Category Archives: *ESL CONVERSATION & DISCUSSION TECHNIQUES

These postings include conversation activities, teaching techniques, strategies for groupings and evaluations.

• They Don’t Want To Stop Talking During This Activity

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

The lights in the classroom are off, but many of the students in pairs continue talking—in the dark!

For most of this class time, students were engaged in a special conversation-skill activity. The class was almost over, so I wanted to get everyone’s attention, “We’ll need to stop in three minutes.” No one seemed to notice me. After three minutes I said that it was time to stop. But hardly anyone flinched. After another three minutes, I turned the lights on and off. Still most continued to talk. So finally, I turned the lights off. Even then in the dark, some pairs continued talking.

This same phenomenon occurs when I’ve presenting this activity at ESL teacher conferences—to NATIVE-ENGLISH SPEAKERS!! Like my ESL students, the teachers continue to talk IN THE DARK!!

One of them even told me after a session, “I wish I could get my husband and son to use this!”

This activity is not only engaging, but it is also developing one of the most important conversation skills. (Below, I’ll attach a link to the activity that you can use to download and use with your students.)

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• More Than Just Talking

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(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

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• Managing the “Awkward Silence”: The Escape Technique

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(This posting includes an attachment teacher’s script which you are welcome to use.)*

Many of us have been there: you call on a student during a whole-class discussion, and instead of an answer, you’re met with total silence.

Whether they don’t know the answer, are struggling to translate their thoughts, or simply lack the confidence to speak, the result is the same: the student feels stressed, the teacher isn’t sure whether to wait or move on, and the rest of the class starts to get restless.

The “Escape Technique” provides students with a safety net. If they can’t answer within a reasonable amount of time, they are taught to use specific expressions to “pass the mic” to a classmate.

The “Escape” Phrases

  • That’s a good question. I’d like to think about it first. Perhaps (a classmate’s name) could answer it.
  • I’m not sure, but (classmate’s name), what do you think?
  • I have no idea. How about you, (classmate’s name)?

When students use this technique, it can actually turn into a humorous situation.  Almost any time a student has used one of these expression, it has elicited a lot of friendly laughter by the classmates and teacher.  The classroom tension is immediately released.

To help your students become comfortable with this technique, you can use the handout and attached script, which I’ll explain about below.

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• Pronunciation Class? Really?

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Earlier in my career, I was assigned a pronunciation course with 12 students representing five distinct language groups: Arabic, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The program administrator had provided a standard pronunciation textbook, and my first challenge was deciding where to begin.

The textbook followed a traditional linear path, starting with 75 pages (nearly 30% of the book) dedicated to vowel sounds—beginning with the high-front vowels in words like eat versus it. However, before allowing the syllabus to be dictated by the authors, I researched which sounds these specific 12 students actually needed to master to avoid communication breakdown. This is what I found:

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