Just a Minute
| Topic area |
Extemporaneous Speaking, Grammar, Clarity of Speech. |
| Target audience |
Students in a communications class, and those who need some help with spoken grammar. |
| Activity type |
Class participation "game". |
| Time required |
Easily undertaken in one class period. Time will depend on how long it takes to describe the game, set up the rules, and then to play several "rounds". |
| Attachments |
None |
| Additional materials |
Dictionary, book of grammar may be helpful. A stop watch is essential, though if you have a browser operational then you can use our timer and scorer. |
| Background needed to complete the assignment |
None |
| References |
This is a "take-off" on a British Broadcasting Corporation game show entitled "Just a Minute". |
| Last modified |
99/05/20 |
Abstract:
A game that uses extemporaneous speaking and careful listening to emphasize good speaking and diction, in a challenging environment where the listeners attempt to identify a number of errors.
Goals for the activity:
To develop quick thinking, together with good speaking, good grammar, appropriate use of words, using the right words.
Knowledge / skills / attitudes to be developed (behavioral objectives):
As above.
Procedure:
- The Rules:
- The chosen (volunteer) speaker is given one minute to talk on a topic chosen by the instructor/moderator.
- Members of the audience can challenge the speaker in order to identify errors in:
- grammar - the challenger must properly identify the error and give the correct phraseology;
- spelling - identifying a mispronunciation, the challenger must give the correct pronunciation;
- wrong word - the incorrect use of a word (perhaps a Malapropism), the challenger must give the correct word;
- repeated word - more than two uses of the same word in a single sentence, or more than four uses of the same word in 15 seconds, the challenger must give the word [NOTE: common words such as connectives and simple verbs should not count against the speaker, but articles (especially "I", "we", etc.) should be included];
- junk words - ums, ahs, etc.
- hesitation - a pause of more than two seconds.
- A successful challenge allows the challenger to take over the talk from the speaker for the remaining time.
- Speakers are scored by the number of seconds that they can speak without being challenged successfully. Thus the maximum number of points is 60. The moderator needs to keep careful check of the time. [NOTE: One solution to this is to have two persons with stop watches, one to record the score for each person by restarting the watch each time a new speaker commences, and one to continue to record the total speaking time. Otherwise use the on-line scorer, but you still need to have a person to write down the scores.] The person with the most number of points at the end of the allotted period wins!
- Carefully choose a number of topics for presentation before the class starts. These might include:
- What I did last summer
- Why I am taking this class
- My career plans are ...
- If I were King, I would ...
- Last night I dreamed ...
- Why I choose [discipline] as a career choice
- etc.
- Leaving (say) 10 minutes at the end of the class summarize the activity, give a prize the the winner, and ask for a listing of the lesson learned.
Assessing outcomes:
Do the participants get into the spirit of the game?
The major drawback of this exercise is that students who are less than willing to talk will not challenge the speaker. Thus an alternative strategy could be to award a challenger (say) 10 points for a correct challenge, and then allow them to continue the talk or to nominate someone else to continue.
Additional remarks:
The on-line scorer is set up so that if you decide to use 2 minutes that option is available.
Author contact information:
J.A.N. Lee
Department of Computer Science
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg VA 24061-0106
Ph: (540) 231-5780
E-mail: janlee@cs.vt.edu