Spotlight on British Idioms

Activity title:

Spotlight on British idioms

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Skill(s):

Vocabulary, Speaking

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Level(s):

B2

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Exam part:

Use of English, Part 2 Open Cloze

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Aim(s):

learning to recognize British idioms and use them for communicative purposes and exam tasks.

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Materials needed:

sentences with target idioms;
• a gapped text with target idioms;
• cards with idioms and game cards.

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Preparation:

Choosing a set of 10 idioms, creating a gapped text and game cards or printing out the ready-made materials.

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Procedure:

Step 1. Teacher gives students a set of 10 sentences with idioms and gives the task to choose the right meanings for each idiom. This activity can be done in pairs.

Step 2. Pupils practise the same idioms in the format of Part 2 Open Cloze.

Step 3. A game. Each pair gets a pack of cards with idioms as well as game cards. The idea is to create a response to a phrase on the game card using an idiom. Players take turns to make their responses, a pupil keeps a card with an idiom, if the sentence is correct. The winner is the person who gets more cards with idioms.

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Variation(s)

A different set of B2 idioms can be used each time. If students are studying American English, British idioms can be substituted for American ones.
It is also possible to practise idioms in the format of Key Word (Part 4) or Multiple-choice cloze (part 1) task types.

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Reflections

Memorizing set expressions is a difficult task which requires special attention. These exercises show that it is important to recall every part of an idiom precisely and know how to elicit meaning from context.
Studying idiomatic expressions should be a part of the classroom routine. It might also be a good idea to start a dictionary for learning all the proper idioms for Intermediate and Upper Intermediate levels.