The Past Tenses - Past Continuous - Structure and Usages
This video is part of our series on the past tenses in English. In this video, we take a look at the past continuous tense and how it is formed and used. This tense is used to indicate that a certain action was in progress at a particular time in the past.
Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next.
Unit 20 ? Troubleshooting Summary
In this chapter we have
? talked about the problem of teaching mixed-ability classes, suggesting either
different material, different tasks, ignoring the problem or using the students
themselves as ways of dealing with i.
? discussed the issue of large classes, suggesting ways of coping with them, such as using worksheets, using pairwork and groupwork, using chorus reaction, using group leaders, thinking about vision and acoustics and using the size of the group to your advantag.
? looked at solutions to the problem of students using their own language when we want them to be using Englis.
We suggested talking to students about the issue, encouraging them to use English appropriately, only responding to English use, creating an English environment and continuing to remind them of the issu.
? studied the issue of uncooperative students, suggesting that where there is trouble, we have to deal with the behaviour rather than criticising the students themselve.
We stressed the need for even-handedness and showed how we need to move on from the offending behaviour using any means of communication and, where appropriate, enlisting the help of other.
We suggested a language-learning contract as a way of pre-empting behaviour problem.
? faced the problem of students who are reluctant to spea.
Possible solutions included using pairwork, allowing students to speak in a controlled way first, using acting out and reading aloud, and using role-pla.
? listed solutions for situations where students are having real trouble with listening materia.
Among many alternatives, we can give them interview questions before they listen (again), give them different bits of the listening text in a ?jigsaw? activity, concentrate on one simple listening task only, only play the (first) bit of the recording, use the audioscript in a variety of ways and, finally, get students to predict listening content by giving them key vocabular.
? suggested that teachers should always have some spare activities ?up their sleeve? for situations where some groups finish long before others
? discussed the issue of large classes, suggesting ways of coping with them, such as using worksheets, using pairwork and groupwork, using chorus reaction, using group leaders, thinking about vision and acoustics and using the size of the group to your advantag.
? looked at solutions to the problem of students using their own language when we want them to be using Englis.
We suggested talking to students about the issue, encouraging them to use English appropriately, only responding to English use, creating an English environment and continuing to remind them of the issu.
? studied the issue of uncooperative students, suggesting that where there is trouble, we have to deal with the behaviour rather than criticising the students themselve.
We stressed the need for even-handedness and showed how we need to move on from the offending behaviour using any means of communication and, where appropriate, enlisting the help of other.
We suggested a language-learning contract as a way of pre-empting behaviour problem.
? faced the problem of students who are reluctant to spea.
Possible solutions included using pairwork, allowing students to speak in a controlled way first, using acting out and reading aloud, and using role-pla.
? listed solutions for situations where students are having real trouble with listening materia.
Among many alternatives, we can give them interview questions before they listen (again), give them different bits of the listening text in a ?jigsaw? activity, concentrate on one simple listening task only, only play the (first) bit of the recording, use the audioscript in a variety of ways and, finally, get students to predict listening content by giving them key vocabular.
? suggested that teachers should always have some spare activities ?up their sleeve? for situations where some groups finish long before others
