Yongin KOTESOL September workshop, 2020 (online)
Presenter: Daniel Corks
>>>This workshop will be conducted via Zoom. It is free and open to all, but pre-registration is required. Those hoping to attend, please send us your name and e-mail address using this link: https://forms.gle/Q41K6L3a7sm996VF7
WORKSHOP DETAILS
Title: Smooth(er) Conversation Practice
Subtitle: How to get them talking: Everyday pair conversations for any topic
Abstract
Life (or at least our tests) demands conversational speaking ability, so in class we want to give our students time to practice conversations. But if we just give our students a topic and ask them to talk with each other, the conversations are short and simple. Students are often reluctant to speak with their partner in English, and they don’t sustain the conversation beyond the bare minimum the teacher requires.
To improve this situation, I will demonstrate my approach to daily fluency building and exam practice as achieved with a set of carefully developed but easy to copy resources and techniques. These include sets of personally interesting conversation questions, a speed-dating style rotation system that keeps conversations fresh by using the same topic but with different partners, and even a random student picking method where the students feel they’re in control, all while strengthening social bonds between students and creating a team atmosphere in the classroom.
I will cover all of the potential pitfalls of this approach to conversation practice and how I’ve overcome them through years of trial, error and fine-tuning. These potential problems include student apathy, students saying they’re “finished”, having the same partners day in and day out, lack of activity variety and more.
On the first day of the term my students spend 30 minutes having free-flowing, self-directed conversations with each other without switching to their first language, and they enjoy it.
Intended for teachers of conversation classes with learners who are high school aged or older.
Presenter bio: Daniel Corks is a long time member of KOTESOL and an active presenter at various conferences and chapter meetings. He’s a member of the Daejeon-Chungcheong chapter and currently an assistant professor at Woosong University in Daejeon. In addition to various TESOL courses, he’s taught courses on topics including job searching, critical thinking, and quantitative methods.
