Focus on Speaking: Warm-Up pre-semester orientation August 2006 Dr. Christina Frei

Language is communication. Nothing is more motivating than actually speaking the language. Each student should have the opportunity to speak 50+ times per class (choral + individual responses). Highly interactive classroom characterized by student-centered activities and high-interest topics (content-based instruction). Personalize material whenever possible. Keep instruction simple and rely on modeling and non-verbal cues. Don’t do for your students what they can do for themselves.

Students in beginning and intermediate language courses need to pass through a period of meaningful, yet structured or monitored practice before they can move toward an open-ended, creative phase. Speaking techniques should therefore be chosen from three distinct categories: the introductory or (re)-enter phase, the practice phase, and the creative phase.

(Re)-enter Practice Create Drills: Pattern, Transformation, Substitution Tags Grids Word/Sentence Chains Visuals Shapes/Cut Outs Forced Choice Imposter Satellites Find a Person Who… Password Identification Rejoinders Reflex Words Add-a-Word/Sentence Circumlocution Brainstorming Partner Interview Dialog Development Picture Story Role Play

Forced Choice (practice phase) Rejoinder (creative phase)

Forced choice (practice phase) Prepare several either/or questions. If possible, personalize these questions. Ask each student one question Encourage other students to listen and remember the peer’s answer. (Check memorization) “Are you eating pizza or salad tonight?” “Julie, are you leaving for Mexico or the Bahamas tomorrow?”

Rejoinder (creative phase) No special materials needed. Prepare an oral thematically appropriate starter statement (not a question) of previously taught material. “My friend and I are meeting tonight.”

Christina Frei Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures 738 Williams Hall 898.7035 cefrei@sas.upenn.edu