HOW

TO GET LEARNERS TALKING AND CAPITALISE

ON WHAT THEY SAY
One of the fundamental tasks for and some practice. sounds fun.)
language teachers is getting learners Generally speaking, if you want Real conversations happen when we
talking in a useful way and taking learners to get talking in class, it pays want to know something from
advantage of what they say for off to: another person and we can think of
teaching purposes. dozens of reasons for conversations
Getting students talking is Have something specific and like this from our own lives: to see if the
fundamental to teaching and learning interesting for them to talk other person agrees with us or not; to
languages because speech is primary reach a consensus or compromise on
in language listening and speaking about an issue; to find something in common;
are what we spend most of our time Real, normal, human-interest is what to find a solution to a problem etc.
doing in real life and that is generally we are looking for. However, if what So, to take the present perfect
what your adult learners will lack you give your learners to talk about is example somewhere meaningful, we
confidence in. too vague or aimless, little useful talk could ask learners instead to:
At school they will likely have will come of it. Talk to your partner
been exposed to a lot of grammatical about their weekend/cars/the Think of an unusual thing you have
input, relatively little useful vocabulary weather are examples of topics eaten or drunk, an unusual place you
input, and may have done a lot of which have potential but are too open- have visited, and an unusual activity
written text work (often translating into ended or ill-defined to galvanise your you have done in your life (note: thats
and out of the target language.) learners attention. the concrete part of the task we
By the time they get to ELT However, by tweaking these just talked about in the last
teachers in the adult education sector, topics a bit, by making them slightly section). Speak to everyone else in
they generally have significant passive more specific, we can eke more out of the group and try to find people who
structural knowledge which needs to them: tell your partner about your last have had the same experience (note:
be activated and refined, and a lot of weekend. Make sure you tell them a) here is the real-life-like reason for
gaps in their active vocabulary, often two things you did with someone else; talking to each other). When you find
on the level of individual words but b) two things you wanted to do but them, find out where and when they
more often than that longer phrases or didnt get round to doing; c) one thing had their experience and how they feel
chunks of language that fluent that you wish you hadnt done gives about it (note: here is the support to
speakers base their speech production the learners specific targets to reach, ensure the initial question can turn
on so the task is measurable and clearly into a natural-sounding
(more often than not, taking defined. This increases interest (what conversation). Be ready to tell the
advantage of something by the time will my partner say about the same class later (note: here is the reason
are examples of chunks of language things?) and make the task time- to pay attention to what other
from the last few paragraphs that your manageable (you now can tell if they people say, thus helping train
learners are not likely to have learnt at have finished or not by whether they memory).
school but which are natural and useful have spoken about each of the points).
English; if they had tried to say the No one will be garroting any senses of
same kind of thing, they may have said Have some kind of reason for justice this time around
something like before/when, making them to need/want to talk to
useful, or usually, which are all each other Show them an example of
possible English, but sound like a
learner speaking, not a competent user
Pedagogic reasons like talk to your what you expect them to do
partner to practise the present perfect A picture paints a thousand words
of the language.)
are not likely to get the juices flowing. meets tell me and I forget, show me
Getting your students talking is
Some people might make something of and I remember; involve me and I
the quickest way to find the outer limits
these conversations, but mostly they understand here. Actually doing a
of their communicative competence
will fizzle out very shortly or degenerate mini-version of what you want learners
and to help them gain confidence in
into random decontextualised to do is probably the quickest and
using their language actually to do
examples constructed solely to fulfill easiest way of setting up a task, as
what it is intended to do, which is to
the task of using the target language afterwards you can often just say OK,
communicate with other people about
(Ive been hang-gliding on a donkey, now do that with your partner and let
things that matter to them.
Oh really? Thats interesting, Ive the learners start. A demonstration
None of this is rocket science, but it
never done that but I have garroted a makes explicit what you expect them
requires thoughtfulness, attentiveness
sense of injustice before. Ah, that to do, and how you expect them to do
it, and it also gives you a chance to Keep an eye on time and nonsense rarely occurs, but a teacher
give the learners a useful example of who focuses solely on the accuracy of
the kind of language use might help
progress so you can reserve their learners talk tends to encourage
them complete the task effectively. time for feedback on their a sense that meaning-empty
performance manipulation of form is sufficient or
Get out of their way while they Whatever happens, dont get carried expected in class where you lead,
do it away! It is all too easy to let time slip they follow.
If you want learners to get better, they away from you and end up finishing an
need to be the ones doing the heavy activity just in time to wrap up the Note down quotes from the
lifting. This means that the less you do lesson but doing this wastes the conversations you hear
while they are working, the better. By whole effort put into the task we will
the time the task starts, you should explore the reasons for this in a
have done your work, and can get out moment but for now just remember
of their way. that a speaking task without post-task
This doesnt mean go and feedback is like a day without
have a coffee break, though! As soon sunshine, so make sure you keep time
as learners get started, you need to in hand to look at some of the
move around and get a sense of language that your learners have been
whether they have got started in the using.
right way. This should be done through
observation, not though enquiry, as Give them a return on
enquiry distracts learners from their investment
partners and the task at hand, and Getting students talking fundamental
focuses them on you which is as it is is actually the easy part.
counter productive. Instead, keep a Anyone with a reasonable feel for what
low profile, flit around the room a bit interests other people and who can
like a butterfly, staying only long make themselves clear is generally able
enough to assure yourself that they are to get a willing group of people to do
doing what you want, then move on. what they want them to do. This is
After you are satisfied that all is people management, and it is an
going to plan (after, say, about a important pre-condition for teaching,
minute of activity) grab a notepad and but it is not the same thing as teaching. For us to help learners say what they
pencil and start writing down examples want to say better than they can
of things they say (we will get to why Listen closely to what they are manage at the moment, we need to
this is essential in a moment.) The key have some way of capturing accurately
thing is, not to get involved in what the
saying and how they are saying what they are managing at the moment
learners are doing if you can help it. it and the best way of doing this on the
As a language teacher, we need to pay fly in class is by using a simple notepad
Be available in case they need attention to two things when our and pencil. By writing down excerpts
you briefly for support learners are talking: what they are from the conversations we hear that
saying and how they are saying we think the learners could benefit from
The last piece of advice doesnt mean
it. The first is important to understand revisiting post-task, we achieve several
that you shouldnt help learners out
whether or not what they are saying things at once:
when they need you, however! If you
makes sense in context; the second is 1. we capture usable data in a
are circulating frequently and listening
important as it is the way that learners simple, retrievable manner
attentively, you will notice when
put their thoughts into language that 2. we reduce the load on our
learners need your help to make
they need our feedback on. If we solely memories, which typically are
progress with the task, or they will call
pay attention to what they are saying, not trained to recall verbatim
on you when they need your help. By
we will likely overlook any deficits in what we hear
keeping mobile and dealing with such
their language control, as human 3. we present the language data
enquiries or issues quickly, you
nature tends to help us overlook errors on a space which replicates
increase the amount of time that you
in what we see or hear in order to the classroom board, so we
are available for the group as a whole.
prioritise comprehension. can immediately start to work
On the other hand, if we solely out ways of exploiting it on this
pay attention to the form of what our surface
learners say, then they may as well be Quotes are important because they are
spouting well-formed gibberish of the I precisely what the learner said: no
have garroted a sense of justice more, no less. By writing down
variety. In practice, such obvious fairly complete utterances, you
capture both the context and the This would be one possible way of Get your learners to work with
co-text, the situation in which the getting the students to try to recast
utterance was designed to make sense their own utterance with a bit of
you on these examples so they
and the surrounding language around focused guidance (the gaps). learn something and have a
the part of the utterance which A way of getting to chance to try these new
interests you as a teacher. This is pushed/pressed for time could look
versions out
massively more useful to you than like this:
Take each example one at a time.
noting down fragments, sentence I wanted to stop and talk to my
friend but I was __________ for Draw the students attention to it and
heads or key words with ellipses () or
time and I had to go. re-establish the situation in which the
paraphrases, as these mostly only tell
Notice here only one aspect of the utterance got said (because remember:
you about your own language use, not
original sentence is being focused on perhaps only one other person in the
your learners!
while the other part has been silently room heard this apart from you and the
learner who said it, so it may not make
Think about how these quotes corrected. This is fine.
sense without this context.)
could be a) improved or b) Then, focus them on the idea
Get these quotes up on the
exploited for the benefit of the behind whatever would fill the gap and
board in a format that lets you see if anyone can come up with it for
rest of the class
Lets imagine that you are listening to
work with them for the you. If no one can (after allowing them
learners benefit reasonable thinking time), then
the students talking to each other and
introduce it yourself, first orally, then
one says the following: Having these ideas on your notebook
write it in the gaps you have left for that
Yes, I, er, wanted to talk to my is great, but the class wont be able to
purpose.
friend but, er, but, but there was a see it there so you need to get it off the
However the new language
time pressure and I must go page and onto somewhere all the
comes into the room, its worth
So you write down the following: learners can see it and what better
showing the students how it sounds
I wanted to talk to my friend but place than on the classroom board.
when spoken at normal pace in a
there was a time pressure and I Hugh Dellar (teacher trainer and author
complete utterance, and getting them
must go of some of the more interesting
to notice where the main stresses fall.
After thinking about it for a few coursebooks out there at the moment)
Then, you can ask the students to
moments, you realise that a better way is a great proponent of writing up
repeat the recast utterance once or
to express what the learner is trying to language that you plan to focus on
twice, to give them a chance to get
say would be: while learners are engaged in the task1,
their mouths round it.
I wanted to talk to my friend but I rather than doing it bit by bit after you
was pressed for time and I had to stop them for feedback. The saving of
by Anthony Gaughan
go I was pushed for time in time and focus at this stage needs to www.teachertrainingunplugged.com
a hurry in a rush. be weighed against the potential
So you have now identified 4-5 distraction that this obvious activity
possible variations that the learners may cause the group, but in general I
would benefit from knowing. Thats agree that if you can get your feedback
good and its more than we generally prepared on the board in the latter
need, but now we need find a way to stages of the task, this is a useful
get some of these to our learners move.
attention. To do this, simply take what
you have worked out on your notepad
Think of a simple way of and write it on the board. Make sure
getting the students from you are writing legibly and accurately.
When you have done this, and when
point A (what they said) to the learners have completed their task
point B (saying it better or and reported their findings, its time to
getting everyone to use the go to work on their language.
new useful stuff)
Continuing with the previous example,
we could imagine our notepad was the
classroom board and imagine it looking
like this:
I wanted to stop and talk to my
friend but I was in a __________

1http://hughdellar.wordpress.com/2012/07/26
and I _____ ___ go /further-thoughts-on-level-material-and-how-to-
make-things-stick/