dialogue memorization stuff?
drill-’em-till-they-drop model of language instruction makes me want to drive my fist through a door. But, … I agree with Cindy Hart-Gonzalez and most others on this one: Dialogue memorization is just the sort of crutch a comprehension-first-er can love to hate. As long as it’s fairly authentic (though not so much that you have to memorize the sighs and rolling eyes), and widely applicable to common situations, a memorized dialogue can provide just the sort of over-learned patterns that (1) the novice language user needs most to feel that (eventually) this language will come and (2) the intermediate language user can mull over as needed. In fact, contrary to the usual begin-each-lesson-with-a-dialogue dictum, I’d strongly urge teachers to include vocabulary and structures in memorized dialogues that do NOT appear in the “lesson” of the day, or even that embody metaphors, usages, and complexities that go well beyond the capacities of the learners. They can be a treasure-trove for late
