Everyone struggles what to say at parties: on becoming a master of small talk in a language class4/29/2020 While small talk may be considered second best conversation, its function is very important socially. However, for young adults - higher education students - establishing initial contact with strangers can pose problems: they are often shy and self-conscious. Interestingly, approaching unknown people and striking conversations with them can be challenging for all of us, as humorously revealed by Ellen DeGeneresin in “The Ellen Show”, when she said "everyone struggles what to say at parties". That is why, teaching students how to create and maintain contact with other people through small talk can't be neglected when developing speaking skills in a language class. Yeah, easier said than done... I was inspired how to teach small talk in my speaking class when I came across the ARE method. The video below published on the Art of Manliness blog explains how anyone can become a master of small talk using this method. In essence, this is a strategy that consists of three parts: 1) Anchor, 2) Reveal and 3) Encourage. In any conversation, “Anchor” involves making an observation on the reality that we share with the other person. In the next step, “Reveal” we say something that is related to our anchor, we say something more to help the other person find connection with us. Finally, at the “Encourage” stage we ask a question to allow them to take the initiative and keep the conversation going. I thought my students would benefit from being familiar with this strategy: they could use it to communicate, both in Polish and English, at parties, university or work. In this post I explain how I adopted this strategy in my speaking class (practical English programme) for English Studies students at a Polish university. Teaching sequence. First, following genre-based instruction (see chapter 10 in THIS book), I created all content and activities on Moodle. Then, I used these online materials in a face-to-face class. (Today students can do all these class activities via Microsoft Teams.) The teaching sequence includes five steps. Step 1. Students answer the following questions: 1. Describe your last conversation: context, audience, language (English/L1), aim of the conversation, and outcomes. 2. Which is easier: face to face on online conversation? 3. What problems do you encounter when you engage in conversations with strangers? 4. What do you lose on when you are too shy to engage in a conversation with a stranger? 5. What would be the best way to start a conversation with a stranger? Step 2. Students watch “How to make small talk with strangers” and answer the questions:
Step 3. Practice. Using the ARE method, in pairs or small groups, students do the following: Situation 1. You are going by train. In the same compartment, there is a well-known actor. You want to strike a conversation with him. What would your first question / sentence be in this conversation? How would you continue? Situation 2. Role-play a situation in which you engage in a conversation with a shop assistant. Situation 3. You are sitting in a dentist waiting room. There is a nice-looking boy / girl sitting next to you. You really want to talk to him / her. How would you start a conversation? How would you continue? Step 4. Coming up with the ideas on what to say in these situation may be very difficult for some students. In a feedback session I invited pairs to share their ideas with the rest of the group. Additionally, I offered what I would say in Situation 1, if I were one of them: Anchor: “I really admire the tone of your voice” Reveal: “At the moment I am attending a speaking course at my university in which I learn how to permanently make my voice sound deeper. It is hard but I am determined to get this right” Engage: “How did you find the tone of your voice”? Step 5. At home, students can explore other online resources to learn more:
We ALL enjoyed this class a lot and the students seemed empowered leaving my classroom :)
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