Evan CO#3 (Speaking 3)

This class was broken into two portions, first what Dr Rios called the "rapid fire" and afterwards they discussed the pros and cons of different situations. The class was a relatively high level, so most of the students were more than capable of expressing themselves. The topics as well were very complex, and required a good amount of vocabulary to adequately do so. Each of the students were called on in turn in order to make it so each had a chance to express themselves. I think Dr Rios would have liked more interaction between students but each seemed very like minded, so they tended to agree with each other. I liked this activity a lot and thought it offered a good way to practice speaking while also working on practical skills. Working on the fly in order to create meaning is difficult in a second language, so to see these students formulate their ideas so strongly was telling. The only time I recall there being a correction, was when one student misplaced an "am" in "I agree", a very minor yet important mistake. Despite their being other mistakes, none truly impacted meaning, which was clearly the focus for this lesson.


The second part of this lesson was discussing pros and cons of certain situations. Like drugs in sports. This worked a lot like the first, but students had to actually decide and argue whether or not their opinions on a subject were positive or negative. Students were given a little bit more time to formulate their thoughts, but were also encouraged to draw upon previous discussions. Again this activity seemed interested in provoking discussion, which I think it id nicely. Dr Rios engaged frequently as well, chiming in his opinion and helping students work out their thoughts. The discussion naturally tended toward circumlocution, and a story Dr. Rios had of his elder son describing his back as his "other stomach" in Spanish.  It demonstrated a natural flow to the class and worked very hard to break down the effective filter of the students, and it was clear the Dr Rios has such a manner about him that makes it easy to communicate with him.

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