Can I see you in the hallway? - A Pavlovian response

For my upper-level Speaking/Listening classes, the book that we use is Contemporary Topics. I like this series because the English of instruction is American English, it focuses on lecture formats, emphasizes note-taking skills heavily, and has these student discussion segments to help students build language chunks in a conversation for purposes of disagreement, staying on topic, reaching a consensus, etc. To put these language chunks into action, I have students get into small groups and discuss certain topics that elicit the chunk we're focusing on for the day. To model these small group interactions, I usually ask a student at the beginning of class to talk to me in the hallway so that I can prep him or her to help me with the model later in the class. This afternoon's L6 Science Speaking/Listening class was no exception.

Before class, I chose 'George' to call into the hallway. With the mixed gender classes, it's best if I choose a male to do the role play with -- they are more likely to be less shy and use a louder voice in the discussion. At first, George is reluctant to go to into the hallway to talk with me, but does so anyway because I, his teacher, am asking him to do something. Once we are in the hallway, I ask him to close the door behind him before we start talking.

Before I even start to speak, George says, "I know why you asked me to come to the hall, Ms."

I'm somewhat taken aback because this is a new group of students for me and the first time that I've called any of the students into the hallway to be a modelling guinea pig. George continues resignedly, "It's my dishdasha." He then gives a deflated look.

My first thought is, "What do I care what you're wearing?" But then I realize that he's standing in front of me, wearing a finely pressed and starched navy blue dishdasha with a very handsomely wrapped light and dark blue, checkered mussar. Technically, the dress code for boys at the university is that they must wear a full-length clean white dishdasha with either a kummah or mussar (any color) to cover their heads. If they do not wear white, they run the risk of being asked to go home and change.

I give a small laugh to George and I say, "Look, I'm not here to tell you how to dress. In your credit classes -- yes, you may be asked to go home, but that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

He gives a look of relief and then stands really tall, puffing out his chest. "It looks very handsome, doesn't it?"

Me: I'm not going to comment on that. [I give a genuine smile anyway, though.]

Once it was established that he wasn't in trouble, I was able to convince him to help model the discussion for the day.

So there you have it, such a simple phrase -- "Can I see you in the hallway?" -- can strike fear in the hearts of fashionably conscientious and/or insecure young men.


P.S. The portrait image in this post is owned by 'italian in Q8' - http://www.flickr.com/photos/13014156@N06/2617649210/