The Advantages of Using Cue Cards as The Teaching Media
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: I had toast and coffee for breakfast. OR
Answer : I slept late night
and skipped breakfast so I wouldn’t miss the bus. Rivers, 1983, p. 46
Furthermore, Palmer 1970 as cited by Rivers 1983, p. 46 states communication practice drills are useful for teaching speaking. Communication
practice drills provide the students find the response not only in linguistically acceptable but also in personally relevant to themselves and other people. Palmer
1970 underlines drills shou ld be done carefully to build the students’ characters.
This is the illustration of Palmer’s communication practice drills.
Pattern : I would tell him to shut the door.
Teacher : Karen, if you and Susan came to class at 8 a.m. and it was
winter and the room was dark at 8 a.m., what would you tell Susan?
Karen : I would tell her to turn on the light.
Teacher : And how about you, Paul, if you were with Mary and you
wanted to read, what would you do? Paul
: I would tell her to turn on the light. Teacher
: You as a boy would tell a girl to do that for you? Now, if you came alone, and I was in the room, what would
you do? Paul
: I would tell you to turn on the light. Teacher
: Then I would throw you out of the class. Rivers, 1983, p. 46
The i llustration above shows that Paul’s response is mechanically correct
but unfortunately he does not know the implication of his response in a certain setting. In social interaction, it is impolite if young people ask elder people to do
something. Teacher’s teasing in this drill is used to increase the students’ self awareness on using the language. Rivers 1983, p. 47 notes having training in
such drills can help the students to be able to produce more original responses.
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