Making EFL Conversation Count: A Practical Discussion

Hsiang-Ni Lee, Taiwan

Hsiang-Ni Lee is an assistant professor at National Taitung University, Taiwan. She is interested in children’s literature, family literacy, literature-based reading instruction and material development. In the future, she also wishes to explore the multiple possibilities of utilizing technology in language education. E-mail: hnl@nttu.edu.tw

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Abstract
Introduction
Types of conversation
Having a conversation: Not as easy as it seems
In the classroom: What teachers need to consider
Conclusion
References

Abstract

After identifying the types of conversation that EFL students are often likely to encounter, this paper goes on to discuss three prerequisites for having a successful conversation, including speech production, listening comprehension and socio-cultural knowledge. This paper also reveals that teachers need to carefully choose topics and be vigilant in monitoring the ongoing classroom discussions. Finally, an examination is made into the significance of one’s communicative competence in a conversation.

Introduction

In the not so distanced past, when people wanted to verbally communicate with others who were not in close proximity, the telephone was basically the only option available. Unfortunately, the telephone has never been a very cost effective choice for people who live far distances away from each other. Nowadays, due to tremendous advancements in technology, people have at their disposal a number of ways to speak with people who may be in another country or even on another continent (d’Eça, 2003; González, 2003b). Additionally, modern technological devises, such as Skype and MSN Messenger, to name just two, allow individuals to speak with others for very little or even no expense. As the impressive technology available in the world today allows, and indeed even encourages verbal communication between people, this has made the world more of a “global village,” and has made English a dominant lingua franca. EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners therefore must possess more than just some rudimentary linguistic ability of spoken English. In fact, it is absolutely imperative that EFL students acquire a high level of verbal communicative skill using English if they wish to become effective members of this worldwide community.

As an EFL teacher, I am constantly aware from observations of my students how difficult it can be to speak to another person using only English. Thus, in this paper, I will start by discussing the different kinds of conversational situations EFL students are likely to find themselves engaged in when speaking with others. I will also look at some specific reasons why EFL students may be having a difficult time trying to have a conversation in English. Finally, I will offer some advice to teachers who may be thinking about, or preparing to, teach a conversation class. The practical discussion in this paper is presented to highlight the importance of creating a supportive learning dynamic for fostering confident and skillful foreign language speakers.

Types of conversation

A conversation is a verbal discussion in which an exchange of ideas takes place. EFL students often face a variety of diverse conversational situations, and the subsequent success or failure of that conversation will be determined by what occurs at that time. One such type of conversation is “small talk,” which is also commonly referred to as “chit-chat.” Small talk can be considered a somewhat unique type of conversation in that the people engaging in it can be known to each other, such as friends or family members, or they can be total strangers who meet while waiting to board a bus. Small talk, as its very name seems to imply, is usually about a less than serious topic, i.e. how the weather is, or perhaps what a person thought about a television show watched on a previous day. While it may appear that English small talk would be the least stressful, since it can be about a wide range of relatively easy and innocuous topics, and the fact it usually does not require much in the way of time, research has found that the conversation can still lag or come to halt if the speaker is without a great deal of English vocabulary knowledge about different subjects (Beare, 2012).

Secondly, an EFL student may find himself having a “formal” conversation with someone who can be either on an equal status or in a position of authority, e.g. a teacher or employer. For instance, learners who choose to pursue a higher education may have to be interviewed prior to attending a particular institution. In such a situation, s/he is possibly faced with the greatest amount of trepidation and finds that this kind of conversation offers the greatest opportunity for making what s/he feels is an embarrassing oral or aural error. After all, the person(s) s/he is talking to have some degree of control over his life, and can, as in the case of a job interview, actually negatively affect the student’s income potential.

A third type of conversation an EFL student will likely engage in occurs when he/she is discussing an issue or issues in a controlled classroom setting. This type of conversation sometimes creates a certain degree of discomfort for students since they may need to speak at length about a particular topic in groups which each member has differing language proficiencies. Additionally, they may have no choice as to what subject is being discussed because the one deciding the topic is usually the teacher. Nonetheless, there are potential benefits for such controlled practices, including practicing speaking on a regular basis, interacting socially with peers, as well as discovering exactly what one’s English language abilities and weaknesses are in general, and in comparison to others.

Having a conversation: Not as easy as it seems

A conversation is not usually something a person would have a natural fear of doing in his native language. It often happens with relative ease, and the topics discussed can be as mundane as what a person had for lunch, or they can be about profound events such as life and death. The range of topics is limitless, and is determined solely by the ones who are holding the conversation (Eggins & Slade, 1997). However, for EFL students, speaking a foreign language will take on a new, and possibly frightening component, since they are being removed from the relative comfort zone of their own language, and placed into a situation which is fraught with dangers. Several reasons may be responsible for learners’ constant struggle:

Speech production

Speaking involves a complex process of conceptualizing an idea, formulating it into grammatical sentences, articulating the thoughts in a clear fashion and concurrently monitoring one’s own speech production (Scovel, 2002). To do so, an EFL learner needs to have a basic understanding of the English language, including pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc. For instance, native speakers of English can speak freely with little fear of making a pronunciation error (Liu, 2006) and are seldom faced with the possibility that they cannot find the accurate words to produce a message. EFL learners, on the other hand, may not be as receptive to paralinguistic clues and are unable to respond spontaneously, e.g. ending a conversation by noticing a change in the interlocutor’s intonation of an utterance or distinguishing the subtle differences in one’s intended meaning depending upon the word a person speaking puts stress on. For EFL learners, each utterance presents an opportunity for an embarrassing mistake to be made.

Listening comprehension

Having good listening ability is a necessity that all participants must have if there is any opportunity for a conversation to flow back and forth smoothly. Under normal circumstances, unless a native English speaker has a hearing disability, he would not have much difficulty understanding most messages conveyed to him. When comprehension problems do arise, such as the conversation taking place in a noisy environment, the person simply not paying attention or the interlocutor speaking about unfamiliar subjects, a native speaker has the luxury of applying different communicative skills to amend the situation. Two common strategies include requesting for repeat or further elaboration.

An EFL learner’s limited listening proficiency can be a major liability which creates a barrier that disallows him from being a cooperative participant in a conversation. Specially, he may struggle a lot with listening comprehension if the conversation 1) is carried out at a rapid speed; 2) contains many idioms or slang expressions; as well as 3) uses a colloquial speech style filled with lots of linked words, vowel reduction or syllable simplifications. The absence to fully comprehend spoken English in a conversation changes a conversation from an exchange of ideas and transforms it into a speech, a monologue, or in the worst case scenario, a diatribe.

Socio-cultural knowledge

Perhaps the most significant factor for a successful conversation is one’s socio-cultural competence. Equipped with proper sociolinguistic and pragmatic knowledge, native speakers of English can swiftly accommodate their conversational styles contingent upon the time and location where the conversation occurs, the topic being discussed and who is involved. Besides, they are able to respond to a speech act, be it a compliment or a complaint, in a way that is acceptable to the discourse community. Such is not the case with certain EFL learners, who seem to often lack thorough understanding of types of euphemisms being referred to or the indirect messages implied in a conversation. It is not surprising, then, that those students can be sometimes wrongfully accused of being rude speakers.

In the classroom: What teachers need to consider

EFL teachers play an essential part in determining whether or not a given conversation course can be a pleasurable and beneficial learning experience for their students. Teachers can start with a needs analysis investigating a class’s general proficiency and specific difficulties to be focused on. As well, they are advised to take an active role in closely monitoring different group discussions in order to ensure that a task is not only proceeding along as planned but done so through students’ friendly collaboration and without much distress. Finally, teachers must instill proper communicative competence into students beyond teaching grammar. Each point is elaborated below:

Needs analysis

One thing that the teacher needs to know in order to have an effective conversation course is the general proficiency level of the students in the class. Simply because EFL students have been placed into a class does not guarantee that they are at equal levels of language competence. Thus, teachers can request the whole class fill out a demographic survey indicating their standardized test scores on spoken English (if any), frequency of speaking English outside of classroom, self-reported strengths and weakness in verbal skills, and specific problems they would like to work on. Another way for a teacher to ascertain a particular student’s current speaking proficiency and difficulties is to spend a few minutes at the beginning of the first few classes, depending on how many students are in the class, and asking students basic questions such as what they ate for breakfast that day or why they liked a certain movie. Often it will become obvious within a relatively short period of time that if the students can understand what is being asked as well as how well they can express themselves in English. It can be quite surprising to discover the vast differences in language skills that students in the same classroom who are of similar ages and even having similar life experiences can possess.

Social dynamics

As previously mentioned, one common situation which many EFL students will experience at some time when in the language classroom is fear or anxiety (Liu & Jackson, 2008). Manifesting itself in a variety of physical symptoms such as “sweating…muscle tension, and confusion” (Harris et al. 2002), anxiety does occur among language learners of all proficiency levels, and it can range in severity from mild to extreme, depending upon the individual. Anxiety may be more pronounced in a class that requires oral production (Kim, 2009; Lim, 2003) as students needs to be fully prepared to produce the language in front of a relatively large group of people with little time to contemplate what they are trying to say. It is no exaggeration that a 5-minute group discussion can turn out to be a traumatic experience for an EFL speaker.

To reduce the anxiety level among EFL learners, teachers may want to work with them in creating classroom rules which promote a socially supportive learning context. Sample policies which everyone needs to abide by can be “There is no such thing as stupid questions” or “Do not interrupt or roll your eyes while others are voicing an opinion. Be respectful.” Through carefully implemented activities, a teacher can also facilitate students’ oral production without fearing they can be interrupted, judged or mocked. “Save the Last Word for Me”, for example, ensures that everyone gets a fair chance to express his thoughts in a group discussion. Similarly, “Reader Theater” permits students to rehearse their speech production prior to performing in front of others. Although some may argue that “Reader Theater” does not aim at triggering authentic verbal communication, it is indeed an effective activity to familiarize the class with basic pronunciations and expressions in an interactive yet much less threatening fashion. Still another possibility is to take advantage of the modern technology. Teachers can consider engaging the class in Facebook discussions. By reading and responding to various English postings, students are virtually “chatting” to each other. The belief is that computer-mediated oral practices can eventually foster one’s confidence and proficiency in speaking (Thornbury, 2007).

Classroom management

The topics EFL students are given to speak about must be chosen with a lot of care on the part of the teacher. Although virtually any topic will be fine for a conversation task, it has to be at the very least linguistically compatible and complemented with proper background knowledge. That is, in a low-level proficiency class, the teacher may choose to give some instructions about how to correctly use the past-tense prior to assigning them a subject about “Tell your group members what you did yesterday.” With advanced students, the teacher may want to explain an issue that is currently in the news, along with key vocabulary and phrases, before putting them in group discussions. The topics should also support the intended teaching objective. Teachers can have students discuss regrets they have in life so as to learn English modals. Finally, the topics need to be meaningful and pedagogical for EFL learners. Teachers may want to consider engaging the class in critical discussions about the subject of bullying, which is frequently happening in the school setting.

It is quite easy for students to veer off the topic in a conversation task, so the teacher should closely monitor what students are saying, or are not saying, to each other while in groups. A useful strategy is to assign one member of each discussion group to be the leader of that particular group. It would be the responsibility of this person to make sure all members focus the discussion on the assigned subject and that any one student does not monopolize the conversation. Prior to the class ending, the teacher could ask each of the group leaders to give a “mini-report” about what people in the groups had to say. Another alternative is to assign each member a specific role when engaged in a discussion. In a group of four students, they can be the leader, time keeper, note-taker and journalist respectively. While the leader keeps the discussion on track, the time keepers makes sure they complete it in a timely manner. Meanwhile the note-taker jots down the gist of the discussion and turns over to the reporter who later gives a summarized oral report to the rest of the class. As everyone is kept occupied with a task, they are less likely to make idle chit-chats.

In a case which students are reluctant to discuss a particular topic that may be to them uninteresting, difficult or awkward, the teacher should give them a certain degree of freedom, but to do so only with certain restrictions. For example, at the beginning of each conversation class, the teacher may allow the students to speak on any topic of their own choosing with their classmates for the first 5-10 minutes. The teacher could also tell the class that for each 20 minute period that they discuss the intended topic, they will be given additional 5-8 minutes as a bonus to chat about anything they want in the group. Should free chats not be plausible due to certain curriculum constraints, a “talking circle” outside of classroom may be an option. In small groups, students can meet on a weekly basis and speak about any subject that interest them for approximately 30-60 minutes and report back the discussion either in writing or on tapes. In any scenario, the teacher should never dominate the conversations but simply carefully monitor the group discussions to ensure that students are actually speaking in English with each other.

Communicative competence

EFL students should be empowered with communicative competence (Bardovi-Harlig et al. 1991; Kitao & Kitao, 1996). To begin with, learners should be made aware of varied registers based on a given social situation and the speech act to be accomplished. They will have to learn to adapt their speech styles when making a casual chat with one’s girlfriend, discussing career choices with a dissertation supervisor or as simple as requesting someone to repeat a message. In all cases, a certain degree of politeness, e.g. using markers like please or thank you, will always be appreciated. For instance, when an EFL learner cannot follow someone’s speech, a direct question like “What did you just say?” may be misunderstood as being tantamount to “I do not like what you just said.” The “face-saving” way of speech would be to rephrase the inquiry as “Would you please repeat what you just said? I am not sure that I understood you.” As confusions are inevitable in verbal communication, polite request strategies are essential for EFL learners to know.

Furthermore, learners need to be familiar with “The Cooperative Principle” developed by Grice in terms of quantity, quality, relation and manner. Quantity refers to the amount of information a speaker needs to offer in order for the conversation to continue. It is important to note that one should not speak too little or attempt to take over a conversation. As for quality, the main goal is truthfulness. Speakers should try to avoid offering information which may not be true. Next, relation refers to making sure that what is being spoken about is germane to the topic, and manner requires brevity, along with an avoidance of vagueness. Teachers should alert the class to the facts that these maxims are equally important and ignoring any of the four may create a situation that is detrimental to a conversation (Yule, 2008).

Closely related to the discussion on quantity, EFL teachers need to equip their students with knowledge of turn-taking skills. Spolsky (2004) explains that usually the decision as to who controls turn-taking in a conversation is the person with the most power, such as a “teacher,” or a “chairperson.” Yet, when it comes to individuals from diverse countries speaking to each other, but where neither people hold more power than the other, difficulty can arise because there may be a misunderstanding as to when it is appropriate for the other person to speak (Brislin &Yoshida, 1994). In order for a conversation to be considered a success, it is vital that all those engaged in an English language conversation understand certain verbal and non-verbal clues (Gudykunst et al. 1996; Harmer, 2011). Thornbury (2007, p. 9) illustrates how this can be done through using various discourse markers:

Lastly, EFL teachers must provide instructions on grasping conversational implicatures, namely messages indirectly implied in one’s speech. At times when one may appear to violate the principle of relation when engaging in a conversation, s/he in fact is responding in an ambiguous way which avoids potential awkwardness or, quite the opposite, is meant to be sarcastic. Unable to read into the implicature beyond its literal meaning, EFL learners can be wrongfully displeased with the seemingly incohesive answer or become extremely perplexed by what the interlocutor tries to say. A great exercise to open up a discussion on implicatures is to try to interpret the following conversation taking place at a restaurant between two ladies (example from Yule, 2008, p. 35): one asks the other “how she likes the hamburger she is eating”. To this inquiry the other woman replies that “A hamburger is a hamburger.” Explicitly pointing out that there “is an additional conveyed meaning”…(which) “the speaker expects that the listener will be able to work out, on the basis of what is already known, the implicature intended in this context”, teachers can have the class practice reading into the statement and coming up with their own interpretations of what the second speaker can possibly mean and the reason(s) behind it. The whole class may continue the discussion by writing out their own dialogues and having each other “decode” the implied indication. Activities of this kind are both fun and helpful.

Conclusion

Due to the rapidly expanding number of non-native English speakers who wish to become proficient English speakers continuing to grow worldwide, it is clear that there exists ample opportunities, along with a great need, for educators to help those same people achieve their language goals. Yet, in order for this to happen there must be more than a well-meaning desire on the part of EFL educators. Working with the belief that educators need both a theoretical and a practical understanding of the field they are teaching, this paper attempted to merge these two sides together to create a better understanding concerning the subject of EFL conversation. It is hoped that teachers will be able to use this information to help their current or future EFL students avoid the pitfalls that would otherwise be awaiting them, with the ultimate goal being that the students may one day become better “citizens” in the global village.

References

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Lim, H-Y. Lim, H.Y. (2003). Successful classroom discussions with adult Korean ESL/FL learners. The Internet TESL Journal, 11(5), 1-3. Retrieved July 3, 2012 from http://iteslj.org.

Scovel, T. (2002). Psycholinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Yule, G. (2008). Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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