3.-
CLASSROOM LANGUAGE: 10 THINGS YOU MIGHT BE SAYING
WRONG
By Luiz Otávio
If you’re a non-native speaker of English and
you’ve recently embarked on a teaching career, chances are that you might be
making one or two classroom language mistakes you’re not even remotely aware
of. After all, as an advanced student, you were probably never corrected in
class if you said something like “open your books on page 20″
because, well, you never had to say it in the first place.
Here’s a list of 10 common grammar and
vocabulary mistakes that novice teachers sometimes make. If you have any other
suggestions, write them under “comments” and, who knows, there might be a
sequel to this post one day. Remember: We’re focusing on examples of classroom
language here.
1. Open your books on page 20.
Use to instead: Open your books to page 20. At
is also possible in British English.
2. OK! Time’s over!
At the end of a game or timed activity, say
Time’s up.
3. Do you want me to explain you
the rule again?
You explain something to someone: Do you want
me to explain the rule toyou again? Or simply: Do you want me to explain the
rule again? Remember:Explain me / him / her etc. is wrong.
4. Pay attention in the example.
You should say Pay attention to the example.
You can also say Pay attention in class (=pay attention when you’re in class).
5. Ask question four to Raul,
please.
Most verbs followed by two objects can take
either to (She gave me a present = She gave a present to me) or for (She bought
me flowers = She bought flowers for me).Ask is different. With ask, don’t use
to or for: Ask Raul question four, please.
6. Today we’re going to discuss
about politics.
You discuss something, not about something:
Today we’re going to discuss politics.
7. These are slangs.
Slang is uncountable. Say These are examples
of slang. Remember: a slang is wrong. Say a slang word / term. By the way,
evidence is uncountable too: Please find the evidence / a piece of evidence in
the text.
8. I gave you a homework last
class, didn’t I?
Homework is uncountable. Say I gave you some
homework. You can also say a piece of homework / two homework assignments. By
the way, you can also assign homework.
9. Are you with your students’
book?
This one’s probably due to Portuguese
interference (“Vocês estão com o livro?”). It’s far more natural to ask Do you
have your student’s book? By the way, different publishers call their
coursebooks student’s book, student book or students’ book.
10. Does anyone have any doubts?
If you want to know whether students
understood the new rules, for example, it’s more natural to ask Does anyone
have any questions? In English, doubt usually implies a lack of belief or
certainty rather than a lack of understanding: I have my doubts that the plan
will work. More details here.
Special thanks to Natália Guerreiro, Higor
Cavalcante, Jimmy Astley, Danilo Pereira, Cecilia Nobre and Adriel Ramos for
the input.
Thanks for reading.
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