Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

2 What is the nature of the language activity that is taking
place?
This is on the whole a simpler question than the first one
since it is essentially a matter of asking, ‘Are pupils reading,
writing, listening, or talking?’ But at a slightly deeper level it
is also possible to ask, ‘Are they practising the production of
correct forms or are they practising the use of forms they

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In the Classroom
23
have already learnt? Are they operating a grammatical rule, a
collocational pattern, or an idiomatic form of expression?
Are they using words, phrases and sentences in appropriate
contexts to convey the message they actually intend to
convey? Are they concentrating on accuracy or fluency, on
language or communication?