Language and Identity

Your last name _____________ First name _________

Conversation Partner Assignment 2 (due Wednesday, October 13)

  • Try to have a conversation, not an interview. Speak for at least 30 minutes in Japanese and 30 minutes in English.
  • Communicate by speaking. If you don't understand your partner or don't know how to spell something, ask; don't pass this paper across the table. You, not your partner, must write on this paper.
  • Relax; speak naturally. Look at your partner, not at the paper or the table. Primarily focus on speaking not on note taking. Do not copy down your partner's answers "word for word".
  • This assignment is a chance for you to practice English at a higher level and to gain insight into your native language and language in general by helping someone learning Japanese.

Your partner's name _________________________

Your partner's E-mail address ______________________

Your partner's WU address and phone number _________________

The place you met and the date and times you met. ___________________________________

The time and place you will meet next time (next assignment due November 3; given out Oct. 25).
______________________________________________

1. What does your partner know about Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Does your partner have any impressions of King and Kennedy related to the way they speak? Is part of their fame a result of their speaking ability or their language?

 

 

 

 

3. Who are your partner's heroes or heroines? How do these heroes or heroines speak? Does their language (in the broad sense) in part identify them or is their language related to their charisma or ability to inspire others? If so, how?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Language Feedback

Ask your partner one or more of these questions and jot down his or her suggestions.

1. Could you write down or tell me one grammar mistake I often make and tell me how to correct myself?

2. As I spoke English, what were a few unclear words? Would you correct my pronunciation?

3. Could you tell me a few useful vocabulary phrases I could use in a conversation similar to this one?

Your notes on feedback from your partner: