Page 68 - Beyond Methods

56 Maximizing learning opportunities
A learner (turn 4) mistook deserts for desserts and answered incor- rectly, thereby creating a learning opportunity for himself and, prob- ably, for some others as well. The teacher, instead of ignoring the learner’s incorrect response or simply calling it wrong, wrote the two words on the board but went ahead with her original question related to deserts. Once that discussion was accomplished, she uti- lized the learning opportunity created by the learner and returned (turn 17) to the student’s initial response to make sure that all the learners understood the difference between deserts and desserts.
A point that needs to be stressed here is that, in a class of learners with similar language proficiency, if one learner indicates, directly or indirectly, any difficulty in understanding a particular linguistic item or a propositional content, we can assume that there may be several others who experience a similar difficulty. Therefore, a par- ticular learner’s problem of comprehension should be brought to the attention of the whole class and dealt with suitably. Failing to do so would indicate failure on the part of the teacher to utilize effec- tively the learning opportunity created by the learner. Often teach- ers do not dwell on the learner discourse and unintentionally ignore learning opportunities created by learners, as the following episode testifies.
The teacher in this intermediate level Speaking class planned to discuss wedding customs in different cultures. She used six picto- rial cues to stimulate a discussion on wedding customs in the United States and hoped that the learners, who were from different cultural backgrounds, would talk about their own. Focus on how she handled the learners’ questions about two problematic words: reception and miscellaneous.
1 T:
Episode 3.4
Now, you are going to ask questions, OK. I have six pictures here. First one is the bride; second is the groom; third we have bridesmaids; four we have groomsmen; five we have re- ception and six has . . . just let’s say miscellaneous. OK? I’m going to give each one of you a picture. On the back of the picture, I’ve written two questions. I’ll give you some time. I want you to think of some more questions that you can ask the other students . . . OK . . . and then you are going to lead a discussion . . .