Pre-requisite(s): This activity targets those TCNs who know the language of the host country at least up to A2-B1 level. For the implementation of this activity at least one group of locals has to be invited by the mentor.
Estimated Duration: 2 hours
Related to:
Step: 4
Dimension: Cognitive
Qualitative Indicator: National language, Networking with locals, Other qualitative indicator(s) based on the selected topic
Type of activity: Group
The TCN(s) who join(s) this mentoring activity has/have already some good speaking skills. Through this activity, he/she/they can express their views together with locals through role playing on topics distributed to them by the mentor. They have to plan their conversation, take notes for the key-points to be developed, distribute the roles, and then implement the role playing. Upon completion, each participant as well as the mentor gives feedback to the group. This activity reinforces the speaking skills of the TCN(s) as well as its/their interaction with the locals and networking.
The mentor creates a group of TCN(s) and locals who are of the same age or have the same interests. He/she decides the topic that he/she will give to them to elaborate on. It is preferable to give them a topic about an issue that the TCN(s) is/are interested in, i.e. getting a job, trusting the locals, etc. In this way, during this activity different qualitative indicators will be addressed. The group takes some time to take notes on the key points of the topic and distribute the roles. The locals take also a supportive role as for the language, helping the TCN(s) to express his/her/their views linguistically correctly. At the end of the role playing, the participants comment on their conversation. Consequently, the mentor, who has observed the conversation and has taken notes, gives them feedback and/or makes questions on what they have mentioned while discussing.
- One mentor.
- A quiet place for the group to discuss and for the mentor to observe them and take relevant notes.
- Flipchart paper(s).
- Markers.
- Action plan(s).
Implementation Steps
The mentor creates the group of TCN(s) and locals and, based on their common interests and other things they have in common, decides and distributes to them the topic. He/she explains that they have to elaborate on it through role playing, giving them the roles to be played. Alternatively, if he/she aims at a more difficult activity, he/she can leave them decide on their own about their roles. He/she then gives to them a flipchart paper and some time to plan their conversation based on the key points of the topic as well as to distribute the given/decided roles.
The role playing is implemented by the group while observed by the mentor, who takes relevant notes on their pronunciation, the content of their conversation, the vocabulary used, the correct use of the grammar, the understanding between the interlocutors as well as the interaction (questioning and answering, when needed) of TCN(s) and locals and their overall interaction.
When the conversation is completed, the participants present their planning based on the flipchart paper that they have worked on and then comment on their performance, mentioning the strong and weak points of their conversation, taking into account different aspects.
The mentor gives feedback to the group and makes some clarifying questions to them regarding the planning of their conversation, its content and linguistic elements as well as the way they interacted with one another. Also, he/she can ask from them to present to him/her a summary of their conversation. This can be done once or as many times as the mentor thinks it would be useful for the group. Their discussion has to be made in the language of the host country in order for the TCN(s) to have an additional opportunity to talk in the targeted language.
This activity is used to teach the language of the host country to the TCN(s) at a quite high level. Once this is achieved, the mentor provides the TCN(s) with different options that will help him/her/them to continue learning the language.
After that, the mentor signs the action plan(s) of the TCN(s) as completed.