Before filming these videos, the students studied vocabulary for clothing, colors, and materials for several weeks. They learned from the textbook, from a picture dictionary, from the teacher’s personal suitcase of clothing, and from each others’ clothing. They learned to pronounce the words, use the words in sentences (written and oral), and use the sentences in dialogs. They practiced singular and plural forms of regular nouns. The teacher provided vocabulary, sound files, and model dialogs Clothing Vocabulary: Singular and Plural Nouns.
The students brought their own clothing to class in a bag (4 singular items and 4 plural items: “a pair of ___”). They role-played a salesperson and a customer at a department store in four situations: “Looking for clothing” and “Returning clothing”. They learned to express reasons to reject an item (not buy it) and return or exchange an item.
Before the role-play midterm exam, students received the following dialog pattern. On exam day, the teacher brought a four-fold shoji screen to divide the room. In the big area, an assistant directed a class activity. In the exam area, students came in small groups. The teacher gave each student a singular item of clothing in a bag and a role to play. The students needed to role-play a dialog with the clothing and tell a reason for the return.
A: I'm going out now.
B: Where are you going?
A: I'm going to [store name]. I need to return this [clothing].
B: How come?
A: [reason]
B: Um, could you do me a favor?
A: What is it?
B: Could you return this [clothing] for me?
A: Sure. What's wrong with it?
B: [reason]
A: Okay. No problem. Give me the receipt.
B: Here it is. Thanks.
A: You're welcome.
To find a video, please look at the date pane on the right. Under 2010 > October, choose the names of a pair of students. Click the triangle in the middle of the photo to play the video.
These videos were produced by Prof. Marsha Chan, Mission College, Santa Clara, California, USA on October 20, 2010.
