In this post, we’ll be looking at two ideas to turn drilling exercises into energising activities.
Drilling with movement for intonation
Students stand up and mimic the intonation pattern of the target language, e.g. rise up on their tiptoes intonation is rising in yes/no questions, or move their arms downwards when intonation is falling in Wh– questions.
Drill race
Write the sentence you want to drill on the board. Model it a few times for students to listen to but don’t ask them to repeat it immediately. Then students should then practise saying the sentence on their own or with a partner. When they are happy with their own pronunciation, they come to you and say the sentence. If they make a mistake, model the sentence again and ask them to go back to their seat and practise again until they are happy with it.