1. Tricks with texts
Alan Marsh
MATEFL

4. A The jumbled eight words below form a sentence. What is it
A The jumbled eight words below form a sentence. What is it? poor/in/There/country/no/my/people/are Is this a true statement, in your opinion? B Read the newspaper extract quickly and check your predictions C Why do you think she chose to live like that? Give your opinions. D Which of the following nine statements are true and which are false? ……. E Look at these pictures: what do you think the article is about? …….. F Do you prefer to spend or save money? Give reasons and say: either what you spend your money on; or what (if anything) you are saving your money for. G Complete the sentence below: In line 15, we come across the word ‘incredibly’. The word is made up of a _________, a _____________ and a ___________. How many words can you make by adding prefixes and suffixes to the words listed below. (All these words are found in the text.) home useful penny irony love cook work

5. A The jumbled eight words below form a sentence. What is it
A The jumbled eight words below form a sentence. What is it? poor/in/There/country/no/my/people/are Is this a true statement, in your opinion? E Look at these pictures: what do you think the article is about? …….. B Read the newspaper extract quickly and check your predictions D Which of the following nine statements are true and which are false? ……. C Why do you think she chose to live like that? Give your opinions. G Complete the sentence below: In line 15, we come across the word ‘incredibly’. The word is made up of a _________, a _____________ and a ___________. How many words can you make by adding prefixes and suffixes to the words listed below. (All these words are found in the text.) home useful penny irony love cook work F Do you prefer to spend or save money? Give reasons and say: either what you spend your money on; or what (if anything) you are saving your money for. 1 A 2 E 3 B 4 D 5 C 6 G 7 F

6. A Communicative Reading Tasks Template
Stage Name
Stage aim
Task 1
Lead-in
Activating cognitive schemata
Task 2
Pre-reading task
Activating cognitive schemata +/or integrating with other skills +/or pre-teaching of key lexis in text
Task 3
Gist reading
Practising skimming +/or scanning
Task 4
Intensive reading (sometimes broken down into more than one task)
Reading for specific info +/or reading with deeper understanding of ideas and issues. Sometimes includes deducing lexis from context +/or inferring (‘reading between the lines’)
Task 5
Personal interpretation/response
Relating content to learners’ lives, opinions, beliefs, backgrounds. Could also be moved to Task 7
Task 6
Focus on a language point
Moving from skills to language systems: pulling out a language systems item (grammar, lexis, phonology or discourse) to analyse, explore and practise
Task 7
Lead-out
Move on to another (related) communicative skill: speaking, writing or listening. NB 6 and 7 are often inverted

8. Many years ago when I was a young reporter I worked for a local newspaper just outside London. Our offices were in an old building in Clapham, south London. There were lots of rumours about the building and many said that one particular office was haunted by a …
… mysterious ghost. My colleague, Jim, and I have never been superstitious so one night we decided to …
…stay in the ‘haunted’ office overnight and see if anything unusual happened.
So late that evening, after everyone had gone home, we went into the office. We locked the windows and the door, from the inside. We also covered the floor with …
… white chalk, just to see if anyone stepped across it. We switched off the lights and settled down in two comfortable chairs. We talked for a while and waited, but nothing happened. Outside, a full moon shone brightly in the night sky.
Then just after midnight ….

9. … the locked door suddenly opened
… the locked door suddenly opened. The locked windows flew open and then a strong wind blew into the room. We looked at each other in shock. And then we heard a …
… terrifying sound like the howl of a wolf and in the moonlight we saw …
… the shape of an enormous beast move across the room and through the office wall. The door closed and locked itself, the windows flew shut and then …..
… silence.
For a few moments, neither of us moved. Then I switched on the light. We looked around the room. Nothing had changed, except the …
… floor. In the chalk on the floor we saw …
… four footprints of a massive animal.

10. We ran to the door, shaking with fear
We ran to the door, shaking with fear. Just before we ran out of the room, I stopped, turned and …
… took some photos of the prints in the chalk.
We ran out of the building and out into the street. All was calm and quiet. We stopped to catch our breath. I checked my camera and called up the photos of the beast’s footprints. The photos were very clear, with the floor covered in white chalk. But …
… there were no footprints.

11. Many years ago …. young reporter ………. local newspaper …
Many years ago …..young reporter ……….local newspaper ….. rumours ……ghost….
Jim and I …. ‘haunted’ office overnight ….
Evening……the office….windows…. Door…. floor … … white chalk…. the lights …..two comfortable chairs……talked ……waited…..nothing.
Full moon….. midnight ….
… the locked door…. The locked windows… a strong wind…shock…. a … terrifying sound howl ….moonlight
… enormous beast … the room ….the office wall…..The door… the windows…. silence.
neither of us moved…. the light….. the …floor….chalk… four footprints
We ran out …photos … prints…..chalk.
Street …..catch our breath ….. camera photos…. but …
no footprints.

12. Pulling out language from a text: problematize it!
1 Can you reconstruct this sentence from the text?
We / hear / terrify / sound
We heard a terrifying sound
2 How did we feel? What terrified us?
The howl terrified us.
The howl was ____________. We were ___________.

13. Language practice
1 You look very tired/tiring. Why don’t you go to bed?
2 Sit down – I’ve got some very excited/exciting news for you!
3 He’s got a very annoyed/annoying habit of always interrupting people.
4 I’m very disappointed/disappointing by your behaviour.
5 Kids! You’re disgusted/disgusting! Don’t talk with your mouths full.

14. Skills extension: personalisation – speaking or writing fluency
1 What’s the most tiring thing you do in your job / at school / at uni? Why is it tiring? What could you do to feel less tiring?
2 Think about a time when you got some exciting news. Tell us about a. the background b. how you got the news c. how you felt d. what happened afterwards.
3 Do you have a colleague or schoolmate who is annoying? Why are they annoying? How do you/could you deal with their annoying behaviour?
4 Think about a time when you felt disappointed. Tell us about a. the background b. what happened c. how you felt d. how you dealt with your disappointment.
5 What’s your pastime or hobby? How did you become interested in it? Why do you find it so interesting?

15. TALO TAVI TASP TALO: Text as a linguistic object
TAVI: Text as a vehicle for information
TASP: Text as a springboard for production

16. Holiday!
This year the Turnbull family felt like taking a holiday together and their grandparents agreed to come with them. Grandpa suggested going to a hot country so they decided to visit the Mediterranean where they could enjoy relaxing by the beach and attempt to get a suntan. They carefully avoided taking a holiday in the high season because they dislike sitting on crowded beaches. They also preferred somewhere where English is widely spoken so they decided to go to Malta, in June.
Adapted from Survival Lessons

17. Holiday!
This year the Turnbull family felt like taking a holiday together and their grandparents agreed to come with them. Grandpa suggested going to a hot country so they decided to visit the Mediterranean where they could enjoy relaxing by the beach and attempt to get a suntan. They carefully avoided taking a holiday in the high season because they dislike sitting on crowded beaches. They also preferred to go somewhere where English is widely spoken so they decided to go to Malta, in June.
Adapted from Survival Lessons
TALO

18. TAVI and TASP: Little Miss Picasso

19. Read about Little Miss Picasso
Read about Little Miss Picasso. Then prepare to interview her for a popular magazine.
Alexandra Nechita is thirteen and she is called ‘the new Picasso’. She paints large pictures in cubist style and sells them for between $10,000 and $80,000.
She was born in Romania but now lives in Los Angeles with her family. She could paint well when she was only four but her parents couldn’t understand her pictures. Alexandra says: “I paint how I feel, sometimes I’m happy and sometimes sad. I can’t stop painting.” Every day after school she does her homework, plays with her little brother, and then paints for two or three hours until bedtime.
Alexandra doesn’t spend her money – she saves it: “We were very poor when we were first in America. We couldn’t buy many things, but now I can buy a big house for my family and we can travel the world. Last year we were in London, Paris and Rome. It was fantastic!”
From New Headway Elementary

20. Speaking Interview Roleplay
A All students read the text. Then they get into groups of A students and B students. Together in their separate groups they make up and write down questions to ask the other group. They should also include questions where the answers are not contained in the text, but where students will need to use their imaginations.
B Pair students into A and B pairs. A is the journalist. B is the interviewee, Alexandra. B turns over her/his questions and gets into role, using their imaginations where necessary to answer A’s questions..
C They swap roles, with B being the journalist and using their questions to interview A.
NB 1. The interviewer can ask spontaneous follow-up questions.
2. No writing during the interview: writing kills speaking!
3. This procedure can be used to set up a roleplay after students have read a text about a celebrity or someone with an interesting/unusual personality.

21. Little Miss Picasso
1 Speed viewing and then read as a journalist preparing to interview Little Miss Picasso (TAVI)
2 Write questions and hold roleplay (TALO for the questions and TASP for the roleplay)

22. TALO TAVI TASP TAVILOSP!!!
TALO: Text as a linguistic object
TAVI: Text as a vehicle for information
TASP: Text as a springboard for production
In today’s talk / workshop…..
TAVILOSP!!!
Plus …..
And being just a little creative – adding a twist – in our use of reading texts in our classroom

23. Picture Dictation Divide into A and B
B Take up a pen/pencil and paper and look away from the screen. A will describe a picture to you which you will try and draw. Do not look at the screen!
A Describe the picture on the next slide as carefully as possible: start by saying what the picture is about then move on to details.

25. Create the comprehension questions
For example …..
Did she survive?
Was she injured?
Did it really happen?
Who took the photo?
Was anybody else there?
????????

26. A model was surprised when she saw a couple waving at her as she went for a dip in the sea – and waved back.
But little did Simone Gutsche know that there was a shark swimming only yards behind her in the water.
Gutsche had been catching the sun at Cocoa Beach in Florida’s Cape Canaveral when she decided to go for a dip in the sea.
  ‘There was nobody in the water, not many people were around. I found the emptiness beautiful’, she said.
And when the couple started waving, Simone certainly wasn’t concerned, telling German media: ‘A couple waved to me. Out of friendliness, I waved back.’
Simone had an instinct that all was not right – and decided to leave the water after struggling to work out why the couple had been screaming at her.
And as she came back to shore, they revealed that the shark had been swimming only 16 feet behind her.
‘I was so terrified I didn’t go back into the sea again for days’, she said.
Tiger sharks are known to lurk at Cape Canaveral, and are considered to be the deadliest species to humans after Great White Sharks.
They are known for visiting shallow waters – heightening their risk to humans.
Alan Marsh adapted 30/12/16
German pleasantly obligingly actually huge refreshing frantically excitedly luckily eventually killer widely particularly potential

27. A German model was pleasantly surprised when she saw a couple waving at her as she went for a dip in the sea – and obligingly waved back.
But little did Simone Gutsche know that there was actually a huge shark swimming only yards behind her in the water.
Gutsche had been catching the sun at Cocoa Beach in Florida’s Cape Canaveral when she decided to go for a refreshing dip in the sea.
  ‘There was nobody in the water, not many people were around. I found the emptiness beautiful’, she said.
And when the couple started waving frantically, Simone certainly wasn’t concerned, telling German media: ‘A couple waved to me excitedly. Out of friendliness, I waved back.’
Luckily, Simone had an instinct that all was not right – and decided to leave the water after struggling to work out why the couple had been screaming at her.
And as she eventually came back to shore, they revealed that the killer shark had been swimming only 16 feet behind her.
‘I was so terrified I didn’t go back into the sea again for days’, she said.
Tiger sharks are known to lurk at Cape Canaveral, and are widely considered to be the deadliest species to humans after Great White Sharks.
They are known for visiting particularly shallow waters – heightening their potential risk to humans.

28. Cash dispenser

29. Cash dispenser Cash dispenser goes generous
A cash dispenser went awry in a supermarket in the Riviera town of Antibes over the weekend,
giving double the amount requested but registering only the amount asked for, the daily Le Figaro said on Monday.
“It must have been the work of Father Christmas,” the newspaper quoted one delighted patron as saying as he joined a long queue of clients who took advantage of the windfall before the error was discovered and the machine shut down.
The Times 27/12/2000

30. Guess my article!
Partner A read your text on page 8 of the handout. Please do not look at your partner’s text!
Give a key word from the headline to Partner B. Partner B must ask questions to get as many details as possible. Two minutes!
B read your text on page 9 of the handout. Please do not look at your partner’s text!
Give a key word from the headline to Partner A. Partner A must ask questions to get as many details as possible. Two minutes!

31. Partner A’s text Battles crocodile to save daughter
A courageous Zambian woman snatched her badly injured daughter from the jaws of a crocodile, a newspaper reported yesterday. Grace Phiri dived into the Masaiti river, 400km north of Lusaka, to rescue the child earlier this week, the Times of Zambia said. The young girl was fighting for her life in a local hospital. Her mother suffered neck injuries. “The mother put up a spirited fight against the beast and managed to rescue her daughter”, the paper said.

32. Partner B’s text Tiger causes chaos on motorway
An escaped tiger stopped rush-hour traffic on Germany’s busiest motorway for more than two hours before he was recaptured, police said yesterday.
Sahib, a young male weighing 150 kilos, ran away from a nearby circus and was spotted by passing motorists as he padded along the hard shoulder of the Ass motorway at Wiesbaden.
“We got one call and didn’t believe it but then we were inundated by calls. We had no option but to close the motorway. He may be only 14 months old but he’s no pussycat,” a spokesman for the Wiesbaden police said.

33. The book…

34. The Mystery of the Mary Celeste
Mary Celeste was an American merchant brigantine, discovered adrift and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Azores Islands, on December 4, 1872.

35. The text…

36. Teacher’s a liar!
On 5th September, 1872, Captain Benjamin Briggs and his crew sailed their ship, the Mary Celeste along New York’s West River and out into the Atlantic Ocean. They were heading for Naples, in Italy, and they were carrying a cargo of industrial oil.
On 4th December, the ship was sighted by the captain of another ship, the Dei Gratia, about 100 miles west of the Azores. The captain was puzzled because the ship seemed to be moving strangely so he decided to send a send a large group of soldiers in a boat to investigate. What they found on deck is still a mystery today. The ship was deserted – nobody was on board: the captain, his wife, their ten- year-old daughter and six crew members had all disappeared, along with the two lifeboats.

37. A Maritime Mystery
On 5th November, 1872, Captain Benjamin Briggs and his crew sailed their ship, the Mary Celeste along New York’s East River and out into the Atlantic Ocean. They were heading for Genoa, in Italy, and they were carrying a cargo of industrial alcohol.
On 4th December, the ship was sighted by the captain of another boat, the Dei Gratia, about 600 miles west of the Azores. The captain was puzzled because the ship seemed to be moving strangely. So he decided to send a small group of sailors in a boat to investigate. What they found on deck is still a mystery today. The ship was deserted – nobody was on board: the captain, his wife, their two-year-old daughter and seven crew members, had all disappeared, along with the only lifeboat.

38. Text extract – original version
How many theories?
Which sounds more realistic?

39. There were lots of theories about what actually happened
There were lots of theories about what actually happened. At the time, the government investigator thought that some members of the crew must have got violently drunk on the industrial alcohol, massacred the rest of the crew and the captain’s family and then abandoned the ship on the lifeboat.
Some people thought that the crew of the Dei Gratia might have attacked the ship themselves and then pretended they’d found the ship in order to claim salvage money. Or else, North African pirates could have attacked the ship and killed everybody on board.
And what about aliens – could everybody have been abducted by aliens, perhaps?
Or there may have been a natural disaster, such as a tornado or a seaquake, and the captain might have ordered everybody to abandon ship.
But the most likely explanation is that dangerous, poisonous alcoholic fumes may have escaped from the cargo and the captain thought that an explosion was going to happen. So he ordered everybody into the lifeboat to sail behind the lifeboat until the danger was over. But the rope they attached to the Mary Celeste might have broken and they couldn’t get back on board.
What do you think? Do you have a better idea?

40. Text extract – doctored version
There were lots of theories about what actually happened. At the time, the government investigator thought that some members of the crew had probably got violently drunk on the industrial alcohol, massacred the rest of the crew and the captain’s family and then abandoned the ship on the lifeboat.
Some people thought that the crew of the Dei Gratia perhaps attacked the ship themselves and then pretended they’d found the ship in order to claim salvage money. Or else, North African pirates possibly attacked the ship and killed everybody on board.
And what about aliens – was everybody abducted by aliens, perhaps?
Or perhaps there was a natural disaster, such as a tornado or a seaquake, and maybe the captain ordered everybody to abandon ship.
But the most likely explanation is that dangerous or poisonous alcoholic fumes perhaps escaped from the cargo and the captain thought that an explosion was about to happen. So he ordered everybody into the lifeboat to sail behind the lifeboat until the danger was over. They then possibly attached a rope to the Mary Celeste but it broke and they couldn’t get back on board.
What do you think? Do you have a better idea?

41. There were lots of theories about what actually happened
There were lots of theories about what actually happened. At the time, the government investigator thought that some members of the crew must have got violently drunk on the industrial alcohol, massacred the rest of the crew and the captain’s family and then abandoned the ship on the lifeboat.
Some people thought that the crew of the Dei Gratia might have attacked the ship themselves and then pretended they’d found the ship in order to claim salvage money. Or else, North African pirates could have attacked the ship and killed everybody on board.
And what about aliens – could everybody have been abducted by aliens, perhaps?
Or there may have been a natural disaster, such as a tornado or a seaquake, and the captain might have ordered everybody to abandon ship.
But the most likely explanation is that dangerous, poisonous alcoholic fumes may have escaped from the cargo and the captain thought that an explosion was going to happen. So he ordered everybody into the lifeboat to sail behind the lifeboat until the danger was over. But the rope they attached to the Mary Celeste might have broken and they couldn’t get back on board.
What do you think? Do you have a better idea?

42. Likeable lexis
Go back to the text and underline any collocations, phrases and expressions that you like.
Try and find at least three.
Share and compare with your partner.

43. Pigs might fly ….

44. Dictogloss
A twenty-stone pet pig rampaged through the aisles of an American aircraft, snuffling at food trays and rubbing its nose on passengers’ legs after it was allowed to fly first class.

45. Speed Viewing
Its owners had insisted upon it accompanying them on the flight, saying it was a “therapeutic companion pet”. They produced a doctor’s note to that effect. “We can confirm that it will never happen again,” said David Castleveter, a US Airways spokesman. “Many people were quite upset that there was a large uncontrollable pig on board, especially those in the first class cabin. Let me stress that it will never happen again.”

46. Wall dictation: comprehension questions
1 How long did the flight take? _______________
2 Where was the flight from and to? _______________
3 How old were the owners? _______________
4 Give an example of a “service animal” _______________
5 How many seats did the owners and the pig take up? _______________
6 What two things did the pig want passengers to do? _______________
7 When did the pig panic? _______________
8 How many staff were needed to take the pig off the plane? __________
9 Where did the pig escape? _______________
10 Where was the pig recaptured? _______________

47. Vocabulary definitions: paper strip race
1 (verb) to tie or hold something in position, e.g. to fasten a seat belt in a car. 2 (noun) a passage between rows of seats in a theatre, church or plane or shelves in a supermarket. 3 (verb) to breathe noisily through your nose, for example when you have a cold or are crying. 4 (adjective) very sad, worried or angry about something. 5 (verb) to make a long, high sound. 6 (verb) to make a loud noise using a horn, especially the horn of a car; when an animal makes a similar loud noise. 7 (verb) to rush about in an angry, violent, destructive or irritated fashion. 8 (adjective) not willing or able to keep still because you are nervous, bored or impatient. 9 (verb) to walk in a slow, relaxed way 10 (noun) the part of a plane where the pilot sits.

48. Language Focus
B Its owners had insisted upon it __________ them on the flight
E began __________ through the first-class cabin.
He kept __________ his nose on people’s legs
G It was recaptured after __________ pushed into a lift
A A twenty-stone pet pig rampaged through the aisles of an American aircraft, __________ at food trays and __________ its nose on passengers’ legs
B Its owners had insisted ………, __________ it was a “therapeutic companion pet”
C The pig, described as “enormous, brown, angry and __________”
E , __________ to get them to give him food and stroke him, “ said one passenger.
F the pig panicked, __________ up and down through economy __________.
the animal attempted to enter the cockpit, __________ the door.

49. Language Focus Gerunds:
B Its owners had insisted upon it accompanying them on the flight
E began sauntering through the first-class cabin.
He kept rubbing his nose on people’s legs
G It was recaptured after being pushed into a lift 
Present participles
A , snuffling at food trays and rubbing its nose on passengers’ legs
B , saying it was a “therapeutic companion pet”
C The pig, described as “enormous, brown, angry and honking” (adjective)
E , trying to get them to give him food and stroke him, “ said one passenger.
F the pig panicked, running up and down through economy squealing.
the animal attempted to enter the cockpit, charging the door.

50. ‘Malta is nice’ gapped pair dictation
Partners A and B sit back to back. Each has half a text.
Partner A dictates the first few words of their text (page 14) to Partner B, who writes the words down in their text. When Partner A comes to a gap they say:
Over to you! or Your turn!
Then Partner B continues the text by dictating their words (page 15) until they come to a gap. They now say:
The partners can also say:
Can you speak up a bit, please
Can you say that again, please?
Can you say it more slowly, please?
Can you spell it, please?
What was the word before / after ….

51. ‘Malta is nice’ gapped pair dictation
Malta is very nice, for different reasons. Its clear blue sea is very nice, with small but nice beaches. Maltese people are generally very nice, too. Visiting the many historical sites and monuments is always a nice experience. Maltese food is very simple but it is always nice. The buses are quite nice but it’s not very nice to have to wait for ages and it’s really not nice when one passes by and doesn’t stop because it’s full up.
Look up the meaning of any of these descriptive adjectives which are unfamiliar. Then organize them into positive and negative meanings. Then replace ‘nice’ in the above text with a descriptive adjective.
appealing annoying frustrating appetizing bland yummy picturesque stimulating unspectacular welcoming tacky unfriendly satisfying comfortable punctual unattractive tasty boring rewarding tasteful over-the-top

52. Tricks with texts Predict the text / word / next bit (The Beast)
Speed viewing (Little Miss Picasso)
Dictogloss (Pigs might fly)
Wall dictation (Pigs might fly)
Picture dictation (model and the shark)
Word thief: steal the words you like (likeable lexis)
No gap text (model and the shark)
Vocabulary strip race (Pigs might fly)
Pair gapped dictation (Malta is nice)
Teacher’s a liar!(Mary Celeste)
Guess the article! (Cash dispenser)
Doctor the text: remember the original (Mary Celeste)
Tell and change! (The Beast)
Role play from a text (Little Miss Picasso)

53. Thank you! alanmarshinmalta@gmail.com +356 99428447
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