[Vocabulary] Is anyone going to pass anything today?

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englishhobby

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I guess the sentence in the title would sound "clumsy" to a native speaker. Could you please help me convey my idea to students in the following situation:

For various reasons not all of my students do their homework on time. For homework they may have to make up a dialogue with their partner and then reproduce it in class, or I can ask them to practice reading words, sentences, or short texts with the proper intonation at home. Sometimes they are to prepare monologues in which they should include new collocations or set phrases we've studied. And as time goes, some students have "debts" they are to "pass" to me in class. It's not actually homework (of course, it was once given for homework, but now it's a "debt", or "old homework", if you know what I mean)


So, in my language I would ask them like this:
1) Is anyone going to "pass" their "debts" today?
2) Who is going to "pass" their "debts"?
3) What "debts" are you going to "pass" today, Ivan?



How should I word it all properly? :?:
 

emsr2d2

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I'd use "pay your debt" in all your examples. If you're going to compare their old homework [which they have previously failed to hand in], then you may as well carry on with the analogy.
 

englishhobby

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Thank you, emsr2d2!

If you're going to compare their old homework [which they have previously failed to hand in], then you may as well carry on with the analogy.

I didn't get what emsr2d2 meant by "carrying on with the analogy". Could someone explain?
Most of the homework they get is to be done orally. So, will it be all right if I say;
1) Who's going to pay their debt today?
2) Is anyone ready to come up with their "old" monologues /dialogues/ debt?
 
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Tdol

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I wouldn't use come up with + debt. I would come up with the money (to pay their debt).
 

englishhobby

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And how can I ask them to reproduce a dialogue which they had to make up for homework?
 

5jj

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And how can I ask them to reproduce a dialogue which they had to make up for homework?
Sorry, but the whole idea is strange to me. I have never met anyone who has done this sort of thing; I don't think there is an appropriate terminology for what we don't do.
 

englishhobby

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Perhaps, I failed to explain it properly. I sometimes give my students sample dialogues to read and practice in class. Then (as many English teachers all over the world do) I may ask them to change (transform) the dialogues a little to match the situations they meet in their life. I've found an example of a similar activity online:
Free English Dialogues for Learning English - Buying Clothes

Now, supposing we didn't have enough time to do it in class, so this activity was assigned to them for homework (to make up a new dialogue based on the sample one, practice it and then present it in our next lesson). I think it's a very useful activity when students transform dialogues adapting them to real life situations they may find themselves in (they may add some new vocabulary they learned in class when transforming their dialogue out of class).

So, what shall I say if I want the students "to present" the dialogues they had prepared at home (they are supposed to find time to practice the dialogues with a partner after classes and then reproduce them in class)? Of course, I can say (and usually do so) something like this: "Are you ready with your dialogues? Who wants to be the first? etc " But I am not quite satisfied with the way I word it. I feel like starting with "Is anyone going to .....(present their dialogues????)..... today? because I want to see if there are any volunteers willing to "present their dialogues". Is there a way to expess my idea using the structure in bold type? The phrase "to present a dialogue in class" sounds unnatural, does it?
 
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englishhobby

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Act the dialogue out?
Thank you, Tdol, I'll add it to my collection of useful phrases. Still, there are two problems left that haven't been solved. (I hope you are not very bored with my questions.)
1) If it's not a dialogue, but a monologue that I gave them for homework(they do speak up their minds in class (unprepared speech), but I also ask them to prepare for a 1-2 minute talk on various topics at home so that they could find some useful vocabulary by themselves (prepared speech). So, if it's a monologue,how should I ask them to "present" it? To act out a dialogue and to ....... a monologue?
2) The second problem is the one I started with))) I still have a little hope that you will help me with it - Is there a shorter and / or better way to say the following terrible phrase:"You guys owe me some imporatnt tasks. Is anyone going to pay their debt and act out the dialogues or "present" the monologues you haven't "presented" so far?
I feel that you (native speakers) have almost got it))) I don't need any technical terms. I am just wondering what you would say if, by some misfortune ))) you found yourselves in a situation like mine.
 
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Barb_D

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The idea of homework being "debt" that you owe your teacher is just not a metaphor that works for me. It is true that we say that homework is "due" but that doesn't make it a "debt."

You guys had an important assignment. Who wants to take the stage?
 

emsr2d2

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I agree that it's not a natural analogy. I would also suggest something like "OK, lots of you have homework outstanding. Who wants to go first with their dialogue?"
 

englishhobby

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Thank you, Barb_D!
Though it seems a litle bit strange to me to talk about home assignment in general. If I just mention "an important assignment", my students may not understand what exactly I mean (they are given important assignments at every lesson, and some of the sdtudents don't manage to do them on time, so they can do them at one of the following lessons. That's why I usually need to specify the "old" assignments by saying what exactly I want.

So, can you think of some better way of saying "Now I want you to "present" your monologues?" ( just like "Now I want you to act out your dialogues.")?
 

englishhobby

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I agree that it's not a natural analogy. I would also suggest something like "OK, lots of you have homework outstanding. Who wants to go first with their dialogue?"
Thank you, that sounds like what I need. But what does "outstanding " mean here?
 

emsr2d2

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Thank you, that sounds like what I need. But what does "outstanding " mean here?

It means homework which was due in at some point in the past but was not done on time. It has yet to be submitted, presented, acted out etc. See definition 3 here.
 

englishhobby

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It means homework which was due in at some point in the past but was not done on time. It has yet to be submitted, presented, acted out etc. See definition 3 here.

Then it's exactly what I need! Thanks a lot, Emsr2d2!
 

Barb_D

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So, can you think of some better way of saying "Now I want you to "present" your monologues?" ( just like "Now I want you to act out your dialogues.")?

That's why I suggested "Take the stage."
 
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