TESL-0170 - Teaching Resource Four - Part Two
The second resource that I used this week was a web-based chapter of a book called "Tools and Tips for Using ELT Materials" that was written by Ruth Epstein and Mary Ormiston. The chapter is called "Drills, Dialogues, and Role Plays" and is only available online. It can be found on the webpage for the book on the website for books published by the University of Michigan Press. I chose this resource because I have used a lot of dialogues and roleplays in the lessons I have taught in the cultural conversational class and I was hoping to learn some strategies for making these activities more effective for the students in this class. The chapter includes information about making and adapting dialogues, preparing roleplaying activities that are suitable for students and meeting course objectives. These topics will be discussed below, along with reflections on how these strategies could be utilized in lesson planning for my teaching context.
Dialogues as Language Teaching Material
The authors state that dialogues are activities that are commonly found in ESL textbooks for a variety of linguistic and cultural reasons. They usually present spoken language within a particular context and are used to provide opportunities to practice listening and speaking skills. They are useful for listening to and practicing pronunciation, intonation, and other features of speech. They provide good opportunities to introduce and practice a function, sentence structure, and vocabulary. They can also be used to illustrate degrees of politeness, levels of formality, and the values and attitudes of the target culture. Teachers can also work with their students to analyze written dialogues for these features. The authors suggest that dialogues used for speaking practice should be short so that students remember them. However, teachers can have their students develop longer dialogues to facilitate problem solving and discussion about a topic. Dialogues can be presented in a variety of forms, including standard dialogues, open dialogues, and student-generated dialogues. These forms will be discussed in more detail below.
The textbook that is used in the cultural conversational class has many dialogue activities. These activities are used to practice phrases that are included in the course syllabus and for particular social contexts. Some of these contexts have included celebrations and events, dating, shopping, and restaurants. These social contexts provide opportunities for students to use the information for specific functions like accepting or rejecting invitations, requesting information from work staff, and solving common problems.
I think that the dialogues included in the class textbook achieve their purpose because they help teach students how to converse with other English-speakers in North America. Students learn to express themselves in ways that are polite, appropriate, and reflect the values and attitudes of the target culture. They learn how to identify these features in printed dialogues and how to integrate them into their own practice dialogues. Sometimes I think that the dialogue activities that I use in the classroom might be too challenging; however, the authors of this chapter explain that longer dialogues are useful for facilitating problem solving and discussion. As a result, I think that using dialogues is appropriate because the purposes listed above reflect the outcomes that I am trying to achieve in my lessons.
Standard Printed Dialogues
The authors write that standard printed dialogues usually consist of several short exchanges between two people. They can be useful for introducing common expressions to beginners and providing them with authentic expressions and vocabulary that they can use immediately. They can also be beneficial for EFL students by introducing them to genuine spoken language. The authors state that standard printed dialogues are found in many textbooks but they may not be appropriate for some students and/or teaching contexts. For example, the language used may not sound natural or authentic and may contain too many complex grammatical structures and/or difficult words. As such, teachers may decide to adapt the textbook dialogues to suit a different context or modify them to personalize them to their students' needs and interests. Some of the principles that teachers should keep in mind if they are adapting and/or modifying textbook dialogues include the following:
- Use natural language when possible.
- Depict situations in the dialogue that are relevant and useful to the learner..
- Dialogues should reflect students’ level of sophistication and knowledge of the content.
- Retain truth value in the dialogues.
- Decide on a function for the dialogue.
- Decide on a grammatical or other type of language focus.
- Use authentic language that is related to the function or situation.
- Use realistic language.
- Use common language and phrasing.
The dialogues included in the class textbook are usually short and focus on specific types of interactions. They introduce common expressions and the context that they are used in. This presents the expressions in an authentic way and shows students how they can use the target language in situations that they will likely encounter in real life. Students can use the printed dialogues as examples for how to structure their own dialogues. However, sometimes the dialogues presented in the textbook use unfamiliar words and complicated sentence structures or are better-suited for an American context. As such, I might want to modify them before using them in the classroom.
I have tried to keep in mind some of the principles listed above because they are helpful when I try to adapt and/or modify the textbook dialogues. I appreciate the way that the chapters in the class textbook are divided according to different themes because they usually depict situations that are relevant and useful to students. The language used in the printed dialogues and in the course syllabus reflect real language functions and focuses, which helps students learn information about Canadian culture real-life situations within this context. I have tried to avoid assuming that creating dialogues is to difficult for the students in my practicum. I recognize that they have all studied English before taking my class and I have tried to create opportunities for them to apply what they have learned into a new context without over-simplifying the dialogues in the textbook.
Open Dialogues
The authors explain that teachers provide only one half of the dialogue in open dialogues and students create the other half. This type of dialogue allows students to practice responding to conversational cues and produce their own responses. However, it does not help students to practice initiating conversations. Teachers can use several variations of open dialogues should they decide to incorporate them into their lessons. One variation is a cloze activity that provides a controlled dialogue. Teachers provide their students with part of the dialogue but leave blanks that students are asked to fill in. A second variation is an activity where students are asked to incorporate a variety of expressions and vocabulary into their own scripts. A third variation is an activity that incorporates free practice by having students go off-script to create a new dialogue or build upon one that they are given.
I use open dialogues that I use in my lessons for the cultural conversational class. I show the students examples of dialogues where one character asks questions or makes statements that the second character responds to. The authors state that the weakness of this form of dialogue is that students focus on this response and do not have many opportunities to initiate questions. I offset this imbalance by having students create lines for both characters when they create their own dialogues. I also provide them with opportunities to include expressions and vocabulary that I have introduced. They can also work beyond the limitations in the textbook when choosing what should go into their dialogues. They are invited to use other language which can initiate class discussion and learning experiences.
Student-Generated Dialogues
The authors explain that student-generated dialogues are written by the students instead of the teacher. They encourage students to create their own scripts and allow teachers to assess a variety of language skills. Since they are scripted, they do not involve improvisation and the unpredictability of real communication. Student-generated dialogues may be written about a particular subject. Teachers can assist students by guiding them with a topic, picture, language function, sentence form, or idiom to provide them with ideas and build on what they have been learning in the classroom. This type of dialogue is most suitable for beginners and low-intermediate students.
The amount of changes that I have made to the dialogues printed in the textbook have been minimal. Most of script-writing has been done by the students to demonstrate their understanding and to use the language in a way that is meaningful for them. Many of the students are creative and think of examples that were not directly covered in class and some students even add jokes to entertain their classmates. I enjoy hearing student-generated dialogues because it shows that they are engaged and thinking about the content of the lesson and how they can apply what they have learned. It also provides me with opportunities to correct grammar and point out details about what was done well and what they can improve.
Roleplays as Language Teaching Material
The authors describe roleplaying activities as a way of bringing situations from real life into the classroom. They may include plays, dramas, sociodramas, and simulations. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between simulations and roleplaying activities. The authors define simulations as highly-developed roleplays that are not scripted. The teacher sets up a simulated environment and structures the roles and actions around a problem or series of problems. While simple roleplaying activities can focus on a single transaction between actors, simulations may require actors to perform a variety of speeches and activities.
The authors describe several ways that teachers can help their students prepare for roleplaying activities. First, they say that teachers can prepare students by helping them to understand the objectives of the roleplaying activities. These objectives should be based on student needs and the course curriculum. Second, the authors state that teachers should help students to understand why they are participating in the activities and how it will contribute to their learning. The authors argue that once the students understand the purpose of the roleplaying activities that they will become more motivated and willing to complete them. Third, the authors state that teachers should prepare students for the language that they will use in the roleplaying activities. Fourth, the authors state that teachers should play the role of the motivator and be involved in the activity. Teachers can help their students by circulating the groups, providing prompts, helping where needed, and observing and assessing language use.
Teachers can also prepare their students for roleplaying activities by modeling the activities. This is especially true for students who have never done this type of activity before. Modeling can be done by using materials like pictures, audio or visual recordings, and sample scripts. The authors state that teachers will sometimes underestimate their students' abilities and motivation to write or produce roleplay skits. Even high-beginner level students can write and perform skits. The key point is that teachers should be involved as little as possible in the process after the vocabulary and sentence forms have been introduced. Students can practice doing the activity has been modeled by the teacher. Students can perform the roleplaying activity one their own as they become more familiar and skilled at it. The authors state that the teacher should discuss the results of the activity with their students, as well as the sociolinguistic and cultural aspects.
I would argue that most of the dialogues included in my lesson plans could be categorized as roleplaying activities. The dialogues usually include one authoritative character and one character that represents the student in whatever situation or context that the characters find themselves in. I have not included any plays, dramas, or sociodramas in my lesson plans. However, I have included simulations where students have to complete a verbal transaction and/or decide how to solve a problem in the dialogues that they complete. In these simulations, I introduce the roles included in the dialogue, the language that will be used (e.g. vocabulary and expressions), and the purpose of the dialogue. I first have them read the dialogues in the textbook and have them practice completing sample dialogues with a partner or as a class to prepare them for writing their own dialogues. I will only step in to provide prompts if students are having difficulty or miss an important feature that I want them to include to reach the lesson objectives.
This resource has helped me understand what aspects of dialogues and roleplaying activities I should focus on in my lesson plans. I found that most of the information in this chapter reflects what I already do, which affirms my use of the activities in the classroom. I think that the students understand the reasons behind doing these activities, but I don't know how useful they are to the students when they are outside the classroom. I think that this is something I could discuss with the class in future lessons or further on in my career. Hearing real-life examples might help to engage and motivate the students. It would help me gauge the appropriateness of the activity and the skill levels of my students to determine what I need to focus on to help them improve their English.
References
Epstein, R., & Ormiston, M. (2007). Drills, Dialogues, and Role Plays (Online Chapter). Tools and Tips for Using ELT Materials: A Guide for Teachers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Retrieved from https://www.press.umich.edu
0 comments