LLFE-T04 · Drilling Done Right — Choral and Individual Drilling

TEACHER TRAINING · PRONUNCIATION

🎙️ Drilling Done Right

⏱ 5 minutes · 📚 CELTA methodology · 🏫 Micro-lesson

📖 From the teacher’s desk: In my CELTA observed lessons in Landerneau, drilling was the technique I had the most physical resistance to. It felt mechanical — almost old-fashioned. But watching it done well by an experienced trainer, I realised it’s not about mechanical repetition. Done correctly, drilling is a safe, low-stakes space for learners to practise pronunciation before the pressure of real communication.

🎯 By the end of this micro-lesson, you can: conduct choral and individual drills correctly, efficiently, and communicatively.

🔥 Why Drill? (1 min)

Drilling helps learners:
✅ Get the pronunciation right before they produce freely
✅ Build muscle memory for sounds and word stress
✅ Feel the rhythm and connected speech of English
It is NOT about mindless repetition. It’s about accurate preparation for fluent use.

📖 Drill Types and Technique (2 min)

Choral drill
Whole class repeats together. Safe, low-anxiety. Use first to establish pronunciation. Teacher models → students repeat.
Individual drill
One student repeats. Use after choral to check individual accuracy. Nominate without embarrassing.

The CELTA drilling sequence:

  1. Model clearly (say it yourself, naturally)
  2. Mark stress / chunk the phrase if needed
  3. Choral drill (2–3 times)
  4. Individual drill (3–4 students)
  5. Choral again if problems appeared
⚠️ Common mistake: Drilling too many times. 2–3 chorals, 3–4 individuals. Then move on. Overdrilling kills motivation.

✏️ Practice (2 min)

Plan a drilling sequence for this sentence:
“She’s been working here since January.”
1. Where is the main stress?
2. Are there any weak forms / contractions to highlight?
3. Write your choral drill instruction (what do you say to the class?)

🗝️ Answer Key
  1. Main stress: WORKing and JANuary
  2. Weak forms: “She’s” /ʃɪz/, “since” /sɪns/ — unstressed. The contraction “She’s” = “She has.”
  3. “Listen: She’s been working here since January. Everyone together: She’s been working here since January.“

Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours, 4 written assignments passed at the required standard.

Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification.

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