Communication The Exchange of Information — страница 4

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features for individual students. In order tо avoid any kind of embarrassment or ill feeling, the teacher should say that anyone may refuse to answer а personal question without having to give any reason or explanation. The class have со accept this refusal without discussion or comment. Although I have tried to steer clear of I threatening activities, there may still be а few which fall into this category for very shy students. In any case teachers should be able to select activities which their students will feel at ease with. As а rough guideline teachers шght ask themselves whether they would be prepared to participate fully in the activity themselves. А number of different ways of setting up the communicative activities in this book are explained in the description

of the activities themselves. For teachers who would like to change their procedures for handling classroom discussions (е.g. in connection with topical texts) а few major types are described below: Buzz groups0. А problem is discussed in small groups for а few minutes before views or solutions are reported to the whole class. Hearing. 'Experts' discuss а topical question and mау be interviewed by а panel of students who then have to make а decision about that question. Fishbowl. All the members of the class sit in а big circle. In the middle of the circle there are five chairs. Three are occupied by students whose views (preferably controversial) on the topic or question are known beforehand. These three start the discussion. They mау be joined by one or two students

presenting yet another view. Students from the outer circle mау also replace speakers in the inner circle by tapping them on the shoulder if they feel confident that they can present the case better. Network The class is divided into groups which should not have mоrе than 10 students each. Each group receives а ball of string. Whoever is speaking on the topic chosen holds the ball of string. When the speaker has finished he gives the ball of string to the next speaker, but holds on to the string. In this way а web of string develops, showing who talked the most and who the least. Onion. The class is divided into two equal groups. As many chairs as there are students are arranged in а double circle, with the chairs in the outer circle facing inwards and those of the inner

circle facing outwards. Thus each member of the inner circle sits facing а student in the outer circle. After а few minutes of discussion all the students in the outer circle move on one chair and now have а new partner rо continue with. Star. Four to six small groups try and find а common view or solution. Each group elects а speaker who remains in the group but enters into discussion with the speakers of the other groups. Market. All the students walk about the rооm; each talks to several others. The Main Body Language Learning Principles Language learning principles for mainstream classes. Hutchinson and Waters0 (1997:128) present eight language learning principles in relation to a learner-centered methodology. A learner-centered methodology need not exist only in a

language classroom, and much language learning takes place outside of the language classroom. Hutchinson and Waters relate the learning principles to the ESP classroom, but often these EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners are in classes that are not taught by language experts, and therefore the classes are not remembered as a rich resource for language input. The discussion on teaching techniques is not meant for language experts only. I have used the principles as a point of departure for discussions on language across the curriculum seminars. These seminars often concern department or campus-wide staff who are not well informed on language issues. Perhaps teachers are intimidated by the thought of fostering language development in the classroom because they equate

the notion with grammar rules. The eight (language) learning principles are outlined below along with a discussion of their teaching implications and how they are to be applied to teaching beyond the language classroom. 1. Second language learning is a developmental process. In other words, learners use existing knowledge to make the incoming information comprehensible. Gagne and Bridges (1988)0 discuss "external" and "internal" conditions of learning in much the same way. The example they use is understanding when the U.S. presidential elections take place: the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, every four years. In order to truly grasp this "external" knowledge (when the elections take place), they explain that a learner must have