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[syntax factory <2F56BEARDD@VMS.CSD.MU.EDU>]

a quick story and question --

i have developed a cool story to use with esl students to avoid the pattern of
"agreeing with anything the native speaker says, even if i don't understand."

after about four "uh-huhs" from the student, i ask, boldly, if they are just
agreeing to keep me quiet. 

i pause momentarily, and tell stories about sitting around the table at
thanksgiving with my family, and i'm talking and talking, and they are nodding
and nodding uh-huh uh-huh, and when i'm done, they ask me to pass the chicken. 

i tell the student that i don't want him or her to agree just so that i stop
talking, so that i will pass the gravy.

it's a cool technique, i think, because it almost always draws laughs -- a good
break, especially in a grammar-heavy session.

anyone else have IDEAS about how to deal with this tendency?

david Beard
ott memorial writing center
marquette university