Pedagogical design: Pet Peeves

Abstract

Humans are social beings by nature; we love sharing, talking and hanging out with family and friends. But what, when our relatives, acquaintances, or even strangers’ habits cause us annoyance? How to deal with these feelings of discomfort, for example when there’s a person who sings loudly, whistles or corrects your grammar mistakes all the time? Do these behaviours irritate you? Did you know these feelings are called “Pet Peeves”? Why do they have this name? Do they have a relation with dogs and cats? Do you know what words you can use when you feel annoyed by someone’s behaviours? Can you name those common people’s actions that discomfort you? Most things students say every day are easy to remember because they are positive or pleasant. “I love candy, I enjoy swimming, I like dancing, I prefer singing to speaking”, etc. On the other hand, when they want to refer to unpleasant things, they take the easy way out and use expressions like: “I don’t like that or I hate this”, so there is a limit in the words they use. For years, as a teacher I have observed that students can easily name positive actions and express themselves about things they like, for instance their favourite activities and hobbies; but at the same time, they show lack of knowledge when expressing dislike, irritation or annoyance with more elaborated words. They also show little familiarity at the time of mentioning specific bad manners like pick boogers or slurp the soup, and annoying actions like cut in line or floss teeth in public. The present lesson plan emerges as a pedagogical proposal to help eleven grade students from Caro y Cuervo School, to express themselves about some of the most common pet peeves they can find out there. It is very useful because it is directly related to human interaction and relationships and it deals with situations from daily life. The Communicative approach will be used; and as it is meant to be used to produce real and meaningful communication processes, it can be considered very useful and applicable. ‘Pet peeves’ is a topic that will be taught using a learner-centered emphasis, and will focus the ability to communicate the message in terms of its meaning. These are also a vital part of the communicative approach.