Quick Interventions

Quick Interventions

Sometimes it's necessary to jump in with a quick clarification to help someone communicate more accurately. You would do this in instances when you want to make sure that everyone can understand what a person is trying to say. Ultimately the focus should be on keeping the discussion going. (In other words, this should not turn into a full-scale pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar lesson). Do not try to address every error that you hear-only those that are really preventing someone from getting their meaning across.

The following are some options/steps you can take to address various types of problems. You can choose to follow all of the steps, or just one or two-according to your own judgment.

Misprounciations

Example: Student says, “In my country there are many baggers.”

1. clarify the intended meaning, if necessary: “Do you mean people on the street asking for money?”
2. write the word on the board: beggars
3. throw it to the group: “How do you say this word?” if a student is able to say it correctly, have that student model the word again (OR you offer the correct pronunciation.)
4. underline the problem sound and model it correctly: beggers “eh...beg...beggers”
5. mirror the word back correctly: “There are many beggers in India?”
6. move on with the discussion, “Do you give them money?”

Wrong Word

Example: “Last weekend I visted my relations.”

1. clarify with student: “Taraz, do you mean cousins, aunts, uncles...?”
2. throw it out to the group, “Who did Taraz visit?”
3. when another student offers the correct word, get him/her to repeat it “Kyung, could you say word that again?” (OR you offer the correct word: “I think you mean relatives.”)
4. write the word on the board: relatives
5. model this word again
6. mirror: “So Taraz went to see some relatives.”
7. move on: “Kyung, what did you do last weekend?”

Awkward phrasing/grammatical errors

Example: “If I have a million dollars, I be buying for my family big house.”

1. clarify meaning: "You would buy a big house?"
2. write a hint on the board to suggest a rephrasing:
   If I __________ a million dollars, I _________ buy a house.
3. invite the student to rephrase: “Here's another way to say it. What can I write in this blank?” (invite other students to make suggestions if necessary)
4. fill in the blanks when the correct words are offered:
   If I had a million dollars , I would buy a big house.
5. mirror and move on: “So Maria would buy a big house. Kim, what would you do with a million dollars?”

Here is another type of error that you are likely to encounter. While it does not interfere with communication, it still deserves to be addressed when it comes up in a discussion:

Distorted or incorrect cultural assumptions (overgeneralizations, stereotypes, misinterpretations, etc.)

Example: Americans don't care about the elderly-they just put them in nursing homes and forget about them.

1. One way to get to the bottom of people's assumptions without putting them on the defensive is to ask, in a neutral tone, “why do you think so?”
2. A good way to refute misinformation/overgeneralizations is to tell something about your own experience (or that of someone you know) that contradicts the assumption. Since these assumptions are usually based on very limited experience with American culture (or “something I saw on TV” or “something somebody told me”) it helps to give the student a broader picture of the issue. “That has not been my experience. In my experience...” or “Actually, I know someone who...”
3. You can acknowledge a grain of truth in the assumption (if there is one) but go on to tell more about the topic. For example: “it's true that some Americans think/do (something) but there are also many Americans who think/do (something else).”