Anecdotes Get Everyone Talking: Anecdotes and English Language Teaching

Anecdotes get everyone talking
This section includes:

 Guidelines for using anecdotes in class by Sue Kay and Vaughan Jones (below)
 Anecdote materials: introductory activities and anecdotes designed to help you get students talking.
 Web-based activities linked to the anecdote theme.
We will publish a new set of materials each month.
Style Web Activities Style Anecdote

A fashion webquest and style Talking about style. The language
treasure hunt. point covered is adjective order.
Adrenalin Web Activities Adrenalin Anecdote

The extreme adrenalin challenge. This anecdote and the introductory
Web-based activities that focus on activities focus on talking about past
extreme sports. Students win experience Have you ever . . .?
points in each challenge. Intermediate level.
Dance Web Activities Dance Anecdote

Web Quest on dance clubs in the Talking about dancing and having a
USA + Dance Treasure Hunt - a good time using the past tense.
race against time + Multimedia Pre-intermediate
Collage.
Anecdotes and English Language Teaching

Sue Kay and Vaughan Jones
What are anecdote activities?

Anecdotes are extended speaking tasks which give students the opportunity to talk about things that matter to them. The main
purpose of an anecdote is to develop fluency, improve accuracy and encourage the use of more complex linguistic structures.
We have found the following strategies helpful in getting our students to tell their anecdotes successfully.
1 Choose global topics that everybody can relate to

Anecdotes aim to encourage students to experiment with and grow more competent at using language at the more demanding
end of their range. It therefore seems only fair to ask them to talk about subjects they know something about. With familiar
subject matter students can concentrate on how they are speaking rather than what they are speaking about.
2 Allow sufficient preparation time

Students need time to assemble their thoughts and the Anecdotes are set up though evocative questions. Students read or listen
to a planned series of questions and choose what specifically they will talk about; shyer students can avoid matters they feel are
too personal. Once they have assembled their thoughts, students need further time to think about the language they will need.
This two-stage student preparation time is vital and should not be rushed. Research, by Peter Skehan and Pauline Foster among
others, has shown that learners who plan for tasks attempt more ambitious and complex language, hesitate less and make fewer
basic errors.
The simplest way to prepare students for an Anecdote is to ask them to read the list of questions in the book and decide which
they want to talk about. This could be done during class time or as homework preparation for the following lesson. The questions
have check boxes so that students can tick the ones they are interested in. Ask them to think about the language they will need.
Encourage them to use dictionaries and make notes – but not to write out what they will actually say. Finally, put them into pairs
to exchange Anecdotes.
A variation is to ask the students to read the questions in the book while, at the same time, listening to you read them aloud.
Then ask them to prepare in detail for the task, as above.
Alternatively, ask the students to close their books – and then to close their eyes. Ask them to listen to the questions as you read
them aloud and think about what they evoke. Some classes will find this a more involving process. It also allows you to adapt the
questions to your class: adding new ones or missing out ones you think inappropriate. After the reading, give them enough time
to finalise their preparation before starting the speaking task.
3 Monitor students and give feedback

It is important for students to feel that their efforts are being monitored by the teacher. Realistically, it is probably only possible for
a teacher to monitor and give feedback to one or two pairs of students during each Anecdote activity. It is therefore vital that the
teacher adopts a strict rota system and makes sure that everyone in the class is monitored over the course of a term.
Constructive feedback helps students improve their delivery.
4 Provide a ‘model anecdote’

It is always useful for the students to hear a model Anecdote at some stage during the Anecdote activity. The most obvious
model is you the teacher. Alternatively you might ask a teaching colleague or friend to talk to the students or record something
that can be played back in class.
5 Repeat the same anecdote with a new partner at regular intervals

Consider going back to Anecdotes and repeating them in later classes. Let the students know that you are going to do this. This
will reassure them that you are doing it on purpose, but more importantly, it will mean that they will be more motivated to dedicate
some time and thought to preparation. When you repeat the task, mix the class so that each student works with a new partner,
i.e. one who has not previously heard the Anecdote.
Repeating complex tasks reflects real interactions. We all have our set pieces: jokes, stories. And we tend to refine and improve
them as we retell them. Many students will appreciate the opportunity to do the same thing in their second language, and
research by Martin Bygate among others has shown that given this opportunity they become more ambitious and at the same
time more precise in the language they use.
Carrying them out

Option 1
The easiest way to do an anecdote activity is as follows. Give your
students a list of leading questions to read and ask them to tick the
questions they can or want to answer. This allows them to take control of
the activity and also means that shyer students can avoid matters they feel
are too personal.
Then give them planning time to think about both what they are going to say
and how they are going to say it. Be on hand to help them and encourage
them to use dictionaries and make notes, but discourage them from writing
out what they will actually say. The planning stage need not take more than
ten minutes, but students are more likely to be adventurous and use more
complex language if they have had time to think about it. Research has
shown that students who plan for tasks attempt more ambitious language,
hesitate less and make fewer basic errors. After the preparation time, ask
students to work in pairs and to exchange anecdotes.
Option 2
The following is another way of doing an anecdote activity. Ask students to
listen to you reading the leading questions aloud. Tell them to close their
eyes if they wish and just to listen and to allow thoughts to come into
their minds as you speak. Read the questions aloud, slowly, in your most
hypnotic tones, pausing for a few seconds between questions while the
students' memories are activated.
Some classes will find this a more involving process. It also allows you to
adapt the questions to your class, adding new ones or missing out ones you
think are inappropriate. After the reading, give the students time to
prepare in detail for the speaking task and put them in pairs to exchange
anecdotes.
Following them up
An anecdote activity is not the kind of speaking task that requires
students to use target structures as in the 'free' stage of the PPP
(Presentation, Practice, Performance) approach. Rather, in line with a
task-based model of language teaching, it may be followed with the playing
of a recording of native speakers performing the same, or similar, tasks
for students to listen to. As they are already personally engaged with the
topic, they are likely to be receptive to the new language they are exposed
to in this way.

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Anecdotes get everyone talking

This section includes:

Style Web Activities Style Anecdote

Adrenalin Web Activities Adrenalin Anecdote

Dance Web Activities Dance Anecdote

Anecdotes and English Language Teaching

What are anecdote activities?

1 Choose global topics that everybody can relate to

2 Allow sufficient preparation time

3 Monitor students and give feedback

4 Provide a ‘model anecdote’

5 Repeat the same anecdote with a new partner at regular intervals

Carrying them out

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