ENGLE210F

English for Effective Communication II:

Listening & Speaking

Unit 1
- Week 1 -
1

1
Unit 1

• Narrating
1.

• Explaining
2.

• Describing
3.
2
 Part 1 – Narrating events and experiences
Introduction
•Narrating is a skill often used in social communication.

•When you are in the office, you may like to tell your colleagues
about what happened over the weekend or about your holiday.

•When you see your friends, you sometimes want to tell them about
activities you have involved in recently.

•When you go home, you may want to tell your family about what
happened in the workplace.

•Such narratives can be of various kinds, such as jokes, funny

reminiscences, and accounts of bad experiences.
3
 What is a Narrative?

• A narrative is some kind of retelling, often in

words (though it is possible to mime a story), of
something that happened (a story).

• The narrative is not the story itself but rather

the telling of the story -- which is why it is so
often used in phrases such as "written
narrative," “oral narrative," etc.
4
 http://literarydevices.net/narrative/

• Narrative is a report of related events

presented to the listeners or readers in words
arranged in a logical sequence.

• A story is taken as a synonym of narrative. A narrative or

story is told by a narrator who may be a direct part of
that experience and he or she often shares the experience
as a first-person narrator. Sometimes he or she may only
observe the events as a third-person narrator and gives
his or her verdict.
5
 Examples of oral narratives
• Stories (real or imagined)
• Personal experiences
• Incident/ News reports
• Fairy tales
• Folk tales
• Parables
• Fables
• Myths
• Ballads
• Legends
• Operettas

6
 Successful Narration

1. Selection
of Elements

3. Spoken
Language 2. Setting
*Expressive
*Appropriate

7
 Part 1
1. Elements of narration
• When you narrate a story, you should try to ensure
that you include the following 5 elements:

8
 Who (Characters)
• Identifying who was involved
• Most people enjoy hearing about
what happened to others,
especially people they know.

9
 Who - Characters

• A character can be a person, an animal or imaginary

creature.
• You have to decide who are the people directly involved in
your narration. → keep the number relatively small
(usually less than 6 in a short story)

10
 Major characters

• Usually 1 or 2
• Vital to the
development and
resolution of the
conflict.
• The plot and
resolution of conflict
revolves around these
characters.
11
Protagonist VS Antagonist

12
Secondary characters
• Other necessary
characters who
are involved to
move the plot
along, but may
not be involved
with the central
conflict.

13
 What

• Listeners particularly like to hear about

interactions among people.

• In outlining your story, you should restrict

the number of main points you make to
probably no more than six → they can
remember your points!
14
 What - Plot
• The chain of events in a story – 5/6 main ingredients:
1. Introduction/Exposition
+ 2. Inciting incident
3. Rising action (Conflict)
4. Climax
5. Falling action
6. Resolution 15
Plot Components / Story Structure

16
Sample – 3 little pigs

17
Sample – Nemo fish

18
 Other samples….
• The turtle and the rabbit
• Little red ridding hood
• Cinderella, and more…

19
Discussion:
• 3-6 students create an “oral
narrative” (5 minutes) and share
it with the class
• Each student/pair is responsible
for telling two parts of the story
of your choice
• Who (major characters +
secondary characters)
+ What (Plot: 6 ingredients)20
21
 When you tell stories…

• Sometimes, the last point of the story can

be the climax, and with jokes it is the punch
line.

• In your narration, you need to present your

main points in sequence so that each builds
up to the climax or punch line.
22
 Reading the following joke aloud:

• An overweight man, who was always raiding the fridge between meals,
decided to stick a picture of a slim handsome young actor on the inside
to the fridge door. This reminder worked really well and one month
later he had lost nine pounds. Unfortunately, his wife had looked
inside the refrigerator so many times that she had gained ten
pounds!......

23
 Activity 1.1

• Now listen to another joke

(Track 1), and see how the
main points build up to the
punch line.

• Write out the punch line and

explain what makes the joke
funny.
24
 Activity 1.1
• The first tailor agreed that there was enough cloth for the
man and the second tailor’s son who was six years old. The
problem was it was not enough if he wanted to also make a
suit for his own son who was 19 years old. That was why he
told the man there was not enough cloth.

• The humour lies in the fact that the first tailor was cheeky
enough to explain this to the man when he confronted
him, instead of just denying it as we might have expected.

25
 Successful Narration

1. Selection
of Elements

3. Spoken
Language 2. Setting
*Expressive
*Appropriate

26
 When & Where
→ 2. Setting
• The time (time of day, season, year; past,
present, future)

• The location + a description of the

surroundings where the actions occur

• They help to create the mood and

atmosphere of the narrative 27
 Identifying when and where the incident occurred
• In addition to knowing who is involved and what they are doing, the listener
needs to know the context of your story. This involves when and
where the incident took place.

• Stories may be told in one of three general time periods: the past, the
present and the future. Sometimes it may also be helpful to identify the
specific day or time. Time may be especially important when you use a
chronological sequence to organize your main points and when the time
of the action plays an important part in the climax of your narration.

• Likewise, place may be particularly important when you use a space order
to organize your main points and when the place of action is significant
for the climax of your story.
28
 Plot Organisation
• Chronological Order
• → When

• Space Order
• → Where
29
 Chronological order

• This involves organizing your points in a time

sequence of ideas or events. You simply describe
what occurred first, second, third and so forth, e.g.

30
 Chronological order
• Clara and Pauline went shopping last Saturday.
1 First, they bought a pair of ear-rings, a necklace and a bracelet.
2 Then they tried on some jeans in Giordano.
3 After that, they went to a shoe shop and Clara bought a pair of white sandals.
4 Finally they sat down and had afternoon tea at Délifrance.

• In this example, the four steps happen in time sequence

with the fourth being the final point. Chronological order
is especially useful when the timing of events is central
to the focus of your story.
31
3 Little Pigs and the Wolf

32
 Space order
• Space order involves organizing your main points in a
logical order that your listeners can follow visually,
such as from left to right, top to bottom, or inside
to outside…

• Use transitional words and phrases when describing

details according to their position in space
33
 Space order
• Tom was searching for his missing wallet.
1 First, he searched all the drawers and wardrobes in his bedroom.
2 Next, he ransacked the desk and looked through the bookshelves in the study.
3 After that, he searched the cabinets and looked in every corner of the lounge.
4 It was then that he saw his wallet lying on the table in the kitchen.

• In this example, the steps happen in space order.

This is particularly helpful when the location of the
action is important to your narration.
34
35
Sample

36
 Why – identifying the reasons for talking
about the experience/incident

• You should have a reason for talking about any

experience/incident. Your listeners need to know
the point of your narration or how it fits the
present context if they are going to understand it
and be interested.

37
 Why – Theme
For example, you may want to tell a story:
•just to be sociable and join in the conversation;
•to persuade your listeners to do something;
•to explain something;
•simply as a way of breaking the ice;
•to share a problem with your listeners and get
their advice or sympathy. 38
 Why - Theme
• Sometimes you may begin a conversation by sharing a story,
and you can lead into your reason for sharing the incident with
statements such as:

• ‘Guess what happened to me today.’

• ‘I’ve got a real problem.’
• ‘I’ve finally found out how to …’
• ‘I heard a really good joke today.’
• ‘Do you know what John has just told me?’

39
 Why - Theme
• The reasons for sharing your story may occur during a conversation. You
might use statements such as the following to indicate your purpose:
• ‘That reminds me of a joke I heard only the other day …’
• ‘Peter, I’ve had a very similar experience …’
• ‘I’ve had a really interesting day, too, Simeon. Let me tell you about the
most exciting thing that happened…’
• ‘That reminds me of a story that my mother used to tell me. Would
anyone like to hear it?’

• When your story becomes the topic in the middle of a

conversation, your purpose is clear to your listeners.
You want to take a turn and contribute something
to the conversation. 40
 Revision on a Narrative
– Content and Organization
• When you narrate a story, you should
try to ensure that you include the
following 5 elements:
• Who - Characters
• What – Plot (*Climax/punch line)
• When - Chronological order
• Where - Setting
Space order
• Why – Theme
41
42