Buying a train ticket

Imagine that you are a student when you are perfoming the activity.

• Specific objectives ...

You will ... learn how to use a dynamic website as a conversational framework. practise turn-taking and organising spoken discourse by using a conversational framework. develop language awareness with a focus on communicative intentions and speech functions. learn how to perform a dialogue between a clerk and a tourist at a station.

• Context and task ...

Your situation Your are spending a month in Montpellier, doing a language course there. You would like to go on a weekend trip and explore the surroundings. You decide to go by train. Your aim Choose a destination and buy a return ticket. Things you will have to consider You can only leave on Saturday morning because you have classes until Friday evening. You have to be back on Sunday at 8 p.m. because you have been invited to dinner. You don't want to spend more than 40€ for the fare. Your task Choose your destination, and then perform the dialogue "Buying a train ticket" with your partner. One of you is the tourist, the other one is the clerk. Then change roles.

• Performing the task >>

• Comments ...

The following type of activity exploits the special features of dynamic websites: They are interactive: the user gets feedback from the computer based on the information he enters. They replace real-life dialogues. The use of dynamic websites is typically linked to a specific intention. The information retrieved should help the user to make a decision, e.g. which train to take. From the customer's point of view, the action "buying a train ticket" is typically part of the action "planning a journey". In order to design communicative, realistic tasks it makes sense to consider this context. It provides the necessary framework and objectives for role play. Moreover, it helps learners to: understand the purpose of the task get involved into it.