Conversation Activities Guideline

A practical approach in designing Conversation Activities

“Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages”
TESOL Canada

Program Guide ©

TESOL Canada ®
Vancouver, British Columbia
2022- 2023
TESOL Conversation Activities & Workshops

I) Designing Conversation Activities:

This practical approach is an introduction to the design of Conversation Activities that

used in Conversation Workshops & Group Classes. The idea is simple and straight to
the point. To have a conversation we need a Subject. Once a subject is selected, we
then need to know few parameters to design a Conversation Lesson. Following are
important points to be considered when designing a conversation class.

1. The number of Participants/ Students.

o Based on the number of participants, an activity can change in duration,
the flow of conversation, participation of all students in dialogue, time
sharing of each student, and even presentation material.

2. Language levels of students & their knowledge.

o Students' language level will significantly impact the selection of a
conversation topic and its presentation. Lower-level students tend to be at
ease with basic Vocabulary, such as greetings; intermediate levels prefer
more challenging Vocabulary, such as daily conversation on tabloids &
journals. Advanced students prefer academic or professional Vocabulary.
Each subject can be presented at various levels, from beginners to
advanced, depending on the selected Vocabulary. Depending on their
levels, the use of material can also be modified. For instance, beginners
understand a conversation much better when they hear and view it
simultaneously (video). Hence, the use of video or YouTube programs can
be beneficial.

On the other hand, advanced students may benefit more from reading an
article in a newspaper (Website) or listening to the news on the radio
(Webcast) and discussing its topic in class (online class, zoom, Webex,
etc.) A class with multiple levels of students is best to be corrected or
avoided. If you were placed on the spot with such a class, the suggestion
is to carry on with the intermediate level.

3. Average Age of Students.

o Depending on the student's age, class activities can be modified to grasp
students' full attention on their interests in subjects that would be more
appropriate for their age.
4. Knowledge of their Profession & Educational Background & Interests.
o This is important so they can practice and learn the Vocabulary they will
most likely use in their new language. For instance, when a Chef, a
Waiter, and a Pilot are in the same class, your best activity can be dealing
with food preparation & menus that they serve on flights. This way, they
can all relate to the activity. Although it is not always easy to relate
subjects together, we do our best to use our imaginations as teachers.

5. Knowledge of their First Language/ Mother Tongue & Cultural Background.

o Most students have different linguistic backgrounds than others. As
mother tongues can differ while learning a new language, they can all
have slightly different accents. Knowledge of their original language will
assist teachers in improvements & corrections of students' accents.
Spanish-speaking students have the habit of reading & sounding "LL" as
"Y" and reading "J" sometimes as "Y" and sometimes as "KH." "RR" is
often read as "L." In Japanese, "R" is read as "L," so "Radio" would sound
like "Ladio." In Portuguese, "R" is read as "H," and that can make "Rock &
Roll" sound like "Hock & Hole." In Arabic, the words "CH" and "P" or "G"
such as in "Gabriel" or "J" such as "Julie" in French do not exist. Words
such as "Gh," "Kh," & "Dh," which are widely used in Arabic, do not exist in
English. This can explain some of the accent-related issues. A
professional teacher can significantly benefit from this knowledge and
guide students in the right direction of accent correction. In addition to the
above, knowledge of cultural background can assist in selecting
conversation activities that would not be offensive or disrespectful in
certain cultures. Cultural knowledge can also assist teachers' classroom
management and student behavior. In certain cultures tapping on the
shoulder as a sign of good work & encouragement is acceptable and, in
some others, is highly bizarre, unprofessional and sometimes even rude.
For instance, in most parts of Asia, women do not shake hands with men
and politely keep a certain personal distance.

6. Time Duration Specified for the Conversation Activity.

o Now that we know the basic information, we need to know how much time
shall be designated for a Conversation Activity. Some classes are
exclusively conversation classes, and some are full Grammar Lesson
classes with some short periods designated for conversation time. In
general, a Conversation Activity should not last more than 30 minutes.
When an entire Conversation Workshop class can last one to two hours,
each class may have 3 to 4 Conversation Activities.
7. The environment of Practice (Native or non-Native area/ Classroom, Online,
or Phone)
o A native-speaking environment is always a great place to learn a language
and practice conversation. However, most people cannot travel due to
personal reasons such as work, school, other obligations, and travel costs.
Teachers can facilitate this by providing a classroom simulation using
online resources or live webinar tools. The material used in a native
environment is slightly different from non-native classrooms. To learn
about shopping in a native English-speaking class, students can take a
field trip right to the market or mall, while in a non-native area, all must be
conducted inside a classroom or online using videos and role-plays.

8. Available Material (Audio Visual Material, Computers, Books and Journals,

etc.)
o The class presentation (or online PowerPoint) can vary based on the
availability of proper lighting, computers, CD Players, TV, in-class Wifi
connection, available books and journals, PowerPoints/ pdf and all other
material that one might need for a particular activity. For online use, one
must consider if students have Internet access or if activities should be
downloaded for offline usage. Assuming the activity is about Cars and
Types of Cars & their special gears, teachers must include pictures,
articles, website links, YouTube videos/ links or any other tool that can
assist students through conversation.

9. General & Terminal Objective and Goal of this activity.

o Vocabulary Use, Accent corrections, Pronunciation, Listening, Speaking,
Particular Subject practice and education, fluency in the use of grammar in
conversation, cultural familiarity, etc. The overall goal of the Conversation
Activity must be clear. If you aim to improve your students' Pronunciation
& Fluency in a specific topic (i.e. Fishing, Cooking), you must then clearly
identify this goal.

10. Enabling Objectives.

o Using the learned Vocabulary and grammar, being able to make a phone
call, reserving a flight ticket, buying a concert ticket, ordering Food from
the menu in a restaurant, etc. Once the goal is clear, try to achieve it
through presenting Reading Subjects, related Vocabulary, related
Listening activities and Speaking chances within the class. All these steps
are parts of Enabling Objectives. Enabling Objectives are the baby steps
toward achieving a greater goal in a Terminal Objective.
 11. Conversation Activity, Directions and Guide.
o As a teacher, you can plan the class setup, start, follow through, pace,
timing, Vocabulary and grammar used and a step-by-step instructional
guide on what you wish to teach in the class. This is broadly known as
Lesson Plan, but here we need it as a Conversation Lesson Plan. Lesson
Plans should have an introduction, objectives (enabling objectives), goal
(terminal objectives), the topic of activity (Subject), and a guide on how to
do it. It will then follow with a Vocabulary introduction and related Reading,
Listening or Videos. Once the material is transferred to students, it is time
to start the actual conversation activity.

12. Conversation Activity Assignment:

o After studying the attached samples of conversation activities, your
Assignment is to design 12 Conversation Activities with 30 to 45 minutes
each. Considering the above parameters will make your conversation
activities more accurate, calculative and productive.

Some attachments are for Conversation Activities, and others are for complete grammar Lesson Plans.
Although they all seem different, they maintain a pattern of the above essential objectives through their
activities and lesson plans.

For any additional assistance, please email your course coordinator at

info@tesolcanada.org / www.tesolcanada.org