In this paper I am going to analyze and comment an article written by James Hunter. My starting point will be a summary about the text in which I have been working. Next I will contextualize the topic which is “Small Talk”. Then, I will analyze different problematic issues raised in the text in which I propose proposals for solving the problems posed. Finally, I will reflect about the strengths and weaknesses of some points about this article changing some aspects of the author's proposal.
SUMMARY
The author of this article stakes out a clear and insightful position on this educational issue and follows the specific instructions by presenting reasons to support that position. The article cogently argues that a corrective feedback can make learners reluctant to speak but it is necessary for developing fluency, accuracy and complexity . We need to develop a real speaking skill in our students. However, we can find problems that have been developed because of the usage of methodologies with very limited linguistic resources like, for example, CTL (Communicative Language Teaching) because they aren't based in a real teaching and content. Actually we have to call for more creative speaking and thinking, not less.
In further examples, the article shows how “small talk” allows for the linking of ideas that may never have been connected pushing students to think in new ways. This method opens pathways of thinking that were previously closed off to the speaking skill. With increased interdisciplinary interactions, we should use this method to make the speaking would be more related to the real world. For all that, Hunter proposes "small talk" as a methodology which develops language fluency and accuracy language allowing the teacher ...
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...k. Taking this into practice we have achieved working on all skills, make them involved in a research and in an information process which is related to real life. The challenge of the activity will always depends on students’ knowledge level and the teacher will always be responsible for guiding the knowledge of their students.
CONCLUSION
Examining all the various angles and factors involved with improving speaking skill tells us that we have to learn the original meaning of a message to let us communicate with others in a better way. While the proposal does highlight a possibility, more information and more options are required to improve oral skills and the best way to do that is to practice as much as possible.
Works Cited
https://www.celticnots.com/SMALLTALK/errors.html
Task-Based Language Teaching in Foreign Language Contexts: Research and implementation
Manuel Munoz discusses topics that may be considered controversial to many people, but this doesn’t stop him from creating brilliant pieces of writing.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story written in the first person about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The title of the book, Speak, is ironically based on the fact that Melinda chooses not to speak. The book is written in the form of a monologue in the mind of Melinda, a teenage introvert. This story depicts the story of a very miserable freshman year of high school. Although there are several people in her high school, Melinda secludes herself from them all. There are several people in her school that used to be her friend in middle school, but not anymore. Not after what she did over the summer. What she did was call the cops on an end of summer party on of her friends was throwing. Although all her classmates think there was no reason to call, only Melinda knows the real reason. Even if they cared to know the real reason, there is no way she could tell them. A personal rape story is not something that flows freely off the tongue. Throughout the story Melinda describes the pain she is going through every day as a result of her rape. The rape of a teenage girl often leads to depression. Melinda is convinced that nobody understands her, nor would they even if they knew what happened that summer. Once a happy girl, Melinda is now depressed and withdrawn from the world. She hardly ever speaks, nor does she do well in school. She bites her lips and her nails until they bleed. Her parents seem to think she is just going through a faze, but little do they know, their daughter has undergone a life changing trauma that will affect her life forever.
In the novel, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris has used various literary terms which followed the use of a clear tone. This is clearly depicted with the author’s choice of words, as well as, figurative language. This demonstrates the author’s talent for casually laying out the absurdities of his daily experiences. In the novel, Sedaris has used a depressed tone. He explains how he is depressed by the French instructor. He explains that he is not alone to be belittled, but others also experience a similar attitude from the teacher, during the time they spent in class (Sedaris 13). He explains that the instructor wanted to put everyone down. For instance, he understood only half of what the teacher said, and that the first day that she was in class was very depressing (11). Sedaris also narrates that when the teacher asked that ‘has every one apzkiubjxow, it was very startling because he had not been asked the question for a while and realized that she did not understand the alphabet (11). The author states that the teacher always asked that ‘were you always this palicmkresis (15). It is clear that Sedaris employs nonsense letter arrangements, in order to replace the words that he could not understand (Sedaris 15). Through this, he relates his feelings with what the teacher said and this created pity for him and a mutual understanding (Sedaris 15). This demonstrates a depressed tone.
What if you were raped and nobody knew about it? In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda was raped and she didn’t tell anyone. Before school started Melinda was at a party and she was drunk. She was raped in the woods that night by an older senior , Andy Evans. She called the police and she was blamed for calling the police on the party but, its because she never told anyone she was raped. Through many different events and people Melinda changes from being shy to feeling confident. I will show you how trees represent melinda through the beggining , middle, and end
Speak is a cleaver and an ironic title for a story in which the main character chooses not to speak. The story is written in first-person narration from the point of view of protagonist, Melinda Sordino. Speak is written like an interior monologue in the mind of an introverted teenage girl, like excerpts from her personal diary during her miserable freshman year of high school. Instead of blending in and finding her way through high school. She withdraws and secludes herself from the other students. She calls herself an "outcast." Melinda is so desperate to hide from the world; she turns an old janitor's closet at the high school into her safe haven. She cuts classes to hide in her closet. How lonely could this teenage girl be? All of these characteristics are common in assault victims. Melinda has been seriously disturbed by something traumatic and doesn't feel comfortable talking about it, nor does she really trust anyone. Teenage depression is a common
During my entire vocational training, I have seen a lot of students simplified this consideration, understanding that teaching literacy, and the adequation of speech only means to create tasks and exposed students to real situations, where they have to use their own resources to communicate effectively, without expliciting the rules of the language, identifying and analyzing those specific decisions that they are taking, and the reasons of it. I disagree profoundly.
Oral language is the creation of messages produced with vocals, as opposed to written text or gestures. Today much of our communication is handled orally, especially for students in early years of school that are unable to read and write but must communicate with their teachers. In later years, oral language is heavily focused on in school and students are encouraged to share their opinions mid class and give presentations. This is to prepare students for situations in society and at the workplace where they must be able to communicate clearly and efficiently. Generally, students are expected to possess some level of oral language capability entering kindergarten, which teachers are then expected to build upon (Solley, 2014). Students initially build their oral language capabilities from the millions of words that they hear from their parents and home environment. With different home environments, this leads to varied levels of capabilities between students (Snow et al., 2012, p. 496). To get every stu...
I feel that these students have the potential and ability to gain the knowledge and to make a valuable impact on today’s society. It will be my job, as a teacher; to make sure that the correct technique is being demonstrated to ensure that these students reach their full potential. The main goal to any teaching technique is to give confidence to that student that he/she can do anything. There is no obstacl...
Thus, the book answers numerous practical questions that teachers have often struggled with; for example, how to increase the chances of academic success for language learners, how to use technology to teach language effectively, or how to teach language and content material concurrently. From the preface, the author makes it very clear that the book is designed to support language teachers in their journey as new teachers and throughout their teaching careers. In total, the book contains eleven chapters, which have been divided into four parts. The first part, "What Do Language Teachers Think About?" includes topics of foreign/ second language acquisition theories and language teaching methodologies. This part introduces the background knowledge readers will need in their journey as language teachers. The second part, "How Do You Teach a Language?" introduces approaches to teaching and learning that improve students’ writing, listening, speaking and reading abilities. Each chapter in this part includes suggestions for how students can be motivated and describes teaching and testing approaches to assess students ' language skills and academic literacy. The third part, "How Do I Know What to Teach?" is instrumental in helping teachers adopt teaching practices to particular teaching settings. The fourth part, "Where Do I Go from Here?" helps teachers gain a clearer perspective of what language teaching is all about; this section also considers teacher 's self-assessment and personal
It is very important to understand that in everyday communication we are either the speaker or listener and it’s important that we do those jobs as best we can in order to have a healthy communication relationship. This activity was very useful because I got to reflect on my past successes and failures in my communicating strategies and in doing so I can improve and adapt to become a better communicator and listener. I believe that this assignment is very useful because it is real life experiences that may occur again and I can better assess the situation and use the appropriate communicating strategy necessary. This reflection will help me in my personal development by giving me situational experience that I will be able to correctly approach in and out of the
How to do things with words? People use words to talk to each other’s to find something out or to persuade somebody to do something or to build relationship. To talk in any language, you have to know the words sounds for that particular language & to read/write any text for the same language, you have to know the visual or other symbols. People prefer to use talk in their communication rather than reading/writing because they believe it is produced rapid interaction. I am going to discuss about some characteristic for everyday talk for English language, the structure & the function of the talk, some theories of sociologist & philosophers in the field of conversation analysis and give some examples.
As a teacher language is the most important tool in order to support student learning. The book Elementary Classroom Management by Kerry Williams discusses how language is an important tool to use “language can be a powerful vehicle for activating thought, and as teachers we need to be aware of the role it is playing” (ref pg. 196). The use of words and tone that the teacher uses to the students is significant in the behaviour of students. For example if a student is displaying
Students communicating with each other in a classroom environment generally use very informal speech in keeping with the vernacula...
By assuming that students will learn proper communication skills without guidance is a big mistake. Individuals should begin learning basic communication skills at birth and continue learning throughout their educational experience. There are, of course, many types of communication. We use verbal communication, non-verbal communication, written communication and many different forms of. Additionally, communication plays an important role in the process of conveying knowledge as well. Communication is instrumental in education since it helps the instructor and the students to work together with each other. Communication is the most important component of any society. In order, to communicate properly we need correct pronunciation, because pronunciation affects how we understand the meaning of the words. If the sound of a word is different it could lead the listener to believe that the word has a different meaning, and if this happens, it is very obvious that it is a form of improper communication. This may lead to a lot of misinterpretations. To avoid these kinds of problems we need to teach accurate pronunciation. English, in schools, is a very important subject for teaching proper...
In most institutions of learning today, the classes are made up of students from different ethnic backgrounds. These have different traditions and also speak different languages. In a typical classroom, the majority of the students will speak the same language. The teacher must then employ strategies which will accommodate all the students in the class. This will ensure that every learner gets the best quality of education. This will enable them to be better prepared for career and expressing themselves. In this paper, strategies to assist learners of the English language in their literal development for third grade learners. In the paper, three strategies that can be used by the teacher will be discussed. New strategies and research that will help the English language learners to gain in depth mastery of the language will also be discussed. Due to the widespread learning of the English language in most schools, addressing issues of the language learners is of vital importance. Teachers should have the understanding that cultures are what give someone identity and therefore no student should leave their culture for another. Instead, there should be the blending of different cultures so that students can appreciate and learn from each other.