🔖✨ Reading Book Club – Session 2 Summary

👩‍🎓 Book 🔤 *Jeremy Harmer’s 50 Communicative Activities*
🧩 Sections Covered 🔤 *Why I Wrote This Book + Communicative vs. Non-Communicative Activities + Deep Processing + Activity 1: Everybody Up*

👋 Hello dear colleagues 💫🙂
Tonight we held our second session of the Reading Book Club and explored the introduction and the first activity from Jeremy Harmer’s book.
Here is the summary of what we covered 🫴💬

✌️ 1️⃣ Why Harmer Wrote This Book – Main Takeaways

✅ Harmer explained why he created this collection of activities — to help teachers move beyond the old “communicative vs. non-communicative” divide.
✅ In the past, activities were labelled *either* communicative *or* not, but this limited teachers’ creativity. 🎭
✅ Harmer now believes many activities sit on a spectrum, not a dichotomy. They can be both:
🔤 learning-focused
🔤 communication-rich
🔤 Communicative activities evolve with time, practice, and classroom needs.
✅ His goal is to give teachers flexible tools, not rigid rules. 🧰✨

👀  2️⃣Communicative vs. Non-Communicative – What We Discussed

We explored the classic features of *communicative* tasks and how Harmer challenges that old list.

✨ Communicative activities usually include 🔤
🟢 A desire to communicate
🟢 A communicative purpose
🟢 Focus on meaning, not form
🟢 Some language choice
🟢 No teacher interruption/correction
🟢 No materials control

But—Harmer now argues that real classrooms are more complex.
We talked about 🔤

🔵 Some teachers lean heavily on *purely communicative* tasks.
🔴 Some rely mostly on *non-communicative* (form-focused) tasks.
🟡 Many modern teachers (especially TBL/TBLT teachers) mix both depending on the goal.
🟣 Good teaching is not about choosing sides — it’s about balance, purpose, and timing.

Everyone shared examples from their classrooms, and it sparked great discussion. 💬🧠

🧠 3️⃣ Deep Processing vs. Shallow Processing

This part of the reading generated a rich conversation in the group.

✨ Deep processing
💎 Learners engage emotionally ➕ mentally
💎 Context ➕ meaning matter
💎 Memory becomes stronger
💎 Students “own” the language

✨ Shallow processing
💎 Learners only focus on surface-level form
💎 Little emotional involvement
💎 Weaker retention
💎 Often linked to “mechanical” tasks

🔄 Harmer also reminded us that repetition works, but only when it is *meaningful repetition*.
🧠 “Purposeful repetition” 🟰 the human mind is actively engaged.