Australian English has its own peculiarities. For example, its vocabulary has a unique set of diminutives formed by adding -o or -ie (-y) to the ends of words. This post focuses on some common AUSSIE SLANG.
The material needed for this lesson is a desk bell, the YouTube video below and the worksheets provided.
Before the lesson, cut up the AUSSIE SLANG CARDS below and place them randomly on the wall around the room.
The RUNNING DICTATION:
Then, divide the class into two teams: A and B. Then, organise each team into pairs and give each a copy of the worksheets below.
TEAM A
TEAM B
After that, tell the learners that they are going to have a competition.
Tell them that they are going to work in pairs and run to the walls and find slang words for the pictures on their worksheets.
Point out to the learners that each pair in their team will have a SCRIBE and a RUNNER. The scribes are in charge of the worksheets, and the runners, in charge of looking for the vocabulary on the wall.
Inform the learners that you are going to give them a signal, i.e. you are going to ring the bell when it is time for ROLE SWAPPING.
Say that you are going to start the race on the count of 3 .
Reinforce that the bell means ‘SWAP ROLES’.
Tell the learners that the team who completes their worksheets first are the winners. However, all the pairs in the team must have the answers on their worksheets for this.
Once the competition is finished, tell the learners that you are going to play the YouTube video for them to check their answers.
TIP: This YouTube video has a song in the background, so it might be an idea to mute it for viewing. Also, tell the learners that the video contains some vocabulary which is not on their worksheet and they should ignore it for now.
Then, get the learners from Team A to get together with the learners from Team B and teach each other their slang words. Now, conduct some feedback with the class to ensure they have the correct answers on their worksheets.
It is time now to focus the learners on the pronunciation of the words. Model and drill the words and get the learners to mark word stress and focus on individual sounds. Also, focus the learners on word partnerships as well e.g. ‘to chuck a yewy.’
Finally, tell the learners to choose 3 slang words each without revealing their choice to their partners. Then, give the learners 5 minutes to make small talk with their partners. Tell them that their task is to try and use their 3 words in their conversations without being very obvious about it.
Pronunciation Central - Arizio Sweeting 