BSC Conversation Partners’ Program

 

Program Curriculum

 

Program Expectations

 

During the discussion of each topic, a conversation partner should both volunteer information about his/her experience and encourage students to express their point of view. A conversation session is not a lecture: it is an information exchange between two equally important parties.

 

Each conversation will go at an individual pace: there is no rush. Take your time and don’t feel obligated to cover all the topics or all the aspects of each weekly topic. If there is a special interest in a topic, feel free to spend additional time on it.

 

Session Structure (50 minutes)
Start with a warm-up conversation about classes, week-end activities, recent news, etc.

Proceed to the main topic of the your conversation session (see the list of tentative topics for conversation).

Wrap-up the session with a brief summary of your conversation and ask the student to sign up the conversation partner session form.

 

 

Tentative Topics for Conversation

 

 

Meeting 1:

Introductions; Scheduling
Getting to Know Each Other (hometown, family, hobbies, major, etc.)
 

Meeting 2:

 

High School versus College Experience:

Living on and off Campus; Student Organizations, Clubs and Events; Student Employment
 

Meeting 3:

 

Cultural Differences and Similarities:

Teacher/Student Classroom Expectations; Teacher-Student Interactions
Optional Activity: Create a list of appropriate address terms and behavior patterns for teacher-student interactions and/or brainstorm a list of typical teacher expectations from students.
 

Meeting 4:

 

Cultural Difference and Similarities:

Student-Student Interactions

Optional Activity: Create a list of appropriate address terms and behavior patterns for student-student interactions and/or brainstorm a list of typical student expectations from teachers; compare to the lists created in Meeting 3.

 

Meeting 5: 

 

Cultural Differences and Similarities:
Respect and Informality
Optional Activity: Brainstorm ways of showing respect in American culture and the native culture of the student.

 

Meeting 6:

 

Having Fun:
Traveling; Things to Do and See in Boston; Past and Future Vacations
Optional Activity: Create a list of interesting places to visit in Boston and rate their uniqueness in comparison to the places that you have visited.

 

 

Meeting 7:

Cultural Differences and Similarities:
Youth Culture
Optional Activity: Create a list of cultural differences and similarities between American culture and the native culture of the student.

 

Meeting 8:

Cultural Differences and Similarities:
Holiday Traditions and Celebrations

Optional Activity: Create a list of American holidays and discuss which ones are also celebrated in the student’s culture and/or create a list of traditions associated with specific holidays (e.g. Christmas, Thanks Giving, Independence Day) and occasions (birthdays, graduation ceremony, wedding) in American culture and/or the culture of the student.

 

Meeting 9:

 

Language Diversity: Registers, Regional and Social Dialects

Optional Activity: Create a list of regional characteristics (in pronunciation and vocabulary) in the New England dialect, or discuss the characteristics of English used by college students, or discuss dialectal varieties in the native language of the student.

 

 

Meeting 10:

 

Language Diversity (Cont.)
Optional Student Activity: Discuss gender differences in the use of language. Are these differences present in all languages? Exchange examples from English and the native language of the student.

 

 

 

 

Last Modified: March 18, 2008