Can I take a message?

Objective & content

This functional language sheet teaches pupils to make a phone call (Hello, is that Polly? Can I speak to Marley, please? It's Kemal.), answer one (Who's calling, please? Hold on, please. I'm afraid he isn't here at the moment.), take a message (Can I take a message? What's your number?) and leave one (Could you ask him to call me back? Could you tell him that the match starts at ten?). Pupils read a phone call in which Polly takes a message for her brother Marley, find the missing words and read the useful phrases, given in a box. By the end, they can ask for someone on the phone, take or leave a message, and say a phone number the British way.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 is the phone call, with a picture of Kemal and of Polly: it's Saturday afternoon, and Kemal phones his friend Marley's house. Marley's sister Polly answers, but Marley is at the shops with his dad, so Polly takes a message: tomorrow's match starts at ten o'clock, not eleven, and Kemal asks for Marley to call him back. Kemal gives his number, then says it again digit by digit, with "oh" for 0. Pupils find eight missing words in lines from the dialogue. Page 2 has the useful phrases in a box, with the key words in bold and a phone number written out the British way, five situations to match to a phrase (a caller you don't know, asking the caller to wait, offering to take a message, asking a friend to phone you later, a number you didn't hear) and six lines with three replies each, where pupils tick the best one. Page 3 has a phone call in which Sasha phones Polly's house and Marley answers, to number from 1 to 8, and another phone call to complete with six words in a box. The last task is a role-play on the phone: pupils cut out cards A and B and sit back to back. A phones the house and asks for a friend; B is the friend's brother or sister, says that the friend is out, and writes the message in the box on the card (who it is for, who it is from, the number, the message). Then they swap, and B leaves a message for A. The phone numbers on the sheet are numbers kept for films and TV, so none of them is real. Every exercise opens with a worked example.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Mime a phone call and say "Hello. Can I speak to ..., please?"; a pupil answers "Who's calling, please?"
2. (10 min) Read the phone call aloud; pupils find the missing words.
3. (5 min) Read the useful phrases in the box with the class; pupils say Kemal's number the British way.
4. (10 min) Page 2: pupils match the situations to the phrases, then tick the best replies.
5. (10 min) Page 3: pupils number the lines of Sasha's phone call, then complete the second phone call.
6. (10 min) Role-play: pupils sit back to back; A leaves a message, B writes it on the card; then they swap.
7. (5 min) Check the two messages and the exercises with the answer key on page 4.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils read the phone call aloud in pairs, sitting back to back, before the tasks.

[A] Pupils say a phone number the British way, digit by digit with "oh" for 0, and a partner writes it down.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 to 3 per pupil, and scissors for the role-play cards. Page 4 is the answer key and teacher notes: keep it. The role-play is free speaking, but each message is on the cards (the cinema trip moves to Sunday at three, the swimming pool is closed on Saturday), so pupils can check what they wrote with the key. Pupils need the numbers from 0 to 9, the time, the days of the week and will (I'll tell him). To take it further, pupils record a short voicemail message for a friend.