For example, in answering question 7 above, I tell the story of the Irish man sitting next to me on an airplane who gave me this lovely nonsense. Here is a different type of quiz that can be useful for introducing the differences and similarities across cultures. The correct answer is 'earthquakes' because you can find all the others both in Ireland and in Japan, but there are no earthquakes in Ireland. Again, getting the correct answer is less important than thinking about the two cultures. You can also ask students to quiz their partner about readings or other materials.
Quizzes offer a high-interest activity that keeps students involved and learning.
An action log is a notebook used for written reflection on the activities done during class which also provides useful feedback for the teacher. Students write it up after each class or at the end of each class. By requiring students to evaluate each class activity for interest usefulness, difficulty, and , they must reconsider what they have learnt. Each student also records their target for speaking English, what they think they actually achieve, the names of their discussion partners, and their own comments on the activities. Some students get so interested in the target culture that they write several pages in comments each week.