CONVERSATION (resource books for teachers OXFORD)

RESOURCE
BCDKS FOR
TEACHERS
seies

edinr

ALAN MALEY

CtlNUERSATI(lN
Rob Nolasco &
Lois Arthur

Oxford University Press


Oxford Uoiveniry Press
Walton Stre€t, Oxford OX2 6DP
Ozlotd New Yoth

.*hett Au.hlind
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ISBN 0 19 437096

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are trade

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press.

I

e Oxford Universiry

Press 1987

Fi.st published 1987

Eighd impression 1995

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Acknowledgements

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The publishers would like to thank the following for their
permission to use copyright material:

Nathaniel Altman and Thorsons Publishing Group Limited for an
exract from The Palmistry WorhDoo& (1984); Charles Handy and
BBC Publications for an extract from Taking Sneh - Being FifA in
tlp Eightbs (1983); Donald Norfolk and Michael Joseph Ltd. for an
extrect from Fareuell to Fatiguc (1985); Oxford Universiry Press for
an extract from the English Languge TeachingJoutul,Yol. 4012
(April 1986); Gordon Wells and Cambridge Univenity Press for an
extract from Leaning Thraryh Inuracrioa (1981).



I

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1

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Contents
The authors and series editor
Foreword

Introduction

I

Towards a classroom aPProach

l5

2

Controlledactivities

zt
Lezel

Actioity

Approx time

Desciption

(minutes)

I

Chain names

2

Name bingo

Beginner to
Advanced

5-t0

Beginner to

l0-15

and above

Guess who?

Elementary to

Elementary

Sounds English

Beginner to
Advanced

Introducing students to

24

Students find out more
about each other.
Students ask questions
in order to establish a
person's identity.

25

l0-15

Getting students'
tongues around English

27

To help students repeat
a dialogue.
Giving students simple
oral practice tlrough
dialogue repetition.
To make a recording
after listening to a taped
model.
Building up students'
confidenceHow different language
is used for the same
function.
To cue a dialogue so that
students have to listen to

I5-20

l5-20

Intermediate

5

24

each other (larger
classes).

Elementary

Find someone
who . .

Introducing students to
each other.

26

sounds.

8

Look and speak

Beginner to

I5-20

Listen and speak

Intermediate
Beginner to
Elementary

l5-20

Listen and record

Elemenfarv

rt20

and above
Shadow reading

l0 \7ho

do you

think. . .?

Beginner to
Advanced

10-15

Upper
intermediate to

2c_25

Advanced

Do you come here
often?

Elementary
and above

l0-15

what the other speaker says.

28

29

29

30

3l

32


game Elementary 10-15
and above
13 Who said it?
Intermediate 15-20
and above
14 Split exchanges Elemenrary l0-I5
and above

15 Anyone for tennis? Elementary to 5-10
Lower
12

The phone

Controlled practice of
telephone conversadons.
Inrerpredng and
attributing urterances.
Focusing on exchange
structure.
Practice with gaing ro to
express the future.

34
35
36
39

intermediate

16

l7

Is

thatright?

Elementary 10-15

Dialogue

fill-in

Inrermediare
and

l8

The besr years
my life

of

19 Experiences

40

Pet

hates

2l Theolddays

above

10-15

producing

4l

Practice in
more than minimal
responses.

Elementary I0-15

Practice in the

and

past forms.

above

Elementary 15-20
and

20

gambits.

Recognizing

and above

above

practice in the
perfect tense.

above

I loae,I

Elementary 10-15
and

Intermediare

15-20

simple

42

present

42

Practice in forrns such
hate, etc.
Practice in

as

43

uedro.

44

hypothetical

44

hypotherical

15

Pracdce in
u:ould.

hyporhetical

46

Practice ir
forms.

quesdon

47

and above

22 Ifonly...

Intermediate
and

above

lO-15

rien Intermediate 15-20
and above
24 Cheat
Intermediate 10-15
and above
25 Could I ask you a
Elementary 15-20
few questions, and above
23

Je ne regrette

Practice in
zuould.

Practice in

ztould.

please?

3 Awareness activities

26 Encouraging noises Elementary 15-20
- and above
27

Keep

talking

Elementary 10-15
above

and

28 Encouragement Intermediate 10-15
and above
29 Repetition

5l
Expressions which
encourage the other
speaker to condnuerVays in which fiIlers

52

53

can contribute to an
rmpression offluency.
Expressions which
encourage lhe speaker to

54

say more.

Upper

to
Advanced
intermediate

15-20

Different uses to which
repetition can be put in
tlre spoken language.

55


30

As I was saying

3l

Gestures

32

Follow me

33

Sound

Upper
intermediate to
Advanced
Intermediate

20_25

tlem.
Using gestures as
reinforcement of what is
being said. (video task)

58

t5-20

Repetition of certain
words and phrases, and
body language. (video
task)

60

Extra-lingui stic clues to

60

and above

off

Elementary

l0

help students understand
and interpret what is being
said. (video task)

and above

34

Sound only

35

\7hat's next?

Elementary

20 (max.)

A smiling face?

Intermediate

a feel

for

6l

l5 (max.)

Practice in following
extended conversation.
(video task)

62

20-25

To raise sensitivity in
students to body

63

and above

35

Developing

voice quality. (video
task)

and above

Elementary

57

l0

and above

Elementary

Types of interruption
and how to deal with

and above

language.

37

The message is

Intermediate

t5-20

and above
38

I want

39

I haven't got any ice!

a blue onel

Elementary to
Intermediate
Intermediate

l0-15
5-10

and above

40

Intermediate

Take that!

15-20

and above

4l

is a question?

.This

42
43

20-25

English.
Stress practice in the
context of a dri.ll.
Shifting stress in a
prompted dialogue,
altering meaning.
Making students aware
of sentence stress.
How intonation can
alter meaning.

64

67
68

69
70

and above

-

Same words
different message

True or false?

,14 Similariries and
differences

Upper
intermediate

Recognizing the
function ofgestures in

Intermediate to

15-20

Advanced

Upper
intermediate to
Advanced
Upper
intermediate to
Advanced

25-30

2U25

Ways in which the
rneaning of an utterance
can be altered by
changing the intonation.
Ways in which native
speakers try to be pol.ite
in social encounters.
Social behaviour in the
target language.

70

73

75


f
I

45

Culture shock!

25-30

Intermediate
and above

Problems people
encounter when tiey
have to live in a new

'

country.
:
!

4

Fluency activities

46

I hated Maths
you?

47

- did

Habits

79

25-30

83

30-35

Introducing students to
fluency activities.
Sharing opinions.

2r30

Sharing opinions.

86

Intermediate to

30-35

Uppet
intermediate
Intermediate

Telling each other about
emotions.

20 (max.)

Talking about likes and
dislikes.
Getting students to
explore their life style.
Talking about fears.

Elementary
and above

Intermediate

84

i
l

I

Intermediate

Famiiy life

I

J't

I

and above

48

I
II

and above

Emotions

50

A coma

kit

and above

5l How much

energy

do you have?
52

Emotional match

Intermediate

30-40

and above

Elementary

20_25

88

90

and above

53

Exchange

EIementary

20

(min.)

and above

55
56

Have you heard

Elementary

of . .

and above

.?

35-40

It's all in your hands

Uppe.

35-40

The best

intermediate to
Advanced
Elementary to

20-25

Lower
intermediate

57

Eureka!

Intermediate

30-35

and above

58

Time
Time capsule
A just punishment

5l

Future shock

Intermediate
Advanced
Intermediate
Advanced

to

30-35

to

25-35

Uppet

30-35

intermediate to
Advanced
Intermediate
Advanced

to

30-35

Finding out about each
otier by asking
questions.

9l

Cross-cultural exchange
in mixed nationality
groups.
Talking about personal
characteristics, and

92

palmistry.
Introducing students to
ranking activities.
Promoting discussion

about inventions.
Justifying and
explaining preferences.

Things students value in
their daily lives.
Considering the extent
to which punishments
fit the crime.
Discussing priorities for
the future.

{

i
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I

93

96

'97

I
I
i

97

99
i

100

i

l0l

l


bridge

62

The

63

From what I
remember

64

A dream

Upper
30-35

inrermediate to
Advanced
Elementary 2C_25
and above

classroom Elementary
and

65

Plan your

time

above

30-35

Intermediate 30-35
and

above

Deciding on individual
responsibility for a
tragedy.
Discussing the results of
a simple memory
experiment.
Carrying out a design

task togetherConsidering ways in
which students can learn
English outside the

102

104

l(X
105

classroom.

56

My ideal

book

phrase- Elementary 35-40
and above

67

Building

a

model Intermediare 25-30
and above

68 I'll give you . . .

Elementary

above
Upper
intermediate to
Advanced
and

69 Airport
70

7l

Attitudes to gifts

giving
Ifho's

the

72 Gifts

to

Working together
produce and evaluate
phrase-books.

and Intermediate
and

above

boss? Intermediate
and above
Elementary

Evaluating how
effectively students are
able to perform a given
task.
2135
Students buy and sell
(2 lessons) things.
30-35 A conflict situation in
which students have to
decide what to do.
25-30 A cross-cultural
discussion about gifts
and giving.
35-40 Discussing the role of
secretaries at work.
2540
Talking about gifts.

106

107

108
109

II

I

112
I 14

and above

73

Love

story

Intermediate 4045
and

5

above

well-known

Using a

story as a stimulus for
students to produce
their own.

Feedback

Task

I

Task

2

Task

3

Task 4

I 15

t17
Elementary
Advanced
Elementary
Advanced
Elementary
Advanced
Elementary

Advanced

to

to

Students look closely at
the language they use.

125

Encouraging

126

expressrons.

hesitation

to

Fillers and
devices.

to

128
Strategies we use to
keep a conversation going.

127


.l
I

Task

5

Task 6

Task

7

Task

8

Task

9

Task l0

Task

ll

Story-telling devices.

t29

How we make and
respond to suggestions in
order to encourage people
to be constructive.
Ways in which we seek
and give opinions.
Ways of introducing
polite disagreement.
Giving a talk.

130

t34

I

How we use
comrnunication
strategies to carry on
speaking.
Students consider how
they behave in meedngs.

r35

-t

I

Intermediate

Patternsofinteraction

143

and above

within

Elementary to
Advanced
Elementary to
Advanced

Elemenmry to
Advanced
Elementary to
Advanced
Elementary to
Advanced
Elementary to
Advanced

Upper
intermediate

I

i
I

.t

.t
131
I

133

-t

.t

I

I4l

I

I

and above

Task

12

Bibliography

a

i

group.

I

,{
145
I

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{

1

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The authors and
series editor
Rob Nolasco has been involved in English as a foreign language
since 1970. He was pan ofthe senior management ofThe
British Council managed ESP proiect at King Abdulaziz
University, Jeddah (1978-80). Between 1981 and 1983 he was a
Project Director with the Overseas Development Administration
in Angola, and wi*r The Cenre for British Teachers Ltd. in
Morocco (1933-85). He has also taught EFL to secondary and
adult srudents, at all levels, in the UK, Turkey, France, and
Spain. He is currently working as an EFL author and consultanr.
His books for students include *rree OUP courses: lZOlZ./
(Window on the WorlQ, Ameican IVOIV!' and Streetwise.

Lois Arthur started her career with the Centre for British
Ltd. in West Germany. In 1979 she took up the post of
Senior Tutor at The Bell School of I-anguages at Cambridge.
Between 1983 and 1985 she was the Deputy Project Director
with The Centre for British Teachers Ltd. in Morocco. She is
currently Director of UK Schools and Young I-eamers for The
Teachers

Bell Language Schools.

Alan Maley worked for The British Council from 1962 to 1988'
serving as English l-anguage Offrcer in Yugoslavia, Ghana, Italy'.
France, and China, and as Regronal Representadve in South
India (Madras). From 1988-1993 he was Director-General of
the Bell Educational Trust, Cambndge. He is currenrly Senior
Fellow in the Depanment of English I-anguage and Literature of

the National University of Singapore. Among his publications
ate: Quartet (wirh Frangoise Grellet and !(rim Velsing)' Be1'ozd
ll'ords, Sounds Interesting, Sounds Intriguing, Words' Vaiations on o
Theme, Literature (in this series), and Drama Techniques in
Language Learning (all with Alan Dufi, The Mind's Eye (with
Frangoise Grellet and AIan Duff), Leaming to Listen and Poem
into Poem (wirh Sandra Moulding), and Shon and Sweer. He is
also Series Editor for the Oxford Supplementary Skills series.



Foreword
The distinction between accuracy and fluency is now a familiar one.
Almost as familiar is the further distinction between fluency and
appropriacy. To be accurate is not necessarily to be fluent. And to
be fluent is not necessarily ro be appropriate in a given set of
circumstances.

In this book the authors make a further distinction: between
speaking skills and conversation skills. They conrend thal there are
skills specific to conversation which make it easier for people to talk
to each other informally, and that these do not overlap a hundred
per cent with the skills involved in fluent speaking. Being able to
speak reasonably correct and even fluent English is one thing.
Being able to engage in on-going, interactive, mentally satisfying
conversation is anorher. This is not to deny that speaking skills are
necessary for conversation; simply that they are not alone sufficient
for successful conversation to take place.

It is these specific conversational skills which the book sets out to

cover. In order to do so, the authors first examine in the
introduction what ir is that native speakers do when they 'make
conversation'. They then use this inforrnation as the basis for the
tasks and activities in the remainder of the book.
Two obvious, but nevertheless frequently neglected facts about
conversations, are that they involve at leasr rwo people, and that the
pardcipants in a conversadon cannot talk simultaneously all rhe
time. Unless they agree to share the speaking time, listen, react,
and attend to each other, the conversation dies.
This is in contrast to a view of speaking, which is often handled as if
it were the only factor ofimportance. Absorption in speaking,
without attending to the other, can only lead to surreal parallel
monologues, such as we encounter in Pinter. The mutual,
interdependenr, interactive nature ofconversation is given special
emphasis in tle sections on Az.ucreness actioities and Feedbach
actizities. A series of tasks is developed here to sharpen the
students' awareness and observation both of themselves and of
others. The rmportance given to equipping the students with tools
to evaluate dreir own performance tboth in dre conversations and in
tieir own learning) is especially welcome.
Conaersation is rnique in its insistence on the need to teach
conversational skills. The imponance ir gives to developing a
sensitivity to fellow participants in conversarions is likewise highly
original. Above all it offers a rich and varied selection ofactivities
and msks to draw upon.

It will be welcomed by all teachers interested in developing further
the teaching of this important aspect of oral expression.
Alan Maley

Introduction
Foreign language teachers often tend to assume that conversation in
the language classroom involves nothing more than putting into
practice the grammar and vocabulary skills taught elsewhere in the
course. So, the 'conversation class'may turn out to include
everything from mechanical drills to task-based problem-solving
activities. It is true that both tlese types of activity may, to some
extent at least, help students develop the skill of taking part in
conversation. But, if we want to teach conversation well, we need to
know something about what native speakers do when they have
conversations. This information can then help us to develop
appropriate materials and techniques for teaching purposes. In this
section therefore, we shall be looking at the characteristics of
native-speaker conversation in order to provide a rationale for the
practical exercises which follow in the remainder of the book.

What is conversation?
People sometimes use the term 'conversation' to mean any spoken
encounter or interaction. In this book however, 'conversation'
refers to a dme when two or more people have the right to talk or
listen without having to follow a fixed schedule, such as an agenda.
In conversation everyone can have something to say and anyone can
speak at any time. In everyday l-ife we sometimes refer to
conversation as 'chat' and the focus of the book is on this type of
spoken interaction, rather than on more formal, plamed occasions
for speaking, such as meetings.

The functions of conversation

The purposes of conversation incllrde t}te exchange of information;
the creation and maintenalce of social relationships such as
friendship; the negotiation of starus and social roles, as well as
deciding on and carrying out joint actions. Conversation therefore
has many functions, although its prirnary purpose i-n our own
language is probably social.

The units of conversation
The basic unit of conversation is an exchange. An exchange consists
of two moves (an initiating move and a response). Each move can


also be called a turn, and a turn can be taken without using words,
e.g. by a nod of the head. So for this dialogue the move and
exchange structure can be illustrated in the following way:

A
B

Jane.
Yes?

A
B
A
A

Tum

Could I borrow your bike, please?

Sure, it's in the garage.
Thanks very much.

1

lsolicit: calrj

Turn 3

Tum 5

Isolic : reguestl

[Acknowledge:
thankl
'Thanks very

'Could I bonow
your bike, please?'

'Jan€.'

mrrch.'

B

Iu.r'

Tum 4

2

lcivet availabld

lciue: conpvr
'Sure, it's in the

'Yes?'

garage.'


Exchange

1

Figurc 1 Az illustration of moue and exchaflge structure

{--

2

------------>
€xchange

3

,---------------

We can give a function to each move, e.g. request, acknowledge.
This may not be easy, and to do so we need to take account of
factors such as who the speakers are, where and when the
conversation occurs, as well as the position of the move in the
stream of speech.

Notice that an exchange, or a series ofexchanges, are nol
necessarily tie same thing as a conversation. The following is an
example of al exchange:

A Hi!
B HiI
The second example conlains lwo exchanges, but it is not a
conversation because the two speakers wanr to finish their business
as q'.'ickly as Possible'

A How much are the oranges?
B Eighteen pence each, madam.
A I'll have two, please.
B That's thirty-six

pence!

Conversation is open-ended and has the potential to develop in any
way. It is possible that the second example could contain a
conversation if the speakers decided to ralk about the price of
oranges. They may do riis in order to get a discount, or to develop a
social relationship, and the potential is always there in real life.
Unfonunately, many students never have the confidence or

INTRODUCTION

opportunity to go beyond simple exchanges like dre one above, and
one of the main objectives of this book is to introduce exercises
which allow students to develop tle ability to initiate and sustain
conversadon.

What do native speakers do in
conversation?
Conversation is such a natural part ofour lives that many people are
not conscious ofwhat happens within it. However, conversadon
follows certain rules which can be described. For example, when
we look at norma.l conversation we notice that:
usually only one person speaks at a rimel
the speakers changel
the length of any contriburion variesl
there are techniques for allowing the other pany or panies to
speak;
nei*rer the content nor the amount ofwhat we say is specified in
advance.

-

Conversation analysis seeks to explain how this occurs, and the aim
ofthe secdons which follow is to make the readers sensitive to the
main issues from a teaching point of view.

The co-operative principle
Normal conversations proceed so smoothly because we co-op€rate

in them. Grice (1975) has described four maxims or principles
which develop co-operative behaviour. These are:
The maxim of quality
Make your contribution one that is true. Specifcally:
a. Do not say what you believe to be false.
b. Do not say anything for which you lack adequate evidence.
The.maxim of quantity
Make your contribution just as informative as required and no
more.
The maxim of relation
Make your conribution relevant and timely.
The maxim of manner
Avoid obscurity and ambiguity.
Readers will realize that these maxims are often broken and, when
this happens, native speakers work harder to get at the underlying
meamng, e.g.
A How did you fnd the play?
B The lighting was good.


By choosing not to be as informative as required, B is probably
suggesting the plav is not worth commenting on. A lot of the
material written for teaching English as a foreign language is
deliberatel-v free of such ambiguity. This means that students have

problems later in conversational situations where the ma-.'not observed. Systematic listening practice using authentic
discourse may be one solution.
These maxims may also be observed differently in different
cultures, so we need to tell students ifthel'are saying too much or

too little without realizing it.

The making of meaning
When we speak we make promises, give advice or praise, issue
threats, etc. Some linguists refer to individual moves as speech acts'
Each of the following are examples ofspeech acts and we can try to
allocate a specific function to each example:
- Tum left at the next slreet. (Instruction?)
- Inoest in Crescent Ltfe. (Advice?)

-

Keep off the

grass. (Order?)

However, we need to know the context of the example to give it a
function pith anv certaintl', and it is eas-v to think ofsiruarions in
which the examples above might have a different function from the
one sho*'n. In conversadons the relationship betu'een the speaker
and the listener will have an important effect on how the listener
understands the particular speech act. For example, the wav in
which we hear and respond to a statement such as 1'oe lost my
ztallet, may well depend on whether we think the person is trying to
obtain money under false pretences or not! There is no room to
enter into a full discussion ofdiscourse analysis, but rhe following
issues are particularly relevant to the teaching of conversadon.
Most speech acts have more than one function, e.g. when we say to
a waitress, The music is rather lozl, rve are simultaneousll' reporting
that we cannot hear ourselves speak, and also complain.ing and

asking the waitress to do something about it. Any approach that
leads students to equate one particular language form with one
panicular language function, will lead to misunderstandings in
conversation because an imponant requirement for success is being
able to interpret intended speech acts correctly. There is also a need
to help students begin to become sensitive to why a speaker chose a
panicular speech act, e.g. by setting a listening usk which asks
students to comment on tlte purpose of what they hear - is it meant
as a challenge, a defence? etc.


INTRODT](:TION

Adjacency
The two moves in an exchange are related to each other through the
use ofadjacency pairs. These are utterances produced by two
successive speakers in which the second utterance can be identified
as being related to the first. Some examples ofadiacency pairs are:
I A Hello! (Greeting-Greetrng)

B HiI

2h

Dinner's ready ! (Call-Answer)
B Coming.
3A Is this yours? (Question-Answer)
B No.
In some cases we can predict the second part of a pair from t}re first.
As in example l, a greeting is normally followed by a greeting. In

otler cases there are a variely ofoptions. For example, a complaint
might be followed by an apology or a justification. Teachers need to
think about ways of developing appropriate second pans to
adjacency pairs from the srarr. For example, many drills require
students to reply to yes/no questions with 'yes' or 'no', plus a
repetition of the verb. We therefore get exchanges like:
A Are these cakes fresh?
B Yes, they are.
What students do not often get are opportunities to practise other
options, such as:
A Are these cakes fresh?
B I bought them this morning. Help yourself.
Even worse is the tendency to encourage students to produce
isolated sentences containing a target sfucture, e.g. If I had
f10,000 I'd buy a car. Unless we get away from quesaion-answerquesdon-answer sequences and the production of sentences without
either stimulus or response, students will always appear to be flat
and unresponsive in conversation because a minimal answer does
nothing to drive the conversation forward. !7e shall look at how
this might be done through conuolled activities in Chapter 2.

Turn taking
As native speakers we find it relatively easy and natural to know
who is to speak, when, and for how long. But rhis skill is nor
automatically transferred to a foreign language. Many students
have great difficulty in getring into a conversarion, knowing when
to give up their turn to others, and in bringing a conversation to a
close- In order for conversation to work smoothly, all participants
have to be alert to signals that a speaker is about to finish his or her
turn, and be able to come in witl a contribution which 6ts the

direction in which the conversation is moving. We need to rrain
students to sense when someone is about to finish. Falling
intonadon is ofien a signal for rhis.

It would also be useful for students to realize that quesrions like,
Did. anyone watch the football last nigit? funcdon as a general
invitation to someone Io develop a conversation. Foreigners also
sometimes lose their turn because they hesirate in order to find rhe
right word. Teaching our students expressions \ke,lVait, there's
mare, or That's not a/1, as well as fillers and hesitat.ion devices such
zs Enn . . .,Well . . .,so jou can gucss u:hat happercd . . ., erc. will
help them to keep going. Finally, ir is well worth looking ar wal s in
which we initiate and build on what otlers have said such as ?n&cr's
lihe what happened to me . . . and Dil I tell3tou about when . . .?, so
that students can make appropriate contributions. Some relevant
act.ivities can be found in Chapters 3 and 5.

Openings and closings
The devices used for opening and closing differenl conversadons
are very similar. Many conversadons start with adjacency pairs
designed to attract attendon, such as:
I A Have you got a light?
B Sure.
2 A Gosh it's hot in here today.
B I'm used to it.
Openings such as these allow further talk once the other pcrson's
attention has been obtained. Many foreign students use opcnings
that make them sound too direct and intrusive, for example, by
asking a very direct question. Closing too presents a problem when

the sudden introduction of a 6nal move like, Goodbye makes the
foreigner sound rude. Native speakers wi.ll tend to negotiate the end
ofa conversation so that nobody is left talking, and you will hear
expressions like:

- OKthen...
- Right. .
- \Vell, Inppose...
- Erm, I'm afraid . .
- I'oe got to go ttou;- I'll let you get bach to your writing.
- So I'll see you next weeh.
.

.

It is worth pointing these out. Nadve speakers sometimes try to cut
only producing a minimal response or even
saying nothing at all, but neither strategy is recommended for
students of English.
a conversadon short by

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INTRODUCTION

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r oprcs
Different cultures talk about different things in their everyday
lives. Nadve speakers are very aware of what they should and
should not talk about with specific categories ofpeople in dteir own
language, but the rules may be different in a foreign language. Both
teachers and students need to develop a sense of'taboo' subiects if
they are to avoid offence.

Male and female differences in
conversauon
Current research reveals interesting sex differences in conversation
among native speakers. Women, for example, are more Iikely to
show an interest in personal details than men. They are also better
lsteners and more likely to help the person they are speaking to
develop a topic, by asking information questions and making
encouraging remarks and gestures. However, men are more
reluctant to disclose personal information. They prefer it when
there is a purpose for the conversation and they would rather talk
about outside topics, e.g. games, hobbies, politics, cars, etc. t}tan
themselves. This may influence our choice of topic.

Simplification in informal speech
There are many foreign students who pronounce the ildividual
sounds and words of English beautifu.lly but who still sound very
foreign. The reason is that in English the sound quality of a word,
particulady the vowels and certain consonants, changes depending
on whether the word is said in isolation or as pan ofa continuous
stream of words. Some of this is a result of simplification of

informal speech. One important reason for simplification is that
English is a stress-dmed language. rJ hen we speak, all the stressed
syllables in our sentences tend te come at roughly similar intervals
of time. This means that the following sentences (taken from
Broughton et al 1978), when spoken by the same speaker in normal
circumstances, would take the same amount of time to say, even
though they contain different numbers ofwords or syllables.
I lboughtadog.
2 lt's a dogl bought.
3 But it's a dog thatl bought.
They are the same length when spoken because they contain the
same number of suessed syllables ( dog and bought)- This means that
the unstressed syllables have to be squeezed il and the vowels,
which are in unstressed syllables, very often become the neutral or


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INTRODUCTION

weak vowel, or'schwa'which is represented by the symbol [:].
This is the rnost common sound in spoken English and the use of
weak forms means a native speaker will tend to say:

-

Itwas

him.

/rt waz hrm/ not /rt woz hrm,/

Giae it to me. /grv rt te mi/ not /grv rt tu: mi/

Elision, which is the 'missing out' of a consonant or vowel, or
is also very common. A native speaker would tend to say:

both,

/'f: : st'Ori :/ for'first three'.
For foreigners (panicularly those whose native language is
syllabus-timed, e.g. French), the tendency is to give each pan of
a word the same value and this can have a wearying effect on the
native speaker listener, who will, as a result, be less likely to remain
sympathetic and interested. It is therefore worth pointing out weak
forms from the start for recognition and production.
/'fs :s'0ri:/ not

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Stress and

intonation

Good conversationalists use stress and intonation to keep
conversations going. A fall on words like 'OK' or 'So', often serves
to show tttal we are about to change the subject. A rise on 'really'is
a way ofshowing interest. All ofthese are important signals and it is
worth pointing these out to students when they occur so thar they

start iistening for them. A wide voice range is also more likely to
keep a listener interested than a monotone. This can be difficult for
students whose native language has a narrow voice range, and for
rhese students addirional sensidviry training may be needed.
Students also need to realize that the wrong intonation can Iead to
misunderstanding. For example, researchers found that Pakistani
ladies who were serving in the canteen of Heathrow often got a
hostile reacdon by pronouncing the word 'gravy' r.r.'ith a falling
intonation, rather tlan the rise wh.ich would be polite in British

English.

Gesture and body language
Vh.ile it is uue that speakers of English do not use as much gesture
as people in some other cultures, e.g. Italians, they do use their
hands to emphasize a point. The positioning ofthe body also has an
effect on the listener. Sitting on the edge ofa seat may be seen as
being aggressive. Slumping in it is a sign of boredom, and even
where we do not mean it this may be how it comes across. In some
cultures people also smnd very close to tiose they are talking to and
many Americans report discomfort when faced with MiddleEasterners who tend to value proximity and touch. Body language
is a complicated area but it is worth observing your students and
giving them feedback on how they appear to others.

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INTRODUCTION

Summary
Teachers need Io be aware of the characterisdcs of nadve-speaker
performance in conversation if they are to teach conversation

effectively. They also need to consider which of the funcdons of
conversation are most relevant to the students. These will vary
according to Ievel and needs, but most general purpose students

would want to use English to
- give and receive informarion;
- collaborate in doing something;

-

share personal experiences and opinions wirh a view to building
social relationships.

Students will not be able ro do rhese things by ralking clozt
conversalion, and the stress in this book is lea rning by doing ldtro:ugh
activities which give students practice in a pattern of interaction
that is as close as possible to what competent nadve speakers do in
real life. This is the purpose of the F lumcy actiztities in Chapter 4.
However we recognize that students need guidance and support in
the early stages and this is the rationale behind rhe Controlled
actiz;ities in Chapter 2. We also believe that the performance of the
students can be improved by increasing their sensitivity to the way
that conversation works, and the tasks in Chapter 3 are mostly
aimed at developing awareness. The other vital ingredient is
feedback. Studenrs need to be able to assess *Ieir progress so that it
is possible to identify areas for further practice, and this issue is
rreated in Chapter 5.

Finally, the key to the smooth operation of task-based fluency work
is the effecrive managemenr of the materials, of rhe students, and of

the classroom environment. The crv from rnan,'- students'I just
want conversation Iessons" or'I iust want to practise ralking; I
know the grammar', suggesrs that conversation lessons are
somehow easier to prepare and teach, are inferior in sutus to 'the
grammar lesson', and so on. Yet many teachers will know to therr
cost how often the conversation lesson just does not quite work. In
Chapter I we look at how the activities in the book can be used and
put together to provide a coherent and purposeful approach. Above
all we hope that users of the book will find the approach suggested
pracdcal, useful, and interesting enough to develop ideas along
similar lines.



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I Towards a classroom
approach
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to give a briefaccount ofhow the
activities which can be found in chapters 2 to 5 can be combined to
provide a coherent approach to the teaching ofconvenation.
Ahhough many students say that their main purpose in learning
English is to be able to speak it, many students will not talk readily
in class, and the'discussion lesson' in which rhe teacher does most
of the talking is still too prevalent. Ifyou 6nd that this is happenirg
consistently then you should pause and ask yourself the following
questions:

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Do I make an effon to prepare students for the discussion or
fluency activity?
Preparation is a vital ingredient for success. Students need to be
orientated to the topic, and an instruction like'Let's talk about
euthanasia' rarely works. Some of the fluency tasks in Chapter 4
have pre-tasks built in but some students may need more
orientation to a topic than others for cultural or linguisdc reasons.
Some simple techniques which can be used to prepare students for

a

particular topic include:
- The use of audio visual ards to atouse inleresl.
- A general orientation to the topic by means of a shon text,
questionnaire, series of statemenls for discussion and
modification, a video extract, etc. The only rule is that the pretask should never be too long.
- Exercises to build up the vocabulary ne€ded for a task. This can
include matching words to pictures, putting words from a list
inro different categories, learning words from lists, etc.
2 Do students klow what is expected of them?
Students may need to be orientated to the task itselfso that they
know what is expected of them. For example, the insuuction to
'discuss' a topic may be meaningless to many students who do not
come from a culture where such discussion is a norma.l part of the
educational process. In some cases students may need training, and
this is discussed briefly later in this chapter. The general rule is to
formulate tasks in terms srudents can understand ald make sure