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EFL Listening and Speaking Pragmatics and American Conversational Usage

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and saying good-bye to a friend at school (game #8).

Stimu-Con Usage Games: It's Not Only WHAT You Say But HOW You Say It! Game 8
Conversational Focus Today's classes are over, and Haruo and Natsuko are leaving with their mothers ... 今日のクラスが終わり、ハルオとナツコはそれぞれお迎えに来たお母さんと家に帰る。	Communication Function CharacterA / CharacterB Saying goodbye to a friend (at school) （学校の）友達にさようならを言う。	Suggestion Key Character A / Character B 1. Bye-bye. /Bye-bye. 2. Goodbye. /Bye. 3. Later. /Bye-bye. 4. So long. /Bye-bye. 5. Take care. /You too. 6. See you later. /Bye-bye. 7.See you soon. /O.K. 8. Catch you later. /Bye-bye. 9. See you (tomorrow). /Bye.
What would you say?

3. Using a pic-word format allows you to use these materials at virtually EVERY level of proficiency.

The clarity of the situation produced a much greater awareness and sensitivity in learners to the fact that changing any one of several factors in each game could alter their responses. Frankly, this result was an unexpected but delightful plus in using these materials. The false beginner didn't need extensive written instructions. S/he could jump into the games, instantly recognizing the social settings. The advanced learner was able to discover new and useful expressions and gain new insights into the workings of the target language.

4. Stimu-Con games are of a manageable size, allowing learners to incorporate them easily into larger, extended conversations.

My experience has confirmed what common sense told me: it's much easier to learn smaller blocks of acceptable American English conversation, and then discover ways of incorporating them into a more extended conversation. This eliminates the need to learn lengthy scripts of dialogue whose rigidity makes them unusable. And, since the learner understands the relationship between the situation - in its entirety - and the language used, s/he can more appropriately combine it into an extended conversational context.