[ELTeCS_PE​RU] Penny Ur on Cambridge Day

Penny Ur was in Lima and last Wednesday she gave a lecture on Creating interesting exercises and Making boring exercises interesting. She did not make controversial statements or any breakthroughs in this event but mentioned some things that I think need careful thought and that is the fact that there are features that some language practice exercises display that are NOT necessarily conducive to create interest in the students in spite of their "communicative look".Some of these are:


Interesting topics (topics may be interesting but students may not be interested in them for reasons such as background, tasks, possibility of involvement,etc.)

Information-gap-based communication (one student providing information to another may not necessarily spark interest) and

Real-world relevance or authenticity( the fact that something is authentic does not make it immediately interesting for the student if it is not particularly relevant for the student).

She also mentioned how by adding or changing some features we can make activities more interesting for students, something as simple as introducing some game-like features or open-ended responses will make a difference.

In sum, it was an interesting lecture, well dosified, with plenty of ideas that will help us reflect on our current practice. Thanks Cambridge for the opportunity of listening to such respected writer.


Maria Luisa Mu

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
(Gandhi)
mumimaria.blogpsot.com
marialuisa.mu@customizedtrainingperu.com