(This posting includes a handout which you are welcome to use with your students.) *

I was so proud of myself (for a moment).  All the students in my conversation class were talking in pairs. Yes! My activity was working!  But then it wasn’t.

I noticed a similar pattern over the next few classes. I put them in pairs—Student A and B with different questions on their handouts. The energy and noise level in the class increase immediately. But then I noticed one pair briefly changing to a different language; another pair stopping and looking at one of their papers together; in another pair, one was doing most of the talking while the other just nodded their head. Soon a pair finished before the majority were still only half finished and just sat there.

These activities were missing the most important goal of any conversation activity: to help students develop specific techniques that they can use to keep communication flowing.

Beyond just talking

Since that realization, I’ve focused on building complete, ready-to-use activities that help students develop the ability to:

• Actively engage by reacting, asking follow-up questions, and responding with details.
• Keep a conversation going even when the topic is a challenge.
• Use simple signals to let others know how well they understand what is being said.
• Politely interrupt, correct others, or make requests and excuses.
• Participate fully in group discussions by sharing opinions and requesting details.

Continuing to Pay it Forward

For the past eight years, I’ve shared many of these strategies here as a way to give back to the profession that has given me so much. Many of those handouts originally grew out of the textbook I co-authored, Conversation Strategies. I’m happy to share that we’ve spent the last year refining and updating these activities for a new (4th) edition of Conversation Strategies. (See Conversation Strategies Kehe 2026 Edition    )

To help you get a better sense of these strategies, I’ve included the Table of Contents and a link to the Teacher’s Guide below. The Teacher’s Guide includes the exact scripts I use in my own classes to introduce these techniques to students.

Coming up next… In my next post, “They Don’t Want To Stop Talking During This Activity,” I’ll share one of the most popular activities from the new edition for you to download and try with your students.

Here is the  link to the Teacher’s Guide, which includes short scripts that teachers can use to introduce each activity and other useful information:  Conversation Strategies Teacher’s Guide 2026

Here is the Table of Contents for this new, 2026 edition

David Kehe
Faculty Emeritus

*About the free-download materials. During my 40 years of teaching ESL, I have had many colleagues who were very generous with their time, advice and materials. These downloads are my way of paying it forward.