Page:Adapting and Writing Language Lessons.pdf/163

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CHAPTER 4
WRITING ADAPTABLE MATERIALS

lessons plans the instructor preferred to rely on his own teaching experience, on the material at hand, and on the spontaneous reactions of informants and students. The instructor would enter the class with a preconceived notion of how to conduct the lesson, but prepared to adapt.

3. Present, in as foolproof a way as you can manage, the main question-types and virtually all of the interrogative words, with sample answers. This is part of the 'grammar,' of course, but its main purpose is to enable the student to explore the vocabulary of the language for topics that he is interested in. One way of presenting and exploiting questions is the 'Cummings device,' discussed in Chapter 6 and exemplified in Appendices p(p. 331), Q (P. 337 ), R (P. 346), G (P.154) and elsewhere.


4. Stop. Recognize that the course is incomplete. It is incomplete for two reasons, but also for a third and a fourth:

a. All students will need many more words than you have included so far. (But they will differ as to just what words they do need.)

b. All students will need much more practice with the grammar than you have provided for. (But they will differ as to how often, how long, and how they should practice.)

But also:

c. What is in the course has no connection with anything that really matters to the student. Words are connected to words (either Sarkhanese or English) and patterns are connected to patterns, but there is no feel or motion, no touch, no smell, no flavor and no joy. There are no people yet, only teachers and students. There is no flesh, but only dry bones.

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