Giáo trình Listening IV (Phần 1)

arner’s ability, time and hard work. 
Mari: 
Ms. Sofia: Yes. Some languages have simpler grammar and pronunciation than the 
others. 
Mari: 
Ms. Sofia: Yes. It will be useful for them to get acquaintance to foreign languages when 
they are still young. At this time their acquisition ability is very good. 
3. Discussion 
Some suggested ideas: 
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a. Discuss with one of your classmates a poor lecture you have just attended: 
- You couldn’t learn anything from that lecture. 
- You couldn’t hear the lecturer clearly: he didn’t talk loud enough and did not have clear 
pronunciation; the class was noisy. 
- The information provided was not updated. 
- The topic for the discussion was not practical. 
b. Discuss with one of your professors university policy about foreign student admissions. 
- Criteria for entering the university: knowledge, language, education background? 
- Type of course attended? 
- The age of learners? 
- etc. 
c. Discuss with a neighbor environmental problems in your country 
- Types of pollution: air, water, soil, etc. 
- Causes of pollution: factories, means of transport, garbage, fertilizers from fields, etc. 
- Methods to protect environment. 
d. Discuss with an American student difficulties of being a foreign student 
- At university: methods of learning and teaching, professors’ pronunciation, timetable, 
course requirements, classmate relationship, relationship with professors, etc. 
- Others: lifestyles, culture differences, food and cuisines, shopping, house renting, 
climates, etc. 
e. Discuss with a fellow student effective ways of learning foreign languages 
- Forming good habits in listening to the radio or cassettes 
- Frequently speaking using the language with foreigners or friends 
- Usually reading books, stories 
- Practising writing. 
Etc. 
C. Invitations 
Discuss (page 34): the invitation changed from indefinite to definite when Selma said, “If 
you want we can make a date now.” This change was accomplished by their giving 
definite time of meeting. 
1. 
Invitation I: 3 
Invitation II: 3 
Invitation III: 5 
Invitation IV: 3 ( or maybe 4. they do not give a definite time in April) 
Invitation V: 5 ( or maybe 4 because Patrick did not agree strongly, “I’ll try...”) 
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Invitation VI: 3 
Follow-up: 
- Words or phrases indicate that an invitation is 
 + definite: Are you free on.... to come to (dinner) ... at our place? 
 We are going to .... on... Would you like to join us? 
 Why don’t you drop by (Friday night)? I’m having .... 
 Let’s meet on.... 
 + indefinite: When are we getting together? You know my office number. Just give 
me a call. 
 I think we should have (lunch) together one day soon. 
 How about if we get together sometime in...? 
 I’ll call you soon... 
 I’d like to have you over to my place sometimes this semester. 
 How about if I call you sometimes and we’ll figure out a good time? 
 Come to my office when you are free and I’ll see if I can get away. 
2. 
D. Multiple- Choice Questionnaire: 
Answers: 
1. c 2. d 3. c 4. b 5. d 
6. a, b, c, d 7. b, d 8.c, d 9. c, d 10. a 
11. b 
E. Cross- Cultural Questions: 
Use your own knowledge of your own culture to compare with what you have learned 
about American culture in this unit. 
UNIT 3: NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION 
I. WARM-UP 
- Look at the pictures in the book. 
- What is each person doing? Look at their face expressions, their gestures - their hands, 
their body. Can you tell what each person is doing or thinking? 
- In communication, beside using words, what else do you also use to express your ideas 
or your emotions? 
- What do you understand about nonverbal communication? 
- Do you frequently use nonverbal language in your communication? 
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- Can you tell about some popular gestures or face expressions or body movements and 
their meanings in your culture? In American culture? 
II. READING 
Some main ideas: 
- According to one study done in America, in the communication of attitudes, 93 percent 
of the message was transmitted by the tone of the voice and by facial expressions, 
whereas only 7 percent of the speaker’s attitude was transmitted by words. We express our 
emotions and attitudes more nonverbally than verbally. 
Cultural Differences in Nonverbal Communication 
- Nonverbal communication expresses meaning or feeling without words. Universal 
emotions, such as happiness, fear, and sadness, are expressed in a similar nonverbal way 
throughout the world. There are, however, nonverbal differences across cultures that may 
be a source of confusion for foreigners. 
- What is acceptable in one culture may be completely unacceptable in another. 
In order to correctly interpret another culture’s style of communication, it is necessary to 
study the “silent language” of that culture. 
Gestures 
- Gestures refer to specific body movements that carry meaning. 
- Not all gestures are universal. 
Facial expressions 
- Facial expressions carry meaning determined by contexts and relationships. 
- The degree of facial expressiveness also varies among individuals and cultures. 
Eye Contact 
- Eye contact is important because insufficient or excessive eye contact may create 
communication barriers. It is important in relationships because it serves to show 
intimacy, attention, and influence. 
- In a conversation, too little eye contact may be seen negatively because it conveys lack 
of interest, inattention, or even mistrust. 
Space 
- The amount of space changes depending on the interpersonal relationship. Personality 
also determines the size of this space. 
- For Americans, distance in social conversation is about an arm’s length to four feet. 
* Culture does not always determine the messages that our body movements convey. 
Contexts, personalities, and relationships also influence them. Like verbal language, 
nonverbal communication cannot be completely separated from culture. 
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III. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS 
1. c 2. b 3. c 4. c 
5. b 6. a 7. c 8. b 
9. b 10. a 11. c 
IV. VOCABULARY 
 Some new words: 
- Withdrawal (a): pulling or drawing back, taking back, moving back or away 
- Affection (n): kindly feeling, love 
- Obscene (a): morally disgusting; offensive 
- Disguise (v): change the appearance, etc of in order to deceive or hide the identity of; 
conceal, cover up 
- Grimace (n): ugly twisted expression (on the face), expressing pain, disgust, or intended 
to cause laughter 
- Flirt (v): show affection for amusement, without serious intentions; pretend to be 
interested in; think about, but not seriously 
 Flirtatious (a): fond of flirting 
- Restraint (n): keeping under control; preventing sb/sth from doing sth; limitation 
- Ethnic (a): of race or the races of mankind; of a particular cultural group 
- Insufficient (a): not enough 
- Excessive (a): too much; too great; extreme 
- Intimacy (n): the state of being close and familiar; the state of being private and 
personal 
- Invisible (a): that cannot be seen 
- Introvert (n): person who is more interested in his own thoughts and feelings than in 
things outside himself 
- Extrovert (n): person more interested in what goes on around him than in his own 
thoughts and feelings; lively, cheerful person 
- Counterpart (n): person or thing exactly like, or closely corresponding to, another 
- Intrude (v): force (sth, oneself, upon sb, into a place); enter without invitation 
- Defensive (a): used for, intended for, defending 
 Defensively (adv) 
- To have a deadpan expression: (of a person’s face, looks) show no emotion 
- To have a poker face: ( of a face) betray/ show no emotion 
- To read someone’s face like a book: It’s easy to understand what a person’s thinking by 
looking at his/her face expressions 
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Vocabulary Exercises 
A. Synonyms 
1. stressed 2. backing away 3. sent 4. global 
5. hugged 6. love 7. clicking 8. copy 
9. go with 10. indecent 
B. Multiple Choice 
1. c 2. c 3. b 4. a 
5. d 6. c 7. a 8. d 
C. Definitions: 
1. threat 2. introvert 3. associated 
4. intruder 5. accidentally 6. extrovert 
7. invisible 8. counterparts 9. defensive 
D. Matching 
Confusion f Shocking g Gesture b 
Grimace a Wink h Flirtatious d 
Ethnic e Background i Acknowledging c 
V. CONVERSATIONAL ACTIVITIES 
A. Gestures 
Follow-up: 
Suggested ideas: 
- We do not have a gesture of “Good luck; I hope it works out” in Vietnamese. The 
gesture with this meaning in American has a different meaning in Vietnamese; people 
usually use it to show an obscene action. 
- You should only use the gestures of “Cut; that’s enough; stop or it’s all over for me” and 
“Come here” with younger people or people of the same age, not with elder people or 
people of higher status. 
B. Charades (Troì chåi âäú chæî) 
C. Nonverbal Cues 
 Student 
↓ 
Teacher 
Teacher
↓ 
Student
Man 
↓ 
Woman
Woman
↓ 
Man 
Example: yawning - - - - 
No eye contact - - - - 
Hands on hips - + - - - 
Prolonged silence + - + - 
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Nodding - + 
Leaning forward + + - + - 
Impassive face + + + + 
Leaning away - - - - 
Crossing arms + - + - + - + - 
Sitting close - + - + - 
Smiling + + + + 
D. Role-Plays 
E. Observation Task 
F. Nonverbal Communication: Description and Opinion 
 Description Opinion 
1. The woman was aggressive because she 
stood close to the man. 
√ √ 
2. The two men embraced each other two 
times before leaving. 
√ 
3. The woman stood three feet from the man. √ 
4. They are superficial because they smile at 
each other even though they are strangers. 
√ √ 
5. Their farewells was cold because they 
didn’t touch each other. 
√ √ 
6. the two women walked arm-in arm for an 
hour. 
√ 
7. Because fathers and sons do not hug, they 
do not love each other. 
√ √ 
8. The teacher did not stand near the 
children. 
√ 
G. Multiple- Choice Questionnaire 
1. a, d 2. a 3. c 4. a 5. a 6. c 
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