Eric Hauser looks at how the structure of a particular activity can result in interaction between two students, in addition to interaction between a student and a teacher.
During a warm-up activity at the start of a day at Tokyo Global Gateway (TGG), an agent (one type of teacher at TGG) introduces an activity that he calls “two truths, one lie.” In this activity, a student is supposed to say three things about himself,* one of which is untrue. The other students are then supposed to guess which one is the lie.
It was found that this activity has the advantage of promoting interaction between two students, in addition to fostering interaction between a student and the agent.
It goes like this: After a student states three things about himself, the agent asks the others which one they think is the lie. Sometimes, he addresses his question to all the other students, while at other times, he addresses it to one particular student. In either case, a student then states which one he thinks is the lie. This statement, though, is not addressed to the agent, but rather to the student who has stated three things about himself. This student then responds by telling the other student whether or not he has correctly guessed which one is the lie. If this student has not correctly guessed, then another student guesses, which is also addressed to the student who has stated three things about himself.
Good arguments can be made to support the idea that interaction, including interaction among language learners, is one of the primary drivers of language acquisition. It is challenging, though, to create a situation in which Japanese students feel that it is appropriate to use English to interact with other Japanese students. This activity provides a nice example of how this challenge can be overcome.
Notes:
* All students in the focal group were male.
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