Филологические науки /1. Методика  преподавания языка и литературы

Семенко І.В., Починок Л.І.

Буковинський державний медичний університет, Україна

Dialogues as a stepping Stone to free communication

(part 2)

Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people.

When students memorize a dialogue or do pattern drills based on a dialogue, they are working in a tightly controlled language – learning situation. This stage is called ''manipulative'' because students are simply manipulating pieces of language without creating any communication of their own.

The true test of language mastery comes in the ''communicative'' stage, in which students are expected to express themselves freely in the new language with a minimum of errors in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Yet the question of how to bridge the gap between manipulation and communication remains the most elusive aspect in language teaching.

Dialogues are not the whole answer to the problem, of course, but they can form a bridge of sorts, as indicated by the following suggestions:

1. Begin by altering the dialogue to make it conform to the reality, surrounding you and your students.

2. Refer to the learned dialogue and have your students suggest one more exchange that would be a logical addition to the conversation.

3. Have your students paraphrase the lines of the dialogues.

4. Tell each student to compose his paraphrased version of the dialogue (at home) as homework.

5. Check up the dialogues paraphrased by the students.

6. Practicing dialogues on similar situations.

7. Writing original dialogues around any situation of students' own choosing.

8. Using the dialogues to stimulate free conversations (discussions).

Various types of Dialogues

Let us conclude our consideration of dialogues by examining the different types of dialogues available to the teacher of English. Each of these types is related to a specific teaching goal or goals and must evaluated within that context.

Level of Proficiency

One important division of dialogue types has to do with level of proficiency. The following is an outline of English dialogues at various proficiency levels, together with a sample dialogue for each category.

A. Zero - level dialogues represent the first exposure to the sound system and grammar system of the new language. They contain only short, simple sentences and present a few common, everyday expressions.

For example:

A: Hello. How are you?

B: Fine. Thank you. How are you?

A: Fine. Thanks. Oh, excuse me- here's my bus. Good-bye!

B: Good-bye!

B: Elementary – level dialogues contain short, simple sentences. They feature one particular basic sentence pattern and employ limited vocabulary.

For example:

A: Are you an engineer?

B: No, I am not. I am a doctor.

A: How about your brother? Isn't he an engineer?

B: No, he's a lawyer. My father is an engineer.

C: Intermediate level dialogues contain longer sentences. They present several basic sentence patterns per dialogue and have a wide range of vocabulary.

For example:

A: I hear you've been ill.

B: Well, I had the flue for a couple of weeks, but I am fine now.

A: You are looking well. By the way, did you hear about Mrs. Jackson?

B: No, what about her?

A: She had such a bad case of the flue that they had to take her to the hospital.

B: Oh, I am sorry to hear that!

D: Advanced – level dialogues feature more complex sentence types. They show great expansion of vocabulary.

For example:

A: I know what's wrong with this drawing. It has no perspective.

B: That's right. It has no feeling of depth. But then… it must be hard to give the impression of distance on a flat surface.

A: It's not hard if you know certain principles of perspective. For instance, the further away an object is, the smaller it looks.

B: True. Now that drawing over there does have perspective. It actually looks three – dimensional!

Purpose

In our discussion of dialogue types we must include a classification based on the fundamental aim of the dialogue. All dialogues are designed to portray natural conversation, but within this framework dialogues can be directed to different aspects of language.

Below these various dialogue types are listed along with a summary of the particular aim involved.

1. Type one: focuses on a common, everyday situation, such as buying clothes, discussing sports, or going to the cinema. It simply shows what people would say when involved in such a situation.

For example:

A: What can I do for you, madam?

B: I'd like to have a nice hat: mine seems to be out of fashion (is putting her hat on the counter).

A: What is your size?

B: 52.

A: Will this do? (the woman, trying on the hat)

B: It fits me indeed but I should like to have a darker shade of the same colour.

A: Well, then take this one. (the woman, trying on the 2-nd hat)

B: This shade suits me but it doesn't match my bag.

A: And what colour is your bag? (the woman, looking on the hat on the counter).

B: You needn't worry about it any more: I'll take this one. (She takes the hat, puts it on, saying) – this is the very thing I need.

A: But you have come in it, madam.

B: Really? Excuse me for having bothered you so long.

A: That's all right. It's my duty.

2. Type two: revolves around a specific grammar point.

For example:

A: How long have you lived in New York?

B: I've lived here for seven years.

A: I see. I've lived in New York since 1998. Before that I lived in Chicago.

B: Oh, really? I've heard a lot about Chicago. I'd like to visit it someday.

3. Type three: clarifies the meaning of a specific word or expression.

For example:

A: What does "V.I.P" mean?

B: It's an abbreviation of "Very Important Person".

A: Ah, now I understand. John said he had to meet some V.I.P.'s at the airport tonight.

B: Yes, they are going to attend a conference at the university on Friday.

4. Type four: collects related vocabulary items.

For example:

A: I like all kinds of dessert – ice-cream, cake, pie, pudding.

B: You really have a sweet tooth! I like ice cream, but I don't like pie or cake.

A: Do you ever have fruit for dessert?

B: Oh, yes, I like fresh fruit after my meal. I'm not very fond of canned fruit, though.

5. Type five: highlights specific cultural features or customs.

For example:

A: How do Americans celebrate Valentine's Day?

B: We don't have any special celebration. We just send a greeting card or candy to someone we love.

A: And when is Valentine's Day?

B: February fourteen. But stores begin to display Valentine card at the end of January.

6. Type six: illustrates a less common style level. Almost all pedagogic dialogues are written in ''everyday'' English – the normal speech of the educated English speakers. But sometimes it is useful to point out other levels, such as more formal usage, as in the following example:

A: Mr. Willson, I'd like you to meet Dr. Edward Smith.

B: How do you do, Mr. Smith.

C: How do you do.

A: Dr. Smith is an economist. He's just finished writing a book on international trade.

B: Oh? That's my field, too. I work for the United Nations.

C: In the Development Program, by any chance?

B: Yes, How did you guess?

C: I've read your articles on technical assistance. They are excellent.

7. Type seven: illustrates different kinds of telephone conversations. They may be presented as in formal or informal levels of speech. Sometimes they show the misunderstanding between people and while reading we feel humor in them.

For example: 7A)

A: Who's calling?

B: Watt.

A: What is your name, please?

B: Watt is my name.

A: That's what I asked you. What's your name?

B: That's what I told you. Watt's my name.

(a long pause and then from Watt) Is this James Brown?

A: No, this is Knott.

B: Please tell your name.

A: Will Knott.

Dialogues are very important in all the spheres of people's everyday life in the process of communication and it is useful to know different types of dialogues and the best way to use them in different situations.

Література:
1. Зайковскі С. А., Адамовська Л. М. An American in London / Listen, Read and Speak English. 100 Texts & Tasks. – Тернопіль: Навчальна книга – Богдан, 2006. – 144 с.
 2. Кіріченко В. Р. Навчання діалогічного мовлення на уроках англійської  мови // Англійська мова та література. – 2003. – № 3. – С. 3–10.
3. Тучина Н. В. Комунікативні вправи і завдання // Англійська мова та  література. – 2003. – № 22–23. – С. 38–39. 
4. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – the definition of the dialogue. 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogue.