The Language Teacher
November 2000
Developing Language from Photographs
Tony Ryan
Nagoya City University
QUICK GUIDE
Key Words: Speaking, Reading, Pronunciation, Listening, Translating
Learner English Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Learner Maturity Level: High School and up
Preparation Time: Varies, depending on source of
Activity Time: 40 minutes
Rationale
As teachers we come out of class and reflect on what occurred -- did the students learn something today, were the activities and language suitable, did everyone participate, did they really "get" it? Most days we don't know; the nodding heads and the lack of questions suggest understanding but they don't really tell us. The following classroom idea allows the teacher to see clearly whether or not students learnt something and participated.
The rationale for the activity is based on two assumptions: (a) peer instruction in the EFL classroom is a valuable tool for the teacher; and (b) the use of L1 in the EFL classroom is a valuable tool for the teacher. The former assumes that getting students to become the teachers of their classmates is a useful and valuable technique in EFL instruction. A teacher's job is to teach and a student's job is to learn -- or so we've been told. However, getting students to do as much of the teaching as possible frees up the teacher to give valuable individual attention to students, even in a large class. This swapping of roles can lead to greater interest on the part of students and also allow them to experience what the "suit" at the front is going through, which in turns leads to greater understanding of each other.
The latter assumption simply means that controlled use of L1 by the students can be valuable in the EFL classroom. Most people who speak two or more languages have played the role of translator at some point -- whether shopping with friends or comparing dishes on a menu. It is a valuable skill that students use and need, but often one that is ignored in the classroom because of the teacher's inability to speak the language. The activity that follows is no problem for teachers because they don't have to speak the language. The students do all the translating. This activity has two major objectives: (a) to give students practice in pronunciation, listening, and techniques of questioning and explaining; and (b) to get students to take responsibility for learning and for teaching other students.
Resources
The text I use is the quite old and battle-tested Speaking for Communication by Wells (1982). This text has 50 units, each comprising two pages. The first page of each unit has a short passage of usually five to six lines (60-80 words) followed by a photograph. The passage usually describes the scene and action taking place in the photograph. The rest of the page lists important vocabulary. The second page contains comprehension questions based on the photo description and other questions for further discussion. For this activity, however, the second page is not necessary.
If you don't have the Wells text available, you can, without too much effort, come up with your own materials. Dig through your old photos and soon you'll be able to find a few suitable ones. I like pictures that have some activity occurring in them, e.g. scenes from the beach, a park, or a concert. Make sure the pictures you choose are light enough to come up well when you photocopy them. An initial mistake is choosing pictures that have too much going on in them or things that are difficult to draw. Remember, we aren't trying to get students to reproduce the photo exactly but to practice language. Also, I find candid shots rather than posed shots are the best. In writing the description, a good idea is to stick to 60-80 words in length and to simply describe the scene. Don't write abstractly about it or students will have no chance of drawing it. You can tailor the descriptions to suit different abilities. If this sounds like too much work, remember that all you need are two photo-description units each time you do the activity. There are lots of texts and thousands of magazines with photographs in them. Pick out a few and write your own descriptions. It takes less effort than you think.
Procedure
Step 1: The teacher selects two photo descriptions for the activity. The students are paired and each student is assigned one of the two photos. Students must not look at their partner's photo, as secrecy is important in this exercise.
Step 2: Student A reads the complete passage in English to Student B. Student B listens without asking questions. Student A then rereads the passage, but this time phrase by phrase, pausing so that Student B can repeat each phrase clearly and exactly.
Step 3: Student A then reads the story a third time but this time, after each sentence, he/she translates the sentence into Japanese.
Step 4: Student A rereads the story in English for the final time.
Step 5: Student B sketches an idea of the photograph onto a blank sheet of paper. At this point Student B may ask questions, but in English only. Student A may only answer in English and shouldn't volunteer information regarding the photo. Student B draws his/her interpretation of the photo based upon the passage and the questions asked of Student A. No Japanese should be used during this process.
Step 6: Roles are then reversed and student B becomes the tutor.
It's a good idea to spend five or ten minutes setting out the steps on the board and going through them with the students at the start of the session. The teacher can decide whether or not to allow the students to control the time spent on each step. The first time (i.e. when Student A is reader), I usually tell students when to go from step to step, but when they change roles they decide for themselves how long to spend on each step. This is beneficial in that it allows them gradually to take control of the task time, another step toward taking responsibility for themselves.
Evaluation
Evaluation is quite simple and straightforward and is usually completely up to the students. Upon completion of the activity, the sketch and the photograph are compared. Students often find this quite funny at first. The process is different for each pair but usually they discuss the differences and go over what they actually said to each other that brought about the resulting picture. Then, with the teacher's help, they discuss what they might or should have said. After two or three times doing this activity, the students hone their own techniques of questioning and explaining. Their questions become more focused and detailed, as do the explanations. The activity runs for upwards of thirty minutes and is student-centered. The teacher's role is to observe and identify common difficult language and to assist students individually.
Benefits
The students learn the language of the passage, practice speaking clearly and enunciating words, practice translating, learn vocabulary associated with the picture, and become tutors themselves. Additionally, they learn about describing perspective and position (right foreground, background, etc.), and practice descriptive language to the end that they can eventually describe things such as photographs without a pre-written description. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, they learn how to develop and refine their language skills themselves. It is a valuable exercise in that the students can see improvement in their own descriptive language
Reference
Wells, T. (1986). Speaking for communication. Tokyo: International Communications Incorporated.
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