TOPIC Day 5: Getting Personal and Handling Misunderstandings

OBJECTIVES:

SWBAT
SWBAT
SWBAT
SWBAT

ask open-ended questions based on a variety of different topics

share a short narrative that is relative to a conversation topic
clarify misunderstandings that arise during a conversation
apply a few helpful tips when encountering misunderstandings

PREVIEW: [ 2 minutes ]

There are three things we will practice today in order to get a little bit
deeper into a conversation: asking meaningful questions, providing
personal narratives, and appropriate gestures to accompany storytelling. We will then discuss how to navigate through
misunderstandings.

PRESENTATION: [ 8 minutes ]

Teacher explains that a conversation cannot get deeper unless you ask
more personal questions. Students brainstorm topics that are more
personal as teacher writes on the board:
a. Family
b. Culture
c. Past events
d. Friendships
Teacher shows list on screen of the beginnings of open-ended
questions.
a. Tell me about
b. What do you think of?
c. What is it like to?
d. How do you handle?

PRACTICE: [ 10 minutes ]

Students turn to their partner and finish the question for each category.
Example:
a. Question: Tell me about
a. Family: Tell me about your relationship with your sister?
b. Culture: Tell me about how you celebrate Christmas in your
home country?
c. Past events: Tell me about how you met your husband?
d. Friendships: Tell me about your closest friends?

PRESENTATION: [ 10 minutes ]

Teacher explains that in casual conversation when you dont know the
other person very well, its important to give them something to go off
of. If your answers are brief and uninteresting, your speaking partner
might not know what to ask. Providing a short recount or narrative here
and there can be a great way to let the other person into your life.
Recounts are a personal or firsthand telling of a factual event from
your own point of view a mini personal story.
Teacher gives an example of a recount from that day. Class discusses
characteristics they notice:
a. Past tense
b. Structure: beginning, middle, end
c. Point of the story or humor point
d. Intonation to build interest

PRACTICE: [ 10 minutes ]

Students share a short narrative with their partner of something that

happened that day.
Partner asks a follow-up question.

PRODUCTION: [ 10 minutes ]

Students listen to the descriptions of families at

http://www.elllo.org/english/Mixer076/T076-Family.htm and answer
comprehension questions as well as vocabulary questions.
Students write one follow-up question that they could ask about each
persons family based on the information given.
Pairs choose to dialogue about either their family or their culture. Must
include an open-ended question to start the conversation, a relevant
recount, and a follow-up question. Then switch roles.

PRESENTATION: [ 10 minutes ]

Teacher explains that misunderstandings happen ALL the time, even

among native speakers. Watch 45-second commercial demonstrating a
misunderstanding due to pronunciation: German Coast Guard
Teacher asks students what they do when they dont understand
someone. What if they cant understand someone the second time?
Teacher introduces multiple ways of asking for clarification:
Im sorry. Could you repeat that please?
Im sorry I didnt hear you. Could you please say that
again slowly?
You said?
Did you say __ or __?
Pardon?
Excuse me?
What?*
What was that?
Say that again please?
Im sorry, I dont understand what _______ means.
What did you say?*

Choral repetition of the phrases. Teacher explains that all of these are
acceptable for a casual conversation. However, there are two that
could come across as rude, depending on the intonation used.
Practice: What did you say? vs. (rude/offended) What did you just
say?
Practice: What? with soft voice vs. (rude) What?
Explain that if this is a big source of worry, students should carry
around a small notebook and pen so that if they are really unsure of
what a speaker has said, they can ask the speaker to write it down for
them.
Tip: We naturally emulate the people we are talking to. If you speak
louder and slower, the person you are interacting with will most likely
do the same!

PRACTICE: [ 5 minutes ]

Students practice saying these phrases with their partner and discuss
which ones they feel most comfortable using.
Discuss any other tips they may have for handling a misunderstanding.

PRODUCTION: [ 20 minutes ]

Students complete information gap activity. Teacher explains that the

activity involves asking for directions. While this is not typical of a
casual conversation, it is the speech act that requires the most amount
of clarifying questions in a short period.
Students complete activity in pairs. Without looking at the others
paper, student A tries to find out how to get to the temple/toy store
from Maceys; student B tries to find out how to get to the park/gym
from the House No. 10. (Worksheets provided at the end of the lesson)

CONCLUSION: [ 5 minutes ]

Students check their answers on the information gap activity and share
any difficulties they may have encountered.

Worksheets:

This lesson plan is made up of lots of little segments, more like giving
students many tips for making conversation more meaningful. There is a lot
of time spent with a partner. For this lesson I would like students to be with
the same partner throughout the whole class in order to build trust and
relationship. The lesson is about getting more personal in conversation and
also about the vulnerability of asking for clarification, so building up to this
with just one partner will be most effective. I hope this lesson will help to
build rapport as I can share my own vulnerabilities as a language learner
with examples of misunderstandings. The lesson includes top-down
processing when practicing listening to and giving narratives, as the
students have the background knowledge of the topic and use that
knowledge to understand what the narrative is about and why it is
important. This lesson also emphasizes world Englishes through exposure to
multiple varieties in the listening activities, including German-, Kenyan-,
Vietnamese-, Norwegian-, and Australian-English. Its important for students
to listen to these models as they will most likely use English most often with
other non native speakers. The listening activities are to develop focused
listening with multiple repetitions and comprehension checks.