Humanising Language Teaching
Year 3; Issue 6; November 2001

By Aynsley Moore
A.K.Moore@durham.ac.uk

I got this idea, which was originally written by Mario Rinvolucri, from an old issue of IATEFL. Since then I have used it several times successfully and would urge you to try it too. It can be used with any group that would benefit from learning vocabulary like adjectives and adverbs and verbs. Here's what to do:

1. Tell your learners a true personal story. Use it to pre-teach some vocabulary and to let learners know a little more about you. Then, test them with some prepared comprehension questions.
   
   
2. Ask them to tell you a true personal story in writing. Tell them that you will choose the most interesting one as the basis of a future lesson. Tell them not to worry about spelling but to concentrate on communicating their ideas effectively. Collect all stories in.
   
   
3. Read them carefully and choose the one you think has the most potential. Then rewrite it on a computer using as many 'new' and 'difficult' words as possible. Don't be afraid to alter or add facts. Just let your fingers run wild.
   
   
4. Give a copy of the story to the student who originally wrote it. Ask them to study it hard but to keep it secret. Tell them that they will be responsible for helping others acquire the new vocabulary.
   
   
5. Use the story in class as a reading. How you use it is up to you. Think of exercises to make the most of the work. For example:
   • The student author reads it for others to answer who, what, when, where? ·
   • Give it out for all students to read carefully and answer more complex questions. Author can help explain vocabulary.
   • Students read it aloud for pronunciation.
   • Students search for synonyms in the story.
   • Students interview author to discover more information or to discover what is true and what is false.

The following examples are finished stories I have used. Unfortunately, it is not possible to show you what the learners themselves wrote but take it from me that they differ considerably. I chose these stories due to the learners' characters (i.e. comfortable, open, friendly, honest and happy to be the centre of attention) and the classes' interests. I would never use a story without the full consent of the student concerned.

My story took place in Mexico. It involved two of my best buddies and me. They are called Victor and Julio.

It was Thursday, October the 28th, in the year 2000. We were bored out of our skulls. We were biding our time, swinging in hammocks tied to big old trees, chatting and thinking about what we could do to relieve the boredom. We considered many possibilities. In the end however, we decided to visit San Carlos. For those of you who don't know my country, San Carlos is a beautiful beach approximately one hundred and twenty kilometres away from Hermosillo and Hermosillo is my neck of the woods, that is, it's where I'm from.

That afternoon, after deciding what to do and after a long siesta, we went to buy some supplies for the trip. Victor's father had agreed to lend us his car for a few days, so we met at my house and drove into town to stock up with some essentials. We bought some munchies to snack on during the drive and some things to keep us going once we arrived.

That evening we all stayed at my house. My mother cooked a delicious spicy chilli, which we ate with tacos and yoghurt and washed down with a few bottles of Sol. It was an entertaining evening. Everyone hit the sack feeling happy.

The following day we left at the crack of dawn, keen to avoid as much of the day's heat as possible. We had a great time in the car, laughing and joking, listening to music. The scenery was beautiful too.

We arrived in San Carlos a couple of hours later. We checked into the first hotel we found. It was called Flamingos. It only cost twelve pounds a night for a room, which seemed reasonable, but our room was disgusting! It was even more disgusting than Elena's room here in Durham. We found a dead rat in the toilet, which was just a hole in the ground anyway. There were no windows. It was full of cockroaches and ants. It smelt like rotting fish. The beds were made of concrete and the shower water was brown. However, it was not the worst aspect of our trip.

Despite the dodgy hotel, we had a ball! The weather was perfect. The beach was clean. The sea was warm and crystal clear. We met some school friends. People in the pubs and restaurants seemed friendly and the girls, oh boy, the girls!

A few days later, on October the 31st, Halloween, we left San Carlos at dusk to head home. After about an hour driving the sun had set and the world was black outside. Everything seemed fine until some lights began flashing on the dashboard. Victor said that it always happened. He told us to chill out and stop worrying. A few minutes later, though, the engine began coughing and spluttering. Victor didn't say anything but he seemed scared. Minutes later, the engine cut out totally and the car came to a slow halt.

We were all silent. All we could hear were insects singing. The only lights we could see were the stars and the moon. There wasn't anyone around for miles and miles. We were in the middle of nowhere. It was scary. Victor tried turning the ignition key but nothing happened. He had a look under the bonnet with a torch but couldn't fix the problem. We were stuck!

After hours worrying about bandits and thieves, a car came along. We flagged it down. Fortunately, the driver was a kind old farmer who agreed to give us a lift back to Hermosillo, so we pushed the broken car to the side of the road and set off.

We arrived home safely. When we explained the story to our parents, Victor's father was initially gutted about his car but then, after calming down, he was happy that nothing bad had happened to us.

We are planning to return to San Carlos this summer. I really hope that nothing happens to us but you never know.

This is a true story. It happened one day, some years ago, during my military service.

Unlike in Britain and America, military service is still compulsory in Iran. Is it compulsory in your country?

There were rumours that large groups of enemy soldiers were plotting to invade the country and rebels were terrorising locals in remote areas. These rumours were broadcast over the airwaves, on TV and radio, and they were printed in the national press. Soon, in cafes and in market places, the public began contemplating the grave possibility of war. In the army we knew, it was inevitable that we were going to be sent to reinforce some of the strategically important areas along the borders and to protect some of the remote villages. It was just a matter of time before we received our orders.

As expected, shortly after the rumours began, my squadron was ordered to go to Kurdistan. The next day, following breakfast, I packed my rucksack with some essential clothes and toiletries. By 10 am we were sitting in the back of a huge green truck. By 10:30 a convoy of military vehicles began snaking through the hot, arid, Iranian countryside. The journey was long and bumpy, which caused my bum to become sore. The dusty roads made my mouth dry. It wasn't the most pleasant journey of my life that's for sure!

Many hours later we arrived in a valley surrounded by snow-covered mountains. HQ (headquarters) was established. We camped here for the night.

In the morning the squadron was broken up into smaller units and these units were despatched to different areas, with different tasks. My unit was given the task of patrolling and protecting an area near the top of one of the mountains where there had been reports of rebels stealing money and property from locals. The worst reports stated that women had been raped. So, loaded up with heavy supplies, we set off. Walking became increasingly difficult, as we got higher up the mountain. The snow got deeper and it became colder.

We finally arrived in the early evening. We were all extremely tired and hungry. We hadn't eaten much all day. We set up camp in some caves. These gave us protection from the harsh elements and camouflage from any enemy forces. We collected wood, built a fire and cooked dinner. After dinner we smoked some cigarettes and chatted for a while, beside the fire, before going to sleep. Our homes seemed a million miles away.

From then on, we patrolled the area everyday. All was calm and trouble free for four or five days. Things soon went horribly wrong however.

One morning, six of us left our camp, to patrol the local environment. I carried a bazooka, the unit's leader carried a walkie-talkie linked to HQ and the other four troops carried light weapons and day supplies. For safety, to cover each other's backs, we walked in pairs separated by about one hundred metres. I was in the middle pair. Suddenly there were some shots coming from the rear pair - "bang, bang, bang". I hit the deck immediately and covered my head. Then I loaded my weapon and proceeded towards to area where I had heard shots…