Suprasegmentals and Paralanguage: Another idea for relearning

What: imitating with reading

How: the language consultant reads aloud, one phrase at a time.  The learner rereads each phrase aloud imitating the consultant's intonation. 

Choose a text which:

• is below your silent reading level - very few new vocabulary because this activity focuses on intonation rather than pronunciation nor vocabulary acquisition
• is full of expressive dialogue - this sort of text will provide opportunity for your language consultant to express a variety of intonational patterns
• has varying phrasal lengths and structures - lists, "run-on" sentences, parentheses, etc. could all represent different intonational patterns

Recording: recording this sort of exercise and reviewing it is a humbling task but can be extremely helpful for self-observation of both pronunciation and suprasegmentals

Suprasegmentals and Paralanguage: How to "relearn" them

Following are some of the ideas my husband and I have practiced in an effort to improve our suprasegmentals and paralanguage:

1. observe native to native conversations for things such as: who talks when, how do they show agreement to another person's statement, disagreement, confusion, excitement, surprise, how do you know the difference between a question and a statement, etc.
2. record conversations and then try to hum along with the intonation as you listen to the recording
3. tracking: record yourself and then a native speaker saying the same sentences, listen to the records in order to observe the differences, if possible overlay the recordings to listen to them simultaneously
4. draw intonation: listen to a recording that you have of native speech and try to draw the ups and downs that you hear, observe for any patterns - also do this with native speech from your first language and compare the differences.
5. Play a few paralanguage games with native speakers such as: 

• have the native speaker say various sentences with different emotions and you guess which emotion and vice versa; then discuss reasons for incorrect guesses
• act out body language for a native speaker and ask the native speaker to explain what he or she assumes you are communicating with your various actions

Do you have any other ideas for improving suprasegmentals and paralanguage?  

How To: Building a Strong Foundation for Literacy in Your New Language

Give yourself opportunity to exercise all literacy skills in your new language.  

Literacy is a combination of several skills:

1. Oral comprehension: have native speakers read aloud texts which are a bit above your reading level, then discuss them together (don't follow along with your eyes, but allow your oral comprehension to be stretched a bit).  This also helps develop the correct reading intonation.
2. Visual memory: much of spelling ability is based on visual memory of word appearances (length, letter height, etc).  Reading the same texts (at your reading level) over and over will give you opportunity to exercise this literacy skill in your new language.
3. An understanding of the logic of a writing system: leafing through some texts meant to help kids learn to read in your new language, or watching DVDs with this intent are two possible ways to gain an understanding of the logic or perceived logic (sometimes the linguistic logic and the perceived logic of a writing system are different) of your new writing system.
4. Vocabulary foundation: this is where knowing your reading level comes in as a literacy skill.  If you try to read texts which are too far beyond your vocabulary foundation you risk developing a discouraged attitude toward reading in your new language.
5. Whole word recognition: this is again where your reading level is important.  You should mainly encounter words you are very familiar with in your verbal exchanges.  Sounding out words as you read silently is a sign that you may not have the proper vocabulary foundation, and it significantly slows down reading speed.
6. Reading fluidity: be patient with yourself by staying within your reading level.  As your reading level progresses, so should your reading fluidity.
7. Writing fluidity: this is another area for patience.  In order for your writing fluidity to increase first your verbal fluidity must increase, you must have a strong vocabulary foundation and a large number of words in your visual memory.  A great way to encourage writing fluidity is through dictation.  Start by dictating a text to a native speaker and then copying what he/she has written.  Later, you can have a native speaker dictate texts to you and help you correct your errors.
8. Intonation/ Punctuation: oral comprehension exercises are helpful for strengthening this literacy skill.  Reading aloud to a native speaker and receiving correction is also helpful.  Reading aloud books that you have heard read aloud several times will help you avoid guessing.
9. Reading comprehension: read, repeat, read, repeat.  Reading the same books over and over, and discussing them with native speakers is the key to building this very culturally tied literacy skill.
10. Interaction of texts: make connections between the texts you are reading, regardless of your reading level.  Connections can be made even between the simplest of texts.  Still, doing so with a native speaker, will give you particular cultural insights and a broader use of vocabulary.
11. Spelling: again be patient with yourself.  Spelling will come with time, as your visual memory strengthens in your new language.  Dictation is also helpful for exercising and building this skill.

How to Organize Recordings: Guest Post by Chris Tachick

Here's how I process our recordings in our listening library. Modify to your situation.

• Upload recordings to computer and itunes
• Delete junk recordings, and edit out dead time in recordings (editing can be a real time waster, so I try to make clean recordings in the first place and avoid as much editing as possible. There are several good editing programs available - for a free, simple, basic one, check out audacity.)
• Label each recording (Date, Speaker, Content, and Type of Recording - more info below)
• Convert each recording to mp3 (so they interface with all of our listening devices)
• Make listening folders for each recording type (story, vocabulary, activity, sound sort) and move each file into their appropriate folder
• Load recordings to listening devices

Labeling: Types of Recordings
Greg Thompson recommends that the language learner, upon completing the Here and Now Phase, should have a streamlined listening library for future reference.  Categorizing and labeling your recordings according type - as story, vocabulary, activity, or sound sort - ensure that you will rapidly and easily retrieve the recording you want to review.

How To Record: Guest Post by Chris Tachick

What to Record:

• Record Native Speech
• Record for Review: Vocabulary, Stories, Repeatable activities - TPR activities can be repeated easily through recordings
• Record Yourself, Occasionally: Recording yourself talking about topics which you have heard talked about several times is a great way to welcome correction.  Have a Language Nurturer (LN) analyze and correct the recording with you.  We have found that LNs more readily correct a recording (since it is more impersonal), than real time speech. Hearing yourself also helps you to more objectively recognize your mistakes. 

What Not to Record:

• The Entire Session: A good, 2 hour-long language session with an LN will yield between 5-10 minutes of good recordings: stories, vocabulary, and repeatable activities. 
• Other language learners
• Detailed grammatical explanation
• Student and teacher interaction: A lot of background noise happens and you are not getting 100% native speech.

Other Tips:

• Location: Both you and the recording device must be positioned properly.  Sit close to the teacher/LN to get the best sound production with minimal sound interference.  Have the recording device easily accessible so you can operate it without distraction.   Some locations will not yield helpful recordings such as those with lots of background noise, or large rooms.
• Secure Permission for Recording from your LN/Professor
  Basic, yes, but fundamental.  Ask if your LN/Prof is willing to let you record, and find out if they have preferences/restrictions on what can be recorded.  Ask and don't assume. 

How To: Information Gap Activities

An information gap activity is any activity in which one or more participants have information that the other participants do not have and they must communicate that information to the others using only words.  This is helpful for language learning because it requires the participants to use language in order to negotiate for understanding.

Some ideas for information gap activities might be:

1. Picture Gap: One participant has a picture that he/she explains to the other participants who draw the picture according to the explanation.  At the end of the activity the pictures can be compared to see where mistakes in explanation or understanding were made.

2. Go Fish

Some Go-Fish cards.  There are two of each square, and many of the squares differ only by minute details, therefore, much explanation is necessary (as you will be able to tell from the video below).

The video below was taken during one of our language sessions in which we played a variation of "Go Fish" using the cards picture above.  My husband is on the left, and a language helper is on the right (I am taking the video :).

3. Guess Who

4. I Spy - can be played with busy books (where's waldo, or I Spy books, etc.)

Situation Ideas for Reverse Role Plays

The following is a list of reverse role play ideas to get you started in your language learning:


          Native Speaker               Learner

• Client                              Bank Teller
• Client                              Hair Stylist
• Customer                        Cashier
• Patient                             Doctor/Nurse
• Church Member              Pastor
• Client                               Taxi Driver
• Guest                               Host
• Host                                Guest
• Client                              Waiter
• Student                            Teacher
• Guest                               Concierge
• Traveler                           Embassy Worker
• Customer                         Baker
• Customer                         Butcher
• Phone: Caller                   Phone: Answerer
• Phone: Answerer             Phone: Caller

How-to: Reverse Role Play for Language Learning

A reverse role play is a role play in which the native speaker/ language teacher plays the role that the learner would usually have in everyday situations.  For example, in a supermarket role play, the learner would play the cashier and the native speaker would play the customer.  This turns a speech-led activity (the common role play) into a comprehension-led activity in which the learner receives an opportunity to hear natural speech for his/her everyday roles.

The following video is an example of a reverse role play in French with the native speaker playing the role of host, so that the learner can learn by example.