How can I use the OLA in the classroom?

In this category, the instructor (or lead student) would use the basic attributes of the OLA software and archive system, with no further development necessary. All would involve playing segments, series of segments, or entire dialogues to the class, using either the OLA audio CD, the OLA audio CD with an OLA Player, or a Web-based QuickTime presentation of an OLA dialogue. Examples are:

Elementary level

Asking questions in English about the dialogue content. Asking for identification of functional, emotional or topical clues. (replaying key segments as hints)

Identification and repetition of parts of speech in a specific segment.

Teacher modeling of an expression for students. Choral response. Comparative modeling by OLA segments using speakers of differing gender, age, regional origin. Choral response.

Free dialogue construction (all levels) Teacher plays 1st segment, asks student to supply possible response. Teacher plays actual OLA response (2nd segment). Teacher plays 3rd segment, etc. Alternatively teacher plays 2nd segment, asks student to supply possible first segment. (best using OLA Player)

Teacher uses OLA dialogue as basis of listening comprehension testing (all levels)

Students asked to identify the level of formality used in a dialogue.

Intermediate level

Asking questions in the target language about the dialogue content (advanced also) (replaying key segments as hints)

Students search OLA archive for speech samples of a given function (greetings, for example). Present findings to class. List on board.

Translation practice. Segment-by-segment presentation of dialogue.

Teacher reviews elements of a given speech act in book or on board. Plays OLA examples. Asks students to role-play the speech act, using selected elements from the OLA dialogues (advanced also)

Student asked to identify the setting for a dialogue.

Student asked to identify the level of formality used in an utterance, then furnish the same utterance at a different level of formality.

Advanced level

Simultaneous interpreting practice . Timed presentation of segments using OLA Player or QuickTime control. Gradual acceleration up to real-time playback.

Teacher suggests alternate settings for student role-play of the same language function portrayed in a dialogue.

Advanced interpretive activities, in the target language, based on dialogues. For example: Does the woman sound like she's pleased with her friend's suggestion? What about her answer makes you think this?

Identification of regional linguistic and cultural traits. For example: How would you know this was a person from Montréal speaking? Possible answers: accent; québécois syntactic or lexical variation; North American cultural specificity.