Instructional Guide for Use in Small Classes ~ Thai Developed by Sudawan Ariyasap for the Center for Language Education And Research A Title VI U.S. Dept. of Education Language Resource Center Thai Language Tutorial Guide Part I: General Information Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Audience and rationale Overview of The Guide Sound system of Thai and transcription Chapter 2: Getting Started 8 Establishing the goals of the course Maximizing the use of the second language in the course Suggestions for maximizing the use of the language Evaluation Chapter 3: Finding and Using Materials 12 Finding materials Working with a text Other materials Part II: Working with Beginners Chapter 4: Introduction Chapter 5: Lesson plans Lesson 1: Greeting, apologizing, and thanking 19 Lesson 2: Classroom objects 24 Lesson 3: Classroom directives 26 Lesson 4: Personal information 32 Lesson 5: Numbers 42 Lesson 6: Time 50 Lesson 7: Dates 54 Lesson 8: Locations 70 Lesson 9: Local geography 76 Lesson 10: Giving and understanding directions 87 Lesson 11: Colors, shapes, and sizes 97 Lesson 12: Body parts 101 Lesson 13: Money 106 Lesson 14: Food 109 Lesson 15: Market talk 117 Part III: Task-Based Lessons Chapter 6: Introduction 122 Chapter 7: Lesson plans Lesson 1: Eating and ordering 123 Lesson 2: Taking a taxi 132 Lesson 3: Getting a room in a hotel 140 Lesson 4: Taking a bus in Bangkok 147 Lesson 5: Using public telephones 157 Lesson 6: Taking a train 170 Lesson 7: Going to the hairdresser 177 Lesson 8: Taking a bus trip 187 Lesson 9: Shopping and bargaining 196 Lesson 10: Going to the doctor 203 Part IV: Cultural Modules Chapter 8: Introduction 210 Chapter 9: Lesson plans Lesson 1: Self introduction 211 Lesson 2: Family I 219 Lesson 3: Family II 224 Lesson 4: Marriage 230 Lesson 5: Dos and don’ts in Thailand 234 Lesson 6: Greeting and addressing 238 Lesson 7: Being a guest 244 Lesson 8: Gender issues 252 Lesson 9: Social values 258 Lesson 10: Songkran & Loy Krathong festivals 264 Part V: Integrating Structure into the Communicative Classroom Chapter 10: Working with Vocabulary 270 Techniques for learners Learning vocabulary Chapter 11: Working with Grammar 273 Grammar teaching and the communicative approach Using a structurally organized textbook Dealing with grammatical errors Chapter 12: Learning the Sound System 276 Sound systems Learning to hear and pronounce the Thai language Dictation exercises Appendix A: Problematic Thai sounds 281 Appendix B: Vocabulary 287 Appendix C: Additional resources on language teaching 298 Part I: General Information Chapter 1: Introduction Audience and rationale The Thai Language Tutorial Guide has been written for the model of language teaching that has come to be called “the language tutorial.” In this kind of tutorial, the language class is seen as a team consisting of a language supervisor (who is familiar with the structural properties of the language, experienced in helping to develop a successful language environment, and who assigns the course grades), a tutor (who is a proficient speaker of the language), and a learner. It is believed that a language class should be learner-centered, which means that the focus is on helping the learner to develop a successful learning experience in cooperation with the tutor and guidance from the language supervisor. The primary criterion for tutor selection is proficiency in the target language and not pedagogical training. Thus, a student-centered approach makes sense. The tutors tend to be students in various programs in the university. The recognition that language learning is a life-long activity is also behind the learner-centered rational. The more that is done to help the learner understand the learning process, the more likely it is that the learner will continue to increase proficiency in the language, even after the course has been completed. The Guide has also been designed to help develop a communicatively-oriented program of learning. This approach concentrates on developing communicative skills to enable the learner to engage in meaningful activities with other speakers of the second language. The Guide will help the team to develop a clear purpose and define realistic objectives so that the language learning experience can be tailored to the unique needs of the learner. Before organizing lesson plans and a course syllabus, the specific learner needs must be considered so that class time can be used efficiently to address those specific needs. Because this manual is designed to teach speaking and listening skills in Thai, there is no instruction on Thai writing in this manual. A transcription is, therefore, given as a main device for the learner to learn Thai vocabulary, structure and pronunciation. However, texts printed in Thai orthography are also included in each lesson for the tutor who might find it easier to read Thai orthography than the transcription. It might also benefit the learner who has also learned to read and write in Thai. Since the learners will need to use the second language for real communication, The Guide focuses specially on strategies that encourage real communication. An important function of the tutor is to act as a conversation partner for the learner. Both the tutor and the learner have an important role to play in developing an environment where they can begin to practice real communication in the second language. One of the main objectives of the tutorial is for the learner to develop basic communication skills that can be built on when the learner arrives in Thailand. 1 Concentrating on real communication in the classroom is also important because it helps a learner acquire a second language. Extensive exposure to the second language is required for acquisition. Learners need to comprehend these in order to make use of the input in the language acquisition process and to acquire structures and forms. This approach is ideally suited to the supervised tutorial. In a traditional classroom, the teacher provides language input, but this input may not necessarily be understandable or meaningful to the learner because of the difficulty in obtaining immediate feedback. In a tutorial, on the other hand, because there are usually only one or two learners, feedback can, and should, be instantaneous and frequent. Tutors can monitor learners for comprehension by asking questions or by looking for puzzled expressions. Learners can also ask the tutor to repeat or rephrase something not understood. Thus, by interacting with the tutor, the learner also helps to make the linguistic input relevant and comprehensible. Learners and tutors can work together to negotiate meaning by asking for clarification if something is not understood or repairing their speech when they are not understood. The richness and potential of the tutor-learner interaction is something that cannot be paralleled in large teacher-led classes. The tutor and learner are encouraged to take full advantage of this opportunity. In addition, a communicative classroom helps push learners to a higher level of speaking proficiency. Most language learners understand the language better than they can speak it. When those learners are faced with the task of producing the second language, in either written or spoken form, they must have a better grasp of the language in order to communicate effectively. Negotiation through oral communication activities in the classroom encourages the language learner to pay attention to the grammatical structure of the second language. When learners participate in conversations with native speakers, they repeatedly make changes in the grammatical structures they use. This suggests that oral communication with a native speaker, or even another non-native speaker, helps learners pay attention to and, hopefully, improve their grammar. Certain kinds of activities promote negotiation better than others. Activities in which learners, or a learner and the tutor, have to exchange information to complete a task force the learner to try to understand and to be understood. These activities are often called information exchange or information gap activities. An example of such an activity is a picture drawing activity. In this kind of exercise, the learner has to draw a picture based on a description given by another learner or the tutor. The leaner has to understand the information in order to complete the task. This is quite different from a free conversation where the learner can avoid talking about something that they are finding difficult. Nevertheless, relying exclusively on communicative activities in the classroom may result in the learner’s failure to notice and consequently internalize some of the more subtle features of the language. There are certain structures that learners can use incorrectly while being completely comprehensible. In order to help the learner to 2 overcome structural problems, Part V of The Guide provides some suggestions for integrating structure into the communicative classroom. Overview of The Guide The Guide is divided into five parts: General Information, Working With Beginners, Task-Based Lessons, Cultural Modules, and Integrating Structure. Part I provides an overview of The Guide. Chapter One, Introduction, mentions the audience, goals, and other design considerations. It also contains a brief explanation on the Thai sound system and the transcriptions used throughout this book. Chapter Two, Getting Started, guides the learner, tutor and supervisor through the process of negotiating the design and organization of the course. The participants need to negotiate specific learning objectives for the semester, the amount of class time to be devoted to various activities, and the method to be used to evaluate progress. Since class time is very likely to be the only opportunity for the learner to speak in the second language, this chapter also includes a section that discusses the importance of using the second language as much as possible in class along with suggestions on ways to do this.