6.3.5 Working from a picture stimulus

Using photos/pictures. Picture stimuli are very useful from beginner level upwards, since there are no words to provide a barrier to understanding. Try experimenting with information-gap activities: I have had some very successful first-year undergraduate classes where one pair must describe a modern art canvas, while another team attempts to draw what is described. You may encounter a certain reluctance to show off artistic skills, but if you emphasize that simple symbols to represent objects, stick figures, etc, are all that is required, this can be overcome. A variation on the theme is a 'spot the difference' exercise, where each partner has a slightly different picture, or where one partner has three pictures with subtle differences and has to ascertain which version the other has. Material for such exercises can be found in a wide range of EFL / ESL teaching aids and compendia. Using advertisements. Magazine adverts provide a real insight into the TL culture, help students learn to read cultural signals and, if handled in a light-hearted fashion, can provide a useful exercise, especially in the year preceding residence abroad, to heighten awareness of cultural stereotypes. The idea is to choose advertisements which present typical stereotypes of the British from the TL perspective. Look for ones advertising typically British products (Range Rovers, tea, gin, etc), ask students to decipher the underlying message, and use this to lead into a discussion of stereotypical presentations of the TL nation. Where students are to go to the target country, this could then move onto students' own expectations and personal attitudes to their impending stay. Communication strategies. Teach students the skill of circumlocution, or substitution through paraphrase or use of synonyms to get round any missing vocabulary. Pre-teach phrases so that learners can specify whereabouts objects are (top, bottom, foreground, etc), describe approximate sizes and shapes, and so on.