This post is about the abbreviation MFP, what it means and what kind of activities teachers can use to focus on these three aspects.

‘What is MFP?‘

Teachers often ask. I hope this post answers your question!

We usually first come across this abbreviation when taking a course like CELTA or DELTA.

When teaching a systems lesson, (lexis, grammar, phonology, discourse) we need to focus on three aspects of the target language (TL). Meaning, form, pronunciation. That’s MFP.

By focus, I mean present and/or practice.

  • Present: when you introduce/teach the TL
  • Practice: When students (try to) use the TL in controlled and/or free activities.

Here is a breakdown of MFP when teaching lexis.

M is for meaning

First and foremost: what does the word or phrase mean?

Activity ideas:

  • matching words/phrases with pictures (present+practice)
  • matching words/phrases with definitions (present+practice)
  • matching words/phrases with synonyms (present+practice)
  • inferring meaning of unknown lexis using contextual clues (present)
  • personalised speaking activities with the target lexis (practice)

F is for form

What is the written form of the word? How is it spelled? if it’s a two/three-word item, in what order do the words appear?

Activity ideas:

  • write it on the whiteboard (present)
  • dictation (practice)
  • solve the anagrams ➡️EGMAINN (practice)
  • gapping ➡️pron-nc-at-on (practice)
  • match the verbs with their particle to make up the phrasal verb, see example in this lesson (practice)
  • word searches  (practice) ⬇️

P is for pronunciation

What is the spoken form? Which individual sounds make up the word or phrase? What is the word stress? What features of connected speech may occur beetween words?

Activity ideas:

  • Model and drill. Students listen and repeat after you, ideally with a pause in between. Read about Lizzie’s drilling method here (present).
  • Highlight word stress. Which syllable is stressed? Use capital letters (pronunciAtion) or syllable circles (oooOo) on the whiteboard. You can also check out these physical activities here. (present).
  • Use the phonemic script. If your students are familiar with it, you can lift the script from any online dictionary.  /prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/  (present).
  • personalised speaking activities with the target lexis (practice).

Emergent language (EL)

More experienced teachers who also work with the language that comes up in a lesson, can also focus on its MFP.

Don’t forget..

There are many more activities that you can use.. of course!

This is just something to get you started.

Feel free to share your activity ideas in the comments!⬇️

Image credits

Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-white-shirt-with-brown-wooden-frame-4769486/