Conversation Skills for the Young EFL Learner Sarah Coutts sarahcoutts@sen.go.kr www.smoeworkshopsources.wordpress.com

Formulaic Language Simple Greetings Hello! How are you? / I’m fine, thank you. And you? Social English Did you have a nice weekend? / Have a nice weekend! Routines What’s the date? / What’s the weather like today? Classroom Language Listen! / Repeat! / Sit down! / Work in pairs! Good! / It’s your turn! / Be quiet! Asking Permission May I go to the toilet? / May I clean the board? / etc.

DOLCH SIGHT WORDS Pre-Primer Primer First Grade Second Grade Third Grade

Chunks Collocations Rich and famous, set the table, do the dishes, turn in your homework Phrasal Verbs Get up, log on, run out of, go on about, mess up Idioms, catchphrases and sayings Bark up the wrong tree, speak of the devil, don’t put all your eggs in one basket Sentence Frames Would you like a…? / Do you think…? / What would happen if…? Social Formulas See you later. / Have a nice day. / Mind your head.

Pronunciation /b/ /v/ /f/ /p/ /l/ /r/ /j/ /z/

Odd One Out

Phone Number

Tongue Twisters

Tongue Twister Race Spell New York: Knife and a fork, bottle and a cork, that is the way you spell New York I saw Susie: I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop. Download the mp3 for these tongue twisters at http://www.download-esl.com/tonguetwisters/easy/easytongue.html

I have a date: I have a date at a quarter to eight; I’ll see you at the gate, so don’t be late. Seven slick snails: Seven slick slimy snails, slowly sliding southward Four furious friends: Four furious friends fought for the phone.

Pile On for Fluency John runs. John runs away. John runs away from the wolf. John runs away, with his arms flying wildly, from the rabid wolf with sharp claws who is chasing him to eat him for dinner. To help student fluency at the sentence level, try piling words and phrases on to a simple sentence. Start with a basic sentence – as simple as you can make it. e.g. “John runs.” Say the sentence for your students and have them repeat it. If they can read the sentence comfortably, add a word or a phrase. “John runs away.”

Dialogues Dictate a dialogue or improve it.

Spot the Difference

Intonation Fun Say “Hello” to a friend to a friend you haven't seen for 3 years  to a neighbor that you don't like  to a 6 month old baby  to someone on the phone when you're not sure if they are still on the other end 

Say “How are you?” Say “Goodbye” to someone you haven't seen for 20 years   to someone who has recently lost a member of the family  to someone who looks very sick  Say “Goodbye” to a member of your family as they are getting on an airplane to someone who has been annoying you to a child starting his very first day at school

I Spy I spy with my little eye, something beginning with….

ABC Catch Write the alphabet on the board. Throw a ball to someone and say a word begining with the letter A. This person must catch the ball, say a word begining with the letter B and then throw it to another person. This third person says a word begining with the leter C and so on.

Fairy Tale Board Game This activity is an excellent way to get students to use their imaginations while developing speaking skills Directions: 1. Take turns rolling the dice and moving the counters around the board. 2. Create a story of your own using the fairy tale characters provided on the squares.