Job Discussion Forums

slaqdog · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Posts: 211

* Interlocutor (music), the master of ceremonies of a minstrel show
* Interlocutor (politics), someone who informally explains the views of a government and also can relay messages back to a government
* Interlocutor (law), an order of any Scottish Court.
Definitions from Wikipedia.
Now can anyone suggest just ONE single good reason why this word is used in tefl (in IELTS exams or teacher training for example) instead of interviewer?
I am being told I should be an interlocutor (and a facilitator and DEFINITELY NOT a teacher...but that's a different story.
My problem is I do not understand what the term means and my trainer is unable to explain it clearly. I also object because it is a most unpleasant nay ugly word.

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:59 am Post subject:

There are other uses of the term. Here is a sample from Roget's thesaurus.

interlocutor
n.
conversationalist, dialogist, interviewer, questioner; see examiner, speaker 2, talker.

Is a little on the pretentious side, but if that is going to put you off, just wait till you get some ultra-pedantic monitoring feedback!

(Interlocutor is also used to distinguish the person asking the questions in Cambridge exams from the Examiner, the other, silent, person, who gives the marks.)

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:41 pm Post subject:

Or is that Assessor? I forget which tests uses which term...

kazazt · Joined: 15 Feb 2010 Posts: 164

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Interlocutor has always meant to me to be the other participant in a conversation, when presented from one person's point of view. 'My interlocutor', 'his interlocutor'. Usually you will find this in usage in relatively archaic literature, cf H G Wells, but it does make sense to use it in the TEFL scenario of a participant in a conversation (it's shorter than 'participant in a conversation'). Do we have to do the class thing, though?

johnslat · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:58 pm Post subject:

The term was also used in what used to be called "Blackface Minstrel Shows"

"Earlier still, George Christy invented the "line", a semicircle of performers in blackface in which 'end men' joked at the expense of a "middleman". This practice remained unchanged from 1850 to 1961, the latest minstrel show which I have been able to document. Christy called the white middleman "Mr. Interlocutor" and the blackfaced endmen, "Mr. Tambo" and "Mr. Bones", from their instruments."

Mr. Interlocutor was always the "white straight man," and was depicted as being a rather pompous fool whom Mr. Bones and Mr. Tambo would make fun of.

Regards,
John

slaqdog · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Posts: 211

Hence the use of Interlocutor to highlight his pompous personality; and why not use a longer phrase because this word does not roll of the tongue and actually acts as a brake on real communication,

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:38 pm Post subject:

How is it a brake on communication? Perfectly clear. From the Latin for 'between' and 'speak'. It's one technical term amongst many. Every job has its jargon. As it happens, it isn't the worst term going. Invigilator or proctor would seem to me to be far more likely candidates for that.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:53 pm Post subject:

Dear Sashadroogie,

Proctors - are those the ones who perform these kind of exams:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp2T6M-rnW8&feature=related

And don't you think "The Invigilator" would make a great, new Marvel comic book character?

Regards,
John

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:07 pm Post subject:

Hyuck hyuck! Nothing like a touch of class.

Perhaps you'd make a good choice for the lead role in the Hollywood treatment of 'The Invigilator - The Test of Doom'...

I'll get on with writing the sequel - 'The Invigilator 2 - Rise of the Interlocutors'.

Coming to a Cambridge Exam Centre near you...

Insubordination · Joined: 07 Nov 2007 Posts: 394 Location: Sydney

*snip* because great minds think alike.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:34 am Post subject:

Dear Insubordination,

So true - but Sashadroogie and I don't always have it easy. As my old pal, Al Einstein once noted:

"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."

but heck - that's the price we have to pay.

Regards,
John

slaqdog · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Posts: 211

Great minds think alike
Fools never differ

I still say its mumbo gumbo dammit! and if it was used in the minstrel show then we should ban it Squashiee.

What I really object to is the pronunciation-sounds like you are trying to talk with a gobstopper in your mouth (which is a nasty business; gives the impression of drooling idiocy)

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:32 pm Post subject:

Dear Slaqdog

Not quite sure why you are having such a hard time with this word, especially its pronunciation. Was it new for you? It's a standard term - quite unremarkable. Rather like elocution. Just a thought...

S