Creative Writing in the EFL Classroom/Teaching Ideas/A Boring Lecture

By Janpha Thadphoothon
 * Level: Pre-intermediate to Advanced
 * Aim: To create a dialogue or a story


 * Rationale:

Have you ever attended a lecture that you found to be a bit boring? I think most students have. I once attended a lecture and it was boring. Other participants, I felt, shared this feeling. We came up with an activity. Our group was sitting around a big table at that time. It was held in a hotel or rather a conference center. I took a blank sheet of paper and passed it around the table. I wrote the first line: “Do you understand what the lecture is about?” The next person to my left responded to my initiation by writing that “How long this lecture will continue like this. Somebody stop that man!” The rationale is that a boring lecture can create an interesting story. There are stories within a story. It is a testimony of the ability of the brain to do many things at the same time. We can create a story based on the words or phrases we randomly selected from the other story.
 * Materials: Notebook or note pad, pencils or pens
 * Procedure:
 * 1) Have five to nine students sit around a big table.
 * 2) Explain to them that they are required listen to a lecture from a tape recorder. As they are listening to the lecture, they have to share idea by talking about something by writing about
 * 3) Each of them needs to contribute.
 * 4) Share the story with other students.


 * Variations

This activity can be done by having students watch a boring film or documentary on wild animals or frogs. As they are watching, they share ideas and feelings about the film.