The guided teaching and learning sequence
Greeting, meeting and parting
LiVoc LiL&T SpVoc SpL&T LiSpInt
The purpose of the activity
Managing simple and more complex social,
community and workplace exchanges usually starts
and finishes with socially-prescribed interactions.
The purpose of this activity is to give learners
choices and to practise commonly used ways
of greeting, introducing and farewelling people.
Customary practices such as whaiko- rero can also
be included in this scope.
This activity can be used at different and/or
multiple levels according to learners needs. It can
also be used as the basis for establishing shared
routines within an organisation. The mother tongue
languages of learners can be used as well to help
build a sense of community.
The teaching points
Learners share their experiences of using
greetings, introductions and farewells in
familiar situations including the marae.
Variations and new ways of carrying out these
interactions are discussed and practised to
enable learners to develop their own style.
Discourse markers are commonly used in
greetings, introductions and farewells.
Learners are able to extend their repertoire
and feel comfortable in a variety of different
situations.
Resources
No resources are required.
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1. As you meet each learner at the start of this
session, use a variety of greetings suitable for
the situation, for example, Hi George, nice to
see you, Good morning Ms Smith, how are
you today?, Kia ora, Huhana, hows it going?
2. Explain that the purpose of this activity is
to share what we know about greetings and
similar social practices, and to extend the
choices we have.
3. Discuss the greetings with the group to elicit
their responses to the expressions you used.
Talk about other ways to greet people and, as
new expressions are shared, talk about the
kinds of people and places you might use them.
4. Have learners work in pairs to try out a
greeting they have not used before. Ask for
feedback when they have done this.
5. In the same way, discuss the different ways
we might introduce a new person to the group,
to an elder of the community, or to a new
boss. How do these vary? Again allow time for
learners to try out several different ways of
introducing their partner to a new person: for
each different example, they need to say what
the situation is.
6. Discuss the experience and share understandings
about how to introduce people in different
situations. This may include the ways we
make connections with and between people,
for example, the whakapapa in a mihi, or the
naming of people and places to help strangers
make connections with each other. (Mere, this
is my friend Sue. She used to work with your
cousin Harry at)
7. Repeat the activity, this time with a focus on
saying goodbye in different ways. Discuss
options first then have pairs try out several
variations before coming back together to
discuss the experience. Record discourse
markers as before.
continued...
 8. Bring the activity to a close by having the
learners review what they have learned,
clarifying any misunderstandings. Review the
lists of discourse markers: learners whose
mother tongue is not English may like to share
any commonalities with their own language in
the context of their own customary practice.
Follow-up activities
Help learners who require more practice to
work with a more-skilled buddy for a few days
then check on progress.
Suggest to the learners that they listen for
greetings, introductions and farewells as they
watch a variety of different TV programmes
as well as in their day-to-day lives.
Spend time examining the words used to signal
greetings, introductions and farewells (Kia
ora!, Hello, Yeah, gidday; Id like you to
meet, Have you met?, This is, Well,
Id better get going, Ok, see you later. These
words are discourse markers (see the activity
Signpost words on page 32) and are helpful
signposts in social, work and other interactions.
Ask the learners to spend time observing
body language as people enter a room, greet
friends or strangers, or meet people in different
contexts. They can discuss how the ways in
which we sit, stand, move, dress or use our
bodies (including gestures) all communicate
information. This is an important aspect of
communication and is often overlooked. If
learners agree, it would be useful for them
to film each other then discuss the unspoken
messages they are conveying.
26 Tertiary Education Commission Teaching Adults to Listen and Speak to Communicate: Using the Learning Progressions
Associated activities
Icebreakers
Icebreakers are activities designed to help a group
of strangers (or people who do not know each other
well), learn something about each other and feel
comfortable together. Try this icebreaker:
Ask group members to turn to a person and find
out something about them, using one or more of
these topics:
The culture they grew up in.
What matters most to them in their lives.
A time when they overcame a fear.
Allow a few minutes for sharing in pairs, then ask
each person to use what they have learned to
introduce their partner to the group.
Po-whiri
Po-whiri is a common process within Te Ao Ma-ori
and also in New Zealand society at large. Find out
if group members (or the group as a whole) have
been involved in po-whiri from a traditional context
at a marae, or in a contemporary setting such as
a polytechnic, school, university, conference or
other setting.
Ask learners to reflect on each step of the process.
What happened?
How did it happen?
Who was involved?
What kinds of speaking and listening skills
were required?
Does this vary, for example from one occasion
(such as hui) to another (such as tangi)?
Ask learners to discuss the listening and speaking
that occurs in this process.
Pepeha
Pepeha refers to the process of self-introduction.
This activity can be used to highlight the listening
and speaking requirements when introducing
yourself in the Ma-ori language.

The minimum requirement is to give your name:

Ko ahau. (I am .)

A fuller pepeha would include more details:

Ko taku waka ( is my canoe.)

Ko taku maunga ( is my mountain.)

Ko taku awa/moana ( is my river/lake etc.)

Ko te Iwi ( is my (tribe) name of my people.)

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