A workbook in language teaching: With special reference to English as a foreign language

I I

t I

t I I

t

A Workbook in LanguageTeaching With $pecial Referenceto English as a foreign language

I I I I

t I I

t

EARL W. STEVICK

A WORKBOOK IN IANGUAGETEACHING With Speciol Reference to English o s o F o re i glno n g u oge

EARI W. STEVICK

AbingdonPress N e wY o r k

Noshville

Copyright O 1963 by Abingdon Press Standard Book Number: 687-46174X

AtI rights in this book are reserved,

Printed in the U.S.A.

t I I

t I

t t

PREFACE

This book is designed to be used either as a whole or in part.

It should be

of value, either in the initial training of new language teachers or as a basis for rethinking

and mutually profitable discussions among those who are more ex-

perienced. Like HELPING PEOPLE LEARN to fundamentals.

ENGLISH, the present work confines itself

Unlike its companion volume, however, this "workbook"

mands active responses from the reader.

In this way, he begins to build within

I I I

himself some of the skills that are essential to effective language teaching.

t

teaching.

I

other groups , Part I (" Phonetics and Phonemics of English" ) andlor

t I I T

de-

The workbook is divided into three parts,

each of which requires

approxi-

mately fifteen hours of class work in addition to a moderate amount of outside preparation.

The entire book, together with lectures and appropriate collateral

readings, might thus form the backbone of a first For very

soned teachers,

Kinds of Drill")

brief

semester

course in language

seminars in which most of the participants

Part III ("Talking

about Grammar")

are sea-

might be used alone.

With

Part II (" Four

may be more suitable.

Each part of this workbook has been tested and revised in work with groups of trainee teachers. teach their

These have inciuded not only Americans

native language, but also teachers from

whom may teach a language that is not their first.

going abroad to

many countries,

manyof

The author is grateful to The Ford Foundation,

The Methodist

Church,

and

the United States Information Agency for opportunities to observe and participate in the teaching of English and other languages in BraziI and in various parts of Africa.

Clifford

of an earlier

H, Prator and W. Freeman

Twaddell experimented with parts

version of this book in their classes in the summer of 1959.

tensive and helpfui comments on earlier BurksandbyRobert

Maston.

Ex-

drafts were made by the late Sidney L.

To these, and to the countless other colleagues and

studentswhohavebeenof help inso many ways, the writer expresses his sincere sratitude.

Earl W. Stevick

CONTENTS THE SOLNDSYSTEMOF ENGLISH.....

PART i:

S e r i e s 1 . H e a r i n g s o u n d s ,n o t s p e l l i n g s , . . . ,

9

......I0

Series 2.

Hearing sounds (cont'd)

. . . . 10

Series 3.

Hearing sounds (cont'd).

. .. i3

Series 4.

Hearing sounds(conciuded)

Series 5.

Hearing the sounds of one's own pronunciation...,.

Series 6.

Series 7.

Series 8.

Series 9.

P A R TI l :

Reading and writing transcription...,.

....

...14

........

15

one variety of phonemic ,.....".16

The vowels and consonants ofAmerican English.

.....f9

Familiarization with certain other varieties of phonemic notation.

, . ,. .4I

Some elements of English pronunciation which are neither vowels nor consonants. , .

F O U RK I N D SO F D z u L L .

1. "Minimalpair"drilis

. . . .43

.......52 ......53

When?.

......"53

What?.

.... ...53

Where?.

I I I I

... ...

How?. 1r -v6.' rnrnyrli rn.dr b h - ^l i^nnd d a l lleeyyss

2. Memorization.... When?.

......55 ........55 .....

-58

....59 .. ., . . .59

What?. Where? A d a p t a t i o n o f o r i g i n at e l xts.. How?. B u i l d i n gt o w a r d f r e e c o n v e r s a t i o n . Dialogues

... .. . . 59 ...."59 .. '.'.59 ",...,66 ,., . . , , ,67 .,....69 ..'..73

Temptingblindalleys

3 . S u b s t i t u t i o n D r i l. l

......73

When?

......73

What?

.'....74

lnterdependenceamong lists filling tlvo or more s l o t si n t h e s a m e s e n t e n c e

, ,,.. ..,.76 .....80

Where? How?. T a p i . n ga s l n g l e - c o l u m ns u b s t i t u t i o nd r i l l Mimeographingdriils T e m p t i n g b l i n da l l e y s

^

TransformationDrill

....

....83

.......84 ....85 ....86

When?

......86

What?

..,..'.86

Where? How?. q

......80

The Teacher's Plan: Combining Definiteness with Flexibility.

...'9I ..".91 , ' ,92

F I

T

T T t T t II I I

PART III :

. . . .'.

ABOUT GRAMMAR.

.

1.

UnitsandHierarchies

2.

"Completeness"..

3.

R e c o g n i z i n g p a r t so f s p e e c h :s i o t s a n d l i s t s . .

4.

Arbitrariness

5.

Grammatical similarity

6.

Grammatical similariry (cont'd).

7.

"substitution" as a figure of speech.

8.

"Lexicalcombinations" ("LC's")

97

...98

..,..,.,99 .......100

in the recognition of "completeness"

...fOf ..,l0l .... ....103 . ,. .I04 ......105

g.,,Modification,,....

........106 ........f08

10. "BoundMorphemes 11.

"Privileges of Occurrence". . ..

. . .109

12.

"Parts of Speech"

. '.11f

13.

"Single word" vs. "list": the importance of membership in "lexical combinations"....

..'.lll , , . .Ll2

14. "Co- occurrence ranges 15.

"Lexical combinations" which recur in superficialLy differentconstructrons..,..

16. "Transforms,,.... 17 .

t

18.

I I

20,

r

TALKING

Some grammatical words

....108 ........I14

characteristics

"Co-occurrence restrictions"

of certain "derived" ........r15

among various kinds of lists ....

19. "Co-occurrencerestrictions" (cont'd)... "Co-occurrence restrictions"

(concluded).

21. "Ship sinks" : a startingpointfor further discussion...,..II9

' . ' ' 116 ,',,,II7 . ' '. 1I8

T T

I

I I T T

!I I

t I I I I I

PART I. THESOUND SYSTEM OFENGTISH

Any teacher who deals with English, either as the language he is teaching or as the native language of his students, needs to have an understanding of its sound system. The materials whichfollow seek to develop the following necessary skills:

Perception of words and phrases in terms of sounds and notletters, Reading andwliting in at least one widely accepted variety nernrc rranscrlptlon. - ^ - i ^

of pho-

r - ^ - , - - : - * i

Awareness of the articulatory

phonetics of English.

P r a c t i c e i n u s i . n gm o r e t h a n o n e s y s t e m o f n o t a t i o n f o r r e p r e s e n t ing sounds, principally toi.mmunize the nev/ teacher against the technical and emotional problems of having to learn a slightly different transcription for each new book he uses. Awareness of the difference between phonetics and phonemics. Awareness ofthe existenceof contrasts of pitch, stress, and transition ("juncture") in English.

NOTSPEI.TINGS SOUNDS, I. HEARING SERIES

The goal in the first four series of exercises is to regain or reinforce In the ability to perceivespoken words in terms of sounds, instead of letters. cal.ledvowels commonly nuclei syliabic the first series wemeet theprincipal and diphthongs -of American English. ExerciseI Remembering that the choice between the words a andandependson word, add to each of the the first sound, not on the first letter of the following letter u, and fwo whose the following liststhree words whosespellingbeginswith spelling begins with e.

a unlcorn

an uncle

A

an an an an an

2 Exercise Listen to thesepairs of words as they are readby anativespeakerof live or on tape. (If English is your own first language, listen to them English, as pronouncedby another native speaker,) Theyshouldbe readinrandom order. Answer SAME or DIFFERENT according to whether the wolds sound the same as the speaker Pronounces them: seat-slt seed-cede slt- set bred- bread Dg(->dt

DdL-DUL

cooed- could wood-would cud- curd fir- fur

cud- cod code- cawed road- rode rays- raise wet-walt

3 Exercise Listen to thesepairs of words as readby anativespeakerofEnglish. Listen only to the vowel of the stressed syllable. State whether the vowels or

10

I

diphthongsof the stressed syllables as he pronounces them sound SAME, orDIFFERENT:

I

cheese- complete boating- unknown tread-lead (verb) tread-lead (the metal) rough- funny though- roughly first- curse

T

I

fhnrnrrohrrortinal

T II I

t I I I

t I I I

fnrrr - rronr

c u r i o u s -c u r s o r y foul- fowi

able- play shawl- falsely foot- put once - but ^G^^l$L-, DLgdrLrly-

^c^^r DLgdl

put- putt first- fist confusion- feud racial- made confemnlnlc-

e nJlg

whirling- cur

Exercise 4 Listen to these sets of words as read by anative speaker. Concentrate first on the vowel or diphthong ofthestressed syllable of the first word in the set. Use that sound as your basis for comparison. Then decide which of the three words that follow the model has a vowel or diphthongthat soundsmost iike that of the model. For this exercise also, base your decision on the pronunciation of the reader, not on your own p_ronunciation. Model conceit feed befuddle C O U SI N

dozen Pudding busy women woman

A

B

seat hid could could could could must mlst could

sit heed cod cod cod cod mist most c ode

L

s ate had cud cud cud cud messed mussed cod

(Depending on the dialect of the speaker, the answer in the last row may be A or B. Try to find at Ieast one speaker for whom the answerwouldbe A, andanother for whom it would be B . )

(contd.) StRltS 2. HEARING 50UNDS T h i s s e r i e s i s concernedprincipaiJ.ywith the contrasting consonant s o u n d su s e d i n E n g 1 i s h .

Exercise 5 Listen to these pairs of words. DIFFERENT? f ^^

-

lgdr-

Do the whole words sound SAME,

or

cap- cab grays - graze race- rays life-live (adj. ) house's- houses lacy-Iazy watt- what

- ,^^-

vYgr

fill- Phil shoe-sue shock-Jacques seed-cede sin- thin Sam- sang

For many native speakersofEnglish, the words spelledwatt andwhat pronounced alike; for many others they are different. are 6 Exercise Listenonly tothefirst soundof each of these words. State whether first sounds of the words in each pair are SAME or DIFFERENT.

ve ry- be rry so- she use- jam use- yes right- light wring- rouse chaos - cape tin- thin day- they chick- show champagne-chop phone- pone

fear- fact then- this thin- this knife - kite Known'gnome known- nine celestial- so cemetery- cat house- honor hear- heavy thatch- thumb thimble- the re

7 Exercise Listen onlyto thelast soundof each ofthese words. Statewhetherthe last sounds of the words in each pair are SAME or DIFFERENT. miss - dlsh miss - rtce mis s - his miss - hiss hiss - rice jazz-his

rug- p1g rack- rag rose- choice v^no

- rntp

watt-what leaf- save lEdI-

t2

DdIE

F I I T F I I I tr II I I I T

8 Exercise

Give examples illustrating ling the last sound of peace:

Give examples illustratingthree sound of peas:

three common ways of representing in spel-

common ways of representing in spelJ.ingthelast

Exercise 9 Lisrfive words that begin with the same sound that begins thigh; list five that begin with the same sound that begins thy:

N0GU N D( C S oNrD.) 5ERrE 3 .5H E A R TS This series deals with the same materials as the first two series but in a more complex way.

0 E x e r c i sl e Listen to these pairs of words. CONSONANT? note- known note- net note- night known-none nine-night house (noun)- house (v.)

Is the difference in a VOWEL, ora

Llutt-put shave- shade live (verb) -llve (ad.1. ) lip- clip rope- robe lead (verb) - lead (metal) puss- pus

II Exercise Listen to these pairs of words. Is the difference in a VOWEL, or a coNSoNANT, or BorH? The answers willin somecases depend on the variety of English spoken by the person who reads the words.

I3

I four- fort forth- force bath- bathe goes - does

talk- tick known-note four- foul soap- rope

I2 Exercise Listen to theconsonantsoundsthat beg'ineachof thesewords. Oppo-

site eachpair, supplya pair of words that endwith thosesametwo sounds. Example:

rag - rack ten- ham

€oat- coat name- mouse

call- cite this- thick very-fairy back-pick s e e -z o o shine- cheese scene- show time-dive

_-

This exercise is more interesting if you try to make all your pairs of words "minimal pairs" (e.g., rack-Ieg, very-fairy). A "minimal pair" of wordsdiffer in sound at only on. pomt. e*u.ttpte" of non-minimal pairs of words are n a m e -m o u s ea n d t e n - h a m .

I I I I

I I I I I

(CoNCTUDED) 50UNDs 4. HEARTNG SERTES This series ofexercises deals with "clusters"of consonants,that is, with sequencesof two or more consonantsadjacent to one another.

Exercise l3 The following are words whose spelling makes them appear rtl begin with two or more consonants. As spoken, however, each word begins with only one consonant sound. Pronounce them aloudto yourself, then supply other words which begin with ttre same consonant sound, but whose spelling begins with only one consonant letter: Example:

pneumonia philharmonic mnemonic ghost chaos khaki pshaw shoe

t4

I I

I I

no

I

I I

t t I I I I I

chip wrong Schaeffer thatch

Exercise l4 Do these words begin with one consonant sound, or two? phiiology flow smear scene score shrimp thimble

knock klaxon grow gnome wrlng bring throw

Exercise I5 State whether each of the foLlowingwords ends witha single consonant sound or with a cluster ofrwo or more consonant sounds following the lastvowel sound: fact knives breezes egg eggs miI mill false talk milk

t I

I I I I I

(none) (none)

Lrrvu6rr

n.

fh

wash washed washes walt waited waits put

purr long

S E R I E5S. H E A R I NTGH ES O U N DOSF O N E ' S O W NP R O N U N C I A T I O N In thisseries, his own pronunciation.

unlikethe fi.rstthree series, the reader is to listen to

l6 Exercise T^ Ib

rrnt

r

vnrrro

l

in said more like your vowel in red or in laid? ' ' 'T^O N C I " " ftr" ""e " rip " set " slt? ' " I"d !g9!

" .""r "

yggfl!."

l5

"@r

" head?

I rough" " do? rough" " put? " " worse? fit

" first

I7 Exercise Practicaily all native and near-native speakers of English will give In this exercise, uniform replies to the questions in the preceding exercise. their answers are likely to show much greater diversity. Is your vowel in cleanse more iike your vowel in wit or "bet " "measure " code " woman r' /' " eithe r slgn " t""r " pour ,, i,, " sa"t noot (or your vowel in cut?) " "fat " can't

in wet? " laltt " rcoul-d? " "ee? " four? " tootl

" fate?

IRANSCRIPTION OI PHONEMIC ANDWRIIINGONEVARITIY STRIES 6. READING tation.

This series provides practice in reading one system of phonemicnoOther systems will be introduced in Series Eight.

[xerciseI 8 Read aloud from the right-hand half of the page, using the key words (vowels on the left as your guide. Pay principal attention to the syllable nuclei and diphthongs): the consonant symbols used here have the same values that they Most, but not all of the prohave in most dictionary systems of transcription. nunciations in this exercise are those of real English words.

If If If If If If If If If

/kiy/

is "

/set/

"

/kit/

/feyt/ " " /het/ /keynt/" " /hat/ " /hayt/ /haw/ "

kit, what are: /sit, mit, mt, ztt/? key, : /siy, mry, ziY, rrY/? xe1, " : ,zheyt, weyt, bleyt, bleyd/? " fate, blet, met, maen/? /fet, ": /feynt, reynt, weynt/? hot (AmE), " " : /gat, blat, faks, hwat, nat, map/? " : /mayt, blayt, sayd, blaynd/? height, " how, /naw, saw, nawn, rawtl? hat, *

'r

*The syllable nucleus in this row does not occur in standard dialects of English, but occurs in some fair.ty common dialects, Try to arrive at the pronunciation by following analogies with the other syllable nuclei in this exercise.

16

I I I I I I I I I I I I

I I I

F Exerrise l9

F

This exercise is likethe precedingone exceptthatitintroduces syllable nuclei.

F I

I

I T It T

wood

/wud/ /

/m rrrrrrl r r r ur r u/

/

/kud, rum, sut, fut/ ,/kuwd, kuwb, suwt, ruwm/ ,zklowv, rowv, bowt, nowz/ /rrb, wrn, san, klnb/ /wrts, f^rst, p^rk, wrrm/ /gct, blct, fcks, nx, mcP/ /scht. sch, kchl, lchg,/ /sat, Iag, bat, wat/

m ^^A r r r vvs

/stowv/ stove ,/stab/ stub /klrs/ curse /hct1 hot (Br.) /ktht/ caught cot (AmE) /kat/

A iai rly Iarge number of Ame ricans (including Canadians) lack a contrast between the caught words (next to last row) andthe cot words (last row). Ixerrise20 Read aloud from the columns and rows: L

/ay/

/O/ /d/ /t./ /j/ /3t 71,/ /V/ /tJ/

thish thy cnew judge itroe measure you song

/aw/

/Oayl /day/ ttay / rjay/ t\ay/ tLay/ /yay/ /ayn/

/nik/ nick

owe

/Qow/ /dow/ /tow / / jow/ /!ow/ /2ow/ /yow/ /owq/

/owO/ oath

/yry/

/eIk/ /drk/

/ow@/ /owd/

/ cLK/

/ owc /

/jik/ /!tu/ /LIk/ iyrk/ /sin/

/owi/ /owi/ /owL/

/yt'O/ /yr'd/ /yt t/ /yt i/ /yr'!/ /yr'2/ /yt'y/ /y t'tt/

,v'

/rirS/

young

These syllables are intended merely as practice in reading this system of transcriotion: therefore some of them sound Iike real Enclish words and some do not.

2l Exercise

I

I I I I I

other

Further practice in reading transcription:

If /k|k/ " / riyi/ ,, tiest/ " iSeyk/ " /req/ " /rat/ " /i.ayd/ " /[aw I

is

Ll!_k, reach, jest,

what

shake, rang, not (AmE)," chide, chow,

are: / o i k , 6 i k , 3 i t , t i o , t i 4 7 t ": / riyO, riyd, iiyi, yiyiTf

" : i Jest, dest, Iest, ": ":

": ":

L7

Oest/?

/ Jeyk, -)eyk, ieyn, skeyd/? / bery,Jeq, kle4, Oe6/? / *a3, Iut, yat, oat/? / 5ayn, dayn, jay, tay/? / daw, law, 5aw, ]awl?

I 22 Exer

tdl tv l "this' " bathc

'very C V CT

L '2.

Voiced Labio-dental F ricatlve

I

2 3

.1. 1. Fig. .13

Fig.40 Fronl vlcw ol tol) ol tonguc at cnd ot 1i ) ?

+)

tJl ".1ud89" " c tiginc

1 2. 3, 4

Voiccd Blade/apico Palatal Affricatcd stoP Shallori'groove Fig. +7

Fig. .1Eb

5U

-)

+

I

I I I I I I t t I I

t t

Voiccd Low- tongue Late ral

Fig..18c

I

t I I

5i

OFDRILL KINDS II. FOUR PART study of Ianguages The varieties and sub-varieties of drilt used in the on the basis selected been fourhave spectrum entire the From are numberless, tothemostimmedcloselyrelated are they because and of their wide usefulness, iateandmosturgentgoalsofanyonewhoisStartingoutonthestudyofaforeign language. These goals are the following: AccuracY of Pronunciation' AccuracY of grammar' FluencY, in sYllables Per second' Flexibilityinrecombiningpaltsofoldsentencestoformnewones. The four styles of drill

are:

to the Phonological contrast, which is a style closely tied pronunciation' accurate an acquisition of Memorization,

which bears directly

on fluency'

both Substitution and transformation drills, which are connected ' flexibility with and with srammatical accuracy

from Each of these kinds of drill will bc discussed and illustrated findquestions English and/or other languages. Finally, thepracticalteacherwill of the principles disundersta'ding his test will which exercises suggested anJ cussed,providehimwithpracticeintheirapplication,andserveaSaStartlng point for discussion of the deeper implications of each technique' themThe basic kincis of drill which we sliall examinc have proved in and the world all over classrooms in teachers many selves fo be of value to teachingmanydifferentlanguages.ltshouldbeemphasized,lrowever,thatthese aimed at developing within the drills as we shali describe them are primarily of the language. Less mechanics the of in manipulation skill learner Ianguage of how to transquestion h"r been devoted to the very difficult but crucial "p"." ' This is in consituations fer the structural patterns into real life communication priority to the high assigned has formiry with modern language pedagogy, which to teachor undertakes who he Nevertheless, acquisition of manipulative skills. task' impossible almost an faces basis mechanical learn a language on a totaily comgenuine in patterns grammar or words, sounds, Use of the newly learned and imposunsupported is it alone, arch: an of keystone like the munication is are scattered' sible; without it, the other stones soon fall away and

Each type of drilt is discussed with reference to four questions:

52

I

T T I I T I I I T T I T T I I

F F F

! t

! tI t I I I

t{l-..

under what circumstances--is it needed? What does it consist of, andwhat :ieps go lnto its construction? Where can one find-materiai suitable forthedrill? uoy-"y itbe used in class? Fr"ally, a number of "tempting blind alleys" are pinpointed for the benefit of the less experienced teacher, l. ,,MtNtMAtPAtR"DRil.tS When "Minimal pair" drill is indicated most urgently when the learner finds himself saying things that he doesn't intend to say: robber bands instead of rullgj barq!, my launch instead of my lunch, she instcadof se". lti"aisoindicated, however, when his hearers haue difficulfin l o l l o w i n g w - h a tt h e l e a r n e r i s saying, even if they do not notice a large number of "wrong words."

Whor The cornerstone of this kind of drili is a pairofutterances--usually short--which differ in meaning, but which are exactly alike insoundexceptatone point' The two utterances are said to constitute a "minimalpair"witfrrespectto the difference between then; hence the name which is appiied to the drill . Minirrral pairs are most eommonly thought of inconnectronwithvowels and consonants. Some examples of vocalic pairs,,are: English

lick-leak fed- fade robber- rubber put- putt

French

vu-vous deux- de

German

bieten-bitten lesen- losen

Portuguese

sim-si seu- c6u

Some consonantal pairs are: English

Spanish

closing-clorhing mouth- mouthe high-eye (presence vs. absence of an initial consonant) caro- carro

EXERCISE: List "minimal pairs" for four vocalic and four consonantal contrasts in a language with which you are professionallv concerned. Minimar pairs may be found to illustrate phonorogical contrasts other than those. between consonants or vowels. Minimal pairs f-or English stress and intonation were given in the first part of this book, in Exercise s 64_6g.

53

Contrasts of both these types may be found for Russian and Portuguese; French has contrasts of intonation but not of Stress; some non-European languages apparently lack contrasts of both kinds. Does the language with which you are working have contrasts of EXERCISE: intonation? If so, give examples. Can one make the difference and stress both between statement and yes-noquestion merely bychanging the sentence melody ? If so, indicate graphically the contrasting pitch patterns that are involved.

There is a difference between the use of sentence and phrase melothe use of what the linguist calls "tone." ln languages dy--"intonation"--and part of that syllable, is an integral pitch syllabie of each the latter, the use which and two words which are pronounced exactly the same except for pitch may have entirely different meanings. In Burmese, for example, thewordsfor"waterlily" and "tiger" are identical except for tone; in Chinese, tone constitutes theonlyaudible difference befween the words for "buy" and "sell" and for countless other pairs of words. Many languages of Central and South America, Africa, andEast Asia are tonal in this sense. EXERCISE: Is the language with which you are working tonal? five or more minimal pairs which illustrate tonal contrasts '

If so, assemble

In using minimal pair drill, it is important tobe surethatoneisacOtherwise, the techniques tuaily deaiing with minimal pairs of words orphrases. will not work satisfactorily, just as an automobile will not function properlywith the wrong type of fuel . In English, for example, the pair mouth- mouthe is :Lmininral pair illustrating the contrast between /O/ and /d/ . The pair bath-bathe is not, however, because the vowel sounds of the two differ, as well ut tn" .onsobut. nants. The pair cooed-could is a minimal pai.r for the contrast /uw/-/u/, the pair food-foot is not. In French, vu and veux areaminimalpairwithrespect to the vowels, and veux and vieux are aminimal pair with respecttothepresence or absencc of the phoneme /y/, bu1 vu and vieux arc not a minimal pair, since they differ in two ways, not just in one. EXERCISE:

Which of the following are minimal

pairs of words in English:

code - cod

lightning- lighting

check- j ack

illuminate- eliminate

wool-whole

conform- confirm

hacked- fact

wash-watch

at- hat

EXERCISE: Make a list of four highly simi.lar pairs of words in your language which are nevertheless not quite minimal pairs. Be careful not to choosea pair which are spelled differently but pronouncedexactly alike.

54

I I I I I

t I I I I I

t

T I I T

Where Where does one find the raw materials for mimimal pairdrills? A few books have long lists of them . A larger number of books give a few here and there in the pronunciation section. It is sometimes possible tofindthembydilBy far the most convenient source, however, igent search of a good dictionary. is the live speaker of the language, provided only that he has learned to recognize them. Some of the exercises provided in this section have attempted to teach this simple skill to the users of this book, following the method of example and counter- example . The same method may be used quite informally to train others . The process is greatly speeded if the student reacts with obvious enthusiasm to the first few genuine minimal pairs that his tutor produces, EXERCISE: Elicit some minimal pairs from someone who doesn't alreadvknow what you are after. How First, make a list of the contrasts which cause c riifficulfy for the (For a comprehensive discussion of this students with whom you are working. problem, see Robert Lado's Linguistics Across Cultures, Chapters I and 2.) For each contrast, assemble the following: At least two short minimal pairs which do not contain any further difficultiesin pronunciation: chip-ship, witch-wish would be suitable for speakers of some languages. possible, short complete minimal pairs--if At least one or two longer sentences: He hurt his chin vs. He hurthis shin. These of course carry In addition, they give the learner greater meaning than do isolated words. practice in picking out the relevant distinction from the midst of a longer stream of sound. If at all possible, of course, the minimalpairs should be words and phraBut in addition, assemble a list of the most ses that are commonly used. common words you can find which contain the two sounds involved, regardless of whether they are members of minimal pairs. Through reading and/or through noticing how a native speaker produces the sounds,form a clear picture of the articulatory difference.

In using these materiaLs in class, it is important to exploit to the full the principle of "hearingbefore speaking." Itseems obvious that oneshould allow students to hear a given word before asking them to pronounce it aloud, though even this rule is sometimes disregarded by inexperiencedlanguage teachers. But beyond this, there are some indications that it is well to allow for a fairof a more or less systematic Iy long period of passive or semi-passivelistening

55

nature before the student is encouraged to begin audible production. r In any event, it is worthwhile to make an additional distinction, within the listening phase , betv/een the differentiation and the identification of the rwo sounds represented by a given pair. Remember aLsothat a contrastwhichis difficult in onepositionmay be easy in another. Thus, speakers of German have difficulty with the English contrasts p-b, t-d, k-g at the end of words, but notatthebeginning; speakers of English have no difficulty in distinguishing between the vowels of (American English)hotand hut when they occur in stressed syllables, yet we consistentlyhave difficulty in controlling our production of these same fwo sounds when they :rre unstressed ' The average speaker of English will pronounce the first syllable of Spanish casa with approximately the vowel quality found in American English hot, but will use in the secor-rd syllablc a vowel more hke his own sound on hut. In teaching a contrast,begin in the position where it is easiest and go on, one position at a time, untilthecontrasthas beenpracticed ineveryposition where it occurs.

ing the l-r

Here is a sanrple serics of techniques that might be used in teachcontrast of English.

Preparation: 1,

Short minimal pairs: a. In initial position: lie- rye; low- row b. Between vowels: Willie-weary; miller-mirror c. In final position: (the /r/ sound need not be taught here, since many speakers of English do not themselves pronounce it in final position) pill-peer, fell-fair d. After consonants: play-pray, grow-glow

2.

Minimal sentences: He's Willie. Where do they go to play?

He's weaty. Where do they go to pray?

3. Useful words and phrases which are very common, but which are not necessarilymembers of minimal pairs:

l,

E, A. Nida, !"q!g1g a Foreign Language, c h . I V . F . R . M o r t o n , " T E Language Laboratory as e Tgglhllg Machine, " i n F . J . O i n a s , e d . , L a n g u a g e Teaching Today (Indiana University, 1960).

56

I I I I I I I I I I I I

I I I I

T F T

I I I I I I I T t l

I I I

Iike

read

wili live

very try

place

breakfast

For each of these words, try to find one or two short sentences which the students are likely to use at reast once a day in normal life. In this way, they can practice the sounds in meaningfur context outside of the highly arti_ ficial atmosphere of the language classroom. 4.

The articulatory

difference (see part I, Exercises

29_Sg).

skip any steps that seem unnecessary, ]n t]3"tt but use as many sreps as are needed to keep the students rcsponding frcquentry, regularly and successfurly:

t

Qfirg:e.lgrig.

'feacher:

Row Low T: Low Low T: Low Row

Class: Different C: Same C: Different

T: T: T:

Different Same Different

etc. Then contir.rue as above, but with individual students giving most of the responses . (The whole class may be called on for a reply from time to time. ) 2.

Identification.

The teacher's right hand (or the number "r"on the blackboard, or any other thing or symbol) is arbitrarily assig-ned to stand for low, while row is assigned to his left hand (or "2,,, etc.). As the teacher says each of tn" r",o words, he at the same time identifies it sirently. The students liste., andcopy the identifying gesture. After a time, the teacher clelays the identificationof each word until the students have had a chance to make their own identifications. He watches to see whether they are almost always right. This is a simple kind of test. If it appears that the students are having some difficulty, let one student at a time indicate which word he wants to hear, and pronounce it aloud, After a while, switch back to the test.

s, l4iry:s:y. Mimicry model'

consists of nothing but immediate oral imitation of an audibre Begin mimicry of acontrast just as soon as thestudents areable to hear

57

For some sound contrasts, infact, you will the difference which it illustrates. all on special exercises in differentiaany time'at spend to find it unnecessary work in differenriation and identififor contrasts, other identification; and tion cation may need to be spread in many small doses over a numberof days before you do any serious work with mimicry. In mimicry drill, it is good to begin with response by the whole class or by have the comfort of groups within the class, so that the students individually be much time can kinks; the worst of the are working out anonymity while they saved in this way, But normally, most of the work in mimicry will be done with one individual at a time. At this stage it is of utmost importance that the student should know, immediately after eachattempt, whetherthat attemptwas (a) satisfactory, or (b) unsatisfactory, or (c) still not perfect, but an improvement.over Some teachers convey this information entirely by facial exprevious efforts. Others adopt the convention that if a response is satisfactory, they pression. go on to anothel student; calling on the same student a second time means that Whatever conventlon you his first response was defective in some respect. adopt, be sure that it is clear to the students, and stick to it; the responsibility for seeing that the information does get across remains with the teacher. TemptingBlindAlleys Using tongue-twisters too early. A teacher who is working on the contrast among the two "th-sounds" of English and /s/ and /z/ may think of using It is tempting a line like, "Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?" because the tongue twister is a medium through which the teacher himself, as a child, may have proved his mastery of the English sound system. Tempting aiso, perhaps, because a good, hard tongue-twister puts the students lnto Such a gratifying (to some teachers) feeling of dependence. And tempting because the students themselves may regard it as a game. L

It is a blind alley unless postponed as dessert until the end of the meal, because ir ii ,rery difficult, yet ls enjoyable enough to keep the students happily practicing mistakes when they should be working systematically toward mastery of the sound problem involved. 2 . In using minimai pairs, inexperienced teachers too often say one word after another without pausing between them: "Red, led, red, red, Ied, red, Ied, A Spanish example of the same error is "caro, carro,carlo, caled, led.,.." because it seems so brisk and efficient in the use of time. tempting ro." It is it can give to the teacher a feeling of great superithe tongue-twister, like And, ority over the students in respect to the use of English. But it is a blind alley because the students don't know which word they are hearing and supposed to be trying to imitate at any given moment, and because they don't have time to concentrate their attention on one word at a time.

58

I

I I I I

T I I I I I I I I I

t

3. occasionalry,_a teacher willgo to great pains to puton thebrackboardan . elaborate and detailed diagramof the speech mechanism, showingttredifference between two troublesome sounds. It is terplrlg because it seems so scientific. Tempting to some, because the timespent indrawing the picturesprovides a re_ spite from the hard physical work of conducting a gooOAiitt. It is a blind alley because an artistic and detailed drawing conveys no more informationJolhE-student than oo". clear diagram drawn in one "'.""ronably tenth the time. 2. MEMORIZATION Memorizarion, or-virru"t -"-o.i1i:ll", t meaningful, interesring material should precede drill on grammar and vocabulary, Grammatical and lexical drills, in fact, dependfor much of their value on the student,s ability to relate them to larger meaningful context.

Whar? Material to be memorized or practically memorized, whether rt rs dialogue or non-dialogue, should have all four of these characteristics: It It It It

should should should should

be an authentic sample of modern usage. be intelligible to the student. be interesting to the student. consist of sentences short enough for oral practice.

Lack of any of of these qualities is sufficient to produce serious crrag; any fwo of them makes a passage virtually useless.

rack of

In many commercial rextbooks, ty:::: units are based on a memory selection- -frequently a conversation or an anecdote. In others, memo.zable material is not given such a prominent position. In using any rypeof textbook, the ability to adapt or create such materiarsis an asset to theteacher, It wiube discussed here first in connection with non- dialogue material and then in relation to dialozue. ADATTATION

OF ORIGINAL

TEXTS

The key to adaptation of prose texts is the ability to create parallel versions of the same original on various revers of difficurty. Grading of vocaburary is of obvious importance, but even more cruciat is contior ou". th.-g."mmaticar struc_ tures that are employed. The concept of parallel versions *itt o" illustrated first with one of themost popular forms of non-dialoguematerial--the anecdote. In a lesson planned around an anecdote, the students should go away from class feeling that they have understood easily an interesting story in the language

they are studying, and that they themselves have used the language freely and They may have the impression that naturally in a significant communication. the teacher simply opened the hour with routine greetings' told them a story that he happened to think of, and that then the class spent the rest of the hour in That is the way the hour should seem--to the students. But free conversation, inorder toproducethatillusion, the teacherwill haveused a whole bagof tricks' beginning, most likely, with the editing of the story itself . The story of Kenneth Mu1ler, for example, was taken from the Miscellany column of Time, in whlch it appeared as a single, cleveriy complex sentence. It has been rewritten into three versions' all of which employ much the same nouns, verbs, and adjectives, but which vary greatly in their glammatical simolicitv.

KennethMuller, Version A 1 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12 . 13. 14. t5.

Ker.rrrethMuiler was a little boy He was three Years old. Lle wanted to learn to read' He wanted to read books '

16. He learned to read "PuIl." 17. One day, Kenneth was ir.r the hallway of the school . lB. There was a red box in the

IIc was Young. He could not learn to read. He could not go to school. Three ycars Passed. Kenneth was six Years old. He went to school. He was in the first grade' He learned ve rY quicklY. He learned to read. He learned to read manY words' One of the words was "Pull ."

19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27 .

hallway. The red box was on the wall' Kenneth saw the red box. There was a handle on the box' Ker.rnethsaw the handle. There was a word on the box. Kenneth saw the word. T h e w o r d w a s " P u I 1. " Kenneth pulled the handle. The whole school had an unscheduled flre drill that daY.

it to them as If you gave this version to youl. students to read, or if you read But if they for them' tooeasy much it was that feel it star"rds, they would probably for imip h r a s e s s h o r t " C " " e n j o y " B , i f t h e y o r o r have trouble understanding advan with even quite " usable is A" that find may you tating you r pronunclation, ced classes. In Version "A," the sentences are short. Each sentence hason.lyoneclause. find waysto do withWe avoid allbut the simplest tenses of the verbs, We even those words knowthat "since" wheneverwe outcommon words like "enough" and ' in sentences correctly are hard for our students to use Dependingonrheabilityoftheclass,wemaywanttoreplacesomeofthe For example, the last Sentence in "A" is nouns, verbs, and adjectives as well. we might replace it somewhat as by far the most difficult in the whole version. f ollows:

60

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

t I I I I I

t I I I I

t

Bells began to ring, The teachers heard the bells. The pupils heard the bells. They stood up. They walked out of their classrooms. They walked through the halls. They walked carefully. They walked quietiy. They walked out of the school. They stood outslde the school. 'I-harr

rrroi tod

th-

r-

The principal came to the door of the school. FIe said, "The school is r.rotburning. There is no fire. C o m e i n t o t h e s eh o o l a g a . i n . This was a fire drill ." (The meaning of "fire drili" has been given in rhe sentences that precede this one. To get acrross the mcaning of "ur.rscheduled," we may add the sentences that follow.) The children and their teachers went into the school again, They began to study again. The fire drili surprised the pupils. It surprised thc teachers. It surprised the principal. Did it surprise Kenncth? Do you iike fire drills ? The last of these sentences goes beyond the subject matter of the original story and affords the students ar.ropportunity to express something out of their own Iives. This story was chosen in full r:ealization of the fact that little redfirealarm boxes nray not be known in many parts of the world. But the appearance andthe purpose of these cultural items is explained by the story itself. If you add the comment that all American schools have fire alarms of the same general type, your class willhave learned an interesting minor fact about life in the United States.

Kenneth Muller,

Version B

r r

rI

When little Kenneth Muller was three years old, he wanted toreadbooks. But he could not go to school or learn to read because he was very young.

I

After three years, when Kenneth was six years old, he went to school. He soonlearnedto read very well . Oneof the manywordsthathe learnedwas"pull ."

I

One day, when Kenneth wasin the hallway of theschool, hesaw ared boxon

I

I

6l

There was a handle on the box, and there was also a word on it. the wall. "puil." Kenneth read the word and pulled the handle. word was The whole school had an unscheduled fire drill

I

The

I

that day'

In Version "B" we have taken the sentences of "A" and joined them together in routine ways. These ways include the use of relative clauses, and, or, wher, after, before, and because. W"'r" still staying away from any but the si*pt"tt and most common tenses. If version "c" is too hard for your class, you can begin with "B." If on the other hand your class feels that "C" is better suited to them, you can still use "B" without their even being aware of its existence. It can serve as an alternate for "C" when you are first telling the story, or as a source of explanatory para-

I iI

I

I

I I

phrases . Kenneth Muller,

Version C

Little Kenneth Muller had wanted to learn to read ever since he was three years old. Finally, when he was six, he was old enough to go to school. He soon became rhe besr reader in the first grade.

I I I

Among the first words that he learned to recogrlize was "pull , " One day, he noticed that word pr:inted on a red box in the hallway of the school . There was a shiny metal handle sticking out of the box. Being an obedient child, Kenneth pulled rt. All thousand children in Kenneth's school had an unscheduled fire ciay.

drill

that

If you wil.l take the numbered sentences of "A" and see what has happened to them in "B" and "C, " you will see that there is much more grammatical diverthanin the other versions. Some classes would be able tobegin right siryin"C" away on "C"; others need the preparation of "A" and "B." And of course some classes can handle a much more complicated "C" than others can.

II

I I

I EXERCISE: Below are an "A" version of an anecdote and two other versions of it. Inspect these tvvo versions, and decide which is the simpler. Make a list of the grammatical structures which are contained in the "C" version, but are absent from the "B" version. Ambulance, Version A An ambulance was traveling down a highwaY. 2. The ambulance was traveling at

1.

8 0m . p .h .

62

3. 4.

The siren of the ambulance was wailing' A state policeman was on a motor-

I

t I I I

F h

h h

h

! t

!

T T T I I I I

;. t 9 10.

The state policeman overtook the ambulance. The state policeman stopped the ambulance. The driver said, "I was speeding. " "I know that. " "Ambulances carry sick people. "

11. "Why did you sropme?" 12. The policeman replied, "I was trying to rell you something.', 13. "There is no patient in your ambulance." 1 4 . " Y o u l e f t y o u r p a r i e n t ' sh o m e . " 15, "You were in a hurry " f6. "You forgot your patient, "

"The state allows ambulances to speed. " Ambulance,

Version X

@

An ambulance was traveling down a highway at 80 m.p.h. Its siren was rvailing. A state policeman onamotorcycle overtook the ambulance and stopped it.

An ambulance was travelingdown an open highway at B0 m.p.h. , wirh irs siren wailing, when a state policeman on a motorcycle overtook it and stopped it.

The driver of the ambulance said, know that I was speeding, but the state allows ambulancesto speed bccause they carry sick people. Why

The driver of the ambulance protested, "I know I was-speeding, but ambulances carrying patients are alIowed to speed. Why did you srop me ?"

''l

did

rrnu qtnn

me ?"

The policeman replied, "I was trying to tcll you that there js no patient in your ambulance. You were rn a hurry when you left your patient's home, and you forgot him."

The policeman replied, "That's what I was trying to tell you. you were in such a hurry when you left your patient's home that you forgot him!"

EXERCISE: Here are "A" and "C" versions of a single story. sion of intermediate grammatical complexity.

Supply a "B" ver_

Rock and Ro11,Version A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Once there was a farmer. The farmer had an orchard. The orchard was large. The orchard produced pecans . The farmer had trouble with crows. The crows ate the young pecans . The crows did severe damage to the farmer's crop. The farmer went to town. The farmer bought some things .

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. i6. 17. 18. 19.

The farmer bought some wire. The farmer bought a record player. The farmer bought three loudspeakers. The farmer bought an amplifier. The farmer bought some special records. The farmer installed his new equipment in the orchard. The farmer played his records, The music frightened the crows badly. The crows ieft the orchard. The crows never returned to the orchard.

63

20. Some human beings like rock and roll music 21 . Other human beings don't like rock and roll 1T]USIC.

22.

The crows agreed with the second group. Rock and Rol1, Version C

He used to In Alabama, tirere is a farmer who has a large pecan orchard, have a great deal of trouble with crows doing severe damage tohis cropbyeating the young Pecans. Then one day, the farmer had an idea. He went to town and bought some wire, three loudspeakers, an amplifier, and a record player. He also bought some special rccords. The ncxt day, the farmer installed his new equipment in the orchard, and begar.rplaying his records . The music frightened the crows so badly that they left the orchard and nevcr returned. Apparently they agreed withthose human beitrgs who clon't like rock and roll . EXIIRCISII: Supply a "8" version of this short

non-fiction passage:

4tftrl"JSet, Ygq19.4 1 . S o m e o n c h a s i n v e n t e d a new kind of scat. 2. The seat is for airlines. 3. Sabena adopted the new kind of seat in 1959. 4. The new kind of seat Protects passen[Jers. 5. Sometimes there are Plane crashes . 6. PIanes sometines hit the land 7.

The new kind of seat tips backward automatically 9 . T h e p a s s e n g e r ' s spine is r-rearly horizontal. 1 0 . T h e p a s s e r . r g e r ' swhole body is in a new position. 11. The passenger's whole body cat.t withstand shocks. f2. The seat has a low center of gravlry. 13. l'he force of the crash cannot rip the seat frorn the floor. 8.

verry hard. Planes sometimes hit the water verY hard. Airline Seat, Version C

A new kind of airline seat has been invented, which protects passengers in plane crashes, Sabenawas the first airline to adopt it. The seattipsbackward automaticallyin a crash, so that the passenger's spine is nearly horizontal . In this position, his whole bodyis able to withstand shocks better. The seat also has a low center of graviry, which prevents it flom being ripped from the floor by the force of the crash.

I

I I I I I I I I I I I

I I

I 64

I

I

I

Study the "C" and "B" versions, and then supply an "A" version :.,,:--l-S:: --- - ' . , 1. 1 g p a s s a g e :

of

Speech, Version C ''Speech

is so familiar a feature of our daily life that we rarely pause to examine it. Although it seems as natural to man as walking or breathing,its naturalness is illusory. The processof acquiring speech is quitedifferent from the process of learning to walk. " (Slightly adapred from the opening lines of Language, by Edward Sapir.)

I I F F

lpgS:L:S'"fg

i

Speech is a very familiar feature in our daily life. We rarely pause to examine it. It seems as natural to man as walking or breathing. But the naturalness of speech is an illusory feeling. The process by which we acquire speech is different from the process by which we learn to walk. EXERCISE,: Write an "A" version of this biblical story : Version B Jesus told this story: Once there was a malt who had two sons. One day he went to the first son andsaid, "Goand workin thefieid today." Butthefirst sonreplied, "No, Father, I will not go and work in the field." But after thefather went away, the first son was sorry. and worked hard all day.

He went to thc field

The man went to his otl.rer son, and said, "Go and work in the field today." The second son replied, "All right, Father, I will go and work in thefield." But after the father went away, the second son did not go and work in the field. Jesus asked, "Who obeyed his father, the first son, or the second son?"

Version C This is one of Jesus' stories: Once there was a man who had rwo sons. One day he asked the first son to go and work in the fie1d. The sor.rreplied that he would not do it; but after his father had gone away, he went to the field and worked hard all day. The man went to his other son and asked him to soand workin the field.

65

The

second son replied that he would do it; but after his father hadgone away, he did not go. Jesus asked which boy obeyed his father,

How? As with all other rypes of drill, hearing and comprehensionmustprecede speaking; closely controlled speakingmust precede speaking in which the student exercises a large amount of free choice; speaking should precede reading and Here are eight ways of making the initial presentation of a story: writing. 1 With a very, very quick class you maywant to begin by readingthe story just as fast as you can, to give an extra challenge to their skill in hearing. Students' books, if they have any books or mimeographed sheets, are closed. Do this only with a class that really enjoys the challenge of extra fast reading. 2, With most classes, begin bytellingthe story (Version C or B) at a normal rate. Students listen with books closed, making no notes. You may often want to do this three or four times before going on to the next step. Perhaps, without calling attention to the fact, you will want to switch from one version to anAt the end of each telling, give the students a brief opportunity to tell other. you what they heard. 3" Read, with students'books still closed, pausing at the end ofeach sentence to answer questions. Keep your answers short at this stage. Most should be under 15 seconds, 4.

Read, with the students' books open.

5. Read onephrase (or one sentence from "A") at atime, andlet thestudents imitate in unison. 6, Do the same with students imitating individually so that you cancall their attention to points at which their mimicry needs improvement, 7. Let the students read asentence or aparagraph in a fixed order.

at a time, calling onthem

B. Do the same, calling on the students in random order.

66

I I I I I I

t

I I I I I T I I

I

t

BUILDING TOWARD FREE CONVERSATION

Ft

F

!I I

T I T

II t I

one of the best ways of developing a story, and bridging the gap befween fixed text and free conversation, is through the use of questions and answers.

There are two important ways of classifying questions according to their relatlve difficulty and interest. The first is by the kind of answer that they call for. Easiest forthe student are yes-noquestions; next easiestare "alternative" questions, in which the studerrt replies by repeatingone of twoanswers suggested in the question. Most difficult, in general, are questions that begin with interrogative words and phrases, for in these the answer is not contained in the wording of the question. We may also classify questions according to their closeness to the subject matter of the "basic selection." Using ProfessorGurrey's labels, Stage I ques_ tions ask for answers that are contained within the wording of the story; stagell requires that the answer be inferred from the story; Stage III asks about the stud e n t ' s o w n i i f e a n d e x p e r i e n c . e s. Here is a chart which contains samples of these kinds of questions. Note that in general the difficulty and also the interest of these questions increases from left to right and from top to bottom. Stage I

Stage II

Stage III

Yes - no

Did Kenneth learn to read?

Was Kenneth intelligent?

Do you know the word "pull" ?

Alternative

Was the word "pull," or "push"?

Were the children angry,or happy?

Do Japanese children learn to read at home, or at school ?

Other

What color was the box?

Why did Kenneth pull the handie?

When do Japanese children learn to read?

The followingare

tenways ofusing any ofthe above nine varieties ofquestion:

With short answers ("Yes, he did, " "At school, "etc.) Unison answers I. 2.

Fixed order of questions. (Questions asked in fixed order.) Random order of questions (Questionsasked in random order.)

I

I

o/

I

Individual answers

'^ ;ff::*:;:i;::::l:::: :::::il: llii:::l il:ffi"ft'.:". I 5. Random order of questions, students called on in fixed order, 6. Random order of questions, students called on in random order.

I

With long answers ("Yes, he learned to read, " etc.)

:J,i,ri"..lJi:Lt::";," I i iffi:::::; :i;:::l:H: 9. 10.

Random order of questions, fixed order of students. Random order of questions, random order of students

EXERCISE: Ask a question from "Stage II" which includes two alternatives, one ofwhichis to be usedin the answer(i,e. the question shouldbe one whichfits Have a colleague then say either into the center box of the above diagram). If he says"easier", "casier" or "harder." respond with a question which is represented on the diagram in a box which is either higher up or farther to the respond with a quesIeft than the preceding question. If he says, "harder", a l o w e r f a r t h e r t o r i g h t . Continue,t.:nt":i.rl box that is or the tion from "easier" "hardcr" making each successive question or than the last. This exercise when properly done is a strenuoLls one, but is potentially one of the most r-ewarding in this parr of the book.

II

I I | rI

I Six ways of giving dictation. The purpose of dictation is to give the students practice in using English correctly, not to catch them in as many errors as possible. Here are six techWhichare suitableforyour r.riques, arranged in approximate order of difficulty. group? Dictation with key words written on blackboard. 1. 2. 3.

Each phrase or sentence repeated without limit. Each phrase given only twice, Each phrase given only once,

Dictation with key words given. 4. 5. 6.

Unlimited repetition. Each phrase given fwice. Each phrase given once.

Be sure you don't mouthe the words or break up phrasesmorethanyouwould in slow normal speech,

68

I I I I I I I I

F T T

I I

T T T I I T I l

I

DIAI.OGUES Even though you cannot predict the exact set of utterances that each student '.,,iil need for the next twelve months, you can foresee many of the situations in '.,,hLchhe willfind himself, and let himpractice conversations that are typicalof i.''hat might be said in those situations. If possible, use conversations that are :\\'o to ten lines in length; longer ones should be such that theyare easily broken --il into smallersections of this size. Each sentence within thewhole should con:r.st of one or at the most two breath groups. ordinarily, you wiII want to avoid slang, because when slang comes from a non-native or when it is used in the \\'rong context it is often pointless or even offensive. At the same time, however' you should avoid language that sounds stilted or bookish, Always reacl a conversationaloud to yourselfuntil it sounds natural, before you use itin class. if possible, even though you yourself may be a native speaker of English, run through the conversation with another native in order to get his reactions. EXERCISE: and sirl:

complete the revision of this conversation

ORIGINAL

REVISION

Hi ya, babe.

Hello, Jean,

What's cooking?

What are you doing?

I am preparing to go to the market.

I'm getting ready to go shopping.

If you are ready now, I will Are you ready now? take you as [ar as Main Slrec.t Let's go in my car, in my car. I'lI take you as far as Main Street.

Have you many purchases to make? Yes, there are many things which I need to buy. If you can be at the corner of Eighth Street and Mair.r Street by three o'clock, I will be happy to bring you home at that time. Great!

EXERCISE: write a short conversation which might take place at a railway ticket window, or after a concert, or at a doctor's office. Revise your own work and then submit it to a native speaker of English for further polishing. The teacher's goal in using a conversation of this kind is to lead his students

I

I

between a teenage boy

69

to the place where they can produce the utterances in it easilyand naturally, and formationof new utterances. But the can also use them as bases foranalogical students will not be able to use the sentences in this way if they have merely "learned" them: what is needed is rather "overlearning. " It is not enough that the student can say them correctly without looking at the book: if you start him at any point in the conversation, he should be able, without conscious effort, to run through the next two or three lines correctly by himself. a great amount of practice. How can we secure But "overlearning"requires amount of this much practice without building up at the same time a prohibitive monotony and frustration in the student? The answer lies in careful, conscious, and planned variation in the ways of handling the material . With each change in activity, the class has occasion tofeelthat it has successfullycompleted a small but real unit of work, and this feeling, coming not once but ten or twenty times an hour, is perhaps the most effective single source of day-to-day motivation and morale, The series of activities which follows has been worked out very conservaIn any given situation, the teacher may decide to omit some of these tively. but he should always be aware that they are there, available for use if steps, the planned sequence proves unexpectedly difficult for the class.

I I I I I

t t

Fi rst goal: comprehension I,

Books closed, teacher (T) reads the conversation aloud at normal speed.

2.

Books closed. T reads again, each sentence at normal speed, but pausing Repeat until whole class understands the after each one to allow questions. meaning of what is said.

!e.o"d

go.L accut.

Use two orthree repetitions of eachline be3. Books closed, Group imitation. fore golng to the next. All but the shortest and simplest phrases are "built up" This is done by lifting out the troublesome words and practicing from parts. before trying them in whole sentences, and by breaking the longer alone them sentences .intotwo or three parts.

Jean Hello, Jean what

(The / j/ sound is difficult for many students; those who have trouble with /I/ should also practice hello by itself before trying the whole sentences, Whether or not a student has these difficulties is largely determined by his previous language background.)

you

70

I I I I I I

I I I

T

What are you doing?

I It t I t

r I I I

store

n^

I

t I

f^

tha

et^ra

I'm getting ready I'm getting ready to go I'm getting ready to go to the store. 4.

Same as 3, but using one group repetition of each item followed by two or three individual repetitions of the same one.

5.

Omitthe build-ups. each item twice.

6.

Same as 5, but each item only once.

7.

Like 5, but individuairepetition. Each item onlyonce. Occasionalgroup repetition to keep attention from wandering.

Tqrrd goul,

u..u.ut"

Books are stillclosed, of course.

Group repetition,

pt

B.

Books open for the first time. Two group repetitions of each item. Group repeats after teacher, each item twice. Allow questions, but keep the cuswers vcry bricf.

9.

Individuals called on in random ordei-to read oneline apiece, Teacher repeats after each, and has student try again rfhis firstattempt was not satisfactory. Go through the whole conversation several tirr-res in this way.

Fourth goal:

fluency without loss of accuracy

10,

GroupAdoesgroup Books closed again. Divide class into two groups. repetition of Line 1, followed by Group B withLtne 2. They run through this two or three times. ThenGroup Agets Line 2, andGroup Btakes 3. Afterpracticing this exchange fortwo orthreetimes, Group A gets3 and B gets 4, and so on to the end of the conversation.

ll.

The two halves of the class take alternating parts of the dialogue, each line being spoken only once. Run throughthe entireconversation several times in this wav,

12,

Go through the dialogue, allowing individuals to take onelineapiece.

I

t

(Students who do not tend to say estore may not need to practice store by itself.)

to the store

7T

As

soon as each feels able, he should close his book. logue three or four times in this way, f3.

Go through the dia-

Pairs of individuals go through the dialogue. Each pair is timed to see which team can run through it most rapidly without mistakes.

EXERCISE: Hereare four short dialogues in Swahili. Learnone of thefirst two by the method outlined above and the other by another method. Do the same for the last two, which consistof slightiy longer sentences. Discuss withcolleagues the results of this experiment. lt niight be instructive to learn at least one pair of dialogues without reference to the E,nglish translations. For purposes of this exercise, pronounce the consonants as in English, and the vowels as in most other ianguages. Accent the marked syllables.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

Hujdmbo,bw6na.

How are you, (sir)?

Sijimbo. Hab6ri ," rikr, nylngr /

I'm fine.

Habiri nziri, bw6na.

Fine, (sir).

Umekiwa w5pi?

Where have you been?

Kwa h6ri, bw5na.

Good bye, (sir).

Kwa h6ri. TutaonSnak6sho.

Good bye.

S i t a k u l ak 6 s h o .

I'm not coming tomorrow.

Utakda nyumbani?

Are you going to stay at home?

Watoto w6nu wiko w6pi?

Where are your children?

Wamekwendashul6ni.

They've gone to school,

J e , w a p 6 n d am a s 6 m o y 6 o ?

And do they like their studies?

sina. Ndiyo, bw6na. Wayape'nda

Yes (sir).

W6we was6ma l6gha g6ni?

What languagedo you speak?

N a s 6 m aK i i n g e r e z a .

I speak English.

u l u t t u n z a s n u l e n lr

Did you study it in school?

How've you been

recently?

See you tomorrow.

They like them very much

I I

T T I

T T T t I

T

t

J

t

T

t

I La, bwdna. Tunakis6rna nyumb5ni.

l

t I

I

No (sir).

W e s p e a ki r a t h o m e .

Tempfing BlindAlleys I ' Letting the students keep thelr books open as they tisten to a dialogue for rhe first time is tempting because it seems to save time, and because students ,-rften feel frustrated the first few times they try to get a new passage by ear aione. But thisapparent short-cut proves to be a blind ai1ey, becausewith books ripen, stLldents hear what theprinted word leads them toexpect to hear; they are tirus Iargely prevented from noticing the differences between ther,r own Dronunciation and the teacher's. 2. Leaving a basic selection behind after the students have understood it, and practiced it a few times, but before they have ntacleit their own is temptilg, because going on to a new selection is interesting and fun, and because it givcs everyone sucha feelingof rapid progrcss. But this short-cut alsois a blind allcy for most classes because, after having skimmcd through a nuntber of dialogues or stories in this way, the students rnay Iind that they have rctained nothittg well enough to be able to use it as a basis for: building their own sentcnces for their own purposes.

I I F F E

3. Asking students to engage in free conversation, or to writc an origilal composrtioll on atopic for whlch theyhave hadinsufficient preparation -. pur:haps only one basic selection-is tempting because, as soon as they ar-c able to repl:o_ duce the basic selection itsell in an authentic-sounding way, wc somctinrcs tepd to forget that their resources for creation of new utterallccs havc not necessarily kept pace with their rrimicry and mcmorization. For most students, thiswill be another blind allcy, because they require alarge stock of sentences fron.r lvhich. by analogy ancl recombination of parts, they may put togcther a "Iree" conpositron or conversation. Lacking this, they will produce crrors at a rate that will discourage studcnts and teacher alike. on the other hand, as we have already noticcd, ability at frec conversatron is by far the most important criterion of success in language study, 3 . S U B S T I T U TD I ORNI T T

When? (1) when the students need to explore the grammatical structure of a sentence that they have met in a basic selection, or to use it as a model for constructlng new sentences. (2) When the teacher wants to give the class extensive practice with a single intonation pattern, with a variety of lexical meanings. (3) As a form of vocabulary practice, Substitution is among the most serviceable and most flexible of all the devices that the grammar teacher uses.

IJ

Whot? In its essence, a substitution drill consists simply of a number of utterances--usually six to twelve of them--which are in some sense identical in their grammatical structure; with respect to the vocabulary that theycontain, theyare largely, but not entirely, alike. Such a drillmaybe summarizedintabularform:

T. 2

i

r,lu" u lrsaoo 3 pen pencil watch hat handkerchief

The most conNotice that intonation and stress are indicated in this example. spicuous part of the table is thelist ofwordsin theslot at theendof thesentence. A1l ot these words are useful in everyday English. Just as useful, however, and just as everyday, is the part that does not change: I have a ( ), with the intonation contour 231. Two further examples of the simplest type of substitution table are the followinp: II. Why did hu I bring

I the wateh?

hrrrr

need want sell llt. Wu walked I throughI tltu park around past by F o r e a c h o f t h e s e three tables, all the sentences whi.cl.tit r e p r e s e n t s a r e g r a m matically parallel with one another. The same is not true, however, of Table IV: IV. The manager lcalled laplumber. hired needed admitted was

I I I

I I

I I I I I I I I I

t 74

I

The words hired, -needed, admitted, and was are all past-tense =l!"9' verbs, of course, but The t"

::i;,l*ii",ffi*ffi?

rer two sentences are parallel to one another. Ino.derto-"k.Tab]e IVsuitable for use in substitution driil, it is necessary to strike out the word was, Another point ro watch in using drilrs of this kind is described VIII of the section on transformation drills.

in Diagram

EXERCISE: In Tabres v-vII, eliminate the word orphrasewhichdoes norfitwith the other items in its column. The package was left by the door. counter gate stalrway postman VI.

Y o u ' d b e t t e r s t a y at home for two days. three weeks a mougil

,17

VII'

Hc always helps me. often really

./

:il; Each of Tables I-VII contains only one column, or slot, in which substitutrons are made, and the items in any one slot are armost always identica_r witli one another in their par:t of slteech classification or their internat st-rucfure. Table vIII stands for a single-slot substitution drill which has greater diversity among the internai structures of items to bc substituted:

VIT.

I I I

He arrived

I ycsterday. last week on Tuesday at 6 p.m. six days ago before lunch before I left

The amount of diversr.ty which is torerab.re in a slot depends on the strength and maturity of the class with which the drill is used. EXERCISE: Add three or more items to each corumn.

75

chooseeachitemsothat:

(1) its internal structure or i t s p a r t o f s p e e c h c l a s s i l i c a t i o n is different from that of the rest of the items in the same ^^i,,-LUlUlrl

k,,+.-^ uut -u

tr,

fL^+ Lrld L

(2) it is iike the rest of rhe i t e m s i n i t s t o l u m n w i t h r e s p e c t to its grammatical function in this and a number of other sentences, IX.

Ilere would be a good place for this picturc. Over the desk

X.

He did the work

carcfully. as well as he could

Tables II and IV illustr-ate a special problemrnsingle-slotsubstitution. Thc vcrbs in Tablc IV arc in thc past tensc, which mcans that cach rnaybebroker-rup into a stcm and thc past tense ntorphemc. Sincc all of these particular vcrbs arc regular, this causes no difticulty: Thc tnanager

(D) call hire need admit

a plurnber

But if Tablc Il had consisteci of statcmcnts rathcr thar-rof qucstions, thc details of thc differences betwcen b_ring-brought, buy-bought, sell-sold lvou.Ldhaveconstituted an extra littlc lrrtrbk'm in thcir r)wn right. INTERDEPENDENCI]

AMONG LISTS ITILLING TWO

SAl'4qlENrE\ttrS

,nuruegEA

Up to this point we have becn conccrned or-rly with single-slot substitution at all, it is possible to lindtwo, or tablcs. But ir-rmost scntcnccs of any ler-rgtl-r three, or even morc slots where substitutions might be made. Itisofter-radvantageous to exploit two or more of them in a single cxercise. Thus, thc sentence John ate the mango mi.ght bc a part of cither of these two tables:

Jt-rhn I a rc t he' rlraLrgo.

John ate the I mango. olange pineapple

Mary Biii

76

I I I I I

I 1 I I I I I I

I I I

t

Superimposing the two, we have

John late the lmango. Mary | | orangc

Bill

I I

I I I I

|pirreapple

Opening still another slot in the orrgrnal like this one:

sentence, we might construct

a table

XI. John Mary Bill

l

I I T I I

|

ate the bougl.rt kept

mango. o range pincapplc

Notice that this table consists ofthree slots, cach containing threc rtcms. fhe total numbcr of sentcnces which can be made by mechanical recombtnation of these i t e m s i n t h e s e s l o t s i s 3 x 3 x 3 = 2 7 , a | r d a l l 2 7 o f t l t et h e o r e t i c a l l y p c i s s i b l e senIcnLes rcprcsentcd by rliis tablc 4.",-.qrrtty r*r',',rgl-rl, g-ICr]Inrtical, r1d idiomatic in Er.rglish. The drilI -'f"bl.Xi n"iutf"O n "muttrpte"u-marir",l "ruy slot drill with no interdcpendcnces." This kind of drill rs particularly usefui i. dclrollstrating and practicing thc gr:oss gramlnatical lcatures 9f a parrern sentence. But now suppose that to tl-re-tist in thc seconcl column of Table XI we added the word peel_ed,and to the thirdlist thc wgrrd oatmeal . The table will now gen_ t |Jtc 3 x 4 x 'l = 4U possiblc rir)nrbirlatiuZ{ tft..," ul wlrich (e.g. J o h r rp e e l t , d t l r c u a t n r e J l )d o r r o t P a s s l l r e l e s t o f . a s u 1 l , / r c . * p l r l l e L . b y u s e r s , , f t l l ; l a ; ; u a g . . our rr.rultiple-slot table now exhibits a dg{ree of "interdepenclence" between the lists rrf itcms in two of its slots . .,' If weasked a native speaker of English why these threc sentences ,,don,t sound right, " he would probab-ty reply that it is because "one just doesr.r't peel oatnieal"' In fact, cventhe non-native speaker ofEnglish, ifhe has a1y idea of thc meanings of the words involved, will probablymakcmuchthesanlecomment, and few if arry studcnts would ser:iously try to usc such a sentencc. This particular example then is in itself trivial ancl even a littlc silly. The same principle, however, rnay be usedinapproachingo'e of the slippery problems of language teacliing: helping stuclents to learn the use of words whose ranges of meaning are broader and harder to define than thc meanings of peel and oatmeal . Notice for example the interdependence between the lists r"tli-". two "lots:

XII.

His work bed hand voice test

was

hard easy s oft

77

EXERCISE: Devlse a multiple- slot substitution table suitable for teaching students to make proper use of one of these pairs of words: stop-cease; rapid-fast; hearunderstand; high-tall; narrow-thin

a ';

In a multiple-s1ot fab1e, interdependence may be between members of major stem classes ( nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), or it may involve slots containing "function words" (prepositions, conjunctrons, certain"adverbs') o.r even prefixes and suffixes. XIII.

(lnterdependence between major stem class and function words)

I'm

tired worried afraid angry

of about

1l this noise.

Tables such as this are of great potential value with the perennially troublesome problem of prepositio[s. EXERCISE: Table Xlll covers one small part of the difference between the English prepositions of and about. Construct a similar table which would be useful in tcaching the difference between arogtrd and about; in, on, at; of,from;oranypair of prepositions fromanotherlangufewithwhichyouareconcernedprofessionally. XIV.

(Interdependence berween

/ajor

stem class and inflectional affixes)

I

He

work

iS D

hard

yesterday. everv dav

The first column contains the third-person singular morpheme (symbolized here by (S) and the past morpheme (D). The way in which choice of item in one onaccount of these slots is linked to choice ol item intheothermayseemobvious of the meanings. But exactly analogous is the problem of the difference between the so-called "simple present" and the "progressive present"(worksye. isworkfind that an explanation in terms of lng), and speakers of many other languages meaning is insufficient to enable them to use these two English tenses correctly. Native speakers of English should humbly consider their own comparable difficulties with the perfective and the imperfective "tenses" oI Romance languages, or with the "aspects" of Slavic languages. EXERCISE: Either amplify Table XIV sufficiently so that it could be used as a classroom drill, or construct a similar table for someotherlanguagewithwhich you are concerned. A celebrated example of interdependence involving affixes is the so-called concordial system found in the Bantu family of Ianguages. This phenomenon may

78

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

:le iliustrated I\'.

most conveniently

from Swahili:

Mtoto wangu mkubwa yuko wapi? watoto wangu wakubwa wako wapi? Ng'ombelyangu mkubwayuko wapi? Ng'ombe wangu wakubwa wakowapi? Kitabu changukikubwa kiko wapi? Ngoma yangu kub*" iko wapi? Vitabu vJangu vikubwa viko wapi? Ndizi yangu kubwa iko wapi? Kijana wangu mkubwa yuko wapi? Mto wangu mkubwa uko wapi? Vijana wangu wakubwa wako wapi? Ndizi zangu kubwa ziko wapi? Panga langu kubwa Liko wapi?

concordial

Child my big is where? childrenmy bigare where? Ox my big is where? Oxen my big are where? Book my big is where? Drum my big is where? Books my big are where? Banana my big is where? Lad my big is where? pillow my big is where? Lads my big are where? Bananas my big are where? Knife my big is where?

prefixes have been underlined in four of these sentences.

EXERCISE: How many different sets of concordial prefixes are to be found in these data? (Each set will contain three prefixes: one to gowith -3!gl, one togo with -kubwa, and one ro go with -ko.) Rearrange the drill insuchawaythatsen_ tences which contain the same s.tof .or.ordialprefixeswillbegroupedtogether. Try to complete this exercise before consulting the English translations of the sentences which are given in the right-hand column. XVI.

(Interdependence of affix and "function word") Interdependence

of a Iist of affixes with a li.st of "function

words"

is difficult

ln this set of data, the stem of the demonstrative word is glgg-, and thedifference berween -er and -e represents a difference of "case, " one case being compatrble wltn aus and von, and the other with durch and in.

70

But this German construction also illustrates a second interdependence, which has a further effect on the choice of suffix used with the s t e m d i e s - : XVII.

Er kam

aus diesler dieslem aus von dieder von diesiem durch durch diesles in IN diesles

Stadt. Land. Stadt, Land, Stadt. Land. Stadt. Land.

This particular set of interdependences is commonly telmed "gencler" of nouns The tcacher should of course be careful that the students are made responsible for only one of these interdependences at a time.

Where? ready Many language textbooks today contain their own substitution drills, and waiting to bc uscd with a c1ass. Where these arcnotprovided, or wherethey are ir-rsufficient, tl-re teacher may construct liis own. Such drills may be kept closely related to th Pdr lLon intonation. Slightly more difficult is a drill in which the w o r d s c h a n g e c o m p l c t c l y f r o n l one line to the next, but the relationship berween e a e h p a i r o f s e n l c n c e s r e m c i n s constant: You like it? He sees them? It's snowing? "Where is he?"?

I like it. He sees them. It's snowing. Where is he? etc.

In one of the most frequently used varieties of transformation drill, the studcut is asked to change a statement to a question, or a verb from past to future, or a statement from affirmative to negative: A rather crude cxample is thefollow-

rns V]

ls hc wor:king? Are tl.rey playing? Does hc work har-d? Do they play cl.rcss?

He is working. Tl.rey are playing. Ile works hard, They play chess.

This drill is loosely constructed in two fespccts. First, it is not -realistic as :l fwo-Iine conversation: the second half of each line, which is a qucstioL], asks for exactly the informatior.r which was given in the first half. Whcn wc do ask a question for that pulposc in real Iife, we do uot phrase the question in this way, but instcad ale morc likely to say something like "Did you say hc is w6rking?" or "Working, did you say?" In the second placc, the transformation, or change, illustratcd by tlie first two lines of VI is differer-rt from the transformation illustratcd by thc last two lines: Is he working?requircs only a change in word order, whilc Docs hc work hard? involves the addition of tl.reword does, and the loss of the suffix from thc n-iain ve rb . Drill Vl could be refined by breaking it into twoseparatedrills, thoughtl.rese ltight later be recombined into onc, aftertheyhavefirstbeenm:rstcredsellaratcI r . T l r e ' yc o u l d b e m a d e n r c r r ul i f e l i k e w i t h o u t s e r i o u s i n c r e a s e i n d i l f i c u l t y b y thc addltion of some short fixed increment, such as the advcrb hard: \.II.

Is he working hard? Are they playing hard? Is he running hard?

He is working. They are playing. He is running. at.

Exercises which involve change o f t e n s c s h o u l d o r d i n a r i l y c o n t a i u i n e c r ' l r of the line some word or Phrase which is compatible with the tense with which

89

it occurs there, but not comDatible with the tense in the other half of the line: VIII.

He is srudying now. He is taking a nap now. He is driving to work now. gLL

He studies every day. He takes a nap every day. He drives to work every day.

.

One common pitfall

is illustrated

in the following

drill:

I went to town vesterdav. Are you gorng to town tomorrow? I ate in a restaurant yesterday. Are you going to eat in a restaurant tomorrow? ola

The problem here Iies in the distribution of stress within the response half of each line. The sentence Are you going to go to town tomorrow? inmostconversational situations where it would be used, would have the heaviest stress on town, while as a -response to the sentence I went to town yesterday, it will have ln the design of drills this difficultycannotalways heaviest stress on tomorrow. be eliminated, but the teacher should always be aware of it. EXERCISE: Write out, for English or some other language, a transformation condrill of eight lines, involving one of the following grammatical problems: trast befween two tenses; contrast between question and statement; contrast between statement and exclamation . Lying in another sense on the borderline between substitution and transformation is a drill in which the presence or absence of some element or elements in the cue sentence determines the choice of some element in the response sentence. The successive lines of the drill may be quite independentofoneanother so far as their lexical content is concerned, but therelationshipbetweencueand response remains constant throughout the drill: You're doing well .

You're doing very well. You're doing pretty well ,

There aren't many buses,

There aren't very many buses,

She's a good dancer.

She's a very good dancer. She's a pretty good dancer,

It's not easy.

It's not very easy.

The room isn't iarge.

In this exercise, the word pretty does not occur in negative sentences. et al, El Ingl6s Hablado INew York: H o l t , 1 9 5 3 l s e c . 5 2 . 2 a . )

90

(Agard

I

T

!

:.':l.CISE: write a transformation drill which includes the sentence Kenneth '-; :-, ).oung ro go to schoor. The purpose of the drill should be to giv;lrac_ i.-: -r -:sing the construction too_ to_with adjectives in the first slot.

T r t t I I

t I I I I I I

t

:.'-nRClSE: write a transformation drill based on a sentence from ,,c,, a ver_ :- -: :i one of the anecdotes given in the earLier section of this part, state very ::=;iiically what the purpose of the drill is.

Where? Transformation drilIs are reratively plentifur in many foreignlanguagetext_ :,lKS. often, however, they need refinement and supplementatron in orderthat : - = - sc l a s s m a y g e t f r o m t h e m t h e g r e a t e s t amount of practice with the least possi_ :-' amount of error, losttime, andfrustration, Thefoilowingdrilr, forexample, :-.ight be broken down into several parts, eachpartbeing suppllmented by the addi_ ::rn of enough extra sentences to bring its total rength up tt .t least six rines: Change the following sentences to the negatrve:

(l) I am hungry. (-1) We are tired. (7) I have some stamps. (10) He Iikes oysters.

(2) They work hard. (S) He must go now. (g) Are you reacty?

(3) Can you speakporruguese? (6) He should wairfor rhem. (9) We bought some oranges.

EXERCISE: carry out the reorganization of this crrill as suggested above. Disringuish among sentences that require and those that do not iequire some form of the verb do to be added to the negative; between statements andquestions;be_ rween sentences which entail a change from some to any, and those that do not. what other distinctions might be observed in ttre process of refinrng this drill?

How? The techniques for using transformation drills do notdifferessentia.llyfrom rhose used with substitution exercises. The difference between the two types ot drill, as has been pointed out above, is in the nature of the cue and in the degree of responsibility placed on the student. As with the other kinds ofactivity discussed ln the preceding sections, the difference between a temptrng blind a1ley and a genuinely time-saving short-cut often depends, notsomuchonthenature of the activities themselves, as on the ability of the class. what is of ut_ most rmportance is that the teacher be aware at all times, notonly of whatheis doing, but of the other subtle variations of technique to which he may turn if the present one seems either too difficult or insufficiently challenging. In the delicate work of leading students from mere manipulaoon to real com_ nunication in a foreign language, one of the greatest assets that a teacher can have is the ability to "talk in pattern;" to converse extemporarleously, limiting rrs choice of words and grammatical structures in such awaythatmostof what

9)

and thatthestudents he says is within the limits of materialpreviouslystudied, do so, the teachcr must limits. In order to reply within the same to are able have a keen appreciation of just how small an increase ingrammaticalstructure may be, and he must have practice in working within very narrow restrictions. This ability is best gained by taking a real class througha series of lessons in which introduction of new grammar and vocabulary has beenstrir.rgentlycontrolled. This writer had such an opportunity using Fries, Kitchin, and French's English Through Practice, now long out of print. Another elementarytextwhich provides almost as strict control of new material isMitchell'sBeginningAmerican English. This book also includes a very heipful leaeher's S"td". ln an attempt to give to a number of student tcachers a brief taste of working within such restrictions, this writer once prepared a ratherlengthyexercise consisting of 74 discrete steps. The response of that grouit ar-rdof another similar group was so positive that the sanlc exercisc was included in Helping People Learn English (pp. f0Eff.). The response from users ofthat volume, in turn, has becn encouraging enough to justily refcrence to it here.

EtINITENW E SI TSHF I E X I B l t l T Y R [' 5 A N :C O M B I N I NDG 5 . T H tT E A C H E P The precise way in which one combines the various kinds of drill nrust of course depend on the situation and on the levcl of achievementwhichthestudcnts have already reacired. In many teaching situatio[s the teacher soongetstoknow the class quite well and can make out a fairly straightforwarci lesson plan bcfore each scssior-r. Such a plan is likc a singie set oI railroad tracks. In other situations, more flexibiiity is dcmandcd. Under such circumstances, it n-raybe n e c e s s a r y t o c o n s t r u c t a p l a n w h i c l - rp r o v i d e s a n u m b e r o f a l t e r n a t i v e s , c o m p a r able to a series of railroad switches. At cach switching point, there should bc ( i ) a c l c a r l y s t a t e d g o a l , ( 2 ) a c r i t e r i o n b y w l . t i c ht h e t e a c h e r m a y d c e i d e i n a v c r y short time whether that goal would bc wor:thwhi.le for the studcnt(s) withwhomhe is working at the moment, and (3) a series of activitics wtrich will help the students to reach the goal. The following is an example of this "branching" stylc of tcaching plan, It was actually used with encouraging results by a group of women in an eastern city who were engaged in giving individual l1elp to a lurnber ef "intermediate" students, at one two-hour "morning coffee" per week. The materials which werc used in the beginning were this writer's Supplementary Lessons in American E n g l i s h , b u t t h e l o r m a t p r o v e d a d a p t a b l e( b y t h e v " l u n t e c r t e a . h e r s t t e m s c l u " t to new material, including non-anecdotal texts. Some procedures which may l" starting with a short anecdote.

q94"1

i,r gi"i,rg i"f.

llnglish,

First of all, read the story to the entire group. Go through it two or three times, Then break up into smaller groups . Individual instructors may follow one or more of these procedures:

92

I T I I T I T I I I I I I I

I I

:. GOAL: Repetition =f vou the sentences of" the text? If st e ..n,-go

on to B or C.

.: she cannot: I . Go through the story one short sentence at a ttme. 2. 4nswer any questions about meanings. 3. Have the .t,rdg$_Igpgg! each short sentence after you. Do not ler her use ttre mof< tfie frrst time through! 4. r[ there is a ma.10r mistake in pronunciation, pronounce the entireword gorrectly and let the student imitate you. _ 5. lf the student seems to be profiting from this, repeat A3 ancl l{4 a few tlmes. 6. Go on to B or C.

t s' G O A L : A n s w e r i n g s i m p r e q u e s t i o n s o n the text. Ask questio.s from the ,,yes_ no" list. can the student answer: easiry and correctly wiih the book crosed? If she can, go on to C or D. If she cannot: i 2.

r I I

r I

t t I I

3' 4. 5.

Read each question aloud, making sure she understands rt. Read arso thcsente'ce in the story which contains the answer to that questron q99!q ttgJ so that shc gives the right answcr. If she iras serious difficulry, go back to A. Ask the qucstions again, in their originar or:cler, -tettinghergivethe an_ swers on her own. Ask the samc questious once more, ln ranclom order. GoontoCorD.

c. GOAL: Answering nrore complex qucstions . This time, use the rist of ,,oth_ er questions. " can the stuclert answer them easily and correctly./ lf shc can, goontoDorE. If she cannot: Usc the procedures of B with these new questions. Then go on to D or E.

D. GoAL: Making up new sentences by analogy, (The "similar sentences,,sectron requires the student to procluce sentences following a given analogical pat_ tern, which is exemplified in the sentences at the head of the same section,) see whether the student can fill in the blanks, or otherwise produce the de_ sired sentences easily and correctly. If she can, go on to.tl or F, If she cannot, help her untij she can.

93

Then go on to E or F.

E.

GOAL:

Use of articles

I

or prepositions.

See whether the student can read the story aloud, filling as she goes, If she can, go on to F or G.

in the blanks correctly

I

If she cannot, work with her until she can, and then go on to F or G. (Be sure that no one writes in the book itself.)

F.

GOAL:

I

Telling the story in one's own words.

Ask the student to tell the story in her own words . mistakes and let her tell it again.

her most serious

Correct

If you think she would profit from it, repeat the same process oncemore. goontoGorH.

G. GOAL:

t

Then

t

I

Vocabulary building on a related topic.

Prepare in advance a list of words and phrases used in some area of life related For example, the following Iist might be useful in connection with to tie story, the storv of Robert Lowe.

It

I Postal vocabulary:

l.

re"er ::#xla

postmark

air letter special delivery

second class mail "junk mail"

mailbox

;:I[:T:li'.""

Invite the student to try using the first word in a sentence, ortotellyou what it means. If she can do so easily and correctly, go on to the second word, and proceed in this way through the list. Then go on to H. If she has any difficulty at all, proceed without delay to G/2

II

I I

I I

2,

3.

Explain very briefly the meaning, and use the word two short simple sentences. Have her repeat them her theword or phrase only and let her try to give tence , Proceed in this way through the whole list.

or phrase in one or afteryou. Thengive you the whole senThen go on to G,/3 or

Review the vocabulary by giving the words and phrases in randomorder and allowing the guest to use them in short, simple sentences.

I I

r

I I e4 I

I T T T I t t I I

:-:.

GOAL:

Free conversation on topics related to the original text,

l:=:are questions which are likely to lead to discussion. .::=,r to the story of Robert Lowe, are:

! -

I

E O o ^ i $

-.P

AF -

Yct ta:;1 oa

^.ta -, o r)

- !

rot

! O

c.ooo :

'^

'^,

s!

=

c

r.

.,!Fo

: ! c O L d

:

=

i

'=

.r

;:

'llzsy .-_

;z ll

t

n.n

;.;JJJ

7l rl

!

-

)

z

:

t

c

;€YGYi9!L!qd oFrF.-iPoq J3J!do9;ti .Ja.o.==Z:--

;rjrl

I :ll

!

r .U - - - c o ;6 ". pli-;b:^;'eY

rl

D -

-:4oii

- - ' J i

o

e ,

o

;:;vu-b

t29q'i'i:oqo: aAi)tr,^!Y

u

H9"t:t-zp

5 :

.>l

-T

I i

2d>66

'-

.l:: L r ? A ) o Y ; D > c ) -

;l

iUi;ry=

IrB

-E

Ej:

:

!::

@

b0

!

:

:x i

!g:

-3Fe' €

g

f

i:1

:,:tc?i

-i

g

g

HiE

;"!=:i

P

*

j

,j: +9 *

e

E : :

:

|

I

5

: j" E E: ==:".-9o,ri"-

:::

,

=

Er : a

i54i taj lr rig.:E 3 ;= g ;ri :s i 95

:"

3

.

o c-l

: c P cr. , O

O

!!v0-^^lJ*

,

-

3

f

r^.^

3

A -a '

r9

i

:oi

i-

Pr

:a+

^

9

OOi'

pl

\)ZILF-Jo::fO

'o

-C Or

=r ; !r

5"-

;

:L

3j: - ;! i 3;r != #

==:;fFiggs:;e .i;.€:l:! $€1 -2 €X:EBE: ;:;iiia rj! z,i, ,Z ,- -:EB;E! i=6;3.r!

u

'

= t

!i e€$;f+E"r=; ;E , up

j = > E

=

e; ii';

1-""^

!:: e5!i:: -: 'u-';

d o c -

i-l

B*l

F0

lrse;t

o.:.C-..=

!

lo!?!!? aoueu .i^i+Nrn ;

F

< 1' 6 ! rl

+9 "

I

lto I 0

F-

J9

l;

."1 l-I -l

,i

!a

O

F

F. o

F

3d

a

o oaYl

IP

;

aE

-:=.

F.lo dlp ittr

a'a

2 > =- ao n-

-

ti

)

I

i

.a

a.-

!

F

n

a

o=Ya*

= _,! O m 6\J l- :. lo 3.

.l

E




O

0 a o.0 > i C E ! rr -u r ,i i F

o -

I

IO

l.' lE lc

! o

-

l p

-!l-;:

1."

9 v r" # E l : ";19 E, l& I

=

i

ifff

-r

96

I

*

^=

. '

UOOOOOOO

.) ti l

tr o

r,

A

p

l0

2'2a22zO

aaaqaa6a -,

't

a) -, 1: n l1 >.-(

trlty??P

!

.,

.ol

l l . ,

+ i r - q ! q q H

at

a

-u-?.Y

f,!orL:.y.! Azta

, 2

O h

0:CPf!

Y-'

O T

:

.q

6,.ado

;

F

O

t

Cq

5

!

P

t! a > . u , 7

a !

!

. ,

p

. ,

!

lO

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

PARTIII. TAIKING ABOUT GRAMMAR

I I l|

I I

t I I I I I I I I

I

The past twenty-five years have seen an increasing interest in and controversy over the subject of "grammar. " Much of the discussion has represented genuine difference in outlook, but a Iarge amount of the dispute has centered on the question of how best to formulate grammatical statements. This workbook does not espouse any one style of grammatical statement. Rather, it attempts to make the reader aware of the relationshipbetween the "rules" and the living langr-rage, and to give him practice in rnakingthekinds of observation of language which underlie any type of grammatical formulation. It is, in a sense, a brief introduction to what might be called "pre-statement grammar. " Of all the class time that languagc teachershavewasteddownthrough thc centuries, the largest amount has probab-ty been consumed in the activity '' k n o w n a s " d i s c u s s i r - r gg r a m m a r . T'hc typical answcr to a student's question ap o i n t ( 1 ) a g r a m m a t i c a l i s l ong, (2) centered onadiscussionof "meanings" bout and "logic, " and (3) garnished with intcresting but irrelevant spcculation. lt therefore does little to fulfill the purpose bcliind the student's qucstiorr. And what was the purpose behind his qucstion? As a mattcr of fact, the student's conscious aim may have becn to get just the sort oI reply that thc teacher gave. Yet his real. pur:pose in asking the question is a part of his total goal in all of his language study: to acquire habits whichwilllcadhirntoproduce the kind of utterances that are produced by atready establishcd speakers of the 1ar-rguageand to avoid producing tl-reother kinds of utterances. So when he asks what "part of speech" a word is, he is really asking his tcacher to guide him in using the word as cultivated nativc speakers do; when he asks "why" a certain construction has unusual word order, he is in eIl-ect asking under what circumstances he should use that kind of word order. In this respect, however, the most helpful comments and explanations about grammar are: (l) short, (2) refrain from speculative digressions, and (3) center on the audible and visible lorms o{ the language, with mention of but not dependence on "meanings." But tro* .un you and I, trainecl as mostof usare in an older tradition, planation ?

learn to make this more useful kind of grammatical

ex-

First, Iet us be clear about what we do not mean by a question of The choice between he doesn't and he donEs not a matterof "gram"r.rg* " qutt" .f"arly, mar"; it is primarily a question thc form which we "i should teach our stlrdents to produce is he doesn't. The acceptability ofthe reason is because is also a question of usage, not of grammar, though this writer "Usage" then, is *""1d oppose its use in textbooks for non-natives. "ett*.ty grammar.

concerned with deciding, on the basis of socialcriteria, forms is more prestigious, or more widely acceptable.

which of rwo competing

"Grammar," as we are using the term here, is concerned with the description of one language (or of one dialect)ata time. Agrammaticaldescripjusthowthatlangtion is supposed to tell, as accurately and clearlyaspossible, prefixes, suffixes, intonauage or dialect arranges its smaller forms--words, A tions and the like--within its larger forms, such as clauses and sentences. grammatical statement also gives information about the meanings of the constructions which it describes. Within the past thirty years, many fine books have appeared on the The titles scientific study of language, and their number is increasing rapidly. of some of them are given in the exercises contained in this section, Careful study of one or more of them will help to clarify the teacher's thinking about grammar, both byadding new information and by illuminatingoldknowledgefrom a new angle. The brief serles of discusslons whlch comprise Part III of this book are certainly not intended to replace such study, We have attempted only to select from thethoughtof some of the leading scholars inthe fieldcertainconcepts which we feel are essential for dealing intelligently with questions of grammar, and have tried to intertwine them intowhatwehopeisareasonablycoherent whole. A series of "Problems" are intended to stimulate thought and, in situations where a number of experienced teachers are using this book together, to provoke the sort of discussion which will enable each to profit from the experience of the rest. Bibliographical references at the end of the sections lead directly to the sources of the principal ideas or to important applications of them.

I. UNITSAND HIERARCHITS "Wait'til I get to a good stopping place." No matter whatwearedoing--painting the porch swing, reading a book, or making a dress--we somehow feel that certai,n points in the process are more suited for stopping than others. These stopping places help to make the boundaries of the little units into which, indeed our whole lives. consciously or unconsciously, we divide eur wqr(-snd These units may be of almost any size. The larger up of smaller ones, which in turn are composed of still smaller

ones are made ones.

Bibliographical: K. L. Pike, LanguageinRelationtoaUnifiedTheoryoftheStruc oFf-i.tgurstlm, ture of Human Behavior (Glendale, California: Sum*eitn-EtuG 1954) Part I" .hrJ-3.

98

I I I I I I I I I I I I T I t

I I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

There is of course a lower Iimit beyond which wedon'tordinarilygo, but each slat in theporch swingis certainlyonesuch unit; thewholeseatisahigh_ er-level unit, comparable to the whole back; the entire first coat is a still larger unit contained within the total activity of painting the swing.

ProblemI Point out units of activity of various sizes in: (a) a football game, (b) a church service, garden.

2. "CoMPLETENESS" "And when I found the door was shut, I tried to turn the handle, but. " These final words of Humpry-Dumpry to Aliceleftherthoroughlydissatisfied, and with the feeling that he really ought to have goneonandsaidsomething more . Psychologists might say that for her the utterance lacked "closure. ,' Humpty-Dumpty had stopped, all right; there was no disputing that. But he had stopped at a place where Alice, on the basis of her past experience with English, had not expected that he would stop. Some strings of words have the property of creating, with an appropriate intonation contour, this feeling of closure. strings of words that grammarians apply the label "sentence."

when spoken It is to such

Problem2 Which of the following strings of words are "sentences" in the sense we have just discussed? boy spoke the boy spoke the boy said come after come along

rhree day by the refrigerator the man from ten very big understand sunlit

Bibliographical: Pike, op. cit., ch. 3, 4. G. L. Kittredge and F. E. Farley, AdvancedEnglish Grammar, par. 1: "A sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought..,.Every one of t h e m . . . c o m e s t o a d e f i n i t e e n d , a n d i s f o l l o w e db y a f u l l p a u s e , "

l_

I

(c) an academic course, (d) making a

99

SI0TSANDIISTS 0F SPEECH: PARTS 3' RECOGNIZING "The my father is old." "Is very old?" Neither of the above word groups, though we have punctuated them as sentences, and though their meaning is perfectly clear, quite addsuptowhat speakers of English use as a "sentence." The first contains one wordtoomany, (the word the), and the second one word too few. A string of words which, without the addition or deletion of any of its members, "adds up" toa "sentence" may be said to "have connexiry, " or to "be connex." Customarily when we write a string of words which we intend to have property of connexity, we begin the first word with acapitalletterandplace this after the Iast word one of the three marks (' ? !). ln speaking, we useoneof a comparatively smallnumberof intonation contours with such a string; the most common is 231. Working in the opposite direction, if we see a stringof wordsbeginning with a capital and ending with one of those three punctuation marks, or if we hear one pronounced with one of thosc same rntonation contours, we try to interpret it as being connex. The word light, for example, is sometimes "used as an adjcctive"; it is then comparable to dark, heavy and othcr words that we call "adjectives." At other times, wc say that it is "used as a verb"; then itiscomparableto bring, extinguish, and so forth. Now, if we see the string of words Light the lamp. written in that way, or if we hear thosc sane words spoken with a 23I intoIf we know that nation contou-r, we wiII try to interpret it as being "connex." " "connex, dark the lampand but that are lamp and the extinguish bring thc. lamp verbal sense, light in its interpret tend to not, then we will are iamp heavy the rather than its adjectival sense. ln fact, thc other interpretation would not ordinarily occur to us at all, except whell we are studying theories of grammar.

Problem3 At times, paint is "used as a noun," and at other times it is "used " as a verb. Which interpretation fits each of these strings: Paint the barn. Bring some paint. . . . p a i n t a r o u n dt h e . , .

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

100

I

Bibliographical: Pike, 1954, Chapters 1, 3; Y. Bar-Hiilel, "A Quasi-arithmetical Notation for Syntactic Description, " ( J a n . - M a r . , 1 9 5 3 )p p . 4 7 - 5 8 . L a n g u a g e ,2 9 : l L. Barrett, Writing for College, p, 30: "Words or groups of words which are symbols for things are called 'substantives,"'Why is this definition inadequate?

4. ARBITRARINESS IN THEREEOGNITION OF "COMPI.ETENESS'' "John soldier. " This string is not "connex" in Engiish, but the two Russian words which correspond to these, placed together in the same order in Russian, are connex: they form a perfectly normal, acceptable, and correct Russian "sentence," The free translation is "Johnis a soldier." The examples at the hcad of Section 3 show us that a string oI words may be perfectly intelligible without A string may also be "connex" without being completely intellibeing "connex." gible: The isosceles idea warbled warmlv. Each language has its own rules and ,ru,-r.io.A" for "connexity." In Portugucse, the string of words 6le soldado which correspond to he and soldier are not "connex" any more ttra.rttreyareingnglish. Butthestrings of *o.,1" tfr.t,rorrespon