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Saying the right thing

Discussion Have you ever been to an English-speaking country? Were there any situations in which you found yourself unable to think of an appropriate response quickly? Were there any situations in which you committed a faux pas (said the wrong thing)?
  If your were to teach a foreigner five key phrases in your language that are unlikely to be in a standard phrase book, what would these be?
Vocabulary You will be given some cards, some of which have statements or questions addressed to someone on them (marked A) and others which have short responses to these (marked B). Find two or three responses for each statement or question.
Listening and Speaking You are going to hear ten situations in which you might find yourself. After each one you will be given a short time in which to respond. Say what it seems natural to say. Use any of the phrases you have just seen that seem appropriate.
Speaking You will be given a card on which there is a description of an everyday situation. Work in pairs to act out the situation. Don’t write it down. When you have finished pass your card on to the next pair.

Hesitation Phenomena

a) hesitation pauses, comprising unfilled (silent, voiceless), filled (voiced) and mixed varieties;

b) hesitation drawls, i.e. lengthening of sounds, syllables and words;

c) repetition of syllables and words;

d) false starts to words followed by self-corrections;

e) re-starting a construction or a sentence to conform more to what the speaker wants to say;

f) unfinished intonation groups, often accompanied by reduced loudness of the voice;

g) fillers-in, such as “well”, “and”, “you see”, “you know”, “in fact”, “I mean”, “mind you”, “but”, etc.

h) random vocalisations and such “phonetic oddities” as clicks, trills, intakes of breath etc.

Fillers

In English a lot of phrases are used as “fillers”, to allow time for thought or to involve the listener in the way the speaker’s mind is working.

I. Look at sentences 1-7 and work out the function of each filler, using clues a-e below.

1. Well, I did learn Japanese on my own...

2. I mean, my grammar was probably appalling...

3. ... I just remember learning tables in Latin... and in French, you know, the same.

4. ... it was in fact direct method...

5. ... I literally learnt it through learning words, and, in fact, it worked quite well.

6. ... at the same time I felt sort of guilty...

7. ... it was interesting because I actually felt, you know, the most communicative things... were really exciting and interesting.

a This adds explanation for the listener. ___

b This is a qualifier, often used with adjectives. ___

c This emphasises or adds surprising details. ___

d This usually introduces or continues a sentence. ___

e This often includes the listeners by assuming

that they have certain knowledge. ___

II. Use fillers to complete this dialogue, then check your answers with the tape.



A: Didn’t you learn one of your languages through a very interesting method?

B: Mm, yes, I did. I learnt Turkish here, in London, through a, a (1) ... humanistic method.

A: Humanistic? What’s that?

B: It’s, mm, (2) ..., a method which is intended to be pleasant, and to give the learners total involvement and control.

A: Oh, I see. (3) ..., what exactly was it?

B: Ah, (4) ..., it’s called Community Language Learning and it can only really be done with a teacher who’s totally bilingual. It’s, em, (5) ... translation-based. (6) ... oral translation, there’s no written translation.

A: So what happens exactly?

B: (7) ..., the learners all sit in a group and decide on a topic they want to talk about, usually keeping it fairly simple (8) ... asking simple questions about each other. Someone asks a question, in the foreign language or in their native language if necessary and the teacher provides any new language, but into the learner’s ear, so he or she then asks the question in the group.

A: But surely the other learners won’t understand the question?

B: No, (9) ... understanding is easy. That’s the funny thing. I think it’s because of body language and certain expectations. (10) ..., if you’re talking about work, the obvious question is “What do you do?”, isn’t it?

Exercises

I. Build up a conversation centred round the following line.

Men can’t be good teachers.

A good teacher must be a real artist.

Teaching a foreign language in school is pointless.

Schoolchildren should be allowed to choose the subjects they want to study.

Things went downhill in education.

You should have a healthy lifestyle and keep to a balanced diet to keep fit.

You were laid up with flu last week, I believe.

Public health care should go hand in hand with private health care.

One should master relaxation techniques to be able to overcome stress.

Alternative medicine has come of age.

Have you heard that traffic in Britain keeps to the left?

The Tower of London has a rich history.

Westminster stands for Parliament.

One of the special joys of London is the amount of space given over to parks, gardens, squares and open areas.

London museums enjoy a great popularity with London visitors.

The UK has a turbulent history going back some 2000 years.

London is the city of great contrasts.

II. Develop a line into a free conversation.

In my opinion it is preferable to study at a state university than at a private one.

The most interesting and bizarre time of the year to visit Cambridge is during May Week.

I say at the age of 16 schoolchildren in Great Britain take their GCSE examinations and then...

My cherished dream is to enter the Teachers’ Training University and to become a teacher of English.

The most popular spectator sport is football, of course.

If the ball hadn’t been invented, there would have been no sport.

Sport should be competetive otherwise I wouldn’t call it sport take aerobics or body-building for example.

If you don’t get the exercise that your body wants, then things can go badly wrong.

Britain is a smallish country, but there is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery can be found in such a small compass.

No wonder the English race is a sea-loving one.

The Highlands of Scotland boast their outstanding beauty with romantic past.

Personally I hate seeing people off.

Travelling by air you have comfort, speed and pleasure combined.



Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1109


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