Some planning in advance is necessary for these lessons (as was mentioned in the lesson at the beginning of the module).
If students have been asked to visually record some events of interest to them at a school athletics meet or swimming gala, or five minutes from a basketball, football, tennis or any other match before this lesson, they will be ready for the activity. Alternatively, teachers should have some suitable film clips ready.
Excerpts from professional sports are a possibility, but the action is so much faster that doing a commentary is much more demanding, and it takes more effort to know the names of all the sportsmen and women than it does in the case of classmates.
Another possible source of filmed materials for this activity is one of the many sports films discussed in the unit “Sports Film”.
Not every student needs to work on separate materials. In fact, students are encouraged to work in pairs or groups on a particular event.
The aim of the lessons is principally the production of oral English in a pleasurable way and the exact details of the commentary are not of much significance. The amount of technical language used should depend on the student’s interest in that sport and not be regarded as essential.
Learning Activity 1 Part A
Brainstorming and Speaking
Students can spend 10-15 minutes working on this, and teachers should pool ideas to create a helpful picture of the average commentary and its contents so that the students are clear about the requirements of the task they are being asked to perform. Specifically, students should:
• map their ideas on the graphic organiser that is provided, and
• consider how commentators create excitement and how they use language (vocabulary, tenses) and share their ideas with the class.
Ideas for content:
1. What do you expect a commentator to say before, during and after a game or sports event (e.g. a race)?
information on the participants, predictions about the outcome, description of what is taking place, reflections on what the participants are thinking and feeling
2. What ways does the commentator use to make his commentary exciting?
tone of voice, creating build-up, excitement during competitive events, expression of emotion as surprising/shocking/wonderful/disappointing things take place, exclamations of pain, cheering, etc.
corresponding to the events, speaking faster at exciting moments, raising voice, asking questions 3. What sort of language do you expect a commentator to use (types of vocabulary, tenses and so
on)?
the commentator is present at the event so he uses words like now, here, look (of course a commentary can be made later as the students are going to in this exercise); the present continuous tense (be + -ing) is common; technical terms relating to the sport being commented on;
more advanced students might note that commentators are talking under pressure and making predictions so they need to protect themselves by using the language of doubt: probably, perhaps, a bit, quite, rather, seems
T54 Catering for Learner Diversity
For less advanced students:
You may play CD Track 9 for the listening practice instead. Track 9 is a slower version of the same commentary, considering that many students may not be familiar with the genre and may have difficulty understanding the text. For further support to students, you can provide the tape script with a few key words left out so that students will find the listening practice more manageable.
Catering for Learner Diversity For less advanced students:
To elicit more responses from the students, you may cite a few examples of sports commentary before running a brainstorm competition between two big groups in the class. Then ask the students to put their answers under the right category, before/during/after the event.
Part B Vocabulary
This part aims to help students with the vocabulary they may encounter in the commentary that they are going to listen to. Students put down ten words that they expect to hear from a commentary and share their answers.
Answers for question 2:
tie try to get the ball off a player
free kick one side of the pitch (left and right) tackle the result of a game/competition in which
the two players/teams have the same score
flank defence
a special kick a team gets when the other team does something wrong
protection of someone/something from attack
Part C Listening
Students listen to the commentary and answer the questions that follow. The useful words and phrases for writing sports commentaries, some more relevant to football, have been underlined in the tape script below. Teachers may bring them to students’ attention before or after the listening.
Answers:
1. Beginning: 2-all; end: 5E leading 3-2 2. Fong; he heads the ball into the goal
3. With not much time left, it is quite likely that 5E will win the match.
Tape script for listening exercise CD Track 8: Sports commentary
There’s not much time left on the clock. 5C and 5E are tied 2-all. 5E have been attacking all match, but 5C have a strong defence and a really good goalkeeper. Now, it’s a free kick for 5E. Fong is taking it and the ball’s gone to Cheung. Cheung passes to Hung. 5C To tackles Hung and now has the ball. A powerful kick takes it towards Man, but 5E captain Szeto gets it and he’s moving fast down the left flank. Where are 5C? Their defence is not working this time. Szeto kicks the ball. It’s too high. No, Fong is there and he’s heading it into the goal. Li is diving to stop it, but no, it’s in the goal. Fong has scored 5E’s third goal and it looks as if this game is going to be theirs.
T55 Learning Activity 2
Writing and Speaking
Teachers should play the commentary once again so that students are more familiar with the structure and language as well as the delivery skills for a sports commentary. After the listening, the students should be instructed to prepare and record a commentary for their short film. They should develop, write, and record a commentary to go with a short film clip of a sports match. If possible, it should be a soundtrack so others can listen to it as they watch the clip of the sports event, but if this is a problem the student can make an audio recording. Teachers should go over the useful words and phrases with students before they attempt to write.
The assessment criteria on the “Commentary Feedback Form” on the next page should be explained to students before they start to work, and the form can be used for peer or self-assessment if deemed appropriate.
Web Help
The following links contain some sports commentaries to read or listen to:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/sports_commentary/
http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures.aspx
http://www.talksport.net/channels/index.asp?c=100000&t=sport Catering for Learner Diversity
You may adopt cooperative learning structures to make the tasks more accessible to your students.
It would be even more manageable if the whole class comments on the same short film selected by you so that more scaffolding work on vocabulary and content can be done.
For less advanced students:
You may adjust the requirement for the commentaries to suit the class. The recording can be anything from a fluent five-minute description of a game to a few slow sentences commenting on some actions. You may also limit students’ choice by asking them to work on one particular sport so that you can give them more focussed language support.
For a further simplified version of the activity, consider cutting out photos taken during sports matches from magazines or newspapers and ask students to write captions to describe what they see in the photos.
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*This is a general list of feedback criteria. Teachers might like to adapt it for use in their own classroom.
Commentary Feedback Form
Give feedback to your own and/or your classmate’s performance by circling the appropriate number under "Needs improvement", "Satisfactory" or "Good", and by completing the “Overall comments”
section.
Needs
improvement Satisfactory Good Content
z The information is suitable 1 2 3
z The information is interesting 1 2 3
Style
z The style of a commentary is followed 1 2 3
Language
z Words are said correctly 1 2 3
z Suitable tenses and vocabulary are chosen 1 2 3
Delivery strategies
z The voice expresses emotion 1 2 3
z There is some variation in speed 1 2 3
Overall comments:
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