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NTERACTIVE INFORMATION TRANSFER
In this exercise each partner has information that the other needs and both have a text to complete. The activity will reward you for the considerable time needed for preparation.
FOR TEACHER:
Before class
You will need one text and a table that illustrate each other. Remove some key words or facts from the text, (ones also given in the table) and some from the table (ones also given in the text). Do not remove the same item from both the text and table. (See the example below.)
In Class
1. Form pairs. Give As a copy of the table and Bs a copy of the text.
2. Tell As and Bs to sit back-to-back and not to look at each others' papers.
3. Tell As that they must complete the table and Bs the text. B will begin by reading the text. They should stop if asked to by A and repeat numbers or sentences as required. When B comes to a gap in the text, they should hum and wait until student A helps them to complete it by consulting their table.
4. When a pair has finished, get them to go through table and text together in order to sort out any problems.
Extension
5. Students put the texts away. One student starts explaining the table. Indicate the next student who carries on the explanation from exactly where you left off.
Rationale
Most information transfer activities go from text to table or table to text. By going both ways at once this activity keeps both partners involved and makes them use a wider variety of skills.
Example Text and Table for Activity:
PROFIT AND LOSS
Right, I'd just like to take as an example the trading and profit and _________ for Western Shield for the year to March 31,1991.
This way we can all understand what we're talking about. Sales were strong at 2m. The cost of sales was kept to 1,400,000.
Now it should be quite obvious that you get the Gross profit by deducting _________which gives you a respectable _________.
Then to go into more detail: we'll discuss the net trading profit. As you can see, we have to take into account administration expenses at 80,000, selling and distribution expenses of 130,000 and of course - always a sore point for some - the directors' fees and salaries at 40,000. Lastly, we have to pay back the bank so there's the _________. Now, how do we calculate net trading profit? Well, you have to _________ which gives you a round _________.
So, we move on down to 'profit for the year retaind' which is the money our company actually gets to keep. First, we have to deduct what we give to the government, or what we call _________. In this case it comes to __________. Next, we can't forget our shareholders. The shareholders' profit is calculated by _________which gives us _________. Then we have to pay them a dividend of ten thousand for the year and we get the profit for the year retained by deducting that from the shareholders' profit.
Western Shield
Trading and Profit and Loss Account for the year to 31 March
£000
Sales
Cost of sales
Gross profit 600
Management expenses
Selling and distribution expenses
Directors' fees and salaries
Interest on overdrafts and loans 6
Net trading profit 344
Corporation tax 172
Shareholders' profit 172
Dividend paid 10
Profit for the year retained
Source: “ESP Ideas: Recipes for Teaching Professional and Academic English” by Randal Holme
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