TESOL:
Teaching Parts of Conversation
Mark D. Offner
Aichi Insitute of
Technology (Toyota, Japan)
offner [at]
ge.aitech.ac.jp
http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~offner/
Originally
published in
Bulletin of Aichi
Institute of Technology
Vol. 47A, pages
147-156
March 2012
Abstract: This
paper presents a proven approach for providing language students with the
skills to be successful conversationalists. It elucidates the advantages of breaking
conversation up into parts and explains a step-by-step process for teaching
students to ensure they succeed in their attempts to carry on conversations in
the target language.
1.
Introduction
One of the biggest
challenges facing teachers of a foreign or second language is to get students
conversing in the classroom. Vocabulary, expressions, pronunciation, listening,
grammar, and use of appropriate gestures are important skills for effective
speaking. Often students of English have gained a good command of these skills
yet struggle to carry on a conversation in the target language for any length
of time. It is commonly assumed that mastering these skills will naturally
enable students to have a conversation. This has had mixed results and
experience from years of teaching suggests that this is not the most effective or
efficient method to meet the conversation objective.
Current language
pedagogy and methodologies promoted by a majority of textbooks fail to
incorporate and address a most fundamental component: that for students to be
able to carry on a conversation it is necessary to teach how a conversation
works by codifying the parts and demonstrating how they interact. This also
encourages scaffolding for as students gain confidence in their handling of
conversations they find them more interesting and satisfying and are motivated
to further build and develop their language skills to engage in longer and more
interesting conversations. Students need to be taught the parts of conversation
to be good conversationalists.
2.
Speaking vs. Conversing
It is often assumed
that mastering the various communication skills will lead to fluency similar to
oneÕs own native language. However the way a conversation flows varies from
language to language based on cultural and social norms. Conversation in the
studentsÕ native tongue may follow patterns much different than the target
language and students need to be clued into these. In some cases they may be
very similar, but students are unaware of them as they have been assimilated
naturally when learning their home language as a child without having gone
through the process of analyzing the structures.
For the purposes of clarification,
a distinction is made in this paper between Òsaying sentencesÓ and Òhaving a
conversation,Ó or more simply, ÒspeakingÓ and Òconversing.Ó Students may be
able to speak the language by putting the learned words and expressions
together in a grammatically correct form with sufficiently good pronunciation
to be understood. These oral utterances may express a thought, ask a question,
provide information in response to a question, make a request, or register a
complaint, but this does not mean that a conversation will take place. Students
may be communicating, but not necessarily having a conversation. When ÒspeakingÓ
the oral exchange ceases after a short dialog where the information has been
relayed, understood, and then abruptly finishes with no need, or desire, to
continue. On the other hand, having a conversation involves a give-and-take
exchange with each side showing interest in both the content of the
conversation (topic) and in the other person with a genuine commitment to help
the conversation move along smoothly and a desire to continue as long as time
allows or as long as appropriate (often subject to cultural norms).
3.
Rudiments of Conversation
The accepted rules for conversation in English
may be quite different from that of the studentsÕ native tongue frustrating
their efforts to continue a conversation for any length of time. Sometimes
students know some pieces of the conversation puzzle, but they are unsure of
how to put them together. It is necessary to teach how conversation in English flows
together for students to create and develop a conversation.
As a first step,
students need to be clued into what constitutes a good conversation providing them
with a simple foundation to build upon. These may or may not be the same as in
their native tongue, or maybe students have simply never given them much
thought, therefore it is important to affirm and reinforce their understanding.
Emphasizing that a conversation between two people is a two-way exchange is the
first step. If one person is asking all the questions and the other is simply
answering, this would be a one-way exchange, and this type of exchange is not
so much a conversation but more resembles a kind of oral quiz or survey. The
second step would be to convey that a conversation should be both give and
take. Both speakers should show interest in the conversation (the topic or
subject matter) and in the other person by asking questions and providing more
information and detail. This back and forth creates a natural pulse or rhythm
that pushes the conversation forward as more common ground is found between the
speakers making it more interesting as it gains momentum.
4.
Parts of Conversation
Since conversation tends to follow prescribed patterns, it is
effective to break the art of conversation down into parts and teach these
interrelated pieces to the students. These parts may also be conceptualized as
conversation techniques. Once students are aware of these parts, or pieces,
they will better understand how they fit together to create a naturally smooth
flow to their conversations.
Conversations in English can be split into many small parts, however
for the average English language learner it is most beneficial to keep it
simple, especially in the first stages of development, and package the pieces
into large chunks. The key parts of conversation that students need to internalize
in the beginning may be codified as follows: Follow-up Questions (FQ), Informative
Answers (IA), Returning the Question (RQ), Rejoinders (REJ), and Fillers (FIL).
After students have had ample practice with these parts of conversation and are
comfortable using them, they can be encouraged to think a little more in detail
about how a conversation works. The teacher will need to help with this deeper
analysis as explained below while introducing the following parts of
conversation: Topic Questions (TQ), Volunteering Information (VI), Starters (START),
Endings (END), and Topic Changers (TC).
5.
The Follow-up Question (FQ)
To help students
understand what is required of them in constructing a conversation, it is best
to start with the Follow-up Question. To do this it is useful to clarify the
difference between vertical and horizontal exchange. A horizontal exchange is
when the questions following the initial question change the topic each time in
a horizontal, linear format. For example:
A:
What sport do you like?
B:
I like to play tennis.
A:
WhatÕs your favorite food?
B:
I like to eat Italian pasta.
A:
Did you study yesterday?
B:
Yes.
Horizontal
exchanges would be an example of Òspeaking the languageÓ rather than having a
real conversation. They are shallow, uncreative, unimaginative, and quickly
become boring.
A vertical exchange
is when the questions following the initial question continue to ask for more
detailed information about the same topic delving deeper into the subject in a
vertical progression. For example:
A:
What sport do you like?
B:
I like to play tennis.
A:
Where do you play tennis?
B:
At school or in a park near my house.
A:
Who do you usually play with?
B:
With some classmates.
A:
When do you play?
B:
Usually on Wednesday afternoon and weekends.
Follow-up
Questions usually use Òwh-question wordsÓ (including ÒhowÓ) for example: what,
where, when, who, why, which, how long, how much, how many, how often, how far,
etc.
A good exercise to
start with to make this point clear is to conduct an ice-breaker type exercise
where students need to circulate and find other students who like the same
things. Each student receives a list of topics (favorite sport, music,
television show, pet, etc.) and they must ask simple yes-no questions to other
students to find out if they have the same interests. In this exercise,
students do not ask ÒwhatÓ questions commonly found in textbooks as in ÒWhat
sport do you like?Ó but they first think about what sport they like best, and
if it is tennis, then the question is ÒDo you like tennis?Ó or ÒDo you like to
play tennis?Ó When a student answers ÒyesÓ to the question they write that
studentÕs name on their list next to the topic. After students have had time to
circulate, explain to the students that while they may have found out something
new about their classmates, the interaction with their classmates was very
short and not very interesting due to the horizontal exchange.
Begin the second part
of the exercise by brainstorming types of Òwh-questionsÓ on the board to
provide students with something to refer to. Then have them pick two or three
topics from their list, and write follow-up questions on those topics that they
are curious about or want to know more about. This should come relatively
easily to the students since these are interests that they themselves have.
Students then partner with another classmate on their list thereby ensuring
that they have a common interest to talk about and proceed by asking their
original follow-up questions to their partner. Afterwards students can easily understand
that this type of vertical exchange was more meaningful and interesting as they
probed deeper into the topic revealing more information as it relates to their
partner and themselves. They may have even made a new friend or found someone they
can relate to in the class and maybe would like to get to know better, further
reinforcing the advantages of this type of exchange.
6.
The Informative Answer (IA)
Once students are
able to quickly produce follow-up questions they are ready to move on to the
Informative Answer. Giving a good informative answer simply requires thinking
of what one would like to ask as a follow-up question and volunteering that
information by adding it to their answer without their conversation partner needing
to use a follow-up question to ask for it. The type of information students
provide will again usually be directly related to (but not necessarily limited
to) the wh-questions by adding information about where, when, why, with whom,
how often, how long etc. something was/is/will be done in the past, present, or
future.
How much and how
complex the information added will be determined by the studentsÕ current
language abilities but this does not mean that it is limited to more advanced
students. The sooner students understand these parts of conversation and are
comfortable using them, the sooner they will be able to progress more rapidly
and take control of their own learning by concentrating on vocabulary, expressions,
and grammar to better explain themselves. An informative answer to the question
ÒWhat did you do last weekend?Ó could range from ÒI went shopping with my
friend,Ó for a beginning student to ÒI went shopping at a department store with
my friend. I bought a new bag that was on sale and my friend bought a sweater.Ó
for more advanced students.
7.
Returning the Question (RQ)
By simply using the
two conversation techniques presented above, students are well on their way to
having a good conversation in English. However, with the exchange limited to these
two, it does not necessarily guarantee a two-way, give-and-take exchange that
is the hallmark of an interesting and satisfying conversation. One more critical
element needs to be added.
It is Returning the Question and
is a very simple, yet useful, part of conversation to keep things moving along.
The students simply need to learn the questions ÒHow about you?Ó or ÒWhat about
you?Ó Using these questions ensures that the same person is not asking all the
questions and the other person simply answering, but that there is mutual
interest in each other in a more natural two-way exchange. Once again it should
be emphasized that for a conversation to be interesting and satisfying to all
parties it is important to show interest in the other person(s) and give them a
chance to add their own information about the topic. Returning the question can
also be relied upon as a backup in case a student cannot think of a good
follow-up question to keep the conversation flowing since returning the
question serves the same purpose when substituted for a follow-up question.
8.
Rejoinders (REJ)
Another important
part of conversation is the Rejoinder. Rejoinders are reactions showing emotions
or feelings to the information or news provided by the speaker. They can be
divided into categories, and the phrases from each category taught to the
students to practice until they are comfortable using and saying them naturally
with feeling. The main categories for rejoinders would be happy (good news), sad
(bad news), surprised (surprising news), interested (interesting news), and encouragement
(eliciting more news). The number of phrases and terms to teach to the class
will depend on the teacher and the level of the students, however it is best to
initially start with just two or three of the most common ones. For example: happy
- great, wonderful; sad – thatÕs too bad, IÕm sorry to hear that;
surprised – youÕre kidding, I canÕt believe it; interested – oh
yeah, is that so; encouragement – go on, yeah. Initially it is useful to
practice correct pronunciation of the expressions and to ensure correct
intonation. Most happy and surprised expressions are emphasized with the last
sound raised, as if ending in an exclamation point. The sad expressions
normally end with a dropping or lowering of the voice at the end. Interested
and encouragement vary somewhat, but are usually pretty flat. Explain to the
students that they shouldnÕt worry too much about the correct intonation, but
to let their feelings show through their voice resulting in a natural and
proper pitch. To provide practice in these phrases it is useful to distribute a
mixed list of statements that convey happy, sad, surprising, etc. information
that students must read to their partner who should respond appropriately,
first referring to a list of expressions and then from memory.
9.
Conversation Flow Diagram
Once students have
practiced these parts of conversation, they are ready to put them together.
This can be done by providing the students with a topic question such as ÒWhat
did you do last weekend?Ó and then provide an outline of the ensuing
conversation in a conversation flow diagram for students to use as a kind of template.
For example:
A:
What did you do last weekend?
B:
IA + RQ
A:
IA + FQ
B:
IA
A:
FQ
B:
IA + FQ
A:
IA
B:
REJ
It
is useful to initially end with a rejoinder as this is not only an easy place
to use one, but also brings closure to the conversation. Once students are more
comfortable in their conversations, they can be encouraged to use the rejoinders
at anytime during them, especially using the encouragement expressions.
An example conversation at a basic
level following the template presented above would be:
A:
What did you do last weekend?
B:
I went shopping with my friend. (IA) How about you? (RQ)
A:
I stayed home and studied. (IA) Where did you go shopping? (FQ)
B:
We went to a store near my house. We went by bicycle. (IA)
A:
How long did you shop? (FQ)
B:
We shopped for 3 hours. I was very tired. (IA) What did you study? (FQ)
A:
I studied math. I couldnÕt finish my homework. (IA)
B:
ThatÕs too bad. (REJ)
10.
The Filler (FIL)
After students have
had practice with conversation flow diagrams, it is time to introduce fillers.
In their conversations they probably noticed that there were some uncomfortable
gaps, or pauses, where they had to think awhile before responding or adding
extra information. If no sound is produced during these gaps, a certain amount
of tension is created because the person asking the question is not sure whether
the silence means that the questions was not understood, that their partner did
not hear them, that their partner is done and has nothing more to say, or even
that their partner has lost interest and is distracted by something else. Point
out that this is especially a problem when talking on the phone or in
situations when the other person cannot be seen. Most likely the students
naturally filled these pauses with fillers from their own language. The
students simply need to be taught similar expressions in English. Prefacing a
pause with ÒLet me see,Ó or ÒLet me think,Ó helps to alleviate any tension
signaling that a pause is coming and the person is still interested and
actively engaged. Other fillers would be (usually saying the words or making
the sounds deliberately and slowly): uuhhh, mmmm, well, actually, etc.
10.
Improving a Conversation
Once students have
had ample practice in creating conversations following a flow diagram using all
the conversation parts or techniques studied, it is a good time to introduce
the Improving a Conversation exercise. This serves a number of purposes. First,
it forces students to analyze a conversation and really think about what is
going on and how to fit the parts of conversation together. The written form of
this exercise facilitates this. Second, students are exposed to a variety of
possibilities and directions a conversation may take when listening to other
studentsÕ ideas broadening their understanding of how conversation can be
pieced together. Finally, the teacher has empirical evidence of how well the
students are doing and can easily assess their understanding of the parts of
conversation and clear up any misconceptions or address any problems the
students may be having in usage.
Start the exercise by providing pairs
of students with a sample conversation that is intentionally a bad example. The
following is a conversation that has been used with success in a variety of
classes at many different levels. Of course the situation, countries, and
nationalities may be changed to suit the teacher and class.
Situation: A
is an American living in New York. B is a Japanese student traveling in the
United States for the first time. B asked A for help buying a ticket at a
station, and now they begin a conversation.
A:
So, where are you from?
B:
Japan.
A:
Why did you come to the U.S.?
B:
To sightsee.
A:
How long will you stay?
B:
For 2 weeks.
A:
What do you do in Japan?
B:
IÕm a student.
A:
Oh, what are you studying?
B:
Technology.
A:
How do you like New York so far?
B:
I like it.
A:
Well, I have to get going. Enjoy your stay.
B:
Thank you.
First, pairs of
students read the conversation together and answer the following two questions:
Does this conversation sound natural? (students should provide reasons if they
are advanced enough, otherwise yes or no is sufficient) and How can this
conversation be improved? (students should write out their ideas – lower
level students will most likely resort to listing the conversation techniques
they have studied so far). The teacher can go over these with the class to get
feedback and get the students clearly thinking along the right track,
especially if they need extra help.
Second, have the pair make the conversation more interesting
by adding to the conversation. They must keep the same pattern of the
conversation. Make sure students understand that they cannot subtract anything
from the conversation or change it in anyway except to add to it to make it
more interesting and natural. Preferably, the two people, A and B, should end
up as friends (how students work it out is up to them – they are free to
continue the conversation if they want). This part will take a lot of time as
students tend to really immerse themselves in the exercise. On the other hand it
is necessary to set a time limit to make sure students finish up writing and
bring the conversation to completion. A minimum of 45 minutes is recommended.
When finished, the students should read their conversation together to check
that it sounds natural.
The third part of the exercise can either be done together as
a whole class with pairs reading their improved conversations as each student
in the class listens and evaluates, or they can exchange their conversations
with another pair and evaluate the conversation as they read through it
together. The evaluation basically serves the purpose of getting students to
identify the parts of conversation and note usage by having them count the
number of times each technique (FQ, IA, RQ, REJ, FIL) was used. When conducted
as a whole class exercise it helps the students to remain focused and to concentrate
on the information.
Finally, if time allows, have students write or orally make
suggestions for further improving the conversations they listened to or read.
If written, the paper should be returned to the original authors for them to
discuss, and if time permits, make any changes to their conversation by incorporating
the suggestions. The teacher can collect the papers in the end to check
understanding, spot problems, and possibly provide further feedback in a later
lesson.
A partial example of how the conversation could be improved
would be:
A:
So, where are you from?
B:
IÕm from Japan. IÕm a university student. IÕm on spring break now. (IA) How
about you? (RQ)
A:
IÕm from here. I work at a restaurant in the city. Why did you come to the
U.S.?
B:
IÕm interested in American sports and music. I also wanted to sightsee. I
wanted to see the Statue of Liberty most. (IA) Does your restaurant have
Japanese food? (FQ)
A:
Yes, we have a sushi corner. HereÕs my card with directions to the restaurant.
You should drop by.
B:
Great! (REJ) I hope I have the time. (Comment)
A:
How long will you stay in New York?
B:
Well . . . (FIL) IÕll be here for 3 days and in the U.S. for 2 weeks. I will go
to Nashville the day after tomorrow. (IA)
12.
Topic Questions (TQ)
The Topic Question is
an easy concept for the students as it has been used previously. Up to now, the
Topic Questions were provided by the teacher, for instance, ÒWhat did you do
last weekend?Ó or ÒWhere are you from?Ó as in the examples above. The students
simply need to be made aware that a question used in this manner is a
conversation part serving the purpose of introducing a subject and providing an
easy way to begin talking about it. From this point on students should be
encouraged to think of their own Topic Questions, or for lower level classes
the teacher could provide a list of questions for them to choose from.
The teacher should
take this opportunity to ensure that students know what topics would be
considered ÒsafeÓ that can be used almost anywhere in any situation, and topics
or questions that would be considered rude or too personal. Since these are
often cultural, it cannot be taken for granted that students automatically know
them. For example safe topics/questions might be: weather, recent news, where
are you from, what do you do, can you speak Japanese, are you a baseball fan,
etc. Topics/questions to avoid might be: finances, religion, politics, dress
and physical features, how old are you, are you married, are you rich, what are
you doing now, etc.
13.
Volunteering Information (VI)
Volunteering Information is
a simple part of conversation that is quite similar to the Informative Answer.
The difference is that it is not added to or tacked on to a response to a
question asked by the other speaker and therefore serves a different purpose. Since
conversation requires the investment of a certain amount of openness and trust,
a good way to establish this is to volunteer some information about oneself
first before asking about the other person or before presenting a topic
question. For example, by offering the voluntary information: ÒIÕm a student
from Japan. IÕm going to Montreal for vacation. Where are you going?Ó helps
immediately establish a good relation as opposed to suddenly asking ÒWhere are
you going?Ó or ÒWhere are you from?Ó Students can practice using Volunteering Information
after they have learned what topics are safe as a way to introduce a topic they
are comfortable with or particularly interested in. Volunteering information
keeps things friendly, establishes trust, and shows a commitment to the
conversation signaling to the other person that it will be worth their while to
engage, at least for a short time.
14.
Starters (START) and Endings (END)
Usually students will
have already mastered these two parts of conversation since they are most
commonly taught in the beginning stages of language instruction. Starters are
normally greetings, and endings are the expressions used when leaving and
saying goodbye. The process outlined here did not begin with these expressions
because, besides students having most likely already learned these terms, they
are somewhat awkward to use without something of substance inserted between
them. The standard textbook presentation and ensuing practice is to provide a
short self-introduction, often limited to oneÕs name and nationality,
sandwiched between the greeting and leave taking making it a superficial Òconversation.Ó
However, by incorporating these expressions at this time students are able to
make more meaningful and realistic use of them now that they are more confident
with their conversations and know how to carry them forward by inserting something
of substance between the starter and ending. After reviewing the common
expressions used in this part of conversation, encourage students to always
begin and end with them. Make sure to provide a variety and verse the students
in the appropriate situations when they should be used taking into
consideration social register, the formality or informality of the situation,
or even how they happen to be feeling at the time.
Starters are not always
greetings. They may be simple comments on the weather or observation on a
mutual situation (e.g. standing in a slow-moving line) that leads to small talk
which then leads to a more intimate and gratifying conversation of substance.
The types of greetings and comments taught by the teacher will depend upon the
level of the class. Useful starters might be: hi, howÕs it going, whatÕs up, how
are you (doing), I hope this doesnÕt take too long (IÕm in a hurry), I hope it
doesnÕt rain (I donÕt have an umbrella), and thatÕs an interesting xxx. Endings
might be: see you, goodbye, good luck, have a good time, take care, IÕve got to
run, IÕm late.
15.
Topic Changers (TC) and Dealing With Misunderstandings
Often students are
hesitant to engage in a conversation because they are afraid they will not be
understood, or that they may not understand the other speaker. To alleviate
these fears and to help students feel more comfortable participating in
conversations with the self-assurance that they will be successful, another
skill set needs to be added. Topic Changers, as the name implies, are phrases
that help students to switch to another topic. This is an important piece of
the conversation puzzle adding a new dimension to studentsÕ conversations
providing them with more control and boosting confidence.
Students should first realize that misunderstandings and
miscommunications can happen to native language speakers as well and that they
should not feel embarrassed or that their language ability is not good enough.
In this situation we sometimes simply write it off as being on different
wavelengths. In the beginning, students should be encouraged to be cheerful and
enjoy their conversations without taking things too seriously to prevent
getting entangled in conversations at a level too complex for them. Having the
ability to easily extract oneself from a potentially awkward situation is an important
skill that helps students to loosen up.
Topic changing expressions might be: by the way, did you hear
that, so, you know, etc. These expressions may be used when one of the speakers
in the conversation has no more to say on a specific topic or is not interested
in the topic and wishes to change to another topic that might be more
interesting. Of course they need to be sensitive to the other person and not
change the topic too quickly or abruptly. Explain that a certain amount of
exchange should occur on the initial topic to show solidarity before the topic
changer is used.
When a student wishes
to change the topic because it is too difficult for them or they suddenly find
that they can no longer follow along, it is a good idea to add an expression
before the topic changer to clue the other person in as to what is going on. Some
useful expressions might be: (IÕm sorry) I canÕt explain it well, itÕs
difficult for me (to understand), I donÕt get it. In most situations these
should not be used alone, for if nothing further is added the speaker may
persist in trying to explain in more detail adding to the confusion and making
the situation more stressful. Letting the other person know that the conversation
has stalled, either because of difficulty or loss of interest, and that the
participant has the flexibility to branch off on to another topic keeps the conversation
lighthearted and easygoing.
16.
Constructing a Complex Conversation
Students should be
encouraged to practice all the parts of conversation in a variety of ways by
changing the order of the flow diagram. With practice, and brief comments by
the teacher reviewing the importance and function of each part, students will
learn to piece their conversations together in different ways. A flow diagram
at this stage would be more complex, possibly looking something like this:
A:
START + VI + TQ
B:
START + IA + FQ
A:
IA + RQ
B:
FIL + IA
A:
REJ + FQ
B:
IA + RQ
A:
IA + TC
B:
FIL + IA + RQ
(Etc.)
A:
END
B:
END
17.
Keep It Simple
Not all of these
parts of conversation need to be taught to the students, and some can be combined
into larger chunks. It is important that the studentsÕ abilities be kept in
mind and to not give them too much information or material too quickly so that
they become confused and bogged down. The first 5 parts of conversation as
noted in section 4 above provide the foundation and may be all that a
particular class will be able to work with at their present level. The other
parts may be introduced as students become better conversationalists and show
interest in continuing their conversations for longer periods.
The teacher may
choose to break the parts up differently, combine the parts in different ways, and
even add more parts depending upon the studentsÕ abilities. Whatever makes the
most sense and is easy for the students to assimilate at their level should be
the rule to follow. However the method outlined here has been used successfully
at a variety of levels and has proven to be effective in getting students to
better understand what constitutes a conversation and how to manipulate and
control it enabling them to enjoy their conversations more.
18.
Conclusion
By practicing these
techniques in the class students gain the confidence needed to strike up a
conversation in English since they are better able to predict the progression
of the conversation and can steer the conversation to suit their needs and
ability or to a format they are more comfortable with. As students understand
the parts of conversation and how to piece them together they naturally become
better conversationalists. Confidence and control allow students to relax and
enjoy their conversations.
Reference:
Blyth,
Catherine. The Art of Conversation. London, UK: John Murray
(Publishers), 2008.
Jeffs,
Tony and Smith, Mark K. ÒEngaging in Conversation.Ó Infed.org. 1 Dec.
2011. <http://www.infed.org/foundations/engage.htm>
Kehe,
David and Kehe, Peggy. Pair Aid for English. Nagoya, Japan: Librairie
Unite, 1986.
Offner,
Mark. English Inside Out. Nagoya, Japan: Desktop Publishing, 1999.