David Kehe - Discussion Strategies: Beyond Everyday Conversation

Pro Lingua Learning

PO Box 4467

Rockville, MD 20849

Office: 1-301-424-8900

Web: ProLinguaLearning.com

Email:

At Pro Lingua,our objective is to foster an approach to learning and teaching that we callinterplay, theinteraction of language learners and teachers with their materials, with the language and culture, and with each other in active, creative, and productiveplay.

Copyright 1998, 2001, 2012, 2020, 2021 by David Kehe and Peggy Dustin Kehe

Digital Edition ISBN 978-0-86647-542-6

Print Edition ISBN 978-0-86647-330-9

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, or stored in an information or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

The topics in this book were gathered from articles in a variety of newspapers: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Seattle Times, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Chicago Tribune, The European, The Observer, The Japan Times, The Daily Yomiuri, and The Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Journal. All of the illustrations are by Andrew Toos except for the cartoons used with news articles on Monkey Business Images.

This book was designed and set by Arthur A. Burrows using Century Schoolbook for the text and display type.

These activities follow and build upon the strategic conversation skills of our intermediate-level book, Conversation Strategies. However, this text stands on its own and may easily be used for its own purpose: developing discussion skills. The activities in Discussion Strategies are designed to help high-intermediate to advanced level ESOL students develop the skills needed at high levels of communicative interaction.

From the early units on, students, in a step-by-step procedure, are given extensive practice in a variety of discussion strategies for leading and participating in a discussion. They are given focused practice with the following discussion techniques:

using rejoinders

asking follow-up questions

seeking and giving clarification

using comprehension checks

answering with details

soliciting more details from others

interrupting others during a discussion

recounting something they have heard

volunteering an answer

helping the leader of a discussion

expressing an opinion

referring to a source when giving an opinion

leading a discussion themselves

Each unit builds on and recycles the strategies practiced in the previous ones, and for that reason, it is recommended that the class proceed through the book unit-by-unit in the given sequence. By the final units, students, while discussing sophisticated topics, are using all the strategies in large-group or whole-class situations.

The general progression of interaction formats in the book is from participating with a partner in pair-work to leading large-group discussions. In the table of contents, the interaction formats are indicated as pairs, triads, small groups, and large groups or whole class.

In many of the units, summaries of newspaper articles are used as the topics for practicing the strategies and for carrying out the discussion. These articles have been chosen for their high-interest content. No article requires in-depth background knowledge, and the topics can be discussed by students from any culture.

To students and teachers: All the articles in this book are true stories.

General Structure of the Book

Discussion Strategies by Unit

Format: Triads

Format: Pairs

Format: Pairs

Topics: Flight Attendant Hero

Lost in a Jungle

Format: Pairs

Topics: Giant Baby

Music, Reading and Math

Format: Triads

Format: Triads

Topic: Your High School Days

Format: Triads

Topic: Animals in Movies

Format: Triads

Topic: Sleep

Format: Triads

Format: Triads

Topic: Stress

Format: Triads

Topic: Your Hometown and Childhood Home

Format: Triads

Topic: Telling Lies

Format: Triads

Format: Triads

Topic: Superstitions

Format: Triads

Topics: Short People Live Longer

Gossiping

Why the French Have Fewer Heart Attacks

Format: Small Groups

Format: Triads

Topic: Divorce

Format: Pairs

Topics: Getting Fat

Wrong Stadium

Bugs in Manila

Naked in the Laundromat

Format: Triads

Topic: Catching Colds

Format: Small Groups

Format: Triads

Topic: Driving

Format: Triads

Format: Triads

Topics: Fathers Who Live Longer

Smoking and Aging

Tasting Food

Format: Triads

Topic: Gambling

Format: Pairs

Topic: Information from a Survey

Format: Small Groups

Topics: The Rights of Mothers and Fathers

Death Caused by Cigarettes

De-barking Dogs

63-Year-Old Woman Has a Baby

Format: Triads

Topic: Bullying

Format: Triads

Topics: Best Friends

The Effects of Watching TV

Spanking

Format: A Model, Teacher-led Whole-Class Discussion

Topic: Cheating in School

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Animal Empathy

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Cafeteria Trays

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: TV in the Bedroom

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Culture and Alcoholism

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Boredom

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Keys to Happiness

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: The Clown and the Cell Phones

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Family Meals

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: International Students in the U.S.

Format: Large Groups/Whole Class

Topic: Students Choice

Other books by David Kehe and Peggy Dustin Kehe

Basic Conversation Strategies:

Learning the Art of Interactive Listening and Conversing

Conversation Strategies:

Pair and Group Activities for Developing

Communicative Competence

Digital edition available

Write after Input:

Intermediate

Developing Paragraphs and Compositions from Listenings and Readings.

Writing Strategies

Book One High-Intermediate

Book Two Advanced:

A Course in Essay Writing

Using a Student-Centered Approach