| Body | Renée Marshall is CASLS' International Programs Specialist
Learning objectives: Students will be able to apologize and attempt to resolve an unexpected complication.
Modes: Interpersonal communication Advanced Mid
Materials needed: Situation cards created for your class
Procedure:
- The ACTFL Can-Do statement for the day: I can handle a complication or unexpected turn of events--I can clear up a major personal, school, or work place misunderstanding.
- Set the stage for the students: You and your best friend from elementary school share everything. You were borrowing her car and you had a little crash! The damage will be over $3,000. What do you do?
- Have students think about how they would approach resolving the situation with their friend, highlighting any important vocabulary or structures (such as apologizing, suggesting, etc.) In situations like this, the choices in speech you make depend on the closeness of the relationship and how egregious the offense.
- Show them a few more scenarios with varying degrees of closeness in the relationship, such as professor/student, boss/employee, acquaintance, etc. with also varying levels of the problem (a stain on a shirt, spilled water on a computer, etc.)
- Have students’ pair up. Student A receives a card indicating their situation (it can be situations similar to your examples) and so does student B. For example, student A’s card might read: You see your professor at a coffee shop on campus and say hi. While you go to sit down you accidently knock her coffee over and it spills all over her computer she’s working on and her clothes. And Student B’s card might read: You are working as a busy professor. One of your students comes over to see you in a coffee shop and spills coffee all over your computer and your clothes!
- Give the students 5 minutes to apologize and attempt to resolve the situation. Then have different pairs of students switch cards so that they now have a new scenario. Do this until all groups have used all cards (this will depend on how many students you have; make the amount of cards accordingly).
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