A01 cohe4573 01 se fm. Qxd

Situation: You are trying to do some homework but your roommate,
Jenny is watching a sit com on TV and has the volume up so loud that it
is distracting you and making it hard to concentrate. Write what you
would say to her, if you decide to speak to her about this:
You say: [learner writes] Jenny, would you mind turning the volume
down a little bit? Thanks.
(a) Your intention/goal as a speaker: How do you want to sound, and
what do you want to achieve through your request?
[Learner writes] I want to sound politely and getting my wish
granted.
(b) Most probable listener’s interpretation:
[Teacher writes] The speaker made a fairly polite request. Most
people in this situation would comply with this request.
(c) Match between (a) and (b): [Teacher marks]
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
Example 9
Situation: Same as in Example 1.
You say: [learner writes] Jenny, I’m trying to do my homework – I
apologize to bother you but would you mind volume down a little bit?
(a) Check and/or circle one(s) that best describe your intention as a
speaker. [Learner responds below.]
___ I want to make a request the way most people do in the
community and get my request granted.

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F U R T H E R I S S U E S I N L E A R N I N G , T E A C H I N G , A N D A S S E S S M E N T
For formative assessment, the largely narrative format used in Examples 8
and 9 would provide learners with individualized feedback. The evaluation
could be made in numerical terms if desired, as in the next example. A more
comprehensive assessment (Example 10) would include the following evalu-
ative foci:
■
linguistic ability to use community norms: assessed through a) and 
c) below;
■
awareness of the most probable listener’s interpretation: assessed
through d); and
■
the extent to which learner intentions match the most probable
listener’s interpretation based on b) and the teacher’s judgment.
Example 10
X I would want my request to sound (a little) more (formal/
informal), ( polite/ impolite), (or ________) than most other
people and get my wish granted, but still within the range of
acceptable behavior.
___ I choose not to use common behavior because I want to
communicate my intentions (or not communicate them at all)
in my own way.
Specify what community norms you decide not to use and why
you don’t want them: _______________________________________
___ Other (Specify: _____________________________________________ )
(b) Most probable listener’s interpretation:
[Teacher writes] The speaker made a very polite request. Most people
in this situation would comply with this request but the request
sounds so formal for a college student that it may seem fairly
unfriendly or distant to the listener.
(c) Match between (a) and (b): [Teacher marks]
Excellent
Good Fair
Poor