Be an Author: Create your own dialogues

 

       What are they talking about?

1. Our lives are filled with endless interactions.

2. Practicing speaking in a foreign language can be difficult if you have no one to practice with! 

3. You may ask yourself: what kind of speaking skills should I learn? What vocabulary should I memorize? What’s my focus? 

     I am a Japanese learner, and recently, I discovered how helpful it is to write my own dialogues in Japanese. Writing your own original conversations is a great way to practice speaking if you have no actual conversation partner. So, this post is about writing dialogues (dialogues are synonymous with conversations and dialogues usually imply that are written down, in my case, sometimes on scraps of paper at Starbucks!).

 

     I always knew about dialogues and their usefulness in language learning, in fact, they make up a large portion of content in many second language textbooks. Sometimes the dialogues in textbooks are helpful! Other times we simply forget them after class.

     First, a brief look at some benefits of creating your own dialogues. Robert McGuire, Associate Professor of English at Musashi Women's Junior College in Sapporo says English learners writing their own conversations can derive many benefits from the process, such as learning English conventions of politeness and pragmatics (2021). Additionally, learners will usually really get into it! Take a topic from a textbook and expand it to create conversations that are meaningful (McGuire, 2021). Sometimes, meaningfulness is missing from textbook dialogues. Although there may be an important grammar point reflected in a particular textbook dialogue, it is important to realize you (the language learner) didn't write the dialogue and therefore may not have an emotional connection to it. In other words, the dialogue is probably forgettable. It is not about your life. Textbook dialogues do help, they help us learn important language for conversation and perhaps they allow us to practice embedded grammar points. We should use everything we can to improve our second language skills! But, I want to sing the praises of writing your own dialogues, after all, it’s your life and your conversations! 

In EFL situations, it’s likely that interaction in English is mostly confined to the classroom (unless a person is utilizing online platforms, social media, video games, or movies in English). Most of these opportunities mentioned are receptive and don't allow for much output. This means that we need more speaking time. When we don't have enough speaking time with a real person I believe we have to be creative and use pen and paper! We can be the author of our own context and content. We should tap into our nature as composers and authors. 

    Writing your own conversations down should be an important tool for ESL learners as well. Surrounded by the target language and culture a person can write conversations based on real life needs. For example, an impending Post office interaction.

You think: 

"I'm going to the post office and I need to ask for a medium-sized envelope and stamps to send a  small package". 

Next,

"what will the person at the counter say to me and what do I need to respond with"?

And then you imagine, 

"Maybe I could say something casually first about the weather or something"?

 Then comes the afterthought:

"I might get better service if I make pleasant small talk". 

       When I study Japanese and author my dialogues it really helps me to specifically envision the situation and create the language that I will use. From the small talk to the main point of the conversation, it's all important.

    One reason I want to improve my language skills is so I can have more friends and generally be more sociable. This is a need for both EFL and ESL learners. For example, I write down a conversation with an imaginary new friend! We introduce each other (maybe I bump into somebody and I notice they are wearing a cool hat and so I make a comment about it, we chat for a moment. We talk about ourselves, ask questions about each other, talk about things we like, and so on. You can write until you get tired of writing! It could be a short conversation or a long one. Essentially, you are rehearsing for the moment when you do get to have that conversation in real life! But... more than this, it's about having fun with the conversation and becoming a creator!

    Two quick ideas. Why not record yourself with your smartphone?! This way you could practice the conversation that you wrote and file it away for later practice or additions. I also think creating videos is very helpful too. Or what about keeping a dialogue journal? It doesn't have to be so formal, just a notebook of your authored dialogues. 

Benefits of writing a dialogue: 

~We are retrieving context related vocabulary in our second language. For EFL teachers the context vocabulary could be pre -taught and part of a “create your own dialogue” scaffold.

~We are searching for new vocabulary to express ourselves when we write our own dialogues.

~We are anticipating what others will say to us. This is an important listening and comprehension skill for second language learners.

~We are writing questions to others and to ourselves,

 

~We may begin practicing the pragmatic uses of English. 

    To summarize, by thinking about conversations and writing down dialogues we are dealing with the art of conversation in our second language, at whatever level we are at. We become the creators, authors, composers, and performers of our interactions. We can engage with topics and situations that interest us and even become so immersed in the situation we forget we are "learning"!

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                              Some dialogue ideas:

By the way, here is cool little website with dialogues for many different scenarios. You can read them to gather some new ideas, vocabulary etc., but in the end, your dialogue will be the best!

Thought Co.

https://www.thoughtco.com/reading-comprehension-dialogues-1211992

                                                                    Reference

Interview with Robert McGuire (11/5/2021) (Associate Professor Musashi Women's Junior College, Sapporo Japan)