Learning and Using English- Extended Speaking with Subject Questions

Learning and using English extended speaking and subject questions

Talk about one (real) experience of when you used English or tried to learn English, e.g. one of the topics below like the last conversation that you had in English. Talk about it as long as you can. Your partner will listen without interrupting, then ask you questions to find out more details.  

Suggested topics to talk about

• a book
• a CD
• a children’s…
• a complaint
• a conversation (with a native speaker/ with another non-native speaker)
• a conversation exchange
• a date
• a debate
• a dialogue
• a dictionary
• a documentary
• a graded reader
• a lecture
• a lesson/ a workshop
• a list of phrases
• a magazine/ a journal
• a (business) meeting
• a movie
• a newspaper
• a phrase book (for travellers)
• a podcast/ an mp3
• a poem
• a radio programme
• a report
• a request
• a self-study book
• a service exchange (in a shop etc)
• a Skype conversation
• a smartphone app(lication)
• a social interaction
• a song
• a speech
• a story
• a successful attempt to communicate
• a successful attempt to learn something
• a tablet app(lication)
• a teleconference/ a video conference
• a telephone call
• a TV programme
• a vocabulary list
• a website
• an academic paper
• an article
• an email exchange
• an English conversation club
• an English language exam
• an enquiry
• an essay
• an interview
• an offer
• an unsuccessful attempt to communicate/ learn something
• some comedy
• some error correction
• some exam practice
• some grammar study
• some idioms
• some online chat
• some online training
• some pronunciation practice
• some self-study
• some slang
• some software
• some vocabulary study
• something I learnt by heart
• using some flashcards
• using English at work
• using English as a volunteer

 

Suggested questions to ask when your partner has finished speaking

• How did you feel about it?
• What did he/ she say/ write (about…)?
• What did you do (next)?
• What did you say/ write (about…)?
• What happened (next)?
• Who complained (to you)?
• Who did you complain to?
• Who did you give it to (afterwards)?
• Who did you help (with…)?
• Who did you talk to about it?/ Who did you tell about it?
• Who did you…?
• Who… (you)?
• Who gave it to you?
• Who helped (you) (with…)?
• Who recommended it to you?/ Who told you about it?/ Who suggested it to you?
• Who started the conversation?/ Who started the email exchange?/ Who started it?
• Who told you that…?/ Who said that…?
• Who was in charge of…?/ Who was responsible for…?
• Who would you recommend it for?

Ask about any topics above which you have questions about as a class, sharing your experiences of that each time.

Ask about any questions above which you couldn’t understand or couldn’t answer.

 

Subject questions grammar presentation 

What is similar about the phrases in the same column below? How are they different from the phrases in the other column?

Who gave it to you? Who told you about it? Who complained (to you)? Who helped you?

Who did you give it to? Who did you tell about it? Who did you complain to? Who did you help?

What would the long answer be to each question above?

What would the short answer be each time? Put brackets around the words in the long answer which are not needed in the short answer.

Is the short answer the subject of the long answer, or is it the object of the long answer (in SVO)?

Which questions above have the name “subject questions”, do you think?

Why do these questions need to be subject questions?

• Who started the conversation?
• Who was in charge of…?

What would the long answer be to each question above?

What would the short answer be each time? Put brackets around the words in the long answer which are not needed in the short answer.

Is the short answer the subject or object of the long answer?

Which of these two is a subject question? Why?

• What did you do (next)?
• What happened (next)?