Listening Strategies
  • Organizational Patterns

    • Organizational Patterns

    Listening Strategy
    In this section, we will talk about organizing your ideas when speaking in English

    Objectives

    1. Identify the three most common organizational patterns you will use in English
    2. Create outlines for speaking on a topic in those three patterns
    3. Produce one organized recording

    Organizational Patterns

    Think about the situations when you would use English. What is the purpose of that communication? How are the ideas organized to make that purpose clear?

    There are many different reasons we communicate with others. The way we organize our ideas depends on three things: the PURPOSE, the TOPIC, and the AUDIENCE. 

    PURPOSE

    The first thing to consider is WHY are you sharing the information. Speakers usually have a main reasons, but there can often be more than one purpose.

    Here are the main reasons that are most common:

    • Explaining - Simple exchange of information
      • A description
      • A process
      • A sequence of events
      • A comparison
    • Persuading - Trying to convince the person listening that something is true
      • Presenting only your opinion
      • Contrasting with an opposite opinion
      • Selling a product
    • Entertaining - Keeping attention and making the topic interesting and fun
      • Encouraging an emotional reaction to what you say

    As stated previously, we can tell a story about a sequence of events with the purpose of making someone laugh. It is both an explanation and entertainment. Usually one of these purposes is MOST important. For example, you may not include all of the details of the story because they aren't part of the joke. Although sometimes you choose to include a very detailed explanation because that adds to the humor.

    TOPIC

    Think about what you are talking about. The topic itself will influence the way you organize your ideas.

    • Some topics are complex, while others are very simple.
    • Sometimes we focus on a small part of a bigger topic to make it more simple.
    • Some topics are well-understood by most people, while other topics are specialized.
    • Some topics are commonly spoken about, while others may be culturally taboo. 


    AUDIENCE

    Who are you talking to and how are you talking to them?

    • How many people are you speaking to?
    • Are they children or adults?
    • Are they people you know well or did you just meet?
    • Are you giving a presentation or interviewing for a job?
    • Are you talking in a public place or privately at home? 
    • Is this a conversation with turn-taking?

    All of these questions will change how you speak. Your organization, vocabulary, tone, and length of speaking will all depend on your context.

    Examples

    Here are some examples of how organization is impacted by purpose, topic, and audience.

    Watch this video. Think about what the purpose, topic, and audience are for the main speaker.

     

    Compare this video with the purpose, topic, and audience of example 1. How did the organization change?

    Compare this video with the purpose, topic, and audience of examples 1 and 2. How did the organization change?

     

    Compare this video with the purpose, content, and audience in the other examples. How did the organization change?

     

    Compare this video with the purpose, content, and audience in the other examples. How did the organization change?

     


    Let's practice organizing ideas. 

    In most speaking situations, you don't a lot of time to organize your thoughts. The decisions you make happen quickly. These activities will help you practice that.

    Exercise 1: Group Activity

    Your teacher will assign you to a group. Follow the rest of the steps below.

    1. Choose one person from your group to be the judge. The judge will SECRETLY decide on a topic for the conversation. This person will wait to tell the group the topic until step 3.
    2. The others in the group will decide what type of conversation this will be. They will think about the audience to make a decision about how they should talk to each other.
    3. The teacher will tell the class what the purpose of the conversation will be. Next, the judge will tell the group the topic.
    4. When the timer starts, the group will begin their conversation, making organizational decision based on the purpose, topic, and audience.
    5. The judge will listen to the conversation and make notes of suggestions to improve the organization of the ideas.
    6. When the timer stops, the judge will share the notes on the conversation.
    7. Choose a new judge for the group and repeat.

    Exercise 2: Partner Activity

    Your partner will assign a partner to you for this activity.

    1. Find a video to watch. The video can come from a movie, tv, YouTube channel, company website, etc. 
    2. Watch the video and take notes on how the speaker(s) organized ideas.
      • Remember to consider the purpose, topic, and audience in that context.
      • It might help to write an outline of the speaking to show how it is organized.
    3. You will explain to your partner how it was organized and why you think the speakers presented the information this way.

    This content is provided to you freely by EdTech Books.

    Access it online or download it at https://edtechbooks.org/advanced_mid_listening__speaking/recognize_organizational_patterns.