Title: Unit 7: Tutoring the Simple Present Tense: Controlled and Communicative Exercises
Course: STEP DEV > Section: Tutoring The Simple Present Tense

Objectives

- Recall the differences between controlled and communicative exercises and the importance of the tutee using the structure communicatively.

- Recognize the tutor's role when covering controlled and communicative exercises.

- Clarify how to adapt the exercises to the tutee’s needs.

Introduction

Practising the Simple Present Tense

In STEP 3, your tutee will apply orally and in writing the rules they learned from the theory.  If your tutee has homework, you can start helping them with it instead of doing this step.  However, the advantage of using the exercises in STEP 3 is that they contain communicative questions, which are hard to create on the spot when helping with homework.

To remind you, a controlled exercise has only one correct answer, while a communicative question has many, as each tutee will give a personal answer.

- Controlled question:                   He (live) _____________ in Montreal.

- Communicative question:          Do you live in Montreal?  ______________

Controlled exercises, such as a fill-in-the-blank exercise, are useful for reinforcing the rules and pointing out irregular spellings and adverbs of frequency placement. However, research shows (Cagri Tugrul Mart, 2013) that students remember the rules better when they apply them in authentic situations.

In this step, encourage your tutee to answer communicative questions in complete sentences or using short answers (Yes, I do.)

For example, if you ask your tutee, “Do you live in Montreal?” and they answer simply “  No," you need to ask them to respond in a complete sentence or with a short answer.  See the example dialogue below.

Tutor:  Do you live in Montreal?
Tutee:  No.
Tutor:  Please, answer in a complete sentence or with a short answer.
Tutee:  No, I don’t live in Montreal.

Important:   Remember, your tutee will benefit more from using the target structure communicatively, so when possible try to make fill-in-the -blank homework exercises communicative. The goal is not  for your tutee to finish it during the session, but to practise the structure orally and later finish their homework by themself.

PRE-ACTIVITY

1.  Why do you think the tutor should explain the instructions to a tutee who is struggling with English in the following exercise?

      2.   Do you think it is necessary to always ask the highlighted questions in the exercise above?

ACTIVITY

It is important to adapt the exercises in STEP 3 to the tutee's needs.  For example,  if your tutee gets a fill-in-the-blank exercise correct, it will not be necessary to ask the grammar-related questions that follow.  In fact, with a strong tutee, you might want to omit the fill-in-the blank exercises altogether and just ask the communicative questions.

Read the "Tutor Note”, which  shows how to adapt the exercise below if the tutee answers the fill-in-the blank questions correctly.  Then, read the exercise that the tutor will use with the tutee in STEP 3 in the following video.

Click on the video and watch STEP 3:  Controlled and Communicative Exercices (simple present tense) being covered.

POST-ACTIVITY

Click on the button and  take the post-activity quiz.