- Each participant picked a partner that they don’t know very well.
- Randomly assign labels “Person A” and “Person B” to each person in each partnership.
- “Person A” was asked to think of an important fact about themselves that “Person B” would be unlikely to know. Neither person could talk. Person A was asked to convey the message using gestures or drawings. He/she was not allowed to write words or numbers. Person B was not allowed to make gestures. Person B had a paper and pencil to write down the message they though was being conveyed. (It is important, however, that Person A not see this message). Person A wrote down how it felt to try to convey the message without language.
- At the end of the exercise all participants came back together. Many finished early and though they had easily determined the message. We then went around the group and each Person B read what they though the message had been. Person A then told what he/she was trying to convey.
Very few messages were correctly interpreted. Most understood a few central ideas or words but misinterpreted the message. Those participants who wrote about what it felt like to try and convoy a message without words had feelings of frustration and helplessness. This was a great exercise in putting teachers in the place of their second language learners.
Ideas for messages are as follows:
Last year, I was sick. I had surgery on my…………… I hurt myself………….
During the vacation I went to …………….
A funny thing happened in my class the other day ……………
It makes me uncomfortable when people ……………………..
Last night I dreamt that …………………….
Something I really like to do in my spare time is ………….. |
