Friendly And Formal Talk

Overview

In this ninth lesson of Language, Identity, Connection, ākonga build on familiar greetings and polite phrases by noticing how language changes with audience and situation. They practise Spanish and te reo Māori greetings, requests, thanks, and farewells while learning that respectful communication also involves tone, listening, personal space, and tikanga.

Learning intentions

• WALT distinguish informal and formal registers in practical interactions.
• WALT choose language and behaviour that suit the audience, role, and context.
• WALT use Spanish and te reo Māori greetings, requests, thanks, and farewells.
• WALT explain how tone, listening, space, and tikanga communicate respect.

Success criteria

• I can adapt a greeting, request, and farewell for a friend and for an elder or visitor.
• I can use hola or buenos días, and por favor and gracias, appropriately.
• I can use kia ora, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa, and ngā mihi appropriately when prompted.
• I can identify whether a dialogue is informal or formal and give evidence.

Curriculum links

• Learning Languages — Using greetings, farewells, introductions, and basic personal information in a formal context.
• Spanish Novice — Greetings, farewells, introductions, and basic personal information in a formal context.
• Learning Languages — Tone, formality, and directness shaped by context, roles, and tikanga Māori.
• Learning Languages — Basic cultural norms and politeness conventions in an authentic language-learning environment.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and retrieval. Open with the greeting mystery hook and act out the same request twice: once to a friend and once to a visitor. Students silently show a relaxed or formal hand signal, then explain what they noticed about voice, words, listening, and space.

2. 5–12 min · Explicit teaching. Display the language and register teaching slides and model:

• Spanish: hola, buenos días, por favor, gracias.
• Te reo Māori: kia ora, tēnā koe, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa, ngā mihi.

Explain that tēnā koe addresses one person, while tēnā koutou and tēnā koutou katoa address groups. Clarify that formality depends on the relationship, purpose, setting, and roles—not simply on someone’s age. Model respectful posture, waiting, eye contact where culturally comfortable, appropriate distance, careful listening, and a warm rather than exaggerated tone. Students echo short phrases and match each one to a friend, one visitor, or a group audience.

3. 12–20 min · Dialogue-card swap. Give pairs the Conversation Role-play Cards and the register sorting and rehearsal sheet. Students choose one situation, read the short dialogue, and sort each line as more informal or more formal, recording one reason. They swap one card with another pair and rehearse the new situation, changing the greeting, request, and farewell to suit the audience. Circulate, checking pronunciation and whether behaviour matches the words.

4. 20–29 min · Freeze-frame drama. Show the freeze-frame instructions and discussion prompts. Groups of three create a still image for one setting: a playground, a classroom, or a formal welcome. One student is the speaker, one the listener, and one the audience observer. On “freeze”, observers identify the likely register and give evidence from posture, space, facial expression, listening, or language. Groups repeat the image with one change that makes it more respectful or more formal.

5. 29–40 min · Role-play carousel. Groups perform a 30–45 second interaction in their setting, then rotate roles or scenario. Each performance must include a greeting, a polite request, a response or thanks, and a farewell. Students may use Spanish, te reo Māori, or a supported combination. Audience members use the prompts on the register sorting and rehearsal sheet to identify the register and name one piece of evidence. Invite two groups to revise one line for a different audience and perform it again.

6. 40–45 min · Plenary and exit check. Return to the reflection and exit prompt. Students complete the final box on the register sorting and rehearsal sheet: “For a friend I might say… For a visitor or elder I might say… One respectful action I would show is…”. Invite several responses and reinforce that respectful communication includes words, tone, listening, space, and tikanga.

Resources

• the Friendly and Formal Talk slide deck
• the register sorting and rehearsal sheet
• the Conversation Role-play Cards
• Small playground, classroom, and welcome props
• Device and speakers for recorded pronunciation models
• Colour pencils or highlighters
• Open space for freeze-frames and performances

Assessment

• During modelling and rehearsal, listen for accurate phrase choice, pronunciation, turn-taking, and behaviour appropriate to the context.
• During drama, peer audiences identify informal or formal register and provide evidence from language, tone, listening, or space.
• Review the final worksheet response to check whether each student can adapt a greeting, request, farewell, and respectful action for a changed audience.

Differentiation

• Use colour-coded dialogue levels: green for phrase-and-picture support, blue for sentence frames, and purple for students ready to create or adapt a dialogue.
• Provide short lines with one idea per card, large clear sans-serif print, generous spacing, and minimal copying for dyslexia-friendly access. Offer a recorded model and allow students to listen and rehearse before reading aloud.
• Pair students strategically and allow pointing, gesture, choral rehearsal, or a shared speaking role. Accept approximate pronunciation while continuing to model respectfully.
• For extension, students revise one line to suit a new audience or setting, then explain which words, tone, listening behaviour, or spatial choice they changed and why.

Extension

• Create a new dialogue for welcoming a group to the classroom, using an appropriate greeting, request, thanks, and farewell.
• Teach another pair one respectful change that makes the interaction better suited to its audience.