Circular Question Time

Aim: Target Audience: Relevance to CPE: Organisation: Materials needed: to practise giving extended answers and eliciting opinion from others students Speaking Parts 2 and 3 groups of 6-8 students per group Worksheet (see next page) ; or one set of at least 8 cards with different questions on for each group

1. Before class, prepare your cards by writing one question on each one. You will need at least 8 different questions for each group, but you may repeat the questions with more than one group. The questions should be of a type similar to those in Part 3. Alternatively you can print out and then cut up the questions on the worksheet. 2. Divide class into groups of 6-8 students and have them sit in circles. 3. Put a set of cards in a pile in the middle of each group. Student 1 (S1) takes a card, reads it aloud and nominates another student to answer. S1 keeps the card in front of her/him. S2 answers the question as fully as possible and then nominates another student, S3, and asks his/her opinion. S3 first responds to what S2 has said and then gives his/her opinion. S3 then takes another card from the pile, reads it aloud and nominates another student to answer. S3 keeps the card, and so on.

4. The activity continues in this way but different students must be nominated so that each
student ends up with at least one card. This means that the third student chosen in each round should be one who has not yet got a card. You should encourage answers to be as fully developed as possible and the third student in each round should build on what has been said before.

Circular Question Time - Worksheet

Are young people too competitive nowadays? Do large families make for a more stable society? Is ambition wrong? Where does the future of education lie? Is tourism a necessary evil? Should violence and shocking images be censored from the TV news? Will e-learning be the educational method of the future? At what age should people be allowed to drive? Is it better to have work experience before going into higher education? What are some of the dangers with the spread of the internet? How are present-day values different from those of previous generations? What do you think are the major challenges the world faces nowadays? How are mobile phones changing the way we live and interact? Do young people have too much freedom nowadays? Are books a thing of the past? Is letter-writing soon going to become a lost art? Should children be made to go to school after the age of 15 if they don't want to? Do you think our planet will still be able to support us in 200 years time?