Circling Using Emotions
Sometimes I repeat the same exact circled question three or four times in a row using different emotions. One would think that this would bore the kids, but the kids can be fooled into focusing on the same sentence multiple times by my asking them questions in different ways using differently voiced emotions, including whispering.
Emotions override meaning in languages, and the students don’t notice that the words are the same. This keeps interest up in the structure, resulting in more meaningful repetitions and thus greater acquisition. The effective language teacher will explore the role of emotions in their voice to convey meaning in their classroom.
Another way to create input that is meaningful to the students using circling is to add a parallel sentence to the one you are already circling. A parallel sentence is a sentence which has the same verbal core, but whose subject and object are different.
For example, if you are trying to teach voudrait avoir/would like to have, instead of circling just one sentence around that expression, you introduce a similar sentence about another sentence and circle both of them.
If your original sentence is:
Classe, Jennie voudrait avoir une voiture!/Class, Jennie would like to have a car!
You add another, parallel sentence into the circling:
Class, Jennie would like to have a car and Susannah would like to have a boat!
Who cares if Susannah really wants a boat or not? Adding this second parallel sentence expands the size of the circling “field” in which you are working. It instantly adds many more possible questions to your circling, because you can do more with two sentences than you can with one.
Creating parallel sentences and comparing and contrasting facts extends reps and all we have to do is remember to keep each sentence on “would like to have” instead of taking the discussion somewhere else by using other verbs. This is because the class will immediately become confused when you go out of bounds by dropping the target structure in that way. In circling the information changes but the structures always stay the same.
I consider this technique of bringing in a second sentence to mirror another one, and comparing and contrasting facts in general, to be excellent little tricks in comprehension based language instruction. You will feel immediately more relaxed when you have that extra sentence to ask other questions about. The effective language teacher will explore the use of parallel sentences to compare and contrast information in their classroom when circling.