Set 12
| C | Dialogues | Skill tested |
| A | Let’s get started. | Starting |
| A | Since we’ve been selected for the visit, we’re going to discuss what aspect we want to research about Malaysia and how we’ll collect the data. After that, we may discuss how to present the project. | State the present
situation Introduce the topic |
| A | In my opinion, I think we should first have an understanding of culture of Malaysia. Malaysia is a multicultural society, with Malays, Chinese and Indians living side by side. Malaysian is the largest group and most of them are Muslims. | Raise a point Explaining |
| B | Yes. And their native language is Bahasa. Most of the Chinese are Buddhists and Taoists and they speak Hokkein Cantonese. | Explaining |
| C | Yea. And the Indians mainly speak Tamil and Malayalam. However, when members of these different communities talk to each other, they generally speak English. | Agreeing Further elaboration |
| D | Yes. Besides, Malaysian music is heavily influenced by Chinese and Islamic forms. It is based largely around the drum, but still includes other instruments. | Agreeing Raise a point |
| C | Moreover, the country has a strong tradition of dance and dance dramas, some of Thai, Indian and Portuguese origin. | Further elaboration |
| A | So we may ask them more questions on music and languages that we’re interested in. And what else should we search for too ? | Conclusion Raise a question |
| B | Mmmm…I would like to know about the environment and climate in Malaysia. I know that more than 60% of the country is still forest and since the climate is wet and hot throughout the year, it contains different species of flowers, birds or insects. | Explaining |
| A | Right. But I know that recently the government plans to build a huge hydroelectric dam in Sarawak. So what I want to know whether that project affect the Malaysian life there? It is because many of the people there are mainly working in agricultural fields. | Agreeing Raise a question |
| D | That’s a good idea. And we can ask them what they make a living except from the primary sector. | Agreeing |
| C | Ok. Besides, we can also ask them the special events in Malaysia, say the major Malaysian festival is Hari Raya Puasa which they have three days official holidays to celebrate it. | Agreeing Raise a point |
| D | Yea. I also know that they also get celebration in the Chinese New Year. | Agreeing |
| B | I think we may also want to know about the transportation network there in order to get know how the Malaysian get around the places, say by buses, railways or boat. | Raise a point |
| A | Apart from
culture, occupations, events and transportation, we can also discuss what kind of food the
Malaysian usually eat. I know that BB Plaza and Jalan Bukit Bintang is one of the favourite food in Malaysia. |
Make a transition Raise a point |
| C | Yeah. I tried before and it really tasted good. | Agreeing Sharing experience |
| B | Except from Malaysian food, I know that there are also many hawker stalls, coffee shops and restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and most of them served at a cheap price. | Further elaboration |
| A | And as same as Hong Kong, they also serve various kind of food like Malay, Chinese or Indian food and international cuisine like Italian, Japanese, Thai, Korean and other fast-food outlets. | Further elaboration |
| D
A |
Right. There are
also various kinds of fruit in Malaysia like durian, passion berry and water melon. At last, we may also want to know about what the people do at their leisure time. Like Thailand, there is an increasing number of people who like going to bars and discos in Kuala Lumpur. |
Agreeing Further elaboration
Raise a point |
| C | Yes. And when they’re on holidays, they’ll go to museums, zoo and parks for fun. | Agreeing |
| A | We’ve talked a lot about the Malaysian life. We should now discuss how we’ll collect the data. I think we should have some interviews with the local people so that we can have a clear understanding about their lives. | Transition Raise a point |
| B | Yes. And we can ask for their permission to get around their houses to know about their living style and the decoration of their houses. | Agreeing Suggestion |
| D | Hey, we can also ask them to stay in their houses for a couple of days to know what they do in their daily life. | Suggestion |
| A | That’s a good idea but we first need their authorization. | Agreeing |
| D | Umm….we can also take a video during our trip. | Suggestion |
| C | Besides, we can go to libraries and museums to get a more comprehensive information about history, culture and lifestyle of the people there. | Suggestion |
| B | Ok. Should we discuss how to present the project now? | Raise a question |
| C | Alright. | Agreeing |
| B | Well, I think we should present the project step by step. | Explaining |
| A | Right. First, we should let the people have a basic concept of Malaysia, like introducing the geographic locations and the climate there. | Agreeing Explaining |
| D | Then, we can talk about the races of people and why they usually do there. I mean their occupations. | Further elaboration |
| C | After that, we can talk about the food that they eat and what is their entertainment in their leisure time. | Further elaboration |
| A | Ok. And finally we can make a difference of what the Malaysian life from the past up to the present time. | Further elaboration |
| B | Yes. For example, most of the Malaysian are mainly farmers and many of them begin to work in the secondary sector, say, lumbering and rubber business. | Agreeing Giving examples |
| D | Ok. Do you have anything to add to the topic? | Agreeing Raise a question |
| A | Ok. That’s the end of our topic. | Conclusion |