Demonstrative pronouns can be a bit tricky. I’m sure the first step is being able to get your head around how they are used when ‘pointing’ (referring) to different things and people, when demonstrative pronouns are used. To that end, play the following video and ask learners to identify what different things are referred to as ‘that’.
Hopefully, you will get the following back as answers (opportunity to ask the learners to supply this vocabulary – ‘what was that silver thing with the lever? what’s the white thing you put your clothes in to wash them?’: a toaster, a cardboard box and a washing machine.
OPTIONAL NEXT STEP: get learners to describe their ‘dream car’ to each other. If they don’t really like cars, you can ask them to describe some other object or thing – ‘dream house/holiday/book/phone… What’s important is to get the idea of a ‘dream something’ being your ideal, perfect version, and therefore very personal and leading to possibility for discussion, explanation, etc. If you do this, let it run for as long as you are having fun! Plenty of opportunities for drawing, presenting, debating, disagreeing… here
NEXT: ask the learners if they remember what was referred to as ‘this’ in the video. If they need to watch the clip once more, let them. After this, ask them why the KIA have used the word ‘this’ to refer to their new model, and ‘that’ for the toaster, box and washing machine. What is the impression when the song lyrics say ‘you can get with this/ or you can get with that’. Discuss.
Demonstrative pronouns, introduced by hamsters. Who ever thought that would happen on an ELT blog?
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Haha(mster)!
Great idea and one I’m sure the advertising agents never thought of.
Now all we need is a similar video for ‘these’ and ‘those’
Good vid for demonstrating, uh, demonstratives… I’m not sure how that necessarily gets practiced in the ‘dream house’ thing, but surely an extension conversation. I used to use FRIENDS episodes to show demonstratives a back and forward references–there’s just so many of them in regular conversation. There was one in particular I used…
I admit, the dream house bit is more a diversion, using the video to generate language rather than solely focusing on demonstratives. Perhaps they could draw them, though, and looking at them on the wall, say ‘I like this, but not that’…
I just loved that clip!
And yes, I think it’s fantastic as a way to do some noticing/discovery with demonstrative pronouns.
Great stuff,
- Mr. Raven