reflection_Griffiths & Keohane

The execution of “social language” is what the author emphasized in this article.

    Students role-play to know the importance of context and also how to interact properly in the target language culture. During different activities, they polish their skills of “repairing,” “turn-taking,” “being polite,” and “being respectful.”  While students learn how to say different things /present themselves differently to different people in different situations, it’s also being valued that they keep their own feelings in good balance with others. The importance of being aware of the cultural concepts hidden in the context has been emphasized several times by the author. As for teachers, they should be competent of dealing all kinds of problems happened in any of the activities. For example, if students find it uncomfortable answering some certain questions or coming up with certain ideas from their personal experience, teachers have to be as flexible as possible by coming up with a new way to fix the problem on the spot.

    One activity mentioned in the article is interesting: student stand in two rows taking turns trying to make their partner laugh, or simply telling a joke using verbal expressions. Students then share with class the reasons that make them laugh. Laughter, or even sarcasm, are notoriously hard to perceive; however it would still be really interesting for students to just simply try to figure out what triggers their partner to laugh. It’s just easy, fun, and enlightening.

-Chung-Hui Kim Liao