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Connected Sentences
(Week Eleven) |
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This is a lesson for Blair's Oral English class at Aichi Gakuin University on:
Monday for the Jr. College Dept. on the Kusumoto Campus 1-minute Level Checks
and Pattern Practice
English listening and background. |
[Eng to Jpn] translate
[Jpn to Eng]
Extended Answers Continue
with Linked Sentences
Last week you TOOK an exam to SEE if you could MAKE questions. This week I WANT to DISCUSS how to ANSWER questions and KEEP a conversation MOVING forward. Some teachers SAY that a conversation is like "catchball" (a game of catch). This explanation, however, GIVES students the impression that they should GIVE a short answer (a few words, a single phrase, or a clause) to a question ... and then FOLLOW UP with a question of their own. Sometimes they even USE the same question: How about you, ...?
Minimal answers, however, will SLOW DOWN a conversation. The conversation will STALL and eventually (maybe quite soon) BREAKDOWN completely. Short answers MAKE people FEEL that you do NOT want to CONTINUE a conversation. To SHOW interest you should ADD more information ... EXTEND your answer with full sentences that are LINKED to each other by Thought Questions. It is the same principle that PRODUCES smooth, flowing conversations.
Here is what the pattern LOOKS like after the short answer to an explicit question（明示的な質問）:
| Wh- 区 | m-S-V 区 | O/C 区 | +A 区 |
| Pitch: a question | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Who | was putting on | some make-up | in a subway in Tokyo? |
| S 区 | V 区 | O/C 区 | +A 区 |
| Hit: a short answer | |||
| Abby | was. | ||
| Thought Question: (Where ... was she going?) | |||
| She | was going | to a club (in order) ... | |
| ... | to meet | her boyfriend Ethan. | |
| Thought Question: (What ... did they do at the club?) | |||
| He | got | her a drink, | but ... |
| ... | quickly left | her | (in order) ... |
| ... | to talk | business | with a friend. |
| Thought Question: (What ... did she do?) | |||
| She | had | a conversation | with some foreigners at the bar. |
| Thought Question: (What ... did they talk about?) | |||
| Charlie and Gretchen | introduced | themselves | and ... |
| ... | asked | her | about her new life in Tokyo. |
An interesting conversation is like baseball. THINK of each question that COMES UP in a conversation as a pitch. You quickly ANSWER it with a short answer. (You DO have to answer it ... before you continue.) If your answer MAKES sense, you have HIT the ball. Now it is time to RUN around the bases. You FOLLOW UP, not with a question, but with (declarative) sentences ... at least one (first base), maybe two or three ... or four (a home run).
Flow of Conversation
Now LET'S PRACTICE Connecting Sentences with Thought Questions. This can be either individually OR as Group Work. We can WRITE these Thought Questions
we can just THINK (very quickly) of the Thought Questions and their Full Sentence Answers during the same 1-minute period ... either individually OR as Group Work.
What did you see?
Noun Phrases
A very simple question to ASK as you are LOOKING around you or at a video clip is ... What do you see? The short answer to this question is usually a minimal noun phrase (a rainbow, some rocks, etc.). You can ADD a little detailed information to noun phrases by INSERTING an adjective or two. More information will often MAKE your (still short) answer more interesting.
These Full Noun Phrases (as we will CALL them) are exactly what Haruna REFERS to in Step Two of her video. Let's LOOK at her examples.
| Step 2: Noun Phrases | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 区 | 2 区 | 3 区 | ||
| a | big brown | table | ||
| an | old | man | ||
| a | fast | car | ||
| a | hot | coffee | ||
| 1 区 | 2 区 | 3 区 | +a 区 | |
| a | cup | of (hot) coffee | ||
| a | coffee | cup | with ... | |
| ... some | hot | coffee | in it | |
The noun（名詞）GOES into 3 区 . The other three columns（区）HOLD modifying words（1 区 and 2 区）or phrases（+a 区 ）. Adjectives（形容詞）GO into 2 区 . There CAN be more than one of them. Articles (冠詞 = a, an, some, the) and similar words（仲間 = this, these, that, those, his, her, their, etc.） GO into 1 区 .
Inside the +a 区 is a connecting word（前置詞）and a simple noun phrase. Together this group of words MODIFIES the noun（形容詞の役割）. 「of hot coffee」 TELLS you what is in the cup. 「in it (=the cup)」 TELLS you where the hot coffee is.
In a Flash Quiz Meeting or when WRITING Group Reports on Microsoft Teams please DIVIDE each noun phrase (or sentence) by PUTTING a half space（半角）, two slash marks (//), and another half space（半角）between each of its parts (like the examples below).
| a // red alarm // clock [2:40] |
| Hanako's // wall // calendar [3:00] |
Gu-Ichi-Pa
All of Haruna's examples were singular nouns, let me INTRODUCE all three patterns: singular, plural, and uncountable noun PHRASES AND, so you won't forget them, hand signals for each: gu, ichi, pa. Below are some examples. Try to PICTURE in your mind what they LOOK like. How are the three forms different in meaning? How are the images different?
| Gu (Uncountable) |
Ichi (Singular) |
Pa (Plural) |
| some coffee (a liquid) |
a cup of coffee (in one container) |
some cups of coffee (in several containers) |
| some chicken (meat) |
a chicken (one bird) | some chickens (several birds) |
| some hamburger (meat) |
a hamburger (one sandwich) |
some hamburgers (several sandwiches) |
| some hair | a hair | some hairs |
| some sand | a grain of sand | some grains of sand |
| some paper （紙） |
a paper （論文） |
some papers （書類） |
These examples are unusual. The vast majority of nouns are countable and HAVE ONLY two forms ... singular or plural ... （Ichi-Pa, Ichi-Pa, どっちですか）. You should PRACTICE both forms:
Can you PRODUCE full（1, 2, 3 区）noun phrases to DESCRIBE things that you SEE around you?
You can also PRACTICE noun phrases
while LOOKING at pictures OR even with 漢字.
((read directions, then choose video clip))
((WRITE Week 11, The Ramen Girl [clip], time frame))
then WATCH a
video clip for 2-3 minutes.
((WRITE ----- GO -----))
After the Flash Quiz ... GO to your channels on Teams. One person will OPEN a new meeting. The others will JOIN that meeting. Then WRITE your first message: Your group's name ... and ... Week 11.
CHOOSE your Leader. Then WRITE your second message: the Leader's name.
Finally WRITE the plan in two messages:
(third message) Plan A: 3-Minute Routine and
(fourth message) Conversation Starter, then Level 6 (x4) - 7 (x1).
Each group will CHOOSE it's own scene from the assigned videos. WATCH the scene on your cellphone or tablet with the sound OFF. You will be DISCUSSING what happened, rather than what people said. You will HAVE a fresh image of the events in your head as you TALK about the scene.
TIME yourselves and TRY to KEEP the pace lively ... 3 minutes (English Only) for each sentence and 2 minutes (NO talking at all) for Thought Questions.
During the Group Work Leaders should MAKE SURE that all students that are online KEEP their microphones ON (so that they can SPEAK) AND their cameras ON (so that they can SEE each other).
| 会議 Chat |
| Group X2 Week 11 |
| Leader: Hanako |
| Plan A: 3-Minute Routine |
| Conversation Starter, then Level 6-7 groups |
| ((鈴)): Somplace ... [8] about 40-42 min |
| ((山)): Kobayashi was talking to Hanako in Hanako's ... |
| ((高)): ((Who else was there?)) |
| ((伊)): They were alone. |
At the top of your report WRITE
(message #1) your group's name, "Week 11",
(message #2) the leader's name,
(message #3) Plan A: 3-Minute Routine, and
(message #4) Conversation Starter, then
Level 6-7 groups.
Follow the 3-Minute Routine explained in Lesson 1 for each sentence (and question, perhaps). The sentences should be about scenes from Someplace in This Universe and/or Shodo Girls.
If you HAVE any questions about what you are supposed to be DOING, first DISCUSS the problem with your group, then ... if you are still in doubt, DO what you or your group THINK is right, (RAISE your hand if you're in the classroom) and SHOW it to the teacher (the PDS Cycle).
((Teams Recording OFF))
((confirm online attendance
with camera/microphone functions))
| These lessons are DESIGNED to HELP Japanese students
to LEARN to SPEAK English as a foreign language. They could be REVERSE ENGINEERED to help English speakers learn to speak Japanese as a foreign language. I would be thrilled to SHARE my ideas about teaching foreign languages with other teachers. You can CLICK the link above to FIND my contact information. |