Adapting and Writing Language Lessons/Appendix E

by Earl W. Stevick

APPENDIX E TO CHAPTER 3

ADAPTING A LESSON BASED ON A PROSE TEXT

(MAURITIAN CREOLE)

In the spring of 1970, a group of Mauritians working at the request of the Peace Corps Representative in Mauritius produced a set of lessons in Mauritian Creole. These lessons were then sent to the Peace Corps training site on St. Thomas, V. I., for use in training the first group of Volunteers for Mauritius. The lessons varied somewhat in format, but in general were a valuable contribution to both the linguistic and the cultural sides of the training program.

This appendix illustrates briefly how one part of Lesson 5 was adapted for use.

The lesson as a whole consisted of the following:

1. A narration (about 180 running words) with English translation. (2 pages)
2. Numerals to enable the trainee to handle numbers up to 1,000,000. (4 pages)
3. Nine adjectives and their opposites. (½ page)
4. Eleven names of colors. (½ page)
5. Twenty words which indicate quantities. (1 page)
6. Six ways of showing degree with adjectives. (⅓ page)
7. Four sentences illustrating passive voice.
8. Lexical drills. A series of sentences in which some consecutive members differ only by substitution of a single word, but others are much less closely related. The sentences illustrate the use of the words listed in c-f, above. (2 pages)
9. Question and response drills. Like the lexical drills, except that each item in the series consists of a question and one answer. (1 pages)
10. Substitution drills. Like usual substitution drills, except that in going from one sentence to the next, substitution was sometimes required in more than one slot. (2 pages)
11. Questions involving 'how much/many?' , with one answer for each question. (1 page)

As the lesson stood, then, it seemed to raise four problems with regard to teachability:

1. There was no indication of how the narrative passage was to be used: how the trainees were to acquire and demonstrate short-term mastery of the material in the passage.
2. It was often not possible to predict one line of a drill by referring to the preceding line plus a cue. For this reason, the drills seemed to depend on reference to the English translations of the individual sentences.
3. There was no clear indication of how the material in the lesson might be employed in uses (Chapter 3, p. 57f) of the kind we have mentioned, which would lead to longer-term mastery, and integration with the trainee's previous knowledge of the language.
4. There was no provision either in this lesson or in the rest of the series, for any reference to the realities of the training site. This problem was of particular importance in the mind of the person who was to serve as language coordinator for the project.

In general, then, the pedagogical devices of this lesson were rather indistinctly articulated.

At the same time, Lesson 5 (and the entire series) had certain very important strengths. The Creole-speaking members of the materials development team were quick to point out that it was in general very authentic, both linguistically and culturally. The content had been chosen under the supervision of the Director under whom the Volunteers were to serve, and hence carried prima facie credibility with respect to 'coarse-grained specification' (Chapter 4, p.135. All vocabulary items were potentially very useful.

The strategy of the adapters was therefore to present the material of Lesson 5, using clearer pedagogical devices, but rewriting as little as possible. Most of their work went into presentation of the narrative. For this purpose, they followed four steps:

1. Break the narration into sections of 2-4 consecutive sentences.
2. After each section, write numerous comprehension questions.
3. Write Cummings devices (p. 59 ) based on a few of these questions, and use them as occasions to review vocabulary relating both to the training site and to Mauritius. Where possible, write them in a way that will promote the trainee's knowledge of Mauritian life.
4. Write drills only for new points of grammar that the trainees might want to explore.

The narration is preceded by an English sentence which sets the stage for the reader, by telling him that Jacqueline goes first to the shop, and then to the market.

Section 1

Original text: Samji fin vini. Zaklin aste rasyõ komã too Ie semen. Li sarye en zoli tãt vakwa dã so lamẽ. (Saturday has come. Jacqueline buys groceries as (she does) every week. She carries a beautiful 'vakwa' basket in her hand.)

Comprehension questions:

Eski Zacqueline pou alle asseté ration zourdi?

Qui zour Zacqueline asseté ration?

Eski Zacqueline asseté ration tous les sémaines?

Eski Zacqueline asseté ration tous les zours?

Eski Zacqueline pou asseté ration?

Eski Zacqueline pou asseté linze?

Eski zacqueline apé sarrié ene tente?

Qui qualité tente Ii apé sarrié?

Qui li apé sarrié?

Eski tente vacoas lá zoli?

Eski Ii sarrié tente la lors so latete?

Eski Ii sarrié tente la lors so ledos?

Eski Ii sarrié tente la dans so lamain?

These questions cover the section rather thoroughly. Some groups of questions elicit very much the same answer, but place an increasing load on the student:

Is J. Carrying a tãt?

What kind of tãt is she carrying?

What is she carrying?

In the first of these questions, the student has only to understand it and choose between 'yes' and 'no.' In the second, he must remember vakwa, and in the third he must supply the entire phrase tãt vakwa.

Cummings devices.

The questions that were chosen to figure in Cummings devices were those that contained 'every/day/week' (because this was a new construction) and 'carry' (because this was a new verb). The team also found opportunities to interject some superficial but useful information about how the people of Mauritius live: which groceries they have to buy daily, and which on a weekly basis, and how various objects are customarily carried.

C. d. 1

MI

Zot asseté dipain tous les zours.	They buy bread every day.
Zot asseté dilait tous les zours.	They buy milk every day.
Zot asseté douriz tous 1es sémaines.	They buy rice every week.
Zot asseté di1'hui1e toutes 1es sémaines.	They buy oil every week.

M2

L'Ile Maurice, eski zot asseté dipain tous les zours?	In Mauritius, do they buy bread every day?
L'Ile Maurice, eski zot asseté douriz tous les zours?	etc.
En plis dé ça, qui zot asseté tous les zours?
Cl
L'Ile Maurice, eski zot asseté (douriz) tous les zours?
Non, zot asseté (dipain) tous les zours
En plis de ça, qui zot asseté tous les semaines?
Zot asseté (lentilles) tous les sémaines.

C. d. 2

Ml

Zacqueline sarrié tente dans so lamain.	Zacqueline carries a basket in her hand.
Marsand bazaar sarrié panier bazaar lors so latête.	The bazaar merchant carries his/her panier on his/her head.
Marsand bazaar sarrié panier bazaar lors so bicyclette.	The bazaar merchant carries his/her panier on his/her bicycle.

M2

Comment zacqueline sarrié so tente?	How does Zacqueline carry her basket?
Comment marsand bazaar sarrié so panier bazaar?	How does the merchant carry his/her panier?
En plis dé ça, qui zaffaire zot sarrié dans zot la main?	In addition to that, what things do they carry in their hands?
Cl
Comment (zacqueline) sarrié (so tente)?
(zacqueline) sarrié (so tente) (dans) (so la main).
Eski li sarrié ene (panier)(lors so latête)?
Non, li sarrié ene (tente)(dans) (so lamain).

Drill. The expression corresponding to 'like every day/week' is new enough and useful enough to be made the subject of a drill. The cue sentence is always of the form 'Did you _______ today?' and the response is always 'Yes, I _______ today, like every day.' Instead of providing information about Mauritius, this drill allows the instructor and trainees to review vocabulary relating to life at the training site:

Drill 1

Eski to fin lévé six ere grand matin zourdi?

Oui, mo fin lévé six eres comment tous les zours.

Eski to fin boire café zourdi?

Oui, mo fin boire café comment tous les zours.

Ask some more questions about everyday activities and make sure the students use "comment tous les zours" in their answers.

Note that the 'occasions for use,' which in Chapter 3 we listed as one of the four essential components of a lesson, are built into the Cummings devices and the drills.