Input session · CELTA
What a sentence does, not only what it says. Three exponents to analyse (form, phonology, function, CCQs, context), twelve functions to match, and the other side of a request.
For each sentence, identify: Form (as a chunk) · Phonology · Function · CCQs · Context.
Start with exponent 1.
For each function below, think: what's an exponent you already know? What's another way of expressing it?
Which function from the list above does each phrase express? Click a phrase on the left, then its function on the right.
Imagine you're teaching all of these exponents for requests in the same lesson. What else do learners need to understand about them — formality, appropriacy, the relationship between speakers? How would you clarify this in class?
Discuss: list some examples of how learners might respond to a request — both accepting and declining.
The three exponents on the board before they arrive: "Can you pass me the salt, please?", "You should rest at home.", "If only I’d been more patient with him." The Wordwall link in part 6 is a phone version of the matching; use it if the room has phones and the page is on the projector.
| Stage | What you do |
|---|---|
| Exponent 1, together | Analyse the salt sentence as a class: form as a chunk (not a grammar label), function, phonology, CCQs, context. Reveal the key and compare line by line. This is the model for the other two. |
| Exponents 2 and 3 | Pairs: one takes "You should rest at home", the other "If only I’d been more patient", then they teach each other. Keys are at the end of the page (parts 10 and 11), not beside the task, on purpose. |
| The functions | Twelve functions; for each, one exponent they know and one other way of saying it. Thirty seconds a function, out loud, no writing. |
| Matching | Individually on the page or on Wordwall, then the key (part 7). |
| Requests | Six exponents of the same request. Rank them from most to least formal on the board, then ask who would say each to whom. Appropriacy is the point: a request can be perfect grammar and still wrong. |
| Responding | The gap is "respond". Collect accepting and declining exponents from the room before revealing the examples. |
On the page: parts 2, 7, 10 and 11, and the examples in part 9. The gap in part 9 accepts respond, reply or answer.
Sources. The three exponents, their analyses and the matching phrases are made up for this session; the twelve functions are standard categories in language teaching.