| Summary: | what is your name? | My name is (Bill Williams). |
Comments on Example 2
The subject matter--getting people's names-—is well-chosen if the cycle is used by trainees who are still getting acquainted with each other. It is also appropriate, but less so, for groups that have passed that stage, since any trainee can look forward to having to get people's names at some time in the future.
The length of the sentences (4-7 syllables) is ideal. The names that are selected for use in presenting the lesson may be chosen either for their phonetic problems or for their lack thereof. After initial presentation of the Cummings device, names of real people should be used at the point indicated by ( ).
This Cummings device has a serious flaw, and it is the kind of flaw that writers of language lessons most easily overlook. The short, uncomplicated sentences and the usefulness of the subject matter should not blind us to the fact that the question simply is not idiomatic. 'What is your name?' is used only to children and to inferiors. If I want to know the name of another adult, I must find it out in some other way. For example, I may volunteer the information that 'My name is _____________ and expect him to reciprocate.
Example 3 (Swahili)
Basic utterance:
| Unatoka mji gani? | What city are you from? |
| Unatoka jimbo gani? | What state are you from? |
| Unatoka nchi gani? | What country are you from? |
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