Hi, I am a little stuck on how to introduce the grammar of past modal verbs of probability ie. must have/may/might have/cant have and should have. Any ideas on how to introduce this topic to adult learners of english in a fun and informative way? I have the structure okay but that tends to get a little tedious!
I was thinking of maybe a situational presentation, but what I do not know using the target language.
Thanks
Comments
GeorginaSZ
How about giving them a scenario and then having them guess what happened (they can also ask questions to get more information - perhaps put them into pairs where one student has the answer and another the situation)?
E.g. A man is unconscious in a telephone box. He has a fishing rod.
Possible answers: He might have eaten a poisonous fish. He could've been struck by lightening.
(Answer: He was on the phone to a friend telling him about the size of the fish he caught. He gestured the size with his hands and broke the glass of the telephone box - cutting himself ... then passed out)
Or something simpler such as, "The studentlooked very worried when she came into the class."
Possible answer: She might not have done her homework.
You could also bring in some pictures of unsual situations that are easy to find on the internet - doing a search on "unusual pictures" brings up some gems.
Hope this helps!
sandyundead
I've just had exactly the same problem, and my DOS came through with the solution.
Try using pictures, such as a person with a broken leg. Elicit sentences about the picture, such as 'He fell over'.
Ask SS how sure they are. If they are 99% sure, elicit the transformed sentence 'He must have fallen over.' If they are 60% sure, elicit 'He could/may/might have fallen over.'
The cartoons I'm using include people with blisters on their feet, people sitting on the roofs of flooded houses, a waitress dropping a tray... Unfortunately, I don't know where these pictures were from.
Hope that helps!
Sandy