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Problems and solutions

A lot of students confuse should with had better. Instead of saying, You should brush your teeth every day. they would say You had better brush your teeth every day. The difference between should and had better may not be big when talking about brushing ones teeth, but the impact may be different if your mother says, You should take a bath. or You had better take a bath. Should is advice. Had better is a very strong recommendation with the threat of serious consequence. Its almost as if the speaker is saying or else at the end of a sentence. Another problem is using the full infinitive instead of bare infinitive. We are late. Wed better hurry. OK Wed better to hurry. not OK This mistake can be corrected by doing some controlled practice exercises.

C. Lexical sets Items analysed: To borrow , to lend I would teach this at pre-intermediate level. Pronunciation Form Borrow borrowed (regular verb) Lend lent lent ( irregular verb) Meaning Borrow and lend are antonyms. Borrow - to receive with the implied or expressed intention of returning the same or an equivalent. (meaning taken from Merriam-Webster Online dictionary) Lend - a (1) : to give for temporary use on condition that the same or its equivalent be returned <lend me your pen> (2) : to put at another's temporary disposal <lent us their services> b : to let out (money) for temporary use on condition of repayment with interest Teacher asks students to use "Would you...?" and "Can I...?" questions. Students are asked to complete the structure using

Teaching context

borrow and lend + noun, then take turns using the structures with a partner. Examples: Would you lend me your pen? Can I borrow your notebook? Practice : Students ask each other to lend/ to borrow things from each other. The teacher must very clearly explain to the students what each lexical time means. Students often confuse them so the teacher should emphasize that the owner can lend the item and the other person borrows it. Additional practice, for example role-playing game, will improve the students understanding of the lexical items.

Problems and solutions

D. Phrases and idiomatic expressions Items analysed: Its raining cats and dogs. I would teach this item at pre-intermediate level. Pronunciation Form Meaning It (pronoun, third person singular)+to be+rain (verb) +ing To rain very heavily

Students often omit the auxiliary verb or the ing at the end of the verb. These errors can be corrected with controlled practice exercises. B. Functional exponents Item analysed: Youd better call a doctor. I would teach this item at intermediate level. Pronunciation Form Negative Meaning Use Auxiliary verb have ( past tense) + better + bare infinitive Had better not Youd better not go in the cave alone. We use had better to give strong advice or tell people what to do (including ourselves). Had better refers to immediate future and is more urgent than ought or should. It doesnt usually suggest that the recommended action would be better than another one that is being considered there is no idea of comparison. Tom played football yesterday. He hurt his ankle. It has swollen. His wife told him : Youd better call a doctor. Does Tom feel ok? Does he need help? Does he need to call someone? I would use a role-playing game. I would divide the class into pairs in which one of the students will have problem and the other one will give him an advice how to solve it. Example: Student 1 : Someone has stolen my car! Student 2. : I think youd better call the police.

Illustrative context

Teaching context

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