Carol,

I present many common cultural situations in dialog format in my ESL classes. 1. Students read the dialog to themselves and ask questions about vocabulary and situations.  2. Students repeat the entire dialog chorally several times, by thought groups, marked with primary stress and junctures. 3. Students act out each part with other students. They are encouraged to practice later with American friends and memorize as much as possible. The students ask for the situations they are most interested in and I create them. Here is a traffic stop:

Dialog: A Traffic Stop
Student handout reinforcing all  ESLCPM criteria

 

Nando and his wife Sara are traveling on a two-lane paved road in Texas. Nando is an experienced driver and normally obeys the law. Nando looks back in his rearview mírror and sees flashing lights following him. He realizes that it is a state trooper and pulls over to the shoulder of the road. The trooper walks over to the driver's side of Nando's car.

 

TROOPER:   Good afterno'on.¯ Did you knów®that you were dríving®6'8"in a 55 mile per hour zóne?­

 

NANDO:      Nó®I dídn't.¯ I'm sórry.¯

 

TROOPER:  I álso notice®that you're not wéaring®your se'atbelt.¯  Under the law® that has becóme®a serious offénse.¯

 

NANDO:      I usually dó®but todáy®I have other things on my mínd.¯

 

TROOPER:   Step out of the cár now®and show me your dríver's license®and proof of insúrance.¯

 

NANDO:      Yés®sír.¯ Here is my lícense.¯ My wífe will give me®the proof of insúrance.¯

 

TROOPER:   Take the dríver's license®out of your wállet please.¯

 

NANDO:      Hére is my license.¯

 

TROOPER:   Is all of the informátion correct?­ Do you still live at this áddress?­

 

NANDO:      Yés®I dó.¯ Everything is corréct.¯ Here's my proof of insuránce.¯

 

TROOPER:   Thánk you.¯ I'm going to háve to give you®a ticket for spe'eding®and not wearing your se'atbelt.¯ The schedule of páyments®is on the báck of the ticket.¯ You must mail páyment®to the co'urt®within ten dáys®or schedule a tríal®to protést your ticket.¯ 

 

NANDO:      I understánd.¯ I'm sorry for being so cáreless.¯

 

TROOPER:   We just want yo'u®to stay alíve® and be a sáfe driver®for yo'ur sake®and the sake of óther people®on the ro'ad.¯ The spe'ed limit here®is 55 for a re'ason®and you should néver get in a car®without using your se'atbelt.¯ In m'y profession®we see terrible áccidents®every we'ek.¯ Goodb'ye®and drive cárefully.¯ The life that you sáve®may be your ówn.¯

 

NANDO:      Goodb'ye®and thánk you®for keeping me out of re'al trouble.¯



Ted
www.tedklein-ESL.com



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: carolkubota at comcast.net 
  To: rhdill at yahoo.com ; The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List 
  Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 10:40 AM
  Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2932] Re: The Law


  Hello Rosemary,

  I agree with you. Everyone should know what to do and not do if they are stopped by a police officer. I have a class where I ask a police officer to come and talk about aspects of the law and the students have a chance to ask questions . Understanding the law and the way it works is difficult when you move to a different country.  

  Carol

  --
  Director/Language and Culture Specialist 
  Battle Creek Language and Culture Center 
  7 Heritage Oak Lane #4 
  Battle Creek, Mi 49015 
  269-979-8432 
  http://www.bclanguageculture.com 
  carolkubota at comcast.net

    -------------- Original message -------------- 
    From: Rosemary Dill <rhdill at yahoo.com> 
          Every semester I give my students a handout that explains what to do if they are stopped by the police.  Be unfailingly polite!!! Do not complain on site.  Get the officer's badge number or license plate number and you can complain later to the police station.

          Do NOT answer any questions on site except your name and address.
          We read (together) the rights that all officers must read to those they are arresting.  We discuss what they mean. We talk about public defenders whihc most of them do not know about.

          I present this in the context of a teenager who may possibly do something illegal in the name of "fun".

          Rosemary 




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