Complexity: Activity 3
The role of the interlocutor and task demands on language complexity
Instructions:
Look at three excerpts of Fereshteh’s videos (with transcripts) from the Question, Jigsaw, and Comparison tasks, and answer the following questions:
- In which task do you believe that Fereshteh uses more complex language and/or is more fluent? Explain why you think so.
- When do you think Fereshteh uses more complex language, while she is interacting with the native speaker or with the other learner (Pari)? Why?
- As a Persian teacher, do you give your learners the opportunity to do unrehearsed tasks in the classroom? Why?
Please note that during the Question Task Fereshteh interacts with the interviewer who is a native speaker of Persian, while during the Jigsaw and the Comparison tasks she interacts with another learner, Pari.
Excerpt 1. Question Task
Excerpt 1. Question Task Transcript (click to open)
F: Fereshteh
P: Pari
DOM: Direct Object Marker
IDM: Indefinite Marker
1 |
F |
…..un chænd sal… un bæcheh chænd *sal-eh? (…..she how old… that child how old- ?) |
2 |
I |
chænd sal-esheh? |
3 |
F |
bæleh. |
4 |
I |
aa, in bæcheh hæft sal-esheh. |
5 |
F |
hæft? |
6 |
I |
uhum. |
7 |
F |
Kheili khub.. |
Video 2: Jigsaw Task
Excerpt 2. Jigsaw Task Transcript (click to open)
18 |
F |
aa, khuneh-ye mæn do tæbægheh daræm, bæleh væ... |
19 |
|
do *derækt daræm, *derækt dari? Derækht dari? |
20 |
P |
areh, um, khuneh-æm do ta *derækt dareh, derækht dareh. |
Video 3: Comparison Task
Excerpt 3. Comparison Task Transcript (click to open)
25 |
F |
mashin-esh mohændes dær um, *shær, shær, shær-e, amma in |
26 |
|
pæræstar, mal-e, mal-e pæræstar, pæræstar-e. |
Please type your answers to the questions in the box below.
When you have finished typing your answer, click to compare your response with the Learner Language staff response.
- In which task do you believe that Fereshteh uses more complex language and/or is more fluent? Explain why you think so.
Fereshteh uses more complex language in the Comparison and Jigsaw Task than in the Question Task. As you can see from the first excerpt and the whole Question Task transcript, there are many hesitations, and long pauses. She uses very simple sentences “gorbe kheili divune”(cat very crazy) and often she deletes the verb (mainly a copula / verb “to be”) to complete her sentences. In this excerpt she does not use a verb in stating her question: “how old the child?” and when the interviewer provides feedback for her “how old is the child?” she does not repeat her question and simply says “yes”. Also, the use of the “simplification/reduction” strategy is vivid in Fereshteh’s speech (line 5) when she only partially receives the feedback and makes no attempt to repeat the whole utterance after the Interviewer (line 7). She tries to bring the interaction to an end by saying “very well”, showing no enthusiasm to continue. During the Question task, Fereshteh’s language is not complex and she does not try to perform her best.
In the Jigsaw Task, excerpt 2, she produces more complex sentences than in the Question Task. She uses conjunctions, verbs (even though she uses incorrect grammatical person in her verb conjugations), and she seems to be more aware of her pronunciation; as you can see, she corrects her pronunciation of “derækht” to “derækht”(Line 19). In other words, Fereshteh makes an attempt to self-correct because she feels more confident and relaxed.
In the comparison task, Fereshteh uses more complex sentences and she seems less nervous. It seems she has fun interacting with Pari; she takes turns and asks a lot of questions. Also, self-correction is vivid in her speech. Overall Fereshteh uses more complex language in the Comparison Task and it could be either because of the warm up phase, the Task, or the role of her interlocutor.
- When do you think that Fereshteh uses more complex language, while she is interacting with the native speaker or Pari? Why?
During the Question Task, Fereshteh is really nervous, and she is not comfortable interacting in Persian with her Interviewer. When you look at her face and listen to her utterances you might get the impression that she does not want to engage in the activity. She produces simple, short, and uncompleted sentences. On the other hand, her language is more complex while she is interacting with the other learner during the Jigsaw and the Comparison Tasks. She takes turns, asks questions and engages more actively in the activities and she produces longer and more complex sentences.
- As a Persian teacher, do you give your learners the opportunity to do unrehearsed tasks in the classroom? And why?
Giving learners the opportunity to do unrehearsed tasks in the classroom as they interact with their classmates could really help them produce more complex sentences. Sometimes learners like Fereshteh may not be very comfortable interacting with their teacher or other native speakers. These learners might use different strategies, such as using simple grammatical sentences with limited vocabulary to play it safe. Some learners have social anxiety and they cannot talk in front of the whole class and the teacher, so they would appreciate having the opportunity to work with another learner or in a small group without being worried about making mistakes.
Fereshteh told us about her anxiety of public speaking and she said that it was her first time speaking in public without giving up in the middle, in any language. She mentioned that she was really nervous at the beginning and we can see that this feeling probably affected her language complexity during the interview and the Question Task. But she was so happy and energetic after the Comparison Task. She mentioned that interacting with Pari helped her gain her confidence back and we can notice that she produced more complex and fluent speech during the Jigsaw and the Comparison tasks. She also told us that she would be happy to participate in our future studies. So, as a Persian teacher, I would definitely provide more opportunities for the learners to practice and improve their language through interactions with their classmates.
