Teaching speaking skill to young learners at vus etsc problems and recommendations m a 60 14 10

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES *** NGUYEN THI BAO TRAN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT VUS-ETSC: PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A Thesis in Master of Arts Major: TESOL Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts Supervisor NGUYEN THAI AN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, 2010 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL TO YOUNG LEARNERS AT VUS-ETSC: PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS in terms of the statements of Requirements for Thesis in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee HoChiMinh City, January, 2010 NGUYEN THI BAO TRAN RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Nguyen Thi Bao Tran, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of the study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, January, 2010 NGUYEN THI BAO TRAN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Mr Nguyen Thai An, for his patient guidance encouragement and valuable advice throughout my research Without his help, I could not have finished the thesis I owe a great deal to all my lecturers for their helpful instructions during the Master course at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities I would like to thank all the teachers and students at Vietnam USA Society Training Service (VUS) for their help and co- cooperation completing the questionnaire Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family, my friends, and my colleagues whose support has been especially important to the success of my educational endeavors ABSTRACT Language helps us convey information to other people It allows us to represent the external world to one another: the people, places, things, actions and events that we can observe In the time of globalization nowadays, the definition of language has changed It is not the language that people have to master the aspects of language, such as grammar and vocabulary to pass the exams or to fulfill the school’s requirements, but it is the ability to communicate effectively This thesis, therefore, aims to identify the problems and solutions to develop the speaking skill for Vietnamese learners, especially young learners in Vietnam USA Society Training Service Center (VUS-ETSC) where teaching and learning of English are much concerned with the spoken form As an effort to identify the problems, a survey was carried out to investigate students’ learning experience, their awareness as well as their expectation towards the speaking skill of English in VUS The findings from the survey included students’ passive English learning experience with little or no participation to oral practice both inside and outside the classroom, low motivation in learning affected by ineffective teaching methods and inappropriate curriculum in VUS nowadays It was also found out that although most learners seem to lack confidence in expressing their own opinions, they have high expectation of speaking practice at school in preparation for their future careers or higher study In consideration of students’ prior and existing grammatical and semantic knowledge in light of student-centered approach, the thesis came up with suggestions and implications of practical techniques and strategies for VUS teachers to help develop the students’ oral competence in the context of communicative and cooperative learning These suggestions and implications include techniques to build up students’ confidence as well as their learning motivation, application of conversational strategies, techniques to vary communicative activities in a cooperative learning environment, classroom management skills, techniques to select supplementary teaching materials and ways of testing or assessment The thesis is written in view of looking for better changes in the teaching and learning of English in VUS in particular and in other foreign language centers which are in similar circumstances TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of contents vi List of tables x List of abbreviations xi Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The rationale of the study 1.2 General background to the study 1.3 Purposes of the study 1.4 Overview of the thesis 1.5 Problem statement 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Limitations of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The nature of speaking 2.1.1 Definition 2.1.2 Types of speaking 2.1.3 The role of speaking in second language acquisition 2.1.3.1 The nature of second language acquisition (SLA) 2.1.3.2 The role of speaking in SLA 2.2 The overview of communicative competence 10 2.3 The overview about young learners 11 2.3.1 Definition 12 2.3.2 The characteristics of young learners 12 2.4 The nature of oral communication 15 2.4.1 Definition 15 2.4.2 Factors influencing young learners’ oral communication 16 2.4.2.1 Age 16 2.4.2.2 Personality .16 2.4.2.3 Attitude 17 2.4.2.4 Motivation .18 a Definition 18 b Kinds of motivation 19 c Factors affecting second language learners’ motivation 20 2.5 Classroom interaction 25 2.5.1 Definition 25 2.5.2 The importance of interaction in oral classroom .25 2.5.3 Factors affecting the success of the classroom interaction 26 2.5.3.1 Social climate .26 2.5.3.2 Variety in learning activities 26 2.5.3.3 Students’ participation opportunities 26 2.5.3.5 Feedback and correction 26 2.6 Approaches applied in teaching speaking English to young learners .27 2.6.1 Communicative approach (CLT) 27 2.6.1.1 Definition …………27 2.6.1.2 The roles of the teacher and students 29 2.6.1.3 Classroom activities 30 2.6.2 The learner-centered approach (LCT) 30 2.6.2.1 Definition ……30 2.6.2.2 The roles of the teachers and students 31 2.6.3 The total physical response (TPR) .32 2.7 The interference of the first language in second language acquisition 34 2.8 Implications for teaching speaking skill to young learners 35 2.9 Summary 37 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions 38 3.2 Research design .38 3.3 Characteristics of subjects 39 3.3.1 Teachers’ profiles 39 3.3.2 Students’ profiles 40 3.4 Instruments 40 3.4.1 Questionnaires 41 3.4.2 The final oral test 42 3.5 Procedure .42 Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Teachers’ viewpoints about the teaching and learning at VUS 43 4.2 Students’ responses to the questionnaires 53 4.2.1 Students’ viewpoints about the teaching and learning at VUS 53 4.2.2 Students’ learning experience 54 4.2.3 Students’ attitudes and expectation of speaking English .59 4.2.4 Students’ preferences in English classes 60 4.2.5 Students’ results in the Final oral exam 62 4.2.6 Summary 63 Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Implications for motivation 64 5.2 Games in the English speaking classroom 68 5.3 Helping students gain confidence 70 5.4 Dealing with introverts 72 5.5 Learning active vocabulary 73 5.5.1 Active vocabulary .73 5.5.2 Applying learning vocabulary to speaking .74 5.6 Teaching pronunciation .77 5.6.1 English sounds without equivalents 77 5.6.2 Unvoiced explosive endings 79 5.6.3 Fricative 79 5.6.4 Releasing sounds 80 5.6.5 Consonant clusters 82 5.6.6 Linking 82 5.6.7 Word stress and changes in pronunciation 83 5.6.8 Intonation .84 5.6.9 Homophones 85 5.7 Teaching culture 86 5.8 Dealing with the overusing of mother tongue .90 5.9 Using pictures effectively .93 5.10 Conducting warmers 95 5.11 The interaction between teachers and students 96 5.12 Dealing with wandering minds 98 5.13 Assigning homework 99 5.14 Summary 101 CONCLUSION 102 BIBLIOGRAPHY 104 APPENDIX 1: Questionnaires for teachers at VUS – ETSC (in English) .111 APPENDIX 2: Questionnaires for students at VUS – ETSC (in Vietnamese).117 APPENDIX 3: Games for English Speaking Activities 122 APPENDIX 4: Games for learning Vocabulary 127 APPENDIX 5:Warm-up Activities 131 10 120 Đồng ý Không đồng ý Không chắn 6.1 Khơng có nhiều từ để diễn đạt 6.2 Thiếu tự tin,sợ sai, sợ bị cười 6.3 Khơng có thói quen 6.4 Khơng có hứng thú 6.5 Khơng hiểu người khác muốn nói 6.6 Biết từ khơng diễn đạt 6.7 Khơng có hội 6.8 Khơng biết cách phát âm từ 6.9 Không hiểu đề tài khác văn hóa lónh vực * Lý khác:………………………………………………………………….…………………… Em muốn phát triển kỹ nói tiếng Anh lý sau: LỰA CHỌN LỰA CHỌN LỰA CHỌN LỰA CHỌN A Vì tiếng Anh phổ biến B Để sử dụng tiếng Anh giao tiếp hàng ngày C Chuẩn bị du học D Để làm * Lý khác:…………………………………………………………….……………………… Trong học Speaking, em thích hoạt động sau đây? 120 121 Rất thích Thích Tạm Chán 8.1 Trả lời câu hỏi 8.2 Thảo luận học theo cặp, nhóm 8.3 Thảo luận đề tài khác 8.4 Hs chuẩn bị đề tài trước nhà lên trình bày 8.5 GV cung cấp thêm từ cho học viên trước bắt đầu nói đề tài 8.6 Luyện phát âm, luyện giọng cho học sinh 8.7 Sử dụng phương tiện nghe nhìn ( máy cassette,tranh ảnh….) 8.8 Nghe nhạc 8.9 Giải thích số điểm ngữ pháp * Hoạt động khaùc: ………………………………………………………………………… CÁM ƠN CÁC EM ĐÃ HỢP TÁC! APPENDIX 121 122 GAMES FOR SPEAKING ACTIVITY Moving questions (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl- games-and-speaking-activities.html retrieved on September, 10th, 2009)……… Before class, brainstorm and compose a list of questions on a theme, which could be as specific as “friend and family” or as wide as “controversial topics.” They don’t have to be particularly insightful or probing, especially if you have a large group Print the list and cut the paper so you have one question per slip of paper Give each student a question and then ask students to find a partner and ask their question The partner answers, asks his own question, and when the pair is done, they switch papers, find new partners, and repeat This doesn’t take a whole lot of creativity or innovation on the students’ part (though it can if they want it to), and so is usable even with quieter or more reserved groups With a group of fourteen, this activity can go on for twenty minutes or so Role-plays (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl-games-andspeaking activities.html retrieved on September, 10th, 2009)……………………… Create your own role-plays, giving each role a character, some background information, a goal to reach with the conversation, and also some questions so the student can incorporate some of his own ideas Let students read their role cards and think for a bit, and then have them act them out with partners without showing their partner their role card If you make up a few different sets of role-plays, students can act them out at the same time with partners first, and then choose one to in front of the class Do give some thought to your students’ personalities when creating roles – two middle-aged businessmen may not want to act out a conversation between two love-struck teenagers – but keep in mind that acting as someone else very often makes people feel freer to speak They aren’t speaking as themselves or about their own problems or opinions, they are someone else ESL and EFL students often benefit from role-plays: taking on another identity can lessen people’s inhibitions, not to mention be plain old fun You can also create role 122 123 plays to practice different kinds of functional language (giving advice, persuading someone, making a request) Hot seat (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl-games-andspeakingactivities.html retrieved on September, 10 th, 2009)………… …………… Divide the class into two teams, and have each team send one representative to the front of the class Each representative sits on a chair with his/her back to the board You write a word behind each representative, and the team has to explain or define that word so that the representative can guess it The first representative to correctly guess the word written behind him/her gets a point for the team and the round is over Two new representatives come to the front You may have to explicitly forbid pantomime or using any form of the word on the board (“Teacher”…a person who teaches) and of course any translation Stop the bus (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl-games-andspeakingactivities.html, retrieved on September, 10th, 2009)………………… Divide the class into groups of three or four people each On the board, write five or more categories (foods, nouns with more than five letters, jobs, adjectives to describe people, animals, and capital cities) Give the students a letter (H); their task is to come up with one example of each category that begins with that letter (hot dog, hamburger, hotel receptionist, helpful, hyena, Havana) Teachers should an example with the whole class before we start the real competition When a group has one example for each category written down, they say “Stop the bus!” and you check If their answers are good you can continue with the same categories but a different letter Another version is giving them a time limit and seeing how many unique examples of each category they can come up with in that time (“unique” meaning no other group writes it) Hide a word (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl-games-andspeakingactivities.html retrieved on September, 10th, 2009)………………… 123 124 It can be a challenge to find games which are both useful and fun for higher level learners that involve speaking fluency I am eternally grateful to the Inside Out series orienting me to “Hide a Word” You provide slips of paper with one common, fairly everyday use word on each Students can work in teams or individually/in pairs If they are in teams, one representative from each team gets up to sit with another team Each team gives the their representative a topic to speak on (the weather, movies, a news story, rivers in this city) of their choice The representative takes a slip of paper, and must speak about that topic for one minute, and mention the word on the paper during that minute If the team can guess the word, the team gets a point, if they can’t, the representative’s team gets a point The representative needs to be good at turning the topic to the word or in slipping it into a relevant comment about the given topic - and doing this on the spot, without much planning Of course there needs to be some level of playing by the spirit of the rules – by not giving totally off the wall topics on the teams’ parts, and by not speaking wildly off topic on the representatives’ parts Usually it works, if only because people are just not that creative coming up with topics Two questions (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl-gamesand-speakingactivities.html retrieved on September, 10th, 2009 )………………… With a new group, first learn each others’ names Then tell the students they need to write, at the top of a paper, two questions which they will ask everyone in the class They will ask everyone the same two questions…so “Emir, why you want to be a doctor?” is no good They should try for interesting or probing or imaginative questions Once you’ve told them they need to write questions, you can give them some examples adapted to their level But make sure they know you want them to write their own questions, not answers to yours (When was the last time you did something for the first time? What cartoon character are you most like? If your house was on fire and you could take only three items…?) 124 125 Under the questions, students write the names of each member of the class, stand up and (try to) speak to everyone Tell them to make notes on each person’s answer, but not, of course, to write full sentences When they are done (or the time is up), they sit down, draw names and then collect information on the person whose name they drew in order to present that person to the class At the end, each student gets two minutes to speak about their subject This is good for speaking, listening, possibly grammar, getting to know each other and it can take up to an hour and a half for a class of 12 Bang Bang (http://www.tefllogue.com/in-the-classroom/top-10-tefl-games-andspeakingactivities.html retrieved on September, 10th, 2009) Divide the group into two teams Explain that they are cowboys and they are involved in a duel One student from each team comes to the front Get them to pretend to draw their pistols Say "how you say " and a word in their mother tongue The first child to give the answer and then "bang bang", pretending to shoot his opponent is the winner He remains standing and the other one sits down I give point for the right answer and extra points if they manage to "kill" opponents in a row Describing Appearances & Characteristics of People (www.tefllogue.com/activities, retrieved on Sept 10 th, 2009)…… Each student is then give one sheet of paper One student sits at the front of a room He/she describes a person and the rest of the class draws the person being described It is more interesting if the person being described is known by everyone Once the student has finished describing that person then he/she reveals who it is and each student shows his/her drawing The laughter from this is hilarious as the impressions tend to make the character in question look funny 125 126 It is a good idea to encourage students to ask the interviewee student questions about who they are describing Pictionary (www.tefllogue.com/activities,retrieved on Sept.,2009)………… Write out series of categories like professions (doctor, bus driver, etc.), animals, foods, actions (fishing, haircut, etc.) then divide the class into groups of One student draws and the other guesses Next turn, the guesser draws and drawer guesses This game works best with the arbitrary stop watch (30 seconds) This is designed for one lesson Then for another day take the same categories (or create new ones) and play the same game except students, this time, act it out (no speaking or noises) 10 What's the Meaning? (http://iteslj.org/c/games.html, retrieved on Sept., 2009) You, the teacher, may need a dictionary this activity  Choose a word which is long, difficult, and unknown to the students, a good word to begin with is: warmonger  Without using a dictionary, your students write down a definition (They can work out the definition in groups of three) Allow them a few minutes to think and write  Collect the definitions and read them aloud  When you have finished reading, they will have to vote which of those is the correct one (It doesn't matter if none of them is the correct one)  After they have voted and none of the groups guessed the meaning you read the correct one aloud The idea of this game is to let students be creative and practice writing skills Then you can have the students to discuss their writings APPENDIX GAMES FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY 126 127 Word chain (www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index, retrieved on October,5th,2009)……………………………………………………………… Procedure: The first student must say a vocabulary word or sentence such a “I played soccer.” The next student must say what the person before him did, and then something new like “He played soccer I watched TV.” The next student must remember all those who came before “He played soccer She watched TV I played computer games.” Count the number of sentences students can remember Continue until a student makes a mistake or can’t remember When a student makes a mistake or forgets, start again with that student and see if they can beat their last record.…………………………………………………………… Teacher Says (www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index, retrieved on October,5th,2009)……………………………………………………………… Procedure: Make up actions for different vocabulary words If your theme is sports then make up actions for “play soccer” “go swimming” “play baseball” etc or if your theme is animals make up actions for “act like a dog” “act like a bunny” “walk like a turtle” etc Actions can be made for almost any theme The students stand in a line The teacher calls out a command like “Teacher says act like a bunny.” All the students follow the command If the command is not preceded with ‘Teacher says’ the students should not perform the command Any students who perform the command when ‘Teacher says’ was not said, is out The last student standing is the winner Bingo (www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index, retrieved on October,5 th, 2009)……………….………………………………………………… Procedure: Students draw a 3x3 (or bigger) grid and fill in the squares with vocabulary words Call out vocabulary words at random and the first student to get a line or any other formation decided upon is the winner …………… 127 128 4.Whispers (www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/,retrieved on October,5 th, 2009)…………………………………………………… Procedure: Students are divided into teams Each team stands in a line The first student from each team comes to the teacher where the teacher whispers the secret word to them They then run to the back of their respective lines and whisper the word to the last person in line they stay at the back and don’t return to the front) The last person whispers the word to the person in front of them who whispers it to the person in front of them and so on, until the word reaches the person who is now at the front of the line That person runs to the teacher and whispers the word to the teacher If it is correct they receive a new word and run to the back of the line and continue the whispering game If it is wrong they must restart from the previous word The first team to finish all the words correctly is the winner 5.Unscramble sentences(www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index, retrieved on October,5 th, 2009)………………………………………………………………… Procedure: Divide the class into teams Put some words up for the students to see They have to unscramble the words with their group to make a proper sentence The first team to say the correct sentence aloud as a group gets one point If only one person from the team says the sentence, they not get the point Voice disguise (http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index,retrieved on October,5th,2009)… …….………… ………………………………………… Procedure: Students close their eyes and one student is chosen by the teacher That student must say the vocabulary word out loud, but use a distorted voice so that the others don’t know who said the word The students open their eyes and try to guess who said the word The student who guessed correctly gets a point The student with the most points at the end wins Comments: Practice distorting the voice before playing the game as this is hard 128 129 for students who are not yet comfortable with the English language It may help to have certain voices ready such as ‘robot voice’ ‘high voice’ ‘low voice’ ‘squeaky voice’ ‘fast voice’ etc 7.Telephone.Game.(www.eslteachersboard.com,retrievedon October,5th,2009) Procedure: A vocabulary word is chosen and whispered by the teacher to the first student They then whisper the word to the next student and so on until it reaches the last student The last student must say the word aloud and if it is correct the class wins I usually play class against the teacher Every time the class gets the word wrong, I get a point Every time the class gets the word right, they get a point It’s really motivating for the students and develops class co-operation on a common goal The first and last students should always alternate to give many students the chance to be the last student Comments: Variations can be made to focus on different aspects of the language For example, instead of just saying the word aloud the last child must write the word on the board which focuses on spelling or writing Or they must name the first letter of the word which focuses on phonics Any variation could be made to suit the needs of the class This game works best with younger students, but variations could make it more interesting for older classes The game can be mad easier or harder by allowing the students to repeat the word numerous times, or limiting the time a student can say the word to a single time 8.Relay.Race (http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index,retrieved on October,5th,2009)… Procedure: Divide the class into teams and have each team form a line The 1st person from each team runs up to me They look at the card and then tell me the word Once they correctly name he card, they run back to their team and tag the next person who comes up to me and repeats the process The first team to finish is the winner 129 130 9.Pictionary (http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index.pl?read=2960, retrieved on October,5th,2009)…………………….….……………………………… Procedure: Students are divided into teams One person from one team comes up to the front where the teacher gives them a vocabulary word to draw on the board The team tries to guess the word If they get it correct the team gets one point Teams alternate turns and the team with the most points wins Comments: If the words are easy to guess you can make it harder by limiting the time to draw, limiting the time the students have to guess, limiting the number of guesses and having the team say the answer together in unison 10.Picasso(http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgiin/lessons/index.pl?read=2960, retrieved on October,5 th,2009) Procedure: Divide students into teams The first student from each team comes to the board and the teacher tells them a word in secret On the count of 3, each student tries to draw the word as fast as they can The first team to guess their drawers word gets a point The most points wins APPENDIX WARM-UP ACTIVITIES 130 131 Zip, Zap, Zoom(www.mftrou.com/zip-zap-zoom-relay-ice-breaker-game.html, retrieved on November 10th,2009) Procedure: First you have to set up chairs in a circle Leaving one less chair so one person will always be in the middle.(example= musical chairs) The leader will start off in the circle to get the game started Explain that "Zap" is the person to the left of them and "Zip" is the person to the right of them "Zoom" is when everyone gets up and switches chairs (this will always leave one person in the middle) They may not sit in the chair to either side of them they have to completely change spots The person who is in the middle of the circle points to one person at a time and either says, ZIP, Zap or Zoom The person they say that too must know the persons name on both the right and left side of them So they will have to socialize and ask each other's name in order not to get in the middle If they not know the persons name then they go in the middle ( sec hesitation rule depending on population) The person in the middle may also say Zoom to get out of the middle Everyone will switch chairs and there will be a new leader in the middle Safety should be discussed first Make sure that patients aren't hurting one another getting to a chair Quick Link (http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txwpq.htm, retrieved on November 10th,2009) Procedure: As the group leader shouts out "get into groups of fours," everyone quickly joins in a group of four At any time, even before the group of four is formed, the leader shouts out another instruction Examples: everyone with same color shoes, everyone with same color eyes, groups of five, people born in the same month, people with same Zodiac sign, form a letter Z with groups of people Dollar or Pencil Jump (http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txwpq.htm, retrieved on November 10th,2009) 131 132 Procedure: Lay down a dollar bill on the ground and challenge each person to jump over the bill length wise What makes the jump difficult is that the person must hold onto their toes with their hands as they jump They cannot let go of their toes as they jump The individual who succeeds in jumping the bill collects the dollar Pass the Face (http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txwpq.htm, retrieved on November 10th,2009) Procedure: This game is just like the game ""telephone"" but instead of passing a word or phrase around you pass a facial expression Get the group in a circle Have everyone close their eyes except the person who wants to pass the ""face"" The passer will tap the shoulder of the person next to her, that person will open his eyes to receive the face He will then tap the shoulder of the person next to him and pass the face along Once you have passed the face you may keep your eyes open to watch it move around the group At the end, the original passer receives the face from the last person in the group and then shows what the original face was! This game always gets people laughing! Newspaper in a Bag (http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txwpq.htm, retrieved on November 10th,2009) Procedure: Bag is passed around group They can guess what’s inside Before its revealed they are told that they may think that its something very boring, however their challenge is to make it into something exciting Group leader can begin Newspaper can be crumpled, torn folded etc and transformed into something such as a hat Participants can mime the new item and others in the group guess Modified Simon Says (http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txwpq.htm, retrieved on November 10th,2009) 132 133 Procedure: Members sit in a circle One member is selected to be the listener A peer gives them instructions of something silly to or say and the member follows the directions Then another peer gives a direction to follow The group member then completes the first instruction and then the second instruction This continues until the member is unable to remember which direction is next Then another member is selected and so on Three Things (http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txwpq.htm, retrieved on November 10th,2009) Procedure: This is a family favorite It also teaches connection making skills and can assist with the transfer of learning First the 'family' version: The child comes up with three things (real or abstract) that they want in their story e.g 'Father Christmas', 'me' and 'a huge present' You instantly tell a story with these three things in it Each child (approximately 3!) comes up with a 'thing' that really challenges the story-teller e.g 'the dirt in my finger-nail', 'spending Ј100 million in a minute' and 'a really, really, really funny ending' You your best! But when children get this 'clever' it's definitely time to turn the tables (and let them enjoy story-telling) You come up with 'things' for the child (or children) to tell you a story about Now the 'professional' version: Ask each individual to choose three different 'things' from the course that they want to remember ('things' they valued directly, or 'things' they valued indirectly because of what they learned as a result) Ask each individual to describe these three different things to a partner in a way that brings out similarities or connections Ask each individual to choose one high point from the course and one low(ish) point from the course and then to imagine a situation six months ahead when they are facing a problem and have a 'flashback' to the course Ask each individual to tell a story (to the group or to a partner) which brings these three 'things' together into 133 134 one story A more challenging variation is to ask each person to write a 'future problem' on a piece of paper and put the 'problem' into a hat Each person in turn, draws a (random) problem and incorporates it into a story with the high and low points they have already chosen Action Syllables (http://improvencyclopedia.org/games//Bunny.html, retrieved on November 19th,2009) Procedure: Everyone in a circle First person says his name, making a gesture (an action) for every syllable Mary has syllables, so she does something like "Ma-" (wave right hand) "-ry" (claps in hands) Everyone repeats this Then the second person calls his name, again with a gesture per syllable Group repeats, and then repeats all previous names and syllables Alliterations (http://improvencyclopedia.org/games//bunny.html, retrieved on November 19th,2009) Procedure: You will need a tennis ball or a towel tied in a knot for this one Everyone sits or stands in a circle You give one person the ball, and ask him to name as many words as possible that start with a `P` (or any other letter), in the time it takes for the ball to get passed along the circle Doubles don`t count, obviously 134