t do it
S: If Martha had done the washing up, John would have
been happy.
SITUATIONALISED DRILL
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Prompts: can be on board
(What a pity! That’s great, Oh, that’s all right!)
T: I can’t come to the party!
S: What a pity!
T: I can lend you some money.
S: That’s great!
T: I have a new boyfriend.
S: ……………………………
T: Peter has missed the bus.
S:…………………………….
T: Sorry, I’m late.
S: …………………………….
TRANSFORMATION DRILL
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Prompt:
T: I went to see Harry Potter.
S: Which film did you go to see?
T: Robby Williams
S: Which singer did you go to see?
Students can give prompts: Lord of the
Rings, U2, Hamlet, etc.
CLUASE COMBINATION DRILL
• T: He had a sore throat. He sang at the
concert.
• S: Although he had a sore throat, he…
• T: raining, go on a trip
• S: Although it was raining, he went on a
trip.
• T: headache, meeting, etc…
BALLOON TABLES
A
FE
W
I’VE BEEN
THEY’VE
BEEN
APPLE
S
CHAIR
S
[s1]
[s1]
MILK
BEE
R
A
LITTLE
Picture prompts
Oral Drill types – in free practice
• 1, Guessing Drills
• e.g. Think of your favourite colour/ country
/ pop group / animal / etc
• others are guessing - meanwhile practise
the structure
• e.g. Think of a foreign country your are
going to visit. Which one is it?
• S1 “Are you going to visit Japan?”
• S2 “ No, I’m not.
Oral drills / free practice
• 2, Imaginary situation
• similar to # 1 - information gap!!!!
• e.g. I’ve just bought a Mercedes. I haven’t
got much money left.
• - Have you bought a ......yet? (suppose S1
has a list of what he’s bought)
• I suppose you have bought a............,
haven’t you?
Oral drills / free practice
Student A
Student B
33
2234
4576
61
675
204
145
879
701
123
45
76
Six principles to do drilling
• 1, Learners have to know what they are saying
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- if they repeat structures but they don’t
understand what it expresses - waste of time
• meaningful drill = cannot be performed correctly
without an understanding of the meaning of what
is said
• mechanical drill = SS produce correct examples
without needing to think about the meaning of
the sentences
Six principles to do drilling
• 2, Let the learners hear the pattern several times
- teacher = model
• 3, Break down a long utterance or expression
into smaller parts / segments
• 4, Do not force individuals to speak until there
had been some repetition in chorus
• 5, Keep the drill rapid and short (40-60 seconds
for each drill) - Do not give more than 6 drills on
one occasion
• 6, Give clear gestures to show who is to speak
rather than give the names only
Chain drills
• to practise a particular structure over and over
again either in a game format or through
personalisation.
• e.g. I’m Csilla and I’d like to go to Chile. Next:
My name is Béla and I would like to go to Brazil
- etc. memory element!!!
• Possible structures to practice: I like doing.... I
have never done/been I want/always wanted to
do, / I would love to etc...
Seminar work
Drills:
• word / phrase / sentence prompts
• Pictures prompts / flashcards
• Mimes
• Audio prompts
• Practising giving prompts for different
structures
READING
Using Repetition Drills
• http://eltnotebook.blogspot.com/2006/10/usingrepetition-drills.html
• Drilling - Judicious Use of Brute Force in the
ESL Classroom
• http://www.usingenglish.com/weblog/archives/00
0414.html
• Drilling can be fun:
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Mumford-Drilling.html