If you want to get your students chatting fluently in a target language then you need to find topics that genuinely press their buttons. This MFL lesson helps you do exactly that.
Look around and it’s obvious that students like to talk. But when it comes to foreign language lessons they are often reluctant to speak. This may not be because they have nothing to say but because the subject matter is of little or no interest to them.
Why not give them the opportunity to express themselves on matters that are of concern and interest to them? Allowing them to engage with authentic texts such as online discussion boards also gives them access to the vocabulary they need to express their own opinions on these matters
MFL lesson learning objectives
- Develop spontaneity in speaking
- Use authentic texts to expand your vocabulary
Starter activity
To get students thinking about talking about things that matter to them show them a series of images of young people chatting to each other in person or on their mobiles, texting, using the internet and so on.
Ask them to work in pairs to describe what they can see in the target language. Then superimpose some speech bubbles onto the images and get them to suggest what the people are saying.
Tell them that this lesson is going to be about talking about what they want to discuss.
Liz Fotheringham is an experienced MFL teacher. She is a former regional subject adviser for the secondary curriculum and trainer with the Network for Languages. Browse more MFL speaking activities.
