Bringing External Situations into the ELT Classrooms Through Dialogues
İsmail Çakır, Turkey
Ismail Çakir is an assistant professor at the Department of English Language and Teaching, Faculty of Education, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey. He had M.A. and Ph.D degrees in English Language Teaching. His research interest is in Foreign Language teaching to young learners, the use of Multiple Intelligences Theory in TEFL, language teaching and language teaching methodology, teaching grammar and teaching culture. He has several publications on Foreign Language Teaching. E-mail: ismcakir@yahoo.com
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Introduction
What is dialogue?
Why do we use dialogues?
Do dialogues enhance communicative competence?
What do they offer to language learners?
Some general key points in presenting dialogues
Conclusion
References
In foreign language teaching classroom, every teacher inevitably encounters dialogues specially designed by the text book authors in line with the course syllabus. Therefore, teachers mostly rely on – are often tied to – text books and other teaching materials at their hands. In these situations the name of the game is often to follow the text books offered or suggested. Invariably, teachers have to tackle with these materials, and need to know how to handle the dialogues presented within the units. Keeping all this in mind, this study aims at presenting some key points in teaching dialogues in the EFL classrooms.
To start with it would be better to define what it means. In general, dialogue is a special kind of discourse employing distinctive skills to achieve mutual understanding. Linguistically speaking, it is a term used very frequently in applied linguistics to refer to conversations serving to fulfill one or more purposes in language teaching such as contextualizing or setting the scene, focusing the attention on the meaning, familiarization, creation of new utterances, etc. According to Pat Pigg (1976:291) dialogues are meaningful natural excerpts of conversation focused on one point of English usage and capable of stimulating further conversation. That is to say, a dialogue in foreign language teaching, as we usually understand it, is a natural conversation to be presented either orally or in writing, practiced, and drilled in class (Pilleux, 1969:203).
It is accepted that language is primarily speech and its primacy is valid in a correct communication. We, foreign language teachers, believe that communicative skills should be developed as much as possible if we want our pupils to communicate appropriately in the target language. However, Albright (1979) claims that most students cannot reach a satisfactory level of proficiency if text books do not present materials designed to develop communicative skill. One of the reasons for using dialogues, most probably the underlying purpose, is to enable learners to promote their communicative competence through which they can get the ability to be able to use the target language appropriately. The other factors could be to stress on the language items such as vocabulary, structure, pronunciation and culture.
Needless to say, the importance of communicative competence in learning a language has been put forth by Hymes (1972). In this respect, in an attempt to develop students' communicative competence, a large number of conversations exemplifying real life situations, and communicative activities on all four language skills should be abundantly used in language teaching curriculum. From the dialogue teaching perspective, it can be stated these fours skills are integrated when the principles to be mentioned below are followed. What is intended in dialogue should be not only rules but also communication since knowing just the rules do not always lead to satisfactory communication. For that reason, the dialogues to be taught need to convey this issue and they should not totally violate linguistic or social principles.
Taking this issue into account, as both dialogues and conversations share much in common they have to fulfill certain linguistic and social rules in order to be successful. In most everyday conversations the speakers and the listeners are not aware of the rules they obey, because more attention is paid to content than to organisation. Nevertheless, some organisation is essential in order to accomplish certain speech acts such as greetings, inquiries, comments, invitations, requests, refusals, promises, etc. On the other hand, it would not always be possible to select a grammatically correct dialogue if we are stick to teach the target language as it is. What is important here is to present the target language in social contexts and teach the language itself and not the grammar. Last but not least, we all know that it is pivotal to be able to use the language where and when necessary which is what the communicative competence requires. Moreover, it is true that linguistic competence is not always enough to communicate unless it is furnished with the communicative competence.
As aforementioned, dialogues play an increasingly important role for a myriad of language teachers especially in the presentation stage of the lesson. When viewed through teaching materials, it can be said that they are an ideal way of bringing external situations into the classroom and demonstrating the use of the new structure in natural context. Put another way, it certainly offers a milieu where most of the intended teaching points can be practised without making the lessons boring but more enjoyable. In this respect, it can be added that the use of them in the classroom adequately helps learners grasp the target language more efficiently due to the natural, meaningful contexts they provide with new structures and vocabulary.
In a word, while working on dialogues in the classroom we automatically create an opportunity for learners to practice language in terms of its pronunciation, stress, intonation, pitch etc. Their listening comprehension skills also develop and they learn new vocabulary in the social contexts. Moreover, culture of the target language is presented via the various discourses within dialogues.
We should keep in mind that dialogues are useful source of materials to present the functional language and students mostly enjoy working on them when they are presented appropriately. We can either teach new vocabulary or stress on the pronunciation or focus on a language item with the help of dialogues regardless of learner’s ages and levels. To get learners’ attraction and teach the target point, here are some general principles that we can implement in the classroom. Teachers, of course, do not have to rely on these steps; they can adapt and change them depending on the levels of learners and their intentions etc. Here are the steps and activities that can be followed while teaching dialogues.
Before presenting the dialogue
Teach new words and structures (vocabulary and grammar).
Set the scene for the dialogue. (Using some materials such as stick figure drawings on the blackboard, flannel board figurines, or puppets, or the illustrations in the student’s book)
While presenting the dialogue
Read the dialogue at normal speed, once or twice, indicating the different speakers as you read. As you read different exchanges, you may change your voice, change your position, use facial expressions and gestures or point to the figurines, pictures or drawings.
If the books have CDs or cassettes, let students listen to the dialogue a few times so that they can hear the native speakers.
Read the dialogue again, sentence by sentence and have the students repeat each sentence after you in groups and individually. Split up long sentences for easier repetition, but remember to put the sentences together again.
Students open their books and read the dialogue aloud. Three or four individual pairs/groups of students should be asked to read. Be ready to do any pronunciation work at this stage, at the end when students finish reading the dialogue.
Ask questions on the dialogue. These questions should test the students’ understanding of the meaning of the dialogue.( Books open or closed.)
Put key words (cues) or visuals for the dialogue on the board. These should be content, not structure words. Get students, books closed, to reconstruct the dialogue from these key words.
Mime or various visual aids can be used instead of, or in addition to key words. Three of four individual pairs of students should be asked to reconstruct the dialogue like this.
Give cues for substitutions in the dialogue. Remember that the substitutions must fit in with the sense of the whole dialogue. Students should also be encouraged to use their own substitutions. We do this step to show that the pattern is not always used in the situation given in the dialogue.
After presenting the dialogue
Get students to continue where the dialogue stops. (a writing or speaking activity)
Get students, working in groups, to compose other dialogues arising from the situation of the dialogue (group work, collaborative working).
Gradually erase is another exercise that students enjoy. Teacher puts the dialogue on the board and erases a few words each time. This continues until it is totally erased.
Dictate the dialogue and check the spellings.
To sum up, as dialogue is one of the teaching activities taking part in language teaching, we need to know how to handle them skillfully keeping in mind that an authentic dialogue always brings external situation into the classroom along with the new structure and vocabulary inherent in. In teaching setting not only are students needed to be active, but teachers need to bring their creativity to the fore as well. They should be able to create a relaxing and attractive teaching atmosphere by means of the audio-visual materials, and students should be encouraged to get involved in this process enriched with teaching activities such as reading aloud, role-play, acting out, repetition, substitution drills, pair work, group work, reconstruction of the words or sentences, question and answer, problem solving, continuing the dialogue...etc.
Alright, R. "Language Learning Through Communicative Practice" in the Communicative Approach To Language Teaching, ed. C.J. Brumfit; J.K Jhonson. OUP.1979.
Demirezen, M. Phonemics and Phonology Theory Through Analysis, Bizim Büro Basımevi
Ankara, 1986.
Hymes, D. "On Communicative Competence" In Sociolinguistics, ed. J.B. Pride; J. Holmes.
Harmondsforth: Penguin, 1972.
Lavery, C. Having fun with dialogues. 2006.
www.britishcouncil.org/languageassistant-teaching-tips-dialogues.htm
Liz & John Soars, Headway Pre-Intermediate Coursebook and its cassette, OUP, Oxford,1994
Oxenden, C.& Seligson, P. English File and its cassette, OUP, Oxford,1997.
Pigg, D. "Choosing and Using Dialogues" in TESOL vol.10. September,1976.
Charleston Latin 21,06,06, 10;34
Pilleux, M. The Dilogue:A Useful Tool in Language Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, vol 3. No3. pp 203-206
Please check the Making the Most of a Coursebook course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Methodology for Teaching Spoken Grammar and English course at Pilgrims website.
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