QUESTION
1. The ‘question circle’ is a very effective approach to stimulate student’s critical thinking. Elaborate this statement to include the matter, the personal reality, and the external reality.
2. Discussion, if it is used correctly, will stimulate students active involvement in learning activities. Describe how a discussion should be applied in teaching and learning process. Your description should at least cover the types and phases of the method.
ANSWER
1. Young English language learners need guided practice to improve speaking and listening skills. An oral language community circle activity in which children take turns answering open-ended questions and listen actively to each other’s responses provides opportunities for language learning guidance. The question circle can be conducted in about twenty minutes. The activity can be repeated on a daily or weekly basis, or as often as desired. Gather the students on the carpet area, sitting in a circle. A “speaker’s token,” such as a stuffed animal or inflatable ball, can be passed from student to student to indicate who is the speaker at any given moment. Pose a question or prompt to the group, such as “What is your favorite food?” The students take turns answering the question in a complete sentence.
Rules and Routines for a Productive question circle
It is a good idea to explicitly teach rules and routines to help the community circle lesson run smoothly. Modeling is a powerful strategy for helping students understand expectations. Only the person with the speaker’s token may speak. Look at the person who is speaking. No put downs – negative comments will not be tolerated. It is okay to pass; offer students a second opportunity to speak after the question has gone around the circle once. The listening signal – to control chatter, hold up two fingers; children should stop talking and hold up two fingers. Strategies to Promote English Speaking Skills During an Oral Language Circle Pose just one question during a community circle session. Everyone should respond to the same prompt. Possible questions might be as simple as “What is your favorite movie?” or more complex like “Tell about a dream you once had.” The community circle lesson can be conducted in about twenty minutes. The activity can be repeated on a daily or weekly basis, or as often as desired. Gather the students on the carpet area, sitting in a circle. A “speaker’s token,” such as a stuffed animal or inflatable ball, can be passed from student to student to indicate who is the speaker at any given moment.
Pose a question or prompt to the group, such as “What is your favorite food?” The students take turns answering the question in a complete sentence. Rules and Routines for a Productive question circle It is a good idea to explicitly teach rules and routines to help the community circle lesson run smoothly. Modeling is a powerful strategy for students understand expectations. Only the person with the speaker’s token may speak. Look at the person who is speaking. No put downs – negative comments will not be tolerated. It is okay to pass; offer students a second opportunity to speak after the question has gone around the circle once.
2. To keep discussion focused, you might initially pose several key questions. The larger the group, the more likely that some participants will dominate and others remain silent. To ensure that everyone has the opportunity to speak, you may want to divide participants into smaller units. When any discussion concludes, summarize the main points orally and in writing.
1. Small Groups: Size will depend on time and the sensitivity or complexity of the subject. In most cases each group selects a reporter to summarize its discussion.
2. Buzz Groups: Participants discuss in pairs for a limited period. This method is especially effective for articulating ideas in preparation for a general discussion or to give expression to personal response to a film, presentation, or experience. After talking in pairs, couples might be asked to combine in groups of four and compare their opinions.
3. Open Questioning: Facilitators need to develop the skills of keeping the goal of discussion clearly in mind and of asking questions that encourage participation and analysis. Here are some typical forms of open questions:
• Hypothetical: "What would you do if...?"
• Speculating: "How might we solve this problem?"
• Defining: "Can you say more about how that idea would work?"
• Probing: "Why do you think that?"
• Clarifying/Summarizing: "Am I right to say that you think...?"
4. Rules for Discussion: One way to help create an environment of trust and mutual respect is to have participants develop "Rules for Discussion":
a) Ask participants to think of some principles for discussion, which they think everyone should follow.
b) Write all of these suggestions where everyone can see them, combining and simplifying where necessary. If not already mentioned, you might want to suggest some of the following principles:
• Listen to the person who is speaking;
• Only one person speaks at a time;
• Raise your hand to be recognized if you want to say something;
• Don't interrupt when someone is speaking;
• When you disagree with someone, make sure that you make a difference between criticizing someone's idea and criticizing the person;
• Don't laugh when someone is speaking (unless she or he makes a joke!);
• Encourage everyone to participate.
c) Copy the list of rules neatly and hang it where participants can refer, add, or make changes to it as necessary.
Examples of Method:
• ABC: "Me and My Senses," "Wishing-well," "Protecting Children," "Child Soldiers," "Equality before the Law," "Cultural Identity," "Should Businesses Be Accountable?"
• Bells of Freedom: "Making Our Own Rules?"
• First Steps: "Rights and Responsibilities" illustrates work in pairs.
5. Talk Around / Go Around: The facilitator sets a topic or asks a question and everyone takes turns responding, usually within a set time. Limit the time consistently. Make clear that anyone who doesn't wish to speak may pass.
Examples of Method:
• ABC: "A Circle for Talking," "Talking Circle Again."
6. Talking Circle / Word Wheels: Participants are divided in two groups, one sitting in a circle facing outward and the other facing inward so that each person faces someone else. These pairs then exchange views on an announced topic. After a set period, the facilitator asks everyone on the inside to move one seat to the right and discuss with the new person sitting opposite. This process continues until each person has changed views with several others.
Examples of Method:
• ABC: "Beginnings and Endings." • Bells of Freedom: "What is Human?"
7. Talking Stick: In this method, derived from Native American tradition, anyone who speaks must be holding a designated object, which could literally be a stick or anything else easily visible and portable. This method builds awareness of sharing the "air time."
Example of Method:
• First Steps: "Talking Stick."
8. Talking Tickets: To provide everyone an equal opportunity to speak, give each participant three "talking tickets," each representing a certain amount of "air time." Once someone has used all her or his tickets, that person has no further opportunities to speak.
9. Think-Pair-Share: Participants have time to write or simply think on their own about a critical question; they then link with one other person to discuss and then bring their reflections to the entire group.
10. Write Around: This method is a discussion in written form. Pose a key question and ask everyone to write a response at the top of a page. Each paper is then passed to the person on the right, who reads the first statement and responds to it by writing something below. Repeat the process until three or four people have had a chance to respond. Then pass the papers back to the left so that everyone can see what has been written in this "silent discussion." Because the facilitator does not see what participants write, this method can enable them to express opinions they might wish to keep from the facilitator.
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