O.K. Colleagues, Friends and Creditors,


Do my students never get to read aloud? Confession, NO! However, what we do is more holistic and less passive and mechanical. We do dialogs! They are all infiltrated with stress and juncture.  My students just don't get to read passages from textbooks, great literature or how-to-do-it stuff. All of these dialogs include cultural features which contribute to the students' survival. Subjects are  mostly suggested by students, based on their wants and needs. The students tell me where and when they are at a loss for words or situational understanding and then I make dialogs mostly based on local possibilities.



They have included:



1. At a Clinic    2. At the Bank    3. When a Policeman Stops You     4.  Making a Contract     5. Finding an Attorney  



   6. Emergencies     7. At a Restaurant        8. New in Austin        9. At a Mechanic's Shop        10. Americans





All of the dialogs are carefully marked with juncture arrows and primary stress as follows: 





DIALOG; NEW IN AMERICA

 

 

Tom: Hi, 'Ali¯ It's good to se'e you again¯

 

Ali: Hi, Tóm¯ How are you dóing?¯

 

Tom: Just fíne¯ Wéll®after six months hére®in the U.S.'A.® what do you thínk?¯

 

Ali: I'm always surprísed¯ Just when I think I knów®what Americans are líke®something háppens® to make me change my mínd¯

 

Tom: Can you give me an exámple?#

­ 

Ali: Yés¯ When I arríved here®from m'y country®I thought that Américans® weren't fríendly¯  In m'y country®people go out of their wáy®to help strángers¯ At fírst®people seemed cóld¯ Now I feel quite wélcome¯

 

Tom: So what do you think has chánged¯

 

Ali: The fúnny thing®is that I think 'I've changed.¯

 

Tom: In what wáy?¯

 

Ali: For óne thing®perhaps I expécted people®to come to mé¯ In m'y country®we ápproach strangers¯  If they look lóst®we offer to hélp¯  Hére®we have to ásk for help¯  The go'od news®is that Americans are véry helpful®once you ásk them for help¯

 

Tom: So what do you thínk®is the dífference®now that you knów us better¯

 

Ali: What I réalize now®is that Américans®are more prívate®than wé are¯ I come from tríbal people®where nobody is a stránger¯ Americans seem to have another wáy®of looking at the péople®aro'und them¯ There is more spáce®but we are wélcome®in that spáce¯ Américans® don't want to inváde®O'UR privacy¯

 

Tom: That sounds ríght¯ Each culture is dífferent®from every óther culture¯ Visitors into néw cultures®need to find o'ut®what the dífferences are®so that they will fe'el®more cómfortable.

 

Ali: I'm le'arning¯ I'm getting to knów®Americans bétter®every mónth®and my respect is grówing®all of the tíme®thanks to friends like yo'u¯  I'll see you later Tóm¯

 

Tom: See you so'on¯  Cáll me®if you think of anything élse¯ I love talking about cúltures¯

 




©2003-Ted Klein

                                                                              

  



PROCEDURES

 

1. Teacher reads the dialog at normal speed and with no exaggeration, to the students. At the same time, students read their copies of the dialogs, which are copied and handed out.

 

2. Students ask questions about the dialog concerning vocabulary, pronunciation and situation. Explanations of words and situations go on the marker board. 

 

3. Teacher reads the dialog by thought groups for repetition. Students can look at the dialog and repeat the thought groups. Students are again invited to ask questions. All of the issues on vocabulary, structure and situation are explained as needed.

 

4. Students turn over their dialogs and repeat the thought groups after the teacher, without seeing them. Normally, they sound better than when they are trying to read them! As I've said before, the eyes are the enemy of the ears.

 

5. Students are assigned parts to play, such and "Ali and Tom" above. They switch parts at the end and start over.

 

6. The pairs of students role-play the dialog. During this process, the teacher is "sneaking around" and listening carefully to their output, but not saying anything to individuals. Occasionally, the teacher runs up to the marker board and puts mispronounced words or inaccurate utterances on the board. Sometimes problems are with intonation, which is shown with the stress and juncture (pitch + pause) arrows, which the students are familiar with.



7. Every few minutes, the teacher stops the class and points out observed problems on the marker board. Each problem is corrected and the entire class repeats the correction. That way, nobody is embarassed, although in a class that has a close and trusting relationship with the instructor and each other, embarassment is rare.



8. Students take their dialogs home and are encouraged to practice with family, friends and English speaking neighbors. The final goal is to attempt to memorize the dialogs as examples of "real language." Students are encouraged to bring a cassette recorder and record the teacher version of the dialog.





ADVANTAGES





1. This is an opportunity for the students to get acquainted with and practice real English in the real world. My class has one dialog each week and we spend as much time on it as necessary, so that the students sound good.



2. Students acquire better listening, speaking and reading skills and there is impact on later writing lessons. Familiarity with suprasegmental features of English is critical and this is a good way to introduce it. Students learn to recognize and use the symbols, which can also be put on other printed materials. 



3. The introduction of LOCAL cultural features and situations can accelerate survival skills. Real telephone numbers are included when appropriate. 







I have enjoyed this exchange.



Ted









       Theodore A. (Ted) Klein, Jr.
  Independent Consultant in Language
         and Intercultural Training
          Austin, Texas   U.S.A.           
           taklein at austin.rr.com
          www.tedklein-ESL.com     
             




 

















                                          

 

     

 

























































                                                                                                                        

 

           

 













                     

                                                                                                         

 

 


                                    
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