Handling a Misheard Number in a Live Speaking Task
In a paired speaking task you must ask your partner about their travel plans and then report back to the class in Russian. Your partner says something that sounds like «в семь часов» but the context (a flight) and a later mention of «утра» make you unsure whether it was «семь» or «семнадцать». You have 30 seconds before you must report. The criteria reward interaction strategies (asking for clarification, checking understanding) as well as accuracy. Simply guessing risks a factual error; asking too many questions risks losing coherence. You must decide how to repair the misunderstanding in one move and then report accurately.
1. What single repair move should you use, and why is it better than guessing or than a general 'повторите, пожалуйста'?
Read the worked answer
Use a targeted confirmation check that offers the two candidate readings:
«Извините, я не совсем понял: вылет в семь утра или в семнадцать?»
Why this is the best single move:
- It is specific: it names the ambiguity (7 vs 17) instead of asking for a full repetition, so the partner can answer in one word.
- It uses a checking format («я не совсем понял… или…?»), which is exactly the kind of interaction strategy the criteria reward.
- A bare «Повторите, пожалуйста» may simply produce the same ambiguous string again, wasting the 30 seconds.
- Guessing risks reporting a wrong time; a factual error in the report damages the communicative outcome more than one clarifying question damages coherence.
Note on numbers: Russian «семнадцать» is stressed on the second syllable and is longer; «семь» is monosyllabic. Attending to stress and length is part of listening accuracy.
2. After the partner confirms «в семнадцать», how should you phrase the report to the class so that it is accurate and appropriately formal?
Read the worked answer
Model report:
«Мой партнёр сказал, что его самолёт вылетает в семнадцать часов, то есть в пять часов вечера.»
Why this phrasing:
- Reported speech with «что» keeps the information clearly attributed to the partner: «сказал, что…».
- «вылетает» is the correct verb for a plane (not «уезжает» or «идёт»).
- «в семнадцать часов» uses the 24-hour form typical of schedules; adding «то есть в пять часов вечера» removes ambiguity for listeners and shows you have understood, not merely echoed.
- Tense: «вылетает» (present, scheduled future) is natural for timetables; «вылетит» is also acceptable but the present is common for schedules.
- Register: reporting to the class calls for neutral standard Russian - no slang, no diminutives - and third person, since you are speaking about the partner.