Line Dance
Most of us have seen traditional square dancing, where dancers line
up facing each other and/or where dancers form squares of 4, performing
a "dos a dos" in which they exchange places. This language
technique creates an opportunity for all the students in the classroom
to be speaking at once, with frequent exchange of partner, themes, roles
and/or easy teacher input.
The students are first presented with a theme to discuss, with the teacher
exchanging roles with two or three students (modeling).
The students then line up in two rows, facing each other (rows A and
B):
A A A A A A A A
B B B B B B B B
Students initiate a conversation, perhaps with A being in charge of
keeping the conversation focused. The instructor walks behind the lines,
making comments and listening. In a few minutes, the instructor says,
"Take a step to the left." ONLY the B row moves one person
to the left. The A row stays where it is:
A A A A A A A A
B B B B B B B B
The student at the far left moves to the partner A on the far right.
Sometimes the instructor says "Dos a dos," in which case the
entire row of A's and B's changes place. (Unlike the true square dance
step, the B's stay in the new place and do not complete the step.) Now
the class looks like this:
B B B B B B B B
A A A A A A A A
Unlike paired work at desks, the pace is lively, it's easy to keep the
students talking, and there's no problem with unpopular students left
without a partner, or mismatched pairs.
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