Giáo án Getting Started

Ss activate prior knowledge about welcoming foreign visitors and get ready for the topic ASEAN and Viet Nam.

Ss look at the slide showing a welcome card and answer the question: “What makes a welcome card easy to read?” Then they brainstorm in pairs: “What should a host do when a visitor from another ASEAN country comes to our school?”

A short list of 3–4 ideas on the board, for example: clear directions, large and simple labels, a friendly greeting, slow and clear speaking, checking that the visitor understands.

Ss identify the speaker intentions in the opening exchange and connect them with useful language for the unit topic.

Ss read the conversation silently and answer the questions:

• Q1: What is the purpose of Speaker A’s first line?
• Q2: What does Speaker B want to explain?
• Q3: What does Speaker A do in the third line?
• Q4: How does Speaker B respond to the feedback?
  Then T models the key expressions: “Thank you,” “I wanted … to be easy to follow,” “I’m glad they are useful.”

Ss write the answers in their notebooks:

• Q1: A compliments B on the welcome card (speaker intention: praising).
• Q2: B explains that the directions were designed to be easy to follow (speaker intention: explaining).
• Q3: A gives positive feedback, saying the large labels help (speaker intention: giving feedback).
• Q4: B accepts the feedback politely and shows satisfaction (speaker intention: thanking and responding).

Ss recognise and explain the use of gerunds in subject, object and prepositional positions, and avoid using a bare verb where a gerund is required.

T presents the grammar rule using the slide:

• A gerund is an -ing form used as a noun.
• As subject: Learning another language takes time. (singular verb)
• As object: We enjoy meeting visitors.
• After a preposition: She is interested in joining.
• A gerund can take an object: Organising a welcome event needs teamwork.
  Ss listen, then complete the sentences in Worksheet 1, Part A.

Ss can state the three positions of gerunds and give one correct example for each.
Key knowledge recorded in notebooks:

• Gerund as subject → takes a singular verb (Meeting new people helps me understand different views).
• Gerund as object of verbs such as enjoy → enjoy + V-ing (enjoy showing visitors around).
• Gerund after a preposition → preposition + V-ing (interested in joining).

Ss recognise that unstressed vowels may be omitted in natural speech and read the words clearly without removing stressed vowels.

T models the words different /ˈdɪfrənt/ and family /ˈfæmli/, first in careful form (/ˈdɪfərənt/, /ˈfæməli/), then in natural speech. T then reads the sentence: “Different families will join the cultural programme.” Ss repeat in chorus and then individually.

Ss can read the two words in both forms and explain that elision is optional and must not remove a stressed vowel or make the word unclear.

Ss use the unit vocabulary and the gerund structures correctly in sentence completion and analysis of the conversation.

Part 1: Ss match each word with its meaning (Exercise 1).
Part 2: Ss choose the correct answer for Exercises 2, 3 and 4 (gerund forms).
Part 3: In pairs, Ss answer Questions 6–8 about the purpose and audience of the conversation and the opening sentence. Ss then write a three-sentence summary (Question 9) on Worksheet 2.

Exercise 1 key: ASEAN – Hiệp hội các quốc gia Đông Nam Á; exchange – giao lưu; cultural – văn hoá; participant – người tham gia; proposal – đề xuất; cooperate – hợp tác.
Exercise 2 key: A. Meeting – a gerund phrase as subject (Meeting new people helps me understand different views).
Exercise 3 key: D. showing – enjoy takes a gerund object (We enjoy showing visitors around).
Exercise 4 key: C. joining – a preposition takes an -ing form (She is interested in joining the exchange).
Question 6 (sample): The audience is the two speakers; the purpose is to handle a concrete request, response and condition in the exchange. Detail: “Your welcome card is beautifully organised.”
Question 7 (sample): The opening is “Your welcome card is beautifully organised.” It introduces the situation before the later details.
Question 8 (sample): “I wanted the directions to be easy to follow” and “The large labels really help” are specific details, better than a general claim that the topic is important.
Question 9 (sample): A compliments the organisation of B’s welcome card. B explains that the directions were designed to be easy to follow. A finds the large labels helpful, and B welcomes that feedback.

Ss apply the speaker intentions and gerund structures to create a short exchange about welcoming a visitor, and reflect on the skills they need as hosts.

In pairs, Ss role-play a short conversation between a host and a visitor from an ASEAN country. They must:

• use at least one gerund (as subject, object or after a preposition);
• thank, explain, or give feedback;
• use one word from the vocabulary list.
  After the role-play, Ss answer the question: “Must every host be an experienced public speaker?” (Sample answer: No. Reliability, preparation and attentive listening are useful skills that a participant can develop.)

A 4–6 line dialogue for each pair, for example:
A: Your welcome card is clear. I like the map.
B: Thank you. Organising the event needed teamwork, and I wanted the directions to be easy to follow.
A: Great. Could you explain the route to the library?
B: Of course. Check that you understand, please.
Each pair also gives one short answer to the follow-up question.