Higher education students regularly engage in discussions with others as part of their coursework so the ability to effectively do so is central to their academic success. What is important, when they participate in discussions, they do not only formulate their own views; they also need to respond to what other speakers have said before them. But this can be challenging for some students, regardless of the language they use to communicate, and they may need instruction to be better able to interact with others’ ideas.
In this post I share how I help English Studies students in Poland to become more active participants in academic discussions in my speaking course, which is part of the “practical English” programme at my University. I taught this class before the pandemic and we met face to face. Now, Microsoft Teams makes it possible to meet students online to allow them to understand the rhetoric moves that discussion involves and to let them practice in pairs or small groups. How I teach. To develop my students' academic discussion skills, I make them familiar with this spoken genre, I show them video examples of skilled speakers and then I put their knowledge into systematic and frequent practice. Technology is indispensable here: it enables students to observe the models of spoken text they are to imitate and to have access to instructional materials “anytime, anywhere”. Specifically, I teach one class with the focus on this genre. First, I set up a Moodle module in which I create tasks and curate reference materials. All activities are based on the principles of genre-based instruction (see chapter 10 in THIS book), conducted in 6 steps. Step 1. Introduction. Students work in pairs or small groups and answer the following questions: 1. What is a discussion? 2. Describe your last discussion: context, audience, language (English/native), aim of the discussion, outcomes. 3. Do you listen to/watch discussions on TV/radio? If so, describe the last discussion you watched/listened to: context, audience, language (English/native), aim of the discussion, outcomes. 4. What is your role as a discussant? How would you describe your relationship with other discussants? Step 2. Discussion. In groups of three, students are asked to hold a 10-minute discussion. Topic: Is digital media good for democracy? Students watch the introduction to THIS discussion and then continue in groups. Step 3. Effective speaking. Students are presented with the structure of a turn in a discussion. What to say? Type of turns:
Part 1 – Opening
Students also read THESE discussion guidelines. Step 4. Model analysis. Students watch THIS video and note their answers. 1. How does each discussant open his/her turn? 2. What points does each discussant make in the main body of the turn? 3. How do the discussants conclude their turns? Students watch the video again and note useful expressions. Step 5. Practice. Students are asked to have another 10-minute discussion. This time they apply the rhetoric moves presented in this class. Topic: Is the Internet safe for adults? They can include content about:
Step 6. In this final activity students relate discussion to other spoken genres previously covered in my course. 1. How is discussing similar/different from debating (discussed last class)? 2. How is discussing similar/different from interviewing (to be discussed next class)? The students I have taught really appreciate mastering these techniques. They found them immensely helpful, applied them in other university courses, as well as their lives outside of academia.
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