Structure Drills

Five steps in building language habits are outlined below, with some examples of ways to teach each step:

Recognition. The child perceives and recognizes the structure and meaning of a sentence. Review similar structures and make comparisons. Use concrete objects, illustrations or acting out to show meaning for beginning students and explain more complex or abstract meanings in simple language to intermediate students. Give several examples for each item: I am walking. I am reading. I am working. Test comprehension by saying a sentence and having the student act it out or point to an appropriate object or illustration.

Imitation. The child mimics the teacher or a tape. Model the sentence and have the student repeat it. To teach the student what you want, say the sentence in a normal voice and then repeat it in a soft voice using a hand signal to indicate that the student is to respond. Teach the word "Repeat". Mouth the correct response with the student at first. Positively reinforce correct responses.

If a student has a problem repeating an entire sentence, use a backward buildup drill. The student repeats words or groups of words beginning at the end of the sentence and working toward the beginning of the sentence, as illustrated below. Natural intonation is retained by breaking up sentences in this way, and the student feels more confident as he moves toward a part of the sentence he has already practiced.

Teacher	The girls are waiting for the bus.
Teacher	for the bus.
Student	for the bus.
Teacher	are waiting for the bus.
Student	are waiting for the bus.
Teacher	The girls are waiting for the bus.
Student	The girls are waiting for the bus.

If the student has a pronunciation problem, direct him to watch your mouth. Demonstrate differences in the sound desired and that being produced, pointing out the position of lips and tongue. If a particular sound continues to present a problem, construct pronunciation lessons.

Continue imitation until student can repeat easily without modeling and in response to a visual clue if available. At this point, a substitution drill using visual clues may be appropriate. Students use another word of the same class in place of a word in the sentence.

Teacher (holding pencil)	I have a pencil.
Student (holding pencil)	I have a pencil.
Student (holding book)	I have a book.
Student (holding map)	I have a map.

Repetition. The child answers questions or recites by memory. The student may memorize and recite a dialog. Or teach question-answer pairs: What is he doing? He is reading a book. Again use visual cues. Teacher asks questions and student responds, then student asks questions and teacher responds. With more than one student, a chain drill can be used. In this, Student A asks a question or makes a remark to Student B, Student B follows the pattern with Student C, etc.

Student A	What's your name?
Student B	My name is John. What's your name?
Student C	My name is Lily. What's your name?
etc.

Use plenty of wait time, but if student has apparently forgotten the response, return to imitation for a while and then go back to repetition. Keep a rather brisk pace when using any drills, and keep them short and focused.

Variation. Use Transformation Drills. The child manipulates structures, answers in the negative, or substitutes subjects, objects or verbs. Have student formulate questions from statements, negative from positive statements or expand sentences as shown below.

Selection. The child selects appropriate sentences to express new meaning. Ask the student questions about herself or things she knows, utilizing new as well as previously mastered structures. Maybe find pictures of the child's country or any interesting pictures as a stimulus, or ask her to bring items of value to her such as collections or pictures of her family. Encourage the use of the new structure and inobtrusively reinforce when it's used. It is important to really listen and show interest. Develop hand signals to alert the student to a mistake in known structure without interrupting her flow of speech. At this point, you may wish to record or transcribe the student's speech, and proceed with a language experience method. Worksheets can be developed from the transcription or the child can proofread and correct it. A language item is not really learned until it is used in free speech, but it's not necessary for this to occur regularly before proceeding with instruction. The language experience stories can give you clues as to what to teach next.