Sample of a Speaking Activity
By Jiao Zou
Topic: Shopping (Clothes)
Time: 45mins.
Target Students: Intermediate Level Chinese learners (College students).
Goal: To practice students’ communication skills in the scenario of shopping. Use the words they have been taught to finish the task of buying clothes in a store in China.
Procedure:
Step 1. Pre-learning. Make sure that students have already been taught the related words and structures as follow. No bargaining included in this activity. Bargaining will be taught later.
Words:
I’m looking for… ► Wǒ yào mǎi… 我要买…
a dress ► lian yi qun连衣裙
a skirt ► qún zi 裙子
pants ► kù zi 裤子
shorts ► duǎn kù 短裤
a blouse ► chèn shān 衬衫(女)
a shirt =► chèn shān 衬衫(男)
t-shirt ► tī xù t恤
short sleeves ► duǎn xiù 短袖
long sleeves ► cháng xiù 长袖
sleeveless ► wú xiù 无袖
style ► kuǎn shì 款式
receipt ► shōu jù 收据
try on ► shi chuān 试穿
Structures:
Do you have a bigger one? ► Yǒu méiyǒu dà yīdiǎn de? 有没有大一点的?
Do you have a smaller one? ► Yǒu méiyǒu xiǎo yīdiǎn de? 有没有小一点的?
Do you have this in another color? ► Yǒu biéde yán sè ma? 有別的颜色吗?
How much is this? ► Duō shao qián? 多少钱?
Step 2
Students work in pairs. Student A plays the role of shop assistant and hold pictures of various clothes from the teacher. The prices are listed at the back the pictures, so when A shows the pictures to B, only B know the prices. All the sizes of these samples are medium so student B needs to request a different size if he or she doesn’t fit in the medium ones.
Step3
Student B plays the role of the customer and chooses his or her favorite clothes on the pictures. He or she then asks student A for the details like do they have other colors, what is the prices and sizes by using the word and structures that have been taught.
Step 4
Student A should answer all the questions from students B about the clothes. After Student B gets his or her favorite and most suitable clothes, two students switch their roles. The teacher walks around to provide help if necessary.
Expected Outcome: During this activity, students practice speaking the words and structures that are used when they go for clothes shopping. Students with both lower and higher levels can finish this task by requesting and providing different information. After done the activity, students learn about how to buy clothes in China and development their communication skills in this scenario.