Teach english new edition r

1 Engage: 
students and teacher look at a picture, website or DVD of new generation robots. 
Perhaps they can watch a brief clip of the movie 
I, Robot
or some other contem porary film 
with a similar theme. They say whether they like or don’t like the idea of robots.
2 Study: 
the teacher shows students (the picture 
of) a particular robot. Students are introduced to 
‘can’ and ‘can’t ’ (how they are pronounced and 
constructed) and say things like ‘It can use a cash 
m achine’ and ‘It can’t play the piano’. The teacher 
tries to make sure the sentences are pronounced 
correctly and that the students use accurate 
grammar.
3 Activate: 
students work in groups to design 
and describe their dream robot. They make a 
presentation to the class saying what their robot 
can and can’t do.
We can represent this kind of lesson like this:
ESA straight arrows sequence
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Describing learning and teaching
Straight arrows lessons, m uch like PPP procedures (see page 49), work very well for certain 
structures. The robot example clearly shows how ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ are constructed and how 
they are used. It gives students a chance to practise the language in a controlled way (during 
the study phase) and then gives them the chance to begin to activate the ‘new’ language in 
an enjoyable way.
However, if we teach all our lessons like this, we may not be giving our students’ own 
learning styles (see page 16) a fair chance. Such a procedure may work at lower levels for 
straightforward language, but it m ight not be so appropriate for more advanced learners 
with more complex language. It won’t be of m uch use if we want students to get involved 
with a reading text or have a discussion about something. It wouldn’t be terribly useful 
either if most of the students already know how to use ‘can’ and ‘can’t’.
Thus, while there is nothing wrong with using the straight arrows sequence — for the 
right students at the right level, learning the right language - it is not always appropriate. 
Instead, there are other possibilities for the sequence of the ESA elements. Here, for example, 
is a