Name ___________________ Date ____ Class ____ _

Africa South of the Sahara Today

Speaking and Listening Skills Activity

Using Prior Knowledge

Learning the Skill Sometimes you have to "fill in the blanks" when you are listening

to a speaker. Perhaps the topic is something you are unfamiliar with. Perhaps the speaker is from a different culture. As a good listener you should be able to use your prior knowledge to help you understand and/or connect to almost any topic. Prior knowledge refers to your existing attitudes, life experiences, and the information you already know.

Use these techniques to help you use your prior knowledge to understand new information: • Before you listen to a speaker's presentation, ask yourself if you

already know anything about the topic. Suppose, for example, the topic is about African safaris. You probably have seen safaris on TV or in movies, so you can create an image in your mind before the speech begins.

• As you listen to a speaker talk about a subject that is new to you, focus on your thinking process. For example, what are your thoughts after hearing this sentence: "The Namib Desert in Namibia attracts tourists who sandboard down its spectacular dunes"? Perhaps you are thinking: I wonder if sandboarding is like snowboarding. When thoughts like this pop into your head, be aware of them. This is prior knowledge, and it is helping you relate to the new topic.

• Purposely think of ways to connect your prior knowledge during a speech. For example, if a speaker mentions great white sharks and their habitat off the coast of South Africa, think of facts you already know about sharks.

• After listening to the speaker, ask yourself if your prior knowledge not only connected to but also supported the new information about the topic. People often misunderstand a topic or hold an incorrect stereotype. In these cases, you must be willing to change your prior attitude or misconception upon hearing the new information.

97

Name ___________________ Date _____ Class ____ _

Speaking and Listening Skills Activity continued

(I Practicing the Skill Directions: Read the speech below, and then answer the questions that follow.

Zulu Musical Traditions

Most of South Africa's people are descen­dants of nine African ethnic groups, each hav­ing its own history, language, and cultural iden­tity. The Zulu are the largest ethnic group and live mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Zulu played an important role in South Africa during the 1800s and 1900s. The Zulu nation was a powerful force under warrior chief Shaka Zulu, until finally being defeated by the British in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

The Zulu people have distinctive musical traditions and styles. One is Isicathamiya, from a Zulu word meaning "to walk or step on one's toes lightly." This type of music is sung a cap­pella (without musical instruments) by Zulu men harmonizing in groups. Isicathamiya dates to the early 1900s, when many men left their families and homelands behind to find work in cities and mines. Often living together in hostels, they used singing as a way to entertain themselves and to remind them of their home­lands. They accompanied the songs with dance steps on "tiptoe" so they would not disturb security guards.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the most famous South African vocal group performing Isicathamiya. Founded in the early 1960s by

native Zulu Joseph Shabalala, Ladysmith gained worldwide attention in 1986 after sing­ing on singer/songwriter Paul Simon's Grace­land album, which received a Grammy Award. Ladysmith's own album, Shaka Zulu, won a Grammy Award in 1988. The group is con­sidered a national treasure of the Republic of South Africa.

Dance music has been popular in the black townships of South Africa since the 1930s. Mbaqanga, a dance music characterized by stomping and a powerful bass, emerged from a combination of Zulu and other African tra­ditions as well as African American music. The South African group Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens perform mbaqanga allover the world, often in Zulu costumes. In the 1980s, mbaqanga fused with punk music in the United States to form a new style popularized by recording artist Hugh Masekela.

Kwaito, another type of dance music that is popular with African youth, emerged in South Africa in the 1990s. It is based on house music (electronic dance music that originated in Chi­cago). Zola, a popular South African kwaito musician, raps his lyrics in a hip-hop style.

1. Making Connections What topics in the speech were you able to connect to because of your own life experiences?

98

u .s tFJ' <lJ

. ~

0.. S 0 u S :; ~ os ....

C) u

:;s <lJ

E5 >-. .n

@

~ .... >-. 0.. 0 u

Name ___________________ Date ____ Class ____ _

Speaking and Listening Skills Activity continued

2. Evaluating How did your prior knowledge help you better understand the speech?

~ Applying the Skill Directions: Fill in the three-column chart. In the Topics column, list the topics covered in the speech. In the second column, list one or two things you already knew about the topics. Fill in the third column with new information you learned from reading the speech.

Topics Prior Knowledge New Information

Assessment Checklist Assess your chart using the checklist below:

D Looked at the title of the speech

D Pondered existing knowledge based on the title

D Listed topics discussed in the speech

D Focused on thinking process

D Noted ways that past experiences and prior knowledge led to understanding new information

D Asked whether previous knowledge supported new information

QQ