Adapting and Writing Language Lessons/Appendix I

by Earl W. Stevick

APPENDIX I TO CHAPTER 4

CLUSTERS AS SUPPLEMENTS (PORTUGUESE)
(with Guaraciema Dorsey)

In the summer of 1970, the Center for Research and Education trained a group of agricultural volunteers for work with the Peace Corps in Brazil. The project had, in Hoge's Oral Brazilian Portuguese, an excellent general text, but that book of course had no direct reference to the work that these trainees were preparing to do. Yet one of the distinctive features of the program was its emphasis on trying to make the language program an integral part of the training design, rather than a separate enterprise concerned only with imparting basic language skills.

In this situation, the staff decided to use the cluster format (Chapter 4, p. 150 ff) as a tool for integrating language instruction with the rest of the program. During the phase of the training which took place in the United States, clusters made up approximately the last 25% of each day's language study beginning with the second week. They were also used in the Brazil phase, where their usefulness was even greater because it was there that the Volunteers received most of the cultural and technical part of their training.

Coarse-grained specification for the content of the clusters (Chapter 4, P.135) presented no problem, since most of the Portuguese instructors were in fact specialists not in language teaching but in the occupational specialties for which the Volunteers were being trained. Fine-grained specification in its linguistic dimension was taken from the basic textbook, and in its socio-topical dimensions from the experience of the staff as organized in a matrix similar to the one on p. 142. Actual writing was done by the instructors and the cultural coordinator, and then polished by the language coordinator.

The experience of this training program demonstrated certain advantages of the cluster format:

1. It was fairly easy to coordinate the presentation of a particular cluster with the ongoing cross-cultural or technical program.
2. The language coordinator felt that clusters could as easily have been devised for most other kinds of basic material with which she was familiar.
3. Clusters made the staff confident and aware of how much of the culture and the technical details they could explore even as early as the second week (i.e. after 50 hours of instruction).
4. Use of clusters at the end of the day aroused the attention and enthusiasm of the trainees for something they were curious about and interested in.
5. The very loose format helped the instructors to see how they were able to use different clusters or parts of clusters with different groups or single trainees.

There were also a few caveats:

6. Since the matrix (p.142) provides so many possible combinations of linguistic, social and topical content, writers must decide on some way of establishing priorities.
7. Insofar as the devices used in the clusters differ from those in the basic textbook, they require some extra staff training.
8. Actual preparation of the clusters (or of any supplementary material) should be in the hands of a full-time person experienced in those matters, with the expert contributions of other staff members being used on a consultant basis. (This was done in writing the materials described in Appendix J.)

One of the early clusters is reproduced below, with English translations added. Socially, it concerns an interview between a Volunteer and a mayor. Its topic is an appeal for help. The linguistic constraints under which it was written were not recorded, and so can only be inferred.

This cluster does not have an explicit list of occasions for use of the language (Chapter 3, p. 54). In the U. S. phase of the training, these generally consisted of role playing, sometimes with the help of videotape. In the Brazil phase, they more commonly took the form of group discussion or individual reports about the trainees' real interactions with local people, for which the other parts of the cluster had helped to prepare them.

DIALOG

(Continued from a previous lesson)

Prefeito: Qual é problema, seu João?	[What's the problem, John?]
Voluntirio: As galinhas dos vizinhos estão entrando na horta.	[The neighbors' chickens are getting into the garden.]
Prefeito: Isso é uma coisa seria.	[That is a serious matter.]
Ja estragou muitas hortaliças?	[Has it already ruined many vegetables?]
Voluntário: Até agora o estrago foi pequeno.	[So far, the damage has been slight.]
Mas queremos evitar mais prejuizo.	[But we want to avoid any more]
Prefeito: Como vamos resolver esse problema, seu João?	[How are we going to solve this problem, John?]

DIALOG, Part 2

Vol: É por isso que estou aquí, seu Manoel.	[That's why I'm here.]
O senhor pode nos ajudar?	[Can you help us?]
Pref: Com muito prazer, seu João.	[With great pleasure.]
Em que posso ajudar?	[How can I help?]
Vol: Precisamos de arame para cercar a horta.	[We need wire to fence in the garden.]
Pref: Nós vamos tentar a ajudar, seu João.	[We'll try to help. ]
Vol: Que born, seu Manoel.	[How nice!]
Este problema e de grande urgência.	[This is a very urgent problem.]

CUMMINGS DEVICE

O que é isso?	[What is that?]
Isso é	[That's]
uma coisa seria	[a serious matter]
uma cerca	[a fence]
um inseticida	[an insecticide]
um tomate	[a tomato]
um repôlho	[ a cabbage]
adubo químico	[chemical fert ilizer]
etc.	etc.

CUMMINGS DEVICE

Qual foi o estrago?	[What was the damage?]
Houve estrago	[There was damage to]
no tomate	[the tomatoes]
no alface	[the lettuce]
nas hortaliças	[the vegetables]
na horta	[the garden]
etc.	etc.

CUMMINGS DEVICE

Em que posso ajudar?	[How can I help? ]
O senhor pode ajudar com	[You can help with]
arame	[wire]
sementes	[seeds]
adubu químico	[chemical fertilizer]
mudas	[seedlings]
cêrca	[a fence]
etc.	etc.

CUMMINGS DEVICE

Qual é problema?	[What is the problem?]
O problema é	[The problem is ]
⁠as galinhas	[the chickens]
⁠os porcos	[the pigs]
⁠o gado	[the cattle]
⁠os animais	[the animals]
⁠os vizinhos	[the neighbors]
etc.	etc.

DRILL WITH ATÉ AGORA ('UP TO NOW')

Cues
O estrago foi pequeno?	Até agora foi pequeno.
Plantaram O tomate?	Até agora não plantamos.
Resolviu O problema?	Até agora não resolví.
etc.	etc.
Has the damage been small?	So far, it has.
Have you (pl.) planted the tomatoes?	So far, we haven't.
Have you (sg.) solved the problem?	So far, I haven't.
etc.	etc.

DRILL WITH FOR ISSO ('FOR THIS REASON')

Precisamos de cêrca.	Por isso estou aquí.
O tomate esta fraco.	Por isso está caro.
As hortaliças estao fracas.	Por isso precisamos de adubo.
etc.	etc.
We need a fence.	That is why I'm here.
Tomatoes are delicate.	For that reason they're expensive.
The vegetables are in poor condition.	For that reason we need fertilizer.
etc.	etc.

DRILL ON PERSON-NUMBER AGREEMENT IN PRESENT TENSE

Eu [I]	evito [avoid)|falar inglês
Voce [you]	evita|[Speaking English]
Ele, ela [he, she]	evita|prejuízo
Nos⁠[we]	evitamos|[damage]
Voces [ you (pl.)]	evitam|filhos
Zfles, elas [they]	evitam|[children]