Sample Activities
Posted on Oct 3, 2024
By clicking on the links below, you will find: Adapted Textbook Activity Game-Based Activity
Adapted Textbook Activity
Adapted Textbook Activity Name:
Resolving Conflicts at Work, School [or Anywhere]
Class Description:
This activity is designed for an advanced English Language Learner (ELL) class.
Objectives:
By the end of the activity, students will be able to:
- Identify positive and negative imperatives and their verb tense
- List six dos for resolving conflict productively
- List six don’ts that interfere with effective conflict resolution
What authentic materials are being used?
Students (Ss) will view three short YoutTube videos—-a video with tv/movie clips demonstrating imperative use; an instructional video about imperatives; and a video about strategies for effectively resolving workplace (and other) conflicts. A blog script will be used to accompany the workplace conflict resolution video.
How does this activity replicate language students will use outside the ESL classroom?
Ss will learn how to identify positive and negative imperatives, their appropriate verb tense, and specific functions in interpersonal communication, i.e., give commands, warnings, orders, requests, advice, instructions, or invitations. Ss will learn culturally acceptable ways to effectively address conflicts that may occur in the workplace by using language conducive to conflict resolution while avoiding words, phrases, and behaviors that are counter-productive.
The activity, including the steps that both the teacher (T) and the students (Ss) will take, includes:
- T lists the language objectives of a pre-activity grammar video—to identify positive and negative imperatives, their verb form, and how they are used.
- Ss watch a short video using tv/movie clips to demonstrate use of imperatives.
- T shows students a short video prepared for ELLs about imperatives, and asks Ss to note any imperative grammar “rules” they notice while viewing the video to be discussed as a class.
- After discussing imperatives, Ss watch a video on resolving workplace conflict, and are asked to note the six “Dos” and “Don’ts” of conflict resolution covered in the video.
- Following the film, Ss are divided into six groups and given a blog script from the video. They are asked to underline the imperatives and the simple present verb used in each imperative. Each group is called on to present one paired “Do” and “Don’t” conflict resolution imperative, its verb, and reasons they are effective or not, respectively.
- Ss are then asked to think of ways the conflict resolution imperatives could be stated more politely, e.g., by adding “please” to the imperative. Each paired group is asked to give an example.
- Finally, each group is asked to select a workplace situation in which they, or someone they know, experienced conflict with another co-worker. Next, Ss are asked what might be an appropriate response from their culture of origin, along with ways the conflict could effectively be handled using the “Do” strategies outlined in the video, and present them to the class.
Appendix A – Imperatives grammar video:
“Imperatives? English Imperative Use – Learn English Imperative Use – English Grammar Lesson.” YouTube, uploaded by English Addict with Mr. Duncan. 14 Mar. 2017, https://youtu.be/jLqps9yljhc?si=camvLFyfmVmoIoV0.
Appendix B – Imperatives demo video:
"Learn English with Movie & TV Shows Scenes - Common Imperative Clauses (English Subtitles)." YouTube, uploaded by POC Conversational English. 1 Nov, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX6726Xyj8A.
Appendix C – Resolving Workplace Conflict video:
“The Dos and Don’ts of Workplace Conflict.” YouTube, uploaded by Galen Emanuele, 12 Apr. 2021, https://youtu.be/AnIk41p9QnA?si=bPWrZBJxaNmo2TDn.
Appendix D – Blog Script of "The 6 Dos and Don't of conflict" (print-friendly version)
Emanuele, Galen. “The 6 Dos and Don’ts of Conflict.” #culturedrop, https://galenemanuele.com/blog/dos-donts-conflict. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024.
By Galen Emanuele
Welcome to the #culturedrop. Every Tuesday, Galen Emanuele emails tools to advance leadership skills, team culture, and personal growth. No spam, just great content. Sign up now to get it in your inbox.
Dealing with, navigating, and resolving conflict in the workplace and in your life is such a critical topic and important skill set. If everybody were fantastic at resolving conflict, the world would be a better and easier place.
But they’re not, so here we go. Here are six dos and don’ts to help you level up your ability to move through and resolve conflict in a more productive and effective way.
#1: Do not attempt to resolve conflict when you are emotionally triggered.
That means when you’re turned up to 10, or in the heat of the moment when you’re triggered and upset.
That is not the time to try to resolve conflict and have a calm conversation.
It is so much easier to resolve conflict when people can be calm and neutral and “in cold blood,” which just means at a time when you are not completely triggered and emotions are out of control.
Do set up a time when the two of you can sit down and have a conversation.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a breather or asking for some time to cool off before continuing the conversation if you need it. Asking for permission from the other person to enter into the conversation is also a good idea to create a better space to talk, instead of springing it on them unexpectedly.
When you know that there’s a conversation that you need to have with someone, either go to them and ask, “Hey, is now a good time, to have this conversation with you,” or set up a time when the two of you can talk through things calmly, in a neutral space.
Check out this video (3 mins) for some tips and language on how to start and enter into challenging conversations.
#2: Don’t
Your interpretation of other people’s behaviors or their feelings or their perspective is just that: it’s your perception, it’s not reality.
Don’t act like your assumptions are true.
Do communicate your assumptions and your beliefs and perception of their experience.
“Don’t treat your assumptions as gospel.”
It is totally okay to say, “An assumption that I am making is that you did that because of (this feeling, or intention, etc). Is that accurate, can you clarify things for me so I can understand where you’re coming from?”
Or something that Brené Brown says that I really love is “The story that I’m telling myself is this,” and frame it up to say, “I don’t know that this is true, but this is my assumption about how you feel or what is going on for you, can you clear that up for me, can you tell me what is actually going on for you?”
You will have assumptions, yes, but communicate them and don’t treat them like they’re gospel because they’re not, you don’t know. Come into the conversation asking questions to clarify, not like you already know what’s true.
#3: Don’t accuse people, or label them as being a certain thing or being a certain way.
When you come in labeling someone and telling them how they are, like, “You never listen to me, you’re not a good listener, or you’re rude, you shoot down all my ideas, you’re not a very good friend, etc.” it doesn’t help.
When we label someone else and tell them how they are, all it does is put that person on the defensive.
It devolves into an argument about whether that person is a good listener or not etc, and it just makes people feel attacked. When people feel attacked they put on armor and stop listening, putting all their energy into defending themselves.
Using that kind of language only makes things worse.
Do frame up your language and the conversation in terms of focusing on the experience that you’re having, your own feelings and observations.
So instead of saying “You never listen to me.” reframe your language to say, “The experience that I’m having is that I don’t feel listened to.”
It’s really important to do that because your experience is not something that can be argued. That person can’t respond by saying, “Yes you do,” because it’s your experience and it’s true for you. Now the conversation isn’t focused on whether or not they actually listen, it’s centered around the impact they are having on you.
So whether or not they are a “good listener” has no relevance here, and it’s not up for debate. When we frame up language like that, it puts people in a less defensive space and it creates an opportunity to explore the experience that you are having without directly accusing them of anything.
Conflict becomes much more productive when you learn to use language like, “These are the observations that I’m having, these are the feelings that I’m experiencing that I understand belong to me. Can we talk through that together and explore what’s happening for both of us, so we can get to the heart of why?”
#4: Do not believe that you own 100% of the truth (you don’t).
I love this one.
Your perspective, your feelings, your view of what’s right and what’s wrong, and what’s happening are not cosmically true. If you go into a situation of conflict where you assume that you are the ultimate judge of what’s right, what’s wrong, and that your perspective is correct, you will not be able to effectively resolve conflict with other people.
Do listen and be curious.
This is really important, ask questions, seek to understand.
Ask for that person’s perspective, their point of view, demonstrate empathy, put yourself in that person’s shoes whether you agree with what they have to say or not. Their experience is true for them, try to see it from their perspective which is possible when you come from a place of just listening and wanting to understand.
Discover what’s true for both of you, and use that as a basis to find common ground and move forward toward a solution.
#5: Don’t treat people how you feel.
And what I mean by that is the difference between a feeling and a behavior:
To be angry or to be frustrated by somebody else is a feeling.
To yell, to throw something, to use abusive language towards somebody else, those are behaviors.
You have to remain in control of your emotional behavior. At any given moment you don’t get to choose your feelings, but the words that come out of your mouth, your body language and physical behavior, facial expressions, tone of voice, your energy level, and how you treat other people, are all things that you are 100% in control of.
Do remain in control of your behavior and how you treat the other person.
It is possible to be absolutely livid and also speak calmly in a neutral way to somebody else.
It’s okay to express, “I’m incredibly frustrated, I’m very, very angry about this, let’s talk through this.”
I know that’s very hard to do, it takes a lot of emotional intelligence and practice to remain in control of your emotional behavior, but it’s so important in order to navigate conflict effectively.
#6: Do not believe that you are great at resolving conflict.
Unless you have received extensive training and you’ve practiced and you’ve read books and you’ve actually done a lot of work to be better at resolving conflict, you’re probably not very good at it.
Nobody is born great at being able to resolve conflict.
Do learn & educate yourself.
Read books, get training, watch videos, and practice what you learn so that you get better and better at it. You can become great at moving through conflict, it is a skill set, it’s not an inherent trait of anybody.
“Fierce Conversations” by Susan Scott is a great book and resource that I recommend often. It will help you in how to resolve conflict with other people and provide some tools for professional and personal relationships.
Lastly, real talk:
The last thing I want to say: go to counseling.
A lot of your personal triggers and things that cause you to be angry and to have conflict with other people stem from all the messed up things that you experienced growing up; in school, or that your parents and the rest of your family did to you. Life is hard, people are complicated, you cannot get to adulthood without receiving a lot of damage along the way.
There are things that make you very angry or frustrated or that trigger you in a huge way that do not belong to other people; the people at work that trigger those things in you, your friends, your romantic partners, etc.
Noticing and reflecting about the things that really push your buttons is a really healthy process. It’s very helpful to know yourself and understand why, for example, it causes you to feel so heated or angry if somebody shoots down your idea, or you feel like they’re telling you what to do.
We all have a lot of work to do on ourselves to be better, more healthy communicators and well-rounded humans. You are no exception. Understanding yourself and working on you goes a long way to being able to resolve conflict with other people in your life in a healthy way.
Want more?
This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop
Game-Based Activity
Homophony™
This game can be played by English Language Learners (ELLs) from Elementary to the most Advanced proficiency levels. As a sample ELL activity, it will be used here for an informal formative assessment of the following learning objectives for Advanced ELL students (Ss):
- Ss will identify and use infinitive verb forms (grammatical assessment)
- Ss will use unit vocabulary associated with work environments (grammatical assessment)
- Ss will demonstrate comprehension of consonant/consonant string and vowel combinations (grammatical assessment)
- Ss will generate and pronounce monosyllabic homophones (listening comprehension/speaking/pronunciation assessments)
Activity instructions:
- Teacher (T) explains rules of the game (Appendix A) to Ss and assigns direction in which turns are taken, e.g., who goes first, second, etc., and starts the time allotted for the game activity.
- The first player (referred to here as S) chooses a single-syllable word to begin the round. In this example, the S must select a work-related, single syllable, infinitive verb from the Evaluation Sample Unit/Chapter, e.g., "work". S says the word aloud.
- The second S says a new word that must have the same vowel sound and ending as the word chosen by the first S, e.g., "lurk". This word, and all subsequent words for the remainder of the game round, have no other restrictions.
- If a player cannot think of a word, they are eliminated from that round of the game. The amount of time players have to present a new word depends on T's judgment, which can be influenced by factors, such as classroom time-restraints and/or proficiency level of Ss (beginner Ss may need more time). An average wait time might be 10-15 seconds.
- Players continue until there is only one person remaining, who is pronounced the winner for that round of the game.
- A new round of the game begins with all players until a new winner emerges. The game activity ends when the allotted time for playing is up.
During the game, informal formative assessment will be made by T observations, including S’s ability to accurately use infinitive verb forms; S retention of work-related vocabulary previously reviewed; S ability to accurately distinguish, generate, and pronounce a variety of monosyllabic homophones ending with the same consonant/consonant string + vowel combinations.
Appendix A – Game Rules:
- This game can be played in successive rounds for a specified amount of time.
- For each round of the game, vowel sounds and any ending consonant sound(s) in a word selected must sound identical to those in the previous word, e.g., work, lurk, perk, smirk, jerk, and the word selected must be spelled differently, e.g., two, too or blue, blew.
- Words must be legitimate English words, including slang, and verifiable via a dictionary, when challenged.
- Players are allowed three unsuccessful attempted words before being eliminated from the game round.
- Words cannot be proper nouns, e.g., Dirk.
- Players are asked to refrain from selecting profane or potentially offensive words.
- Words already selected during a game round cannot be repeated.