T:As you are high school students, you spend a lot of time in school. How many days do you come to school a week? Five days? Six days, or seven days? As I love school, I come to school eight days a week. No, no, I’m only joking. I really want to have some free time. Do you often have free time?
– Do you often have free time?
T:S1, do you often have free time? S1:No. I do not often have free time. T:Why not? Why don’t you often have free time? S1:I belong to baseball club, so I practice baseball every day. T:Does your partner often have free time? S1:She says, she doesn’t have free time so often. She has a lot of things to do at home.
Do you often have free time? という質問は、教科書ではまず取り上げられることのないものです。これまでにも何度か触れましたが、このようないわゆる「会話表現」は、日常生活の実際のコミュニケーションの場面では大いに重要です。日常のやりとりに使われる表現もまた、学ばなくては身に付きません。そのようなやりとりを学び、実践する場を与えることもSmall Talkの役割の一つと言えるでしょう。
T:Most of you seem to be very busy. Well, when you have free time, what do you like to do? I like reading books.
— What do you like to do in your free time?
T:S2, what do you like to do in your free time? S2:I like to see movies. T:You see movies alone? S2:I often see movie with my sister. Sometimes I see movies alone. T:What does your partner like to do in his free time? S2:He likes to play video games.
What do you like to do in your free time? という質問は、日本語で言えば、「趣味はなんですか?」に近い表現で、覚えておくと便利なものです。ここではあまり深入りしませんでしたが、時間に余裕があるときは、生徒の答えを拾って、さらに質問を加えたりしても良いでしょう。
When you have free time, do you like going out or staying at home?
– When you have free time, do you like going out or staying at home?
T:S3, when you have free time, do you like going out or staying at home? S3:I like going out. I go out if the weather is nice. T:When your partner has free time, does she like going out or staying at home? S3:She likes staying at home. T:What does she do at home? S3:She practices playing the piano.
go outやstay at homeといった表現もまた重要な表現であることから、この質問をさせてみました。「英語」としての負荷は全く高くありませんが、「内容」の部分では自分の答えを用意しなくてはならないので、それなりの負荷がかかります。実際には生徒たちは様々なことを表現しようとすると思うので、教師が英語にするのを助ける必要があるかも知れません。「友達とぶらぶらするのが好き」を英語どのように表現するかを教えれば、生徒たちはきっと覚えようとしてくれるでしょう。