Humanising Language Teaching
Year 3; Issue 4; July 2001

OHP Lists

John Morgan
primary, secondary and adult

Level Beginner to Advanced
Time 10 to 15 minutes

Preparation

1. Make a list of 10-15 target-language words/phrases that you want your students to learn or revise.

2. Write the words on an OHP transparency in black in two neat columns.

3. Write the words again on another OHP transparency, but this time scatter them all over the sheet. Use different coloured inks, different sizes and styles of lettering. Write some of the words at an angle, or backwards, or around the circumference of a circle.

4. Prepare three more transparencies as in 3., using the same words/phrases but writing them differently on each sheet. Be adventurous. (Instead of writing the words by hand, you could use one of the many software "presentation packages" such as Powerpoint.)

In class

1. Put up the first transparency (the neat one in black lettering) on the OHP. Allow the students to look at it for 10-15 seconds, then switch it off.

2. Ask the students to jot down any words they remember and for each to add a brief explanation or mother-tongue equivalent, from memory or by guesswork.

3. Give the class 5 minutes to compare and discuss the words they have jotted down. If the words are new to them, you may want to join in at this stage to give explanations and examples.

4. Tell the students to put away their written notes and to concentrate on the OHP screen. Flash up all five transparencies in turn, each for 10-15 seconds.

5. Ask the students, in groups of 3-5, to recall each word/phrase and to discuss which visual representation of it was the most memorable.

For some people, words presented in neat lists can be memorable. For many, however, the very neatness makes it difficult to bring back a picture of what they have read. Scattering words on a page or OHP or blackboard can be very helpful in giving students signposts to their memories.