Mysterious Graph.

ENGLISCH

Zeitschrift für Englischlehrerinnen und Englischlehrer Begründet durch Prof. Harald Gutschovv und Prof. Dr. Peter W. Kahl Herausgeber: Prof. Dr. Liesel Hermes (Karlsruhe), Prof. Dr. Helmut Heuer (Dortmund) Prof. Dr. Peter W. Kahl (Hamburg) Schriftleiter: Prof. Dr. Helmut Heuer, In der Lohwiese 19, 44269 Dortmund Ständige Mitarbeit: Dr. Graham Cass (Dortmund), Prof. Dr. Friederike Klippel

Inhalt 29. Jahrgang 1994, Heft 1

Kritisch Gelesenes

Ludwig Waas Die Rolle des Schriftbildes im Englischunterricht mit Grundschulkindern 1

Heinz Helfrich Integrierte Fremdsprachenarbeit in der Grundschule in Rheinland-Pfalz

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5

• Hans-Jürgen Diller, Stephan Kohl, Joachim Kornelius, Erwin Otto und Gerd Stratmann (Hrsg.): Comedies. Mirrors of English Society (anglistik & englischunterricht, Bd.45) (Uta Jannack, Breckerfeld) • Gudrun Barmeyer, Rotraud Benl, Angelika Steets (Hrsg.): Europäisches Lesebuch. (Eva Haverkamp, Dortmund)

• BBC English Dictionary A Dictionary for the World (Hans-Jörg Modlmayr, Borken-Gemen)

Ursula Pilz

• Whiskey in the Jar: „The Dubliners" in Concert (Helmut Heuer, Dortmund)

10

• Übersetzungswirrwarr

Time out for a Thought

Reading for Enjoyment

31

Black Quotations

Peter Berlinghof Diktat einmal anders

29

• Europa und Sprachenlernen (Niels Hallerberg, Gelsenkirchen)

Friederike Klippel: Mysterious Graph

A History of America: Fächerübergreifender Unterricht mit Englisch als Unterrichtssprache

• Stephan Gramley und Kurt-Michael Pätzold: A Survey of Modern English. (Norbert Standke, Lüdenscheid)

Informationen und Berichte

Zu unserer Folienbeilage

24

15

18

Sarah and Virginia Teichmann: The Courage to Change

Zu unserem Titelfoto

32

Helmut Heuer: Auf der Suche nach englischen Spuren auf französischem Boden - eine europäische Begegnung

Die Beiträge schrieben

38

Impressum

U3

Wilhelm Wölfel

Computerunterstützter Fremdsprachenunterricht: Englisch in der Hauptschule 21

Gedruckt auf chlorfrei gebleichtem Papier ohne Dioxinbelastung der Gewässer.

interests, so that they w i l l have something to say, as well as certain groups o f w o r d s and structures, so that the language content is manageable. These conditions d o n o t seem very hard to meet. H o w e v e r , teachers experience quite often that a sure-fire topic for one class w i l l leave another class bored and silent. There are several solutions to this p r o b l e m . T h e teacher can collect texts and materials o n a w i d e range o f topics o f possible interest, in this w a y h o p i n g t o find something f o r every class. O r , the teacher could choose different classroom approaches for the same topic i n various classes. A variation in method may create the spark t o get the discussion going. For this strategy the material must be flexible and

adaptable, a n d the teacher should possess a

substantial

methodological

repertoire.

Conversa-

tions and discussions i n English lessons w i l l become more interesting for teachers and students alike w h e n a range o f topics are linked t o a variety o f teaching procedures.

The transparency W h e n y o u l o o k at the graph o n the transparency y o u may wonder w h a t i t is about. Four lines i n different colours trace developments w h i c h are n o t named. The h o r i z o n t a l scale merely lists the numbers f r o m 1 to

12, the vertical scale

has n o subdivisions.

Nevertheless, there are a number o f things y o u can interpret and more w h i c h y o u might speculate about. The graph was invented just f o r this purpose, i . e . i n order t o get pupils t o interpret and t o speculate. I t is not a representation o f any development i n the real w o r l d , as far as I am aware. But i t follows c o m m o n sense insofar as the numbered scale was conceived as a time line, either the twelve months o f the year, the

Für den Tageslichtprojektor: Zu unserer Folienbeilage Friederike Klippel

Mysterious Graph It is one o f the main tasks o f foreign language

t w e n t y - f o u r - h o u r - d a y i n t w o - h o u r segments, o r a span o f twelve years. O f course, other interpretations are also possible. T h e transparency thus conforms t o the demands outlined above -

that materials f o r

conversation and discussion be flexible and adaptable.

teachers t o get their pupils t o talk. This is n o t an easy

Teaching hints

task. M a n y learners are reluctant t o use the foreign

Teachers can use the transparency i n the classroom

language i n free conversation, some d o n o t k n o w

i n a number o f ways. T h e first group o f activities

w h a t t o say, others d o n o t k n o w h o w t o say i t . T h e

focuses o n the interpretation o f the graph, the second

t e x t b o o k provides material f o r c o n t r o l l e d language

group o n creating f o l l o w - u p situations.

practice, but i t rarely stimulates discussion. A

language teacher w h o wants t o prepare his

1. Interpretation

learners f o r conversations i n English w i l l w a n t t o

The transparency is s h o w n and the pupils are asked

create practice situations. These should contain ques-

to comment. H e l p f u l questions and suggestions are:

tions o r topics relevant t o the learners' age and

What could

the numbers

stand for?

Let's

suppose 9

they are

the

influence

your guesses

months

of

the

about

year.

How

does

that

the graph?

Let's

sup-

pose three of these are the sales figures for

chocolate,

swim-suits

Why

and ice-cream;

which

is which?

you think so? What is the significance

of the

do

circles?

Pupils should be encouraged to find other possible interpretations f o r the lines o f the graph, e. g. pocket money spent t h r o u g h o u t the year, time spent o u t doors t h r o u g h o u t the year, traffic d u r i n g the day, feelings of four people w i t h i n a time of twelve years. They discuss their ideas i n groups or pairs and then outline them to the rest o f the class. A vote may be taken o n the most convincing or the most unusual interpretations. The positions o f the graph w h i c h are circled may either be ignored or given special attent i o n as focal points, e. g. summer sales, Easter, preparations for Christmas — i f the scale is seen as a period of twelve months. W h e n they interpret the graph pupils use speech acts like making paring

or stating

a suggestion,

giving

probabilities.

reasons,

able to produce some m o d a l auxiliaries (could, might)

com-

They need to be may/

and forms o f comparison. I n a d d i t i o n , verbs

like increase,

decrease,

stay the same are useful f o r

t a l k i n g about the graph. 2. Making up stories The teacher tells her class that the graph represents the lifelines o f four people for a period o f twelve years. A competent class used to w o r k i n g o n their o w n can be asked to imagine those four people and to develop a storyline based on the graph. The story may be set in any time or place the pupils choose. So, a medieval romance is just as possible as the history of a street gang or the adventures o f space explorers. In a less confident class the characters and the storyline may be w o r k e d o u t together. Pupils take turns in w r i t i n g d o w n the story as it evolves. A t the end the final text is checked by the teacher and duplicated for everyone. 3. Drawing your personal graph The pupils are asked to t h i n k about a typical week i n their lives. They should make up their o w n graph about this particular week. They might select things like time spent watching

TV, happy feelings,

spend-

ing money, doing sports,

drinking

particu-

lar things,

homework

or eating

etc. f o r visualisation. W h e n

they have d r a w n their graph, preferably on a transparency, they show i t t o the class w i t h o u t revealing w h a t the lines represent. The others t r y to guess. 10