Description

"Let's have a discussion.

OK, find a partner. Yes, you can work in a small group. How small? Er, three or four? Three would probably be better. OK. Could you hand out these, er, handouts for me, please?

OK. You've got ten minutes.

After that I'll stop the lesson and everybody change partners.

OK? Any questions? Er, have a quick look at the handout. That's it. Any new words?

OK? Check your dictionaries. I'll be walking around having a listen to, er, each pair or group and trying to help out as best I can. So.

OK? Ready? So, let's start..."

So begins another discussion class - at a language school, a state school, a conversation club - anywhere where English is being studied.

Why do it? It's free practice, so students get the chance to practice what they are learning, without every error being jumped on.

It gives you the teacher the chance to step down from the front and maybe make a cup of tea, I mean listen to your students and help to correct their errors.

Students also have the opportunity to get to know one another better. It's fun having a conversation with another person - even in a foreign language

The questions are really designed to provoke discussion. It doesn't mean you have to slavishly ask and answer each one. The question sets are listed in alphabetical order and are aimed at the general English language student, from Beginner to Elementary to Intermediate to Advanced.

Most of the pages contain straightforward discussion questions (What...? Why...? When...? etc.) but there are also fourteen pages of Agree or Disagree? statements, where students have to say whether they agree or disagree with a proposition and, most importantly, why.