Teaching/Learning Principles for Oral Communication Courses
Kristin Sullivan
Sullivan began by introducing the textbook she recently co-wrote, leading into her presentation of the kinds of insights that come out of the book-writing process. She said that the (apparent) common wisdom of "chuck[ing] a native speaker into a classroom and suddenly it all happens," falls somewhat short of according the teaching of oral English the kind of respect it deserves. It needs to be recognized that spoken language has unique features quite apart from the written form—which might help dispel the thematic superficiality and one-dimensional aspect of sample conversations in many textbooks. Having studied Japanese since elementary school, Sullivan feels well-qualified to assess methodology from "the other side of the classroom". She points out that sophistication in content is important-- university students are adults after all—but they have been studying EFL for so long that patterns have developed they need to break out of; they need to be pushed up to the next level and in her classes with her textbook she attempts to do just that.
Recognizing however that any textbook is just a tool to be used in the process of encouraging conversation, the latter half of the meeting was turned over to an open and lively discussion of ways and means to facilitate this,
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