Understanding the Speaker’s Attitude

The door to successful listening, especially understanding informal presentations and conversations, hangs on a number of hinges like utterances, useful expressions, idioms, pronunciation, tone of voice, facial expression and gestures (if video is available), and attitude. These components are often related and, as a whole, give listeners a clearer idea of what they have heard.

This lesson introduces the types of questions students must answer to infer and convey the meaning and draw conclusions from audio materials. A segment from StoryCorps (http://storycorps.org/) provides the material for the questions in the presentation section of the lesson. According to its website, “StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind. Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 50,000 interviews from more than 80,000 participants. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.”

Online resources like StoryCorps provide material that shows the diversity of the US and its residents and the many situations they face. Students have a chance to hear a variety of the language components listed above and to glimpse the real, different lifestyles and perspectives of Americans, which often are distinct from what other sources show; therefore, StoryCorps adds to the cultural exchange between native US English speakers and ESL and EFL learners. Moreover, StoryCorps’ s format, which includes audio files, images, and transcripts, allows teachers and students options for completing  assignments, such as:

• playing the audio in class, with or without the transcript, and then letting students answer comprehension questions.
• assigning the listening as a preclass activity to give students the chance to look up new words and read the transcript. The audio can then be played in class, with students answering questions or having discussions afterward.
• assigning the listening as a post-class activity, i.e., playing the file in class and asking students to review it as homework. They may answer additional questions, write a summary, draw a picture that expresses an aspect of the audio file, or other task as homework or another class activity.

Objective: SWBAT interpret the speakers’ purposes, relationships, and attitudes; relate story details; draw conclusions from information they hear; and discern the function of specific language as they answer comprehension questions.

Time: 40 minutes

Materials: Online StoryCorps segment, “Have you ever lied to me?,” in which 12-year-old Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, interviews his mother, Sarah. (link below)

http://storycorps.org/listen/sarah-and-joshua-littman/

Transcript (doc): Download this resource

Preparation

Teachers choose one of the presentation options from the bulleted list above. Since students are unlikely to be familiar with Asperger Syndrome, it needs to be discussed during class before the listening and/or given as a preclass research task. The syndrome, as described on the KidsHealth.org site (http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/asperger.html):

About Asperger Syndrome

The disorder is named after Hans Asperger, a Viennese pediatrician who, in 1944, first described a set of behavior patterns apparent in some of his patients, mostly males. Asperger noticed that although these boys had normal intelligence and language development, they had severely impaired social skills, were unable to communicate effectively with others, and had poor coordination. According to the Asperger Syndrome Coalition of the United States, the onset of AS may be later than what is typical in autism — or at least it is recognized later. Many kids are diagnosed after age 3, with most diagnosed between the ages of 5 and 9.

AS is characterized by poor social interactions, obsessions, odd speech patterns, and other peculiar mannerisms. Kids with AS often have few facial expressions and have difficulty reading the body language of others; they might engage in obsessive routines and display an unusual sensitivity to sensory stimuli (for example, they may be bothered by a light that no one else notices; they may cover their ears to block out sounds in the environment; or they might prefer to wear clothing made only of a certain material). Overall, people with AS are capable of functioning in everyday life, but tend to be somewhat socially immature, relate better to adults than peers, and may be seen by others as odd or eccentric.

Presentation

Tell students they will be listening to and taking notes (or reading the transcript) of an interview conducted by 12-year-old Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, with his mother, Sarah. Students will answer (write individually, discuss in pairs or small groups, and so forth, depending on language levels in class) the following questions after listening to the file a second time. The question type in parentheses is given for the teachers’ information and may be helpful to students. Questions can be written on the board or handed out.

StoryCorps (Littman Interview) Exercise Questions (doc) Download this resource

1. (Purpose): Who are the speakers and what is their relationship?
2. Why is Joshua conducting the interview and why is Sarah participating?
3. (Topic): What are the main and minor topics or ideas the speakers talk about?
4. (Details): What disorder does Joshua suffer from? How does this affect his life?
5. What is the animal Joshua says everyone loves to hate?
6. Who does Sarah say is sometimes her worst enemy?
7. (Inference): Why does Joshua begin the interview with questions about animals?
8. List adjectives to describe Johsua’s and Sarah’s personalities or characters.
9. Why does Joshua ask, “Have you ever lied to me?”
10. Describe in a sentence the emotional relationship between Joshua and Sarah.
11. (Language function): What is Sarah’s referring to when she says, “even if I feel myself blushing a little bit.”
12. What does Sarah mean when she says she had to “think outside the box”?

Production

Now play the audio file of Joshua Littman’s interview of his mother, Sarah. Give students a specified time to review their notes or transcripts and discuss in pairs or groups or individually write answers to the questions. Then ask students to share their responses with the class.

Suggested Answer Guide to Questions (doc): Download this resource

StoryCorps (Littman Interview) Answer Guide to Exercise Questions

1. The speakers are Joshua Littman and his mother, Sarah.
2. Joshua is curious and concerned about his life situation and history, his relationships with family and friends, and his mother’s perspective about him. Sarah loves her son and wants to answer his questions as well as let him know how much she loves him.
3. Suggestions–Main topics: trust and lying, especially to difficult questions; parenting and coping with children’s problems; meaning of friendship; mother’s expectations. Minor topics: scary animals and enemies; hopelessness and teenage depression; sibling relationships.
4. Asperger Syndrome, which is described in the lesson notes, affects the individual’s ability to interact with others and to develop relationships.
5. Cockroach
6. Herself
7. Suggestion: Joshua is probably nervous about bringing up the more difficult topics to follow, so he is asking about something that interests him, yet is not offensive and may interest his mom.
8. Suggestions: Joshua (intelligent, inquisitive, perceptive, discerning, curious, uncertain); Sarah (loving, caring, funny, supportive, understanding, truthful)
9. Joshua wants to trust in his mother and her love and support; however, he feels the need to build that trust by asking this question and considering her response.
10. They care deeply about one another.
11. Sarah blushes when talking about uncomfortable, difficult topics. Though she doesn’t specify what they are, we might assume that they relate to Joshua’s social problems (due to AS), teenage depression, and other delicate issues.
12. Sarah had to deal with the unexpected issue of AS, which certainly was not in her parenting books. She refers to coming up with creative responses to coping with her child’s special problems.

 

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