Method 2: Reformulate and tidy up (Compact expression)

(Compact expression, Creating a dialogical moment III, dialogue scene 22, in English 15.)

The goal of this method is to learn how to express your thinking in a brief, concise manner – even when you feel that you have much more to say. The objective is to learn how to “tidy up” your expression so that it becomes clearer.

Instructions

• for the theme of the dialogue, choose a topic that is important from the perspective of the learning goals or knowledge creation; in this context, for example, the theme could be “how to successfully clear your speech of unnecessary content”
• the participants work in pairs
• both partners have seven short turns to express their thinking
• every time you express your thinking, you use one turn
• keep your turns short and concise, only speak a couple of sentences at a time
• during their turn, a speaker reformulates their expression aloud and clears it from unnecessary content
• speakers deliberately take their time while reformulating their utterances
• participants take turns to speak and to listen
• while listening, pay attention to every word the other participant says
• use all your turns
• the dialogue lasts for about 10 minutes

Reflection in the learning community: The whole group jointly reflects upon their experiences of the method and thinking that it caused. One useful question for this reflection is ”What did you become aware of during this task?” Another, more demanding question is ”What did you learn from this task?” The purpose of the reflection is that several participants, not only some, share their thinking and experiences. You can engage more participants in the reflection by asking questions such as, ”What else can you tell us about your thinking?”, ”Even thinking that at first seems insignificant can be useful”, ”What else should be mentioned at this point?” etc. In other words, the common reflection should not be limited to hearing the experiences of a few active participants. The participants become accustomed to quieter moments that give them time to think. When the reflection part is completed, every participant has gained an understanding of compact expression in dialogue and knowledge creation situations, which enables them to continue practising in real life situations.