How Would You Teach The Form "Be Going To" Infinitive Used F

How Would You Teach The Form Be Going To Infinitive Used For Fut

How would you teach the form ‘(be) going to + infinitive’ used for future plans to a pre-intermediate class? Outline your lesson plan using the following headings as a guideline. Warmer / Lead in, Presentation (in a suitable context) and drilling, Controlled practice activity, Production (a personalised communicative activity). Briefly say what you would do for each stage of the lesson (in bullet points). Each of the four stages above may contain more than one activity. Remember to include examples of the sentences you will present and your students will practise. The sentences should follow this pattern: Subject + 'am/ is /are going to + verb' and they should express future plans. Also include concept questions you would use to check understanding. (Min 200 words).

Paper For Above instruction

Introduction and Warmer / Lead-in:

  • Begin the lesson with a discussion about students’ future plans, such as “What are you going to do this weekend?” or “Do you have any plans for tomorrow?” to activate prior knowledge about future intentions. Use real-life context to engage students and create relevance.
  • Show pictures or flashcards depicting future activities like traveling, studying, or meeting friends. Ask simple questions like “What is he going to do?” encouraging students to respond with their own ideas, setting the stage for the target language.
  • Introduce the concept of expressing future plans using a basic question: “How can we talk about what we are going to do?” prompting students to brainstorm ideas or recall similar structures learned previously.

Presentation and Drilling:

  • Present the form of ‘(be) going to + infinitive’ in a clear, contextualized example: “I am going to visit my grandmother,” “She is going to start a new job,” “They are going to watch a movie.” Write these on the board, highlighting the structure and the subject-verb agreement.
  • Concept check questions (CCQs):
  • Is ‘going to’ used for the past or future? (Future)
  • Are we talking about what someone has already decided or what they plan to do? (Plans for the future)
  • In ‘She is going to cook dinner,’ what is she planning to do? (Cook dinner)
  • Drill the pronunciation of the ‘be’ verb forms and the ‘going to’ structure, ensuring correct rhythm and intonation.

Controlled Practice Activity:

  • Provide students with sentence prompts such as ‘I/am /is/ are going to + verb’ with missing elements, and ask them to complete or transform sentences provided on worksheet cards, e.g., “He ____ (be) going to buy a new car.” → “He is going to buy a new car.”
  • Use matching exercises where students match sentence halves, or gap-fill activities focusing on subject-verb agreement and correct form.
  • In pairs, students practice asking and answering questions about each other’s future plans, e.g., “Are you going to study tonight?” “Yes, I am going to study.”

Production – Personalised Communicative Activity:

  • Students interview each other about their future plans using the target structure, e.g., “What are you going to do this weekend?” or “Are you going to travel during the holidays?”
  • Encourage students to prepare short dialogues or presentations about their plans, fostering fluency and confidence.
  • Monitor and softly correct errors, emphasizing the correct use of ‘be going to + infinitive’ and intonation in questions and responses.

Through this lesson, students will understand the form ‘(be) going to + infinitive’ as a way to talk about future plans, recognize its pronunciation and intonation, and practice using it in meaningful conversation.

References

  • Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (2011). The Content-Based Approach. In Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (4th ed., pp. 251-272). Heinle & Heinle.
  • Ellis, R. (2008). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.
  • Harmer, J. (2015). The Practice of English Language Teaching (5th ed.). Pearson Education.
  • Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
  • Swan, M. (2005). Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press.
  • Ur, P. (2012). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2013). How Languages are Learned. Oxford University Press.
  • Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (5th ed.). Pearson Education.
  • Levis, M., & Sutton, M. (2011). Teaching Intonation in Context. TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 116-122.
  • McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (2014). Vocabulary and Language Teaching. Routledge.

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