Diaries and the Oral-English Class

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Marie Shimane

Attending the JALT International Conference in Osaka in October of '82Ewas like sitting down to a methodological feast--- a veritable potpourri of English-language

teach-ing dishes sure to ward off the starvteach-ing boredom of both students and teachers. Many

of the excellent presentations I had previously read about and I returned with a renewed determinatioh to somehow incorporate a few of these different methods into my own classroom.

However, years of teaching experience have convinced me that one cannot just ran-domly present a new activity; in some way it must relate to what is being currently studied.' While many of these methods suggested themselves to me I had also somehow

to introduce them into my own basic way of teaching and into the course of study I had spent the summer planning.

For my second-year junior college students the October to March semester was to inciude a more-rounded focus on English. The text we had been using gave them

adequate oral and aural practice but very little opportunity to increase their writing, reading and discussion skills. Not finding a satisfactory text with which to accomplish this, I decided they could "write" their own centered around a given topic in the form

of a diary.

The rationale for the diary format is quite obvious: we usually speak or write with any degree of feeling when we speak or write abut ourselves. But this "diary" was not to be in the traditional "day-by-day-what-I-have-done" mode. It was to be an end product in itself and a springboard to further activities that I felt were help-ful but that needed to be rooted.

The two second-year classes meet for ninety minutes twice a week and a list of

fifteen topics were optimistically drawn- up to cover the semester.' The reader will please keep in mind that prior to beginning the topics, much time was given to explore such writing techniques as how to vary sentence beginning and length, use action verbs and avoid overuse of the verb "to be", and see a paragraph as a unit having a definite

beginning and end. During the term other hints for improving writing were

intro-duced with a specific one for each new topic.

The list of topics were:

1. Rising At 5 a.m.

2. Imagine Me At Forty!

3. My Treasure

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5. --- Infuriates Me!

6. When There's Nothing Else To Do, I 7. Loneliness

8. Bargain Sales

9. What I Want

10. A Surprise Package

11. Nothing Special, But A Very Pleasant Day

12. INeed

13. 0n Rainy Days I Wear

14. Train People

15. Even After Many Years, I'11 Still Remember

'

I will select topic number two and describe how it was developed for classroom use.

The other topics can more or less follow the same pattern always leaving room for additions or subtractions as the need arises.

One possible way to introduce this aging theme is to put the students jn groups

to discuss their thoughts on becoming forty years old. Some possible question starters

could be:

How do you think you will look at forty? How do you think you will feel?

What do you think your interests will be?

From their discussions, a list of adjectives and expressions can be obtained and added to an already prepared handout such as the following to be used in their writing:

Adjectives: elderly attractive

matronly matured

weathered perfected

seasoned improved

Verbs/Expressions: grow old

wrinkle

go grey

turn white

mature

lmprove

have one foot in the grave

show my years

Next two faces were drawn on the blackboard--one smiling and the other

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birthday, one obviously welcoming it and the other not. The students, afterashort

discussion on the reasons why, were given time to select which face would be theirs

at forty. Since the size of the two classes is relatively smail (fifteen to twenty in each) and these students are quite friendly with each other, this became a game to guess

which face a particular student would choose and .her reasons for it.2 The following

two "diary" entries, containing many of the vocabulary words on the sheet above, were passed out. One is a positive and one is a negative view of becoming forty

written by a young girl of about twenty.

Positive Entry:

How upset mother's friend was yesterday when she came to visit--and

all because it was her fortieth birthday. She said she felt ancient and had

one foot in the grave already. To me she looked lovely--very attractive and mature. I'm only twenty but is forty such a terrible age? I won't wrinkle and turn white overnight--and what if I do! The important thing

is to live right--not to look right. I never want to lose my curiosity, my

mental energy, my ability to enjoy and value myself and others. In the next twenty years then, I will certainly age--but how gracefully I will do it !

Negative Entry:

Mother's friend came yesterday--it was her fortieth birthday. Imagine !

Forty years old! I'm still twenty years away from forty but already I'm

beginning to worry. I looked in the mirror today for wrinkles, white hairs

--any sign of becoming matronly. Oh, I hate that word! I'11 have to

begin now to use skin creams and exercise and eat only healthy food. I'm not going to be all weathered looking by forty. In the next twenty years then, I will certainly age--but how reluctantly I will do it!

The students may again read these in groups for mutual help and understanding. The

members of whichever group finishes first then go to different groups and see if there are any questions unanswered about the selection. Afterwards the students' attention is directed to the ending sentence of each entry and the fact that a change of one word

, affects the tone of the sentence.

At this point the students need a "relief" (iheir own word) and we borrow an idea

from Carolyn Graham and do a jazz chant. On this particular theme I could find

nothing in her excellent book and so I wrote the following of which each student has

a copy.

Jazz Chant:

Wife Husband

1. I'm getting OLD!

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3. 4. Yes, I AM!

YES, I AM!

LOOK at me

my hair

5. LOOK

I'm

6. DO

OH,

Oh,

is GREY. at me!

WRINKLED

OLD

MATRONLY

---sad.... you?

DO you?

do you REALLY see

all that in me?!

7. You're SUCH a

You're SUCH a

You say JUST

dear dear

---what I want to hear!

2. Hey, no way.

YOU'RE not

3. You're NOT

4. Your hair only a old. old.

is BLACK

FEW are

grey.

5. I AM looking at you

and WHAT do I see?

I see an ATTRACTIVE,

MATURE,

PERfect lady! 6. I

I

see see

ALL that and

the woman I

more,

LOVE.

I have purposely capitalized certain words needing emphasis because while doing

chants before, I found this was a help and not a hinderance if the interpretation re-mains the same as it does here.

Having a class of all girls, it became necessary for one to be the husband and the

other the wife. To practice the chant two lines of husbands and wives were formed and actions were put with the words. For example, the wife would be looking in a mirror while the husband was reading a newspaper. Prior to this class the students

were told to bring in a mirror and a newspaper; holding an object does seem to give a sense of security while speaking. Other hand gestures and facial expressions were added as suggested by the lines and time was given to rehearse by themselves in groups of twos while I went around correcting pronunciation and intonation. In a later class each group presented the chant to the enjoyment of all.

.N

At the beginning of the term, the importance of the first sentence was stressed and various ways to eliminate a subject-verb-object order were given by presenting rather dull sentences and having the students rewrite them using gerunds, participles,

infin-itives, prepositions etc. as starting words. Some e'xamples and their improvements follow:

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1. I'm very lazy. . Sleeping and eating are my best friends.

Getting up late is my favorite bad habit.

2. It has been raining for three months. .

My heart is getting wet.

The threatening sky has stayed for a long time. I bought a boat in exchange for my car.

3. I love to write. . A writer is always making dreams.

A callus has formed on my finger. My pencils are getting shorter and shorter.

4. I'm getting old. ny As time passes, my thoughts have gradually deepened. I am approaching the grave.

The mere thought of another birthday drives me

into a melancholy mood.

5. Mrs. Shimane talks in a loud voice. .

At last, Mrs.Shimane got hoarse.

Hearing Mrs. Shimane's voice, an underground mole

would wake up.

For topic number one, a list of positive and negative beginning sentences were

dis-tributed and each student chose one with which to begin her composition. For topic

number two, the following ending sentences were duplicated; the student again selected one with which to end her diary entry.

Positive: Negative:

1. I won't grow old, I'11 improve. 2. In the next twenty years then, I will certainly age -- but how

gracefully I will do it!

3. Now I look ahead to forty, and I

hope I shall always eagerly

await the everchanging years. 4. "Forty" sounds Iike a good number -- and so does "60", "80", " 100 ".

The choice being made, it was now time After writing their six to eight sentences on all "I"s and "be" verbs in red and to

handout. This makes them aware of an

1. It's sad but true: I will grow old.

2. In the next twenty years then, I

will certainly age--but how

reluctantly I will do it!

3. Now I only worry about

but think of the changes after

that!

4. "Forty" sounds ancient to me--and

so does "60" "80" "100".

Jr

to give the assignment due in a week. every other line, the students had to circle underline any vocabulary used from the first

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the verb "to be", and the importance of adjectives to give a sense of detail to their writing. The samples which follow show first the uncorrected and then the corrected

version of one student's writing. My comment on her second sentence was only that

I could not understand it. She rewrote it as it is in the corrected version.

Uncorrected Version:

Everybody age. To be important is howI age. I won't look back upon

my past youth regretfully. Because it is no use doing it. Though my hair

will turn white, my feeling will turn rose. Wrinkles will become a recorder that

tells my delight and sorrowIexperienced. I want to be like the sea in my forties. I want to be like an attractive sea which is always calm, but keeps enough deep power to rage when the storm rises. Now I look ahead to forty,

and I hope I shall always eagerly await the everchanging years.

Corrected Version:

Everybody ages. It is important for us to spend our last days in peace and quiet. I won't look back upon my past youth regretfully because there is no use doing so. Though my hair will turn white, my feelings will stay rosy.

Wrinkles will became the recorder of all the delight and sorrow I have enced. In my forties I want to be like the attractive sea which is always calm

but keeps enough power deep down to rage when the storm rises. Now I look

ahead to forty, and I hope I shall always eagerly await the everchanging years.

During the week the students are working on their compositions, other activities are taking place in the classroom. One utilizes the total physical response theory and for many of the topics, operations can be found in several books3 or either written by the teacher. For the aging unit, the following was done:

Aging Operation:

1. Today you're forty years old! 2. Look in the mirror.

3. What do you see?

4. Do you see wrinkles and grey hairs? 5. Are you getting old and fat?

6. 0r--do you see an attractive, mature woman! --"lovely to look at,

delightful to know! "?

7. Yes! That's you at forty: mature

charming

lnterestlng

witty !

8. Smile at your reflection in the mirror--a great big smile.

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years old today.

10. CELEBRATE!

After the students have recited the words and performed the actions, a series of

questions can then be asked pertaining to what they are doing, why, what did they see, are they satisfied with their reflection, and so on. This may be conducted by

the teacher or done in the same husband-and-wife group questioning each other as they say and do the operation.

The January 1982 issue of.Ms magazine provided a picture activity for this unit.

The article, entitled "The Family of Woman: Growing ToWard the Light", had

pic-tures of nine women ranging in age from about sixty to ninety-five from various walks

of life: a beautician, a psychologist, the owner of a restaurant, a poet. Each of these women's faces were lined with age and each seemed to hold a story for whom-ever would listen. Howwhom-ever, apart from name, age, and profession, nothing further about the individual was told. Instead, next to each photograph was a quote from a

woman writer that spoke of some aspect of aging as in this example from Anna Magnani:

"Don't hide the lines in my face when you photograph me. I suffered too much to get them." Looking at these beautiful, serene, active women, the students could realize a little better how the addition of years only increases one's potential to live. Although nothing more was done in this unit with pictures, the students could be

encouraged to bring in photographs of grandparents and talk about them.`

Yoko Nomura,5 who gave a dynamic presentation at JALT '82, has some interest-ing variations on dointerest-ing dialogues and, for the aginterest-ing unit, the "hard of hearinterest-ing" routine was chosen. The dialogue, to be written by the students,

takesplacebetweenaforty-year-old woman and her hard-of-hearing mother. The daughter' has just been shopping and excitedly returns home with the news that she has just met her old friend from

college and proceeds to describe the changes in her over the past twenty years. The student playing the mother is, in reality, the former friend that the daughter has just met and is actually listening to a description of herself twenty years from now. The first five lines were provided and the students continued with their own conversation. The corrected version of two such dialogues are given below.

Dialogue No.1:

D: Mother! Mother! Guess whom Ijust met in Takashimaya! Guess!

M: Calm down., You're talking too fast. I can't understand you.

D : Sorry, Mother. But I just met Miss ---, my old friend from college.

Do you remember her?

M: Whom did you say? Miss ---? Oh, yes, Iremember her.

She was very funny, wasn7t she?6

D: Oh, you should see her now. She's very quiet and ladylike now.

M: She has a bike, did you say?

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M Oh, ladylike! How does she look?

D She was wearing a very expensive dress.

M What's a pencil dress?

D Pencil dress? No! ---expensive dress. She

She looked like a queen.

M Did she becomeaqueen!

D No! She looked likeaqueen. She became

changed at all.

M: In spite of the fact that you are my daughter, with a beautiful face?

D Ithink that my father is the cause.

M Hey, listen! Whenaperson grows old, he learns

most important and valuable thing in this life.

has

become

beautiful

why

but a rich weren't that

woman.

I haven't you a face is born not the Dialogue No. 2:

D Mother! Mother! Guess whom ljust met in Takashimaya? Guess!

M Calm down. You're talking too fast, I can't understand you.

D Sorry, Mother. But Ijust met Miss---, my old friend from college.

Do you remember her?

M: Whom did you say? Miss---? Oh, yes,Iremember her.

She was like a country girl, wasn't she?

D Oh, you should see her now. She's very sophisticated and elegant now.

M What did you say? She has an elephant now?

D Oh, no! She's elegant! She was wearing a fine fox fur and a diamond

ring on her finger.

M Oh, thank you. Will you buyafox fur for me?

D You must be joking! We don't have enough money to buy fur.

M Don't talk so loud. I'11 become deaf.

D But, mother, you make mistakes in hearing.

M No,Ihaveagood ear. By the way, why did she become elegant?

D Because she has married a rich man. I want to marry a rich man too.

M What? Do you want to marry? How old are you? You can't

ably wish for such a thingl

D No, I'm still young! And I live every day with hope. M Well, you must find a rich man who will give furs to me!

When the dialogues have been completed and the compositions handed in and

corrected, I record them on each student's cassette tape which should then be listened to for pronunciation and intonation practice. The dialogues do not have to be memo-rized but should be famjliar enough so that when presented eye contact can be

main-tained.

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the class. Before this, however, a list of questions relating to the theme has been compiled, first in groups and then together as a class. Each student adds to her note-book whatever question her group did not consider and they use these to question the

student in front of the room. Many of the questions have already been answered in

her diary entry. If a question does not relate directly to what she has written, then it is answered according to how she feels about it. This is, perhaps, the activity the students prefer least but one which helps them to listen and spontaneously answer. When asked to compile their reactions to this type of English class, the students' responses were, as a whole, favorable. They felt it is more interesting, a good way to increase their vocabulary and acquire comprehension skills. As opposed to a text, this gives them a greater range' in which to think and express their ideas and, although it

is "tiring", it is also "fruitful".

About particular activities, their comments were as follows:

a. writing dialogues: -enjoyable

-a way to express self -vocabulary builder

-broadens scope of composition b. performing dialogues:

-reveals other's hidden personality

-good for pronunciation and intonation and to learn a variety of

expresslons

-easier to get the feeling of the dialogue when acted out

-emphasizes the importance of facial and body gestures and emotional

expresslon c. chants:

-difficult at first but then learned to speak to the rhythm

-able to understand rhythm and intonation very well

-interesting and a relief -learned daily conversation

-yes! yes! yes!

d•:ggiltla!2glLglC..ggmpgsi!2pt]t fc ltl:

-very difficult to ask questions but good to learn by answering them

-we sympathize with the person up there but to answer the student must understand her own writing and thinking

e. group work:

-good to cooperate with each other -can help each other to improve

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-very enjoyable because we helped ourselves -more willing to attend class when there is group work

What the students in general seem to want is to choose and develop their own topic.

This is understandable and suggestions can be solicited while the initial topic is being comple'ted. To go into a room cold and just ask for topics might result in a very silent oral English class.

Conducting the English class this way leaves a great deal of room for introducing

whatever new idea one might read about or think of on the way to the classroom. Songs, poems, selections from literature can all be used for enrichment--and Ctrelief".

But too much food at that "feast" and after-dinner inertia might set in!

Notes:

1 During the October to December period, only two. topics were completed and a third begun. 2 I have made no division in this paper in relation to class time, This unit took about a month or eight classes to complete.

3 James J. Asher, Learning Another Language Throagh Actions(California: Sky Oaks Productions, 1977).

G. Nelson and T. Winters, ESL OPerations: Techniqttes for Learning U}Thile Doing(Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, 198e).

E. Romijn, and C. Seely, Live Action Engltsh(Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1979).

4 Regarding the use of pictures and other activities, see A. Maley and A. Duff, Drama Techniques in Language Learning (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978).

5 Yoko Nomura, Pla'nch & Ozech: English Through Drama (Tokyo: Lingual House Publishing Company, 1982).