Page 69 - Beyond Methods

Maximizing learning opportunities 57
2 S:
3 T:
4 S1:
5 T:
6 S1:
7 S2:
8 T:
9 S1:
10 S2:
11 T:
12 S1:
13 T:
Uh...xx.
I’ll give you the groomsmen . . . OK? Would you like . . . you have the reception. Do you want a picture . . . here is the mis- cellaneous. Take a few minutes . . . think of some more ques- tions . . . and then you can ask other students . . . OK?
(to another) Know this?
You have a question?
This means bridesmaid?
What does this mean?
(answering an inaudible question raised by the S sitting next to her) Reception is a party . . .
Groomsmen...youknow...
(gestures; directed to T)
(T again busy with the S sitting next to her) Miscellaneous? ah ... I’ll use a simple word ... don’t worry (goes to the board and erases Miscellaneous and writes other items related to wedding)
Like this . . . I can’t identify who is the groom in this pic- ture . . .
That’s what you’ll ask other students a little later . . .
(Data source: Kumaravadivelu, 1992)
A video replay of this episode indicates that the teacher was re- sponding to a question (not picked up by the microphone) asked by a learner sitting next to her (the class was arranged in a semicircu- lar fashion to facilitate group discussion). She answered: “Recep- tion is a party” (turn 8) clearly in response to the learner’s query on the meaning of the word reception. This turned out to be a pri- vate exchange between the teacher and one particular learner. The teacher did not seem to realize that other learners might have the same problem.
A much more revealing exchange occurred moments later. An- other learner sitting close to the teacher had apparently asked her (not picked up by the microphone) the meaning of the word mis- cellaneous—a difficult vocabulary item for low intermediate level learners. The teacher repeated the word miscellaneous (turn 11) with a rising intonation and quietly walked over to the board, say-