Creative drilling

Drilling is not in favour with communicative language teachers as it is considered a meaningless mechanical task. Drills were an essential part of the audiolingual method which was widespread in the 1950s and 1960s. Nowadays extensive use of drilling is criticized in modern methodology since the emphasis is not put on accuracy anymore and lessons should be student-centered.

What is drilling?

“A drill is a repetitive oral practice of a language item, whether a sound, a word, a phrase or a sentence structure”. (Scott Thornbury ‘An A-Z of ELT’)

For instance, a substitution drill:

T: She works at school. He- museum

Ss: He works in a museum.

T: They-hospital.

Ss: They work in a hospital.

Can drills be useful?

Teaching pronunciation is impossible without repetition. Moderate drilling of grammar and vocabulary structures, as well as a functional language, can help learners to gain accuracy, develop fluency and boost confidence. Moreover, there are certain categories of people who  find repetitive practice really beneficial:

• students with poor memory;
• busy learners who have no time for learning vocabulary on their own;
• learners with low self-esteem;
• students who are taught intensively.

It was suggested to make drills more communicative. For example, a classic mingle activity ‘Find someone who’ allows learners to repeat the key phrases in meaningful situations. We still need controlled oral practice and it doesn’t have to be tedious.

How to make drilling more varied and creative?

As loud as you can

To bring an element of fun, ask learners to say the same phrase or a sentence with a different intonation, speed or a pitch.

For example,

T:  I wonder if you could tell me…? Very loudly.

S1: (loudly)  I wonder if you could tell me…?

T: Very high.

S2: (high-pitched voice) I wonder if you could tell me…?

T: Very fast etc.

Only

Most teens and young adults dislike choral repetition and sometimes only pretend to take part in it. To keep them focused and do the job, say the sentence and ask certain categories of learners to repeat.

For example,

Only girls/ boys/ students with blond hair/ dark-haired/ the first row 

Flashcards

To make a substitution drill more challenging, use pictures. For example, the target grammar structure is ‘I’m going to take___ with me on holiday.’ Instead of saying ‘an umbrella’, ‘a sweater’, ‘ a sunscreen’, show a picture of an item and let learners repeat a sentence.

Games

‘Snowball’ is actually a drilling game. Learners repeat the key phrases many times. They can pick up words randomly or in alphabetical order.

S1: (A) Yesterday I bought an apple.

S2: (B) Yesterday I bought an apple and a banana.

S3: (C) Yesterday I bought an apple, a banana, and some crackers.

Another example is ‘Missing items’. Write a short text or a set of words/phrases on the board:

face the challenge      consider it pointless       highly unlikely pose a serious threat

slip my mind     in perfect condition

Read the collocations aloud. Then rub off some words and let learners say the whole phrases. Then erase more items and repeat the procedure.

Jazz chants

Learning jazz chants is engaging because they provide not only context but also rhythm. Once learned, they stick in your memory for a very long time. 

For example, to practice inviting and accepting:

Would you like to go to the movies tonight?

Would you like to go to the movies tonight?

I’d love to.

I’d love to.

I feel like going to the movies tonight.

I do too.

Let’s go.

I feel like going to the movies tonight.

So do I.

Let’s go.

I don’t feel like studying tonight.

Neither do I.

Let’s go.

(From Small talk: more jazz chants by Carolyn Graham)