somethings,when students are involved in a role-play activity,for example,they lose the thread of what is going on,or they are lost for words (i.e.they may still have the thread but be unable to proceed productively for lack of vocabulary).they may not be quite sure how to proceed.what should teacher do in these circumstances?Hold back and let them work things out for themselves or,instead,'nudge' them forward in a discreet and supportive way? if we opt for the latter,we are adopting some kind of a'prompting' role.
In such situations we want to help but we do not want,at that stage,to take charge because we are keen to encourage the students to think creatively rather than have them hang on our every word.thus it is that we will occasionally offer words or phrases,suggest that the students say something (e.g.Well,ask him why he says that),or suggest what could come next in a paragraph a student is writing,for example.often we have to prompt students in monolingual groups to speak English rather than using their mother tongue (see Chapter 9D).
when we prompt we need to do it sensitively and encouragingly but,above all,with discretion.if we are too adamant we risk taking initiative away from the students.if,on the other hand,we are too retiring,we may not supply the right amount of encouragement .