Personalizing the Verbal Community

Timelines

"..with the use of their own pretend families, the students make up meaningful conversations."

Once the Verbal Community is built, the citizens further plan how they will communicate in it. The main focus of Chapter 5 is for the students to predict how they will interact with others as adults. Emphasis is placed upon discussing a future family tree and developing conversations with others.

30. Each citizen or Commissioner is asked to design a chart showing his/her activities in the Verbal Community in a 12 hour period. Each one is also told that he/she will actually move a person representing him/herself on the Verbal Community landsite as he/she describes those activities step by step in order using words like, Ôfirst, second, third, last, next, then, after that, etc.

Student A

Student B

30b. As the Communication Commissioner, I ask the students to think of what family members they will communicate with in the year 2,047 inside or outside the Verbal Community. The concept of a simple "living family tree" showing only living people with him/herself as the oldest at the top of the tree and the younger family members on lower branches, is explained. The students are then told to each build a tree using given material, with a definite top and 4 branches, 2 on each side. To insure understanding in this backwards lesson, the students are asked, Ôif we pretend that you are the oldest in your family in 2,047, who else will be on your living family tree Ô? Some of them are asked direct questions like; ÔWhen youÕre the oldest, will your parents be on it? When youÕre the oldest, will your children be on it, if you have any? When youÕre the oldest, will your grandchildren be on it etc.To demonstrate further understanding of the analogy between the status of future famly members and current family members the students fill in this form.The students draw further analogies by completing this form.

In the year 2,047 on my living family tree:

a) I might be the oldest like my_________________ is today.

b) My sons and daughters will be younger than me, like my____________ are younger than my grandparents today

c) My grandchildren will be the youngest like ________________ am/is/are today.

Each citizen uniquely creates a family tree showing 3 generations. This is done after some discussion of who belongs on the tree and in what order but the design of the tree and use of materials is not modeled and each student has to develop his/her own.

I ask the students why they placed certain people on branches at different levels on the trees. When he/she answers, each student is instructed to use comparatives and superlatives such as: older, younger, oldest, youngest, and also adds his/her own descriptors such as biggest, smallest, quietest, friendliest, noisiest, to describe how future family members are different. Not only does this exercise require use of several verbal descriptors, it promotes understanding of temporal concepts such as first, second, last, before, after, which are often difficult for language impaired children. In addition, inorder to build their trees, the students must formulate questions and ask for the materials they need. They ask me for styrofoam, tissue paper, construction paper, hangers, wire cutters, straws, clear tape, masking tape, staplers, markers, glue and some need to regularly request my help.

31. In the next lesson the Communication Commissioner asks the students to design a future pictured dialogue between him/herself and a family member. They are told they could make it like a cartoon but that they had to show who was saying what words and the dialogue had to move in order on the paper from Left to right so that others could read it. By designing these dialogues the students have to imagine and preplan what they as adults, will say to others. Here is an example of one dialogue:

Hello Security Commissioner. Hello Transportation Commissioner. Let's get to work. Okay. What are you working on? I am working as Transportation Commissioiner guarding banks in the city.

By designing and writing future conversations in the Verbal Community simulation, the students use the pragmatic language features of topic maintanence, they eliminate nonspecifics like, "thing, stuff, you know," that are often used in oral conversation and instead use specific referents or vocabulary. In addition, to reinforcing written language skills outside the regular classroom, this exercise, through designing pretend families, helps the students make up meaningful conversations. Contrary to this, in traditional language therapy, it is challenging to motivate students to interact with each other; ask each other questions and carry on a conversation, in the isolated setting of the speech room."