ify"> Duration: 10-15 min: Oral fluency practice: Students speak in order to find the differences between two similar pictures.
Introduction
This is a well-known activity, and a classic example of the principle of an «information gap» in communicative activities. If you put two pictures in front of a pair of students and tell them to talk about the differences, there is not much to motivate them. But if you arrange the activity so that each student only sees one picture, then an information gap is created. Cooperating with their partner to identify the differences becomes an act of genuine communicationitable pairs of pictures are provided in many modern textbooks, this activity is included here to remind teachers that it is not too difficult to create picture pairs by oneself, especially with access to the internet. For example, cartoons can be adapted. A suitable picture can be found to fit with almost any theme-based lesson.
Preparation first step is to find a suitable picture. These might come from books and magazines, or from the internet. For example, try a search on Google Images (note that the Advanced Image Search allows you to limit your results to black and white, or a particular size). There are also several websites which sell cartoons online, such as Cartoon Stock.
Discussions that Work (Cambridge University Press, 1981), Penny Ur writes:
«The preparation of such pictures is fairly simple and fun to do. You need a black and white line drawing (not photograph) with a fair amount of detail but without shades of grey (these do not reproduce well). The content of the drawing should not entail vocabulary beyond the level of the students. You photocopy it and then make the requisite number of alterations to the original drawing, using either a black fiber-tip pen (for additions) or white type-correcting fluid (for erasures). », The modifications could be done on a computer using even the simplest« paint » application. If you create any picture pairs in this way, please send them to us for inclusion on this page.the Resources section for examples.need to make enough copies so that each student will receive either one copy of «Version A» or one copy of «Version B». the students are already familiar with the concept, then you just need to repeat the «check» questions. But the first time you do this activity, it is helpful to explain the concept using the blackboard: draw two simple pictures with one or two differences and explain that partners will each receive one version. They must not show their pictures to each other, instead they have to talk to each other and circle the n differences. Check:
* Are these pictures the same? (No)
* How many differences are there? (N)
* Can you show your partner? (No)
* What do you do when you find a difference? (Circle it) the activity, you can either provide the answers, or elicit the answers from the students, or simply tell the students to put the pictures side by side so that they can check whether the differences they found really exist or not.
Questioning Authority Divide the class into small groups (4-6 students). Have each group make a list of ten unwritten rules th...
