Chapter 5: Standing in the Spotlight: Presenting to the Class 81
teach formal and informal language as well different styles of communicating
according to the students’ requirements.Tabloid and broadsheet newspapers provide great examples of how style
can differ even when the subject matter is the same, as the following sample
headlines about the same story show:✓ Desperate Danielle Beats Jail Rap!
✓ Tragic Mother Acquitted
✓ Sad Mum Escapes Prison Sentence
Presentations using such comparisons demonstrate cultural awareness, con-
notation and synonyms too. (I talk about connotation a few sections earlier
and synonyms in the next section.)Choose the words frequently used in situations the students may encounter,
whether slang or posh. It’s realistic to expect students to expand their knowl-
edge into new areas sooner or later, so the occasional exposure to new styles
helps motivate them. In any case, everyone needs formal and informal lan-
guage in order to reflect the different relationships in their lives.In your presentation, you can indicate this kind of information in brackets
after the word:toilet (n) loo (n) (UK slang)
clothes (n) gear(n) (informal)Make students aware of varieties of English from various parts of the globe,
but focus on the ones to which students are most likely to be exposed.Talking about words that mean the same
and opposites – synonyms and antonyms
Using the antonym, or opposite, of a word is a very useful way to explain its
meaning. It’s as though half the job is already done for you. So you can teach
that the opposite of ‘cheap’ is ‘expensive’ or that ‘increase’ and ‘decrease’ go
hand in hand.Synonyms, words that have exactly the same or similar meaning, are especially
useful as students learn to expand their vocabulary. Some examples are:✓ huge/enormous
✓ messy/untidy
✓ happy/glad