1.Students are given a situation which they are capable
of navigating with their existing vocabulary. A
very limited amount of vocabulary can be added
as students request, but the emphasis is on using the
vocabulary they have already acquired in a
natural way, and upon acquiring reaction skills.
2.Students practice with different partners and roles
within each practice session. On the day the
presentation is graded, their role and their
partner are chosen randomly. This makes it impossible to
script the presentation, and makes the culminating
activity a completely authentic conversation.
3.The presentations are graded according to "naturalness".
Some aspects of an actual "natural"
conversation are: appropriate tone of voice,
correct grammar and vocabulary, lack of American accent,
and appropriate reactions to what the partner
says. I try to keep artificial criteria, like "use three
conjugated verbs" to a minimum. Your challenge
is to create a situation in which three conjugated
verbs will be used naturally in the scenario.
It is also artificial to assign a length to the presentation. If a
student asks "how long does this need to be",
you should be able to answer with a question; for
example: "how long does it take to greet a
friend on the street and ask him how to get to his house?"
My grading system is fairly simple. First,
I emphasize the above criteria for a "natural" conversation. I then tell
students some specifics that they must do to receive a score of 90:
i.e., use appropriate ("natural") formal and
informal forms, make no ("unnatural") agreement errors, and make no
("unnatural") vowel pronunciation errors,
etc. Grades above a 90 are given according to the degree to which the
naturalness of their speech and reactions
exceeds my minimal expectations. Stiff, but accurate, presentations
receive a low "A", and a higher degree of
fluency is rewarded with a higher "A".
Most students, because we have practiced the
material so much (10-25 minutes a day, gradually increasing the
complexity, over a period of at least three weeks), will receive a
score between 85 and 94.
Students whose presentation is very poor receive
a grade between 70 and 80. I do not give lower grades
because I feel that these students should be rewarded for their effort
in practicing during class, since there is
little that they can do to prepare for this conversation outside of
class. Very few students fail to participate
constructively, but those who do may merit a failing grade.
In my classes, there is one presentation per six-week grading period, and it is worth 15% of the students’ grade.
A horseshoe seating chart can facilitate practice,
because it creates a large work space in the center of the
classroom. I usually place students (sitting or standing) in four lines.
Students in line A pair up with the
students in line B, and C pairs up with D. When I want the students
to have a new partner, I have the front
students of lines B and C go to the back, and the remaining students
in those lines move forward one space.
Within ten seconds, everyone in the room has a new partner and can
begin the conversation again with a new
partner.
The constant re-pairing of students has the following advantages:
1.The idea is reinforced that you can have the same type
of conversation with many different people, but
the conversation is never exactly the same.
2.Students have to respond flexibly within a comfortable
structure with a limited vocabulary. The most
important words are reinforced by repetition,
but (in all but the most basic levels) the conversation itself
does not become repetitive.
3.Students learn from each other. Teachers must be aware
of bad habits that may develop, and nip them
in the bud. Make students aware of mistakes
to avoid, then make sure that the stronger students
correct the weaker students when mistakes
are made.
4.These conversations allow students to meet everyone
in the classroom, and exchange names, interests,
opinions, hobbies. Entire friendships can
develop in the target language! If you can occasionally find
native speakers to place in a group, students
will see that they can actually use these conversations in
real life!