Activities

Skills circuits: Recycling language

Skills circuits are a fun way to review language. They also provide a change to coursebook activities allowing learners to work together to recycle grammar or vocabulary and share knowledge. They require careful planning of both materials used in the circuit and attention to the timing of the activity itself.

• What are skills circuits?

• Some examples

• The importance of recycling

• When to use skills circuits

• Classroom management considerations

• Conclusion

What are skills circuits?
This is a competitive group activity in which learners work in groups of 3 or 4 and move round the classroom to work at a number of 'work points' or stages where they do different tasks on a group answer sheet. The answer sheets are then exchanged and marked by other groups. The group or team with the most correct answers wins.

• Teams work at each station for a short period of time and at the end of the allotted time, which is usually about 5 minutes, the groups are stopped by the teacher and asked to move to the next station where they start the next task.

• Each group has its own group answer sheet with the different stages of the circuit clearly marked.

• To ensure maximum participation, I ask learners to change the 'secretary' at each stage. This means everyone has the chance to write.

• In the event that a group finishes the activity before the allotted time, I tell them they can sit quietly and rest. It's amazed me how motivating the idea of a rest can be! I've also noticed how it gives learners the chance to chat together more freely so strengthening the group dynamic.

Some example activities
Although many types of tasks can be used in a skills circuits I have found the following ones work well because they are clear to do and uncomplicated to correct.

• Muddled up sentences
  Example: Put the words in the correct order
  time / you / up /what / this / get / morning / did /?

• Filling in table with opposite adjectives or verbs
  Example:
  

  hot	cold
  near	_______
  thin	_______
  tiny	_______

• Gap filling sentences
  Example: Complete this sentence
  While Maria _____ (do) her homework, the telephone rang.

• Reading comprehension questions from a short text

• Gap filling sentences with Make and Do
  Example: Complete this sentence using either make or do.
  Miguel ______ his bed every morning.

• Writing more words in vocabulary groups
  Example: Add more words to each of these groups
  

  Jobs	Food	Transport	Clothes

• Filling in table with Irregular verbs
  Example: Complete the table with the other forms of the verb
  

  run	ran	run
  swim	_______	_______
  go	_______	_______
  sing	_______	_______

  
  Download a complete example skills circuit 96 k
  This skills circuit is suitable for pre-intermediate students.

The importance of recycling
In his book 'Teaching and Learning Languages', Earl Stevick talks about short term memory (STM) lasting only 20 - 30 seconds, long term memory (LTM) lasting hours or days and permanent memory (PM). In order for information to move from STM to PM learners need repeated exposure and practice of language. Skills circuits can be an enjoyable and fun way of doing this.

• It is also interesting to remember that learners vary in their learning styles. Research suggests that learners come to a task with a different set of skills and preferred strategies for completing them. Patsy Lightbown and Nina Spada mention 'visual' learners who respond to images, colour and patterns, 'aural' learners who rely more on sound and rhythm, and those who benefit from adding a physical action to the learning process.

• Whatever the learning style of students they need to 'live' the language in a way which is memorable to them. A skills circuit can provide variety in its presentation which stimulates learners giving them a memorable learning experience.

When to use skills circuits
Once the system has been established, skills circuits can be used regularly throughout the course. Many course books have a revision section at the end of each unit or module, or test materials in the teachers' or activity books. It's easy to adapt this material to be used in a circuit.

• It's important for learners to be familiar with the type of task set at each stage and be able to start the exercise as soon as the allotted time starts. If more than a quick word of explanation in needed, it disrupts the timing of activities and can be distracting for you and other groups.

• As your class progress through the circuit it becomes obvious to you which areas of language need more work, since learners will consistently get stuck at a certain stage or will score very few points at others. For this reason circuits can be helpful a few lessons before mid or end of year assessments, not only to revise language but also to reveal areas needing more work.

Classroom management considerations

• Instructions
  Before the first circuit it's important to check through instructions for each task carefully so once a group arrives at that stage they can start the task immediately. Students themselves will say it's 'unfair' if they don't know what to do and the clock is ticking on.

• Answer sheet
  I always prepare an answer sheet for the circuit with clear areas marked for answering tasks. Each group works together on one answer sheet with the secretary changing from stage to stage. Since groups change answer sheets to check them in the checking stage of the class at the end, it's important to remind learners to write clearly since if it's not possible to read their writing they won't be able to score points.

• Timing
   Unless groups have worked on a skills circuit before, the first time will take longer than following ones since learners are on unfamiliar territory and will be quite excitable. It's therefore important to keep this in mind when planning since the success of the circuit depends on all groups working through all stages. Usually I allow 5 or 6 minutes for each stage and then a minute for moving on to the next one. Calculating the time needed for the complete circuit is easily done by multiplying the number of tasks by 6 minutes. I've found that 5 to 7 stages works well which means that 35-40 minutes are needed to do a complete circuit. Obviously, the amount of time and number of tasks will depend on how much time is available and both can be adapted to fit in with timetables, available space and size of groups.

• Checking time
  I've found it an advantage to plan in 'checking time' on a circuit lesson plan for the following reasons.
  
  • First of all, learners still have tasks clear in their minds and so immediate feedback is beneficial in reinforcing target language or correcting mistakes.
  • Since the activity is 'played' in a competitive spirit learners are keen to know the results straightaway.
  • Finally, the checking part of the circuit provides a natural progression to the end of the class. Making the most of the momentum created by the skills circuit is a good way of holding attention and reinforcing language in a stimulating environment.

• Competition
   Although the skills circuit can be very motivating due to its competitive nature, it's important to remember that not all learners are motivated by competition. For this reason I always remind groups that although it always feels good to win, it is as important to collaborate, cooperate and think in English! It might also help to take a part in the group selection at the start of the activity. Not only is it important that more able students are distributed throughout the groups for the sharing of knowledge, but it can also be de-motivating for some groups if they feel they have no chance of getting a high score.

Conclusion
Once the system is established I let groups know in advance that we will be doing a circuit so giving them time to look over recent work. I encourage learners by engendering an element of rivalry between groups. This can be carried further by keeping the same groups as much as possible. Perhaps one of the most positive elements of working with circuits is that it allows the teacher to interact in the target language on an individual basis. While learners are busily doing tasks with the motivation of the time limit, the teacher is free to seek out one-to-one interaction. This can prove to be satisfying and rewarding for both teachers and learners alike.

Further reading
Harmer, J: The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman. 1991
Lightbown, P and Spada, N: How Languages are Learned. O.U.P. 1996
Littlewood, W: Foreign and Second Language Learning. C.U.P. 1994
Stevick, E.W: Teaching and Learning Languages. C.U.P. 1988

Malisa Iturain, Teacher, British Council, Barcelona