| Body | by Ailsa Li, CASLS Graduate Intern
This activity was designed for novice-level learners. It was created to help learners extend their knowledge of contextual factors that affect whether one uses formal or informal greetings by making decisions about which greeting to use based on these factors.
Learning outcomes:
Learners will be able to:
- Identify contextual factors based on their own life experiences.
- Understand how contextual factors can influence people’s greetings in different situations in an English-speaking context.
- Lists do’s and don’ts in formal and informal greetings and explain their reasons.
Mode(s): Interpersonal, Interpretive
Materials: Extend What You Know Worksheet, Extend to Improve Pragmatic Competence Video ,video clips of informal and formal greetings
- Example video clips in English:
Procedure:
- At the beginning of the course, the teacher will let students watch the Extend to Improve Pragmatic Competence video and explain that the day’s lesson will focus on investigating the interpersonal and intercultural factors that affect whether one uses a formal and informal greeting for a given context.
- After watching the video, the teacher will write the three general contextual factors on the board, which are “power”, “solidarity (relationship/closeness)” and “severity”. Then let students think about some examples related to these contextual factors in their L1. The teacher may provide a few examples first, such as “I use “Hello” for phone calls with people I don’t know, but I usually just say “hi” to friends, because we have a much closer relationship compared to strangers on a phone call.” The teacher will take notes on the board while students sharing their thoughts.
- Next, the teacher will give students the worksheet. Then, the students will let students watch two short video clips while thinking what’s the differences between the two videos. One is an example of a greeting in a formal context. Students need to distinguish the both verbal and body language used in the videos that represent power, solidarity, and severity. The teacher may play these videos twice or three times just in case students need to take notes on specific words from the videos.
- The teacher will assign students into small groups, and let them share what they noticed from the videos based on their notes. The teacher may walk around to check each group’s progress and offer helps when necessary.
- Then, reconvene the whole group. The teacher will let students share their findings group by group. The teacher will take notes on the board and let other students feel free to elaborate on these findings. In the end, the teacher will ask students to conclude what are some do’s and don’ts in both formal and informal greetings.
Notes:
Modifications (tech) - This activity also suits online courses. The worksheet can be given in a digital format, and the teacher can write, during discussions, on a share digital document or virtual whiteboad
Modifications (proficiency level) - This activity model uses greetings, but it could be adapted to any other language function. Intermediate or advanced learners can use more complex language functions (eg. apologies), or any language function relevant to curricular needs. Intermediate or advanced learners can also be tasked with finding their own example video or audio clips.
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