1. 10 A Horse and Two Goats  Teaching Objectives  Topic: Non-verbal communication  Grammar points: adj. with an infinitive structure (including it is adj. + to do … for/of Np to do …)  Vocabulary: massive, disturb, plead, sacred, capital, replace, ingratiating, respectful, get out of sight, react to, refer to, dawn on, pace (v.), at the thought of, make somebody an offer for, sound policy to do…  Writing: Writing a good beginning

2. P2 Reading Comprehension and Language Activities  Present the pre-reading task.  Use the following guidelines for discussion.  A guideline for analyzing erroneous communication  Successful communication is based on the following factors;  Knowledge of each other’s background information (e.g., who are they? Where are they from? )

3.  Willingness on both parties to negotiate a result from the conversation (e.g., asking for clarification, offering additional information, or making efforts in various means such as body language of gestures, or facial expressions, etc., to make one’s message easier to understand)  Being responsive to each other (contributing the required information relevant to the concerns of the other party, not more, not less in quantity)  Write the three principles on the board/OHP.  Summarize the discussion and then instruct the students to read.

4.  An alternative way to lead-in activity  Play a game of “Cross-talking” following the procedures below.  Put the students into two competing teams.  Each team sends one person to the front of the class.  Give one person a topic to start talking, asking questions or getting the other student involved through talking.  The other student should violate the conversation rules by avoiding directly answering questions, but he should give relevant information. (For example: A: How old are you? – B: Well, I was born in the year of the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. Or I was born in the year when my father became a manager in the company, quite a few years ago, etc., etc,)

5. Read the text  Have the students read the text.  Ask one or two students to explain the story briefly to the class.  Explain the language and story to the class. (Don’t go over the lesson sentence by sentence. Students have a much better ability to absorb the story than it may seem) Use the following notes for explanation.

6. Notes:  1.The story took place in a small mountain village called Kiritam in India. The villagers there speak the native language of Tamil and, as readers will soon find out, do not understand English.  2.massive guardian: The horse was worshipped by the villagers as a protector of the village. Massive indicates that the horse statue is not only large in size, but also heavy in weight. Here is one more example: The new stadium is a massive building

7.  3.in the shape of a prancing horse: having the shape of a horse springing up from its hind legs.  4.his tail looped up with a flourish: The horse’s tail curled up spiritedly. A flourish is a decorative display intended to make people notice it.  5.an old man was drowsing: An old man was failing into a light sleep.  6.station wagon: It is a kind of vehicle with removable seats and an area behind the seats for suitcases, bags, etc. A station wagon is usually bigger than an ordinary car.

8.  7.khaki-coloured shirt: yellowish brown shirt. Khaki is a type of fabric for jackets, which is often used for making army uniforms because it wears well. That’s why the old man took the American for a police officer.  8.Tamil: An official language spoken in Tamil Nadu state in India, and also one of the languages of Sri Lanka, Singapore and several regions in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.  9.My name is Muni, and the two goats are mine and mine only: The old man introduced himself to the American and emphasized that the two goats were his property. Hence the relationship between the goats and Indian is made explicit. This also shows that he wanted to make it clear to the “police officer” that he was a good man.

9.  10.ingratiatingly: respectfully, showing respect. The American tourist was trying to please the old man with a friendly humble smile. Ingratiatingly is often used disapprovingly of someone who tries to make himself liked by other people in a humble manner. Another word with similar meaning but different connotation is gratefully, which is often used in a positive way.  11.Our village has always had a clean record: Our village has never had any crime. If someone has a clean record, he has no criminal record or has not done anything dishonest or immoral.

10.  12.at the end of: Notice the difference between at the end of … and in the end, the former for time, the latter for sequence or logical reasoning.  13.the tenth avatar, God Vishnu, and the Redeemer: According to Hinduism, these three terms are different expressions referring to the same human-shaped or animal-shaped reincarnations of a god who lives in the spiritual and eternal world in heaven, and comes down as Avatar to punish the evil and save the good in the world. For more detailed cultural information about Avatar in Hinduism, refer to the reading material below What Is Avatar?

11.  14.A conversation leading to mutual mystification followed: They continued to talk at cross purposes.  15.drive a bargain for: try to get a cheaper price for.  16.the like of which: a fairly formal usage, meaning here “notes of this kind/ notes of such a large amount of money”. This sentence indicates the poverty of the old man in the story. The expression can have another form … the likes of …  17.I guess I could go a little higher: I would be willing to offer more (if this is not enough.)  18.sound policy: a good idea or plan

12.  19.dawn on: (The idea) came to him all of a sudden. The old man thought that he suddenly understood the American’s intention. He was interested in the two goats!  20.capital: money. Notice the different words for money: Capital is more often used to mean the money to set up or expand a business; fund is a sum of money collected for a special purpose, for example, to aid people who are in need of it.  21.on this very spot: an emphatic way of saying in this place. Very (adj.) is often used with a noun for emphasis. For example, on that very day; at that very moment.  22.but: except

13. 1 Comprehension work  Have the students work individually on the summary.  Have the students exchange their summaries for peer review. Encourage them to make suggestions for improving summarizing skills and quality of writing.  Have one or two students put their work on the board/OHP for demonstration.

14. Summaries for reference:  A Summarise the story  A. The story is about an encounter between an old Indian villager and an American tourist in India, neither of whom understand the other's language. As a result, the American's intention of buying the statue of a horse is misunderstood by the Indian as an offer to buy his two goats.

15. B Summarise the paragraphs  Summarise the first half of the story from the beginning to Then, he turned to go. The old Indian man met the American tourist at the entrance of the village. The American tried to strike a conversation about the statue of the horse he admired, but the old man mistook him for a police officer investigating a recent murder in the neighbourhood.

16.  Summarise the second half of the story.  In the second half of the story, both parties tried to employ different means of communication to work out the other’s intention. But the misunderstanding continued and got worse, finally leading to a hilarious ending when the American was left alone waiting with two thin goats

17. C Study the story  Use the 9 questions to check the students’ understanding of the details.  Highlight the major information from the students’ answers on the board.  Encourage the students to retell the story by using the highlighted message on the board.

18.  1. Where did the story take place?  A mountain village in India, at the village entrance,  The local language: Tamil, not English as readers may assume  2.What was the old man doing at the beginning of the story? Guess what kind of life he led in the village.  Dowsing, not doing much, or just watching two goats graze in the pasture  Slow life, boring, but a pastoral style  Not rich, poor village

19.  3.What did the old man take the American tourist for at the beginning? And why did he think so?  A police officer  Dressed in Khaki jacket, like a policeman in uniform  A murder not long ago in his neighborhood  Perhaps police – the only uniform-dressed people he knew about  4.How did the American try to make the old man understand him and what was the result?  Explaining everything at length, uttering each syllable carefully, pausing from time to time  Smiling politely, trying to be friendly  Causing more misunderstanding than successful communication

20.  5.What was special about the horse statute according to the old man?  The horse: a sacred image – a future reincarnation as the tenth avatar  Avatar – the Guardian, the Redeemer, to save the villagers, and punish the wicked or evils at the end of the world  The horse: hope of future bliss and eternal happiness for the villagers  6.What made the old man believe that the American wanted to buy his two goats?  The American flourished the 100-rupee note, his eyes, his patting the goats on the backs etc.  His long-time dream to exchange goats for money for his projects

21.  7.What did the old man mean by pointing at the wagon and what did the American mean by saying Yes, of course?  For the old man: taking the goats away in that vehicle?  For the American: taking the horse statue away in that wagon  8.Analyze the reasons for the failure of communication between the old man and the American tourist.  Suggested reasons:  No common language (Language barrier)  Lack of shared information between them (The American tourist had no knowledge about the horse statue; he took it as a commodity; but the idea of selling the horse statute was last thing that the old man would think of.)

22.  Body language is a useful means of communication in expressing emotions such as anger, happiness, satisfied, or complacency, but very limited in its informative power such as expressing the concept of murder, neighborhood, avatar, a good citizen, punish the evil, or get help for you etc.  9.The writer did not tell the readers what finally happened to the American tourist. Imagine an ending to the story.  This is an open question. Encourage the students to use their imagination.