Chapter Five

Oral Communication Development

Through Acquisition Activities
AFFECTIVE-HUMANISTIC ACTIVITIES
Dialogs
Interviews
Preference Ranking
Personal Charts and Tables
Revealing Information about Yourself
Activities Using the Imagination
PROBLEMSOLVING ACTIVITIES
Tasks and Series
Charts, Graphs and Maps
Developing Speech for Particular Situations
Advertisements
GAMES
CONTENT ACTIVITIES
GROUPING TECHNIQUES FOR ACQUISITION ACTIVITIES
Restructuring
One-Centered
Unified Group
Dyads
Small Groups
Large Groups

Oral Communication Development 97

The core of the Natural Approach classroom is a series of
acquisition activities. By activity we mean a broad range of events
which have a purpose other than conscious grammar practice. Thus,
we refer to activities as opposed to audiolingual drills or cognitive
learning exercises. For acquisition to take place, the topics used in
each activity must be intrinsically interesting or meaningful so that the
students' attention is focused on the content of the utterances instead
of the for-n. It is also through acquisition activities that the instructor
will (1) introduce new (2) prcp vide the comprehensible
input the students will utilize for acquisition. (3) create opportunities
for student oral production, and (4) instill a sense of group belonging
and cohesion which will contribute to lower affective fil-

In the early stages, as descfibed in Chapter Four, the most

important function of the activities is to provåde comprehensible
input. and indeed in a sense, the main task is to develop listening
skills. Output in the target language is necessarily limited (usually to
single wonds or shon phrases) and plays only a minor role in furthering
the acquisition process. In the ' 'speech emerges" stage of this
Chapter, however, oral production plays a more important role. In the
first place, we wish to give the students ample opportunity to actualize
their acquired competence: it is affectively satisfying to most students
when they realize that their ability to express themselves in the target
language is increasing. Secondly, as the students are able to generate
more and more of the target language. this production (interlanguage)
 serves as comprehensible input for the other students in the class.
Indeed, in this section, in many of the activities which we will describe,
the student talks a great deal.
As we mentioned in Chapter Two, it is an open question whether
this sort of "interlanguage talk" is helpful or harnful (or. what is more
likely. both) for language acquisition. We know of no empirical studies
which have investigated this question directly. However, our
experience is that interlanguage does a great deal more good than
harm, as long as it is not the only input the students are exposed to. It
is comprehensible. it is com. municatve, and in many cases, for many
students it contains examples of i + 1. These advantages, in our
opinion, will outweigh the problems which might be caused by errors
in the input.
Each activity focuses on a particular topic and/or situation, i.e.,
What students in the class did last night, how to order food in a
restaurant, how to how to refuse a request, what they ate for
bréakfast, what they like to watch on television, and so forth. The
students will normally be aware of this focus. The activity may also
often (but not always) have a specific form or structure which will tend
to be used repeatedly in that particular actvity. The purpose of the
activity, however, is to supply comprehensible input, not to teach a
specific Structure. Most students, in fact will probably not realize what
the grammatical content of any given activiW

98 The Natural Approach

is. This is probably to their advantage, since conscious concentration on

structure and form may prevent focusing on the message and may thus
impede acquisition. 2
One of the major points of Chapter Two is that comprehensible input
stimulates natural language acquisition. In order for input to serve as a
basis for the acquisition process, we must insure that there is:
(1) a focus on transmission of relevant information and
(2) a means Of facilitating comprehension
It is quite possible, for example, to provide utterances which have some
semantic content, but which do not communicate anything of
importance. Suppose an instructor says, Roger is going to the store to buy
a loaf Of bread. Such a sentence canies meaning, but it may not
communicate anything unless we know who Roger is and are concerned
about his bip and its purpose. If the instructor merely wishes to use such
a sentence as an example Of the progressive tense in English, the
utterance will be Of little value as input for language acquisition (although
it could be a part of a
learning exercise or dill). TO draw students' attention away from the
linguistic form Of an utterance, We need to go beyond a simple meaning
and focus on transmission Of relevant information. This requirement
implies that what is talked about needs to be truly interesting Discussing
topics that are of interest to the students is not just a frill; it is essential if
language acquisition is to take place. No matter how 'frneaningful" we try
to make grammar exercises, by their very nature they will not qualify as
optimal input for language acquisition since they are not being used for
real communication.
A second way to help insure optimal input for language acquisition is to
provide means for aiding comprehension. As we discussed earlier,
 caretakers help children's comprehension by limiting the topic to the
"here and now. This provides extra-linguistic support and gives children
an idea of what adults are talking about, allowing them to understand
language that is a little beyond their current level of competence.
Similarly, the language inshuctor can provide second language acquirers,
children or adults, with extra-linguistic support. As we mentioned in
Chapter Three and exemplified in Chapter Four, this is one of the reasons
for the use of pictures and other realia. Good visuals are more than an
interesting adjunct; they are an integral part Of the equipment needed to
encourage language acquisition, especially at the beginning level.
In addition to visuals, extra-linguistic information can also be used to
help comprehension. The topic discussed should be somewhat familiar to
the students and they should use their knowledge of the world to help
them understand. If students have a general idea of what the instructor is
talking about, this will help them guess at meaning For this reason, the
instructor should limit initial discussion to topics which are familiar to all
Students, such as where the students live, what they generally do each
day,

Communication Development 99
and Other known landmarks and events. See, for example, the suggested
communicative syllabus in Chapter Four. Instructors who discuss totally
unfamiliar topics, people, or places, place a huge burden on the student
trying to cope with comprehending messages in a new language.
The students also have an active role to play in insuring
comprehensible input: when the listeners do not understand, they need
to know how to regulate the input. Every language has ways Of asking for
clarification, asking speakers to repeat, to slow down, to explain. If such
tools Of communication are taught early, students wdll have some means
of managing their own input. An added advantage Of being able to use
these aspects of conversational competence is that they help make it
possible to converse with speakers Of the target language outside the
classroom.
It is also important that the difficulty level of the content of the activity
be properly adjusted. If students encounter too much new vocabulaw
and structure in an activity, they tend to spend their time translating
instead of participating in conversation. In terns Of the theory. it is the
instructor's job to make sure that the language of the activity is not far
beyond the students' current level (i + 1),
Finally, the instructor must have some idea as to whether the
sh.ldents understand what is being discussed. It is not necessary to check
whether every sentence is understood, nor is it necessary that every
sentence be understood. In fact. it would be highly undesirable, as
constant checking for comprehension would certainly get in the way of
the information exchange that is at the core Of the NA. A variety of
techniques to check comprehension are possible, ranging from directly
asking the students whether they understand to merely noting whether
thejr verbal and nonverbal responses indicate comprehension, Clearly
the more involved the students are in the activity, the easier it will be to
ascertain whether they understand the instructor's and each other ts
input, 3
 The effectiveness of any acquisition activity can be measured by the
interest it evokes in the students to comment on or ask questions about
the topics which have been treated. In fact, this in the form of addi
interaction iS the most valuable aspect of these activities since real
communication normally takes place in these •followups.
We will describe the acquisition activities in four groups: (1 ) affective-
humanistic, (2) problem solving, (3) games, and (4) content. This division
is principally for ease of exposition since in reality many of the activities
contain elements of more than one type. For example , an affective
activity may be turned into a game, or a game may involve a problem-
solving activity, and 50 forth. All activities are designed to funherthe
acquisition process. As such they must provide comprehensible input in
ways: through student interlanguage and from the teacher-talk included
in the activity as well as in the "follow-up" to the activity. In all cases
there IS a focus on content, i.e. , there is a reason for doing the activity
other than just language practice.

100 The Natural Approach

Language v.riii, Of course, be used in ihe activity, but language is
conscious focus Of the activity

AFFECTIVE-HUMANISTIC ACTIVITIES
Affective activities atternpt to involve students' feelings. opinions,
deSires, ideas and experiences. Although not affective-
humanistic activities work' in situations with an students and all
instructors, they are varied enough to be of especially high value in the
Natural Approach classroorn. In addiHon, and more irnportantly, they
meet the requirernents of an acquisition activity: the focus is on
content, i.ev, ve'hat the students are saying, and the instructor a strong
atternpt to louver affective filters. 4

We •mentioned in Chapter Four the use open dialogs to give the

students the rneans to produce sornewhat beyond their acquired
capacity in early production stages. These dialogs, norrnally short and
interesting. contain a nunmber of routines and patterns which can be
easily assirnilatedThe open dialogs in addition allow the student sorne
rneasure Of creativity.
Student I: Are you h ungtv?
Student
2:
d prefer
Student 1 :How about you?
Student 2:
Buenos dfas. ZCorno estås?
Student 2: y t-fi? Student I :
Student I : Ou est-ce que tu vas?

Student Veux—tu aller avec rnoi

Student 2:
 Often the interchanges are created to insure repeated opportunities
to focus on particular conversational situations. In the follovving
interaction the students talk about weeekend activities. 5
Student : What do you like to do on Saturdays?
Student 2: I like to
Student I: Did you last Saturday?
Student 2: Yes. I did _
Thus, with the help Of guidelines, the student can often begin to use
struc-
 Oral Communication
Development 101
tures which have been acquired. and stiii maintain cornmunicative
interaction and creativity dialogs need not be as rigid as these
examples might suggest. As the students advance, the guidelines
can allow more room for expansion and other changes as the
following interchange suggests-
Student 1: Guess what.
Student 2: I'm sorry, what did you say you did?
Student 1:
Student 2: Oh, really? When? (Where? Why? How long?)
Student 1:
Finally, as the ability to participate in conversational exchange improves.
we suggest the use of situational stimuli for the creation Of original
dialogs in a role-play situation. The students are divided into pairs for
the following "original dialog*'.
You are a young girl who is sixteen years old. You went out with a
fiend at eight o'clock. You are aware of the fact that yourparents
require you to be at home at at the latest. But you retum at 12:30
and your father is very angry
Your father: Well, I'm waiting for an evianation Why did you return
so late? You:

(Continue)
In suggesting the use of dialogs, we must be clear on how they are to be
used. They are not, of course the center of the program, as they are in
audiolingual teaching. Dialogs should be Short and should contain
material that is usefUl in conversation. Their function is to srnooth the
conversation by helping students to sound rmore natural and more
fluent with commonly discussed topics and to help them regulate input
and manage conversations.
Mastery of dialogs thus has little to do directly with the acquisition
process. They do, however, help beginning and intermediate students
interact in conversations. This ability is especially important for students
of a sec ond language since they face immediate conversational
demands outside Of class. In addition, the instructor can follow up on
the conversations the students have created by discussing what went on
in the dialog and soliciting the students' reactions. This interchange can
produce a great deal of cornprehensible input.
In terviews
Students are divided into pairs and are given a series Of questions
to ask their partner, In early stages, the interview can be given in
102 The Natural Approach
matrix fonn (on the chalkboard, overhead projector, or reproduced),
so that the students
are required only to supply a single word or shott phrase.
What's your name? My name is
Where do you live? I live in
Do you study or work? I
The best interviews are those which focus on interesting events in
the students' own lives, for example. a series of questions about
childhood: When you were a child, did you haue a nickname? What
games did you play? When during childhood did you first notice the
difference between boys and girls? What is something you once saw
that gave you a scare?
Another possibility for interviews is to choose the role of a famous
person; the mto participants create both questions and answers.
Interviews in the Natural Approach normally have a clear situational
or topical focus. In the following interview, the focus is childhood
illnesses: What illnesses did you have as a child? Who took care of you?
Did you have to stay in bed for long periods of time? Were you often
sick as a child? What is the most serious illness you ever had?
Interviews can be constructed around a particular grammatical
structure. For example, in the following interview the questions all
make use of past tense verbs.
Did you go to the beach a lot last summer? What did you do at
night? Did you often go to the movies with friends? Did you work?
Where did you live?
If the conversational exchange is interesting enough, the
grammatical focus will probably not interfere with the interaction and
the activity will be successful in giving an opportunity for
conversational interaction, However, a bit Of restructuring with a
semantic and contextual emphasis will shift the focus away from
grammatical form.
Did you goto the beach lastsummer? Who with? Which beach did
you go to? What did you do there? Why do you like the beach?
What did you do at night? Did you Often stay home? Did you go to
the movies often? What was your favorite activity on weekend
nights? Where did you live? With yourparents? With yourfamily?
With friends? Did you like the place where you lived?
Did you work last summer? Where? What did you do there? Did you
like what you did? What did you like best about working?
The difference between the two is clear: the first uses the interview.'
technique as an excuse for pracficing certain verb forms. Ihe second
serves as an opportunity to allow the students to talk to each other
about past experiences, tn the follow up with the instructor, the
students will have ample
 Oral Communication
Development 103

comprehensible input as weil as multiple opportunities to express

themselves in the target language.
Interviews which focus on the students themselves, their wants,
needs, feelings, opinions are the most successful. They allow for
frequent interaction on a one-to-one basis. This interaction has at least
Kvo beneficial aspects: the students get to know each other in a more
personal way, lowering, hopefully, affective filters, and they are given
many more opportunities to express themselves In a low anxiety
situation in the target language than if all activities were instructor-
centered.
Thus, intewiews are helpful to the acquisition process in several ways:
they lower affective filters, they provide meaningful interaction in the
target language, they allow for opportunities to use routines l and
pattems, which, as we have noted, help acquisition indirectly. Finally, j
they provide comprehensible input: student interlanguage during the
interview and teachertalk in the follow-up.
Preference Ranking
This activity is conducted orally but the material must be printed and
distributed to the students. It consists of a simple lead-in statement
followed by three or four possible responses. Students must rank (1-2-
34) the responses according to their cnvn preference. My favorite
summer activity is:
swimming
reading novels
playing tennis
cooking
The point of preference ranking, of course is not the inifial ranking
itself, but the follow-up conversation between the insfructor and the
students. It is in this follow-up that the students will receive teacher-talk
input (and some student interlanguage) as well as have the opportunity
to express their opinions and feelings in the target language. The
following is a possible example of teacher-talk follow-up to the above
preference ranking:
Who ranked swimming as number one? (Mark raises his hand). Where
do you swim. Mark? How often? When did you first team to swim?
Have you ever swum competitively? Who else in the class swims a
great deal? (Betty raises her hand). Did you mark swimming as
yourfirst preference? Why not? What did you mark? (playing tennis),
Why do you like tennis more than swimming?
104 The Natural Approach
Personal Charts and Tables
The use of charts and tables was introduced in Chapter Four as a
means of providing comprehensible input white requiring only one-word
or short answers. But they can aiso be used ai mote advanced levels,
Theii' role in providing input is the same, but the questions in the input
can be more open, allowing the students opportunities for more
complex responses.
The construction of tables of information about the students in a
particular class, for example. can serve as a basis for interesting
discussions. In the following example, the instructor has begun to
create a chart of the weekly routines of the class members on the
chalkboard.
Mgud•y aturda

plays baseball
studies has baseball works in
Jim studies practice has *'tm team supermarket plays
practice lifts weights waterpolo viSitS
I nuise studies works at friends
Herman record store
After the chart is completed it can serve as a basis for lively questions
and discussions which provide the desired comprehensible input, The
level of the discussion depends on the level of the class. For students
only beginning the ' 'speech emerges" stage, the following questions
would be ap propriate:
Who has baseball practice on Wednesdays? What does John do on
Saturdays? Does Herman lift weights on Wednesdays?
As the students' ability to produce increases, so does the difficulty level
of the instructor's input.
Does Jim have baseball practice on Wednesdays? What team is he
on? What position does he play? Who plays water polo on
Saturdays? Why does she play on Saturdays? Does she everplay
during the week? Does she play for fun only or is she on a team?
What position does she play? Do girls and women ordinarily play
waterpolo? Why? Why not? Do you suppose Louise knows how to
swim? Well? Why?
Charts may also be created so that the students first fill out the chart
with personal inforrnation and then this inforrnation serves as a basis
for the class follow-up discussion, In the following chart for a beginning
Spanish course, the students are asked to say whether or not they did
certain activities yesterday, and if so at what time of the day. Ihe
activities include Did you wash your car? Did you go to the beach? Did
you watch television? Did you clean house? and so forth.
 Oral Communication Development 105

Actividad Sfrno Hora

L Lav6 su cano?

2 Fue a la playa?
3. Mild la televisién?

4, Limpiö su casa?
5. Fue de compras?
6. Ley6 el pericZico?
7. Fue a una fiesta?

8, Viol a su novio(a)?
In the follow-up, the instructor will extend the conversation as
naturally as possible. For example,
Did you wash your car? Did you go to the beach? Did you watch
television? Did you clean house? and so forth.
Another technique used in chans is to ask the students' opinion about
some issue. Ih the following table, the students are asked to consider
each activity in relation to health — is the activity good, bad, or
irreEevant to good health?
Commandments for Health
1. Take a bath daily.
2, Eat vegetables frequently
3. Lie in the sun.
4, Do exercises.
5. Drink a glass of wine daily.
6. Smoke cigarettes.
7. Drink 10 cups of coffee daily,
8. See a doctor regularly.
9, Keep your house clean.
10. Don't spend much money.
Students examine the commandments, make notes and then
participate in a follow-up in which they mustjustify their answers. The
follow-up can be done in small groups or with the class as a whole — it
might be wholly student directed or controlled by the instructor
depending on the proficiency of the students

Revealing Information about Yourself

Many activities involve simply supplying personal information as a
basis for discussions (as in the chart activities of the previous sections)
106 The Natural Approach

or stating opinions about some issue or topic. in the foiiouing exarnpie,

the siudenis have to match beverages and occasions. Occasions
Beverages
breakfast (a) soft drinks
(2) lunch {b) coffee
(3) dinner (c) tee
(4) before going to bed(dl iced tea
(5) at a palty (e) mixed drinks
(6) on a picnie (f) beer
(7) to celebrate (g) fruit juice•
(8) after playing footbal (h) milk Shake
(9) after swimming (i} lemonade
( 10) to stay awake (J) milk
(k) water

In the follow-up, will supply comprehensible input:

What do you drink for breakfast? (coffee). How many drink coffee?
Why is coffee such a popular drink in the morning? In which counties
is coffee not used? What is a popular substitute for coffee? Are there
some refigions which do not coffee? What is the name of the
stimulant in coffee? What are otherpopular breakfast drinks? (juices).
What are yourfavorite juices?
In a similar activity, the students use adverbs of frequency to describe
their eating habits,
How frequendy do you eat the following foods? Use (1) a lot
(2) sometimes (3) almost never (4) never [or your answers,

1. For breakfast leat: 2 For lunch leat:

a. eggs a. a sandwich
b, ham b. spaghetti
c, cereal c. fried potatoes
d hamburgers d. a salad
e. beans e. fried chicken
f. bananas f. pancakes
The follow-up teacher-talk is similar to the previous activity on
beverages: Who eats eggs for breakfast? How do you cook your eggs?
Does anyone like soft boiled eggs? Who eats meat in the moming?
What kind? Why are certain meats prefered for breakfast? Why not?
Does anyone eat hamburgers for breakfast? Why? Why not?
Bananas?
 Oral Communication Development 107

The following activity combines several techniques. It is a problem

solving activity in which the students cooperate in a small group to
create a chart.
You and yourfriends decide to put together a pot luck meal. Each one
of you biing something different. Decide who b'ing what and fill out
the following table.
Name Food

In the the instuctor will want to find Ol'" vho is bringing what
and why they decided to bring that particular dish. Maybe some of the
students will volunteer to explain one of their favorite recipes, Activities
Using the Imagination
There are various sor# of experiences in which the students are asked
to imagine some situation, some person, or some interaction which might
take place, After a period, they are asked to describe to the class what
they "saw" and "said"
One common technique is to ask that students close their eyes and
imagine a place with certain characteristics, for example, a pleasant
place or a frightening place. After they have finished their visualizations,
they volun tarity describe what they imagined either to the class as a
whole or in small groups.
Visualizations serve as a basis for comprehensible input in two ways.
First, the insttuctor may choose to guide the visualizations explicitly (ap
propriate pauses are not marked):
Think of a pleasant place, It may be outdoors or indoors. Look
around you. Notice as much as you can, Try to fee/ the air around
you. What is the weather like? Can you see the sun? Is it cloudy? is
it warm? Cold? Is it a calm day or are there storms on the hohzon?
Perhaps it is raining. Now get up and walk around your
environment. What is the first thing you see? Look at it carefully.
Describe it in your mind. Is it large? What is the shape? Are there
colors? Is this thing you see alive? What is it doing?
Another common activity is to imagine some hypothetical situation
and ask the students to relate what went on in the situation. For
example. the instructor might ask the student to speak with Napoleon
108 The Natural Approach

and give him ad vice in his campaign against RLRsia. Or, the student
might intewiew his great, great grandmother as she crossed the plains in
a covered wagon on the way to California.
In these sorts of activities, the students usual\yare divided into groups
for the initial part of the activity and then the instructor does the follow-
up with the class asa whole. In this initial stage, the students receive a
good deal of
 Oral Communication Development 109
interlanguage input and have ample opportunities to express
themselves using their imagination. In the follow-up, the instructor has
the oppoftunity to give comprehensible input in the form of questions,
and reactions.
In some activities the students may be asked to role play, A favorite
topic is a group of people marooned on a desert island. Or, another
group may be the first explorers on another planet describing by
television what they encounter on the new planet,
The important point with activities using the imagination is that the
students be interested in each other's experiences and that the focus
be main tained on the topics which arise It is the instructor who in the
follow-ups to these activities must continue to provide good
comprehensible Input.

PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITIES

lhe primary characteristic of these sorts of activities is that the

students' attenfion is focused on finding a colyect answer to a
question. a problem or a situation. Language is used to present the
problem and solve it; but language is not the overt goal of the activity.
These sorts of activities are only successful if the students find them
interesting, either because they are useful in some way or simply
because they are an enjoyable activity. In many cases, they can be
personalized; often they can be transfomed into a game.
Comprehensible input in problem-solving activities is supplied in
several ways. Often, the instructor gives comprehensible input in
explaining the problems to be solved. In many cases, the students
work on a problem in small groups using the target language to discuss
and solve the problem or find the desired information. This produces,
of course, interlanguage input. In other cases, the class and instructor
discuss the problem together and Solve it together, providing ample
opponunities for both sorts Of input: teacher-talk and student
interlanguage,

Tasks and Series

In the tasks model, the instructor or students choose a specific
activity The object is to describe all the components of the activity.
Suppose, for example, the topic is "washing a car," There will be three
stages in the activity In the initial stage the insouctor will guide the
students in developing the vocabulary necessary to talk about the
activity. Then, together the class and instructor create utterances to
describe the sequence of events to complete the activity. For example,
in the above activity the class might say, First I look fora bucket and a
sponge orsome rags Then I park the car in the driveway. I use the hose
 The Natural Approach
to wash the carfirst with water only, These utterances are developed
slowly with interspersed discussion, Which is bet-
ter to use, a sponge or a clean rag? Shouid you use soap or other
cleaners (such as detergents) to wash a car? During the final stage after
the sequence is constructed the discussion will broaden to include
questions and discussion concerning the specific activity in the
students' own lives, How often do you wash your car? When? Where?
Do you enjoy it? Why? Why not?
If possible, students can actually do the task, which tums this into
TPR lesson. Consider the following example. 7

GOOD MORNING
1. It's seven o'clock in
the morning
2. Wake up.
3. Stretch and yawn and
rub your eyes.
4. Get up.
5. Do your exercises.
6, Go to the bathroom.
7. Wash your face,
8 Go back to your bedroom.
9, Get dressed
10, Make the bed.
11. Go to the kitchen.
12. Eat breakfast.
13. Read the newspaper.
14. Go to the bathroom and brush your
teeth.
15. Put on your coat.
16. Kiss your family goodbye.
17. Leave the house.
For this activity, the instructor brings to class as many props as
possible. In this case. a minimum amount of items would include a
washcloth, a toothbrush, a newspaper, and an overcoat In preliminary
conversation, the instructor talks about the props and infroduces the
students to the context of the series. Step 00 is an initial demonstration
of the series in which the instructor repeats the sentences one by one
demonstrating the action described by each sentence. This may require
several presentations if a number of new words is involved. The third
 Oral Communication Development 111
step involves the clas As the instructor again repeats the series the
students must all act out the activity being described. If desired, the
students read and copy the list of sentences. The instructor can answer
any questions and clear up doubts that remain about the meaning of
specific words or phrases. Finally, the students work in pairs and give
each other these same commands (perhaps in random sequence, if
they likel
One useful technique for stimulating student narration as well as
pro-
110

viding input is the "series". This consists of a series of photographs or

drawings which make a story. The students create the story using the Ian
guage at their particular level, In the following example, the normal
reaction is to narrate the story using past tense. But there are other
possibilities. The instructor may ask the students to imagine that this is
what is going to happen, or to give their reaction to each event,

Comprehensible input in a series activity can be supplied by the

teachertalk which may precede students' creation of the story and/or
accompany

What is this young woman doing in picture one? (waking up).

Where is she? What time of day shall wesay it is? Do you want
togive her a name? How old is she? What does she do in picture
two? What does she do in picture three? Why? etc.
 The Natural Approach
Charts, Graphs and Maps
Newspapers, magazines, and brochures in the target language can be
excellent sources of tables, charts, diagrams, maps and so forth. These
contain information which can be utilized to create communicative
Situations quite easily since in all cases the student will be involved in
searching out infomation. Thus, message focus is automatically
maintained, If interest in the task is created, the activity can be
successful in providing input
In the following chart of bus fares from a timetable, the students have
only to match locations with fares 8
FARES: CHILD Long Beach
10
i 30
Mun, Airport
ADULT
S260 $1 30
1-55
Anaheim .75
Buena Park 45
Fullerton
Long Beach int'l Airport
.90 ADULT CHILD
Airpoll Airport
S5.30 S2-65
Seal O.C,Apt,
$5.20 S2.60 355 1.80
5 20 2.60 S2.20 s.ao• 265
Beach 5.20 2.60 2.60 6_95'
Orange 4.20 2.10 6.95' 3.50'
4.80 2.40 3-55
Santa Ana
g.oo 3.05 i 3,05'
John Wayne Airport 5.95 50 .90
(Orange COD 5.95 3_oo
Apt.) 6.95 3.50
6.95 3 so 7.60' 380*
Newport Beach 7.55 380 90
El Toro
7,30• 3.65'
Laguna Hills/
Mission Viejo 8.75 4040 175 8.75•
This sort of chart is easily adapted to various levels. In the early
production stages, questions directed at fares (How much does it cost
to travel from Seal Beach to the Long Beach Airport?) require that the
students understand the question, but they only produce numbers in
their responses, As comprehension abilities increase, the same sort of
table can be the basis of more complex questions (Which is more
expensive, to travel from Newport Beach to Los Angeles International
Airport or to travel from Santa Ana to Ontario International Airport? If
you could take a flight from either John Wayne Omnge County Afrport
or from Los Angeles Intemational Airport, and you were living in Buena
Park, which would you prefer? What factors other than price would
enter into your decision?).
 Oral Communication Development 113
The following example of a table contains information about trips
which vanous students took: 9

SPENDING MONEY
TRANSPOR. TIME MONEY SPENT
TATION THERE dollars) (U.s.
NAME PLACE dollars)

Bob Draper San Francisco train 3 weeks $ 300 $ 200

Gino Leone Ann Naples plane 1 month 800 7 00
Gronberg Mexico plane 10 days 600 500
Paris plane 2 weeks 500 400
Kate Irwin
Vermont bus 6 days 100 90
Mike Young
The Thompsons New York
plane 2 weeks 1.000 1000
Sue Martin California train 1 week 200 100

After some work with these two activities, it will be a simple matter
to construct a similar table using students in the class and recent trips
they have made. 'Ihe follow-up discussion then can go in the direction
the class interests lie as we suggested in the previous section.
 Maps can be used in the same way as charts, tables and graphs. khe
following map, locating various buildings will allow practice in asking,
giving, and finding directions. In the case of beginners with limited
production, the map can be used in conjunction with an open-ended
dialogs as in this case: 10
A: Can I help you?
B: Where's the

ThetJnweßllyCoffeeShap

Chase

Even more profitable, of course, are copies of real maps of cities

which the students could possibly visit. Especially valuable are the so-
called
"courist maps" in which the places of interest are fdendfied or pictured. In
the following map acfivity, stadents work in pairs with two
complementaty maps and complementary sets of instructions. The
students with Map A follow the inmctions in "A" and the students with
 Oral Communication Development 115

Map B follow the instructions in Map i The student with Map "A" guides
the student with Map "B" to the locadons that are marked on Map A but
not on Map B and vice versa These sorts of activities give the students an
opportunity to produce a great deal Of the target language and to receive
com prehensible input in the fom of interlanguage talk.ll

FIR
ST ST. FIRST ST,

1, You are 'he Park Ask your partner bow to get to the Record and Bookstote_ When you arrive write in the name
01 ghe store.
2. You juvt a bike the bkycle shop and nvsv you 10 register bike the Polite Stanort,
Ask your partner how to gee to the PEce station to your bicycle the Pohce Station
3, You are at the Record and Bookstore and you see you are very on gas, Ask your partner to to
the Gas Stahon. Label the Station
4. You at You have there all dB,y endyou have headache. You need Ask get 10 the
Drug-stow. Label the
5. You meet a friend at thu Drugstore and decide rneet for dinner the local Chinese restaurant You
to ask for dåections so c-nust ask jsour map partner hour to get there from the Dtugqore Obel
the Chinese Resmrant.
 The Natural

6_ You are In class one day at school and suddenly you remember you to get a haircut
tomorrow, Ask your how toget to the Barber
Parloqn•tdircuttets.

114 Approach

FIRST ST, FIRST 5T.

rode your bike to (he Zoo and you leave you notice that you have a nal tire. Ask your partner
hogv go gel to the Shop. Label the Bike Shop,
2. You are the Bicycle Shoo and you remember that you ase supposed to take a ('bight class at the
High School at 6:00 p.m. Ask your partner wheæ the f'åqh School is lh.e Bicycle Shop, the
school,
3. After ciass you need to buy groceries dinner Ask your partner how to to the Super rnarket from
the HiVb School. Label lhe tnarket.
4. You are the park on a picnic friends and you need d can opener fot your cold drinks, Ask your
panne• how get 10 Hardware Store from the perk, Label it,
 Oral Communication Development 117

5. After the pier* remember that have to buy a gift lor a weddi1YN Ask wur partner how bo gel to
the the park. Department
6. You need to get a bus to another town You ask a at the Police Staticn how to get to the bus
station. Label the
 The Natural
115

Developing Speech for Particular Situations

One of the goals of the Natural Approach is to prepare the student to
use the target language in specific situations. In the "early" speech
stage we suggested the use of open dialogs and open-ended sentences.
Both of these techniques are also valuable in encouraging speech
production in particular situations. Suppose, for example, the
situational focus is making essential purchases, The following is an
example of an open dialog one might use in a post office.
Student I (clerk); May I help you?
Student 2 (customer): Yes, I'd like please
Student 1: Here you are That will be
(amount)
Student2:
The open-ended sentence will work the same except that the instructor
must supply a context. For example, the instructor might propose that
the students will be spending the weekend in the mountains. They will
be allowed to bring only foui things with them in addition to clothing
and food. The questions will be: What will you bring? The matrix
sentence is:
I will bring
A technique for somewhat more advanced students consists of
creating a situation and then asking the students to supply a complete
response. The following is an example of such an activity unitten for a
unit on "restaurants and foods",
1. You are in a restaurant full of people You approach the hostess
and you say to her ' '

2. You are eating out with your parents in a restaurant. All of a

sudden you discovera dead insect in your soup You call the
waiter over and you say to him

3. You know that yourfiendison a diet andisvery self-consciousofhis/

her weight. The waitress asks ifyou want some dessen„ You
interrupt quickly andsay "

4. You entera new restaurant vay late and find that it is completely
full. The hostessasks you ifyou have reservations. You say:

The descriptions of the situations themselves constitute comprehensible

input. but in addition there will be ample opportunity for more
 Oral Communication Development
teachertalk and student interlanguage in the follow-up to the activity in
which the students discuss the various responses, justifying their
responses and com, menting on them. These are also good occasions for
discussing cultural differences, discussions which may also serve as
comprehensible input.
Note that the activities described in this secfion are not to be done as
"communicative competence" exercises — we do not demand or expect
full accuracy in appropriateness, just as we do not expect it in grammar.
As we noted earlier (see footnote 3, Chapter Four), the rules for
communica-
116 Approach

tive competence, or appropaiateness, are complex and only pariia\ly

described by scholars. We expect such rules to be acquired after
substantial interaction with native speakers. The goal of these activities
is to prepare students to participate in certain real-life situations with
some efficiency, so that they can gain the input that will eventually
make their perfcmance more error-free.
This approach does not preclude the possibility of directly teaching
certain aspects of appropriateness and politeness that are simple to
learn and important for smooth communication. These can be done as
short routines and dialogs, Subtler disfinctions, such as the difference
between May I help you? and Could I be of assistance? or At your
service! will wait for acquisitions
The situational dialog which we previously discussed, in which the
students actually create a dialog and role-play, is the most usual
technique for acquiring situational speech skills, but of course
students must be fairly well advanced in speech production forit to
function well. Another possibility for students who are producing a fair
amount is the situation reaction, The instuctor sets up the situation
andsohcits students' reactions. The following are three examples of
possible situaäons:
1. Your washing machine is broken. You called the repair service
two days ago and they made an appointment with you for today
at 11 am, You have waited all moming and no one has shown up.
What will you do?
2. You just meta young woman attheschoolbookstore. You
exchanged telephone numbers and you promised to call at 6 this
evening. You call, but her roommate tells you that she has left
and left no message. What is your reaction?
3. You are at the bank. The teller is in the middle of taking care of
you When she is called away by hersuperior; Fifteen minutes
later you are still waiting, What should you do?
 The Natural
In a variant of this model, the students are divided into groups of
three or four. Each group is given a hypothetical situaåon. The group
has to decide how it would react in that particular situation and to
justify its reacåon to the class. Other groups will probably react
differently. class can then speculate on reasons for different reactions.
For example, You are ten years old. Today you have an exam in
yourmath class which you have not really studied for. What can you do
so your mother will let you stay home?

Advertisements
Newspapers or magazine advertisements are an excellent source of
topics for discussions, As noted in Chapter Four, they can be adapted to
either early or intermediate production stages, In the following ad," for
example, questions for students in early production stages would
concen-
117

frate on prices and other info:maäon involving numbers. How much

does G twin-size bedspread cost? What is the telephone number Of the
Fox Hills Mall store? For students whose speech is more advanced+
the questions should be personalized Do you use a bedspread?
Describe it. Do you make your bed event dav? Why? Why not? and so
forth.

CUSTOM QUILTED VELVET

PATCHWORK BEDSPREADS
(Multi, Brown, Blue, Blond, Rust, Green)
ANY COLOR TWIN $99 Reg. $200

King Water Bed $119 Reg. $200

Full, Queen or King $129 Reg. $220

Puente
Hills Mall 965-1656
 Oral Communication Development
686-2806 Fox Hills Mall 390-7765 871-0077 Northridge Fashion
Center
885-9060 873-7460

HOME SHOPS
As comprehension and production increase, the difficulty level of the
ads can be increased In the following ad, i3 there are ample opportunities
for the students to practice guessing at the meaning of new words or
expressions from context (carry-on, gamnent bag, foam padded carrier,
etc.). Questions might include: What is the advantage Of a concealed
identification area? Why do some have wheels while others do not?
What is the meaning of canyon? And of course personalization: Who
owns a complete set of luggage? Where did you buy it? Have you used it
often? If I
118 Approach

wanted to buy new luggage, where could you recomtnend ihQi I go foi
good quality? Which is more important, quality or pHce?
 The Natural
M&M VERDI SIMPATICO COLLECTION
Great Savlngs Conen%d

BarrelT6te
Luggage Dept.

Oh!rbachS
WiLShire et Fairfax • Dal Amo Feshbn Ware
• Panorama City