Learning Activities for the English as Lingua Franca Corpus. Topic: International Communication

Transcription

1 Learning Activities for the English as Lingua Franca Corpus International Communication Difficulties in ELF communication... 2 Communication modes in ELF communication... 2 Reacting to unknown words in ELF communication... 3 Private and job-related international communication... 4 International communication in video conferences... 5 Communication between native and non-native speakers BACKBONE (authors: Ph. Glaser/J. Widmann) 1/6

2 No. Hints Difficulties in ELF communication IntComm1 B2 This task is meant to raise the students awareness of the fact that there are differences between face to face communication and communication that takes place without visual support. Students work with the BACKBONE Corpus in order to explore authentic and relevant real-life experiences. 2. Go to Concordances, type in translator and hit Search! 3. Choose the first result and click on Go to section. 4. Watch the video clip and listen carefully. a. Why is it so difficult for Stefan to talk to people in English on the telephone? b. Why does Stefan prefer communication? What are the advantages? 5. Discuss your with your partner. There is a follow-up activity IntComm2 that can ideally be done as homework. No. Communication modes in ELF communication IntComm2 B2 This task is meant to make the students reflect upon differences between face to face communication and communication that takes place without visual support. 2. Go to Concordances, type in translator and hit Search! BACKBONE (authors: Ph. Glaser/J. Widmann) 2/6

3 Hints 3. Choose the first result and click on Go to section. 4. Watch the video again and recall your of the previous activity IntComm1. 5. What are your personal experiences with respect to different modes of communication in a foreign language? a. Is it easier for you to do face-to-face communication, telephone calls or writing an ? Why? b. Reflect on the role that the video plays in helping you to understand the speakers in the BACKBONE corpus (e.g. is it helpful to have a video clip or would an audio file do as well?). 6. Write a short summary providing the advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face communication vs. a communication mode where you just hear the person. This exercise can be done as homework or as in-class activity. If it is done in class, the students should present their summaries orally. BACKBONE search-tool This is a suitable follow-up activity after doing activity IntComm1. No. Reacting to unknown words in ELF communication IntComm3 This task is meant to make the students aware of the fact that just knowing a certain expression does not always help in direct face-to-face communication and that mispronunciation can be a serious obstacle for mutual understanding. 2. Go to Concordances, type in translator and hit Search! 3. Choose the second result and click on Go to section. 4. Watch the video clip and listen carefully. a. Stefan talks a funny situation. Why is the situation so funny? 5. What can be the problem/difficulty when people want to use BACKBONE (authors: Ph. Glaser/J. Widmann) 3/6

4 Hints unknown words and look up isolated words in dictionaries or translating tools? 6. Do you think that comprehension problems caused by mispronunciations are more serious in ELF-situations? 7. Discuss the matter with your partner and make a list with three recommendations for such situations with unknown words. Each pair presents its list to the class. At the end, the class votes on each recommendation and the teacher presents the favourite charts to the class. Alternatively, the teacher sets up a choice on Moodle to produce the chart list and the students vote on Moodle. This activity could be integrated into a larger unit concerning issues like pronunciation, foreign accents and comprehension. See also the activities on Different accents in ELF communication No. Private and job-related international communication IntComm4 The students listen to a young German talking his experiences with the use of English in international contexts. They realize that different communicative contexts result in different ways of communicative behaviour. 2. Go to the Section Search 3. Tick the category Cultural Issues - Intercultural communication and restrict your search to German ELF 4. Read the section Using English on the job where Bernd talks how he uses English 5. Watch the video clip and listen carefully. a. What is special job-related international communication? b. What is special private international communication? c. Can you think of reasons why there are such systematic BACKBONE (authors: Ph. Glaser/J. Widmann) 4/6

5 differences, according to Bernd? 6. Discuss the with your partner and decide on what you see as the main difference between private and job-related communication in a foreign language. Give a reason for your decision. Each pair presents the difference that they decided on and they give a reason for their decision. No. International communication in video conferences Communicative Exercise IntComm5 The students listen to an IT manager who talks how international communication works in his company. There are many aspects of communication that he mentions. talking his experiences with the use of English in international contexts. They realize that different communicative contexts result in different ways of communicative behaviour. 2. Go to the Co-Occurrence Search 3. Type in the words video conference* understand* 4. Get into 2 groups. Each group listens to one of the sections. 5. Listen to your section and take a note of the following: a. What are the main problems that Dieter mentions in your section? b. What are the solutions to the problems that he proposes? c. Which of his sentences is most difficult for you to understand? Why? d. Can you rephrase this sentence so that it is easier for you to understand it? BACKBONE (authors: Ph. Glaser/J. Widmann) 5/6

6 Each group presents the main problems and the solutions that Dieter mentions. No. Communication between native and non-native speakers Communicative Exercise IntComm6 The students listen to an IT manager who talks how international communication works in his company. There are many aspects of communication that he mentions. talking his experiences with the use of English in international contexts. They realize that different communicative contexts result in different ways of communicative behaviour. 2. Go to the Co-Occurrence Search 3. Type in the words communicat* native speaker* 4. Get into 2 groups. Each group listens to one of the sections. 5. Listen to your section and take a note of the following: a. What differences does the speaker mention between the communicative style of native and non-native speakers of English? b. According to Dieter, what are the main problems of native speakers and what are the main problems of non-native speakers? c. What are the solutions to the problems that he proposes? Interaction and Each group presents the main problems and the solutions that Dieter mentions BACKBONE (authors: Ph. Glaser/J. Widmann) 6/6