Adapting and Writing Language Lessons/Appendix J

by Earl W. Stevick

APPENDIX J TO CHAPTER 4

RELEVANCE UNDER STRESS (SPANISH)

…Time is of the essence. The staff, exhausted as they are, still are asking for a specific task, and we can no longer lead them blind. They must be given the tools to perform their task, whether it be the clusters or a textbook adaptation…The clusters…are not conclusive in that they are not sequentially prepared nor culturally approved, and they are insufficient to make the staff feel adequately prepared for the coming weeks. Therefore, it is by necessity that we turn to the adaptation of [an existing) textbook…

This honest statement came from the director of a program in which the staff, together with an experienced materials developer, had been trying to prepare project-specific materials in a 'cluster' format (see Chapter 4, p. 15O, and Appendix G). with only two weeks' lead time, the staff tried valiantly to cooperate, then lost heart and, as recorded in the director's statement (above), abandoned the attempt. The following day, however, they returned to the cluster format and produced the materials cited in this appendix.

The reactions to the resulting lessons, in the third week of instruction, are given below. They are the unedited and complete notes on interviews with eight of the trainees-about 20% of the total group, selected at random. Only the names have been deleted. The trainees knew that the interviewer was 'an evaluator from Washington,' but not that he had participated in designing the materials.

#1 Had studied 6 lgs., including a little Spanish a long time ago. Entirely favorable on materials. Says that she is finally getting to speak Sp., but that the ones who arrived 2 weeks ago with no Sp. are speaking more than she is.

#2 Had studied other 1gs. and gotten A's, but had never learned to speak any of them. Likes these for relevance and because she is learning to speak. No neg. comments, she says. Feels she is learning 20 times as much as she expected to. More Sp. now than in 4 yrs. of Fr. went shopping yesterday evening. Found some Sp. phrases came naturally.

#3 Spanish minor in colleqe, but didn't speak it then. Very enthusiastic about these materials.'Tremendous.'

#4 No previous Sp. Feels she can speak more/knows more than after 1 yr. of Fr. Has 'visual hangup.' other student comments that #4 can always find some way to speak.

#5 Former Spanish tchr. in jr. hi: Beginners know more Sp. after 2 weeks than I was able to teach in 1 yr. with [widely used textbook series]. Very relevant. [Interviewer said these materials are sloppy.] 'Not sloppy!'

#6 32 hrs. of Sp., but lang. coordinator says she can't talk. (Actually, she can, but not very well.) Likes materials, but as basis for improvising, would be bored if she had to stick to them alone. Has learned some new words from them.

#7 [Older than most, not a member of the group, but been taking Sp. with them.] Feels self weakest stdt. in the bldg. But feels he can go out, strike up a conversation and maintain it for 'quite a while.' Has noted that his Sp-speaking colleagues' eyes light up when he does so. Thinks these clusters have gotten the class 'sensitized to each other' thru Sp.

#8 Enthusiastic.

The contrast between the director's statement of mid-July and the trainees' statements of early August shows dramatically and frankly what kinds of tension, excitement, risk--and reward--may attend the writing of on-the-spotmaterials.

In comparison with the reactions of people to them, the materials themselves look tame. They consisted of 14 'clusters.' Lesson 2, quoted below, is based on a six-line sample of Spanish in use; the sample can be treated either as a basic dialog or as an 'exchange sequence' (Chapter 4, p. 149). The names of the speakers are those of actual members of the group: one instructor and or trainee.

Señora S    : ¿De dónde es usted?

Señor T      : Soy de San Antonio.
Señora S    : ¿Es casado?
Señor T      : No, no soy casado. Soy soltero.
Señora S    : ¿Cuántos hermanos tiene?
Señor T      : Tengo tres.

[Where are you from? I'm from S. A. Are you married? No, I'm not. I'm a bachelor. How many brothers do you have? I have three.]

Related to this sample are three Cummings devices (Chapter 3, p. 59, and Chapter 6), drills, and suggestions for use. The first Cummings device used the question ¿De dónde es usted? 'Where are you from?' and three answers:

Nací en (Pueblo) 'I was born in (Pueblo),'

Soy de (San Antonio) 'I'm from (San Antonio),'

and Vivo en (San Antonio) 'I live in (San Antonio).'

The second built on the question ¿Es casado? 'Are you married?' and taught the replies 'No I'm (a bachelor, widowed, divorced, not married), and 'Yes, I'm married.'

Drills on the very important matter of person-number agreement for tbree common verbs was provided by substitution drills based on sentences taken either from the basic sample or from Cummings devices. In these drills, the cue words are underlined; the expected replies are the entire sentences:

Yo vivo en Taos.	I live in Taos.
El vive en Taos.	He lives in Taos.
Nosotros vivimos en Taos.	We live in Taos.
etc.
Yo tengo un hermano.	I have one brother.
etc.
Yo soy de San Antonio.	I'm from San Antonio.
etc.

The occasions for use of the lie both within the content lesson and outside it. Similarly, the uses that are suggested take place both inside and outside the walls of the classroom:

1. In class, find out as much as you can about your instructor and about each other by using the questions learned in this lesson.
2. Stand up in front of the class and talk about yourself as long as you can. Begin by using the material in this lesson, but go on from there if you can.
3. Outside of class, ask the following people questions based on what you have learned in this cluster: 5 other trainees, 3 other instructors, 1 Spanish-speaking neighbor.

Outside of class, learn to count from 5 to 15 by asking your instructors to count various objects for you. [Numbers from 1-5 had been taught in this lesson. These materials do not provide for teaching any further numbers in class.]

In summary, the favorable reactions of the users cannot be explained in terms of clever, innovative features of the materials themselves, for there were none. They depended, rather, on the extent to which the staff forced each of the suggestions for use' to yield both practical and psychological satisfactions: the student was of course glad to to find out 'What I can do' with Spanish, but he also had frequent opportunities to be pleased with himself at 'What Ican do!'