IMPROV ESL: THE EXPERT AND THE INTERPRETER

THE EXPERT AND THE INTERPRETER. In this improv activity, Mohammad, left, plays the role of the expert nuclear physicist. Instead of inventing a language, he is speaking in his native language of Arabic. Sephora, who is a French speaker from the Ivory Coast and doesn't understand Arabic, is translating his answers to the audience. (photo by classmate, Maria Urdaneta)

Welcome to IMPROV ESL at the Georgia Tech Language Institute (developed by Lesly Fredman and Ruth Schowalter)! Below is the "The Expert and the Interpreter"exercise that I, Ruth (the ESL instructor) did in class. This activity was developed in two stages with great success.

THE EXPERT AND THE INTERPRETER

STAGE 1: PRACTICE BEING AN EXPERT

The class chooses an area of expertise for the speaker. The speaker introduces him/herself as an expert in that field and asks for questions from the class. Part of the language goal for this exercise is for the speaker to practice receiving the questions graciously and making up answers on topics without sufficient knowledge of the content. The question-askers also must strive to be creative in the formation of their questions in order to stretch the skills of the "expert."

CATEGORIES FOR EXPERTS

Chicken farmer                                           English language teacher

Someone who races cars                         professional dancer

Flower arranger                                         lobsterman

Chef                                                               MARTA train driver

Dog trainer                                                  astrobiologist

Surfer                                                            weather forecaster

 

 

STAGE 2: INTERPRETING FOR AN EXPERT

 

Step 1: Choose topics of expertise….

Step 2: Two people who speak different languages will work together.

Step3: One person will the EXPERT and the other person will be the INTERPRETER. The EXPERT will speak in his/her language and the INTERPRETER will interpret.

Step 4: The audience will choose the topic of expertise.

Step 5: The INTERPRETER introduces the EXPERT. Then the audience asks the questions. The EXPERT can understand some English, but may need help of the INTERPRETER. They can confer.

Step 6: The EXPERT answers in his/her language and the INTERPRETER translates.

*****************

FEEDBACK

At the conclusion of this improv exercise, I asked the students to tell me what skills that had learned. In addition to having a lot fun (is fun a skill?), these were some of their answers:

• The INTERPRETER had to focus and use intuition to work with the EXPERT.
• Both the EXPERT and INTERPRETER gained confidence by "making things up" for the audience.
• A lot of body language was used to express ideas (facial experessions and gestures).
• Got practice asking and answering questions.
• Used improv for the first time in their native languages.
• Used English in a new and exciting way.

 

Remember! Always make your partner look good!

IMPROV ESL: DEVELOPING CHARACTER INTO A MONOLOGUE OR POEM AND BUILDING A SCENE FROM IT

IMPROV ESL is a class that moves second language learners ahead in their production in using English and in feeling confident as they communicate their intentions!

During the seventh week of an eight-week course of IMPROV ESL, Lesly Fredman (improv teacher) and I (Ruth Schowalter, English language instructor) had international students at the Georgia Tech Language Institute do the following homework assignment! Please read the following:

Improv Homework #3: DEVELOPING A CHARACTER

(PART 2)

PART #2: WATCH SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW FROM A DISTANCE and CREATE an INTENTION

STEP #A: Choose a person who you don’t know that interests you, one that you can watch and take notes on. Observes this person for a little while and see what you notice about his/her behaviors. Listen.

STEP #B: As you take notes, decide on an “intention” something you want to get from this person:

·         Time

·         Directions to some place

·         Curiosity question about GT

·         Etc.

Using the skills of improv, approach the person and ask them your question. Thank them for the information and leave. Use their response in the monologue or poem that you are making in STEP #C.

STEP #C: Imagine a fictional life about him/her, including how they talk. Write a poem/monologue (Taylor Mali style) from this person’s perspective. Send me an email copy of your writing. Be prepared to present the poem or monologue to our class.

RATIONALE: In order to build a scene with interesting characters, improv students need to "be" characters other than themselves. One way for students to develop different characters is through observation. This assignment asks them to watch a "stranger" and to take notes on that person's behavior and create a poem or monologue from that "stranger's" perspective. By having students do this assignment outside the classroom, we hoped that the students would be more "alive" and "awake" in their environments beyond the walls of the classroom. They would then "engage" in a polite but brief exchange with this "stranger." Their observations and exchange would then result in the invention of a character from this real-life situation. And a poem that they would perform for the class.

REAL-LIFE RESULTS: Wow! The students brought their poems/monologues to class and succeeded in RECREATING the MOOD of their interactions. In fact they were so evocative that I thought the authors of the poems/monologues would enjoy observing two classmates build a scene from their work.

IMPROV RESULTS FROM POEMS/MONOLOGUES: Since the students have been working together using the RULES OF IMRPOV for six weeks, they were able to begin a scene after we had given the author feedback on the mood and intention and made sure of who the characters were. The goal was to start with one of the lines from the poem/monologue and to create something new. In other words, the scene had to be MORE than the written work. The written work served as the launching pad for going deeper.

WE HAD SO MUCH FUN AND MANY SURPRISES!
You will see some of the IMPROV ESL students' work here on this blog! Just imagine what scenes we built with them!

Remember! Always make your partner look good!

AN IMPROV CLASS SPENT DEVELOPING CHARACTER...AND HAVING FUN!

BUILDING A HAPPINESS MACHINE!

Learning to say what you want in English as a Second Language can be fun as we know at the Language Institute at Georgia Tech! On Monday, April 16, 2012, our IMPROV CLASS had a full 50-minute class period with Lesly Fredman, who I am collaborating with to build this first-time IMPROV ESL class at the Language Institute for our advanced classes. Take a look at the photos below and see some of the work we did together!

THE WOMEN BEGIN THE HAPPINESS MACHINE.



MAKING HAPPINESS!

HERE RAKAN BEGAN BUILDING THE ADVICE MACHINE.

GIVING LESLY ADVICE.

THIS ADVICE MACHINE SPOKE SYNCHRONISTICALLY--GREAT TEAM WORK!

We have several over-arching goals in this class:

IMPROV GOAL: To practice the rules of improv (some of which include "making your partner look good--team building skills; having fun--positive emotions when influence learning positively; using the good idea and not the perfect one--building confidence!)

LANGUAGE GOAL: To practice the six skills of fluency focusing on rhythm and intonation: pausing, linking, stress, reduction, focus, and intonation.

THE CONCEPT OF POPCORN.  In this activity, students pretend they are kernels of popconr and "pop" when they are ready. This exercise provides a lesson in focus too. The goal is that by paying attention to the group and not everyone "pops" at the same time.

EXERCISE IN FOCUS. Rakan (left) and Hamdan (right) competed for Alejandra's attention. The goal was to talk to her simultaneously and to discover who she listened to more. That is, who she gave her "focus" to and the reasons why.

HAMDAN IS WINNING AT THIS POINT. What was he doing and saying that "grabbed" Alejandro's attention? Look how insistent Rakan is.

GIVING FOCUS--THIS TIME WITH PAULA (center), HANA (left), and SEPHORA (right). For the time being Hana has won Paula's attention.

LESLY PROCESSING THE IMPROV EXERCISE.

The specific focus for the class with Lesly Fredman was for the students to continue learning how to develop a character. Knowing who you are and what your objective is are two essential factors for building a scene--and on a larger scale for developing effective communication strategies!

BEING AN OLD PERSON. Class members got the opportunity to "be" an old person. The goal was to "enter" the stage and walk to the "imaginary" park bench and show how it felt to be old. They also had to choose an activity to do once they sat down on the park bench. Then as they "exited" the stage, they had to continue being old!

GOOD JOB CIRO AND SEPHORA!

CHOOSING A CHARACTER AND DEVELOPING  IT. Here four students in the front row had to walk across the classroom with a headache. They had to decide who they "who" they were when they got to the classmate facing them. They "showed" who they were by the statement they made. For example, Ciro (in the yellow and black jacket) decided he was an angry manager with a headache. Hamdan (in the orange striped shirt)  responded to him as a worried employee.



WOW! I feel the pain!

DEVELOPING A CHARACTER. These students had to choose a character who was happy!

CLASS PHOTO WITH LESLY FREDMAN (take 1).

CLASS PHOTO WITH LESLY FREDMAN (take 2).

CLASS PHOTO WITH LESLY FREDMAN (take 3).

CLASS PHOTO WITH LESLY FREDMAN (take 4).

CLASS PHOTO with LESLY FREDMAN and RUTH SCHOWALTER

GREAT TEAM WORK IMPROV CLASS!

Remember! Always make your partner look good!



HAMDAN ALMARZOOQI (Homework #2)

HAMDAN (right) at the GT CULTURE FEST 2012

One of the most enjoyable events I have attended this session is the Culture Fest. Although I was very afraid because I was an international student, I found it really interested because we had gotten the chance to meet current Georgia Tech students.

I took this chance and tried to talk with some students who were there. For my luck, I met three different students from three different colleges. Although I was really nervous since I was not used to approach people and start talking with them, It was really nice to share their university experience with me.
The first student, Imra, I met was a student in the industrial engineering college. He was a really nice student. I asked him about how he chose his major and he said that he had talked with other people in the field of industrial engineering before he had found himself interested.

The second student was a Chinese-American named Cobe. I was curious about whether he struggled with fitting in the American society, so I asked him about that. The answer was there were no difficulties because he grew up here in the States. He even can understand English more than Chinese.
The third student was a female. She is studying in the biomedical department and she mentioned that when she was younger she had always wanted to be a doctor but she couldn’t, so she got into biomedical engineering.

To add to my experience, approaching someone to talk to was the biggest challenge for me. It made me very nervous; thus, I was not that fluent. For example, during the conversations, I noticed that I repeated some questions but in different ways. After I finished talking with the students, I was really concerned whether I did a good job or not; I miss followed the rules of improve because of the anxiety I had. I wish to do better next time; it takes time and training. =)

TAREK J. ALMUNTHARI (Homework #1)

The Prompts:

1. / ə /. Today we had enough ideas about your country. Let’s take another subject.

2. / ɪ /. This weekend I will be pretty busy baby-sitting my friend’s children. I wont even have a minute to study for my exam.

3. /ʊ/. You look like a nice woman. I’m lost could you help me.

The Report:

Although I’m saying the same thing, I received very different reactions form the people that I met. The first sentence / ə / and the third /ʊ/ when I used them with emotions like angry and frustrated some of the people tended to be angry and some were scared and wanted to end the conversation. However, when I used the same sentences but with different emotions like being friendly and polite, the people that I met wanted to carry on the conversation and were more interested in talking to me. It is amazing what I learned through this homework just by changing my emotion while speaking I could change the reaction of people around me differently. 

If I use the right emotion with improv rules, definitely they will help me extend any scene anywhere.

Remember! Always make your partner look good!

RAKAN ALAMERI (Homework #1)

The Prompts

/i/ I feel really bad, depressed!! I can’t leave or go anywhere. I think I will be staying here for a while. (frustrated/ calm)

When I did this prompt with one of my friends, he believed what I said particularly when he asked me to go to watch a movie in the cinema. However, he felt curious in a way that they were eager to know what made me depressed when I showed him how desperate I am using improvisation skills.

/ow/ O.. Bravo..  I heard you did the tango dance perfectly. Also your slow movements of your legs and elbows were awesome.  (optimistic/ excited)

One of the weirdest scenes I ever did was when I approached one of my friends in the LI, telling him about a dance he did last night. I already know that he never did the tango dance, but I acted as if he did it. The guy was completely surprised. I tried to make him believe what he did. Therefore, I extended the scene by making him doubt about it.

/a/ I heard a gun shot outside the apartment last night. I have looked through the windows but there wasn’t anybody. Do you know anything about what happened?   (angry/ curiosity)

Reflection

I did this prompt with one of the leasing consultants in the leasing office of my apartment. She truly believed what I said especially when I entered the office in a way shows how angry I am. I just couldn’t extend the scene much further. Otherwise she was just going to notify the security. Therefore I told her that it was an act. But I had to show her the homework paper so she could believe me. In the end, I believe it was really fun and it was a nice experience to counter with people using improvisation skills.

Remember! Always make your partner look good!

RAKAN ALAMERI (Homework #2)

USING THE RULES OF IMPROV AT THE GT CULTURE FEST. Rakan, right, with a GT student, who he engaged in conversation on Monday, April 2, 2012, with the goal of extending the conversation by making his partner look good and having fun!

 The culture fest is considered one of the best opportunities as a student, learning improvisation skills to use and apply what we learned to other people from different cultures. Meeting with strangers has become a piece of cake to me. I began using these skills to enhance and make the communication more effective in a way that I can get the information I want from strangers. 





For example, I approached a Chinese student who was responsible of the Chinese table where each table represents a culture in the fest that has a student who represents that culture. I started with greetings telling her a bit about my country, but then I showed some curiosity about some stuff that was on the table. She explained to me many things and showed me pictures. Also, there was a cookbook, which shows the traditional Chinese food. By extending the talk, I asked her if it was easy to use the chop sticks and eat with them or if she could teach me. She showed me how to hold the chopsticks and use them. Therefore, I used it picking some food. Moreover, I was surprised that her table was longer to any other table in the fest. She told me that this table is adjacent to the Thailand table. I was really happy to hear about some differences in these two cultures. In Thailand, people eat with chopsticks only with noodles but generally they eat with spoon, knife and fork when it comes to other dishes. However, in China it’s very common that people eat with chopsticks in most of the food. I really loved the culture fusion in this fest.


In addition to experiencing different cultures, I found it difficult at the beginning to approach to strangers who were walking around but I realized that I should act distinctively. Therefore, I approached some strangers with a very warm greeting which made them surprised to see someone stranger who is extremely happy, suddenly standing in front of them. Basically, after greeting them, I made them feel curious about my culture by asking them if they could know where I’m from. At that time, I told them about my culture and taught them some basic words in Arabic. I think they really enjoyed knowing about my culture. I knew that from their questions regarding my clothes and the reason behind wearing it etc. After that, I went back to our culture table where international people come to know more about our culture such as the food and some statues were on the table where it somehow represents our culture. By standing there, I had a huge benefit in using improv skills to explain things about my culture.

AT THE KOREAN TABLE.  Rakan poses for a photo at the GT Culture Fest with his  improv classmate Hana.

I believe that using improv skills while interacting with other people helped me demonstrate better in English. In fact, it helped me deliver information better and improve my fluency in English. It was a nice experience










Remember! Always make your partner look good!

ELHAM ALNEAIMI (Homework # 2)

Spending class time at the Culture festival in Georgia Tech was an amazing idea. We have engaged with many people from different cultures which give us the opportunity to talk to people, make up conversations, and have fun. I really liked what we did and I am very satisfied with the results even though I did a lot of mistakes.

However, our task was to talk to more than three people from different cultures than ours. For me, my first try was really disappointing since the first participant was not exicted as much as I was; he was completely not interested and his answers were so brief. I did not lose hope and decided to give it another try when the result was nothing like the first.

The second participant was familiar with what I was saying about my culture since he has a brother that lives there. He was totally enthusiastic to share me what he knows and that gave the enthusiasm to complete what I began.

The third participant was a native American  English speaker that have been to many different parts of the world but the United Arab Emirates. She had a brief background about it, and she was amazed by the information that I shared with her. She kept talking and asking questions which made me really comfortable and happy.

The last two participants were good. They did listen to me and gave me some of their time, but they did not interact with me. Even though I was disappointed at first, as the time was going on, I found it interesting and fun to stop people using the skills. I consider this task as one of the most important tasks that I have ever done; it is puzzling, interesting, and challenging.

Remember! Always make your partner look good!