Telephone Homework
Advantages to giving telephone homework
- It offers an occasion for students to use English outside
the classroom.
- Students show their ability to explain and understand a
variety of situations.
- When preparing, students get a chance to discuss available
times and days to do their homework.
- It is satisfying for students to be able to communicate in a
natural context.
- It is interesting to exchange with different people on a
variety of subjects.
- Finally, parents love to ‘listen in’ and see where their
children are at in their English language learning!
Getting prepared
- At the very beginning, go over and practice functional
language to be used for all the telephone activities.
- You can use the clock partners to have a quick selection of
the week’s partners and their telephone numbers.
- Give the students time to discuss times to call each other.
- Make sure the instructions for the task are concise and
clear.
- Include the specific vocabulary needed to do the task and
give examples.
- Model the activity in class beforehand.
Rosemary Reader, CSDM
Checking telephone homework
- You can ask students to get with their partner and compare
their information. I circulate and comment or ask questions
on their work.
- You can ask some partners to reenact their conversations
(use old telephones).
- Since you are focusing on oral English, the written
information should be consulted only for the student’s
comprehension and not written errors.
- Another possibility is to evaluate their abilities by getting
the students to use dividers to isolate them from their
partners and listening to their conversations which they
practiced during the week at home.
Possible problems
- ‘He wasn’t home!’ ‘She didn’t call me!’ Elicit ways in which
these students can overcome these problems. (Call at
different times, make sure you have your partner’s
telephone number or call a different friend).
- Students don’t want to give out their telephone numbers.
Make sure that the class understands that the numbers are
to be used ONLY for telephone homework and when it is
polite/impolite to call someone. Explain the importance of
this homework, talk with the parents. If all else fails, I’ve
already had a student who did all of the calling herself.
Rosemary Reader, CSDM