View Content #19869

Stephanie Knight is the Language Technology Specialist for CASLS at the University of Oregon. This activity was developed in order to complement this week’s Topic of the Week.

This activity aims to develop the speaking, listening, and critical thinking skills among mixed classes of advanced-low students learning Spanish as a second language and students learning Spanish as a heritage language. In completing this activity, students are engaged primarily in speaking and listening skills and will consider the importance of context in determining the register of language being used. In order to foment this discussion, students will view a video regarding texting among teenagers. The register of the language used in texting and the emerging problem of students using SMS conventions in academic writing is the principal focus of this video.

Modes: Interpersonal Speaking, Interpretive Listening

Objectives:

• Students will understand that language is not hierarchical in nature. Thus, different registers are not better than one another, but rather more appropriate than one another given specific contexts.
• Students will learn linguistic clues to use to decipher information about a speaker.
• Students will develop their interpersonal speaking skills.
• Students will develop their interpretive listening skills.

Resources: PowerPoint presentation regarding SMS conventions in Spanish (some are not very common but are included to get students thinking), student handouts with discussion questions (available here in English), YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W9PZ_T0yf8&feature=related)

Procedure:

1. As a class, students view different terms form the SMS dictionary in the language that you teach. Have the class guess as to what each term might mean. An answer key is available here.
2. Next, give the students some interview questions to inspire thinking regarding the wide-spread usage of SMS language for communication. Have them write two questions of their own to add to the list. They can either interview someone seated nearby or can move around the classroom and interview other students at random.
3. After that, have the students watch a video about using SMS in the target language. This video should discuss the use of text messaging in general as well as the use of cell phones in the classroom. If one such video cannot be located in a different target language, two short videos could be used.
4. Next, direct a classroom discussion in which students focus on the register of language used given different situations. Also, have them discuss the appropriateness of using SMS terms in formal settings. Draw parallels between these comments and other critiques of language usage given context.
5. Finally, have students write a text messaging conversation that they have with a friend explaining that the air conditioner has broken on a very hot day. Then, they should rewrite the conversation pretending that they are communicating with their respective bosses.

It is important that students are reminded that a given register of language in and of itself is not superior or inferior to other register. However, it may be more appropriate given the context of a situation.

This activity can be easily adapted to a variety of languages. If it is difficult to find a video in the language that you teach, have students find examples of language being used in an inappropriate register to share. Less formal electronic settings such as blogs could serve as great fodder for the discussion given that students will likely see multiple registers being used in varying blogs depending on the audience.