General English Pre-Intermediate Modules 1-4 Teacher's Guide (2.1 ...

7. Writing: Filling in a Form
This section looks at filling in forms, and the types of information people need to put in forms.
7.1 Personal information
A. Discuss forms. Ask students for experiences they have had filling in forms. Brainstorm a list of types
of form people fill in, e.g.
• application forms for study, scholarships, jobs, passports, visas, permits…
• forms giving information, e.g when you post a parcel you need to say what is in it.
B. Go through the list in the left column, and clarify any words and phrases students don’t understand.
Students match the word/phrase in the first column (1-12) with the item in the second column (a-l).
Answer key:
1. c 2. f 3. i 4. j 5. h 6. b 7. k 8. l 9. e 10. a 11. g 12. d
Language/Culture Notes
In English the terms first name and given name have the same meaning. Also, last name, family
name and surname all mean the same thing. For example, if the person’s name is John Hartford his
first name (or given name) is John, and his last name (family name or surname) is Hartford. The family
name is the name traditionally used to identify members of the family.
However, many families have different names, as these days the wife often keeps her own name when
she marries, and the children might have the mother’s family name, the father’s, or a combination of
both (e.g. John Hartford and Joan Reed have a daughter called Stacy Hartford-Reed).
As Burmese people usually don’t have first and family names, they need to decide how to write these
on forms. Many people use the first part of their names as a first name, and the rest as a family name:
San San Cho becomes first name: San San and family name: Cho. Others use an honorific as
first name and their name as family name, e.g. first name: Daw and family name: San San Cho. In
informal situations, foreigners unfamiliar with Burmese who see the name will probably call people by
only what is written as the first name, e.g. San San or Daw, or formally Ms Cho or Ms San San Cho.
C. Brainstorm a list of types of information people might have to put on forms, e.g.
ID number, phone number, education, qualifications, work, religion, nationality…
7.2 Complete the form
A. Pre-teach signature.
Students answer the questions with information about themselves.
Check that they write their name in capital letters, and that the other information is correct.
Possible answers:
1. AUNG KYAW SOE
2. AK Soe
3. Circle the appropriate title. Mr / Ms / Mrs / Miss / Dr / Other
4. a. Lashio b. Burma
5. single / married / divorced / separated / widowed
6. Burmese, Shan, English, Chinese
B. Elicit the purpose of this form. Why would someone fill in this form
Answer:
It is for people applying to join a sports club. The sports club wants this information from
their members.
C. Students complete the form, using information about themselves.
Module 1
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