This article looks at how drilling can be made more interesting for students, and covers vocabulary, requests, grammar, and spelling. It encourages teachers to think about ways to make drilling more meaningful
Guide To Teaching

Introduction

Maybe you don't enjoy drilling much, but you use it to help students' pronunciation and because students expect it and because it makes them feel like they are talking in English even though they are just repeating. But wait a minute. Drilling doesn't have to be like this. With a little thought repetition can be meaningful and fun. Here's how.
Intonation
First of all not all words need to be said in the same way. Take the days of the week. Instead of drilling in a monotone, start on Monday flat and bored and work up to an really excited intonation by Saturday. Similarly, for food items, get students to show their attitude to different food or drink as they repeat them by their intonation, so they actually have to think what the item is and whether they like it before saying the word.
Another way of using intonation in drills is to express surprise. Take a picture of a person and make up some sentences about him or her, some of which should be believable, and some not. Now read them and ask the class to repeat them. If they do not believe them they should use a surprised or disbelieving intonation (It might be a good idea to practise this beforehand.)
Different Ways of Saying Words
Are you drilling times? Try speaking sleepily for the times when people are usually asleep or tired, e.g. late at night or early in the morning, giving a little yawn. Adjectives can often be said in the way that illustrates their meaning, for example slow/quick, happy/sad, old/young loud/quiet etc. Certain words lend themselves to being said in certain ways, for example, crimes. These can be shouted out as if they were really happening: Murder! Robbery! Fire!
Spelling
Spelling also has possibilities. You can spell words by shouting out the letters to spell a word as in a football chant. Teacher: 'Give me a T!' Students :'T'! Teacher:' Give me an A'! Students 'A'! continue with 'B' 'L' 'E'. Then the teacher asks the class 'What have you got?' the class shout 'Table'! Here the class get to practise saying the letters, but they also have to think what the word spells and shout it out at the end.
Vocabulary
Sometimes teachers feel the need to get students to repeat words until they can say them accurately. Unfortunately simple repetition can bore students. Here are two ways to make drilling vocabulary items more interesting. For the first one you write the words you want students to learn in large letters on pieces of paper. Draw a picture on the paper, too, to show the meaning. Put all the pieces of paper in a line on the desk. Hold one up, say the word and get the class to repeat. Do this with all the words. Then point to a piece of paper and ask a student to tell you which word it is. Do this with all the words. Then screw all the pieces of paper into balls. Take three and ask the students to tell you which is which. Tell students to watch carefully as you swap them around. Again, ask which is which. Finally, have the students throw the pieces of paper to each other, saying the word as they do so.
For the second one you need pictures of the words you are going to drill. Write the words in a list on the board and practise them. Meaning is not important at this stage. Now get the group to sit in a circle if possible and give the first student a picture of the first word on the list, say the word as you do so. He/she should pass the picture to the next person, saying the word at the same time. Carry on around the group with students passing the pictures and saying the words. Don't forget to put the pictures in the same order as the words. Keep passing the pictures around getting faster and faster until the students are confident with words and meanings.

本文阐述了如何在课堂练习中激发学生的兴趣。内容包括词汇、规则、语法和拼写。鼓励教师探求新路，以使课堂练习更有意义地进行。

教学指导

内容简介

您可能不大喜欢课堂练习，但它有助于学生学习发音，学生期望这种练习，尽管只是不断重复，这仍能使他们感到自己在讲英语。因此您应当善用它。但事先要斟酌一下。课堂练习不一定意味着单调的重复，只要稍微开动脑筋，这种重复就会变得富于意义、充满乐趣。下面是具体做法。

朗读

首先，不必花费一周时间，用千篇一律的方式朗读所有单词。从头到尾都是一个调子，这是不可取的。在周一，您可以以一种平淡乏味的方式开始教学，到了周六，就应该进行充满激情的朗读。类似的是：讲到关于食物的单词，就可以一边让学生重复朗读单词，一边征求他们对各类食物饮料的看法。这样他们在说出这个词之前，就确实会思考这个词代表什么，自己是否喜欢。

课堂练习中运用朗读的另一种方式是通过制造惊奇（来加深印象），出示某人的照片，造一些关于他（或她）的句子，其中一些应当真实可信，另一些则不真实。将这些句子读给全班同学听，并让他们重复朗读，如果他们不相信句中之意，就应该以一种惊讶或不信的语气来朗读。（预习时采用此法尤佳）

用不同的方式说出单词

您是否在进行关于时间名词的练习？说到一些人们通常已入睡，或很疲倦的时间段时，可试着采用一种听起来昏昏欲睡的语调。例如说到“late at night ”或“early in the morning”时，不妨打个呵欠。讲到形容词时，可经常使用和其词义相一致的语调。例如：slow/quick, happy/sad, old/young loud/quiet等词都可以这样处理。有的词语在特定的环境下有特定的语气，例如讲到表示犯罪的词语，应大声喊出这些词：Murder! Robbery! Fire! 仿佛这些罪行真的在发生一样。

拼写

拼写教学也是有窍门的。您可以在拼写过程中大声喊出单词的每一个字母，类似足球赛场上球迷助威时的呼应。教师：“给我来一个‘T’!”。学生：“T”！教师：“给我来一个‘A’!”。学生：“A”！接下来继之以'B' 'L' 'E'。然后教师问全班：“你们得到了什么？"全班同学大声回答：'Table'! 这样整个班级在练习朗读字母的同时，也会思考这个单词是怎样拼写，最后大声地把它说出来．

词汇

有时候，教师认为有必要让学生一遍遍地重复单词，直到准确记住为止．不幸的是：单调的重复很容易让学生厌倦．下列两种方法可以让词汇练习变的生动有趣．第一种方法是：把您要教的单词用大字写在许多纸张上，同时在别的纸上画一幅画以表明单词的意思，将这些纸张在桌面上摆成一排，举起一张，读出这个词并要全班重复。照此法读出所有单词；再指着一张纸（不举起来），要学生说出这是哪一个词，照此法说出所有单词。然后将所有纸揉成纸团，从中拿出三个，问学生这是哪一个词，告诉学生注意观察后，交换纸团的位置，再要学生说出这是哪一个词。最后让学生一边传递这些纸张，一边说出这些词。

第二种方法需要单词的相关图片，将你要教的词在黑板上写成一排供大家练习，词义在这个阶段并不重要。然后如果条件允许，让学生坐成一圈，将黑板上第一个词的图片交给第一个学生，同时读出这个词。这个学生也应当把图片传给下一个人，同时读出这个词。不断地将这些词的图片交给这组学生让他们传递，同时让他们读出这个词，一定别忘了图片的顺序要和黑板上单词的顺序一致。一直进行传递，速度要越来越快，直到学生对单词和词义都已熟记在心。