Teacher: Hello class. Today we are going to talk about the present continuous. We use it to talk about things that are happening now. We form it by using the present form of the verb to be” plus the ing” form of the verb. For example, I am talking to you now. I am writing on the whiteboard now [as she writes on the whiteboard]. Here are some cards. [The teacher gives a card to each student.] Look at the card and tell me what you are doing.

Student A: I am washing my car.

Student B: I am watching TV.

Student C: I ride my bike.

Teacher: You mean you are riding your bike.

Student C: Yes, sorry. I am riding my bike.

Teacher [after everyone has finished]: Good. Now open your book and turn to page 24. Take a few minutes to answer the questions in exercise one.

Afterward, the class members take turns giving their answers and the teacher corrects them when necessary.

Now, after practicing using the present continuous in this manner for 50 minutes, students are going to know how to form it. They are going to be accurate, but has any 

meaningful conversation taken place? Students have practiced the language out of the context in which native speakers use it. They also had no real choice but to use the present continuous.

Students come out of lessons like these saying that they know how to use class speak, but they are lost when trying to converse with native speakers outside of the classroom.

Compare that to the following example.

Activities Focusing on Communication

Substitute Teacher: Ann, what am I doing? [The teacher picks up a book and starts reading it.]

Student A: You are reading a book.

The teacher nods and motions for Ann to do something. She does, and the student next to her says what she is doing. After all of the students have participated in this activity, the teacher explains the present continuous to them. Rather than explaining the grammar rules in full, she elicits as much information from the students as possible based on the previous activity.

Then, she gives them a task to complete that involves communicating with one another:

Substitute Teacher: Now, each of you has a problem. You need to call another student to ask him or her to help you. The student you call has to say what they are doing that stops them from helping you. If their excuse makes sense, you move on and call another student. If not, that student has to help you. Students cannot repeat activities. If they do, then they will have to help you.

The first student calls” another student.

Student A: Hi, Student B. I need someone to look after my daughter. Can you help me?

Student B: No. I cannot because I am writing a report at work.

Student A: Hi, Student C. I need someone to look after my daughter. Can you help me?

Student C: No. I cannot because I am sleeping.

Student A: You are not sleeping. You are talking to me.

This lesson gets students communicating with one another in a natural way. Native English speakers call one another every day and ask them what they are doing. Or they call for help and if the other party cannot help, they usually say why. What makes this activity even better is that the students do not have a script. There is no way to predict what they are going to say.

Students leave a class like this feeling equipped to tell people what they are doing, and they cannot wait to come to class to see what they are going to learn, in context, the next day.