Which classroom technique involves the teacher modeling a phrase, students repeating, and then substituting key words to create new sentences?

Which classroom technique involves the teacher modeling a phrase, students repeating, and then substituting key words to create new sentences?

• A. Substitution drill
• B. Dialogue drill
• C. Gap-fill drill
• D. Repetition drill

Answer: (A)

Substitution drills focus on practicing a sentence pattern by replacing key content words while keeping the surrounding structure fixed. The teacher models a phrase, students repeat it to lock in pronunciation and rhythm, then they substitute the key words to create new sentences. This builds both accuracy in forming the pattern and flexibility with vocabulary. For example, if the model is "She likes ___," learners might substitute in "pizza," "music," or "movies" to produce "She likes pizza," "She likes music," etc. This shows how the grammar or structure works across different lexical items.

If it were just repetition, students would be echoing the same sentence without changing vocabulary. Dialogue drills involve back-and-forth speaking between two or more participants to simulate real conversation, not just substituting words in a single line. Gap-fill drills focus on filling missing words in sentences, emphasizing recall rather than practicing a substitutable sentence pattern.