ARMING STUDENTS FOR A WORLD OF

INCOMPREHENSIBLE INPUT

Sara-Elizabeth CottrellMUSICUENTOS.COM

©20

15 M

USIC

UENT

OS e

duca

tiona

l pur

pose

s onl

y

What do you call this

stuff?

CIRCUMLOCUTION:

it’s that thing that you do when you can’t think

of or don’t know the word or phrase

TWO NEEDS, SAME SOLUTION

• novice: stuff I don’t know (it’s a lot)

• intermediate: words that change when I go somewhere different (it’s a lot)

BUT… PROFICIENCY?

• not spelled out below intermediate mid

• possible below intermediate mid?

CC-BY Geraint Rowlandhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/geezaweezer/

IF IT’S ABOUT THE INPUT…

• Can novices be taught it?

• Should novices be taught it?

• Should we require it?

SCIENTISTS SAY…• Ellis: When students

actively negotiate meaning, they comprehend more.

• Gass: students use negotiation strategies to make incomprehensible input comprehended

CC-BY-NC-SA Bryan Joneshttps://www.flickr.com/photos/bwjones/

HOW IT EMPOWERS

The majority of communication problems happen because of vocabulary, not because of grammar.

CC-BY Vinamwa Agrawalhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/bwjones/

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?• by specific region (for whatever reason)

• by widespread use

• by what I learned

• textbook picks for me

CC-BY-NC-SA Lauren Macdonaldhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/42386632@N00/

TEACH NEUTRAL WORDS

whenever possible.

CC-BY Davi Sommerfield https://www.flickr.com/photos/davisommerfeld/

NOVICE: DESCRIPTION

• person, place, thing; food, animal, plant

• and• is, has

Thomas Berghttps://www.flickr.com/photos/decafinata/

INTERMEDIATE: COMPLEXITY

• that• more verbs: uses,

makes, does• opposite of, same as

CC-BY-NC-SA Bethanhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/beth19/

agraffe

IN A LESSON PLAN: EARLY NOVICE• Story: Game Show!

• Processing task: categorize pictures

• Flyswatter: person, place, thing?

• Production task: circulate & circumlocute!

• Stations: “Guess what?”

• Performance assessment: person, place, or thing?

• Follow-up: Listening to video

Prior knowledge: descriptors,

“is”Target:

I can identify something as

a person, place, or

thing.

IN A LESSON PLAN: LATER NOVICE• recycle the basics

• more descriptors & verbs

• task: identify verbs

• game: “Speak”tionary

• interpersonal: what’s the regional variation? (grid)

MUSICUEN

TOS.COM

/BLOG

Target: I can describe something or someone to find out the word for it

when I don’t know.

Deborah ArteagaUniversity of Las Vegas

deborah.arteaga@unlv.eduLucía LlorenteBerry College

lllorente@berry.edu

Research credit:ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CIRCUMLOCUTION

IN THE SPANISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM