CiC3-TB

HOW DO I TEACH THE “SOUNDING NATURAL NOTES?”

What are “Sounding Natural Notes?” The Sounding Natural Notes are simple tips and advice that have been drawn from the linguistic field of pragmatics , which is the study of how language is 2 used in social contexts. In a nut, they are all about the connection between conversation and culture. Topics covered in these notes include the Three Golden Rules , which focus on overcoming key differences in Japanese and English speaking styles, and various conversation strategies, which are short expressions that facilitate communication in important ways. The Sounding Natural Notes in this book are intended to help students increase their pragmatic awareness of English conversation , not only to sound more natural, but ultimately to communicate more effectively within the new cultural space that students inhabit when using English. Each note in the textbook represents an abbreviated version of a longer version on the audio track. To ensure comprehension, the audio tracks have been recorded in Japanese . Some notes are quite short and simple, while others are longer and more comprehensive and contain short practice activities. Photocopiable English transcripts are available in this book and online at cic-multimedia.com. What is the point? • Understanding the connection between language and culture can help students communicate more effectively. Simply put, the way conversations are conducted in English is quite different from the way they are conducted in Japanese. You can’t just translate words and expressions directly and say them in the way you do when speaking Japanese. • Raising pragmatic awareness of English conversation will help students not only sound

more natural, but communicate more effectively by overcoming typical areas of native-language interference. How do I teach this activity? Here are two options for covering the Sounding Natural Notes in class: Option 1: Play audio, students listen 1. Play the audio track from the while students 3 listen. 2. Summarize the information using easy English you feel your students can understand. Use the full English transcript in this book to help guide you on what to say. 3. If there is a short activity associated with a note, have your students complete it. Option 2: Follow along with a full transcript 1. Prepare copies of the full transcript, either in English, Japanese (or both) and hand them out to your students. 2. Play the audio track while students follow along. If they are up for a challenge, have them look at the English version while listening to the Japanese explanation. Alternatively, they could follow along the full Japanese version, then pair-read the English version. 3. Summarize the information and lead students through any associated practice activity. How long will it take? Usually only a few minutes for shorter notes, and up to 10 minutes for longer ones that contain short practice activities. Add more time if you wish to have students read over the English transcripts.

Interested in learning more about the fascinating field of pragmatics? Check out the JALT Pragmatics SIG website at www.pragsig.org. 2 All of the audio tracks can be accessed via the Teachers CD or online at cic-multimedial.com. 3 How do I teach the ~ ? 10