6   Presentation practice
6.1a   /    Students prepare their presentations
individually and briefly go through what they will include with a partner. They should then make any changes necessary following peer feedback, making sure that all four points have been included. The presentation should last exactly four minutes, with an additional minute for questions at the end.
b    Students give their talk to a partner. Before the students start their presentations, tell them that the partner must ask one question at the end. Set a time limit of five minutes, including time for one question at the end. Monitor the pairs as they give their talks. Get feedback from the class once everyone has finished.
Writing
7   Organising information in sentences
Optional lead-in
Tell the class to read the introduction and to discuss whether this is generally the same in their first language. Tell the students to find examples:
- in both English and their first language
- of sentences that begin with a subject and then a verb, and sentences that start with a different element. Is it always possible to change the word order in a) English; and b) their first language? How does changing the order of the elements in a sentence change the meaning or emphasis? Elicit examples from the class.
Answers will vary depending on the students' first languages. English tends to rely mostly on word order to indicate the grammatical function of a word or phrase, and there is generally little room for flexibility. This is not true of languages such as German that rely on cases and inflections (changes in or additions to the form of a word which shows a change in the way it is used in sentences to show function) to convey meaning. This allows for greater flexibility in sentence construction, but can cause difficulties when learning English as a foreign language. In German, it is possible to write both:
- Der Hund beißt den Mann; and
- Den Mann beißt der Hund.
These two clauses both mean the dog bites the man. However, consider the difference in meaning between:
- The dog bites the man.
- The man bites the dog.
As English relies more rigidly on word order to convey the grammar of a sentence, changes in word order can alter the meaning quite drastically. Students whose first language is inflected are likely to have a good understanding of some of these issues, and should be able to provide some good examples. However, it might be useful to do a little research before discussing word order and interference from the first language with your students.
Learner English: a teacher's guide to interference and other problems 2nd Edition (CUP 2001) provides invaluable information on the typical problems and error patterns of a wide range of learners of English from particular language backgrounds. It compares the relevant features of the students' own language with English, helping teachers to predict and understand the problems that students have.
7.1a    Tell students to look quickly at the sentence
beginnings in the two texts. Elicit from students that in A, all the sentences begin with the grammatical subject. These are highlighted in bold below. In B, apart from the first sentence, a different sentence element (in bold below) comes in initial position.
The ideas are linked together better in B. A
A brand name is often a product's only distinguishing characteristic. A firm could not differentiate its products without the brand name.
A brand name is as fundamental as the product itself to consumers.
Many brand names have indeed become synonymous with the product, such as Scotch Tape and Xerox copiers.
The owners of these brand names try to protect them from being used as generic names for tape and photocopiers, respectively, through promotional activities. B
A brand name is often a product's only distinguishing characteristic. Without the brand name, a firm could not differentiate its products.
To consumers, a brand name is as fundamental as the product itself.
Indeed, many brand names have become synonymous with the product, such as Scotch Tape and Xerox copiers.
Through promotional activities, the owners of these brand names try to protect them from being used as generic names for tape and photocopiers, respectively.
90   Unit 7 I Marketing and consumers