Buy Strawberries Like an 아줌아 Not Like an 아저씨

[kellogg]

Midterm ④ Problems of "LISTEN and ANSWER"

Question a) Does the teacher cast and exchange roles? How? Why this method and not some other way?

The teacher tries to make the students construct their own conversation by casting and exchanging roles. Three are three kinds of casting roles in our book: command, statement,  question.

This makes it sound like "commands", "statements", and "questions" are three ways of doing exactly the same thing. But they aren't.

If you read the section carefully, you will see that they actually have different functions, and so they don't do the same thing. Commands are canonically (that is, typically) used for getting goods or services (not very politely). Statements are mostly for giving information. Questions are mainly used for GETTING information.

Now, roles are not goods or services. But they aren't exactly information either. They are a kind of imaginary self, created through the giving and getting of information. So we can predict--just from this much--that we might use commands AND statements AND questions rather thant commands OR statements OR questions.

Let's see if that's true.

The teacher uses 'statement' saying like this, "You are Kevin and I am Nami."

<given data>

T: Ran~away.  She ran away. Good try 석민 and 세영.

   So.. you are~Kevin and I am nami. Let's go. Review. Recall what they said. Ready go.

Statements followed by commands. No questions. But then, the role doesn't get created, does it?

Ss: (Silence) (students cannot start the dialogue first)

T: You're Kevin.

Ss: Hi~Ann

S: How are you.

Ss: How are you?

T: How are you? That was very good. But! Kevin said something different. 뭔가 kevin이 다른 거 얘기 했는데~ How~

The reason why the teacher chooses the way of statement to cast roles is that, I think,  the teacher can give some assistance when the students need to be helped to produce their own utterance because the teacher knows the students' ability to build up a sentence or speak in English.

Wait! The teacher ONLY uses sentences? Is that what the data shows?

Now, what you write implies that ONLY statements give assistance when the students need to be helped. Is that really true? Is that what the data shows?

The teacher can give the students information which is useful to continue the conversation and also can get information which includes the students' errors from the students.

The teacher needs to mediate the dialogue, so the teacher takes one part of the dialogue, picks up one answer which seems continue the dialogue forward among lots of the students' answers including wild answers and gives the students useful help to improvise their own dialogue. 

You are, of course, quite right. But this CERTAINLY suggests more than statements. Doesn't it?

  When the teacher starts the activity, she makes the students say first but the students cannot say anything.

Yes, and this is a big problem of the data. Good thinking.

<given data>

So.. you are~Kevin and I am nami. Let's go. Review. Recall what they said. Ready go.

Ss: (Silence)

T: You're Kevin.

Good use of supporting data. See--it works MUCH BETTER when you don't just leave the data in a heap!

That's what analysis really means and what an analyst really does. Analysis is NOT line by line commentary, and an analyst doesn't just leave the data in a big heap. Analysis is cutting and pasting and putting in parentheses and quotation marks. An analyst is somebody who uses data to answer a question.

After having a little trouble continuing the dialogue, the teacher exchanges the roles between teacher (Kevin) and the students (Nami). Because it is difficult for the students to speak first, now the teacher exchanges the roles and takes the first part of the dialogue and then begins to speak like, "Hi, Ann. How's it going?" The students can say like, "Not bad" because the teacher said "Not bad" before. Therefore, the dialogue seems go forward.

Right!

<given data>

Now, I'm Kevin. You're Ann.

Hi,  Ann. How's it going?

Ss: (laughing)

T: Hi,  Ann. How's it going?

Ss: (laughing) Not bad. 

T: Oh, Ann . you have something on your nose.

Ss: Oh, no.

T: Is your ice cream delicious?

S: Yes.

Excellent--but a little TOO MUCH data. Keep it short--if you put in too much data you make your point WEAKER not STRONGER.

Look at the last four lines. The last four lines do NOT show the children taking an active part at all; they only answer "yes" and "no" to the teacher. Of course, this is a serious problem, and it's worth talking about. But it's ANOTHER problem--it's not the problem we want to talk about here. The problem we want to talk about here is how to get started.

I don't think my book is a very good one (although Kim Yongho's translation is excellent). In fact, the reason why I keep badgering you all for more data, is that I am going to write a better one, and fresh data always helps me write. But I do think this: the strengths of the book have to do with isolating particular problems that are otherwise too mixed up with other problems for teachers to really think about.

When you analyze data, I want you to pick out the problems that are indicated in the question and use that to pick out the data which suggests a solution. Here, that means, how does the teacher get the kids to respond. If you include too much data, you are gonig to obscure that solution.

The teacher also uses "question" to exchange or recast the roles between the Kevin's role and the Nami's role.

<given data>

T: Ah~ you go to your mother and get some money. Wow.. that's nice try 광훈. Ah~ but my mom has no money

Ss: (laughing)

S: I don't have money too.

T: You don't have money too? Oh~then.. then.. give me that ice cream.

Ss: No. no.

T: No? No? 그럼 뭐라고 하지? (QUESTION-the teacher ask the students what Kevin's next saying will be. Even though the Kevin's role is the teacher's, the teacher seems give her role to students, and it works-one student tries to take the teacher's role voluntarily like below)

Good! But not enough! There's a lot more going on here than just the use of a question. There's the us of KOREAN. And there's a kind of DISTANCING going on as well, what Brecht would call "alienation", where the teacher and the students stand outside their roles and discuss them in the THIRD PERSON. When we write the book, we must include this as a solution.

Now, right here you really need to stop and talk about this. If you just keep letting the data go by, you will never be able to analyze this the way it deserves. Don't be lazy! STOP!

광훈: 제가 한 번 해볼께요. 남자애. (student's active participation)

T: OK~

광훈: If I see your pocket, I see money..I will hit you.

T: (laughing) Did you hear that? 광훈  said... If I see your pocket,~

광훈:  I see money..I will hit.

T:  I see money..I will hit. 내가~ 주머니 봐서~ 돈 있으면 ... I will hit.때리겠대. Oh,  my god.

That's nice? Oh, no. Who will depend me.

S: 십원에 한 대.

T: 뭐? 십원에 한 대?

S: Girl.

S:   You cannot hit the girl

S: 여자를 때리면 안 돼.

T: Ah~ Girl says.. you cannot hit the girl. 여자를 때리면 안 돼. What boy can say.(sic) What Kevin can say? (QUESTION)  Kevin... (the teacher makes the students improvise their own answer)

S: I don't care.

T: I don't care... how about nami (QUESTION-seems like "what will Nami say next?" "Guess" to make the students improvise their own answer)

정은 raises her hand.

T: Yes yes 정은? (QUESTION-the teacher makes 정은 answer. By making 정은 answer, the teacher picks out the Nami's role from all students and gives one student the Nami's role. It seems like the movement from the dialogue between the teacher and the students to the dialogue between students. I think that S-S relationship here is not pure S-S and it looks like a kind of Ss(S)-T-Ss(S) because the teacher mediate the dialogue.)

정은: 백원 줄게 봐줘.(ANSWER)

T: (laughing) Who can try that in Engilsh?

S: Give.

T: Give~

S: Give hundred one..

Ss: Give hundred one..

T: Give hundred one.. ?

S: and

T: and~

S: Give up.

S: and Never mind.

T: and~ give up. give up. I'll give you one hundred one then give up~?

S: 백원줄테니까 포기해.

T: 백원줄테니까 포기해? 오오~ oh.. nice try...then Kevin said...(It seems like "what will Nami say next?" "Guess" to make the students improvise their own answer)

우남: Shut up. (wild answer but student's active participation)

Kids laugh

T: 우남~~ shut up 은 너무 rude 하잖아~! Then.. what can Kevin say? Ohh.. no one? Kevin win? Ah..no. Ann win?

정은: No!

T: No? Then,....Kevin says...

정은: I love you.

everyone laughs.

T: Ah.. I love you? hahah.

Ss: 그러니까 그러니까~

T: 그러니까?

Ss: You should give me ice cream. (out of many illegible answers)

T: Ah.. so you should give me the ice cream~ uh~? 윤성?

Ss: You're very cute.

Oh, dear. Poor Eunhi! There's FAR too much data here; she'll never be able to get this into a coherent argument.

  As the dialogue continues, the teacher comes out of her role(Kevin) and gives(casts) her role to any other students-individual(광운, 정은 or 우남) or the whole class. Good--but where? It's too far away. I can't find it. By casting and exchanging the roles, the teacher can make a pragmatic situation and let the students listen to others' saying and answer themselves even though the answers are not preferred and have some errors.

Too general. Of course it's too general--you've got too much data. When you buy strawberries, you don't just grab a whole bunch and weigh them, do you? That's what MEN do when they shop for groceries. If you are a real 아줌아 like me then you know how to pick and choose, leave the rotten ones and take the ripe ones.

Eunhi--remember I said that I was going to give you TOO MUCH data. I did this partly because I think that picking and choosing is an important skill and also because I like what Jiyeong does with SPSS (which requires a substantial quantity of data to be significant). Your answer is GOOD when you stop and think. It's much less good when you just leave the data in a big heap.

dk

[11기신지영]

I usually buy strawberry in a box to make everything be mine first, so that I can relax myself to pick up the good ones. So please don;t give out a huge one. It's way too HEAVY to carry alone.

[kellogg]

Ha! That's what they WANT you to do. They put the nice ones on top and underneath they are all rotten. See--the whole problem is finding out which ones are TYPICAL, which are REPRESENTATIVE. It's the same with data.