Interaction Activities in tho

Foreign Classroom, ot

How to Grow a Tulip-Rose

Christina Bratt Paulston and Howard R. Selek,man

ABSTRACT This paper is a report on using a foreign language for spontaneous communication in an elementary language class. Correction- free, peer communicative-interaction activit ies should follow the Paulston (TESOL Quarterly, June 1971) MMC structural pattern drilling if

This paper reports on a project using a foreign

language for f r e e communication in a beginning language class. The original impetus for t he

project was found in two articles, one by Wilga 1 2 Rivers and one by Christina Bratt Paulston.

The first par t of the paper outlines the conceptu- al framework; the second reports on classroom

procedures and techniques.

There a r e many indications that standard

audiolingual theory in foreign language teaching

is outmoded. W e deliberately use such a word for,

in many cases, i t seems that we a r e merely ex- changing one set of assumptions for another with-

out much empirical evidence. Some of t he more extravagant claims of the cognitive codists accu-

rately ref lect the current fashions in linguistics,

I . "Talking Off t h e Tops of Their Heads," TESOL Quarter ly , 6 (1972), 71-81.

2. "The Sequencing oi St ruc tu ra l P a t t e r n Drills," Quarter&, 5 (1971), 197-208.

Chris t ina Bra t t Pauls ton (Ed.D., Columbia University) is Asso- c i a t e Professor of Linguistics a t t h e Universi ty of Pi t tsburgh, Pi t tsburgh, Pa.; Howard R. Selekrnan (M.A., Universi ty of Pi t tsburgh) is an Instructor in t h e English Language l n s t i t u t e a t t h e s a m e university.

autonomous language use is t o be achieved. Such interaction proves exhilarating and highly moti- vating for students due t o i t s realistic CornrnuN. cat ive force. Four such activit ies are outlined according to procedures, objectives, and evalua- tions.

but evidence to support these claims is still lack-

ing. In these days of claims and counterclaimsin the foreign language teaching field, we might do

well t o look for areas of consensus. There is increasing change from an emphasison

teaching to an emphasis on t h e learning situation,

along with interest in individualized instruction

and a recognition tha t learning strategies vary with individuals. There seems t o be general, if

vague, agreement tha t exclusively teacher-cen-

t e r ed learning is not the most efficient way to teach. No one argues with Wallace Lambert's

findings tha t one of the most basic factors in

language learning is m ~ t i v a t i o n . ~ The conclusion

for t he classroom teacher should be simple: it

would make sense t o s t ructure t h e situation so

t ha t t he student learns through meaningful corn-

munication with his peers in a situation he enjoys.

As we say in Swedish, i t is simple enough tosay

'tulip-rose,' but another m a t t e r to grow one.

3. Language, Psychology and Cu l tu re (Stanford, Stanford Universi ty Press , 1972).

Calil.:

248

249

me unstated assumption is t h a t our objectives ilanguage teaching have not changed; we a r e

$ill mainly concerned with giving our students

linguistic and communicative competence in a

lweign language, knowing when to say what t o

vhom in a comprehensible manner. Reading CwIses, translation courses, explication d e t e x t e

CwIses have valid objectives, but i t is only Mrough a clear focus on our objectives t h a t we

canevaluate the results of our teaching.

Many of our students read and t rans la te qu i te

nll, but when i t comes to talking French or

German or Spanish they a r e worse than hesitant, they are tongue-tied and embarrassed. As Rivers

pints out, we still have not come to grips with

our basic problem: how to develop communica-

tiveability, how t o engineer t h e g r e a t leap t o an

autonomous stage of language use.4 Perhaps

communicative language use cannot be taught, but it most certainly can be learned--and oppor-

tunities for such learning should become routine

in the language classroom. Nostudent sprang fully-Spanish-speaking from

his teacher's forehead, and one cannot deny t h e

crucial necessity for acquiring language skills

before using them (skill-getting and skill-using in River's modelh5 Nor can one acquire sufficient

skills to communicate in a language if these skills

are never used for communication. Thus, t h e problem becomes one of carefully sequencing

learning activities from mechanical mas tery of linguistic forms t o communicative interaction in

language. Sandra Savignon's study points out

that students can be qui te patient during t h e form-acquiring s tage if they know tha t they can

soon use these forms for a practical purpose.

6

There are four stages in this process from me-

chanical learning t o f r e e communication: me- chanical drills, meaningful drills, communicative

drills, and communicative interaction. Two

4. $g., 72. I. @., 73.

6 . C i i r r . ~ .ri.catlve ( : o i n E e r i r e : .4n Experiment .n Foreign- : a n g L ~ c ~ ~ g T d e l p ~ ~ C e n ter for c u r ric u] urn De- ie!spnent, 1972).

points need to be stressed. Each pa t t e rn should

be taken through t h e sequence of all t h ree classes of drills and, if possible, then used in a communi-

ca t ive interaction activity. Often, however,

t he re is no control of language pa t te rns in t h e communication activity, as the students use t h e

pa t te rns they need and know. Some may object t h a t this is not possible within t h e t ime available.

I t is, if one eliminates t h e many mechanical drills students a r e asked t o parrot, and instead substi-

t u t e s meaningful and communicative drills.

The o ther point is t ha t communicative drills

should be present in t h e classroom within t h e f i r s t

week of a beginning course and communication activit ies not l a t e r than t h e third week. As Rivers puts i t , "Where we have been failing may well be in not encouraging this 'adventurous

spirit ' from an early s tage , with t h e result t ha t t h e s tudent finds i t difficult t o move from struc-

tu red security t o the insecurity of reliance on his

own resources ....It7 Indeed, with our emphasis on immedia te reinforcement of cor rec t response,

we may have carefully trained students not t o

make any response at all unless they know i t t o be

cor rec t .

8 Stage I: Mechanical Drills

These a r e the drills which form t h e co re of

audiolingual textbooks and which have led t o t h e severe (and justified) cri t icism of this approach.

A mechanical drill is a drill in which the re is

comple te control of t h e response and only one co r rec t way of responding. The ability t o prac-

t i c e mechanical drills without necessarily under- standing them is an impor tan t c r i te r ion in distin- guishing them from meaningful drills: if a non-

sense word can be inserted by t h e student as a meaningful word, t h e drill is mechanical. A drill

t h a t can b e done chorally is probably mechanical.

These drills a r e necessary in t h e beginning and in te rmedia te s tages of language learning in order

to memorize pa t te rns and achieve au tomat ic use

7. 9. G., 77.

8. For a detai led discussion of these classes of drills, s e e Paulstoo, 9. &.

9 Example of Mechanical Drills

Teacher: Carlos is studying. Student: What is Carlos studying? Bill is eating. The boys a r e playing. The women a r e cooking.

What is Bill eating? What a r e t h e boys playing? What a r e t h e women cooking?

of nianipulat ive pa t te rns , i.e., they provide prac-

t i c e i n mechanical associat ions such as adjec t ive-

noun a g r e e m e n t , verb endings. etc. They a r e done rapidly; 3 ten- i tem drill should t a k e about

seventy seconds. Three drills a r e usually suff i -

c i e n t for a p a t t e r n of a v e r a g e diff icul ty and a r e

best done chorally t o cnsure niaximum part ic ipa-

tion.

Ihe e x p e c t e d terminal behavior remains t h e

s a m e as in rnechanical drills: a u t o m a t i c use of

r n a n i p u l ~ t i v e pat terns . However , t h e s tudent

cannot ironiplete these drills without understand-

ing u h a t t ie I S saying s t ruc tura l ly andsernant ica l -

l y . 1-here is still control of t h e response, a l though

i t rnay be expressed in m o r e than one way; t h e r e

is d r ight aiiswt’r, and t h e s tudent is supplied with

t h e inforrnation necessary f o r responding, e i t h e r

by t h e teacher , t h e classrooin .iituation, or t h e

,+ssigned reading. Comprehension-type quest ions

arid answers based on assigned readings a r e i n this

c - 1 3 ~ of drills. Here is a meaiJingful drill on t h e

sirne teaching point ;is t h e mechanica l drill

above: 10

Teacher: Someone is eat ing. S tudent #I: Who is ea t ing? S tudent #2: (Bill) is eat ing. SI: What is Bill e a t i n g ? s2:

T: S o m e people a r e studying. s1: Who is s tudying? s2: s1: What a r e t h e y s tudying? s2: They’re s tudying (Amer ican poli-

Bill i s e a t i n g (an apple).

(Jane) a n d (Bob) are studying.

tics).

%i. \1ari Vru tori f k u d c r . - LlZIC: D r i u , r Oral Proficiency .- 111 L ~ l i ~ I ~ ( I ’ i r rh i rgh : l.iniversit) of Pittsburgh, 19721, p. 38.

These drills should be done individually or:

w h e r e possible, i n smal l groups or pairs. They

should be preceded by a g r a m m a t i c a l explana-

tion, arid t h e s t u d e n t s should be cor rec ted when

they m a k e mistakes. These drills of ten sound

hal t ing a f t e r a s e t of rnechanical drillc since the)

a r e much m o r e diff icul t for t h e s tudent .

S t a g e 3: Comrnunicat ivc Dr:lis

The objec t ive is normal s p e e c h for communica-

t ion, and w e m u s t insist on comprehensible

speech. The cont ro l is very loose, a n d t h e studect

c a n s a y whatever he & a n t s ; however , t h e drill I S

designed t o e l ic i t t h e p a t t e r n t h e c lass is uorking

on. The d i f f e r e n c e be tween this c lass of drills

a n d t h e o t h e r s is t h a t t h e s tudent nou supplies

new informat ion; h e te l ls us about himself. uhat

h e did or whdt h e thinks. U h a t e v e r t h e ansu.er,

t h e t e a c h e r c a n n o t a n t i c i p a t e i t .

These drills a r e t ime-conwming, and the stu-

d e n t s fumble and h e s i t a t e in a problem-sol\ing

approach t o language learning, but they a r e de-

veloping communica t ive abi l i ty and enjoying it.

Only e r r o r s which lead t o miscornprehension

should be c o r r e c t e d ; t h e s tudent needs cncour-

a g e m e n t t o express himself , a n d nothing is less

encouraging t \ a n cons tan t c o r r e c t i o n of rni5takes

when t h e s tudent is c o n c e n t r a t i n g on hi5 message.

This IS not y e t communicdt ion , because u e are

s t i l l within t h e realin of t h e cue-response pat-

tern. Here is an e x a m p l e of a communicative

drill:

T: S1: What are you doing? S2: Pm (s tudying English).

T: S1: What are you reading? 52: Fm reading (a novel).

1 1

Ask ( Jane) w h a t she’s dorng.

Ask (Bill) w h a t he’s r e a l n g .

I t , . It>,<’., - I), 38. 1 1 . k d . , pp. 38-39.

25 1

It is the next s t e p which is m o s t diff icul t , t h e leap into autonomous language use.

Stage 4: Interaction Act ivi ty

"We must work o u t s i tuat ions, f rom a n ear ly

stage, where t h e s t u d e n t is on his own, t ry ing t o use the language f o r t h e normal purpose of lan- guage: establishing soc ia l re la t ions , seeking a n d

giving information, expressing his reac t ions ,

learning to do something, hiding his in ten t ions or

talking his way o u t of t rouble , persuading, dis- couraging, enter ta ining o thers , o r displaying his achievements."l2 H e r e is our tulip-rose: a s i tua-

tion so structured t h a t t h e s t u d e n t learns pr imar- ilyfrom his peers a n d has a good t i m e doing i t .

These act ivi t ies t e n d to be noisy, bu t t h e

teacher need not be a l a r m e d if his supervisor i s not. The s tudents c o n c e n t r a t e so hard on the i r

task that they block o u t surrounding noise. The

noise, in fac t , a t t e s t s t h a t l anguage i s being used for purposeful communicat ion. Any f o r m of com-

munication is acceptable--gestures , drawings,

pantomime, a s well as language. T h e use of t h e

student's native language m a y g e t o u t of hand in

beginning classes, b u t Savignon r e p o r t s favorably

on it; her s tudents l e a r n e d t h e phrase very ear ly Comment dit-on 'XI e n f r a n c a i s ? This p r a c t i c e

tends to l imit t h e na t ive language to i so la ted

vocabulary i tems , a n d i t t e a c h e s t h e s t u d e n t s to

talk themselves out of t rouble . Vocabulary learn-

ed through i m m e d i a t e n e e d tends t o b e well re- tained.

,-

Grammar and pronunciat ion e r r o r s should be

both expected a n d ignored, a s long as t h e y d o n o t

interfere with meaning. T h e point here , as Rivers points out , is innovat ion a n d e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n

with the new language, a n d c o n s t a n t c o r r e c t i o n i s not conducive to exper imenta t ion . If t h e t e a c h e r

wishes, he c a n k e e p l i s t s of r e p e t i t i v e e r r o r s a n d discuss them l a t e r wi th individual s tudents .

What fol lows i s a n a c c o u n t of a s e r i e s of com-

municative i n t e r a c t i o n ac t iv i t ies . While a c c l a i m

for communicat ive ac t iv i t ies abounds o n t h e the- oretical level, t h e r e i s as y e t l i t t l e in t h e l i t e ra -

12. Rivers, OJ g., 76.

t u r e on t h e technique leve l which sys temat ica l ly a t t e m p t s to i n c o r p o r a t e impl ica t ions f r o m theory

i n t o classroom behavior. The fol lowing i s a n

a t t e m p t to d o so.

Background These i n t e r a c t i o n a c t i v i t i e s w e r e in t roduced in

t h e religious school of a synagogue in Pi t tsburgh. T h e sole purpose of Juda ic ins t ruc t ion in t h i s

school w a s to preserve a n d t r a n s m i t h e r i t a g e by giving s t u d e n t s exper iences a n d p r a c t i c e wi th congrega t iona l , l i tu rg ica l skills. Recent ly , a n

audiol ingual program in Hebrew was introduced.

The t e x t is q u i t e s imi la r to ear ly audiol ingual

mater ia l s . I t conta ins many drills, m o s t of them

mechanica l , a n d has m a n y dialogues to b e m e m o -

r ized ; p a t t e r n presenta t ions o f t e n i n t r o d u c e

t h r e e or f o u r g r a m m a t i c a l i t e m s s imultaneously.

A t t e m p t s at e v e n p s e u d e c o m m u n i c a t i o n a r e mi-

n u t e and i l l -sequenced in t h e c o u r s e of ac t iv i t ies , a n d n o communica t ion approaching t r u e in te rac-

t ion is o f f e r e d unt i l t h e second level. The s t u d e n t s a r e t w e l v e a n d t h i r t e e n y e a r s of

a g e a n d a t t e n d Hebrew school t h r e e t i m e s a week. Weekday sessions o c c u r a f t e r a ful l day of publ ic school. They a r r i v e e x h a u s t e d a n d a r e

e x p e c t e d to e x t e n d the i r a t t e n t i o n span f o r an-

o t h e r t w o hours. S tudent i n t e r e s t , for t h e m o s t p a r t , i s minimal; t h e so le mot iva t ion is t h a t at- t e n d a n c e i s a prerequis i te f o r t h e Bar/Bat Mitz-

vah. Many p a r e n t s h a v e a l so told the i r chi ldren

t h a t w h a t e v e r t h e y d o in Hebrew school is sec- ondary a n d less i m p o r t a n t t h a n the i r work in public school. Mechanical dr i l l ing was n o solut ion

to t h e problems, bu t t h e in t roduct ion of s o m e

hones t c o m m u n i c a t i v e i n t e r a c t i o n proved invalu- able.

Super Spy This game of i n t e r a c t i o n has b e e n enormously

successfu l w i t h s tudents , f o r i t i s loud, a l ive,

coopera t ive , compet i t ive , a n d fun. S t u d e n t s a r e

divided i n t o groups of four or f ive. Each s t u d e n t

in e a c h group has a c h a n c e to b e a 'spy.' Each round of t h e g a m e cons is t s of t h e following:

( I ) The sp ies f r o m e a c h team go outs ide t h e room as a group a n d d e c i d e o n a s e c r e t mission.

The f i r s t t ime we played, we h a d been s tudying Hebrew expressions f o r 'to have to d o something. ' The spy group was cont ro l led to t h e e x t e n t t h a t their mission had to b e expressed in t h e 'to h a v e t o d o something ' f o r m a t . Many t i m e s t h e spy group has not been given any guidelines. An example of a s e c r e t mission is, "I h a v e to go t o t h e s t o r e t o buy things for t h e Sabbath tomorrow." Each spy t e s t s t h e o t h e r s t o m a k e s u r e t h a t a l l spies a r e s u r e of t h e mission a n d c a n verba l ize t h e mission in Hebrew.

(2) The spies re turn t o the i r respec t ive groups, and t h e groups c o m p e t e to t r y to l e a r n t h e mis- sion f rom t h e spy following c e r t a i n ground rules:

(a) A word of English disqual i f ies t h e t e a m ; (b) A ban on asking in Hebrew, "What a r e

you supposed to do?' '

Problem solving is an i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t of th i s act ivi ty . If s t u d e n t s found themselves at a loss to express themselves in Hebrew, t h e y could use charades or drawings.

( 3 ) The f i r s t t eam t o decode t h e mission shouts ou t s o m e appropr ia te Hebrew expression indica- t ing the i r success. All t e a m s s top working while a representa t ive f rom t h e team--not t h e spy-- verbal izes t h e mission in Hebrew. If t h e repre- s e n t a t i v e is incor rec t , t h e o t h e r t e a m s g e t t w o m o r e minutes t o t r y a n d d e t e r m i n e t h e mission. If a t t h e end of t h e t w o minutes , n o o n e has t h e c o r r e c t answer, t h e spies revea l t h e mission in Hebrew, and a new round begins.

It is impor tan t t o n o t e t h a t t h e ins t ruc tor

makes no correct ions. A g r e a t deal of p e e r teaching goes on in such an ac t iv i ty . For exarn-

ple, one girl in her e x c i t e m e n t a n d f r u s t r a t i o n s t a r t e d tear ing at her mouth because s h e could n o t think of t h e r ight word to finish h e r question.

Another s tudent who was thinking along s imilar

lines fol lowed her quest ion andsuppl ied t h e miss- ing word. The girl 's relief was so g r e a t t h a t s h e

shouted "yes" in Hebrew. She will n e v e r f o r g e t

t h a t word! This exerc ise includes t h e fol lowing i m p o r t a n t ac t iv i t ies for t h e foreign language

class:

(1) Seeking information, ( 2 ) Giving information, ( 3 ) Hiding one's intent ions, (4) Problem solving, a n d ( 5 ) Displaying one 's ach ievements .

Guil ty P a r t y

This is basically a problem-solving ac t iv i ty : (1) A volunteer i s chosen who a g r e e s to b e t h e

gui l ty par ty . This s t u d e n t leaves t h e room.

(2) The class , in Hebrew, dec ides o n a par t icu- l a r fe lony th i s s t u d e n t has c o m m i t t e d , and t h e

gui l ty party is asked to r e t u r n to face his accus- ers .

(3) I t is t h e volunteer 's responsibility to find o u t f r o m his accusers what his fe lony is--without asking, "What did I d o wrong?" I g a v e no assis- t a n c e on how to go about this; I was interested to see what t h e s t u d e n t s would do on their own. Usually t h e y asked quest ions of t h e following type:

(a) When do I d o this? (They did not know pas t t e n s e yet.)

(b) Where do I d o this? (c) For what do I d o this? (d) Is anyone wi th m e when I d o this?

This goes on until t h e accused m a k e s a guess. If t h e p a r t y cannot a r r i v e at t h e c r i m e , t h e class usually te l l s t h e s tudent .

(4) The accused is n o t finished, f o r he must then defend himself a n d hope for acqui t ta l . He pleads h s case to t h e class , t h e class votes, and s e n t e n c e is passed.

O n e s tudent was accused of hi jacking a plane to

Cuba. Having discovered h is c r i m e , h e asked the

class if i t w e r e a n El-A1 airplane. The class

responded wi th an unfriendly, "No!" The defen-

d a n t t h a n asked if anyone in t h e c lass "sees me on t h e night I t a k e t h e plane?" A s t u d e n t responded

t h a t h e had indeed seen him, a n d t h a t he had a pic ture of him on t h e airplane. Defendant: "I w a n t to see it!'' (There is a p ic ture of a n airplane w i t h passengers on t h e bul le t in board.) The wit-

ness walked up t o t h e p ic ture , po in ted to a pas-

senger , a n d exc la imed, "Here you are!" The de-

f e n d a n t g o t up f r o m his cha i r , took a victory

brea th , m a r c h e d over to t h e p ic ture , and uttered

his vindication: "On t h e plane you c a n see the

n a m e El-AI. You s a y t h a t t h e p lane I t a k e is not

El-AI, a n d you s a y t h a t h e r e I a m on this El-AI plane. Then I c a n n o t t a k e t h e o t h e r plane to

Cuba!" This t u r n of e v e n t s angered t h e class, and t h e y i m m e d i a t e l y s e n t e n c e d him to l i f e in He-

brew school.

The Hebrew used was unabashedly atrocious,

b u t everyone was g e t t i n g t h e genera l idea. Par-

t i cu la r ly c ruc ia l m i s t a k e s w e r e n o t e d a f t e r the

round was comple ted . These e r rors w e r e items w e had c o v e r e d in drills a n d explanat ions, and the

c o m m e n t s w e r e very brief. Everyone g e t s prac-

t i c e in t h e fol lowing wi th this ac t iv i ty :

(I) Problem solving, (2) Seeking information, (3) Giving information, and (I) Talking one's way out of trouble.

Direct Line to Hebrew

The intent of this activity was to have the

rhrdents speak Hebrew on the telephone with a native speaker. A group of cooperative Israelis

agreed to help and were appraised in advance of

thevocabulary and s t ruc tures the students should havesome control of.

( I ) Each student is given the phone number of a native speaker.

(2) The student must call, introduce himself, and indicate why he is calling--in Hebrew, of course.

(1) The student must find out a task t h a t has 'beenplanned for him and tha t t he native speaker isready to give to the student. For example, in

' coordination with the 'have to do something' structure students were working with, one task was,"You have t o bring a prayer book t o Hebrew school tomorrow.I'

(4) It is the student's problem t o arrive at an understanding of the task if h e does no t irnmedi- ately grasp what the native speaker is communi- cating.

( 5 ) The student should thank the native speaker andmake a proper farewell.

(6) The student should complete the task as- signed and be prepared t o give the class in He- brew a summary of the phone conversation and the resulting activity.

Students were a bit nervous but anxious to give

it a try. They were very pleased with how plea- sant the native speakers were. The students were

told that they were speaking with people tha t did not know English. However, one student reported that at the end of t he conversation the Israeli

blurted in perfect English, "You speak Hebrew very well." The student was shocked and quickly

hung up. This has c rea t ed a credibility gap which

has to be remedied. Nevertheless, this is an

extremely valuable experience. The feedback

from the Israelis also proved interesting and ben- eficial. They could spot immediately those who

felt secure with the language regardless of mis- takes and those who were st iff and afraid to

relax. Those students who were stiff indicated

that they saw just how far pa t te rned dialogues

and practices would take them, and they wanted

to t ry t h e telephone conversation again.

Students g e t prac t ice in the following areas

with such activities:

( I ) Prac t ice in establishing social relations and polite formulas,

(2) Problem solving, ( 3 ) Giving information, (4) Seeking information, and (5 ) Displaying one's achievements.

Radio F ree Hebrew

This activity involved t h e c rea t ion of a typical radio program in Hebrew. The following s teps

involved class and instructor participation in the

c rea t ion of t he program.

(1) The class as a whole decided on t h e program for mat.

(2) The decisions regarding program fo rma t were reached by t h e students ' l istening t o a num- ber of radio programs to de termine t h e specific communications in a typical radio broadcast and t h e order in which these communications occur. This was done outside of class, and students were asked t o make lists of the various i tems they learned from the i r listening.

( 3 ) Students brought their lists to class, and we put all t h e various activit ies on t h e board. The class then made the choices for their program.

(4) The students decided on t h e following for- mat : Announcer: Sign-on and s ta t ion identification, Announcer: Announces a song t o be followed by

news, Song, News: Political-social, sports, interview

Commercial ,

Weather, Special bulletin, Time, Israeli national an them, Sign-off.

(5 ) Students volunteered for t he par t s they wanted t o help c rea te . Some students were indi- vidually responsible for parts; others worked in pairs, fo r example, in creating t h e interview with a prominent personality. The c rea tor was also responsible for being t h e broadcaster for his or her pa r t in t h e program.

( 6 ) The following l imitations and procedures were placed on the students while c rea t ing the i r par t s in class:

(a) Vocabulary, fo r t he most par t , had to c o m e f rom what s tudents had already worked with.

with prominent personality,

Song,

(b) No dictionaries were allowed. (c) Students who did not know how to ex-

press an item in Hebrew had t o go to other individuals and ask in Hebrew, "Do you know how to say 'x'in Hebrew?'' or some other appro- priate question.

(d) Only as a last resort could a student go t o the instructor. The a t t empt was to use as much peer teaching as possible.

(e) Once students completed their individu- al contributions, they made copies of their parts. These copies were then distributed ran- domly so that no one got his/her own part back. Students were told to correct any errors in vocabulary usage and grammar.

(f) Students underlined what they thought was wrong, and the papers were returned to their authors, who were instructed tolook over any errors pointed out by the other students. If a student disagreed as t o the presence of an error or if a student did not know how to cor- rect an error, t h e instructor held short confer- ences t o clear up these items.

(g) Students were told to go home and learn what they wrote, not for purposes of memori- zation, but for expressive delivery in imitation of radio announcers. Students were told tha t during the broadcast delivery they could have their notes but should maintain eye contact with the audience.

The remainder of the t ime before the 'broad- cast' was spent in rehearsing. The program,

which was 'broadcast' before 200 people during evening services at the synagogue, was very suc- cessful. Those in a t tendance also received an

English script.

This activity proved to be valuable and produc-

tive. I t is meaningful, spontaneous (even with limitations), and open to the originality and cre-

ativity of the students. I t also provides a creat ive outlet for quiet students. For first-year students,

the kinds of things they were able to express were an achievement of which they were justly proud.

Involved with this project a r e real interaction activit ies of:

( 1 ) Entertaining, (2) Displaying one's achievements, (3) Giving information, (4 ) (5) Problem solving, and (6) Establishing social relations.

Learning to make or do something,

The activit ies discussed a re exercises in 'skill-using' following 'skill-getting' activities.

Each exercise is an a t t empt to have students use

t h e target language in typical situations where they a r e accustomed t o using and hearing their

native language. They l e t t h e student overcome

his or her fear of using the language in fairly real situations without the anxiety of immediate ne- gative reinforcement. Enabling t h e student to muster up the courage t o communicate in the

language takes place in a non-threatening, free s tyle framework where all help each other. Stu- dents in Hebrew classes where these activities

were introduced showed dramatic and gratifying

changes. Their effor ts to complete the skill-

get t ing exercises became more intense and suc-

cessful because they wanted to t ry their ability

with a new structure in a skill-using activity, Communicative-interaction activities, of coursel did not end all of the problems in Hebrew school,

but their motivating capabilities were very high.

At the Same time, s tudents began early to grow

with their new language, using i t and their wits

for t h e real thing--communicating!

SUMMER SESSIONS ABROAD 1976

UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO

GUADALAJARA, Mexico. ~ U I Y 4 - August 7 $375.00 includes tuition, board and room and activities

- VALENCIA, Spain. / U I Y 2 - August 19 Several plans to fi t individual requirements from $728.00 including tui t ion, board and room, activities and R O U N D TRIP BY JET PLANE NEW YORK - M A D R I D -VALENCIA

VALENCIA, Spain. lu /y 2 - August 10 Program for High School Students includes tuition, room and board, activities, round trip, New Y o r k - Madrid - Valencia by Jet Plane - $795.00

For information: DR. CARLOS SANCHE; University of San Francisco San Francisco, California 9411

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