Discussion activities for all levels

Hello everyone! While ‘discuss’ may seem a simple instruction, in practice it is an immensely complex task. It can bring out our students’ interests and motivate them; it’s a chance for them to talk about the things they really care about. Giving and justifying opinions in English can also bring students a sense of accomplishment, as they are using the language to express complex ideas. However, students often might speak little, giving no more than the bare minimum of information or opinion; and in several cases, students quickly resort to L1. What can we do to avoid this when we set discussion activities in ESL/EFL classrooms?

Three things for genuine discussions In his article “Deconstructing Discussions”,  Dan Cornford writes, “I think learners need three things to allow genuine discussion to take place: a structure to work around, a communicative aim and linguistic input.” ‘Structure’ refers to both the internal structure of the discussion (a framework, e.g. ‘Agree on two advantages and two disadvantages for each option’, ‘Make a point, justify or exemplify your point, ask if your partner agrees or disagrees and ask your partner to justify or exemplify their (dis)agreement’, or ‘Talk about at least three reasons why x would be a good/bad idea’) as well as the lesson surrounding the discussion (e.g. give and check instructions, give students time to reflect or make notes, model a short passage of conversation, monitor the discussion, feedback on discussion content and feedback on language points arising from the activity). A communicative aim is critical in giving students a reason to perform a task successfully. Students need to be using their language to do something, rather than just for the sake of using it, e.g. ‘discuss to put in order/select the group’s favourite/rate options/persuade group members/etc.’ Linguistic input should concentrate on two areas: in the short term, lexis specific to the subject of the discussion (the topic of the discussion influences the language taught earlier in the lesson, and/or the topic of the discussion is defined by the previously studied language), and in the longer term, the language of discussion (sentence heads, fixed expressions, adjacency pairs etc.). Tips for how to set them up

There are a number of ways we can introduce and engage the learners: discussion of a picture or an image short video or audio recording controversial statement short text short presentation anecdote or story If your learners have enough time and are sufficiently motivated, you might want to send them the materials before the lesson so they come prepared for the discussion task.

Activities to try Discussion wall Divide the class in two teams. Have each team stand and face each other. You should give them a statement to agree or disagree about. Write it on the board. The students must tell their arguments for or against the statement. After a while you say “switch”, then the first person in one line should go to the end of the line and the other will move and talk to the next person. This activity can be as long as you want. Topic Swopping Place two sets of chairs in two circles facing each other – the inside circle facing out and the outside circle facing in. When students are comfortably sat opposite a partner, give them a topic e.g. Why I am learning English? You can find a variety of topics and questions here. As soon as you have given them the question the partners must discuss the topic. After some minutes, tell the students in the outside circle to move one chair to the right and give them another topic to discuss with their new partner. Carry on until they arrive back where they started. Feedback and ask students what they found out.  14,180 English Conversation Questions Noughts and Crosses If you break the topic down into smaller related questions or various different questions and set achievable discussion goals it can help to keep students talking.  IDEA: Choose random conversation / discussion topics and assign them to random squares on the grid. One team is ‘O’ and the other team is ‘X’. In order to claim a square the student must talk about a topic.  PROCEDURE: Draw a 3×3 grid and write the questions you want to discuss. The game can be played in pairs (one person discusses or answers the question) or in a group of four (two teams of two. Each team has a discussion to claim a square.) With 9 questions or topics, there are plenty of discussion goals that will keep the students talking. Another way to play the game is to prepare a handout. The benefit of preparing a handout is that you can produce several different versions of the Noughts and Crosses game, so that each pair/group will have different discussion topics.  You can read the full instruction and download the materials here. Who, What, When, Where, How, Why Make a cube from a cardboard "net". Place Who, What, When, Where, How, Why, on each face. The class are given a number order. No.1 throws the die and asks a question to number 2 beginning with the word on the face of the die which is uppermost. This continues and conversations can begin from this small "ice breaker". The faces can be changed for any words or tasks you wish to give to your class. Snowball Discussion Students begin in pairs, responding to a discussion question only with a single partner. After each person has had a chance to share their ideas, the pair joins another pair, creating a group of four. Pairs share their ideas with the pair they just joined. Next, groups of four join together to form groups of eight, and so on, until the whole class is joined up in one large discussion.  VARIATIONS: This structure could simply be used to share ideas on a topic, or students could be required to reach consensus every time they join up with a new group. Discussions are often opportunities for our learners to take the reins, and we cannot and should not dictate exactly what happens. Nevertheless, for discussion tasks to achieve their potential in the EFL classroom, they must be carefully considered. Let the students own the discussion – it’s a recipe for success.  Want to learn more on today’s topic? Follow the link below: The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies. They are 15 formats for structuring a class discussion to make it more engaging, more organized, more equitable, and more academically challenging. If you’ve struggled to find effective ways to develop students’ speaking and listening skills, this is your lucky day.

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