Perhaps the single most productive procedure for developing the students' listening comprehension skills is to make the second language the means of communicating with the students. Kalivoda (1972b) makes a very valid point when he rightly asserts that second-language students quickly learn that second-language study is a game that they play with the teacher during part of the class hour in order to get a passing grade. However, when there is
4 From Connahre et se Connahre: A Basic French Reader, Gilbert Jarvis, Therese Bonin, Donald Corbin, Diane Birckbichler. Copyright © 1976, Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Reprinted by permission of Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
something important to be said, it is said in the first language. All second- language teachers should take inventory to see if the "shoe fits" their classes.
If it does, they should make immediate plans to turn over a new leaf for the sake of their students. Kalivoda gives the following suggestions for making the class a place where the second language is used for real communication:
1. Both the teacher and the students should learn the basic questions with which they can ask each other for information.
2. The teacher should make requests and/or give commands in the second language.
3. Both the teacher and the students should consistently use all the language they have had. If they have had the material, or if they can be expected to understand it, the use of the first language is unjustified.
4. The teacher should not limit himself only to the material the students have had. They can be expected to make intelligent guesses sometimes. If not, the teacher can define, draw a picture, etc. to make the meaning clear.
5. The teacher can often dramatize the meaning of what he is saying.
6. Both the teacher and the students should learn to be more selective in their speech in the second language than in the first.
If teachers follow these suggestions faithfully, the students will get the idea that the purpose of second-language study is to communicate, and they will have ample opportunity to communicate with a real purpose.