| Body | This week, we are featuring an activity designed to work with LinguaFolio Online for Novice High learners that was previously published in InterCom. We revisit this activity in order to highlight how educators might use rubrics in order to heighten their learners’ abilities to engage in self-reflection of their communication skills.
Learning Objectives:
Learners will be able to:
- Engage in introductory conversations.
- Prove the ability to engage in critical self-reflection.
Modes: Interpersonal Speaking, Interpretive Listening
Resources: Two student survey/reflection sheets, Novice High Interpersonal Communication Rubric, mobile devices, LFO to Go app
Procedure:
- To begin class, engage learners in a class discussion in which you work together to analyze the descriptors listed on the Novice High Interpersonal Communication Rubric. In working together, help learners to come up for their own definitions and, more importantly, examples of key terms including "formulaic questions," "highly predictable questions," "high-frequency vocabulary," "basic structures," "familiar structures," "register," and "culturally appropriate gestures."
- Next, explain that learners will be engaging in a variety of introductory conversations in a speed dating format. Lead the learners in a brainstorming session of basic questions to ask when meeting someone for the first time. Review expectations and conventions regarding the use of register and physical gestures (for example, a handshake or a peck on the cheek) in such a situation.
- Students will fill out one survey/reflection sheet with information about themselves. After filling out the information, they are guided to rank how well that they think that they will be able to achieve the listed Can-Do Statements by using the rubric that you discussed as a class in Step 1. As the students engage in this pre-activity self-assessment, encourage them to think critically about the descriptors that justify their self-selections.
- Set the classroom up so that two rows of students are facing each other. Explain that the students will engage in speed dating with 7-10 different members of the class. Each conversation will last for 1-1.5 minutes. At the end of the time, students will all move one spot to the right to change partners.
- After the students complete the first round of interviews, give global feedback to the class regarding trends that you heard. Each student should also fill out the remaining self-evaluation questions on the survey/reflection sheet.
- Next, students will fill out a second survey sheet with information about an alternate personality that they have invented for the second round of speed dating. They will engage in the same self-reflection as they did for the first round.
- During the second round of speed dating, students should record each of their 7-10 conversations on their mobile devices to upload to LinguaFolio Online.
- At the end of the interviews, have students complete the survey/reflection handout and upload their best interviews as evidence for the relevant Can-Do Statements using LFO to Go. Students will evaluate how well they can engage in the statements by considering the descriptors on the rubric.
- Review student samples before the next class period to determine whether or not you agree with the students’ self-assessments. Use what you review to focus the following day’s lesson plans and to continue to deepen your learners’ understanding of the descriptors on the rubric.
Notes:
It is easy to adapt this activity to higher proficiency levels by having learners discuss more complex topics.
Remember that this rubric is designed for Novice High learners and will need to be adapted if you wish to use it for other proficiency levels.
Lastly, though this activity was built with LFO to Go in mind, learners without access to the app can easily participate in this activity by using another digital recording device and transferring the files to their computers and then uploading them to LinguaFolio Online.
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