UNIT 6: Speaking activities and discussions
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 3:38 pmDiscussion topic 1:
I like to use role play games very much because I find they are funny and motivating at the same time. I find show and tell speaking activities interesting when they are used in pairs or small groups because otherwise the more confident students often dominate the activity while the weaker and shyer ones feel awkward. I do not usually dare bring up debates because they normally turn around the pros and cons of more "serious" topics and they require a higher linguistic level. In conversations students share ideas in a more informal way. In my opinion, the most important thing is to choose motivating topics and to organise it in paris or small groups to make them more effective. I use the chat to introduce the class in order to break the ice. We talk about trivial topics not related to the lesson at all such as the football results of the weekend, the weather or any important piece of news.
Discussion topic 2:
When you give the students time to think about what they want to say you potentially reduce the number of mistakes they make. If you personalise the activity choosing a topic which allow students to come up with their own ideas, experiences, thoughts or feelings you get the students involved in the activity. In order to make them participate it is useful to carry out discussions in pairs or small groups, so that shyer students have more opportunities than in an open class discussion. Finally, if we want they speak in english as much as possible we do not have to choose a complex topic, since it will make a heavy linguistic demand on students and this will affect their ability to participate.
I like to use role play games very much because I find they are funny and motivating at the same time. I find show and tell speaking activities interesting when they are used in pairs or small groups because otherwise the more confident students often dominate the activity while the weaker and shyer ones feel awkward. I do not usually dare bring up debates because they normally turn around the pros and cons of more "serious" topics and they require a higher linguistic level. In conversations students share ideas in a more informal way. In my opinion, the most important thing is to choose motivating topics and to organise it in paris or small groups to make them more effective. I use the chat to introduce the class in order to break the ice. We talk about trivial topics not related to the lesson at all such as the football results of the weekend, the weather or any important piece of news.
Discussion topic 2:
When you give the students time to think about what they want to say you potentially reduce the number of mistakes they make. If you personalise the activity choosing a topic which allow students to come up with their own ideas, experiences, thoughts or feelings you get the students involved in the activity. In order to make them participate it is useful to carry out discussions in pairs or small groups, so that shyer students have more opportunities than in an open class discussion. Finally, if we want they speak in english as much as possible we do not have to choose a complex topic, since it will make a heavy linguistic demand on students and this will affect their ability to participate.