Puppet Pals: For a more high-tech approach to puppets, an
iPad app called Puppet Pals lets students choose backgrounds
and characters, then record short movies with them. They
can make the characters move around and record their own
voices to add dialog. The app is free, but for a small cost you
can buy more backgrounds and characters.
Screenshot of Puppet Pals
Using shadowing and mirroring
Shadowing is one of the most valuable and versatile ways of
practicing suprasegmental features. It is a technique in which
learners repeatedly listen to and imitate the speakers in a
short video clip or sound recording. Then they try to speak
the lines of the dialog with or slightly after the characters in
the clip. Mirroring is very similar, except that students also
try to imitate the gestures and body movements of the
speakers. Here’s one way to do shadowing:- Find a short !lm clip (less than two minutes) with a
simple, natural-sounding, self-contained conversation.
Find or write a transcript for the clip. A list of websites
that have video clips is at the end of this chapter. - In class, give the students some background about what’s
happening in the scene. Don’t just jump into the video.
Students need to understand what’s going on. - Play the clip. The !rst time, the students should just watch
and get the general idea of the characters, the situation,
and the meaning of the dialog. - Hand out the transcript. Go over any unfamiliar words and
expressions. Talk about what’s happening and make sure
the students understand the dialog. - Watch the clip again. This time, give students something
speci!c to listen for—pauses, intonation, linking, etc.—
and have them mark that feature on their script. It works
best if you give a speci!c focus; don’t expect students to
notice everything at once. If you want, play the clip again.
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