Giáo trình Speaking 4 (Phần 1)

n to business,” “Get to the point” all indicate impatience 
with avoiding issues. 
- Directness is also seen when information is requested from strangers or from people 
who are not well-known to you, or in offers and responses to offers . 
- There are limits to the degree of directness a person is allowed to express, especially 
with people of higher status such as teachers and employers. 
4. Invitations 
A frequently misunderstood area in American verbal interaction is that of extending, 
accepting, and refusing invitations. Someone might say something that sounds like an 
invitation but that never results in an actual meeting with another person, and of course 
there are invitations that require definite commitments. (See the examples in the book.) 
5. Speaking and Refraining from Speaking 
- Many Americans interpret silence in a conversation to mean disapproval, disagreement, 
or unsuccessful communication. They often try to fill silence by saying something even 
when they have nothing to say. 
- On the other hand, Americans don’t appreciate a person who dominates a conversation. 
- Knowing when to take turns in conversation in another language can sometimes cause 
difficulty. Interrupting someone who is speaking is considered rude in the United States. 
Even children are taught explicitly not to interrupt. 
6. Different Ways of Expressing Common Needs 
Individuals in every culture have similar basic needs but express them differently. Some 
of the verbal patterns we use are influenced by our culture. The different modes of 
expressions represent variations on the same theme. Each language reflects and creates 
cultural attitudes, each has a unique way of expressing human need. 
III. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS 
1. b 2. c 3. b 4. c 5. a 
6. b 7. b 8. b 9. a 
IV. VOCABULARY: 
Some new words and phrases: 
- Tacit (a): unspoken, understood without being put into words 
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- Commitment (n): promise 
- Genuine (a): true; really what it is said to be 
- Mode (n): way in which sth is done; way of speaking and behaving 
- Explicit (a): clearly and fully expressed; definite 
- Don’t beat around the bush: Âæìng noïi voìng vo næîa. 
- Let’s get down to business: Chuïng ta haîy âi thàóng vaìo váún âãö. 
- Get to the point: Âi thàóng vaìo váún âãö âi 
- Out with it!, Speak up!, Go right ahead : Noïi thàóng ra âi 
Vocabulary Exercise: 
A. Synonyms: 
1. gives 2. courtesy 3. way 
4. unspoken 5. considerably 6. conversation 
7. show 8. conclude 9. voice 
B. Word Forms 
1. a. Actually b. actual 
2. a. definitely b. definite 
3. a. genuine b. genuineness c. genuinely 
4. a. unconscious b. unconsciously c. unconsciousness 
C. Definitions 
1. unique 2. disapproval 3. interpretation 
4. mode 5. praised 6. reflects 
7. explicit 8. disagree 9. dominates 
D. Matching 
Extended e hesitates a 
Automatic d embarrassed f 
Sensitivity (to) b commitments c 
E. Phrases and Expressions 
1. b 2. c 3. a 4. b 
V. CONVERSATIONAL ACTIVITIES 
A. Language Style 
1. - To your professor: “I’m sorry to trouble you, but the students in the class are talking 
all the time and I can’t hear what you speak or I can’t concentrate on the subject. Could 
you please do something to improve the situation?” 
 - To your friend: “I feel very uncomfortable in the class this morning. The students are 
talking al the time. They are so noisy that I can’t hear the professor and sometimes can’t 
concentrate on the subject. What should I do?” 
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2. - Your parents: “Mum and Dad, I really need some money at the moment. I’m sorry but 
please lend me some. I promise to give you back immediately when I have money.” 
 - Your friend: ”Jane, could you do me a favor? I really need some money now. I 
wonder if you could lend me some. I will give you back next week.” 
3. - To the student: “Well, what a great job you have done. I really like the article. 
Congratulations!” 
 - To the professor: “I have just read your article. It’ s very excellent. I have learnt 
many interesting ideas from it.” 
B. Initiating and Maintaining Conversations: 
* The problems with the first conversation: This is a one-sided conversation. Rick gave a 
lot of questions and Debbie only gave very short answers without asking Rick anything. 
This will give Rick the feeling that Debbie was not interested in talking to him. 
1. Debbie: From New York. And what about you? 
 Rick: I was born here and I have lived here since then. Why did you come to California? 
Debbie: To study. I really like this city, so exciting and lots of interesting things to 
discover. 
Rick: I’m glad you say that. What are you studying? 
Debbie: Solar energy. And you? 
Rick: Information technology. How long do you plan to stay here? 
Debbie: Two years. I think until I finish my college. 
Rick: That’s right. When did you come? 
Debbie: Three weeks ago. I’m trying to get accustomed to life here... 
2. 
Mari: 
Ms. Sofia: Yes. I think it needs a learner’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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