Conversation Strategies
description
Transcript of Conversation Strategies
-
Conversation Strategies
Pair and Group Activities for Developing Communicative Competence
+ David Kehe
Peggy Dustin Kehe with illustrations by Andrew Toos
PRO LINGUA ~ ASSOCIATES
-
Pro Lingua Associates P. 0. Box 1348 Brattleboro, Vermont 05302 USA Office: 802-257- 7779
Orders: 800-366-4 775 Email: [email protected] WebStore: www .ProLinguaAssociates.com SAN 216-0579
At Pro Lingua, our objective is to foster
an approach to learning and teaching that we call Interplay, the interaction of language
learners and teachers with their materials, with the language and the culture, and
with each other in active, creative, and productive play.
Copyright @ 1994, 2004, 2009 by David Kehe and Peggy Dustin Kehe
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, or stored in an information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN 0-86647-189-8
This book was designed and set in type by Arthur A. Burrows. Adobe Century Schoolbook is the type face used for both text and display. It is a digital adaptation of one of the most popular faces of the 20th Century. Century's distinctive roman and italic fonts and its clear, dark strokes and serifs were designed, as the name suggests, to make schoolbooks easy to read. The original, elegant type was cut in 1924 by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Foundry of Elizabeth, New Jersey, (the largest and one of the most distinguished type foundries in the United States from 1892 to 1993). It was adapted by Monotype in 1928, and since then many "Century" and "Schoolbook" faces have been developed, as typesetting and printing technology have evolved from Linotype and film to digital type. The book was printed and bound by Boyd Printing Company in Albany, New York.
Printed in the United States of America Second edition, sixth printing 2009 51,000 copies in print.
+ iv +
-
Introduction This book is a collection of activities for pair and small group
conversation practice. It is designed to be used with a wide range
of intermediate level students of English as a second or foreign
language. The format of the activities puts the focus on the stu-
dents, rather than the teacher. At the same time, the activities are
designed to be nonthreatening to even the most reserved students.
They are also enjoyable for both students and teachers, and they
are easy for any teacher to implement.
A special feature of these activities is that they will develop
strategic conversation skills. These are skills that go along with
linguistic and sociolinguistic skills (grammar, vocabulary and
usage). Strategic skills help the speaker/ listener keep a conversation
going to its natural or desired conclusion. These skills include:
+ beginning a conversation + clarifying something + interrupting someone + rephrasing something + correcting someone + eliciting information + soliciting attention + repairing a conversation + summarizing a conversation + escaping from a conversation + ending a conversation
v
-
vi + Introduction
The format of this book is quite simple. Each activity has three
parts: a teacher's introduction, a student's introductory exercise,
and pair or small group practice.
+ The teacher's introduction is very short. It is located in the Appendix.
+ The student's introductory exercise focuses on the words and expressions students need to carry out the activity. The
students can do this individually and then check it with a
partner.
+ The pair or small group practice makes use of information-gap and other interactive formats.
It is not necessary to follow the order of the activities in this
book. Each activity is complete and does not depend on another
activity. However, Activity 1, "Rejoinders," is a good place to be-
gin, because the rejoinders can be used in virtually a// of the other
activities. So jump in and start talking, OK?
-
Contents + Introduction +v Activities + 1
1. Rejoinders + 1
2. Follow-up Questions +5
3. Confirmation Questions + 9
4. Clarifications
with Question Words t 13
5. Keeping or Killing the Conversation t l 7
6. Expressing Probability +21
7. Interrupting Someone + 25
8. Echoing Instructions + 29 9. Polite Requests,
Responses, and Excuses + 33
10. Getting a Response + 37
11. Soliciting Details +41
12. Responding with Details +45
13. Making Comparisons +49
14. Finding the Right Word + 53
15. Exploring a Word t 57
+ vii
-
viii + Contents
16. Correcting Someone +61
17. Eliciting Confirmation +65
18. Starting and Stopping a
Conversation t 69
19. Beginning and Ending
a Phone Call + 73
20. Expressing Opinions t 79
21. Making a Group Decision + 83
22. Discussion Connectors +89
23. Summarizing t 95
24. Conducting a Formal Meeting t 99
25. For Fun: Find the Strange Word t 103
26. Volunteering an Answer t 108
27. Applying All the Conversation Strategies 1
Review-Fun t 113
28. Applying All the Conversation Strategies 2
Review - Emotions t 11 7
29. Applying All the Conversation Strategies 3
Review - Advisors t 122
Appendix t 127
+ General Procedure for All Activities + 127 + Teacher's Introductions for the Activities + 129 + On Strategic Competence t 145
+ Index to Conversation Strategies + 14 7