Small Talk
- Ning'ou Qu
- Dec 16, 2019
- 4 min read
Theme: Relationships
Materials & Technology:
Textbook: Life 5 Unit 1 pp. 16-17
Other materials: PowerPoint , handouts , recording (click to access the material)
Teacher: Ningou Qu
Level: Upper-Intermediate 1
Goals:
Listen to a recording and learn useful expressions from the conversation
Improve interaction management skills and discourse organization skills of making small talk
Objectives (SWBAT):
Students Will Be Able To…
start, maintain, and end a conversation with a friend they bump into
use expressive/flat intonation to convey excitement or a lack of interest
use language functions to meet people they know and exchange news
Meaningful Input-language focus-meaningful output: Listening and Speaking
1.1 Pre-Stage:
Interaction: T-S, S-S
● Show a picture of a car crash, then show a picture of two people bumping into each other, ask students to describe the picture with words (car crash, run sb. over, run into, bump into) Contrast the literal & idiomatic meanings of “bumping into someone”
● Students talk in pairs
Teacher: Now, I’d like to hear your experiences of meeting an old friend/acquaintance. Talk with your partner about these questions:
When was the last time you bumped into someone that you hadn’t seen for a while? And where?
How do you feel about your encounter? What did you talk about?
If you cannot recall such kind of experience, talk about what you will say if you come across an old friend, or what you usually talk about in your native language.
● Invite 1 or 2 volunteers to share briefly
Who would like to share with us?...... Great! Thank you! S/he used a very beautiful expression of saying hello…... Today we’re gonna learn more phrases and techniques that you can use in such scenarios. Let’s listen to a conversation first.”
(transition to the during stage)
1.2. During Stage:
Interaction: T-S, S-S
● Listen to a conversation between two people meet in the street by accident. Ask students to pay attention to:
Some expressions used to start, maintain, and close the conversation.
The emotion of the two speakers (Excited? Surprised? Not in the mood to talk?)
● Ask Comprehension Check Questions (CCQs):
What kinds of expressions are you supposed to pay attention to?
What else should you be aware of?
Teacher: You can take notes if you like. But don’t worry about writing down all the words you hear. I’ll later give you a list of expressions and you can check on the list. So far just focus on listening.
● Students talk with a partner and share:
What did you remember from the listening?
(Give students a list of expressions; Students work in groups, mark the expressions that they heard from the listening)
What are some techniques you can use to keep the conversation going?
(ask what’s new, initiate new topics, refer to a mutual friend, respond to what the other speaker has mentioned … )
What gives you the sense that they are happy to see each other?
(Intonation. “Our emotion is often conveyed by intonation. If we are excited or surprised, we often use expressive, or exaggerated intonation. Flat intonation usually suggests a lack of interest.”)
● Contrast flat/expressive intonation with a partner. Give modeling. Ask students to give modeling and try in pairs.
Teacher: “Choose at least two phrases or expressions from the list and say it either with expressive intonation or with flat intonation, ask your partner which intonation you used.”
● Put up 4 pieces of paper on the wall (grocery store, subway, street, library, restaurant, neighborhood) and let students find the places where they are assigned to and “bump into” their classmates. Ask one student from each group to rotate to the next station and practice using different expressions for 2 more times.
Give instructions:
“Suppose that you are at a grocery store/ at the library/ on the subway/ on the street/ in a restaurant/ in your neighborhood and you meet a classmate from our class. I’m giving you a piece of paper with a place on it. Find the place on your piece of paper, go to that place and ‘bump into’ your classmate. Start a conversation with him/her and try to find new topics to keep your conversation going. Then you can find an excuse to leave.”
“I will clap my hands as a signal to suggest that it’s time for you to find an excuse and leave.”
Ask CCQs: Can you just say hi and nod at each other and leave? No. Try to keep your conversation going. How can you keep the conversation going instead of letting it die? Where can you find the topic or excuses to leave? On the list.
1.3 Post-Stage:
Interaction: T-Ss, S-S
● Ask students to check the expressions they have used in their conversation
Teacher: In the second column of your handout, you can check the expressions you used in your conversation. Talk with your partner and see how can you use the rest of the expressions in the future when you come across a friend.
● If still have time, share some of the excuses they used/could use to close the conversation
Tangible Outcome & T. feedback/peer feedback:
Tangible outcome:
A checklist with useful expressions on it.
Feedback:
Students will check which expressions they have used in their conversation, and talk about how they can use the rests in future conversations.
T. feedback: summarize what we have learned today, ask students if they have any questions or anything they didn’t know how to express during their conversation.
Anticipated Problems & Suggested Solutions:
Problem: Students are supposed to draw lots to find out which place they will go to. However, it could be hard for the teacher to prepare the lots since the teacher is not sure about how many students will show up in class.
Solution: In my class, there are 14 students in total, and one student has told me in advance that she might not be able to show up in class. So, I prepare 6 places and 12 lots (two lots for one place), then, prepare another two extra lots with another place “in the elevator”. If 13 students come, we will change one lot with “elevator” into “grocery”.
Thanks for reading! Post your thoughts and let me know how do you think of this activity :)
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