View Content #28106

This week’s Topic of the Week illustrated the reality that learners have incredible access to language learning opportunities in the informal market (via apps and the like). However, attrition within these platforms is high, and may contribute to general dissatisfaction with language learning. This activity was designed with this reality in mind and is intended to leverage the learners’ activities within popular tools from the commercial market while simultaneously increasing their explorations of communicative competence.

Outcomes:

Learners will be able to:

• Explore decontextualized sentence-length utterances in the target language and connect those utterances to meaningful communicative contexts.

Modes: Interpersonal (though any may arise at the activity’s close)

Materials: Popular language learning apps and/or fill-in-the-blank exercises

Procedure:

1. Ask learners to consider a phrase with a meaning that changes drastically depending on communicative context. For example, learners might consider, “Shut up!” This phrase is both a command to tell someone to stop talking and an exclamation of excitement shared between friends when something exciting or amazing transpires.

2. Ask learners how they know the illocutionary force (intended meaning) when they hear an utterance such as “Shut up!” Brainstorm relevant context and communication cues as a class.

3. Next, tell learners that they are going to play a game. Within the game, they will collect as many potentially ridiculous utterances as they can from decontextualized grammar and vocabulary exercises found on popular language learning apps (or within other fill-in-the-blank classroom activities). By the end of this search, each learner should have collected at least five different phrases.

4. Next, ask learners to offer their phrases to the class. Provide a small prize for the utterance that the class finds to be the most ridiculous.

5. After voting, have learners work to articulate communicative scenarios in which they would use the ridiculous phrases they collected. For example, they may collect a sentence like “I have three rocks in my shoe.” and brainstorm that they are track champions explaining to the press why the lost a race. 

6. Discuss the scenarios as a class. If time allows, have the learners practice the scenarios is small groups or pairs.

In addition to this week's activity, we invite you and your students to offer your opinions and insights concerning critical innovation in language learning. This give you an opportunity to weigh in on some of the key ideas noted in this week's Topic of the Week.

Survey for Learners: https://oregon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5hwWfyjoBxKemsR

Survey for Educators: https://oregon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9nRNs5bBg4SDjuJ