| Body | The purpose of this activity is to help learners prepare for their own interpersonal interactions via observation. It is appropriate for all proficiency levels and is a great strategy for guiding learners' intercultural awareness. It is also useful for helping learners improve their knowledge of critical content including vocabulary and grammar.
Learning Outcomes:
Learners will be able to:
- Observe up to three conversations
- Draw conclusions from their observations
- Verify their conclusions by working with peers
Materials: Observe before interacting video, observation handout
Procedure:
- Introduce learners to the language learning strategy of observing before interacting by showing them this video.
- Discuss what learners want to understand from observing interactions. Depending on the proficiency levels and preferences of learners, these goals may include specific lexical items, pragmatic strategies for specific language functions (e.g., understanding when to mitigate a request), or improving their understanding of how a key contextual factor like social distance, or closeness, of speakers can impact their interactions.
- Brainstorm places where learners can observe interpersonal interactions related to the goals articulated in Step 2. These places might include public and/or online spaces.
- Ask learners to observe up to three interpersonal interactions and to document their observations on this handout. Once they are done observing, they will also use the handout to draw conclusions and to posit any questions they may still have.
- In small groups, ask learners to work together to verify their conclusions and to answer the questions that they have.
Notes:
- Language functions vary in length and complexity. Educators are encouraged to consider these variances as they help learners decide how many conversations to observe. Additionally, given said variances, learners should be directed to consider whether they need to engage in additional observations once the activity is completed to draw conclusions.
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