At all costs
To wait one’s turn
To suit one
Window-shopping
To drive a hard bargain
To pay by check
A cash-and-carry
To cash in on
In store
To set great store by
A market price/value
To be on the market
SPEAKING
| Phrases
for making dialogues |
Roleplay 1 |
| Dialogue | Rolaplay 2 |
| Using
polite language |
The Barbers |
| Discussion
themes |
In a shop |
|
|
To
shop around At all costs To wait one’s turn To suit one Window-shopping To drive a hard bargain To pay by check A cash-and-carry To cash in on In store To set great store by A market price/value To be on the market |
Be
someone’s bag
- means that you are not very interested in it or are not very good at
it.
In the bag
- you mean that you feel certain that you will get or achieve it.
Leave
someone holding the bag/the baby - to be made
responsible for a problem that nobody else wants to deal with.
A mixed bag
- used to describe something that contains things that are of very different
kinds of qualities.
Someone’s bag of tricks
- a set of special techniques or methods to use in this work.
Pack your bags
- to leave suddenly where they live or work, or withdraw from an
agreement, usually because of a disagreement.
All over
the shop
- something is spread
across a large area or over a wide range of things.
Shut/close up shop
- to be forces to close their business , for example because of
difficult economic situation.
A
talking/talk shop - if you are being
critical describing something such as a conference or an organization because
you think that its discussions have no practical results.
Talk shop
- people who do the same kind of work talk to each other about their
work. This is boring to the other people who are present who do not do the same
job.
Have someone over a barrel
- you mean that they have put you in a position where you cannot possibly
win
Scrape the
barrel/ bottom of the barrel - means that they are using something or doing
something that is not very good, because they cannot think of anything better to
use or do.
On the
barrelhead/barrel - pay for something
immediately and in cash.
Give someone both barrels with both barrels - you attack them fiercely, aggressively, and forcefully.
The learners are taught a brief dialogue which they
learn by heart.
For
example:
A: Look, it’s stopped raining!
B: So it has! Do you want to go out?
A: Yes, I’ve got a lot of shopping to do.
B: Right, let’s go. Where do you want to go first?
They then perform it; privately in pairs, or publicly
in front of the whole class.
Learners can be asked to perform the dialogue in different moods (sad, happy, irritated, bored); in different role-relationships (a parent and a child, wife and husband, wheelchair patient and nurse, etc.). Then the actual text of the dialogue can be varied: other ideas substituted (by teacher or students) for “shopping” or “ it’s stopped raining”, and the situation and the rest of the dialogue adapted accordingly. Finally, the learners can suggest a continuation: two (or more) additional utterances which carry the action further.
Change the following sentences into sentences using polite language. Don’t forget that there are a few different ways to say them politely
Do you want something?
Take it.
Come over here and look at this.
I want tomatoes.
Help me.
Put it in a bag.
Get me a different size.
Show me some shoes that are red.
Where’s the change?
Give me that.
1. Look at what people say about shopping. Which ideas do you agree and disagree with? Give reasons.
| It's
fun. It helps me relax. It is like an excursion. |
It gives me an idea of what is
fashionable. It's stupid. It is a waste of time. |
2. Where do you usually do your shopping? Why there?
3. Describe your attitude to supermarkets.
4. What do you think of the way our salespeople work?
5. Have you ever used a catalogue / Internet to order things? Why / not?
6. How do commercials influence people? Why?
Roleplay
1
Participants are given a situation plus problem or
task, but they are also allotted individual roles, which may be written out on
cards. For example:
ROLE CARD A: You are a customer in a cake shop. You want a birthday cake
for a friend. He or she is very fond of chocolate.
ROLE
CARD B: You are a shop assistant in a cake shop. You have many kinds of cake,
but not chocolate cake.
Very often the role play is done in pairs, as in the
above example; sometimes it involves interaction among five or six different
roles.
Normally, the groups or pairs improvise their role play between themselves, simultaneously, with no audience. Sometimes, however, volunteers may perform their role plays later in front of the class.
1
Learners first take part in a preliminary activity that introduces the
topic and the situation, and provides them with some background information.
Such activities include brainstorming, ranking exercises, and problem solving
activities in small groups. For example, as preparation for a role-play on
buying a car, students first interview each other on what would influence them
most in their personal choices of a car. Next they discuss and rank order their
criteria. The focus is on thinking about a topic, generating vocabulary and
related language, and developing expectations about the topic. These activities
prepare learners for the role play by establishing schema and providing
student-generated language for the situation.
2
Students then practice a dialogue on the topic (e.g., a conversation
between a person wishing to buy a car, and its owner, or a salesman. With more
advanced learners, a variant might be to have learners reflect more on the types
of things that each party might appropriately say, and write their own dialogue,
rather than practice one provided by the teacher.
3
Using Role cards provided by the teacher, students perform a role-play.
Students practice the role -play several times, in different roles and with
different partners.
EXAMPLE:
Student A: You want to buy a used car. You found this
ad in the newspaper this morning.
Like New!
Beautiful 4-door convertible
Best offer or $9,000
Call 684-567 after 7 pm
1
Call to find out more about the car. Get an appointment to see the car.
2
Visit the owner. Ask detailed questions about the car. You want the car,
but can not afford to pay more than $7,00. Find out why he or she wants to sell
it. Negotiate the best price you can.
Student B: You have a used car that you would like to
sell. You have placed the following ad in two local newspapers.
Like New!
Beautiful 4-door convertible
Best offer or $9,000
Call 684-567 after 7 pm
1
Respond to inquiries about the car. You have been having a lot of
problems with the car’s engine lately and it would be expensive to have it
repaired.
2
You want to get at least $8,ooo for this car, which is the
down payment on a brand-new one that you want to buy very much.
Cut the story into parts. Hand out the slips of paper
to your students at random and ask them to make up the original story. Finally,
ask them to solve the problem which is mentioned at the end of this task.
A philosopher went to visit a small town lost in an
immense desert.
On arrival he decided that he rather badly needed a
haircut and asked if there were any barbers in this town.
There were two, he was told.
He was also told that the first was a very smart man
with excellently cut hair and a very clean shop.
The second wore dirty clothes and his place was a real
mess. What’s more, his hair was badly cut.
Neither the first nor the second had an assistant.
After hearing about the two barbers, the wise man
wondered which of them to go to.
As he couldn’t make up his mind, he went and sat
under a tree to think the problem through.
After thirty seconds of though, he jumped to his feet
and strode across the square to one of the barber’s shops.
Combining versions
Two students sit opposite one another and try to detect
discrepancies between their different versions, without actually seeing any but
their own. Students may be allowed to
mark their corrections onto the original texts- there is no other way of doing
it, really short of copying out the whole thing. It is possible to seat students
in fours, with two students sharing a text; this is advisable if they are
lacking in confidence or not very fluent. They may not count on no account show
each other their texts; everything must be communicated by word of mouth.
At the end, one student may read out his finished
version, to be approved or corrected by the others; or the correct solution
should be given by the teacher.
Pairs of versions can be prepared that have not one
right answer but two; they are simply two parallel texts that have got mixed up
and need to be disentangled; these can be amusing, as the examples will show.
Correct solutions are appended to help the teacher check students’ results.
IN A SHOP (MIXED-UP VERSION A)
Good morning. What a
lovely lots of toys you have there. I really must have some. Yes, this is my
gun, I always take him shopping with me. I hope you noticed he’s pointing
straight at you… he’s so intelligent. Would you mind showing me that money?
How much are they? What, only two dollars each? I’m sure you can do better
than that. Ah, that’s more like it. I’ll take the whole set, my boss will be
absolutely ecstatic. Please wrap them for me and put it in my suitcase. Thank
you so much, you’ve been so cooperative.
IN A SHOP (MIXED-UP VERSION B)
Good morning. What a
beautiful selection of money you have there. I really must have some. Yes, this
is my baby, I always take it with me on jobs. Look, it’s looking straight at
you;;; I’m very accurate. Would you mind giving me those toy cars? How much is
there? What, only two hundred dollars? I’m sure you can do better than that.
Ah, that’s more like it. I’ll take the whole cash-box, my baby will find it
very useful. Please bring it over here and put them in my bag. Thank you so
much, you’ve been very kind.
In a Shop (Correct solution A)
Good morning. What a
lovely lot of money you have there. I really must have some. Yes, this is my
gun, I always take it with me on jobs. I hope you noticed it’s pointing
straight at you… I’m very accurate. Would you mind giving me that money? How
much is there? What, only two hundred dollars? I’m sure you can do better than
that. Ah, that’s more like it. I’ll take the whole cash-box, my boss will
find it very useful. Please bring it over here and put it in my suitcase. Thank
you so much, You’ve been very cooperative.
In a Shop (Correct solution B)
Good
morning. What a beautiful selection of toys you have there. I really must have
some. Yes, this is my baby, I always take him shopping with me. Look, he’s
looking straight at you>>> he’s so intelligent. Would you mind
showing me those toy cars? How much are they? What, only two dollars each? I’m
sure you can do better than that. Ah, that’s more like it. I’ll take the
whole set, my baby will be absolutely ecstatic. Please wrap them up for me and
put them in my bag. Thank you so much, you’ve been very kind.