In the first of three posts on paraphrasing, author Anne Robinson, co-author of Fun for Starters, Fun for Movers, and Fun for Flyers 3rd Edition discusses how paraphrasing, rephrasing and adapting to any situation is an important part of learning a language, and how we can make paraphrasing a part of our young learner classes.
In everyday life, as speakers or writers, we choose our language according to the context and the people we are addressing. We can make our language more or less formal, simpler or more academic.
An important part of learning a language is developing the ability to express yourself in different ways – to paraphrase. Right from the start, we can help students to develop an awareness of paraphrasing – even in the young learners’ classroom!
Greetings
Which words and expressions can you see in the circle?
You should be able to find: Hi! Hello! Good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening!
Of course, we should use some of these greetings only at certain times of the day. You would surprise (or confuse) people if you said ‘Good evening!’ when it’s 9 a.m.! Good morning! Good evening! Good afternoon! are ways of saying Hello! but they only apply to certain times of the day. Which greeting is appropriate for you right now? What time is it?
Great to see you! Morning! Evening How’s it going? All right?
These are also ways of greeting someone, of saying hello. Some are more formal, others more informal. As a rough guide, the shorter the greeting, the more informal it is! Hi, Morning! Evening! Compare these with: Good morning to you! What a pleasure to see you!
Now, what if you hear me say “Good night”? Am I saying hello? (No – I’m saying goodbye.) Which other ways can we say goodbye? Suggestions: Bye! See you! I’m off!
(Well, I’m not leaving not just yet! This post isn’t quite finished!)
As we learn new language and want to make a record of new vocabulary, paraphrasing is a great tool.
shout whisper repeat add
Look at the verbs above. What do they mean? They are all verbs meaning to ‘say’. Which verb means to say something loudly? (shout) Which verb means to say something more? (add)
Which words are missing from these two definitions?
1 whisper means to say something …………….
2 repeat means to say something …………….
Answers:
1. quietly
2. again
Then, of course, we want students to use the verbs.
We can ask them to think about what happens in these situations:
How do people speak in libraries? Do they shout or whisper?
And at a disco, do you shout or whisper?
When someone hasn’t heard you, what do you do?
They could act out these situations for the rest of the class! To make vocabulary quizzes, we can use definitions and paraphrasing too. Look at this one for family words:
sons dad mum children
grandpa grandparents grandma grandchildren
1. Which word can mean father?
2. Which word can mean grandmother and grandfather?
3. Which words can mean children that are boys?
4. Some people call their grandmother ……….. .
5. Grandsons and granddaughters are …………… .
6. Which is another word for mother?
7. Which word can mean your son and daughter?
8. Which word can mean grandfather?
Answers:
1. dad
2. grandparents
3. sons
4. grandma
5. grandchildren
6. mum
7. children
8. grandpa
To learn more, explore our Fun for Starters, Fun for Movers, and Fun for Flyers 3rd Edition page!