Changing Methodologies in TESOL by Jane Spiro

Author:Jane Spiro
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

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Being exposed to examples of real spoken English helps to prepare learners for real-world communication.

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Teachers and learners can also be researchers of spoken language, gathering examples of the way language is spoken in their real-world context.

Table 6.8 Analysing a conversation from <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5188258.stm> (last accessed 24 January 2012)

Spoken English

What should the teacher notice?

A: I'm just . . .

B: You're leaving? (1)

A: No, no, no not yet. On this trade thingy (2) . . . (3) [indistinct] (4)

B: Yeah, I told that (5) to the man.

A: Are you planning to say that here (5) or not?

B: If you want me to.

A: Well, it's just that if the discussion

arises . . . (6)

B: I just want some movement.

A: Yeah. (7)

B: Yesterday we didn't see much movement . . .

A: No, no, (7) it may be that it's not, it may be that it's impossible. (8) (9)

1. Speakers often guess what other speakers are about to say, and complete utterances for one another

2. Vague language like ‘thingy’ is typical of spoken language.

3. Fragments of a sentence are sufficient to convey meaning or start a new topic.

4. We also fill silences with umms and ahhs, sometimes to show we haven't finished our comment and are searching for the next few words.

5. Speakers use words like ‘that’ ‘here’, ‘over there’, ‘this one’, which are clear to other speakers because they refer to knowledge shared by both about previous conversations, and the real world. These words which ‘point’ to something are called deictics.

6. Speakers often interrupt one another so one utterance cuts into the middle of another, as Bush does here.

7. We tend to indicate that we are listening with encouraging interventions such as ‘yeah’.

8. Repetition of words and phrases is also typical of speech.

9. Speakers often reformulate an utterance several times, as A does here: – it's not . . . then starts again . . . it may be that . . .

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