Guerna TS#6

Date/Time: July 16th, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM EST
Location: Dirac Library
Topic/Skill: Speaking & Listening
Student: Wei Wang


This session was designed to strengthen Wei’s speaking and listening skills in real-world medical contexts, focusing on vocabulary, comprehension, and role-play practice related to visiting a doctor. During this lesson we began with a warm-up discussion about personal experiences with doctors, which encouraged Wei to share her own habits and cultural perspectives on healthcare visits. This naturally introduced the theme and provided context for learning new vocabulary. Using visual aids, Wei practiced key medical terms such as sore throat, fever, chills, swelling, and antibiotics. We spent time on pronunciation practice, focusing on differentiating the /s/ sound from the /θ/ sound in throat and thermometer, as these can be difficult for learners.

Next, during the listening practice, Wei listened to a realistic doctor’s office phone call between a receptionist and a patient. She followed comprehension questions that tested her ability to pick out specific details like appointment time, symptoms, and recommendations. This not only built her listening accuracy but also familiarized her with the flow of a medical conversation.

The main focus of the session was on role-play activities, where Wei actively took the role of both a patient and receptionist/doctor. The scenarios were varied from rescheduling appointments, describing symptoms, asking about urgent care, and requesting prescriptions, so she could practice both giving and receiving medical information. She practiced expanding her answers to include more detail, rather than short responses, which helped her simulate authentic conversation more closely. Switching roles also allowed her to gain perspective on both sides of the exchange, sharpening her listening skills while reinforcing speaking confidence.

We concluded with a reflection activity, where Wei identified the most useful phrases she learned such as “I’ve been feeling sick since yesterday” or “I’d like to reschedule my appointment”. She also reflected on her confidence level when speaking to doctors in English. 


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