| Body | Chris Meierotto is a graduate student in the Language Teaching Specialization program at the University of Oregon.
Learning objectives: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to...
- identify 4 aspects (clothing, effort, character, and appearance) on which compliments can be made after listening to a radio program with 100% accuracy.
- create a list of rules for appropriate German compliment responses on the 4 aspects after watching/listening to the audio and video recordings accurately.
- give and respond to compliments on the 4 aspects in German appropriately.
Modes: Interpersonal Communication
Materials needed: Handout, videos, compliment cards
Procedure:
- Greet Students: Ask students to think about the last compliment they gave or received. Have students brainstorm and speak with their partner to answer the following 4 questions:
- Was fuer einen Kompliment haben Sie bekommen? (What was the compliment?)
- Wer/Von wem hast du den Kompliment gegeben/bekommen? (Who gave/who did you give the compliment to?)
- Wie hat den Person zu dem Kompliment reagiert?/Wie gefällt es dir den Kompliment zu bekommen? (How did the person react to the compliment? /or How did you like the compliment?)
- Zu welchen Dinge koennte man einen Kompliment geben? (What types of things can you compliment on?)
- Tell students that they are going to listen to a short radio program from a famous German radio program called DRadio Wissen. Tell students that they will listen to the recording twice. The first time, they will complete the front of the handout to check their comprehension, and the second time, they will listen and take notes about the way that Germans receive compliments based on 1. Clothing, 2. Effort, 3. Character, and 4. Appearance.
- After students watch and complete the worksheet, have a group discussion and draw students focus onto the way in which the people in the interview reacted towards compliments on appearance, compliments on clothing, and compliments on character. (Try to elicit that the compliments on clothing were downplayed, that compliments on appearance resulted in elicitation of more compliments, and compliments on effort drew the most positive response)
- Tell students that they will watch a short video clip about two young men giving compliments to strangers in Germany. Tell students to evaluate the compliments that each of the young men gave on the sliding scale format on the following criteria: Formal vs Informal, Personable vs Rigid, Nervous vs. Relaxed. Also, students will evaluate the ages of the people who received the compliments, as well as well as the overall perceived success of the compliment. Students should also make note of any interesting language the heard from the activity.
- After students are finished watching the short video a few times, they compare answers in a small group and create 3 ground rules for complimenting strangers in German.
- Foster a short brainstorming session to assess student language evaluations. Use document camera to check the sliding scale evaluation.
- Instruct students to then turn their handout over and focus on reexamining the questions after observing and analyzing how people gave and received compliments in both the radio recording and in the video. Ask students to discuss the questions in small groups, and to try to draw parallels between the compliment responses in both forms of media with both the reaction and the language.
- Each group should come up with rules for how compliments can be accepted in German. Students present their rules for receiving compliments on the criteria listed on their handout (clothing, appearance, effort, and character).
- Students practice giving and receiving compliments using the rules they have established from what they have observed and analyzed in class. Give students a few notecards, each that prompt a type of compliments and to whom the compliment should be directed to. Each student will give a compliment to two different students using the criteria on their notecard. When students receive the compliment, they should receive it according to the rules they just established as a class.
- Instruct students to provide feedback on each other’s performance and offer suggestions for variation.
Notes (adaptations, etc.): A possible extension: in the next lesson, students examine some authentic texts of different styles of compliments exchanged on social media. Before class students can find and bring examples of compliments and responses in German on social media to class.
|
|---|
