3

Ta

This section contains a miscellany of topics

to keep your students talking once the class
has been formed and the ice broken.
Everyone has something interesting to say,
whether it is expressi ng an opinion,
exchang ing information, answering
questions o r giving advice.

Here is a wide variety of activities united by

a single aim: to continue stimu lating your
students to keep ta lking in English as often
as they can.

36
 Talking to Each Other

More Equal Than Others

It is important to have a l ist containing a fair

Level
mixture of adjectives which can and cannot be
Intermed iate
compa red. Make sure the meanings are clear.

Time
30-45 minutes EJ Tell the students to work in small groups and
discuss which of the adjectives can and cannot
Language Functions be compared. Some students will inevitably
Comparing; describing interpret the adjectives strictly, others loosely,
which can generate a great deal of discussion.
Materials Encourage the students to think of several
N one situations in which the adjectives can be used.
For example, in the case of 'clear', we can have:
a clear explanation; a clear day; clear water; a
clear conscience; a clear victory; a clear sound; a
In Class
D Discuss wi th the class the fact that not all clear image and so on .

adjectives ca n be com pared. For example, we

can compare something 'big' with something else
which is 'bigger', or someone who is ' intell igent'
wmth someone else who is 'more inte lligent'.
However, if we are talking about something
which is 'perfect' o r ' impossible', we cannot say
th at something else is 'more perfect' or 'more
impossible', except as a joke.
EJ Start a list of adjecti ves on the board and elicit
additional examples from the students until you
have a good selectio n of adjectives :
IJ Ask the grou ps to report back on examples where
they were not all in agreement.
IJ Now that students have gathered a lot more
words to express themselves with, divide them
into pairs and tell them to discuss:
a Which of the adjectives on the list most I least
apply to themselves. Why?
b Which other adjectives, not on the list, best
describe them selves. Why?

attractive meaningless c Which adjectives they find useful and could

absolu te fair 'imagine themselves using in their
supenor suffic ient conversations. Why?
universal catastrophi c
different tolerant
obvious neurotic
absurd pregnant
emotion al un 1que
musica l normal
clear exact
sti II correct
aggress1ve accurate
eq ual polite

37
Talking to Each Other

Time to Talk

Level
IJ Finish off with a who le class discussion about
which topics the students are most interested in
Intermediate
and which they have the most difficulty with .
Thi s can be useful for planning future
Time
conversation classes.
45 minutes

Language Functions NOTE: Some students might f ind the worksheet quite
Exchanging and comparing information ~md difficult to fi ll in. It requires a fair amount of
opinions; describing reflection. Rather than spending too much time on
this, you cou ld start it in class and ask students to
Materials complete it for homework for a discussion in the
Copies of the worksheet following lesson.

In Class
D Ask your students what they tal k about outside
the classroom. Who do they talk to? Who do
they most like talking to? Collect a few responses
from around the class and then give out the
worksheets.

EJ Tell them to fi ll in the worksheet individually and

then discuss it with a partner. They should use
their lists to tell their partner: what they ta lk
abou t and who with; what they say; which
people they most like talking to, and why. They
can also include further details, such as when
and where their conversations rusually take place.
The list of subjects might include:

pop groups sport

.
crnema work
shoppi ng eating out
chi ldren news
parents TV
homework gardening
religion books
weather friends
the Internet computer games
brothers and s~sters home

38
Time to Talk
WORKSHEET

Subject People you talk to about it Further details

Creating Conversation in Class© Chris Sian published by DELTA PUBLISHING

39
Talking to Each Other

Ask Me a Question

Level Name Topic Question

Intermed iate
Bill Internet O o you ever use
the Internet 10 help
Time you with y o ur
60-90 minutes h omework'?

Language Functions Anna Sumo What do you think

Asking and answ erin g questions; wrestling about Surno for
exchangi ng information women?

Materials Joey l-lolidays in Can you

Copies of the w orksheet; an overhead Scotland reco mmend a
projector is useful but not essential good youth hos:tel
in the Highlands'?

In Class
D Hand out copies of the w orksheet. Fill in the D W hen they have fi nished writing dow n their
students' names on your copy of the w orksheet questions, the students should mingle and ask
and tell them to do the same. each other the questions th ey have w ritten about
each topic. Stress that the questions are intended
as starting points, springboards to further
EJ Explain th at you want to give them the chance to
conversation. They sho uld try and speak to as
talk about something that they really know
many of their cl assmates as they can.
something about. Each student should give you
one topic wh ich they feel th ey could answer
questi ons about. G ive them a chance to think of
something suitable whi ch w ill generate lots of
questions. Each student should call out their
topic. Tell all the students to write their
classmates' topi cs on their worksheet next to their
name.

D Each studen t has to write one question about

each topic on th eir w orksheets. The questions
can be written out in ful l or in note form . G ive a
few examples yourself so that the task is clear
and offer help w here necessary.

40
Ask Me a Question
WORKSHEET
/

Name Topic Question

\. :/
Creating Conversation in Class © Chris Sion published by DELTA PUBLISH ING

41
Talking to Each Other

Collecting Key Words

Level
El Ask the pairs one by one to provide a couple of
examples at a time, to be w ritten up on the
Intermediate
board. Take your turni adding your own
examples. If words come up more than once, just
Time
put a mark next to them for each occu rrence. It is
45 minutes
better not to ask a group to give all their
examples at once, as they might decide that they
Language Functions
have finished their contribution, and 'switch off'.
Comparing

Materials EJ In pairs or small groups, the students should now

Dictionaries are useful but not essential discuss the topic, using as many of the words and
expressions on the board as they can.

Be·fore Class
Decide on a topic you want to discuss and
prepare a set of about twelve words or
expressions relating to it.

In Class
D Tel l your students the topic you want to discuss.
It might be related to the news, be of local
interest or be something linked to a text or video,
or anything else covered recently in class. They
may use dictionaries if they wish.

EJ Divide them into pairs and ask them to th ink of

about twelve words or expressions connected
with the topic. Give them five to ten minutes to
do this.

IJ Explain th at you have also prepared some key

words and expressions rel ating to the topic and
that you want to compare their examples with
your own.

42
 Talking to Each Other

Topics from A-Z

Level
Elementary
Time
30-45 minutes
Language Functions
Asking and answering questions; disclosing
information; agreeing and disagreeing
Materials
None
In Class
D Write the alphabet on the board in large, clear
letters. Tell the students to think of a couple of
words beginning with each letter of the alphabet.
EJ Go round the dass asking for one contribution
from each student. It is not necessary to work
systematically. As the activity is built up, the
board might look something l ike this:
IEJ Tel l the students to work in pairs. Explain that a
selection of these words will form the basis of their
discussion. Tell the students to pick between five
and ten words from the list that they would like to
talk about. They should agree on which words
they both find interesting. They may make minor
modi ficatio ns or interpretations if they wish. For
example, 'Europe' could be taken to be 'the
continent of Europe' or 'the European Community' .
'Jealous' cou ld be modified to 'jealousy'. The
important point is that they agree on the subjects.
EJ Give the pairs a certain amount of time to talk
and leave them to it, simply being on hand to
help when needed.
NOTE: You can easil y make the activity more specific
by including a qual ification in Step 3. For example,
pick five to ten words that are connected with school,
your job, last weekend, t he Christmas holidays and so
on. You cou ld also use the worksheet on page 29 and
get students to complete it for homework as the basis
for discussion in the next class.

A N neve"
B book 0
c p
D Q
E Europe R
F s soccer, sunshir»e; smile
G T tennis
H holiday; home, happiness u
I v
J job,jealous W winte r
K kaleidoscope X
L y
M z zoo

43
Talking to Eac h Other

Past, Present, Future

Modify the questions if necessary to m ake them

Level
more suitable for conversation and briefly revise
Intermediate
poirnts of grammar as you go. Try to include at
least one question from each student. You should
Time
also make sure that past, present and future are
30-60 minutes
more or less equally represented.

Language Functions
Asking and answering questions in
different tenses
Materials
Copies of the worksheet
In Class
D Tell the students to prepare three questions
individually to ask each other. The questions may
be about any subject at all. The o nl y restriction is
that o ne question should re late to the present,
one to the past and one to the future and that the
question s shou ~ d be suitable starti ng points for
making conversation. 'What cot!our is your
sweater?' would not generate much to say.
EJ Draw three columns on the board and label them
Past, Present and Future. Write up a selection of
the students' questi ons on the board in the
relevant column li ke thi s:
Expl ain why you choose to put the questions in
the variou s columns if it is not clear, for example,
that 'What are you doing this weekend?' is a
question about the future although the form is
pres,e nt continuous. ' Have you seen Hamlet?'
coulld go in the Present or Past column. Hand out
cop ties of the worksheet and get students to write
down the questio ns.
D Tell the students to work in pairs and spend ten
minutes asking each other questi ons about the
past from their worksheets. They shou ld then
change partners and ask each other tlhe quest ions
about the present, again for about ten minutes.
They then get a further ten minutes to change
partrners once more and ask each other the
questions about the future. Stress that the
questions should be seen as conversation
openings and that one-word answers are not
acceptable.

Past Present Future

Where were you when the
Berlin Wall was torn down?
Where were you born'?
What do you think should
be done to combat drug
addiction'?
What s ort oFhouse or
flat d o you live in'?
Who d o you think will be the
next President oFthe Unite d
States?
Where would you like to go
o n holiday next year'?

What sort at school did Who is your favourite What will y o u look like in ten
you go toP teach~rP years' time?

What books did you use /-low oFten d o you go What are you doing this
t o like as a child? to parties'? weeke nd?

44
Past, Present, Future
WORKSHEET
/

Past Present Future

'- ~

Creating Conversation in Class© Chris Sion published by om" PUBliSHING

45
Talking to Each Other

Waste Not, Want Not

Level
Intermediate

Time
30 minutes

Language Functions
Asking and answering questions; reporting;
comparing and describing

Materials
Copies of the worksheet

In Class
D Write Waste Not, Want Not on the board. Tel l
the studen ts you want to discuss how thrifty they
are. Check that they know what thrift is and
explain if they don't. Ask if the implications of
thrift have changed over recent years. Ask the
students if they can think of any examples of
fru gality or even excessive thri ft from their own
lives and whether they regard themselves as
thrifty people.

EJ Hand out the w orksheets and tell the students

fi rst to read through the questions and tick 'yes'
or ' no' for each one.

IJ Divide the class into pairs and ask them to

compare and explain their answers.

EJ Ask the students to report back briefly on the

most interesting parts of their discussions.

NOTE: If your students come from a w ide range of

different backgrounds, you should bear in mind that
what is an absurd degree of thrift for one student may
be almost a question of surviva l for another.

46
Waste Not, Want Not
WORKSHEET

Read through the following questions and give yourself one point for every question to which you
answer 1Yes'. Add up your score and compare with the analysis at the end of the worksheet.

When you are finished with the scoring, go on to discuss the questions with your partner.
Use the items, to develop conversation. Short answers are not enough.

YES NO
• Do you remove and keep the paperclips if you're going to throw away papers D D
which are clipped together?

• Do you carefully remove wrapping paper from a gift so you can re-use it? D D

• Do you collect used sheets of A4 paper to use the clean side as scrap notepaper? D D

• Do you squash fragments of old soap onto the new bar you start using? D D

• Do you deliver letters to people living in your neighbourhood rather than D D

posting them?

• Do you keep used nails and screws so you can use them again? D D

• Would you continue using a biro that was almost empty, but not quite? D D

• When vacuum cleaning the house, would you go out of your way to save a D D
rubber band on the floor?

• Do you eat t he last couple of slices of bread even if they're a bit dry? D D

• Do you usually try to get the last little bit of tooth past~ out of the tube? D D

• Do you keep plastic bags to use them again? D D

Score
12-15 points: You are very thrifty and extremely careful not to waste anything.
8-11 points: Average. Quite thrifty but not excessively so.
5-7 points: Not very thrifty at all. Almost wasteful in some situations.
0-4 points: Definitely not thrifty at all. A Life of waste!

Creating Conversation in Class© Chris Sion published by DELTA PUBLISHING

47
Ta l king to Each Oth er

General Motors

Level IJ Continue by asking the students to d iscuss a

selection of the fo llowing points:
Intermediate
• Do you like travel ling by car?
Time • H ave you got a driving licence?
30 minutes
• How lo ng have you had your ca r?
Language Functions • W hen did you learn to drive?
Describing; comparing; giving personal
information • Who do you al low to drive your ca r?

• Are you satisfied with your car? Would you

Materials buy another of the same make?
None
• What does your car mean to you? Is i t just a
means of transport or do you have an almost
personal relationship with it?
In Class
D As a lead-in to the topic, namely talking about • How often do you:
ca rs, ask the cl ass what sorts of numbers occur in fill up with petrol ?
describing cars. Bui ld up the fol lowing list on the c heck the oil?
board: check the tyres?
have your car serviced?
number of doors number of cyl inders
horse power petrol consumption
number of seats capacity of engine IJ Finish off with a discussion of some of the
top speed mileage following points:
year capacity of petrol tank • What should be done about pollution from
c ruising speed pnce ca rs?

• Do you think there are too many ca rs on the

EJlf the students are car owners, tell them to work road?
in pairs and discuss their own cars w ith reference
to the above points. If most stu dents do not have • Are cars a necessary evil ?
ca rs, see the suggestions in the Note below. • Can you imagine the car of the future?

NOTE: If few of the students in the class have ca rs,

you could focus instead on the images used in car
advertising: w hat ideas are associated with different
types of cars; what a car says about a person and so
on. Alternatively, you could ask them to discuss their
parents' car or their dream car before moving on to
the general discussion in Step 4.

48
 Talking to Eac h Other

Safety First

level
II Tell the groups to think of as many aspects of
their subjects as they can, for example:
Intermediate
On the road:
Time Obey the speed lirnits. Orive partic ularly
45 minutes carefully when it is icy. Leave a saFe
di$1-ance between you and the car in
language Functions Front o n the m o torway.
Giving advice
At work:
No s m o king in the laborato ry. W ear a
Materials protective helmet o n a building s He.
None
O o n't w ear loose clothes iFy o u work
with machinery.

In the home:
In Class
IFy o u have y o ung children d o n't cook o n
D Tell the students you are goi ng to divide the class the Front rings oF the cook er . Install
into three groups for a discussion and that the
smoke alarms. O o n't change a light bulb iF
subject you want to focus on is safety. Each
y o ur hands are wet.
group is to investigate a different aspect of safety.

If necessary, appoint one member of each group

IEJ Divide the class i nto the three groups as follows: as a coordin ator. Note that it is important that
Group 1 : Safety on the road each member of the group should write down the
Group 2: Safety at work examples, in preparation for Step 4.
Group 3: Safety in the home
El When the groups have finished , tell the class to
re-group in threes. These new groups should
have one student from each of Groups 1, 2 and 3
working together. Their task is to repotrt back on
the vari ous aspects of safety they discussed.

Further examples may be mentioned in the new

groups and the discussion may continue for some
time, ei ther in the groups, as a whole class
activi ty or both.

49
LEARNING TO REVISE
Tattoos
level: Elementary
Time: 30 minutes
language Function: Revising vocabulary
Materials: Ballpoint pens
In Class
1 Tell your students you want to spend some time
revising vocab ulary. Tell them to take a piece of
paper and draw a line down the middle. One side
is for a list of words they have recentl y learned and
are sure about. The other is for a list of words they
have been exposed to but which they are not yet
sure about. Tell them they have about fifteen
minutes to look through their books and notes and
make their lists.
2 Tell them to compare w ith a partner the words they
have l isted as 'not yet sure about'.
3 Ask if anyone has any friends o r acquaintances
w ith a tattoo or if they have ever thought about
having a tattoo themselves. Explain th at the reason
for your question is an amusing idea for
vocabulary revision: that they should take a
ba llpoint pen and write a couple of words they
want to learn on themselves like tattoos.
4 The students decide what words they want to
tattoo themselves with and write or illustrate them
clearly on their hands or w ri sts so that they can be
seen, both by themselves and their classmates, for
the rest of the day.
5 Finish off by aski ng the students to report on w hich
words they selected and why.
6 Follow up the acti vi ty in the next lesson by asking
the students if they can now remember the words
they chose for th eir tattoos.
50
Streets Ahead
level: Intermed iate
Time: 30-40 minutes
language function: Recalling vocabulary
Materials: None
In Class
1 Ask the students to tell you about the area where
they are l iving at present: local street names;
shops; b uildings; restaurants and so on.
2 Ask them to draw a simple map of where they
spend most of their time. The map could be spl it
into more than one part if necessary. For example:
home and work or home and school. Tell them to
incl ude some street names and other details as
mentioned in Step 1.
3 Get the studen ts to look through their notes and
books and pick out about a dozen usefu l words
and expressions they want to revise. Give them
abou t ten to fifteen minutes.
4 Now tell them to rename some of the streets,
shops, buildings and so on, using the vocabu lary
they want to revise. For example:
Think-Thought-Thought Street
For Two Years Road
Sunrise Avenue
Improbable House
Most Beautiful Bank
Ugliest Supermarket
5 Divide the class into pairs or small groups and tell
the students to present their maps to each other.
A lternative ly students cou ld present their maps to
the whole class, using a fl ip chart or overhead
projector.
 LEARNING TO REVISE
6 Tell the students that they should imagine 3 Give each student a card. Say that this is their
themselves in the locations they have drawn and Revised Identity Card. They should fill it in, basing
should say the 'revision names' of the places to the information on their cards on the vocabulary
themselves as they do so. The emphasis here is on they want to revise. They can also include any
consolidating vocabulary learned rather than other amusi ng detai ls to make the activity more
creating conversation but this strategy provides lively. Introduce yourself first with your card so the
invaluable fluency practice. Most important of all, students are clear about what you want. For
next time they are actual ly in those places, they example:
shou ld repeat the new names they have given
them, as a way of recalling the vocabulary out of Name: Joe Sales Orive
the classroom. Tell the students you will ask them Address: 27 Recipe Street,
to report back at the next lesson.
t=conomics Town
Wife's (maiden) name: Janet Since a Po int
in Tim e
Place of Birth: Rising Sun, Alabama
Revised Identity Cards Sign of the Zodiac: Indigestion
Level: Intermediate
Occupation: Photographer
Time: 30 minutes
Language Function: Revising vocabulary Hobby: Photography
Materials: Pieces of thin card slightly bigger than a
postcard
4 Tell the students to mingle and introduce
themselves to each other in their revised identities.
Before Class
Insist that they should not just read out the
You should prepare a list of words and expressions to
information on their cards. They should say 'I was
revise with the class, unless you prefer to tell the
born in Rising Sun, A labama' not ' Place of Birth:
students to select vocabulary to revise themselves
Ri sing Sun, A labama'. You'll probably find that you
won't need to tell them to explain vocabulary to
In Class
anyone who doesn't understand it. They'll just do
1 Write up on the board a list of words and
it natura lly!
expressions you want to revise, or tell the students
to spend a few minutes looking through their
books and notes and to pick out about a dozen
vocabulary items tney want to revise.

2 Tell them to make a list of the sort of information

typically found on a passport or identity card, for
example: name, maiden name, date and place of
birth, address, occupation and so on.

51