词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Lida Baker: Encouraging English 2

Broadcast on "Coast to Coast": June 26, 2003

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- we chat again with English teacher Lida Baker¹ in Los Angeles about how to encourage English learners to speak up in class.

RS: This week Lida focuses on very shy students. This is one of the techniques she uses to engage those who are especially reluctant² to say anything in class:

BAKER: "Probably the best activity for getting the students to talk is a paired activity or a small group activity where each person in the group has a different set of information and the students have to talk to each other, asking questions, to get the information that the other people have.

"So let's say, for instance³, that we have three students. They have to work together to fill out a calendar of, let's say, their teacher's weekly schedule. So each of them has a calendar and certain activities are filled in. But the activities that are filled in are different for each of the three people in the group. So what they then have to do is ask each other something like, 'What is Miss Baker doing Friday at 3 p.m.?' Maybe Student A has that information, but Student A doesn't have the information on what Miss Baker is doing on Tuesday at 9 p.m., and so that student has to ask the other students in the group to fill in or provide that information."

RS: "So they're talking and getting the information at the same time."

BAKER: "Right. Now it feels like a game, but in fact what's happening in that activity [is this]: The students have to interact⁴ with one another. It's inherently⁵ built into the activity that they have to ask questions and provide each other with information, you see. So that is one of the best activities for getting students to talk."

AA: "You have another example?"

BAKER: "Oh, many more! Role plays are wonderful for getting students to talk, where you tell the students, let's see, you're in a bank, and you have gone into the bank to get some cash. And when the bank clerk gives you the cash that you asked for, you count it and you notice that she has given you ten dollars less than you asked for. Role play -- act out -- the scene in which you point out the error to the clerk, and try to resolve⁶ this situation."

RS: Now that's an activity she uses for small groups. When she's working with her whole class, and it's time for students to answer questions, Lida Baker uses a deck⁷ of index⁸ cards.

AA: Each card has a student's name written on it. She shuffles⁹ the deck, then pulls out one card after another.

BAKER: "I want to make sure that everybody in the class gets the opportunity to speak, and I also want to prevent what happens so often that students who are not shy call out or shout out the answers and drown out everybody else."

AA: "So you're calling on one person at a time."

RS: "It's a crowd-control kind of thing."

BAKER: "I call on the students -- when I take out that deck of cards, and I hold it up, and the students know it's card time, what that means is that this is not a time when you're allowed to shout out answers. You have to wait to be called on. But students have the option, if they don't want to answer the question or for whatever reason they don't want to respond, they're always allowed to pass. And I teach them the word 'pass,' and this is what makes the activity safe, that they know that they have the opportunity to be silent, if that's their choice. So it gives them a measure of control, you see, and that's why the activity is successful."

AA: "And then you have to come up with some other activity to draw out the ones who keep passing, right?"

BAKER: "That doesn't happen, because another technique that a smart teacher uses when you have people that are reticent¹⁰ to talk is that you -- first of all, the students don't see the names on those cards. So if an easy question comes up and I know that Jorge in the corner is feeling uncomfortable about talking in class, I might pretend that it's Jorge's name on the card -- "

RS: "Sneaky."

BAKER: " -- and give that easy question to Jorge, because I know --

RS: "He can answer it."

BAKER: " -- that he's going to get it right. So I want to -- again, it's all about creating opportunities for students to succeed."

AA: Lida Baker teaches in the American Language Center at the University of California at Los Angeles, and she also writes textbooks for English learners.

RS: And that's Wordmaster for this week. Don't be shy about writing us! Our e-mail address is [email protected], and you'll find our programs on the Web at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

MUSIC: "He's So Shy"/Pointer Sisters 1980

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 reluctant   

adj.不愿意的；迟迟不合作的；不同意的

参考例句：

• The workers are reluctant to be ordered around by the employers.工人们不愿被雇主们差来遣去地随便使唤。
• I am reluctant about asking him to do this.我极不愿意让他去干此事。

3 instance   

n.例，例证，实例

参考例句：

• Can you quote me a recent instance?你能给我举一个最近的例子吗？
• He's a greedy boy,yesterday,for instance,he ate all our biscuits!他是个贪吃的孩子――比如，他昨天把我们的饼干都吃了！

4 interact   

vi.相互作用，相互影响，互通信息

参考例句：

• All things are interrelated and interact on each other.一切事物互相联系并相互作用。
• The policeman advised the criminal to interact with the police.警察劝罪犯与警方合作。

5 inherently   

内在的，固有的

参考例句：

• There is nothing inherently improbable in the idea. 这个想法本身没什么不可能的。
• All business activities are inherently risky. 所有的商业活动本质上都有风险。

6 resolve   

vt.解决，解除；决定，决心

参考例句：

• It's up to him to resolve this problem.这个问题应由他来解决。
• This did not shake his resolve.这事并未动摇他的决心。

7 deck   

n.甲板；公共汽车一层的车厢；纸牌；vt.装饰

参考例句：

• Let's have a walk round the deck.我们去甲板上散步吧。
• The sea wind swept over the deck.海风席卷过甲板。

8 index   

n.食指；索引；标志；指数；v.把...编索引

参考例句：

• Performonce is an index of ability.成绩是能力的标志。
• Manner of walking gives an index to one's charactor.走路的姿态可反应出人的性格。

9 shuffles   

n.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的名词复数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的第三人称单数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• She shuffles cards expertly, all the guys stare in amazement. 她熟练地洗着牌，爷们都看呆了。 来自互联网
• Fortune shuffles cards, but we discard them. 命运负责洗牌，而出牌的是我们自己。 来自互联网

10 reticent   

adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的

参考例句：

• He was reticent about his opinion.他有保留意见。
• He was extremely reticent about his personal life.他对自己的个人生活讳莫如深。