As before, the title page contains useful input, this time recycling "Wh" questions related to reporting events, as well as re-presenting the sequencers that appeared in the previous chapter.
The first step in relating events and telling stories is to establish what happened where etc. This activity therefore invites students to interpret three pictures, and to write what they think is happening in them, where it is happening, when they think this is taking place, why it is happening, and what will happen next.
Students are each given half of a sample story-telling text (hopefully of some interest!), and have to dictate this to each other, asking for the words which they don't have, and supplying those which their partner requires.
A young man called Huh Doryong lived in Hahoe village in the middle of the Korea dynasty. He had a revelation in his dream. It was the guardian deity of his village. The following morning he devoted himself to making masks. He spread forbidden strings to prohibit strangers from entering his house. At that time, a young girl, who was ardently in love with Huh Doryong, peeped through a hole she had made into Huh Doryong's window-paper. Her actions violated the divine rule of Huh Doryong. He spewed out blood and died instantly. Thus, he could not finish making the chin of the Imae Mask, his last work. Until now, the Imae Mask, without a chin, has been handed down through generations.
Students are asked to sequence given pictures, and to decide on a story for them, telling this story to other students.
There are many variations of this type of activity, and teachers might want to provide cartoon stories of their own, especially ones with characters known to the students. Many such cartoon strips have a minimum of dialogue, and can be used for this purpose.
The final aim of course is to get the students to talk about their own experiences, so teachers might want to ask students to make their own strip stories and to relate the events in them.
This activity uses the "20 questions" format again, this time in the context of relating where one was at a given time. Questions therefore use the past continuous tense, and answers will be confined to "Yes, I was" or "No, I wasn't".
Students again have to tell a story about a picture, but this time only one is to be chosen, and the story should have more depth.
"What do you do at ten-thirty?" (Chapter 5) could well be revisited at this point, since it is in essence a "Timeline" activity. Students could play the game once more, but using the past tense: "What did you do at 16:15 yesterday?"
Students might also enjoy revisiting other activities in previously-studied chapters when they have spare time.
This activity reviews Chapter 6 ("What does she look like?") in addition to reporting events. Having completed this activity, students could continue by telling each other about similar experiences that might have happened to them.
This format first appeared inChapter 8, and students should have performed their role-plays by now. If not, this activity can be a timely reminder to them, or it can function as another assignment, perhaps one which will figure in the final assessment. Given that student participation is the most important factor in a Conversation course however, it could be said that every class is a final assessment. If students fall into the mind-set of only preparing for the "Final test", and doing nothing in the lessons, they cannot expect to improve. Those who do participate however, will almost certainly become more fluent and self-confident, so that participation can be said to produce its own results.
This Free Talking activity takes another quite difficult topic, and puts it in a Korean setting, hopefully stimulating students to talk about the traditions and customs that make up their lifestyle.
Students will probably not be aware of the many ways in which Korean customs are different from those of the West, and this topic can be an interesting source of discussion between them and the teacher.
Next Chapter of the Teacher's Notes
Links to the Students's Book
Contents | 1 | Skills | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Extra
Tell Me More - Task-based Conversation Activities
By Andrew Finch and Hyun Tae-duck