Classroom Discussion. How to prepare students for real communication in English
Classroom Discussion. How to prepare students for real communication in English Class discussion can be a powerful tool for teaching and learning, but good discussions rarely happen by accident. Here are suggestions to help make discussion an interesting, lively, and – most importantly – effective tool for helping your students learn.
Good discussions are prepared in advance
What do you want students to learn from the discussion? Before a discussion takes place,
• Clarify your goals for the discussion.
• Plan guiding questions for the discussion.
• Design activities that will prepare students to discuss. For example, provide focused study questions before class, post guiding questions prior to the discussion, ask students to respond to the guiding questions, in writing or in small groups, prior to the discussion.
Good discussions are purposefully led.
What strategies will keep the discussion moving?
Before
• Work with students to set ground rules for participation, courtesy, and inclusiveness.
During
• Ask questions that establish what students understand (comprehension and review) before asking them to do more complex or original thinking (apply or critique)
• Pause 5-10 seconds after a question so that students have time to formulate thoughtful responses.
• Ask follow-up questions that allow students to develop or clarify a response.
• Be aware of the effect of non-verbal cues such as eye contact, gestures, posture, and position in the room.
After
• Provide a summary of key points as they have emerged, either orally or on the board.
• Draw connections between the day’s discussion and other topics students are learning in the course.
Good discussions are assessed.
How will you determine what students learned from the discussion?
• Leave time at the end of class for debriefing. Ask, "What have we learned from today’s discussion? Where does this discussion lead us next?"
• Leave time at the end of class for students to write key points from the discussion or list important questions that remain for them.
• Develop continuing assignments or quiz questions based on discussions.
Good discussions lead to more discussions.
How will the next discussion build on the learning created in this discussion?
• se students' end-of-class comments or written responses to help you plan the next discussion.
• Emphasize connections between the new topic and earlier discussions.
What do speaking skills involve?
Speaking a language involves using the components correctly – making the right sounds, choosing the right words and getting constructions grammatically correct. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary tasks will focus on the need for practice in language accuracy. At the same time, we also need to get a clear message across and this involves choosing appropriate content or ideas to suit a situation, e. g. deciding what is polite or what might appear rude, how to interrupt or how to participate in a conversation. All this involves practice in language fluency. Both types of practice are equally important, although some traditional approaches can concentrate rather too much on accuracy tasks which result in students speaking like a grammar book.
How to prepare students for real communication in English
• Personal response. Give students tasks which ask them to contribute information about themselves.
• Variety of responses. Give them dialogues which require more than one set response so they have to decide and create their own dialogues.
• Work in pairs or groups. Give students tasks in which they have to communicate with others to exchange information, as this gives a greater number of students a chance to talk.
• Varied language. Give tasks which require the use of more than one type of sentence structure so students get practice in combining different language forms, e. g. tenses.
• Balance accuracy tasks with fluency work. Make it clear that you are interested in what students are saying, not just how grammatically correct they are being! Encourage them to show verbal signs of interest.
• Less teacher talking time. Be careful not to do all the talking, and aim for student participation from the very start of lessons. When preparing pair work, bring in student responses, use students to rehearse roles, get all the class to repeat key items and try to avoid lengthy explanations. Demonstrate. Keep your own talking to a minimum during the activities.
Classroom Discussion. Attitudes to Begging. To Give or Not to Give (Cambridge niversity Press. Listening Extra by Miles Craven)
Level – pper-intermediate
Activity Type – Discussion
Listening Focus – recognizing context, listening for specific information
Pre-listening activities:
- Look at the picture and describe what you can see.
- Make a list of adjectives you associate with each person in the picture.
- Check the Key language. Look up any new words in the dictionaries.
Key Language:
Alcohol, beg, change (coins), cushy, depression, drugs, fit, homeless, hostel, ignore, loads of, mental, mug (fool), sick of, spare (verb)
While-listening activities:
- Listen to a conversation between two people, while listening, answer the following questions:
– Who are the people?
– What are they doing?
– Who do they meet?
- Read through the following statements. Listen again and number the statements in the order you hear them.
a They spend the money they get from begging on drugs and alcohol. □
b If they are homeless, it's because they want to be. □
с We should help people who can't help themselves. □
d They could easily get a job if they wanted one. □
e Many beggars have mental problems, like depression. □
f They get plenty of money off the government. □
g People who beg on the streets have a hard life. □
- Think of the adjectives to describe Charles and Diane.
After-listening activities:
- Look at the list of statements and tick the opinions you agree with.
- According to the statements you have ticked be united into two groups – those who would give money to beggars in the street and those who wouldn’t.
- List as many reasons as you can and then discuss the issue.
Tapescript
To give or not to give
Diane: Oh . . . I'm sick of shopping now. These bags are too heavy!
Charles: Yeah. Let's go home . . . Oh no, here we go again . . .
Beggar: Can you spare any change, sir? For the homeless.
Charles: No, I'm sorry.
Diane: Wait a minute. Here you are.
Beggar: Thanks, luv. Have a nice day.
Charles: You mustn't give those people any money, Diane.
Diane: Why not? I think we should help people who can't help themselves. It can't be easy living on the streets.
Charles: If they're homeless, it's because they want to be. There are plenty of hostels and places they can stay.
Diane: Hmm. What would you think if you had no money and saw people like us with loads of shopping bags walking past all day, ignoring you? How would you feel?
Charles: They get plenty of money off the government. . .
Diane: Oh, really?
Charles: Yes. They spend the money they get from begging on drugs and alcohol. That's the only reason they ask for more . . . and mugs like you give it to them!
Diane: I don't think it's that simple, Charles. Many beggars have mental problems, like depression. And anyway, living that kind of life no wonder they start drinking and taking drugs.
Charles: He was only, what, mid-twenties? Perfectly fit. He could get a job today if he wanted. When I was his age I had a job. I was working for my money, not begging for it. But people like him, they could easily get a job if they wanted one; the fact is, they know they can have a perfectly cushy life thanks to the government and people like you.
Diane: Cushy? I wouldn't call that kind of life cushy. Whatever the reason for it, people who beg on the streets have a hard life. Anyway, I don't like talking about this kind of thing. Let's just forget it.
Метки: Иностранный язык