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Contents Introductory material to the Teacher Sample lessons

TalkAbouts 72 Everyday Situations Illustrated to Stimulate Conversation, Listening, Writing, and Vocabulary Development drawn by Oscar Mesa edited by Ray Clark A photocopyable resource Middle School to Adult. TalkAbouts book $19.50 ISBN 13: 978-0-86647-331-6 ISBN 10: 0-86647-331-9 TalkAbouts CD $9.50 ISBN 13: 978-0-86647-332-3 ISBN 10: 0-86647-332-7 TalkAbouts book/CD $29.00 ISBN 13: 978-0-86647-333-0 ISBN 10: 0-86647-333-5

TalkAbouts

72 Everyday Situations Illustrated
to Stimulate Conversation, Listening,
Writing, and Vocabulary Development

A photocopyable collection of pictures with few words, but worth a thousand words, offering plenty of possible conversations, descriptions, discussions, narrations, dictations, and a lot of fun.

What kind of pictures are they? There are three types:

* The first part, TalkAbout Situations, features conversations.

* The second part, TalkAbout Topics, focuses on vocabulary

* The third part, TalkAbout Events and Occasions, focuses on putting it all together with emphasis on grammar (verb tense) and discourse.

What skills are practiced? Although the pictures provoke oral language, they can just as easily be used as writing prompts, especially Parts 1 and 3.

Very few words accompany the pictures. This, of course, is intentional. In interpreting the pictures either in conversation or writing, the learners naturally use their own words to explain them. We recommend that the learners be encouraged to invent their own story and characters.

At the back of the book, there is a possible script, the "answers." The characters are given names; a story is told. However, learners should be encouraged to come up with their own interpretations of the pictures. By doing so, the learners become more invested in what they say and write. The result: communication that is more meaningful and fun.

11. Shopping for a Shirt p. 11
a. Max is looking in a store window.
b. M: I'm looking for a shirt.
Clerk: Small, medium, or large?
c. M: I take a medium.
d. C: Short sleeves or long sleeves?
M: Long sleeves.
e. The clerk looks for the shirt.
f. C: I'm sorry, sir. We're all out of medium with long sleeves.

Dealing with mistakes. With beginners, the objective is communication, not error-free expression. With advanced learners, learning involves not only getting it right, but also learning how not to say it, learning appropriate usage.

The CD is an optional, supporting element, but it can be very helpful. In a dramatic reading with voices different from your own, the recording provides help with the pronunciation of words and phrases in context. And using the CD with the pictures can be a useful listening comprehension activity.

The illustrations and concept for TalkAbouts were first developed as Pro Lingua's Communicating in the Culture: Max in America.