1. Let's talk …..the value of real conversation. IATEFL 2015

2. EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE CONTROL ALLOWS US TO
Think more clearly and critically
Conduct logical and thorough research
Evaluate evidence critically
See multiple perspectives
Express ideas coherently and accurately
Collaborate meaningfully with others
Lead and be led

3. WHAT CONVERSATION DOES
Builds language, vocabulary and enhances fluency
Develops communication skills
Builds critical thinking skills
Promotes empathy and respect for others
Fosters self-discovery the development of voice.

4. FIVE CORE SKILLS FOR ENRICHING CONVERSATION
Elaborating and clarifying – using analogy and comparison
Supporting ideas with examples from experience and other external sources
Building on and/or challenging the ideas of others through really listening
Paraphrasing– say using other words
Synthesising or summarising what has been said to demonstrate understanding.

5. Grammar should be taught:
To increase power, opportunity and voice;
To teach habits of fluency, inquiry and experimentation;
To engage students in such a way that this knowledge and these habits are sustaining and flexible
Ehrenworth and Vinton

6. HIGH YIELD GRAMMAR
Complex Sentences
using relative clauses
using subordinating conjunctions
Transitions and Connectors
cause and effect
U-turn clauses to compare and contrast
sequencing
Hedging, qualifying, softening and expressing uncertainty

7. TEACHERLY SKILLS
Pause – thinking time and time to elicit a paraphrase or elaboration
Ask in-depth and challenging questions – 'why' and 'how', not just 'who' and 'what'
Prompt with connectors to encourage expansion
Listen actively – using phatic language and appropriate body language.
Note non-verbal cues signalling misunderstanding, agreement, disagreement or desire to speak.

8. HAVING CONVERSATIONS TEACHES US TO:
Share the conversation space
Think critically and creatively
Deal satisfactorily with conflict and controversy
Recognise and reduce ambiguity
Transfer knowledge and skills and
Take ownership of ideas and opinions expressed in the conversation.

9. ACADEMIC CONVERSATIONS
Jeff Zwiers and Marie Crawford
Stenhouse Publishers 2011