Using PPF (Past, Present, Future) Strategy: Test Section - Speaking Part 2
Using PPF (Past, Present, Future) Strategy: Test Section - Speaking Part 2
Using PPF (Past, Present, Future) Strategy: Test Section - Speaking Part 2
Learning outcomes
• Students will have practised developing and extending their long turn.
• Students will have practised a range of verb tenses in answers to ‘typical’ Part 2
topics.
Time 45 minutes
Level B1-B2
Class Suitable for groups / large classes; 1:1,
F2F / Online
Interaction Pair or group work
Materials Worksheet attached
Answers
When did you go on the trip?
Where did you go?
What did you do on the trip?
Why was it memorable?
Activity 2
Material: Worksheet
Time: 20 minutes
Procedure:
• photocopy the worksheet, double-sided, for each student.
• tell students to read the task card and the partial responses and to try to guess
what PPF stands for (Past, Present, Future) (Ex 1).
Answers
“Actually, I’m planning to take my girlfriend there next year but we’re going to
stay at a beach resort this time because I’ve heard there are some lovely places
by the sea. We’ll probably just take day trips to cities and temples. I can’t wait!”
• you may wish to brainstorm other ways of talking about the future (present
continuous / present simple).
• point out that using PPF will help them to develop longer answers and show
the Examiner that they can use a range of grammatical structures.
• tell students to work alone and to make notes on things they can say about their
memorable trip using past, present and future forms (Ex 3).
• put students into pairs to talk for 2 minutes about their trip (Ex 4).
• go around and monitor the use of different verb tenses.
Possible answers
How long have you had it?
When did you get it?
How did you get it?
What do you do with it?
Who was it from?
Why is it important?
• students work alone and make 1- or 2-word notes in answers to the questions.
Give them 60 seconds.
• copy the task card onto the board.
• put students into pairs to take turns to speak about their possession for two
minutes.
• go around and monitor and make notes on tense use.
• get each student to report briefly back to the class on their partner’s object.
Extra information
• You may wish to download the Public Band Descriptors for the Speaking section
or tell your students to do so.
https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/speaking-band-
descriptors_0.pdf
• You can then point out the important differences in the Grammatical range &
accuracy criterion for the levels appropriate to your class.
Band 6 • uses a mix of simple and complex structures, but with limited
flexibility
• may make frequent mistakes with complex structures, though these
rarely cause comprehension problems
What is PPF?
1 Look at the task card below and some extracts from how a candidate answered the
question. Work in pairs. Discuss what PPF stands for. Use the underlined words and
phrases to help you.
P “It was definitely far more exciting than any holiday I’d been on
before. I’d only been to Europe so Asia was a completely different
experience for me…”
2 Underline the different ways of talking about the future used in the third extract.
Past _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Present _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Future _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
4 Work in pairs. Take turns to talk for 2 minutes about your trip. Use your notes to help
you.